Project Armada - Watercooled | Define R4 Titanium | EK Waterblocks | Completed - Final Photo's

[Akula]

Project ARMADA

 

Index

Gigabyte Mainboard - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1007333

Define R4 - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1050429

Fans & Radiator - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1050988

Custom Cables - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1081853

LC Teleios - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1111740

EK Waterblocks - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1138980

RAM & Sleeving - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1196368

PrimoChill Tubing - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks/?p=1205067

Corsair SP120's - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks-completed-final-photos/?p=1206175

Bitspower Z Reservoir - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks-completed-final-photos/?p=1226919

Completed - Final Photo's - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/73352-project-armada-watercooled-define-r4-titanium-ek-waterblocks-completed-final-photos/?p=1232131

 

Completion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

My third LinusTechTips build-log, this particular log will be different to my past, documenting far greater throughout the building process hopefully bringing more people into the log to share ideas.

May seem strange to start a new project when my previous Mercury build-log is not complete, but i assure you that log is coming to an end.

 

Several months ago i bought myself the Fractal Design Mini, have to say it suited my own personality perfectly, simple, sleek and small.

I've never been a person to throw colors at a build, normally resorting to dull colors, blacks greys and whites with a splash of color but for this particular log i feel like stepping outside the box a little.

 

I'm still going over this log in my head so changes to the components and design will fluctuate.

A large portion of the components within the log will be of an older generation, i intend to use my leftover components rather than sell them.

 

Please note this is not going to be a build-log where you should expect to see the highest end components, some of my choices may seem odd or unusual but I'm trying to keep my wallet intact throughout this log as much as possible.

 

Vision & Color Scheme

I'm still tossing up how i want to plan this build, i have plenty of water-cooling components that can be salvaged for this build and i have plenty of ideas for Air Cooling.

 

Well, I've made my decision, Water is it. I have so much spare water-cooling components it just seemed right, not to mention i enjoy the silence you get from water-cooling.

I've decided to integrate Aqua into this build, aside from the typical Grey & Blacks i believe the Aqua element will provide a nice bold & striking contrast color, especially in the EK Solid Tubing.

 

Main Components

• Fractal Design R4 Titanium
• Gigabyte Z68X UD4-B3
• Intel 1155 2600k
• Corsair Dominator GT 2133 (4x4GB)
• Silverstone Strider 1200w Gold
• Samsung 840 Pro (256GB)
• Gigabyte GTX Titan OC

Watercooling Components

• EKWB Supremacy Full Nickel Clean CSQ Waterblock
• EKWB Monarch Acetal Waterblock
• EBWB Titan SE Acetal & Nickel Clean CSQ Waterblock
• EBWB 2 x 240mm PE Radiator
• Laing D5 Vario Pump (Spare)
• Bitspower 150ml Z-Reservoir & Upgrade Kit

Fittings & Tubing

• EK-CSQ Nickel Compression Fitting x 4
• EK-CSQ Black Compression Fitting x 8
• PrimoChill Advanced LRT 3/8 x 1/2 Clear
• PrimoChill "Blue" Dye & Distilled Water

Extras

• 16AWG 2.3mm Custom Cables
•  LC Teleios Sleeving (Aqua, Light Grey & Black)

Closing

So just to advise everyone considering following this log, the updates will be slow, but detailed. I have limited time throughout the week up until Christmas, so time spent on this build will be minimal.

I'm looking forward to creating a build that can inspire others to reuse components all the while creating something beautiful.

 

Stay tuned.

[maddogl]

sounds like it will be good can i have a link to your other logs?

 

edit: de-soldering connections? such as what i'm new to getting rid of things that are not needed.

[wng_kingsley7]

Oops I misread your title " PROJECT AMANDA" WHATT! Give it a few seconds "ohhh armada".

My opinion on colour is please don't go grey, I like that other build with grey but how he/she made it appealing is the clean runs. Grey is the ugliest colour

 

sounds like it will be good can i have a link to your other logs?

Press his signatures

[KingLuvely]

Look forward to it man. Nice name too!

[maddogl]

Oops I misread your title " PROJECT AMANDA" WHATT! Give it a few seconds "ohhh armada".

My opinion on colour is please don't go grey, I like that other build with grey but how he/she made it appealing is the clean runs. Grey is the ugliest colour

 

Press his signatures

with the dark theme you cannot see them.

[Akula]

sounds like it will be good can i have a link to your other logs?

 

edit: de-soldering connections? such as what i'm new to getting rid of things that are not needed.

 

Yes i intend to get rid of the junk that i won't be using, eg USB, Firewire, COMS.

I'll be stripping this motherboard down to it's bare minimum.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/17364-project-akula-dimastech-bench-watercooled-tri-gtx-680/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/56428-project-mercury-caselabs-s3-watercooled-gtx-titan/

 

 

Oops I misread your title " PROJECT AMANDA" WHATT! Give it a few seconds "ohhh armada".

My opinion on colour is please don't go grey, I like that other build with grey but how he/she made it appealing is the clean runs. Grey is the ugliest colour

 

Press his signatures

 

I got something special planned, don't worry It won't be boring

 

Look forward to it man. Nice name too!

 

Thanks bud, yeah i love the name

 

 

Why Sandy? Why not Haswell?

 

I stated why, in the first paragraph :mellow:

Recycling old components.

[flibberdipper]

Why Sandy? Why not Haswell?

[Akula]

Gigabyte Z68X UD4-B3

I've had this motherboard for some time now, clearly as this is one of the very first Sandy Bridge motherboards.

I've chosen Sandy Bridge and particularly this motherboard due to it's reliability, My current 2600k has been a solid processor, I've had countless other newer generation processors and nothing comes close to my experience with Sandy Bridge.

 

I wouldn't say the UD4 is the most appealing nor high end motherboard even for a Z68 Chipset, although at the time i was on a budget and this was my first choice, it's seen me through the years unscathed.

 

I'm still undecided how i want to proceed with this log, considering taking off the UD4 heat-sinks and giving them a nice paint job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alpenwasser]

I've chosen Sandy Bridge and particularly this motherboard due to it's reliability, My current 2600k has been a solid processor, I've had countless other newer generation processors and nothing comes close to my experience with Sandy Bridge.

Sandy Bridge was the last upgrade from Intel that actually impressed me, everything

since then has been rather meh in my personal opinion (except those new 12 core Xeon

chips, oh my... :wub: ).

Anyway: I'll happily stay for the duration of this log.

[Akula]

Sandy Bridge was the last upgrade from Intel that actually impressed me, everything

since then has been rather meh in my personal opinion (except those new 12 core Xeon

chips, oh my... :wub: ).

Anyway: I'll happily stay for the duration of this log.

 

Yeah i think it was really the first time for quite a while where the consumer saw massive performance improvements at a great price point.

Good to have you on board

[flibberdipper]

I kind of like the colors of everything on the board right now. DON'T CHANGE A THING.

[LogicDeifying]

Man you and your Sandy Bridge....

Gotta love Sandy Bridge

Look foward to this already followed.

[Air tree]

My build is still far from coming along due to my life.

 

Good luck on your Grey build Also!

 

 

 

P.s That motherboard is Perfect.

[Akula]

Polished Capacitors

Something that irritates me with Gigabyte motherboards, those silly blue capacitors, well a little 99% Alcohol solved that issue.

Can't have a Titanium build with blue caps

 

Ok that's enough of the motherboard, it's not that special

 

[alpenwasser]

Polished Capacitors

Something that irritates me with Gigabyte motherboards, those silly blue capacitors, well a little 99% Alcohol solved that issue.

It's not just Gigabyte boards that have those, my SR-2 did as well.

[AxelPeeters]

That mobo looks sweeeeet

[Akula]

Color Choices

Decided to order myself a few lengths of LC Teleios Sleeving earlier, grabbed myself several colors although I'm highly considering the following combination below, Aqua, Grey & Black. It's been done before obviously although i think i can put my own twist on the color scheme.

Might wonder why i decided with Aqua, as I'm not exactly using a ASUS Motherboard, Well i love Aqua, it's a nice bold color without being too dramatic. (Still no reason to have blue caps though )

 

24PIN EPS   ▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐

 

8PIN EPS    ▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐

 

8+6PIN PCIE▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐    +  ▐▐▐▐▐▐

 

This is my initial scheme, although until i receive the sleeve i won't know what actually looks the part.

I've decided with LC Teleios this time around, it has a far thicker weave and requires less work when training & sleeving so naturally I've taken the easy way out

 

The majority of the build will be focused around Black & Grey with the splash of Aqua coming from the sleeving and potentially the coolant, that is if i decide to go down that path.

[Akula]

Define R4 Titanium

Well it arrived yesterday in all it's glory

Absolute love the clean lines of this case, sure it's a little bigger than i wanted, but unfortunately i did not have a mATX motherboard on hand for this specific build, or i would have gone back to the Define Mini.

 

I've stripped the case down to near bare minimum, i won't be needing the hard-drive cages nor the stock fans.

I've got plans to mount an EK PE Radiator up top and in the front, so i'll be replacing all stock fans with Noiseblocker's

 

Installed the motherboard to test fit the EK Radiator's, sure enough they fit due to Fractal Design's improvement's with their mounting holes, note it is still off-center mounting for a thicker radiator due to the motherboard heatsink & RAM Clips.

 

I'm waiting for my LC Sleeving, then i'll begin my long and horrible process of custom cables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Akula]

Noiseblocker & Radiator

Mounted the rear Noiseblocker PL-2 - I've also completed the custom cable & sleeving for that specific fan, I'll be using that as an exhaust fan while the others as push.

I was test fitting the EK PE Radiator, as most would have found out, the Define R4 is not exactly designed for water-cooling, although they did make improvements with the mounting holes on the top, it's still not perfect.

 

Very tight fit, but I've been able to fit a 38mm EK PE Radiator & 2 x 25mm Noiseblocker's in a push setup, all the while keeping the rear fan

 

Don't mind the dust on the PE Radiator, I've had it out in the open for the past few weeks so it's collected it's fair share

Still deciding on the origination of the radiator, depending on the tubing route will decide which side the ports will be mounted.

 

 

 

[Dacho]

Gonna be sweet

[Akula]

Custom Cables

Started making my custom cables for the Silverstone Strider 1200w Power Supply.

I've completed the 6+8 PIN PCIE & 8 PIN EPS Cables already and I'm in the process of the making the 24PIN EPS.

 

I've chosen Blue, Grey & Black to be my theme, the color of the blue cable will not accurately represent the color of the sleeving as of yet, although i intend it to be Aqua Blue.

 

Oh and i bought myself the NZXT Grid 10PIN Splitter PCB - Excellent little thing

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CJPowell27]

Dem bare cables. I used the bare look on my build. Will the sleeping be the same pattern too? Blue grey and black are my schools colors

[Akula]

Dem bare cables. I used the bare look on my build. Will the sleeping be the same pattern too? Blue grey and black are my schools colors

 

Just test fitting the cables

Yes I'll be going with something very similar with the sleeving colors, although the blue will be replaced with Aqua.

[Akula]

EKWB Customer Service! A++

I have to hand it to EK - Their customer service has been fantastic throughout this build, not to mention previous builds.

I was faced with the dilemma of buying brand new waterblocks for this build, a dilemma i didn't want to encounter.

 

Originally i was under the impression i would have to buy new RAM, CPU & GPU Blocks to fit the style of the build so then i looked into replacement waterblock tops which EK sell separately.

Problem was they didn't have the replacement tops i required

 

I emailed an EKWB representative and sure they they agreed to make a custom order with all the replacement tops i require, 7 days later they arrived

 

On a completely unrelated note, I nearly finished making my custom 24PIN when i ran out of crimp connections - For anyone that has made enough cables, it's very hard to motivate yourself i find and at the time i was motivated

[Homicidium]

Why Sandy? Why not Haswell?

 

Because Sandy Bridge is still incredibly capable!

Can't wait how this build is going to turn out, I have no doubt that it's going to any less epic than your other build, Akula! I'm even more glad that it features my favorite case