Build Log - Project Crom - NZXT H440, watercooled 4690k and R9 290x

[studentjoe]

Hi there,

 

Here's my currently in progress built log,

 

Sorry in advance for the potatoe quality of the photos (sauce iPhone 5s). I felt it better to have some photos showing off the build than none at all,

 

The name Crom is a reference to the god Arnold "worships" in Conan The Barbarian... some quotes;

 

"Crom laughs at your four winds"

 

"Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge!"

 

bonus video - The Ravinator;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkbB-X9654s

 

So this is a build I've been planning/thinking/dreaming about for the last 12 months now, as a results I've been fortunate enough to see what other people have been doing and taking note of what they did right and wrong,

 

Parts:

 

Dell U2414H (£200)

NZXT H440 red/black (£95)

Corsair RM 750 PSU (£100)

Intel i5 4690k (£175)

MSI z97 Gaming 5 (£107)

Asus R9 290x (reference) (£200 off ebay)

16Gb Kingston HyperX 1866Mhz (£130)

2 x Crucial MX100 512Gb SSD (£145 each)

Corsair K70 Cherry MX red switched (£105)

Corsair M65 mouse (£52)

HyperX Cloud headset (£60)

 

Watercooling:

EK Supremacy EVO CPU waterblock (65 euro roughly)

Aquacomputer Kryographics Hawaii R9 290/290x waterblock (£90)

Aquacompuer Kryographics Hawaii R9 290/290x passive backplate (£22)

360mm Alphacoool nexxxos ST30 radiator (mounted in the top of the case) (£45)

360mm Alphacool nexxxos XT45 radiator (mounted in the front of the case) (£55)

6 x 120mm Noctua IndustrialPPC 2,000 rpm IP52 fans - 3 pin version (£21 each)

Alphacool Laing D5 vario pump (£65)

Bitspower Z-Multi 80mm water tank (£35)

3m of Primoflex advanced LRT tubing 1/2" ID 3/4" OD (24)

6 x red Monsoon compression fittings 1/2" ID 3/4" OD (£30)

6 x black Monsoon compression fittings 1/2" ID 3/4" OD (£30)

 

Reasons why I went with these parts,

Case - Linus' review basically.... the fact it has no optical drive bays and the fact it can hold 2 x 360mm rads seemed like a cool "challenge accepted" moment for me to try and pack it with watercooling equipment... would not recommend it now having built in it, It's pretty tight fit, and hard to get access. Once the pump and res went it you have no access to the connector panel of the PSU, so some serious pre-planning thinking has to go in beforehand. Also the back panel is a tight fit against the cables, making cable management that little bit harder.

 

Monitor - saw someone recommend it on here ages ago, it looks v. nice and the thin bezel is a plus

 

GPU - got it secondhand off ebay. shoutout to Red Harbinger, turns out the seller is a member of them.

 

GPU waterblock - A guy called Stren did some heavy analysis of all the different blocks and the aquacomputer combo with either the the passive or active backplate achieved the best temps of GPU, VRAM and VRM. (I will link to the forum posting which has loads of charts to look at, but I'm not sure if it's allowed on the forums rules)

 

CPU - obvious choice for a new build now.

 

Radiators - someone else did a build and was able to fit both those rads in. The have since not finished the build due to the motherboard dying which was unfortunate. (again not sure if i can cross link to the post but it's would have been an amazing built, he did nice case modding)

 

The only case mods I made was to drill 2 screw holes to mount the reservoir in it... Don't really have much interest in modding. (I did watch a hell of alot of the Mod24 event though )

 

Pics:

 

http://imgur.com/a/boj1v

 

The build will be finished this week. The final part to be delivered is the aquacomputer backplate. It should arrive Tuesday/Wednesday. Once I get it, It should be a quick job to install and finally plug it in and see if it's still working!

 

I'd be happy to take any more photos of the case for you,

 

I plan on installing the rear fan, I think i can just sit it on the back mounting ridge, it's a real tight fit because the 3/4" tubing and Monsoon fittings are so thick, we shall see in a few days,

 

Hope you enjoy,

 

-Joe

 

edit: typo

edit 29/9 : added peripherals and prices to components

[bughtoo]

Nice build, how much did you pay for watercooling? i have a similar hardware but without watercooling only CPU is watercooled.

 

Also CM HAF-X 942 should be big enough for water cooling dont you think?

[Norman_the_Owl]

I'm impressed you actually fit two 360s in there, I'm amazed.

 

Got any final pics of it from the front?

 

Edit: Got a link handy to that other buildlog?

H440's are my one true love

[studentjoe]

Nice build, how much did you pay for watercooling? i have a similar hardware but without watercooling only CPU is watercooled.

 

Also CM HAF-X 942 should be big enough for water cooling dont you think?

 

I'll update the post later with each individual item costs, I'm living in the UK so it's gonna be in pounds sterling I'm afraid,

 

I don't know anything about the HAF-X to comment on it's ability to house watercooling parts,

 

 

I'm impressed you actually fit two 360s in there, I'm amazed.

 

Got any final pics of it from the front?

 

Edit: Got a link handy to that other buildlog?

H440's are my one true love

Cheers, Yea it's a tight squeeze but there is space for the 30mm rad on top, and 45mm rad up front,

 

What kind of front image are you looking for? I'll take it later when I'm home from work,

 

here's the other build i was referring to;

http://www.overclock.net/t/1476346/build-log-nzxt-h440-chaos-ii

[mikeeginger]

Dean Nocta's nice 

[CapitaineCorindor]

finally someone to do this build before me so i can see that it's possible

[studentjoe]

Nice build, how much did you pay for watercooling? i have a similar hardware but without watercooling only CPU is watercooled.

 

Also CM HAF-X 942 should be big enough for water cooling dont you think?

See original post for prices added

 

finally someone to do this build before me so i can see that it's possible

lol, yeah After watching Linus' video I wanted to see builds of it done also...

 

I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs now, because the inlet/outlet vents are small, so I want to see how the case fares when cooling the CPU and GPU.

[bughtoo]

Is it normal that wattercooling costs roughly 550£+? :-)