DFM's WC Build

[DarkForceMage]

Hey guys, stuff came today & I spent 6 hours winging it,


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Leak tested using a paperclip outside of the case & the barb on the outlet of the rad started leaking, unscrewed it and applied some plumbing tape & it was all sweet. Here's some pics;

My little work area;

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Light reflection off the waterblock;

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Nearly done(this was just before I found the leak, it was a very slow drop though).

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And installed;

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Sorry my camera sucks, haven't had time to clean the sidewindow after the effort n a half it took installing everything, I'll save it for when the UV lights arrive, was disappointed a push+pull setup wouldnt fit without mounting two fans externally out the top of the case, so just went for two fans ontop pushing in for the moment, might grab some scythe GT's and change it later..

All in all I think things went pretty well as I was constantly expecting the worst, apart from mounting the block the wrong way, the IN port was meant to be on the top right but I was a bit too excited, it's on the bottom right atm. (Question: Should I bother changing the orientation of the cpu block so the inlet port is on the top right? Does it matter much?)

Bleeding was the easiest part.

Not sure how it's 'supposed' to perform as I was a bit worried about the mounting as I used a different method to my usual horizontal line of AS5 & tried a small blob of the Prolimatech PK1 grease that came with the rad, on auto with target temperature 50c in bios it's idling @ 28ºc, prime95 large FTT hits 56 before it ramps up and levels out at 54-55.

I'll attempt a 4.5ghz OC with HT later on and post results here.

[Moptimus]

Orientation doesn't matter, go for neatness.

Also wtf at a kit piece leaking, these things are not cheap, they should not leak at all.

Watch the ptfe, it could cause blockages and really has no place in modern watercooling.

[DarkForceMage]

Yeah, the o-ring looked really cheap, kinda wish I had bought brand new barbs for everything but I thought Swiftech $239 kits barbs would be decent, the bitfenix barbs I bought for the res were perfect & fit alot tighter too, what's ptfe? Do you mean the plumbers tape? I made sure it was only on the thread. =/

[Moptimus]

Yeah ptfe - plumbers tape for everything or Polytetrafluoroethylene

[Creekin]

u shouldnt need plumbers tape at all..
if the o ring is intact and the barb is done up right..
if u do theres a bigger problem..

[DarkForceMage]

Damn I wish I had taken a photo, the o-ring was intact but it looked.. idk, shrunken//tiny compared to the bitspower fittings, I wiggled it around a bit after taking it off to inspect and didnt trust it so I used the ptfe, (this was with the loop filled and the whole thing in the sink btw). Oh and I noticed the 7/16 tubing slipped onto the 1/2' swiftech barbs REALLY easily while the two bitspower fittings were alot harder to get on. That shouldv been my first sign. Found some pics online;

Bitspower;

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Swiftech kit;

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Wrapped some ptfe around the thread and screwed it back on & it was fine.

Do you think the tape might disintegrate or something? I'm all paranoid now, never really done much actual plumbing so idk how trustworthy the tape is, but none of our taps leak around the fittings at home.

Is it normal to be really paranoid about leaks for awhile after first installing WC? I mean it's nice idling@25ºc, and 5 hours of D3 last night never went over 36c. The reservoir is 100% full and nothing has exploded yet at least.

I think I might order some new barbs or compression fittings to replace the kit ones. I'd rather stuff around now then run into problems in a couple weeks or months.

[Creekin]

plumbers tap is awesome stuff on taps and shit
but if u put too much on and it hangs over the end of the thread into the water path it will break down and get into the loop..
u dont want that shit in ya cpu block!

as long as u did it right and left it a few mm from the end of the thread its fine..
(almost impossible to do on a barb!)
i used to use it years ago on old wc stuff that wasn't as well made as modern stuff, but these days it shouldn't be needed.

Originally Posted by DarkForceMage

Is it normal to be really paranoid about leaks for awhile after first installing WC?

Yes.

[DarkForceMage]

Originally Posted by Creekin

i used to use it years ago on old wc stuff that wasn't as well made as modern stuff, but these days it shouldn't be needed.

Haha thanks for making me feel normal, I wouldnt call the swiftech barbs 'well made' though after the past 5 hours I just spent.

Went to do some stresstesting last night when Diablo 3 went down for maintenance and prepare for the 4.5ghz OC I was originally planning to go with this setup, luckily I was smart enough to watch the hoses when I heard the pump ramping up speed, caught a slow leak on another one of the swiftech fittings(wtf brah?) on the damn cpu block, 2 drops landed on my gtx 670(bare pcb thank god) before I hit the off switch and pulled the plug.

Pulled the WHOLE damn thing out and in a desperate attempt to get everything back up and running decided to get the nice bitspower barbs off the reservoir and use those on the cpu block where it matters more, didnt trust using the swiftech barbs again but I had to for the rad.

So basically had enough house left to re-do the WC build and the bitspower barbs were a bitch to get off the hoses, had to cut them off, the swiftech barbs from the cpu pulled off with my hands and a bit of force after removing the clamps.

After all that, what I ended up doing was;

Removed all the hosing + seperated barbs
Removed the reservoir to avoid the two points of failure, wasnt about to stick the leaky swiftech barbs back on.
Recut hosing lengths for a straight rad>cpu loop & refitted barbs before attaching the hosing and clamping with zip ties.

Used double folded plumbers tape on each of the swiftech barbs for the rad, bitspower barbs had a slightly shorter thread but the o-ring was definately better quality so I left them alone and fit ithem to the cpu block.

All of that took less than half the time it took me the first time around, including refilling, bleeding and double quadruple triple checking the rad 100x before refitting it all.

ANYWAY happy to say there are no damn leaks anymore and I am never using swiftech barbs again, I'd rather pay $50 a pop on golden fairy barbs than those generic swiftech ones.


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Anyways it seems everything is performing much better with it all refitted & I fixed the block/hose orientation to what I originally wanted, top right hose is IN, bottom left is OUT.


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Havent had much time since I only finished all that crap 30 mins ago but here's what I managed to get stable in less than 30mins with a decent running system, looks like my 'air testing' 4.5ghz bios profile was only +0.05v away from a stable 4.5ghz OC with hyperthreading on, because that's all I did before running these tests from my previous 4.2ghz OC.

These were with the pump on 'auto' in bios with a target temp of 65ºc.

4.5ghz, 1.336v, 62ºc max load IBT x10

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And a quick 3dmark11 run;
P10130

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[Macsure]

Hi DarkForce,
I just read yr posts, Great read. I haven't made a water cooled build before when I do it will be my first like you. I too am paranoid about water leaks etc.
It just sit right with me, Water and electircs.
So I was looking at a H100, mainly because of price point and it looks simple to fit. But some how I am looking at the swift tech H20 like yours. Probadly because I eventually plum my GPX card.
So I was wondering if you share some pointers with me, on what not to do and what I shud do. Its seems the swift tech barbs are not that good.
Also did you buy yr kit here in Australia, if so where plz

Thanks in advance

[DarkForceMage]

Bought everything from http://www.pccasegear.com/ in Aus .

Best advice I can give is research how it's done well beforehand and DON'T go a kit. Buy it all separately, you will save money and be MUCH better off. The only kit I would possibly recommend is one of the XSPC raystorm kits here; http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ath=207_160_45 but as you can probably see they are already as expensive as a customized purchase.

Vids like this can also be a real help;
Basic:

Detailed:




Hope that helps!

[Macsure]

Wow, thanks for the vid's.

Fuuny u mentioned the XSPC.. I was just reading a review on the ray storm.

And in my price range

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=21057

[DarkForceMage]

Yup, just take note of the RX thickness and maybe price up the parts separately and see how much it would cost you to go compression fittings/primoflex tubing/better fans, as you might end up wanting to replace all of those after you have everything set up, which can be a major PITA once it's all filled with water, I also much prefer compressions over barbs after trying both.

This would be about the equivalent with custom fans/compressions + tubing.
https://www.pccasegear.com/index.php...ion=wish_lists - $346

Otherwise I would strongly consider this kit over the 750.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=20464 - $289

Much more headroom should you ever wish to upgrade due to the stronger pump, as well as including compression fittings over barbs. I probably spent over double what I would have if I had just gone custom or a better kit in the first place. But hey, learning experience I guess.. Just glad my pc pulled through all in one piece... Well sortof, lmao.

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Here's a few pics of my current setup;

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Current Case/WCing parts;

CPU Loop
xspc raystorm
Primoflex UV Blue Tubing
Bitspower Compression Fittings
Koolance RP-401X2 Reservoir for PMP-400 Pumps Rev.1.1 /w mcp35x pump
MCR320-XP rad(roof) 6 x Scythe GT1850
MCR220-XP(Vertical Mount onto HDD Cages) 4 x Scythe GT1850
Memory
G.Skill Turbulence II RAM Cooler - Was surprised this actually made a difference & helped keep my ram stable as there isnt that much passive airflow around the memory with all the tubing everywhere. Removed it at one point and was getting bsods during prime in rather hot weather, reinstalled and all good.
Front Intake
2 x BitFenix Spectre Pro White 140mm PWM
Rear Exhaust
1 x Gelid Wing UV Blue 140mm
Bling
NZXT Hue RGB Controller

Obviously I've got plans to -eventually- add GPUs to the loop as I've left plenty of headroom for it, but seeing as I was a bit late to the WCing party I'm thinking of holding off for whenever I upgrade to save a few $$ just buying one block for virtually the same performance /w Nvidias Titan or whatever comes after.

The only real upgrade I really want to grab sometime soon is a Scythe Kaze Q12 12 channel fan controller from ebay, which for single bay would be absolutely epic. Although sourcing one from ebay and going by newegg reviews they seem a bit hit & miss.

Ironically I ended up replacing virtually EVERY part of the Swiftech kit I original purchased in the first post except the pump, but hey I put it down to a learning experience, at least some of the newer kits PCCG now stock look alot more friendly to stop this kind of thing happening.

Quick vid of the NZXT Hue in action;