My first build - Buld log - £1000 budget

[Jimmyhocki]

So I decided to make the move from console to PC (mostly just because I fancied a project.) The only issue was that it had to be inside a cupboard within my media cabinet.

 

I first went about finding a low profile case and opted for the Granadia GD09 - a great looking case

ASUS z97 Pro Gamer motherboard

i7 - 4790K Intel CPU @4.6

32GB Hyper X Fury Ram DDR3 (2132Hz)

GTX 1070

250GB SSD

1TB HDD

 

(A few of these are second hand - the hardrives for example)

 

Lang DDC Pump

Other watercooling components

Pastel liquid (has a bad rep but so far I really like it...ill update if it begins to cause any issues.)

 

I decided to make the move to overclock both the GPU and CPU, modestly, but within the low profile case it generated a lot of heat so at first I cut a rectangular hole in the top and mounted two fans to add to the air flow.

 

After getting carried away I decided to go ahead and water cool, although I know the benefits of this are always in debate I thought it would look awesome so I went and did it anyway (again, I just fancied a project.)

 

It was going to be a shame however to hide away water cooling within the case, which being low profile would probably have been impossible anyway, so I decided to make another hole in the lid,...

 

 

I have attached pictures of what this ended up like, I thought might be interesting as I used the cabinet itself to mount the watercooling rather than the case. A little bit different perhaps, if not a bit of a hack but then again, this is my first ever build so I can refine it.

 

Oh and I also just lined the cabinet with soundproofing foam to absorb a bit of the resonance on the wood as it had a bit of a hum about it.

 

P,s the motherboard used in the pictures was actually just a test board which was a broken mobo for me to fit the heat sink to - I connected the pump to a molex adaptor on the PSU and ran it for 24 hours as suggested to see if it leaked before connecting to the z97 and fitting in the case.

 

Luckily with the sound proofing foam the light isn't visible when the door is shut. My concern with the foam was the additional heat it might soak up but to be honest with the radiator fans pumping heat out of the cupboard even with the foam there is more circulation in there so it runs at a better temp overall.

 

Oh and also I pinned the tube drooping down from reservoir to the radiator to the top of the cupboard so it doesn't hang like that anymore.

 

 

 

[Gruenbaum]

Looks good!

[Jimmyhocki]

@Gruenbaum - was quite a fun little project

[Ctown0812]

Looks like a lot of fun! How long did it take you?

 

[Jimmyhocki]

@Ctown0812 IN all honesty I didn't time but id say the fitting parts and cutting up the cupboard took about 4/5 hours roughly, maybe an hour fitting everything inside the case, then add running it for 24 hours to make sure no leaks all in it took me from Saturday morning to late Sunday.

 

One thing i definitely learnt is the pump with its standard top does not have a connection for compression fittings so I was forced to cable tie the pipes around it, in future I would ensure I buy a after market top for the pump.

[Ctown0812]

@jimmyhock nice. I always learn something new with every build.  well have fun with it, and welcome to the club! #pcmasterrace

 

[Jimmyhocki]

Doors closed, like it never happened!

[Jimmyhocki]

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