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PSA! The Evolv ATX is NOT a water cooling case. Computer exploded.

KWelz
By KWelz
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Posted

This is a little PSA for anyone looking at the Evolv ATX as a Water cooling case.   Just don't do it.  

 

I recently moved over to this case in the desire to have something a little smaller for my desk.  It is beautiful.   Seemed to fit everything I needed and was priced well. 

 

I am running a 5800K and 2x 980Tis.  Cooling was a 240 Rad in the front and a 280 in the top.   

 

Well about 45 - 60 minutes into a Gaming session of Guild Wars 2 things went sideways..  Since this was a new setup I was keeping an eye on temps using the Cam overlay.   Temps were int he Mid 60 and seemed to be edging up which seemed ok but I was keeping an eye on it.  However I suddenly heard a loud pop from the computer and when I looked over water was spraying from the base of the EK Res/Pump combo.  I quickly pulled the plug on the machine and grabbed towels to clean things up.  

 

This is when I discovered the water was actually hot enough that it burned my hand.  So while my CPU and GPU temps were ok, the water temps had climbed to unacceptable levels.  In addition the top of the case was almost as hot.   Too hot to touch with bare hands.   

 

Here is what I am assuming is going on.  

 

The front Radiator is ok.  Airflow is good if not great.   This of course puts a bit more heat into the system but it should be ok.    

However the top Radiator is the real issue.   Despite what Phanteks claims there is not enough ventilation at the top of the case.  What this means is that the top Radiator is in a state of heat soak.   All that heat is retained and passed through to the front radiator, which heats up more, putting more hot air into the case as the fans blow over the fins.  

 

Due to this the water temps rose along with the CPU and GPU temps.   I am estimating that at the point of failure the water was around the same temp as the components since it was hot enough to burn.  And this doesn't happen till around 60 C.  Due to this heating the water expended and the the pressure caused the failure at the point where the Res and Pump were threaded together.   Honestly I am surprised that this was the failure point and not one of the fittings.  However in the end it was lucky because very little damage was done to the rest of the computer as fas as I can tell.   

 

I lost at least 1 SSD and probably 2.   My Hue + is down for the count and the Pump is done.   However the GPUs, CPU, and Logic board all seem to have survived.    

 

I did some testing throughout the night.  And if you take the top panel off my Temps never got above 55 even under the heaviest load and the water temp remained low.  However as soon as you put the top panel back on temps start to creep up.   

 

This was a costly lesson but thankfully not as bad as it could have been.   I was able to save most of the expensive parts and hope to figure out a better solution in the near future.  For now I am unsure if I am going back to my X71, modify the top panel of the Evolv or just try a different case.    But I know I will be a lot more careful in selecting my cases from here on out.  

Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly.

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I don't think you understand just how hot water is at 60+C. It's also not a reason for the loop to leak, that'd be either part failure or user error putting it together.

.

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First of all, you did not have sufficient radiator space for dual gpus and cpu loop, so yes it would have gotten hot.

 

Also, for it to burst like that, you did not leak test/pressure test your system properly or forgot to fully tighten a fitting near the pump/res combo.

 

And yes that case is not a good watercooling case anyway, not enough radiator support. I suggest the Dark Base Pro 900, Elegant yet keeps my components below 50C after a hefty overclock (6700k and 2x 1080s). It fits 1x 360 rad at the top and 420 at the front. Bottom can have a 280 too if you get a shorter PSU.

 

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No. Its fine for watercooling. You put too much hardware in for the amount of radiator space, and did not leak test it properly.

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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6 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

So you're CPU temps were around 60c and your water temps were the same or higher?  You had a bigger issue than your case.

 

 

 

No this was directly related to the case.   Read the entire post.  When I tested the loop later with the case top off the problem went away.   As soon as I put the top back on the problem came back.  

 

 

5 minutes ago, iiNNeX said:

First of all, you did not have sufficient radiator space for dual gpus and cpu loop, so yes it would have gotten hot.

 

Also, for it to burst like that, you did not leak test/pressure test your system properly or forgot to fully tighten a fitting near the pump/res combo.

 

 

I did a full test for 24 hours with no problems.   This only occurred when pressure got extremely high due to the water temperature.   The failure was not at a fitting but instead where the Res Tube actually screws into the Pump.   I was using an EK D5 Revo Pump/res Combo.    

 

I am not saying I didn't make any mistakes on assembling the loop but I could not find any when I went through it.   I will take a photo of the loop later when I get home so you all can dissect it.  

 

r

Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly.

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5 minutes ago, spwath said:

No. Its fine for watercooling. You put too much hardware in for the amount of radiator space, and did not leak test it properly.

 

120MM per component is the minimum.  I had more than that.  I did leak test property and The problem goes away when the top panel is removed.  

 

Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly.

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6 minutes ago, KWelz said:

The failure was not at a fitting but instead where the Res Tube actually screws into the Pump.   I was using an EK D5 Revo Pump/res Combo.    

 

I am not saying I didn't make any mistakes on assembling the loop but I could not find any when I went through it.   I will take a photo of the loop later when I get home so you all can dissect it.  

 

 

I failed to tighten this exact thing once.  The loop tested overnight just fine and the next day as I was draining and refilling it, that part separated and water shot everywhere.  It was my fault.

 

I should add, I was lucky as there was no damage to anything due to no power to the other components.

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2 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

 

I failed to tighten this exact thing once.  The loop testied overnight just fine and the next day as I was draining and refilling it, that part separated and water shot everywhere.  It was my fault.

 

I should add, I was lucky as there was no damage to anything due to no power to the other components.

Agreed.   I wondered about this personally.  However it stripped the threads from the acrylic tube completely when it went.  I found pieces of it in there.   Plus this is the same combo I have been using and it wasn't disassembled.  

 

 

I will say again..   I am not saying I didn't make mistakes.   I am sure there are some.   but I have spent the last 12 hours going through everything.  Both checking my notes and checklist I used as I built it, checking the parts in detail, and re-testing everything possible.  

 

 

I also ran followup tests as I stated int he OP.  testing the case with and without the Front and top panel.  Hell.  I ran a 90 minute Aida Extreme last night after this happened with the panels removed and it functioned great.   The only difference is using my old DDC pump instead of the D5.   

 

 

Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly.

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Just now, KWelz said:

Agreed.   I wondered about this personally.  However it stripped the threads from the acrylic tube completely when it went.  I found pieces of it in there.   Plus this is the same combo I have been using and it wasn't disassembled.  

 

 

I will say again..   I am not saying I didn't make mistakes.   I am sure there are some.   but I have spent the last 12 hours going through everything.  Both checking my notes and checklist I used as I built it, checking the parts in detail, and re-testing everything possible.  

 

 

I also ran followup tests as I stated int he OP.  testing the case with and without the Front and top panel.  Hell.  I ran a 90 minute Aida Extreme last night after this happened with the panels removed and it functioned great.   The only difference is using my old DDC pump instead of the D5.  

 

Yeah mine was just a bone head move and I got lucky.  

 

Overall your design is pushing it too much.  I am very familiar with the 120mm per block generalization, but your were definitely on the light side for surface area even in an extremely well ventilated case.  Combine that with a case that may not be the best and things like this will happen.

 

You got lucky as did I, but I would definitely not blame the case for this.

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3 hours ago, done12many2 said:

 

Yeah mine was just a bone head move and I got lucky.  

 

Overall your design is pushing it too much.  I am very familiar with the 120mm per block generalization, but your were definitely on the light side for surface area even in an extremely well ventilated case.  Combine that with a case that may not be the best and things like this will happen.

 

You got lucky as did I, but I would definitely not blame the case for this.

 

As I have said.  I take my blame where it is warranted.  But the case design does contribute to this.  Despite Phanteks claim that you can put a Radiator up to, that is obviously false.  Any Radiator put up top will be either starved for air or unable to vent the heat it puts off.   

 

I am not saying the case or Phanteks is a company is bad.  I am saying that this case is not suited for Water cooling a complete enthusiast system despite what they claim.  

 

Closed loop CPU cooler in the front with Air cooled GPUs?   I bet that would work great.   But not a Custom Watercooling case for sure.  

 

Here is a pretty bad photo of the setup taken with my Camera phone. This is with the Temporary Pump.  

 

Also the run from the top of the GPUs to the top Radiator was a temporary one while I wait on a couple more fittings. 

IMG_0039.jpg

Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly.

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  • 1 year later...
Posted

I can absolutely confirm this. With the top cover off, the temps are fine under load. Top cover on, the cover gets so hot, you can barely touch it.

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On 7/31/2016 at 8:05 PM, done12many2 said:

The title of this thread should probably be changed.

What to "Moron tries to watercool, f***s it up and then blames the case"? Yeah that sounds right lmfao. I've never done watercooling myself but I know that the water temp should be no more than 10c-20c higher than ambient from a quick google.

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8 minutes ago, spat55 said:

What to "Moron tries to watercool, f***s it up and then blames the case"? Yeah that sounds right lmfao. I've never done watercooling myself but I know that the water temp should be no more than 10c-20c higher than ambient from a quick google.

 

45 minutes ago, metalgrin said:

I can absolutely confirm this. With the top cover off, the temps are fine under load. Top cover on, the cover gets so hot, you can barely touch it.

 

Please look at the last reply date before you post. You will see that the last reply date is August 1st, 2016 so anything you say or quote here is probably irrelevant at this point.

Ye ole' train

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1 minute ago, lots of unexplainable lag said:

 

 

 

Please look at the last reply date before you post. You will see that the last reply date is August 1st, 2016 so anything you say or quote here is probably irrelevant at this point.

It was the new guy that bumped it not me, I'm just replying to it because this is hilarious.

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100C is boiling at 60C it was around 130-150 Fahrenheit. 

Yeah but @spat55 it looks like he already has a new system becuase of his profile has a new build in it with 1080SLI and stuff

Ex frequent user here, still check in here occasionally. I stopped being a weeb in 2018 lol

 

For a reply please quote or  @Eduard the weeb me :D

 

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1 minute ago, Eduard the weeb said:

100C is boiling at 60C it was around 130-150 Fahrenheit. 

Yeah but @spat55 it looks like he already has a new system becuase of his profile has a new build in it with 1080SLI and stuff

At least it didn't put him off, hopefully he learnt a lesson or two.

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5 hours ago, spat55 said:

At least it didn't put him off, hopefully he learnt a lesson or two.

This was not my first time watercooling. In fact it wasn't even close. 

 

Other people have also had similar issues with this case although not to the extend mine was.  

 

This case is not suitable for watercooling. The airflow is really bad and top radiators are unable to vent the heat without nodding the panel or removing it. 

 

This has been confirmed by prefessuonal builders over the last year. So maybe you should look around before you insult someone. 

Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly.

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14 minutes ago, KWelz said:

This case is not suitable for putting anything in it

FTFY ;) 

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9 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

 

According to his profile, he's rocking a Caselabs SMA8 now.  Great choice if you ask me.  :D

should have been a Define C... :P 

I spent $2500 on building my PC and all i do with it is play no games atm & watch anime at 1080p(finally) watch YT and write essays...  nothing, it just sits there collecting dust...

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#1. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

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