Felix Hydro, its finally coming together

[Mattyp92]

So this build started as just a few upgrades to my old computer and has evolved into its own.

 

For Christmas my parents had gotten me anow ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard and an i5 6600 to go along with it.  They were under the impression that the 6600 and 6600k were the same and they just found a better deal.  Since my old build had DDR3 RAM, I asked my girlfriend to get me a set of 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX sticks (I wasn't positive I was getting the new mobo and cpu but I had believed I did a good enough job convincing my parents I needed an upgrade).  

 

That is where I thought it was going to end but I eventually decided I needed a better GPU so as a birthday gift to myself I picked up a 980Ti.  It was then that the idea of this being a completely new build was conceived and thus, Felix was born.

 

Not long after I got bored with a locked CPU and sold my 6600 and bought a 6600k.  My Lexa S was looking a little cramped so I also grabbed a Corsair 750D (so much room for activities!)  I'm still using the same PSU as before, sortuv... I had an Corsair AX1200 since my last build had a much different upgrade path when I originally built it and after 5 years of upgrades never ended up with its two GTX680s and overkill water loop.  Either way the AX1200 had to be sent in to Corsair and they sent back an AX1200i.  It's brand new so it earned it's place as Felix's electricity funnel.

 

The only things that were carried over directly from my old build were the drives and CPU cooler, but even they are on the list to be upgraded, only to return home to what will soon be a hand-me-down build for my girlfriend.  The current upgrade path planned for Felix include the Felix SS update, which includes 2 new SSDs in RAID0 and the removal of all current HDDs and drive bays, and the Felix Hydro update which will be when I install the sleeved cables and custom water loop.  Felix SS will be a continuation of this build log but the Felix Hydro upgrade will earn it's own log, with video and all. 

 

Felix v1.0 consists of:

 

CPU: Intel i5-6600k

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master V6 GT (missing one fan)

Motherboard: ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming

RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2133

GPU: EVGA 980Ti ACX2.0+ (06g-p4-4991-kr)

Case: Corsair 750D Airfow Edition

SSD: 250GB Samsung 840 Evo 

HDD: 1x 500GB WD Caviar Black 7200RPM

     2x 320GB WD Caviar Blue 5400RPM in RAID0

PSU: Corsair AX1200i

Fans: assorted fans that either came with the case or pulled from my old case.  To be upgraded with the Felix Hydro update.

 

Update:

 

Felix Hydro is now complete, even after having my GPU block leak.  Pictures at the end.

[Mattyp92]

Boxes with the motherboard, CPU, and cooler installed

So much room for activities! 

Cables routed, front panel connected

Power Supply and drives installed

Isn't the 980Ti sexy?

What a mess!

A little better, will do a better job when I install the sleeved cables.

Love the front, nice and simple

All done?

Nope!  Needs more fans and drives

Edited March 24, 2016 by Mattyp92
Pictures!

[Simon771]

2 minutes ago, Mattyp92 said:

 

 

For Christmas my parents had gotten me anow ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard and an i5 6600 to go along with it.  They were under the impression that the 6600 and 6600k were the same and they just found a better deal.  Since my old build had DDR3 RAM, I asked my girlfriend to get me a set of 8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX sticks (I wasn't positive I was getting the new mobo and cpu but I had believed I did a good enough job convincing my parents I needed an upgrade).  

 

 

Cool parents!

Even cooler girlfriend  

[klnh]

nice build, only thing that bothers me is that you have 3 separate hhd instead of 1 bigger, but that is jusr my ocd to make things with less parts

[Mattyp92]

19 minutes ago, klnh said:

nice build, only thing that bothers me is that you have 3 separate hhd instead of 1 bigger, but that is jusr my ocd to make things with less parts

Lol the HDD situation is a case of salvaging together parts that have been collected over time.  The 500GB was originally the drive I bought for my old build and the 2 other drives were pulled from 2 different pre-builts I had lying around from who knows when that I decided to put in RAID0 when I saw they were identical.  They are all coming out when I get my new SSDs but I will still have 3.  My current one is going to be a dedicated Linux drive and the 2 new ones will be in RAID0 since I keep everything important backed up and the extra $10 compared to a single larger drive is worth it.  Loading games like Civ 5 or Kerbal Space Program takes forever even on a SSD when you run as many mods that I do.  Last I checked my KSP install loads 12GB into RAM.

[Mattyp92]

38 minutes ago, Simon771 said:

Cool parents!

Even cooler girlfriend  

Being a Computer Science major I convinced them that it would help with school lol.  My girlfriend just asked me what I wanted and wanted to make me happy after she found out what I had gotten her (cleverly guessed on the first try so I didn't bother trying to lie about it).

[Mattyp92]

Added pictures

[DieHörnær]

ENHANCE!

 

 

ENHANCE!

 

 

What is this strange beast?

[Mattyp92]

11 hours ago, DieHörnær said:

-snip

As you can tell I'm not a professional photographer lol

[DieHörnær]

12 hours ago, Mattyp92 said:

As you can tell I'm not a professional photographer lol

Pulling ya leg

 

[Mattyp92]

On 3/26/2016 at 6:00 PM, BurnerMC said:

Not all builds are what people envision them to be.

It was more that I wasn't actually planning on starting a new build lol, it just has changed so much from my old build that it became it's own.  So much for just "upgrading"

[Mattyp92]

Just ordered my water cooling parts, Felix Hydro is about to start it's transformation shortly!

[Mattyp92]

It's all here!  I bought the wrong fan for the extra 140 rad but I got a spare laying around that I can use until the new one gets here. 

[Mattyp92]

Update: the screws that came with the rads were about a mm too short, running to the hardware store tomorrow morning.  Also, I discovered I should have gone with a 120 rad not 140, oh well gonna just change the order of the loop.

[Heesleemer]

1 hour ago, Mattyp92 said:

Update: the screws that came with the rads were about a mm too short, running to the hardware store tomorrow morning.  Also, I discovered I should have gone with a 120 rad not 140, oh well gonna just change the order of the loop.

why is that? (order?)

6/32 is your friend

[Mattyp92]

7 hours ago, Heesleemer said:

why is that? (order?)

6/32 is your friend

The 750D has rubber sound dampening grommets that make it so the screws can't go through the fan and still connect to the radiator.  And I was gonna put the 140 rad on the rear exhaust but it hits the 360 rad.  A 120 would have been just enough smaller.

 

Anyway I got the GPU block on last night at least. 

[alexyy]

Nice build what's with the insane overkill powersupply? 

[ImmyCakes]

On 24/03/2016 at 6:56 AM, Mattyp92 said:

HDD: 1x 500GB WD Caviar Black 7200RPM

     2x 320GB WD Caviar Blue 5400RPM in RAID0

Wait, Why not just get something like a 2TB hard drive? Or did you just have them on hand from before?

[Mattyp92]

1 hour ago, alexyy said:

Nice build what's with the insane overkill powersupply? 

Needed the ax1200 for some planned upgrades for a previous build that never happened.  It died and Corsair replaced it with the AXi.

1 hour ago, ImmyCakes said:

Wait, Why not just get something like a 2TB hard drive? Or did you just have them on hand from before?

I had them on hand, none of the drives are new for this build.

[Mattyp92]

About to leak test, nothing how I envisioned it but it works.

[Mattyp92]

GPU block had a leak, gonna send it back and let my card dry out.

[Mattyp92]

Fixed the leak, got it working. 

[Mattyp92]

System is finally complete!  Replacing the HDDs with a larger SSD probably with my tax return. 

 

I ended up having to place my fans outside the case on the top because theyou were just barely hitting my motherboard and I couldn't line up the standoffs right on it.  I also had to RMA one of my fans (DOA) so I haveone of the fans from my old heatsink up there for the time being.

[DieHörnær]

Redshift woah! Looks reddy good man!

[Mattyp92]

On 5/7/2016 at 7:07 AM, DieHörnær said:

Looks reddy good man!

Very punny lol.  Thanks, I was debating between red or white lights but the leds in the CPU block ended up working out there for a nice compromise.