Build log - new PC

GReeN_ORB

GReeN_ORB

Persistent illusion
Okay peeps, so here is the build log for my new rig. Took approximately two days to assemble, but largely cause I'm a n00b and didn't plan the WC loop out properly.

PC components:
MSI Mpower Max Z87 motherboard
Intel 4770k (Ultracooled by Vivi)
Corsair Vengeance DDR3-2133 16gb
2 X PNY GTX780
Creative ZxR soundcard
Corsair AX1200i PSU
Corsair Force LS 240gb SSD (boot drive)
Seagate 4TB storage drive
Various other hard-drives (including a 256gb Samsung SSD for my games)
Corsair 900D case

Cooling components
BlackIce GTX Extreme 360 radiator
Heatkiller Rev. 3 CPU waterblock
Alphacool Repack dual 5.25" Bay reservoir
Swiftech MCP-655B pump
Mayhem Pastel Yellow coolant
Tygon R-3400 1/2" ID tubing
4 x Bitspower compression fittings (for res and rad)
2 x 45 deg. Bitspower compression fittings (for cpu block)
3 x Corsair SP120 Performance high static pressure fans (for radiator)
3 x Corsair SP120 Quiet high static pressure fans (for front of case)
1 x Corsair AF140 Quiet (for exhaust fan)

Now onto some pics. Apologies in advance for the decidedly average photo quality, they were mostly taken with a cellphone camera. Once the build is fully complete, I'll do a proper photoshoot.

Here is a pic of all the components laid out:
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A shot of the size of the case. It's slightly ridiculous, but awesome!

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Watercooling loop in, attempt 1. Realised the next morning that I had connected the tubing to the cpu block inlet to the wrong barb on the pump.

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For some reason I didn't take a before pic with the revised loop, sans GFX cards, but here is a mostly complete rig, with the new loop:

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A shot of the complete rig, although I tidied the pump wiring up better, after the photo was taken:

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A closeup of the cpu block, showing the 45 degree compression fittings, and why they're necessary:

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I still have quite a bit to do on the case, and in order of priority:
- install yellow LED strips behind the motherboard, for backlighting.
- paint the ring around the AF140 yellow.
- replace the red LEDs near the res with yellow ones.
- fit a fanspeed controller (or two) for the front and top fans. Still trying to decide on which controller/s.
- fit a floorplate between the PSU and the motherboard.
- fit a 'box' over the pump, to hide it away.
- fit a cover plate over the sides and back of the 5.25" bays to hide the res, from the inside.
- replace the crappy Creative ribbon cable for the daughter-board with a properly sleeved one, likely in yellow.
- fit full-cover Heatkiller waterblocks and backplates to the GTX780s.
- re-sleeve the PSU cables in yellow or silver, to better go with the colour theme of the case.

So, still quite a bit to do on the case, but atleast it's up and running.

CPU is currently running at 4.8ghz, 1.35v. Idle temps are around 30C for all four cores, whilst under load it reaches a max of 60C.

PC scored 17870 in 3dmark11, and 12698 in Firestrike. Also, scored 10.40 in Cinebench.

Comments welcome!
 
Well done bud.

It looks amazing and I can see you spent a boat load of cash xD
That'll last you for at least a year or so :D lol Kidding.

Also see you at least took some of my advice on a lot of the parts...makes me happy :D lol
 
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Wow what a machine!! :eek: I am so jealous at the moment. And what about the whole setup, screen and all? What special amazing setup are you coupling to that beast of a machine? 3x screens or what? And add pics of that!!!
 
FriedPet said:
Oh no! You don't want comments, you're gloating!! Don't worry, I'll probably do the same if I could upgrade to that:)
It's all greek to me, I'll rather buy a pre-built system.
What's the damage to your wallet?
Click to expand...

Actually I do. Kinda at a loss for what to do with the interior, build priorities aside.

Damage to the wallet was quite severe :p

The Joker said:
Well done bud.

It looks amazing and I can see you spent a boat load of cash xD
That'll last you for at least a year or so :D lol Kidding.

Also see you at least took some of my advice on a lot of the parts...makes me happy lol
Click to expand...

Definitely! Would have got the SSD you recommended, except no one had stock. Hope it lasts a year :p

DieGrootH@mmer said:
Wow what a machine!! I am so jealous at the moment. And what about the whole setup, screen and all? What special amazing setup are you coupling to that beast of a machine? 3x screens or what? And add pics of that!!!
Click to expand...

Strangely enough, I'm not a fan of multi-monitor setups, or gaming at a res higher than 1920X1080. Sure, it looks pretty, but your FPS gets screwed. I'd rather game at 100+ fps :)

Using a Samsung 23" P2350 at the moment, but it's on the replacement list. Just trying to find a decent monitor to replace it with. In terms of other components, using a Corsair K90 keyboard, Roccat Kone+ mouse and Sennheiser PC-350 earphones (or my Shure SE-535s).
 
Hi, sorry for the late reply.

That is one lovely build. (My eyes are watering)

I have quite a similar setup, running in a Phantom 820 with one PNY 780, different drives and a 1000W Antec PSU.

I am telling you this because I want to custom watercool my rig and yours is one of the only similar ones I have seen XD
Where did you get your watercooling gear from?

Thanks for the help :D

(Should I rather make another thread with my setup?)
 
rootworm41 said:
Hi, sorry for the late reply.

That is one lovely build. (My eyes are watering)

I have quite a similar setup, running in a Phantom 820 with one PNY 780, different drives and a 1000W Antec PSU.

I am telling you this because I want to custom watercool my rig and yours is one of the only similar ones I have seen XD
Where did you get your watercooling gear from?

Thanks for the help :D

(Should I rather make another thread with my setup?)
Click to expand...

Nice build :D

I imported all of the stuff for the WC, since few places in SA stock what I want/need (LandmarkPC has some stuff, but it's friggen expensive).

I bought all the stuff for this build from FrozenCPU, but I've also used Performance PCs in the past. Both have been equally good, but because of where FrozenCPU offices are, they seem to be able to ship to SA a day or two quicker than Performance PCs. Prices are on about a par with each other. You can also occasionally find some WC stuff on Carbonite, but I haven't seen a lot being put up for sale recently.

One thing about ordering from overseas - make sure you've done your research extremely thoroughly, and are definitely ordering the right stuff - it's expensive and timeconsuming to fix if you make a mistake :)

Might be worth making another thread, just in terms of the WC advice.

One other thing about WC, though - don't expect it to be cheap. A full, custom WC kit (360mm rad, cpu block, 2 gpu blocks, gpu backplates, compression fittings etc.) will set you back well over R10k, once shipping and VAT have been taken into account. On the upside, most of the items (excluding the GPU WBs and backplates) are endlessly reusable.
 
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GReeN_ORB said:
Nice build :D

I imported all of the stuff for the WC, since few places in SA stock what I want/need (LandmarkPC has some stuff, but it's friggen expensive).

I bought all the stuff for this build from FrozenCPU, but I've also used Performance PCs in the past. Both have been equally good, but because of where FrozenCPU offices are, they seem to be able to ship to SA a day or two quicker than Performance PCs. Prices are on about a par with each other. You can also occasionally find some WC stuff on Carbonite, but I haven't seen a lot being put up for sale recently.

One thing about ordering from overseas - make sure you've done your research extremely thoroughly, and are definitely ordering the right stuff - it's expensive and timeconsuming to fix if you make a mistake :)

Might be worth making another thread, just in terms of the WC advice.

One thing about WC, though - don't expect it to be cheap. A full, custom WC kit (360mm rad, cpu block, 2 gpu blocks, gpu backplates, compression fittings etc.) will set you back well over R10k, once shipping and VAT have been taken into account. On the upside, most of the items (excluding the GPU WBs and backplates) are endlessly reusable.
Click to expand...

Not sure if u have posted it, but could u post a pic of your wc?

I have a friend who made his own, also a serious gamers and complete genius with these sorts of things, but I think it scares me to introduce water to my rig...
 
BeastSD said:
Not sure if u have posted it, but could u post a pic of your wc?

I have a friend who made his own, also a serious gamers and complete genius with these sorts of things, but I think it scares me to introduce water to my rig...
Click to expand...

You can see it in the 4th and 5th pics in the first post. I don't have the WC for the GFX cards yet, since it was a little too much of a stretch to get them at the time, but I'll be getting them in the next 4-5 months :)

As long as you're careful with the build, and leak test thoroughly, there is almost no risk associated with watercooling.
 
GReeN_ORB said:
You can see it in the 4th and 5th pics in the first post. I don't have the WC for the GFX cards yet, since it was a little too much of a stretch to get them at the time, but I'll be getting them in the next 4-5 months :)

As long as you're careful with the build, and leak test thoroughly, there is almost no risk associated with watercooling.
Click to expand...

Holy balls that look insane!! Now I'm the sort of guy that will do that and not have a clue how it would improve my pc cuz it just looks wicked! GJ dude!! Wish I knew how to do that!
 
GReeN_ORB said:
You can see it in the 4th and 5th pics in the first post. I don't have the WC for the GFX cards yet, since it was a little too much of a stretch to get them at the time, but I'll be getting them in the next 4-5 months :)

As long as you're careful with the build, and leak test thoroughly, there is almost no risk associated with watercooling.
Click to expand...

I might land up getting a Cosair H110 at the moment because I can't afford it at the moment :(
 
BeastSD said:
Holy balls that look insane!! Now I'm the sort of guy that will do that and not have a clue how it would improve my pc cuz it just looks wicked! GJ dude!! Wish I knew how to do that!
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

rootworm41 said:
I might land up getting a Cosair H110 at the moment because I can't afford it at the moment :(
Click to expand...

The sealed units are really good, especially if you're only cooling the CPU. The custom loops look great, and are more scalable, but are really expensive relative to aircooling and even the sealed unit WC.
 
Snare said:
Don't pretend it wasn't on your mind too :D...we could even collaborate"whistling:
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Now u've got my attention! :love: But I live in CT... Then again, I love riding my bike and I have made the trip to JHB in 8 hours before, so we can meet up tonight, get a bana clava and get that dam WC unit!!! We cant share, so what are u taking? The WC unit or the rig?
 
BeastSD said:
Now u've got my attention! :love: But I live in CT... Then again, I love riding my bike and I have made the trip to JHB in 8 hours before, so we can meet up tonight, get a bana clava and get that dam WC unit!!! We cant share, so what are u taking? The WC unit or the rig?
Click to expand...

Hmm. We shall duel to the death for who gets what after we done :D.

OR you can take all and I get your wife :p
 
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