Watercooled Silverstone FT02 Nvidia theme build

[Groundedbeef]

Hi

So ive seen alot of people doing build logs and i thought this time around i would do the same.

This is my first watercooled build.

I originally just wanted to upgrade my i5 3350P but it just kinda snowballed on me.
The only thing im keeping from my old PC is my ASUS GTX 780 Ti
All components have been delivered except some cabling stuff.

 

Build components:

Case: Silverstone Fortress 2 + Custom Dustfilter thing
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake
Mobo: ASUS Sabertooth z170 mark 1
GPU1: ASUS GTX 780Ti
GPU2: EVGA GTX 780Ti
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum - DDR4 - 16 GB (4x4GB) - 2133 MHz  (i originaly got 2X8 GB of hyperX fury but the two empty slots looked so sad with no stuffing)
Storage1: 1 Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 SSD - 240GB
Storage2: 1 Crucial MX200 SSD 2.5" - 500GB

 

Watercooling components:

Radiator - Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 3x180mm (560mm)
GPU -  EK - FC780 GTX Ti - copper version Bought on two different occasions they stopped making these
                      so the second one is the nickel version
GPU - EK - FC780 GTX Ti - Acetal+Nickel
CPU - EK - Supremacy EVO - Acetal
Resevoir - EK - RES X3 110
Pump - EK - XTOP Revo D5 PWM - Acetal
Between GPUs - EK- FC Terminal DUAL Serial 3-Slot

Using PETG Hardline tubing.

 

I'm well into the build and currently waiting for some icelandic sleeving for my cables.

Here is a picture of the Silverstone FT02 sitting in the custom dustfilter thing,
as well as some 3d files that i am using to machine the nvidia logo and letters.

Actual modding photos coming soon.

 

[RoroTheDeer]

Followed. Can't wait for the photos

[TheRandomness]

AMD fanboy here yet I'm loving this build so far

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 1

So i am machining the parts to the dust thing out of a piece of 1000x2000x3mm Steel plate.
Im using my CNC machine at work to machine the plate geometry so i will end up with nice clean lines. Its older than i am but it gets the job done.
Also the mounting holes for the Nvidia logo is pretty accurate so i wont be doing those by hand.

 

Some machine porn.

 

Next i welded the plates together and are currently grinding and filing all edges down for a smooth look.

 

 

The Blue spots on the dust grille is heatmarks, i had to do some correcting after welding, it was bulging everywhere

 

 

 

 

Using countersunk screws here but i am gonna change them for something a little bulkier, i am also gonna round the corners of the grille part.

 

 

These are the mounting holes for the logo.All there's left to do is weld in some kind of small strips to hold the dust mat in place and grind down the remaining welds on the chassy and have it sent to powder coating,

going for matte black.

 

I also Machined the Nvidia logo and letters, i ended up doing them in ordinary steel.
The alternative would have been Aisi 316 which polishes really well, but i don't see any sense in paying for that type of stainless if im gonna chrome plate it.
I had to make it in pieces to make the clean lines in the middle of the logo.

The reason for the numbers of plates you see is so that i could first machine out the back of the logo and letters with M5 threads for mounting purposes.
Then machine the leftover material so each letter and each part of the logo would be individual parts.
All the parts are machined out of a single 20x180x800mm steel bar.

 

This is the clean lines i was talking about in the center of the logo

The nvidia logo need to be de burred and sent to the chrome guy.

 

Next update i will be cutting up my 200$ silverstone FT02, not something a took lightly.

So stay tuned!

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 2

Sorry about the bad picture quality, the first two pictures was taken with my old phone.

This is how the case looked before i stripped it.

Plan A was to keep the internal dustfilters but even after shaving them down they took up too much space.

 

 

After some test fitting i realized they needed to go.

 

So i stripped the case out of the outer shell, then i marked everything that needed to be removed with stickers, didn't have any masking tape but hey, whatever works. I have already removed to HDD Cage, it came out easy after drilling a few rivets.T

 

First i cut out the parts in the back to make room for the 560 radiator, Its so wide it goes in under the motherboard.

 

Then i made two brackets to weld back in, so the part holding the motherboard would stay rigid

 

Then i cut out the rest and rotated the HDD Cage 90 degrees to get the space i needed and welded it in place.

Also it fits really well with the line going down from the end of the 5.25 bay.

I'm gonna cut out one more HDD slot to make room for filling the reservoir.

 

I will do another update later today/tonigth

Stay tuned!

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 3

Next up cutting up the bottom of the case so i can get some proper airflow.

 

I wanted a proper shroud between the fans and the radiator to utilize as much as possible of my radiator surface but nobody sells these so i made one myself

Here is an Image from solidworks.

 

I didn't have more large steel pieces laying around so i welded 4 smaller steel bars onto a plate

 

Then i machined it into the part i wanted

 

Then i used the part to cut a gasket for perfect fit.

 

Test fitting with fans and radiator

 

Then fitting it all in the case, later i am gonna cut out parts of the side so the radiator can slide out sideways directly, this is so a can clean it later without removing all parts from the case.

 

 

Airflow FUCK YEAH!

 

Next update i am adding custom mount for pump and reservoir and a new bracket for a decimec filter in the bottom, also i am painting it, still matteblack only! don't worry There will be green just not on the chassy

 

Stay tuned!

[Groundedbeef]

On a sidenote.

Alfacool provides actual technical drawings right on their homepage atleast for the radiator.

this is AWESOME and I wish more companies would do this.

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 4

So the custom pump and reservoir mount have been welded in, i also removed one more HDD Slot to make it easier to fill the reservoir.

 

Then some paint.

 

In all the excitement of getting some paint on i forgot to weld on the dustfiltermount.

So i welded it in and repainted it.

 

Time to put in a little hardware

 

I had been wondering where to put in the drain for the loop and i think i found a perfect spot that would also look nice.

Installing the pump and reservoir.

Im going the take out the two sticks of memory and replace them with some Dominator Ps with purty lights.

 

Next up cable sleving, this is going to take a while. Got all the sleving today and i have a shitload of cable management to do. Also im not completely sure what patterns i want.

 

Stay tuned!

 

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 5

 

So i am almost done with cablesleving, i got the patterns as i wanted.

 

This is the first sleving i got, the green is terrible and for every wire i sleved i got more and more sad.

 

Then someone on this forum pointed me to icemods and they have an awesome green.

Threw the old one in the trash and started over. It came out pretty awesome me thinks!

 

I ended up splicing all 28 pci-e wires to get less cables on the back

 

The z170 sabertooth board has these annoying ventilation shutters and i am getting rid of them.

I Plan on having maybe one assist fan on the motherboard and i am not using the ones that come with the board, they are too loud. If not, i will need to cover up the hole in the middle of the board as i am not using that horrible useless "dogtag" that came with the board.

 

First off, i put some stickers on the back of the slots i needed to cover, no need to get messy epoxy on the underside of the armor.

 

 

Then roughing up the paint to make the two component filler stick better to the armor

 

 

Paste it up

 

Sand it down

 

 

Ready for paint

 

Here the armor is back on the motherboard.

I also removed the asus sticker on the heatsink to keep the black theme.

I think it looks much better now.  I added before picture, easier to spot the difference.

 

I am currently working and a sli bridge from MSI modding to fit my build.

I am also gonna mod the side panel for a better view of the internals, i am looking for some scratch resistant polycarbonate but it will have to wait abit.

My wallet is very light these days and when oculus draws payment when its ships i will be pretty broke until my next paycheck.

 

Stay tuned!

 

[Groundedbeef]

Biip

[Groundedbeef]

@W-L Pointed me to icemodz. Thanks for that!

[RoroTheDeer]

I've been coming on here just to check this topic every day

[Groundedbeef]

2 minutes ago, Insp1r3 said:

I've been coming on here just to check this topic every day

Well i hope its worth it!

I am spending most of my spare time fiddling with it.

 

Here is a teaser

 

Currently waiting for some foil to get a green back lit nvidia claw logo on there!

Thanks for Tuning in!

[Darkmatter35]

Really cool Ideas man. I love that custom rad mount the air will flow super well through that. I have the dame case but it is air cooled. It gives me literally the same performance as a low end water cooled rig because it has so much airflow. Build log here : 

 

[Groundedbeef]

8 hours ago, Darkmatter35 said:

-SNIP-

Nice build, i like the color coordination ,in my mind its very important as you said on your build log, the temps on this setup is awesome for aircooling.

I always wanted to watercool and i just didn't have the heart to change out the FT02, its a briliant design.

I've come quite a long way from when i first started to tinker.

Heres the first pc i went crazy with, DFI Lanparty, horrible mobo and horrible color cordination

 

 

Thank god IDE cables are a thing of the past!

 

 

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 6

 

Sli bridge and dominator ram modding

 

 

Paint rig

 

 

Some Primer

 

 

Then some paint

 

 

Setting up to mount the painted light bars, i had two options that came with the the ligthbar upgrade, blue and clear

I also picked up some green ones. Dont know if some people are colorblind but they aint green. They are yellow and ugly as hell!

 

 

After a bit of cursing i got some green headlight film, a couple of layers of this gives it just the right green.

 

 

I glued it on to the lower bars, the part that came with the memory keeping the clears from the light bar kit on top.

 

 

They came out exactly as i wanted. Cant wait to see them with the lights on.

 

 

 

SLI Bridge

At first i was looking at the SLI bridges that nvidia was selling and i really wanted the nvidia clawlogo on there, but they did not really fit into the build so i got a bridge from MSI and modded it.

 

 

Front things came off really easy just four screws and i sanded them down and painted them.

 

 

Then i peeled of the MSI logo and glued on some layers of headlight film i had from when i made the dominators.

Then i got a paint sticker the size that i needed to cover up the part the i want to light up

 

Then i painted it black and peeled of the film

 

Finished SLI Bridge

I tested it in on my current PC and it looks awesome.

 

Stay Tuned!

 

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 7

 

GPU Water blocks, Cabling and almost some pipe bending

 

Time to remove the stock coolers

 

Arctic silver make some great TIM remover.

 

As shiny as i could get it.

 

Here is the EK Copper block, apparently the last one they had so my second block is nickel.

 

EK Nickel block

 

It does look sexier than the stock coolers

 

A lot sexier

 

It almost did not fit but my measurements held and i got it in.

 

I Made a cover for the hole in the motherboard as i did not want to use the useless dog tag.

I also put in the fittings and some of the cables.

 

It was really coming nicely along and i wanted to do some of the tubing today, but apparently this is a tight fit WTF??? The silicone insert is less than 9mm and the tubing is 10mm, i tried one bend and it looks horrible. so now i have ordered some from coolerkit and E22, hopefully one of them will fit!

 

My dustcase is coming back from powder coat on Monday and the chrome guy is asking for my first born for polishing and chrome plating the nvidia logo so i will make them shiny myself!

 

Stay tuned!

[RoroTheDeer]

Hot diggidy dog, that is coming along nicely!

[Groundedbeef]

MINI UPDATE

 

So i have put in the first pipe. Finally im moving on.

 

The bending kit that i first got, the one they said was for 10mm bends.

Its the blue one (yeah right)

The White one is a real 10mm insert, nice and tight, i had to oil it up but it did not collapse like the first one.

 

Here is a shot of the first pipe, sorry about the flash it makes the colors go weird.

 

The powder coating was delayed a bit, but i am expecting it done later this week. I cant wait to see how it comes out.

 

I am also planing to make a cover for the graphic cards, partly to cover up the electronics and partly because i have two different blocks on there but also cause i think it would look good.

matte black with to green pin stripes running down in the middle of each card and possibly some writings on the water bridge itself.

 

Also i have made a PSU Cover, none of the cables from the power supply will be visible!

 

Stay tuned!

 

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 8

Loop complete and leak testing.

 

So after a lot of failed attempts i finally got the hang of it, sort of.

 

All the pipes have been installed! hurray! very frustrating process.

I was not able to find tubing longer than 500mm so for the run from the radiator to the reservoir, i put in a splitter with a temperature sensor.

 

May the leaktesting begin!

 

Currently its sitting like this and have been for about 40 minutes. No leaks so far!

 

Im saving up to get the sidepanel done, the polycarbonate scratch resistant stuff is pretty pricey.

I also have to get a price on tempered glass i think it would be sweet.

 

Stay tuned!

[RoroTheDeer]

Are you going to be dyeing the fluid?

[Groundedbeef]

6 minutes ago, Insp1r3 said:

Are you going to be dyeing the fluid?

Right now i am just leak testing with distilled water after this i am cleaning it with some sysclean.

Then flushing it a few times and using this:

 

Then i might add some blue dye if i think its too light green, time will tell.

I did not log this, but i rinsed out all parts with an inline pump and a filter so most of the gunk is out, just wanna make sure since i do not want to change coolant in a month.

[RoroTheDeer]

15 minutes ago, Groundedbeef said:

- SNIP -

Great! I can't wait to see what the final loop looks like! Hopefully a great shade of ye ol' Nvidia green

[Groundedbeef]

UPDATE 8 AND A HALF

 

So i filled up the loop with mayhems mint green.

 

 

This is how it looks with the lights on and dye added, not really what i was aiming for.

 

 

I added some green foil on top of the led lighting and the colors matched up pretty good, however not what i want!

 

 

 

In a last ditch attempt for something else i nuked it with more blue dye. Looks horrible!

 

 

 

As it turns out im not a fan of this color/fluid and its not what i was looking for, even when the pump is running it just looks like i painted the tubes.

i just ordered some X1 - UV Green from mayhems.  Im pretty confident the clear green fluid will be better suited for my build.

 

On the bright side No leaks and my dust case came back from powder coat today, il add some pictures later this week, i will also have to polish the nvidia logo.

 

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

[Unhelpful]

Nickel block and a copper block? Won't mixing metals cause issues?

 

This is really cool though.