Titanium Red (Corsair Carbide 540)

[Rck010]

 

I'm lurking around here for quite some time now but never really made an account. Why? I have no clue really...

It would be rude of me not to do a (very) short introduction of myself first before talking about my current Skylake gaming rig: 

 

My name is Rick, i'm 32 years old. I live in The Netherlands together with my beloved girlfriend that sometimes gets a tiny bit crazy of my 'thing' for computers  

 

[ Some more info/history about the build will be added soon ]

 

Recently added a custom water cooling loop for my cpu and also ordered the parts to add my GTX980Ti to the loop as well. I am waiting for the parts to be delivered which should be somewhere at the start of next week.

I will also be Plasti Dipping my entire case into a matte black color, which should match the rest of the build a little better than the standard black/grey color it comes in.

 

 

Old:
 

Spoiler

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Components:

CPU: Intel i5 6600k @ 4700Mhz, 1.425v
Memory: 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum (2666) @ 3000Mhz, 1.30v.
Mainboard: Asus Maximus Hero VIII.
GPU: EVGA GTX 980Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ @ 1575/8400, 1.27v (custom bios).
Soundcard: Asus Xonar Essence STX.
PSU: Super Flower Leadex 850W.
Case: Corsair Carbide 540 Air.

 

Price: € 1824,00 / $ 2036,81 UD.

Water-cooling: 

 

CPU block: EKWB Supremacy MX incl. white LED.
GPU block: EK-FC Titan X - Acetal+Nickel.

GPU backplate: EKWB Titan-X Black.
Radiator: EKWB Coolstream PE240.
Radiator: EKWB Coolstream PE360.
Radiator fans: EKWB-Vardar F3-120's
Reservoir/pump: EKWB XRES 100 DDC MX 3.1 PWM combo.
Tubing: EKWB ZMT matte black.
Fittings: EKWB 10/16mm ACF compression, Bitspower 10/16mm 90degree rotary compression.
Coolant: EK-Ekoolant Clear.

 

Price: € 663,25 / $ 739,96 UD.

 

Extras:

 

- NZXT Sentry Mix II fancontroller.
- Lightbar-kit for the Corsair Dominator Platinum's.
- 3x Corsair SP120 Performance Edition.
- 1x Corsair AF140 Quiet Edition.
- 8x Bitfenix Alchemy extention cables (red).
- Highflow cable-combs (black)
- Backplate for the Asus Xonar Essence STX.
- Midplate for the Corsair Carbide 540 Air.

 

Price: € 228,95 / $ 255,23 UD.

 

Peripherals: 

 

Monitor: Crossover 27Q IPS, 2560x1440.
Keyboard: Corsair STRAFE.
Mouse: EVGA Torq X10 and Logitech G600.
Headphone: Sennheiser HD600, Sennheiser HD558, Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro.
Headphone Amp: Schiit Magni 2.

 

Price: € 1315,86 / $ 1467,05 UD.

 

Total price of the build: € 2686.20 / $ 2993,38 UD

Total price of the complete setup: € 4002,06 / $ 4459,72 UD

 

Some more pictures of the build:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be updating this thread as much as i can in the following weeks, starting with the new paint-job and watercooled GPU somewhere next week.

 

Questions, suggestions or other feedback are always welcome

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by Rck010
Updated

[VerticalDiscussions]

Soaa pretty!

[Networking Wolf]

If you dont mind me asking what was the pricing on it

[byalexandr]

 Those cables

[SaladFingers]

Looks really nice, clean and tidy. I like the detail with the cable management and the combs. Also while those Corsair fans I feel like they are overused(*), still a nice touch that fits the whole design. Would totally bang, 9/10

 

Edit: Overused meaning everyone puts them in their builds, not specifically here.

[mikat]

it looks so nice

 

shameless plug: check out the dutch talk thread, that's where all the dutch people hang out

(link in sig)

[Rck010]

Thanks for the feedback guys, appreciated

3 hours ago, Jstone said:

If you dont mind me asking what was the pricing on it

I just added the pricing, more info on the build follows later tonight and in the following days.

 

3 hours ago, mikat said:

it looks so nice

 

shameless plug: check out the dutch talk thread, that's where all the dutch people hang out

(link in sig)

 

Nice, i'll take a look at it later!

[Rck010]

UPDATE:

 

Some more photos added.

 

Got a message from the hardware store today, the new watercooling parts should come in at Tuesday or Wednesday.

Quite some things i want to do next week:

• Paint the exterior of the case in matte black.
• Paint all new fittings into a titanium grey color to match the rest of the build.
• Make a cut-out in the mid-plate to fit the 360 radiator incl. fittings in front, so that i still be able to use the mid-plate.
• Install the GPU waterblock/360 radiator and completely re-do the loop.

I'll update this thread with some progress for people that are interested 

[Rck010]

UPDATE:

 

The parts for my GPU got delivered today:

 

 

1x EK-CoolStream PE 360 Radiator.
1x EK-FC Titan X - Nickel/Acetal.
1x EK-FC Titan X Backplate black.
4x Bitspower 10MM (3/8 ID - 5/8 OD) compression 90 graden Rotary - G1/4 Matte Black.
2x Bitspower G1/4 Matt Black 90 Degree ID 1/4 Adapter.
2x Bitspower G1/4 Matt Black IG1/4 Extender 15mm.
2x EK-ACF Fitting 10/16mm Matte Black.
2m EK-Tube ZMT Matte Black 16/10mm

 

The EK Titan-X block in acetal/nickel is truly stunning.

 

The same can be said about the Titan-X backplate, just gorgeous.

 

The EK Coolstream PE360...

 

And the Bitspower/EKWB fittings and adapters, still in matte black but they're going to be painted into a gun-metal grey tomorrow.

 

Looking forward, modding me case, painting, re-doing my loop and adding my GPU tomorrow..

To be continued

[Rck010]

UPDATE:

 

I painted all the fittings in a matching gun-metal/titanium color today, they came out pretty nice. Tomorrow they will get some clear coats for some extra shine and durability. Here's some of them:

 

 

 

[Necrodead]

Looks good. You don't see a lot of people painting fittings.

[Rck010]

9 minutes ago, Necrodead said:

Looks good. You don't see a lot of people painting fittings.

I couldn't find any matching fittings around so figured why not just paint them. I did it before and they came out really nice. Very satisfied with the result again this time.

 

A few more clear coats tomorrow and they're done.

[xHadrian]

Tidy build, indeed! 

I wanted to paint my fittings too, but I was afraid of damaging my loop. I think it would be perfectly fine if the outside only was painted.

Nice and tidy.

[Rck010]

4 hours ago, xHadrian said:

Tidy build, indeed! 

I wanted to paint my fittings too, but I was afraid of damaging my loop. I think it would be perfectly fine if the outside only was painted.

Nice and tidy.

 

Thanks! I did paint the outside of the fittings only, there might be a little bit of paint that got inside but with some alcohol and a toothbrush it shouldn't be too hard to get off. Also, I don't think it will damage a loop, as long as you make sure no paint flakes off.

[j3dington]

Wow, this build looks so clean and tidy already! Can't wait to see the end result. Definitely going to follow this build!

[Homicidium]

I'm absolutely in love with that matte black tubing, but even that whole build is incredibly gorgeous!

[Jidonsu]

I love this build. 

[Rck010]

UPDATE:

 

been a busy day today, had a birthday to attend so I couldn't spend as much time on my rig as I wanted. Got quite a bit done though when I got home..

 

I did some necessary modifications on the custom mid-plate of my case. I cut out some acrylic to make room for both the 360 radiator and the 90 degrees fittings. I used some rubber grommets I had laying around from previous cases to make it more pleasing and honestly, I'm pretty damn satisfied with the result. I also drilled a hole in the mid-plate where a thin metal pipe is getting screwed in to function as sort of a lever for my GPU. The full acetal/nickel waterblock is pretty heavy so this 'bracket' should take care of possible sagging. 

 

A picture tells more more than a thousand words:

 

 

 

360 radiator, Bitspower elbows and rotaries installed.

Also notice the little nut, that's where the hole is for the bracket. The nut has primer on, so that's not going to be color I want. I'm either going to paint it black or the same gun-metal as the rest of the build. I'm a not sure yet.

 

More and better pictures (lightning sucks at this hour) to come tomorrow... Time for some sleep now.

[gamingowiz]

Those fittings
Love it!

[colinreay]

Wow, the implementation of the bottom acrylic cover is very well done. I'm pretty excited!

[Rck010]

UPDATE: 

 

Cleaned the GTX980Ti with some ArctiClean solution, which i can highly recommend btw...

 

 

And installed the GPU waterblock + backplate...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rck010]

UPDATE: 

 

Got the GPU block installed now and adding the other components as we speak. 

Here is a tiny little peak of what i'm looking at right now. I love the contrast in color between the black/red/grey...

 

 

Still plenty of stuff to do: Assembling, painting, cable-management/training, leak-testing and more...

[Sevro]

Wow nice  Got a similar setup, pretty much everything is the same, case, motherboard, ram, GPU. Still nowhere near as sexy as your build, those red cables and custom watercooling look awesome

[Rck010]

UPDATE: 

 

The build is assembled, i am leak testing right now. I'm very satisfied with the result so far!

Still plenty of stuff to do in the following days. The exterior is getting a paint job and i'm making a custom case-badge/window-sticker. I have some more things in mind but that's something for later.

 

I'll be making posting more info/photos tomorrow when the leak test is hopefully successful. 

For now, one more peak  

 

 

Note that i haven't done any cable-management nor cable-training yet, they still look somewhat sloppy. 

[Rck010]

UPDATE: 

 

The leak-test was successful and the system is up and running again now  

 

I RMA'd my previous EVGA GTX980Ti, not because it was defect but it suffered from awful coil-whine, even on capped FPS. I honestly did hesitate before sending it back because i had a great overclocking card (76% ASIC), on air it hit 1500Mhz on the core-clock quite easy while staying well within thermal limits. The coil-whine however was so apparent that i did not really had another option. A little afraid of sending it back and getting an inferior card in return, i received an even better one. This card has a ASIC percentage of 79.9% and is rock-steady at 1550Mhz while temperatures don't exceed 47 degrees Celsius. So, i am immensely satisfied so far. 

 

I am going to edit the BIOS later tonight and see if i can get steady at 1600/1650Mhz with some extra voltage.

 

Anyway, as promised some pictures of the 'finished' build:

 

 

As said, very satisfied. I love the clean and tidiness of the tubing together with the contrast in colors  

Next i'm going to be plasti-dipping the exterior in a dark matte black and designing a custom case-badge/side-window sticker.

 

To be continued with results of the performance and with further progression in some days.

 

Oh, let me know what you think