Too ridiculous?

saitir · November 29, 2016

Ok, my current rig is somewhat dated, but pretty satisfactory generally speaking. Recently putting a GTX 1070 in didn't do it any harm certainly.

However, it's i7-2600 is looking a little long in the tooth and with my personal plans for the next few years, we're probably getting close to the 'last chance' for a decent rebuild.

My current idea is just to wait for kaby lake and go with an i7 7700k, and some 'x270' or whatever motherboard and so on. I'll live with 1070 for now as that's an easy replacement.

So far, so normal and nothing weird. Obviously with a 'k' the idea is over clocking. I'd initially intended to just go with a noctua twin tower 3 fan beastie that pretty much out performs a H100 aio.

But, then I realised I'd agreed to build a water feature... So my feeble imagination caught fire and I came up with the following:

No real case, board mount the components, build a custom loop (include the gpu more out of completeness than expected performance increases).

Encase the whole thing in a 750mm (about 2' 6") diameter acrylic hemisphere, with a 1 - 2mm gap inside the shell that will contain the reservoir and, if built correctly, add the water feature I was intending to build anyway.

I figure this will give a reservoir of about 1.5 litres, and some colouring/opacity will probably give the best aesthetic results.

Internal lighting will be via a Hue connected system, so I can control the 'rgb' along with the full room ambience.

The whole thing will be mounted on a robust steel/cast iron floor stand (a circular or semi circular loop at the base, rising to a single post on which the 'system back board' is mounted). Cables leading to power and Ethernet, and a discreet USB hub will flow down the inside of the stand tubing.

Acrylic hemispeheres are readily available (if not exactly cheap), and appropriate build quality and sealants, not to mention coupling will be make or break on the one hand, as will a pump with enough flow for decorative purposes without being overkill for the cooling system. Additional pumps/bubblers might be needed for the decorative element, but with the pump being fed from the bottom, the air bubbles shouldn't be a problem...

Or.. .am I just batshit crazy? Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so on the one hand, screw you! On the other, is the amount of fluid in the reservoir too much for practical cooling? is the potentially excess aeration going to cause issues later on?

Obviously making sure hinges and/or easy removal of the water shell are important, as will be ease of flushing the system - given the prominence we don't want to give to gunky water.

Other problems, practical issues I'm missing?

Seriously any feedback and/or ridicule very much appreciated.

knightslugger · November 29, 2016

Kaby Lake looks to be more or less an incremental update. Probably not worth the premium price tag that new CPUs fetch, and considering the latest&greatest crowd will be dumping their 6700k's like last night's goulash as soon as the 7700k's arrive you might fetch a gently used silicon for a damn good price. you can use the money you save from not buying a Z270 board to buy better quality parts for the scratch chassis build.

saitir · November 29, 2016

1 minute ago, knightslugger said:

Kaby Lake looks to be more or less an incremental update. Probably not worth the premium price tag that new CPUs fetch, and considering the latest&greatest crowd will be dumping their 6700k's like last night's goulash as soon as the 7700k's arrive you might fetch a gently used silicon for a damn good price. you can use the money you save from not buying a Z270 board to buy better quality parts for the scratch chassis build.

But 5Ghz overclocked dude! ;-)

Seriously, you're right, I completely agree with everything you say. Originally I was waiting for Kaby Lake, purely to get the maximum 'gen' lifespan between purchase and obsolescence. However, given that for almost everything my 2600 is still serviceable, you're really right.