Kurald Galain: A full custom watercooled x99 blackout build.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Effective 1/25/2016 : The WORLD's Fastest DUAL 980ti 5820k Computer!

 

See post #46 for full details!

 

 

 

 

Additional (Pre-custom Sleeving) Images!

Spoiler

 

 

 

January 2016 Updates:

 Kurald Galain is now custom watercooled featuring EK blocks, Alphacool Radiators, and Primochill PETG Tubing/Fittings! (See post #29/43 for full details)

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($374.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH X99 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($308.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($153.82 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Crucial M500 960GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($369.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($124.99 @ B&H) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($649.99 @ B&H) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($649.99 @ B&H) 

Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ NCIX US) 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($87.95 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HF14-BK 118.2 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($17.88 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HF14-BK 118.2 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($17.88 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HF14-BK 118.2 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($17.88 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HF14-BK 118.2 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($17.88 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HP14-PWM 78.1 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($19.98 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HP14-PWM 78.1 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($19.98 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($408.00 @ Amazon) 

Other: EK-Supremacy Evo X99 ($79.99)

Other: EK-FC 980ti TF5 Nickel+Acetal Waterblock ($142.99)

Other: EK-FC 980ti TF5 Nickel+Acetal Waterblock ($142.99)

Other: EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (incl. pump) ($153.99)

Other: EK-FC Terminal DUAL Parallel 3-Slot ($22.49)

Other: Alphacool NexXxos ST30 Full Copper Radiator 420 ($89.99)

Other: Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 280mm ($69.99)

Other: PrimoChill 1/2in. Rigid RevolverSX Series Fitting – Satin Black – 12 Pack ($77.99)

Other: PrimoChill 1/2in. Rigid PETG Tube 12 x 36in. – Clear ($29.95)

Total: $4430.53

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-18 20:30 EST-0500

 

 

 

2015 Log

Spoiler

 

 

http://imgur.com/a/exaX1

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste  ($8.89 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH X99 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($299.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($232.55 @ B&H) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($170.89 @ OutletPC) 

Storage: Crucial M500 960GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($349.50 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Hitachi Deskstar NAS 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($664.98 @ Newegg) 

Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case  ($80.10 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($111.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.75 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HF14-BK 118.2 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($17.10 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HF14-BK 118.2 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($17.10 @ SuperBiiz) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HP14-PWM 78.1 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Fractal Design HP14-PWM 78.1 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($23.98 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($399.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $3034.76

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 23:48 EDT-0400

 

This is the build log for what I call Kurald Galain. I did not pay the prices shown (most were much lower), and you can assume that in almost every case the specific choice of items was deliberate. I was originally planning on making Kurald Galain a z170 build, but when I went to microcenter to see if they had or expected to have a 6700k anytime soon, I basically waffled onto my second choice build (which was basically the same price as the mobo I had chosen for the z170 was 300 dollars). That said I  (here comes the rationalization part... lol buyer's fallacy) do think that since the x99 3-4 core performance is more than ample for any current dx11 game, and dx12 will certainly help larger core systems more than lower core groups, I'm not unhappy it happened this way.

 

 

Understatement and whenever possible blackness is the goal of this monster of a build.

 

 

Here is a picture of all the parts I started with this build: (I am currently waiting on the graphics card and the two venturi fans).

 

http://imgur.com/a/WAOGX#0

 

The memory might be the oddest part for some of you, but this review http://www.legitreviews.com/crucial-ballistix-sport-ddr4-2400mhz-32gb-memory-kit-review_151873/3 along with the ultra low profile sleek silvery construct should help explain my choice (I intend to bring it to 2666 and drop timings as far as I can, their sample reached 2660 CL12!).

 

I will likely be painting the gpu shroud (the red parts will become silver) unless I find the light accents to be fair enough. The two SP140s serve dual purposes (one to replace the black/white box fans, although I may end up doing push/pull anyways) and to provide what is likely to be the only light this case has. After all, what is Kurald Galain but The Night Eternal?

 

I won't talk too much about the actual build/unboxing process since none of these parts are uncommon choices (with the ram being the sole exception.)

 

The x99s sli plus has a very very impressive feature set for the budget end of x99. It supports 3 way sli for the 5820k WHILE still allowing the additional use of a m.2 on a PCIE 3.0x4 direct to the chipset. It has massive amount of usb ports and looks very sleek.

 

The x61 was a late choice with x99 (I was going to go with a 240 for z170), but now that it's installed with the corsair fans I'm very pleased I choose it. The instructions are insanely bad. I mean honestly they would be better off just not including any with how shitty those were, BUT installing AIO's isn't very hard in the first place and they do have online resources if you need them.

 

The ram modules look imho unbelievably good in this build, but I must say that even compared to normal they were quite the bear to get into the slots, I hope they function well.

 

I messed up on accident and grabbed a window-less define s and am currently looking to fix that issue, the S is such a commonly used case by tech people that I won't say much except that I will be repainting the back pcie plates.

 

The G2 powersupply came with quite nice braided cables (but as you are soon to see that didn't help me too much haha) but those cables were very stiff and that caused a few hiccups during installation.

 

So without further ado, here is our current status:

 

http://imgur.com/a/WAOGX#11

 

Actually after having some issues with getting images to upload, I just threw all the pics I took during the process up on imgur. The toolset shown is my go to set for all my pc builds (and finally I got to use it for myself!)

 

If I may be so bold, my front panel cable management impressed even me, and I personally think it is one of the best jobs I've ever seen (although NZXT had to make their stupid usb controller multicolored ruining an otherwise pure black cable job.)

 

 

 

 

{/spoiler}

[Curufinwe_wins]

Also with this amount of air flow, I should be able to turn down the fan speeds quite a bit and make a very very quiet computer.

 

Also I still have to pick out a monitor (to replace my current less than ideal 1080p one.)

 

So if anyone has any suggestions on 1440p ips panels (greater than 60Hz isn't a huge priority but G-sync would be nice, unfortunately only know of one? 1440p ips g-sync monitor and it's well... a lot.) 

[Curufinwe_wins]

Update: I had to return two sp140 fans (the rad didn't have enough clearance in the Define S to do what I was planning on) and just on a whim I brought the side panel (BY ITSELF)!!! Back to microcenter and they swapped it out for me free of charge! BETWEEN yesterday and today this was by far my best shopping experience ever, I cannot recommend microcenter enough!

 

I am bringing the box back tomorrow for them.

 

Price-matching and in-store discounts farther than anyone else, definitely the place to shop.

 

(BTW as far as my situation went perhaps having spent close to 1500 dollars at microcenter the day before helped  )

[Curufinwe_wins]

The last of the parts should be in by Wednesday yay!

[Huginn]

Nice build! And also glad to hear some stores still offer customer support, something which is rather rare over here --"

 

Main reason I looked at this post is the name, the Warren of Darkness. Steven Erikson <3

[Curufinwe_wins]

Quote

Nice build! And also glad to hear some stores still offer customer support, something which is rather rare over here --"

Main reason I looked at this post is the name, the Warren of Darkness. Steven Erikson <3

[/indent]

 

Thanks! I made the blackout choices before figuring out what to call it and I love my fantasy books!

And yea, I don't normally live anywhere near a micro center but these guys are so awesome the next time I build for me or others I might drive the almost two hours from my normal living space to here. (I'm living about 10 min away from a micro center until this upcoming Friday.)

[Curufinwe_wins]

So.. Update. 5 (AND YOU READ THAT CORRECT, 5!!!!) motherboards later (through confirmed no fault of my own... msi motherboards and my cpu refused to work together) I am stuck using a x99 Sabertooth board. It's a pretty lackluster board as far as features go, you can not even use the bottom pcie slot with the m.2 slot, and 3 way sli isn't an option with this board BUT for my single configuration (and indeed for two way I can do later) it will work just fine.

 

I will have to do some painting though because it massively clashes with the black-out goal of the build.

 

That said I have post, and I should have overclocking results later tonight.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Pictures of the build to follow later, but I got my 5820k stable at 4.5 (1.35 V) without a hitch, rocking 72 degrees max during XTU, I'm going to try to hit 4.6 below 1.4 if possible.

 

My gpu on the other hand isn't as amazing.

 

+279 core, +455 mem clock, lead to sitting around 1492 to 1507. I can push mem a ways yet, but the core can't keep up at +87 mv.

 

This case airflow man.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8278930?

[melias24]

Cool!! Can't wait to see the result. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

Quote

Cool!! Can't wait to see the result. 

 

4.6 has failed on everything up to 1.425 volts, I have given up there. That said I am down to 1.3 V on 4.5 and still stable from what I can tell, so I'm definitely at my sweet spot sitting at 4.5, which I'm perfectly cool with.

 

I do have a dumb setup though, I'm oscillating between 60 and 65 C under full 100% utilization (which I have to assume is because my fan curves are too steep, but still It kinda bugs me when it won't level at a temp.)

[Curufinwe_wins]

Build is complete! (Has been for about a week or so)

Fire Strike Regular:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5878215

 

Fire Strike Extreme:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5880140

 

Fire Strike Ultra:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5880137

 

Storage Speeds:

 

 

The IMGUR link up will be updated shortly to include the new pictures. (Too large for direct upload.)

 

After careful consideration, I am still thinking about painting the back pcie slot covers, but I'm starting to think that I don't really need to paint the gpu shroud.

[Curufinwe_wins]

[Curufinwe_wins]

Painted the PCIE slot covers this weekend. Really impressed with the matte spray paint I chose (it looks almost like a powder coat) and matches amazingly with the case.

 

[Curufinwe_wins]

A bit ago I accidentally jammed my front fan filter through my fans breaking a blade on two of the three. So I ponied up for 3 Venturi H

F-14's to finish the black look (since one of the two that broke was a HF-14) and here are the final pictures for the build.

 

 

I also put a thermistor under the gpu backplate to allow my fan speeds to vary based on gpu load instead of cpu load (which was next to useless for gaming). All you can see of the cord is shown here (right below the pcie slot): (the skew is due to the apparent angle not due to anything being off square)

 

[sommde5]

This build is awesome, why did you choose the sabertooth over the asus x99-A?

[sommde5]

Also, any particular reasoning behind picking the 850w psu? would that allow you to comfortably sli with another 980ti?

[Curufinwe_wins]

Quote

This build is awesome, why did you choose the sabertooth over the asus x99-A?

[/indent]

 

I wanted black. I didn't really want the sabertooth (my first choices were msi motherboards, but as mentioned above I had a real pain trying to get them to work.) The Asus x99-A uses imho a really clashing white look that I was not going to have.

 

Quote

Also, any particular reasoning behind picking the 850w psu? would that allow you to comfortably sli with another 980ti?

[/indent]

 

The goal was to sli in the future yes, but after consideration I have come to the conclusion that sli with my current overclocks really isn't likely to fit (at least within margins I am ok with) on 850W. I didn't think it through properly, but a friend has a similar build w/ z97 (for which 850W will work). He has a 1k model of the same psu. I might try to barter a swap from him at some point in the future.

 

On a more general note, Kurald Galain was featured tonight on Awesomesauce Hardware #34B (pimpmypc) so I thank Paul's Hardware and Awesomesauce Network for having me. They also inadvertantly noticed a mistake I had overlooked since the build began (I had my rear fan as an intake.) I just swapped that around and my already decent temps promptly shot down a good 10C under load (with my OC a 30 minute loop of the 4k Firestrike Combined test peaked at 72 C woot woot.)

 

I feel like such a rookie missing that, but it happens to everyone.

[sommde5]

Dude that's awesome that you were featured on awesomesauce!. I will check that out for sure. I will be building a very similar build myself here in the next month. Any reason, besides aesthetics, that you would've chosen an msi board over Asus? I'm going with a very similar setup like I said but was considering a 1050 watt psu. Lucky for me I live right next to a Microcenter. Looking to build for the new 100hz 1440 34" ultra wide g synch monitors that are just now starting to roll out, at $1200, yikes. Also any particular reason for msi 980ti vs gigabyte g1 980ti, or was it purely aesthetics once again?

[Curufinwe_wins]

Quote

Dude that's awesome that you were featured on awesomesauce!. I will check that out for sure. I will be building a very similar build myself here in the next month. Any reason, besides aesthetics, that you would've chosen an msi board over Asus? I'm going with a very similar setup like I said but was considering a 1050 watt psu. Lucky for me I live right next to a Microcenter. Looking to build for the new 100hz 1440 34" ultra wide g synch monitors that are just now starting to roll out, at $1200, yikes. Also any particular reason for msi 980ti vs gigabyte g1 980ti, or was it purely aesthetics once again?

[/indent]

 

Support for 3 way sli plus m.2 on every board, but mainly asethetics.

As for the g1, the msi card is much quieter and has many times fewer complaints about coil whine plus it matches the build well.

I didn't quite have the money left over for a 1200 dollar monitor sadly. Perhaps in the future.

[sommde5]

Yeah man, the only reason I've been putting this off is because (a) this is my first build, and (b) I'm drooling over those monitors. I have the $ for the build no problem and I've been researching for over three straight months for components and such, but that monitor has definitely delayed the process though once again. I'm still learning the overclocking process so I still have sometime to mess around with the build before I bite the bullet on that monitor. I've read about the possible coil whine with the gigabyte g1, I may take my chances still though. I'm not too concerned about aesthetics of the build, just that sexy monitor! In your opinion, is it worth waiting until Black Friday to purchase? Do you have any other tips for this build for someone like me?

[Curufinwe_wins]

Quote

Yeah man, the only reason I've been putting this off is because (a) this is my first build, and (b) I'm drooling over those monitors. I have the $ for the build no problem and I've been researching for over three straight months for components and such, but that monitor has definitely delayed the process though once again. I'm still learning the overclocking process so I still have sometime to mess around with the build before I bite the bullet on that monitor. I've read about the possible coil whine with the gigabyte g1, I may take my chances still though. I'm not too concerned about aesthetics of the build, just that sexy monitor! In your opinion, is it worth waiting until Black Friday to purchase? Do you have any other tips for this build for someone like me?

[/indent]

 

Nothing expensive will drop much at that time. I would say that I would highly recommend buying nice case/rad fans to replace and augment stock wherever possible. For example I bought 4 hf-12 and 2 hp-14 fans and they really helped make the aesthetic what it is while also improving cooling by a significant margin.

When you go to buy I would look at a few things though. If you don't have newegg primier sign up for the free trial and shipping will be basically free (plus some parts will be cheaper on premier only deals. I got my 980ti for 639 in August as a result of that process). Same thing with Amazon prime free trial.

I wouldnt worry about overclocking too much. Rog has a really good tutorial on it but basically you are aiming for 4.5@1.3V. (Use Intel xtu to bench)

For gpu overclocking, if you can get it on sale I'd highly recommend buying the full 3dmark suite on steam. Between a reliable benchmark for comparing the value of your overclock and a good stress test (I'd recommend testing oc with both fire strike extreme for high load and sky diver for high fps). It really is a very powerful tool.

I just have a 27in 1440p and that's a nice sweet spot for non-gsync 980ti gaming at the moment.

[Curufinwe_wins]

As has been mentioned above, Kurald Galain was featured this week on Awesome Hardware Episode 34b! (First PC on Pimpmypc that day)

 

 

 

 

 

A follow up tweet with Kyle (@ awesomesaucenetwork) indicated that upon reflection he agreed the standby light was very bright, but HOTLINE's power cables covered it up.

 

 

 

They also managed to notice something that went completely unnoticed by me... I had the rear fan on BACKWARDS... *rolls up in a ball and dies*

 

That I fixed, but I don't think it really deserves a new picture. I also did some playing around with my CPU today (finally trying vccin modifications). With Vccin boosting I was able to get 4.7 stable at 1.4 V (I didn't try lower because it was really just to see if I could), and 4.6 @1.35. I then backed things down to my normal 4.5 OC and spent a very small amount of time testing voltages I could get away with. Right now that has resulted in the very respectable 4.5 @ 1.25V as compared to my previous 4.5 @ 1.3. I'll take it.

[sommde5]

thanks for the info. I just paid off my student loans and car two months ago, so Ive been saving for a rig just like yours as my next big purchase. Im excited. Initially I wanted to have everything completed before Battlefront and Fallout 4, but I think I will now wait until black friday to purchase and just do more research until then (mainly overclocking information). I also need to make up my mind if Im going to blow $1300 on the Acer Predator XR341CK or if I should possibly wait, I know being an early adopter is always a bit of a waste of $...... but that monitor is gorgeous. QC for that monitor was scary at first, but now with more reviews coming out it seems to be holding its own and with ASUS version of this g synch enabled panel not to be released until Q1 2016, I really just want to get the monitor now -  hoping the monitor will last me a good 3-5 yrs. Im not huge into gaming quite yet, so I don't see myself purchasing a bunch of games really, so do you think a single 1T SSD would be plenty for this system? I also see that its not uncommon to have a smaller SSD saved for the OS exclusively, do you think that is necessary? Also your ram purchase was unique, what is the real advantage to go that route over a normal ddr4 16gb purchase? Were the benefits of that ram setup that you have applicable for gaming or for other uses?

 

edit: and I watched awesomesauce vid, pretty awesome that you got on there. They are soon picky though. Surprised they still had critiques for your build, although it was just some minor aesthetic things.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Quote

 

thanks for the info. I just paid off my student loans and car two months ago, so Ive been saving for a rig just like yours as my next big purchase. Im excited. Initially I wanted to have everything completed before Battlefront and Fallout 4, but I think I will now wait until black friday to purchase and just do more research until then (mainly overclocking information). I also need to make up my mind if Im going to blow $1300 on the Acer Predator XR341CK or if I should possibly wait, I know being an early adopter is always a bit of a waste of $...... but that monitor is gorgeous. QC for that monitor was scary at first, but now with more reviews coming out it seems to be holding its own and with ASUS version of this g synch enabled panel not to be released until Q1 2016, I really just want to get the monitor now -  hoping the monitor will last me a good 3-5 yrs. Im not huge into gaming quite yet, so I don't see myself purchasing a bunch of games really, so do you think a single 1T SSD would be plenty for this system? I also see that its not uncommon to have a smaller SSD saved for the OS exclusively, do you think that is necessary? Also your ram purchase was unique, what is the real advantage to go that route over a normal ddr4 16gb purchase? Were the benefits of that ram setup that you have applicable for gaming or for other uses?

 

edit: and I watched awesomesauce vid, pretty awesome that you got on there. They are soon picky though. Surprised they still had critiques for your build, although it was just some minor aesthetic things.

 

[/indent]

 

I'll admit I was hoping to get a pat on the back for my baller cable management (imho better than the guy they praised for his), but the rest of the criticisms were interesting and part of the reason I put it up in the first place.

 

My ram setup isn't very helpful for gaming, and I never get close doing regular stuff, but I do some Monte Carlo/neutronics modeling that could potentially use a lot of ram (up to 8 GB per run with up to 12 simultaneous runs), but really I grabbed the 32 GB because it was quad channel (which looks amazing) and I won't need to grab more ram for quite a while in the future.

 

I think a 1TB ssd is plenty. I store a lot of pictures and videos on my computer which is the only reason I need the last HDD, and had I known that the 960GB m500 was going to go on sale for that insanely low (179 dollars), I wouldn't have even bought the 500 GB 850 EVO, but I'm ok with having 1.5 GB of SSD storage. 500 GB was going to be my original plan, but 1 TB would be better for storing all games etc.

 

The general rule with SSD's is you want to keep them below 70% full to keep them operating at maximum speed.

[Curufinwe_wins]

KURALD GALAIN WENT SLI TODAY!

 

YAY!

 

I also modded the bios of my LE to match my regular and put power target up to 320W max each.

 

I can run 1292 core 4001 memory stable on both on the ultra benchmark, but everything else I need to drop down to 1282/3951.

 

Ironically enough the boost clock of this bios is less extreme as before a +1288 took me all the way to 1519 max boost clock and this 1292 can only get me to 1506. (but most of the time it sits at 1493).

 

Some fire strike scores here... 99% all around. Only 20 or so points off top 100 (2-way sli) on Ultra and Extreme which is really cool considering those lists are dominated by 5960x runs (and my better of the two GPU's is only a 70% asic).

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6407033

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6406797

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6406697