Posted January 5, 2016 This will be a lot of firsts for me. Number one, I have never done a proper build log. Number 2, I never done a full custom GPU/CPU water loop. And number 3, I have never done hard line water cooling before. So this may end up being an ultimate failure, or end up looking pretty cool. This build is being done on a budget, so don't expect 7-way SLI or anything too crazy. For me a computer should look clean, elegant, but not over the top. That's what I'm going for with this one. So time for parts and plans (most have already been purchased or I already own.) Components: Case: Fractal Design Define S Motherboard: MSI MPower Z87 (will modify) CPU: i5 4670k GPU: XFX 7950 3GB (might change to ASUS R9 390X) RAM: 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum (May change to different set with custom heat spreaders) Power Supply: Corsair CX 750W Storage: An SSD of some sort, not sure if I will use an old OCZ Vertex I have layinng around, or an new 850 EVO. Also haven't decided what to do about disk storage. Cooling: 3X Corsair SP 120mm Quiet Edition Aluminum 240 mm Radiator (possibly adding or swapping it with a 360 mm Radiator) 190mm x 50mm Acrylic Reservoir 14W DC 12V Pump with Black rack Generic CPU Block Generic GPU Block 8X Compression Fittings for Hard Tubing 4X Acrylic Rigid Tubing 15" 3/4 Long 10mm ID 14mm OD Rubber tube thing for bending the acrylic 10X Barb Fittings (will only use 1) 2X Angle Barb Fittings (wont be used) LED digital Temperature indicator 8 feet of Clear PVC tube 1 Male to Male coupler adaptor LED light for reservoir Mayhems Aurora Blue Water Dye Custom: PSU Shroud/Cover to hide the power supply and possibly the pump under there All white sleeved cables. I might put a hint of blue in the cables also I am going to painting the yellow spots on the motherboard white I am currently tying to 3D print a backplate for the GPU Might also do some little mods that would include putting a 4 inch screen in there for the heck of it. Plans Blue and white, hence the name Iceberg. It will be mostly white/black, but I am gong to use the awesome Mayhem Aurora Blue water to add the blue accent I want. Like I said, I don't want to go over the top with crazy paint or too crazy mods or anything, I just want a really clean and not jam packed looking system. Not sure how well that will work out considering the Define S isn't a huge case, but hopefully it will still give me enough room to not make it looked crammed. Here is a really rough paper and pencil drawing of the water loop. Sorry for the terrible quality, I'm not an artist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 Warning... Mayhems Aurora coolant is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CONTINOUS USE! It is a SHOW FLUID ONLY! http://www.mayhems.co.uk/mayhems/index.php/guides/mayhems-aurora-guide Aurora is "NOT" made for use in a home system. It has been developed for show System's (modding) and Photo work. If looking for a fluid for a Home system / Gaming system please use Mayhems X1 or Mayhems Pastel range of fluids there are fully tested and working in any kind of loop LINK-> Kurald Galain: The Night Eternal Top 5820k, 980ti SLI Build in the World* CPU: i7-5820k // GPU: SLI MSI 980ti Gaming 6G // Cooling: Full Custom WC // Mobo: ASUS X99 Sabertooth // Ram: 32GB Crucial Ballistic Sport // Boot SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB Mass SSD: Crucial M500 960GB // PSU: EVGA Supernova 850G2 // Case: Fractal Design Define S Windowed // OS: Windows 10 // Mouse: Razer Naga Chroma // Keyboard: Corsair k70 Cherry MX Reds Headset: Senn RS185 // Monitor: ASUS PG348Q // Devices: Note 10+ - Surface Book 2 15" LINK-> Ainulindale: Music of the Ainur Prosumer DYI FreeNAS CPU: Xeon E3-1231v3 // Cooling: Noctua L9x65 // Mobo: AsRock E3C224D2I // Ram: 16GB Kingston ECC DDR3-1333 HDDs: 4x HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB // PSU: EVGA 650GQ // Case: Fractal Design Node 304 // OS: FreeNAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 It looks fairly good, my main question is, why is there a radiator in the bottom instead of the top? CPU: i7 5820K 4.0GHz @1.15V | MOBO: Asus X99 Sabertooth | GPU: Gigabyte Windforce GTX 980Ti, LTT Orange | CASE: NZXT H440 Black 2015 | COOLER: Noctua NH-D15S w/ LTT Fans | RAM: 32GB Patriot 3000MHz | STORAGE: 512GB Samsung 950 Pro, 960GB Sandisk Ultra II 3 x 8TB Seagate HDD's | PSU: 750W Seasonic X series, black / orange cablemod cables| Monitors: 3x Asus VX24AH's | AUDIO OUT: Microlab SOLO 8C, Sennheiser HD 650's, Audio engine D1 Amp / DAC | AUDIO IN: Blue Snowball | Keyboard: CM Storm QuickFire TK MX Green | Mouse: Logitech G900 Proteus Spectrum + RSI Extended Mouse Pad | PCPP Link: http://nz.pcpartpicker.com/list/hPjFd6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 It looks fairly good, my main question is, why is there a radiator in the bottom instead of the top? Clearance issues? Current System: CPU - I5-6500 | Motherboard - ASRock H170M-ITX/ac | RAM - Mushkin Blackline 16GB DDR4 @ 2400mHz | GPU - EVGA 1060 3GB | Case - Fractal Design Nano S | Storage - 250GB 850 EVO, 3TB Barracuda | PSU - EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze | Display - AOC 22" 1080p IPS | Cooling - Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK | Keyboard - Cooler Master QuickFire Rapid(MX Blues) | Mouse - Logitech G602 | Sound - Schiit Stack | Operating System - Windows 10 The OG System: I3-2370M @ 2.4 GHz, 750GB 5400 RPM HDD, 8GB RAM @1333Mhz, Lenovo Z580 Laptop (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS). Peripherals: G602, AKG 240, Sennheiser HD 6XX, Audio-Technica 2500, Oneplus 5T, Odroid C2(NAS). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 Author Warning... Mayhems Aurora coolant is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CONTINOUS USE! It is a SHOW FLUID ONLY! http://www.mayhems.co.uk/mayhems/index.php/guides/mayhems-aurora-guide Dont use the aurora coolant, you WILL have more problems then are what is been reported with the pastel line of fluids. Yeah I had heard about that. I honestly don't intend to use it for much longer than maybe a few months. I wanted to build it, get some great pictures of it looking good, then I will probably convert to some sort of pastel blue fluid. This rig is going too be more of a sow piece anyway, I already have several functional and good gaming rig at the moment anyway. I am also in the process of trying to start a business so having pictures of this to show will hopefully catch someones attention. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 good start of a plan, but i'd consider the following: your loop order: res>pump>CPU>GPU>rad>res is fine, but excessive tubing used. res>pump>GPU>CPU>rad>res will use less tubing and less bends, because once the system levelized, there is no advantages to device inlet/outlet. a single 240 (aluminum - ukkk) is not enough to cool that system with any overclocks in voltage. please use a copper radiator, less mess with coolant additives (PTEG cannot stand standard glycol use - needed for mix metal loops). save for the 360 45 or 60mm thick. either use a laing DDC (18w) or D5 pump. the 14w will work, but not long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 Author It looks fairly good, my main question is, why is there a radiator in the bottom instead of the top? Clearance issues? I think what you guys are seeing in the bottom is the Power Supply shroud that I have made to hide the PSU and the pump. I intend on having the radiator in the front, behind the filtered intakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 Author good start of a plan, but i'd consider the following: your loop order: res>pump>CPU>GPU>rad>res is fine, but excessive tubing used. res>pump>GPU>CPU>rad>res will use less tubing and less bends, because once the system levelized, there is no advantages to device inlet/outlet. a single 240 (aluminum - ukkk) is not enough to cool that system with any overclocks in voltage. please use a copper radiator, less mess with coolant additives (PTEG cannot stand standard glycol use - needed for mix metal loops). save for the 360 45 or 60mm thick. either use a laing DDC (18w) or D5 pump. the 14w will work, but not long. Yeah everything you said was 100% true. My current loop setup isn't totally decided yet, but you're right, it will be less bends and less tubing so I might follow your path. As far as the radiator goes, all I could afford atm is the single 240 and i really dont have any reason to overclock this rig so hopefully temps will be fine. But I do intend on replacing it with a 360 soon (if not now), and then moving the 240 to the top, or just replacing ti completely with another 360. And with the pump, once again, I'm on a budget and I will definitely get to upgrading it soon enough. Thanks for the advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 if you go with the 360, then do not use the 240 ally radiator.. pawn that onto someone else. the additive you have to use for it to prevent galvanic corrosion will not be compatible with any PTEG tubing. not trying to run your build, but it is best to start with what you need and not have to redo everything just from an update/upgrade. usually when running out of budget we start to make bad compromises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 Author if you go with the 360, then do not use the 240 ally radiator.. pawn that onto someone else. the additive you have to use for it to prevent galvanic corrosion will not be compatible with any PTEG tubing. not trying to run your build, but it is best to start with what you need and not have to redo everything just from an update/upgrade. usually when running out of budget we start to make bad compromises. Dude I really appreciate the advice you've given. Didn't know a thing about copper vs aluminum, my first big custom build . So what I'll do is order a single COPPER 360 right? If it's under $100 I will be able to afford it. My only worry with that is if I get a 360, do you think my pump will have enough power to run the loop? If not I'll have to wait a few weeks till I get paid to get hat. And then I'll just basically save the 240 for a rainy day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 location? copper, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 5, 2016 Warning... Mayhems Aurora coolant is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CONTINOUS USE! It is a SHOW FLUID ONLY! http://www.mayhems.co.uk/mayhems/index.php/guides/mayhems-aurora-guide A lot of mayhems non aurora coolant has been known to change color as well though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 6, 2016 Author Update #1 So today I got the case! I recently fractured my T12 vertebrae so I wasn't capable of getting it out of the box today But all is good, assistance will be arriving soon! I also purchased a XSPC EX360 I followed @airdeano advice and scrapped the idea of using my 240mm aluminum radiator. Hopefully with this new EX360 I will be able to get better temps and still be able to keep the clean, empty look I'm going for. I also purchased some PETG hard tubing today so I can have that too use in case i screw up the acrylic. I am really getting excited about this build! the majority of the arts should be in by next Monday....hopefully.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 11, 2016 Author Update #2 I got my radiator in the mail today, along with 3 Corsair SP120 Quiet fans. I got them along with my res/pump installed into the case today. Not a ton of progress but figured an update was due! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 11, 2016 That tubing run to the gpu is an issue. There should be one tube connected to the right side and one to the left, not both on both sides. Edit: Nvm, I read the pic wrong but I think it'll be cleaner if you go to the cpu after the rad. My personal rig - 4790k 4.8Ghz, Asus Z97 Pro (wi-fi ac), Corsair Dominator Plat 4x8GB, SLI GTX 1080 TI FE, Samsung 850 Evo 1TB, Crucial MX100 512GB, EVGA G3 1000W, and cooled by a hardline liquid cooling loop. Safe Practices and Complete Guide to Buying/Selling on the Classifieds and other forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 12, 2016 Author Update #3 Today I got all my cable extension sleeving done!. Pretty happy with how it turned out. I also got most of my fittings and most of my tubing in the mail today. I am a total noob when it comes to hardline builds so i assumed I could get the tubing hot enough with a hair dryer. Lol, nope! So needles to say, a trip to Harbor Freight for a heat gun will be in my near future. I also found out today that my custom PSU shroud from my R5 build is not going to fit in this Define S , so I'm also in the works of getting a new shroud made. Also I am debating to use my current Corsair Dominator Platinum dims in this build, or take some red Corsair Vengeance I have laying around, and attempting to paint it white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 12, 2016 Author That tubing run to the gpu is an issue. There should be one tube connected to the right side and one to the left, not both on both sides. Edit: Nvm, I read the pic wrong but I think it'll be cleaner if you go to the cpu after the rad. I currently plan to use this order res>pump>GPU>CPU>rad>res What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 12, 2016 I currently plan to use this order res>pump>GPU>CPU>rad>res What do you think? Yeah that's fine. The actual order doesn't matter much as long as the pump is after the res. The main thing about the order is that certain orders look better than others and will be easier to route. My personal rig - 4790k 4.8Ghz, Asus Z97 Pro (wi-fi ac), Corsair Dominator Plat 4x8GB, SLI GTX 1080 TI FE, Samsung 850 Evo 1TB, Crucial MX100 512GB, EVGA G3 1000W, and cooled by a hardline liquid cooling loop. Safe Practices and Complete Guide to Buying/Selling on the Classifieds and other forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 12, 2016 Author Yeah that's fine. The actual order doesn't matter much as long as the pump is after the res. The main thing about the order is that certain orders look better than others and will be easier to route. Oh yeah, I got that. I was just seeing what you thought about that order as far as bends and tube lengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 16, 2016 Author Update #4 This is a big one. I got a lot accomplished in the past few days. First off I finally got the motherboard! It was a little dusty and needed some cleaning so I spent a while on that. Next thing I did was take off anything that was yellow. So that was the big heat-sink at the top and the chipset heat-sink at the bottom. This motherboard is really easy to change the color scheme of. Only thing that isn't black are the accents on the heat-sinks and this little glowing thing at the bottom that says "Audio Boost". So my plan is to paint the yellow part on the chipset cooler white, and paint the yellow on the big heatsink white also. BUT, I am not sure on that, I wanted your opinion. Should I paint the VRM heatsink white only in the places that it is yellow, or the WHOLE thing white? Someone let me know what they think. I also plan to put something white behind the MSI cutout on the chipset heatsink to make it glow white, but havent decided on what to use yet. Also as far as the "Audio Boost" logo... I plan to just paint that whole thing white. I tried to scrape away the yellow but I ended up messing it up and making it look terrible, so it's either going to be all white or all black. Then I installed the CPU and GPU water blocks. I ran into an issue with the CPU water block mount not working with the PETG compression fittings. So I kind of hacked at it with a drill and some files. It doesn't look great, but it works now. I then went over the paint-stripped parts with a sharpie to make it look a bit better Then I put the Motherboard and GPU in the case. With that installed I was able to then start bending tubing. Remember, this is my first hard line build so I'm not a master yet, Lol. At first, I screwed up a lot, and it still inst perfect, but I might come back and re do a few of them before I call it done. The only one I really don't like is the one from the CPU to the radiator. It is crooked in every way possible, and I will definitely re-do that one. So now I am doing a leak test to make sure the fittings aren't leaking and the pump is strong enough. A lot still to be done, but an update was due! sorry the last picture is sideways, the forum changed it for some reason and idk how to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 18, 2016 Your bends look better than mine lol (outside of that one). Nice build, I'd make sure to paint then put those VRM heatsinks back on, you will need them. LINK-> Kurald Galain: The Night Eternal Top 5820k, 980ti SLI Build in the World* CPU: i7-5820k // GPU: SLI MSI 980ti Gaming 6G // Cooling: Full Custom WC // Mobo: ASUS X99 Sabertooth // Ram: 32GB Crucial Ballistic Sport // Boot SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB Mass SSD: Crucial M500 960GB // PSU: EVGA Supernova 850G2 // Case: Fractal Design Define S Windowed // OS: Windows 10 // Mouse: Razer Naga Chroma // Keyboard: Corsair k70 Cherry MX Reds Headset: Senn RS185 // Monitor: ASUS PG348Q // Devices: Note 10+ - Surface Book 2 15" LINK-> Ainulindale: Music of the Ainur Prosumer DYI FreeNAS CPU: Xeon E3-1231v3 // Cooling: Noctua L9x65 // Mobo: AsRock E3C224D2I // Ram: 16GB Kingston ECC DDR3-1333 HDDs: 4x HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB // PSU: EVGA 650GQ // Case: Fractal Design Node 304 // OS: FreeNAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 23, 2016 Author Update #5 Ok so I got a decent amount of things done. First thing was I got around to doing was painting the motherboard parts. Everything came out great except for the mosfet heatsink. It pretty embarrassing so I won't post a picture of it yet. But the ugliness of the mosfet heatsink isn't the only problem. With my current CPU water block, the heatsink will not fit. So I'm either going to change the water block, or cut the heatsink. I also am considering buying waterblocks for the top of the motherboard because it would probably look better. I cant really justify spending another $120 on just that right now though. So that is still up in the air. Next I redid that terrible bend from the CPU to the radiator. Looks much better now. (top is before and bottom is after) I also got the motherboard reinstalled as well as ran the cable extensions. I wasn't happy with how the 24 pin cable extension was sitting so I fired up the 3D printer, and printed some cable combs. I haven't decided if I should do the same thing with the GPU cables. I also took a sharpie to the USB 3.0 cable and made it black to match. Lastly I wired up a molex connector to a strip of automotive LEDs. That's all for now! And P.S.... I may or may not be getting a sponsor for this build... We will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 24, 2016 SNIP So is this a copper radiator now or you still wanting galvanic corrosion? Spoiler Chernobyl AMD FX8350 @ 5GHz | Asus Sabretooth 990FX R2 | 16GB HyperX Savage @1950mhz CL9 | 120GB Kingston SSDNow EK AMD LTX CSQ | XSPC D5 Dual Bay | Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 240mm & Coolgate Triple HD360 Spoiler Kraken Intel i5 4670K Bare Die 4.9GHz | ASUS Maximus VII Ranger Z97 | 16GB HyperX Savage 2400MHz | Samsung EVO 250GB EK Supremecy EVO & EK-MOSFET M7G | Dual 360mm Rads | Primochill CTR Phase II w/D5 | MSI GTX970 1670MHz/8000MHz Graphic Design Student & Overall Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 24, 2016 So is this a copper radiator now or you still wanting galvanic corrosion? Would you like some sass with that? OP didn't even know it was an issue. Update #1 So today I got the case! I recently fractured my T12 vertebrae so I wasn't capable of getting it out of the box today But all is good, assistance will be arriving soon! I also purchased a XSPC EX360 ex360crossflow-1.jpg I followed @airdeano advice and scrapped the idea of using my 240mm aluminum radiator. Hopefully with this new EX360 I will be able to get better temps and still be able to keep the clean, empty look I'm going for. I also purchased some PETG hard tubing today so I can have that too use in case i screw up the acrylic. I am really getting excited about this build! the majority of the arts should be in by next Monday....hopefully.. LINK-> Kurald Galain: The Night Eternal Top 5820k, 980ti SLI Build in the World* CPU: i7-5820k // GPU: SLI MSI 980ti Gaming 6G // Cooling: Full Custom WC // Mobo: ASUS X99 Sabertooth // Ram: 32GB Crucial Ballistic Sport // Boot SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB Mass SSD: Crucial M500 960GB // PSU: EVGA Supernova 850G2 // Case: Fractal Design Define S Windowed // OS: Windows 10 // Mouse: Razer Naga Chroma // Keyboard: Corsair k70 Cherry MX Reds Headset: Senn RS185 // Monitor: ASUS PG348Q // Devices: Note 10+ - Surface Book 2 15" LINK-> Ainulindale: Music of the Ainur Prosumer DYI FreeNAS CPU: Xeon E3-1231v3 // Cooling: Noctua L9x65 // Mobo: AsRock E3C224D2I // Ram: 16GB Kingston ECC DDR3-1333 HDDs: 4x HGST Deskstar NAS 3TB // PSU: EVGA 650GQ // Case: Fractal Design Node 304 // OS: FreeNAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted January 24, 2016 Would you like some sass with that? OP didn't even know it was an issue. Cheers. Spoiler Chernobyl AMD FX8350 @ 5GHz | Asus Sabretooth 990FX R2 | 16GB HyperX Savage @1950mhz CL9 | 120GB Kingston SSDNow EK AMD LTX CSQ | XSPC D5 Dual Bay | Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 240mm & Coolgate Triple HD360 Spoiler Kraken Intel i5 4670K Bare Die 4.9GHz | ASUS Maximus VII Ranger Z97 | 16GB HyperX Savage 2400MHz | Samsung EVO 250GB EK Supremecy EVO & EK-MOSFET M7G | Dual 360mm Rads | Primochill CTR Phase II w/D5 | MSI GTX970 1670MHz/8000MHz Graphic Design Student & Overall Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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