Project "Acanthoscurria" (5960x, GTX980 sli, AX1200i, 850 Pro 1TB, Acrylic Primochill Tubing, DDR4 2400mhz, AlphaCool )

[eBiz]

My new build is finally on the way!! I just received my first Newegg order with the majority of hardware. I will likely be placing my order for the watercooling parts tonight. If everything goes as planned this build should be up and running in a week.

 

 

 

Hardware

 

Intel i7 5960x

 

Corsair Vengence 32gb 2400mhz

 

EVGA GTX 980 AX 2.0 (SLI)

 

Samsung 850 Pro 1TB

 

Asus X99 Deluxe

 

Corsair AX1200i

 

Western Digital Red 4TB

 

Corsair Carbide 540 (White)

 

 

Watercooling

 

2x AlphaCool XT45 280mm Radiators

 

(Ordered)  Alphacool ST30 360mm

 

(Ordered)  Alphacook ST30 240mm

 

Alphacool Xp3 CPU Block (Black Chrome Edition)

 

AlphaCool VPP655 Variable Speed D5 Pump

 

AlphaCool Coolplex Pro 100mm Reservoir

 

Primochill Hard Acrylic Tubing (White)

 

Primochill Ridged Revolver Compression Fittings (Black)

 

GTX 980 Waterblocks are undecided as of now...

 

 

 

Other

 

3x 5x Cooler Master Jet Flo 120mm (White)

 

GC Extreme

 

Thoughts/Decisions

 

Radiator Fitment?

My orignal plan was to have one 360mm st30 rad up front and 280mm st30 up top but upon further research it seems that they will not fit. Please let me know if I am wrong. This means I wasted $60 on the three 120mm Jet Flo fans I bought unless I opt for a 240mm rad up top.

 

I did the math on the surface area of my radiator options...

 

360mm rad + 240mm rad = 72,000

280mm rad + 280mm rad = 78,400

 

So in terms of performance going with the two 280mm radiators is going to be about 10% better. Not to mention that 140mm fans move more air anyway and will operate quieter as well. This option would also allow for more room to work in the case. ( I would like to have a dedicated drain w/ valve out the bottom of the case)

 

What do you guys think of my watercooling options?  (The downside of going with the two 280's is that I already bought the three Cooler Master Jet Flo fans ($60) and I really thought they would look great in the case with the white leds.)

 

 

     Decided- I decided for the best fitment and guaranteed compatibility to go with an AlphaCool ST30

                     360mm rad and ST30 240mm rad.

 

GTX 980 8gb ?

 

I have about ten days before I lose the ability to return the two GTX 980s. The reason I would do this is because the 8gb versions will be coming out this month or early December. Since I'm set on going 4k I need the extra VRAM. My other reason for possible returning the cards I have is  getting back the $130 of sales tax by buying them on Newegg instead of Fryes. This money can either go towards some Hydro Coppers or if available the 8gb cards.

 

     Decided- I will be returning the GTX 980's and wait until the 980ti's come out. It was just announced this will likely be in February. That's a little to long of a wait so I might have to get a GTX 970 to hold me over.

[XTankSlayerX]

Sweet baby jesus, all that hardware is making me happy.

[ERSCreeper]

Looks interesting. I would return them for 8GB models because 4K will need a lot of VRAM.

[xnoobftw]

*slowly unzips pants while staring at the pictures*

[Guest]

Sweet mother of expensive rigs

 

Return them get 8GB versions

[Krzyimprt]

Nice build, what's with the clockwafer picture?

http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/petersonpackson/media/clockwafer_zpsef5a6c5a.jpg.html?o=3

[eBiz]

Nice build, what's with the clockwafer picture?

http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/petersonpackson/media/clockwafer_zpsef5a6c5a.jpg.html?o=3

 

 

I got struck with an idea to make a wall clock out of a silicon wafer, I haven't done it yet but was planning to drill a hole in the center and put the clock mechanism through it.

[Mush Brain]

Such overkill power supply, but wow man, 5960X... beat me!

[terrytek]

[Monty007]

Looks to be an awesome rig in the works.  If the 8GB cards are indeed around the corner, return the other ones and get those instead.  I like the Air 540 but have you thought of a larger case?  Case Labs or 900D?  I have big hands and working on a watercooled rig in a smaller case was tough for me.

 

I'm looking forward to your build log.

[Norman_the_Owl]

The case really lets this build down IMO

[wolfgang]

interested to see just how much room is left when this is done.

[eBiz]

Such overkill power supply, but wow man, 5960X... beat me!

 

Yeah.. I got a rebate card going with AX1200i which made it about the same price of the AX860i so I just went for it. I hope the 200mm length doesn't  cause any issues.

[eBiz]

Looks to be an awesome rig in the works.  If the 8GB cards are indeed around the corner, return the other ones and get those instead.  I like the Air 540 but have you thought of a larger case?  Case Labs or 900D?  I have big hands and working on a watercooled rig in a smaller case was tough for me.

 

I'm looking forward to your build log.

 

 

Well I thought I was set with going with CaseLabs since the begining of wanting to build this pc. I went from wanting the STH10 to the TH10a . I decided not to go with either for a few reasons. One being it would be at least an extra $1000 in watercooling + the case itself. Also those cases are huge with massive footprints. The 900d never pleased me aesthetically and I have seen soo many builds with them.

 

The Carbide 540 interested me and for only $140 I would be saving when compared to all other options.If I want to go to Caselabs in the future it wouldn't be a costly mistake. Also after seeing the limited edition case in white I think it will go perfect with the color scheme I had in mind as well as all the cooling I need.

[Norman_the_Owl]

The Carbide 540 always interested me as a case and for only $140 I would be saving when compared to all other options. After seeing the case in white I think it will go perfect with the color scheme I had in mind as well as all the cooling I need.

It's so cheap though.

 

I wouldn't dare put even a water bottle on it, it would probably crush the case.

[ALXAndy]

Looks interesting. I would return them for 8GB models because 4K will need a lot of VRAM.

 

He's right you know.

 

I wouldn't buy 980s for SLI right now. I would rather buy 970s and then wait and see what comes next when Maxwell hits 'full fat'. It's not just the VRAM, the memory pipeline is lame also, so 4k performance drops off when compared with AMD's finest.

 

And that's not good enough for me. I would take the cheapest option 'while u wait' as they say and see what happens with the full fat model.

 

4gb VRAM already causes issues with the very heavy games.

 

As much as the 980 may be fast (I do however feel reviews are being deliberately derped to make them look better than they really are) they still lack in a few departments. Too many for me with what they cost. 

[eBiz]

He's right you know.

 

I wouldn't buy 980s for SLI right now. I would rather buy 970s and then wait and see what comes next when Maxwell hits 'full fat'. It's not just the VRAM, the memory pipeline is lame also, so 4k performance drops off when compared with AMD's finest.

 

And that's not good enough for me. I would take the cheapest option 'while u wait' as they say and see what happens with the full fat model.

 

4gb VRAM already causes issues with the very heavy games.

 

As much as the 980 may be fast (I do however feel reviews are being deliberately derped to make them look better than they really are) they still lack in a few departments. Too many for me with what they cost. 

 

 

I just returned the two 980's today and now am trying to figure out my options. I may just opt for the 970 until the new cards come out. What do you think the resale value of a lightly used 970 would be in a couple months? I could also get the 980s again, use them for 30 days then return them but I don't really want to be that guy.

[ALXAndy]

I just returned the two 980's today and now am trying to figure out my options. I may just opt for the 970 until the new cards come out. What do you think the resale value of a lightly used 970 would be in a couple months? I could also get the 980s again, use them for 30 days then return them but I don't really want to be that guy.

 

970s are more popular than 980s given they're pretty much the same card missing a few CUDA cores but same memory, memory bandwidth etc.

 

Top end cards they're not. Think GTX 670 and GTX 680 vs the 780 and Titan.

 

As I said, please don't invest a ton of money into them because Nvidia always give out the bare minimum when it comes to VRAM. That was why Titan cost so much, because they gave you the VRAM meaning you can skip a couple of launches.

[Norman_the_Owl]

Now that you've returned the 980s, you might as well get a mined on 290x for 200 bucks to hold you over for now

[eBiz]

It's been awhile since the first update and I have done quite a lot since then. After returning the two 980's I decided to buy just one during the wait for the 8gb versions.  Still planning on watercooling the two 980ti's when they arrive. While I waited for the watercooling parts to arrive I got started on sleeving the cables. First time sleeving but still happy with the result. After the much anticipated frozen cpu order I spent a fair bit of time planning how the loop with work.

 

First things first I tested all the hardware and everything worked, Yipee!

 

 

I cleaned the CPU with some alcohol before applying the heat sink

 

 

Examining the 5960x, noticed these marks on the sides...

 

 

The expensive stuff..

 

 

 

Post!

 

 

 

I used 550 paracord in white and black with matching heatshrink. This is my first time ever sleeving and it proved to be quite time consuming. I started with the cpu cable and then worked up to the 24 pin. I was really happy with the cpu cable but much of the sleeving came short on the 24 pin, I’m ok with that since it won't be visible anyway. As of now I given up heatshrinking the 24 pin. It was such a bitch getting the heatshrink over the paracord but I might do it before the loop is put together.

 

These were all the tools I used along with a jig I made to cut the heatshrink fast and precise. Worked perfect!

 

 

I did the CPU cables first. Really happy with how they turned out

 

 

Here's the 24 pin. It's not "combed" all pretty like yet

 

 

Took a look at the white led fans, making sure they won't be overpowering my room with light polution. The first fan is the stock fan, which I will use as a intake next to the MB. The second is the fans I will be using for the rads, the Cooler Master Jet Flos. I like the look of these as they are not super bright and with 95cfm they should make things ice cold if needed.

 

The stock 140mm fans are really bright, This wil be mounted on the inside of the case which should provide decent illumination of the components.

 

 

I can't wait to see the performance of a combined 475 cfm. However they will spend most of their time at lower rpms.

 

 

Took almost two weeks for the Frozen Cpu order to get here but when it did I ripped it open like it was Christmas. The quality of everything was up to expectations, but a few fitment issues with the Primochill fittings on the res. The Alphacool XP3 Light CPU block didn't come with the right stuff to mount to the X99 deluxe motherboard. It only came with bolts were ment to mounted through the motherboard. The MB didn't allow this because there are not holes through it. Luckily I ghetto rigged it with some mounting parts from a old heatsink and some washers.

 

 

All the watercooling goods in their full glory

 

 

Inspected by MIC

 

 

Practically a nanometer of distance between the fittings

 

 

The reservoir! Kinda wish I went with something a bit different due to the fittings being to large for it. Now I have to use the fill port as a intake or flip it upside down.

 

 

 

 

AlphaCool VPP655, I sleeved the colored cables on this too

 

 

 

Silver Kill Coil. Should I put it in the tubing or the reservior?

 

Alphacool ST30 240 and 360mm rads

 

 

 

[Keudn]

personally I think a 780T would look MUCH better

[Tetters]

Kill coil goes in the reservoir

 

And by the way ... hugely jealous!! Awesome rig in the making

[eBiz]

Alright so I started bending the white acrylic PrimoChill tubing for the first time. This is what I have been looking forward to most since the start of the build. I used a PVC cutter to try and cut a couple inches off but the tubing shattered. I then test bent that little piece just to get a sense of what bending it feels like. I burred the edges and cut the tubing with a steak knife because I couldn’t find the piece for my dremel.

 

I wanted as straight lines as possible but it's really hard to estimate where to bend as it's not perfect sharp right angles. I decided to start with the most ambitious and difficult bend first ( Bottom of 360 to CPU). I worked very carefully and some how got it like 95% right for my first bend ever with acrylic tubing. The tube is a just a couple degrees off from being straight up and down but I can live with that for now. I ordered some more tubing which is still on its way if I want to attempt it again.

 

Smooth Edges

 

 

I found it a necessity when bending close to the end of the tubing to put the fitting on to prevent deformation at the tip (otherwise your fitting won't fit)

 

 

The start of my first bends with acrylic tubing

 

 

The final product, I hope it fits..

 

 

It fits! I couldn't believe how close it was to perfect. If only the bend started a 1/4 inch later.

 

 

 

Now the from the CPU, this was a fairly easy bend after the last one.

 

 

 

All Done for now. (You can see the slight angle from the 360 up to the CPU). It's also important to note that I will have to redo this bend when I get the two 980ti's. I'm not to concerned with the looks now because I really want to use this thing too.

[eBiz]

Kill coil goes in the reservoir

 

And by the way ... hugely jealous!! Awesome rig in the making

 

 

Thanks man. That's what I figured but it it slides in perfect in the tubing. I thought maybe by having it in the tubing it would have more direct contact with all the water going through the smaller diameter tube (vs res).

[eBiz]

personally I think a 780T would look MUCH better

 

 

That's a good looking case too. I like the 540 though even though it doesn't seem to be that popular.