900d $4k Watercooled Build.

[ShadowLight18]

before we start.

I posted a topic yesterday from my phone and got some nice starting points to this build.

Now with the current suggestions i would like to see if anyone else had any ideas for what this build could become and for any insight that people could give.

 

i am also new at water-cooling. so this will be a major learning experience as i have no idea what kind of WC components to match together in a system.

 

1. Budget & Location
4k is the budget.

Australia is the Location.

2. Aim
This system is more of a 'Because I Can' Rather than a 'Want For Purpose'.

so this system is more go big or go home.

3. Monitors
at the moment. i am running 2 1080p monitors. (a 60hz and a 120hz)

i don't know what i am going to do for monitors in the long run. but I'm pretty sure that a 4k build should handle anything.

4. Peripherals
this is not really of a concern as i have pretty much everything i need for a computer. i.e. razor naga epic. and a ducky shine keyboard.

if anyone could suggest a good light yet robust headset that i can replace the razer tiamat with. (prefs wireless) that would be awesome (looking at a corsair 2000?)

5. Why are you upgrading?
Because I Can.

Need there be another reason?

 

6. Things i can use

Not a whole lot. However. i do already have a Radeon 7970 that i plan to use in this build. because why not go dual or maybe (if budget permits) triple water-cooled 7970.

i also have 4 noctua nf f 12s. and 3 silverstone AP 121s. however I'm not too sure if i can hide the noctuas from sight. so unfortunately. i may have to give those up. this will depend on push vs pull on bot rad i guess. 

 

7. My pre thoughts.

I want to use a 900D. this much is clear.

i am thinking maybe for internals. more of a portal style colour scheme (blue and orange?) <this is just an idea though, anything here is welcome.

I definitely want to go 2011. i mean with 4k. who wouldn't?

maybe a dual loop water-cool? i mean with a dual colour colour scheme. it seems natural to do something like this in such a big case doesn't it? esp if there are 3 GPUs maybe? who knows. i don't water-cool as of yet. so i don't know how well this kind of thing works.

 

TY all in advance. 

All help is appreciated.

[Preston]

Sounds like a pretty epic build you have planned. Is the 900D out in Australia yet, I've been trying to get my hands on one with no avail.

[ShadowLight18]

Sounds like a pretty epic build you have planned. Is the 900D out in Australia yet, I've been trying to get my hands on one with no avail.

nah, not yet man. i won't have the money for a month and a bit yet. but a build of this caliber needs a lot of planning anyways.

[Bob]

For your GPUs I would get some Titans. is this 4k AUD or USD?

[virusal19]

For your GPUs I would get some Titans. is this 4k AUD or USD?

 

The money in AU and US is not much of a difference.

 

$4,000 (AUD) = $4,138 (USD)

[Glenwing]

True but that doesn't necessarily mean components are the same price in Australia.  For example in Europe a GTX 660 costs around €200 which is about $260, while they are around $200 in the US.  I don't know if there's a markup like that in Australia though.  Just saying, keep in mind shopping for different regions isn't as simple as converting the entire budget to USD and pricing out components on US sites with US prices.

[Blade of Grass]

I would advise you NOT to go with Titans.

I'd say get another 7970. Also why do two loops? Just makes more tubing = less tidy looking (or harder to make tidy).

[Glenwing]

Yeah again, with dual Titans you'd probably have to make some kind of cut somewhere or bump the budget to 4.5 or 5K...

 

Let's be realistic here, unfortunately 4K isn't quite an unlimited budget, as much as I know people here like to throw together a list of the best parts when they see a large budget:

2x Watercooled Titans: $2500 (1000 for each titan, 2x 200-250 for full cover blocks and backplates for each)

i7-3930K for $500 (almost $600 actually but I'm being nice) brings the cost to 3K already...

900D + an LGA 2011 motherboard is probably around $600...

That leaves $400 for power supply, hard drives, RAM, OS and all the rest of the water cooling equipment (CPU block, fittings, multiple radiators, reservoir, pump, tubing, coolant...)

 

Let's face it, multiple Titans just doesn't fit in the budget.  Go with dual 7970s.

[crazy_demon_01]

 

before we start.

I posted a topic yesterday from my phone and got some nice starting points to this build.

Now with the current suggestions i would like to see if anyone else had any ideas for what this build could become and for any insight that people could give.

 

i am also new at water-cooling. so this will be a major learning experience as i have no idea what kind of WC components to match together in a system.

 

1. Budget & Location

4k is the budget.

Australia is the Location.

2. Aim

This system is more of a 'Because I Can' Rather than a 'Want For Purpose'.

so this system is more go big or go home.

3. Monitors

at the moment. i am running 2 1080p monitors. (a 60hz and a 120hz)

i don't know what i am going to do for monitors in the long run. but I'm pretty sure that a 4k build should handle anything.

4. Peripherals

this is not really of a concern as i have pretty much everything i need for a computer. i.e. razor naga epic. and a ducky shine keyboard.

if anyone could suggest a good light yet robust headset that i can replace the razer tiamat with. (prefs wireless) that would be awesome (looking at a corsair 2000?)

5. Why are you upgrading?

Because I Can.

Need there be another reason?

 

6. Things i can use

Not a whole lot. However. i do already have a Radeon 7970 that i plan to use in this build. because why not go dual or maybe (if budget permits) triple water-cooled 7970.

i also have 4 noctua nf f 12s. and 3 silverstone AP 121s. however I'm not too sure if i can hide the noctuas from sight. so unfortunately. i may have to give those up. this will depend on push vs pull on bot rad i guess. 

 

7. My pre thoughts.

I want to use a 900D. this much is clear.

i am thinking maybe for internals. more of a portal style colour scheme (blue and orange?) <this is just an idea though, anything here is welcome.

I definitely want to go 2011. i mean with 4k. who wouldn't?

maybe a dual loop water-cool? i mean with a dual colour colour scheme. it seems natural to do something like this in such a big case doesn't it? esp if there are 3 GPUs maybe? who knows. i don't water-cool as of yet. so i don't know how well this kind of thing works.

 

TY all in advance. 

All help is appreciated.

 

 

My personal opinion on where to get these parts is a website call pccasegear.com, they are fast, reliable highly regarded. There store/warehouse is based at Melbourne so if you are in Victoria, NSW or South Australia shipping prices shouldn't be that high.

[Guest]

I honestly don't know if I would go down the path of dual 7970's as if you haven't got a stock card which I doubt you do, you're going to have quite the mess to deal with. I had a look at watercooling configurations for the 900D as an alternative to the STH10 that I'm doing and I would go the route of dual 480mm rads - top and side. 

 

I personally wouldn't go with the 2011 socket - I mean honestly, what's the point. Save the money and get yourself a 3770K. As Glen pointed out, $4k certainly isn't an unlimited budget for a build. I'm planning on spending $7k and I've had to cut corners to save money. 

 

For GPU's, if your 7970 doesn't use a stock PCB then I would recommend ditching that idea entirely and going with dual 670 4GB cards. I'm getting these here unless I wait for the 700 series which I may do. They use the stock PCB yet have 4GB of VRAM which is certainly going to be needed soon for multiscreen gaming. There's no point in getting 680's because you're looking at a 10-15% performance increase at most for an extra $150 a card. So you're looking at $1200 for 670's with blocks or $1500 for 680's..

 

That's as far as I'm going to go at the moment as I am curious as to your color scheme plan. Are you going to go with the semi mundane red or something different? 

[Dim]

Titans in Australia are a bit too expensive. Here is my recommendation for a good $4,000 gaming build:

 

- 3930K (extreme edition is not worth the cost)

- 4 x Seagate 2TB in RAID10 (depending on your storage needs)

- 256GB Samsung 840 Pro (again, depending on your needs)

- MSI Big Bang X-Power II Motherboard (excellent motherboard for the X79 platform)

- 2 x GTX 670 4GB (Nvidia for SLI, 4GB in case you want to go surround or higher res)

- Corsair 900D

- Full custom loop watercooling GPUs and CPU (though this will cost a lot)

 

It's hard to recommend though, unless you can give us an idea of the colour scheme you want and the level of watercooling you want

[ShadowLight18]

ok. reading all of the comments. heres what i have taken and ill answer as much as i can.

 

i currently have storage (which i forgot to mention)

as for my GPU. im about 90% sure its reference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161399 (yes american site. no not amreican)

again. watercooling noob. like completely noob. like holy crap soo damn noob. (i could go on for a while)

AUS prices on PCCG for a 3930k are $600(599 same god damn thing)

mobo i was thinking a gigabyte up5. for a bit of blue. it hasnt got much. bit eh.

ramm and PSU i have no idea what im going to do.

i can go slightly over if i want. we will call it for now a soft budget 4k.

still noob at watercooling, just thought i would remind you all.

 

TY for your suggestions and i still am open to all ideas.

 

sry. school and then movies means i was AFK for a while.

Edited April 30, 2013 by ShadowLight18

[Guest]

Okay based on that idea of blue I would go with something along the following lines;

 

• 3770K with the Swiftech Apogee HD  available from Mittoni (Melbourne)
• Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe - all the bells and whistles though if you want to be sensible you can get a cheaper board and not notice the difference.
• 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz C9 Blue
• Single or Crossfire 7970's using XPSC Razor 7970 blocks - it's a stock PCB
• Silverstone Gold Evolution 750w PSU
• Dual 128 or 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro's, OCZ Vectors or Plextor M5's.
• 2x2TB Seagate Barracuda either in RAID 1 for 2TB or get 4x2TB and run RAID 10 for 4TB
• Bitspower 150ml res
• Swiftech MCP655 pump - again available
•  from Mittoni 
• Primochill tubing - UV blue
• Bitspower black fittings
• 480mm Black Ice, Swiftech or XSPC rads - have a look at TTL's 900D video to get a better idea of what is supported. I did have all the rad sizes written down but I can't find that piece of paper for the life of me. :(
• Phobya UV strips

Most of what is listed there is availible at PCCG. I don't know where to find the UV strips though as I haven't really looked for those particular ones. I strongly adise going with the 3770K over the 3930K because gaming can barely utilise the full performance of the 3570K which is only 4 physical cores nevermind 6 cores and 12 threads on the 3930K. It'll also give you a bit more money to work with as things like extra fans, sleeving for cables and extra fittings can all add up pretty quickly and just because you have the money doesn't mean you have to spend it.

 

One other thing I would look into seeing as I've put down dual 480 rads is the Intel Tuning program. It's a bit of added insurance and added piece of mind to allow you to push your Intel CPU beyond its stock speeds. If you damage the CPU beyond operation and are a participant in the program then you get a replacement. Check it out here.

[ShadowLight18]

I strongly adise going with the 3770K over the 3930K because gaming can barely utilise the full performance of the 3570K

again, 3930 was because why the hell not.

designed not to a specific need. but the notion of why the hell not.

so why the hell not :P

[Glenwing]

I strongly adise going with the 3770K over the 3930K because gaming can barely utilise the full performance of the 3570K which is only 4 physical cores nevermind 6 cores and 12 threads on the 3930K.

 

http://chipreviews.com/cpu/frostbite-2s-limit-6-core-performance-in-battlefield-3/3/

[Guest]

again, 3930 was because why the hell not.

designed not to a specific need. but the notion of why the hell not.

so why the hell not :P

But why? Why spend the money for no point? It's an extra $500 that you could save.. 

 

[ShadowLight18]

But why? Why spend the money for no point? It's an extra $500 that you could save.. 

because more 16x pcie lanes. :P

[Guest]

because more 16x pcie lanes. :P

You do realise that for what you're doing that makes little to no difference and by the way it's 24. :P

[ShadowLight18]

You do realise that for what you're doing that makes little to no difference and by the way it's 24. :P

I'm making it up as I go. I have no justification for 2011, but you seemed to want one. So I made one up :P

But if i were to go 1155 3770k. What MoBo or What price would you go with?

Also. With a case like the 900D, I feel as if 1155 just isn't what it wants. It is just one of those things that are like, 'it feels right to go 2011 in a case with such beauty and elegance.'

Its just one of those.

 

all that, and because i want to. :P

[Guest]

I'm making it up as I go. I have no justification for 2011, but you seemed to want one. So I made one up :P

But if i were to go 1155 3770k. What MoBo or What price would you go with?

Also. With a case like the 900D, I feel as if 1155 just isn't what it wants. It is just one of those things that are like, 'it feels right to go 2011 in a case with such beauty and elegance.'

Its just one of those.

 

all that, and because i want to. :P

Probably the P8Z77-V deluxe. For me it's got all the features plus some pretty beasty power delivery to really take advantage of the liquid cooling. I'm trying to get you to think about cost and where you can save because I know when you build the thing you'll see areas in which you can improve such as cable management, carbon fibre wrapping ect. Most people end up at this stage with no budget left but what I'm doing is giving you that allowance to go and do aesthetics changes. :)

[ShadowLight18]

Probably the P8Z77-V deluxe. For me it's got all the features plus some pretty beasty power delivery to really take advantage of the liquid cooling. I'm trying to get you to think about cost and where you can save because I know when you build the thing you'll see areas in which you can improve such as cable management, carbon fibre wrapping ect. Most people end up at this stage with no budget left but what I'm doing is giving you that allowance to go and do aesthetics changes. :)

While you raise valid points. and i really do appreciate the input and ideas.

The 900D is the case that defines simple, elegant and performance. obsidian series has been about that and we all know it.

you said. aesthetics are important, and I 100% agree. so how about we do a quick pricing check.

 

900D $400 (australia is a bitch so we will call it 400+)

CPU $600

MoBo $340

extra GPU $400

RAMM <$200 (call it around there for safe measures)

PSU $200 (aprox)

i have HDDs that i will Probs use. so i save quite a bit of money there. i have a 120 SSD (which is a pin in the but to have split drives imo) and a 3TB HDD

i have 7 great fans at my disposal. so i won't have to spend too much more money to get my RADS fitted out.

call it $80 to get a few more high quality fans for good measure.

i cannot price watercooling. i need help here. CPU waterblock. 2 7970 waterblocks. im guessing 2x 480 rads (one in top and one in bottom). i guess.

Tubing. res. pump. etc.

but for those components. we are looking at a total of 1800+Shipping

 

Stop me if you think this I'm wrong or if you think i missed something. but that leaves quite a budget to aestheticise  the system./watercool it.

[Guest]

While you raise valid points. and i really do appreciate the input and ideas.

The 900D is the case that defines simple, elegant and performance. obsidian series has been about that and we all know it.

you said. aesthetics are important, and I 100% agree. so how about we do a quick pricing check.

 

900D $400 (australia is a bitch so we will call it 400+)

CPU $600

MoBo $340

extra GPU $400

RAMM <$200 (call it around there for safe measures)

PSU $200 (aprox)

i have HDDs that i will Probs use. so i save quite a bit of money there. i have a 120 SSD (which is a pin in the but to have split drives imo) and a 3TB HDD

i have 7 great fans at my disposal. so i won't have to spend too much more money to get my RADS fitted out.

call it $80 to get a few more high quality fans for good measure.

i cannot price watercooling. i need help here. CPU waterblock. 2 7970 waterblocks. im guessing 2x 480 rads (one in top and one in bottom). i guess.

Tubing. res. pump. etc.

but for those components. we are looking at a total of 1800+Shipping

 

Stop me if you think this I'm wrong or if you think i missed something. but that leaves quite a budget to aestheticise  the system./watercool it.

 

 

 

• Swiftech MCP655 pump
• Primochill tubing - UV blue
• Bitspower black fittings
• 480mm Black Ice, Swiftech or XSPC rads - have a look at TTL's 900D video to get a better idea of what is supported. I did have all the rad sizes written down but I can't find that piece of paper for the life of me.  :(
• XSPC Razor Block
• Bitspower 150ml res

You could go for a 5.25" res/pump combo but personally I like seperate pumps and res' - it's just a personal thing. 

[prodigydoo]

Just for pure epicness, I would go radiators everywhere, really fill that 900D

[ShadowLight18]

 

• Swiftech MCP655 pump
• Primochill tubing - UV blue
• Bitspower black fittings
• 480mm Black Ice, Swiftech or XSPC rads - have a look at TTL's 900D video to get a better idea of what is supported. I did have all the rad sizes written down but I can't find that piece of paper for the life of me.  :(
• XSPC Razor Block
• Bitspower 150ml res

You could go for a 5.25" res/pump combo but personally I like seperate pumps and res' - it's just a personal thing. 

 

i actually did check TTLs video. i watch too much youtube. :/

i will defs be going seperate res and pump. i want to see the water chamber mounted with the hardware  :P i think that i would add a nice look to the system.

 

Just for pure epicness, I would go radiators everywhere, really fill that 900D

according to TTLs video. it would be incredibly hard to fit 2 rads in the bottom. as for the rest. i need the front clear so i have a place to mount Storage Bays. and the top will probs have a rad in it. (dont know how big yet.) as for the  back. i dont think i will need one there. i mean if i put one in the top. and in the bot.. thats like having a 8 fans in push or 16 push pull. single rad in the back wont make a lick of difference here. not to me. not to aesthetics. not to anything that i care about. 

[Guest]

Yeah I was thinking of dual 480's. For an inexperienced builder, a 240 as well in the bottom would be a fairly difficult thing.