Completed Main Workstation Worklog - 980x + 480SC

[Rison]

Hey guys,

I don't really know why I'm writing this out.. let's just chalk it up to good ol' fashioned boredom. I know I like reading other peoples build logs, so I thought i'd take a few minutes and write my own out.



This is just a few pictures and commentary about the upgrades i've been doing to my main workstation over the past few months.

My system started out in late March as a Q9650, in a P5Q-PRO motherboard with 4 gig of DDR. It had dual GTX280s, all watercooled using EVGA Hydro Copper GPU coolers, and a Swiftech Apogee GTZ cpu block.

In May, things changed. A lot - and fast.

It all started with a Box.










I received another box from a HWC'er who sold me their i7 setup.



That's a EVGA Classified E759, with an i7 920 D0 and 6gig kit of Mushkin Enhanced XP3-12800 6 Gig (3x2) CL 7-8-7-20 DDR3. The EK waterblock is an Acetal Supreme HF.


I pulled the ol' water cooling loop apart after mounting the motherboard (to make sure it fit, lol..)








Mounting the new waterblock..







And... finished!




At about this point in time.. I didn't have my 480 watercooled. I was still waiting on the EK GPU block from Daz.

I received the waterblock about three weeks ago, but didn't mount it. I didn't have the time, nor patience to tear apart my rig (again) just for a little fan noise when I played BC2.

What really made me tear down my rig... was this.



Bow-chicka-wow-wow. Thas first class hardware porn right there.

So.. in everything else that I purchased - I got a new TFC triple rad, and a new EK 150 res.

Time to strip the case!





I guess this counts as it being naked - with reference to computer p0rn.

I didn't want to over-modify the case, as with everything I purchase - I think of its resale value and such. My plan was to drill out the EATX mounts to mount the reservoir (not rad, lol) - but figured I should just make new holes in the case..




And mounted.
I also removed the 3.5" drive bay - my initial plan was to mount the triple rad above, then purchase another dual rad to put where the 3.5" bay is.. it seems the triple rad does the job though. Removing the bay was easy, just drilling out a few rivets - if I ever go to sell the case, I can just re-rivet the 3.5" cage back in.




One note. I totally stole this idea from a fellow HWC'er.
I 'placed' my pump hanging from the rad, in order to curb vibration noise.





I mounted the new rad, and test fit. I really like the TFC rad (too bad they stopped making them now) and with the ATCS840 case, it fits like a glove.



I'm debating on a second row of fans.. I don't know if it'll fit or not, but down the road when I flush my lines, i'll try a push/pull config then.





This picture made me laugh.
Bracket in a bracket.




Just a couple other shots before mounting the hardware.










And... the next victim.





I'll spare you all with the 20+ photos of the dis-assembly / installation of the EK water block, and just skip to the end.










And.. the 'money shot'



Thas it.

Temps are nice.. i'm still thinking about adding the dual rad in the front. It will need some modification of the lower drive bay.. but i'm debating on a second 480sc (have a second water block coming now)

[JayDeeHobbit]

Schweet! :)

When you say "My plan was to drill out the EATX mounts to mount the rad - but figured I should just make new holes in the case" do you actually mean the "reservoir" rather than the "rad"? If not how does the rad impact the EATX? Does the rad go so deep that it interferes with the mobo are perhaps?

I'm certainly jealous amaclellan (I like that name better than Rison = I beat that other guy in a race to 1 million folding points :p )

That triple feser should be plenty and to spare = I'd say you could add another 480 and still be fine.

[_dangtx_]

wowzers. good choice of space saving rez. glass or acrylic?

[Rison]

Originally Posted by JayDeeHobbit

When you say "My plan was to drill out the EATX mounts to mount the rad - but figured I should just make new holes in the case" do you actually mean the "reservoir" rather than the "rad"? If not how does the rad impact the EATX? Does the rad go so deep that it interferes with the mobo are perhaps?

doh. typo. I meant reservoir, not rad.

It's an acrylic EK 150 reservoir, which has a acetal base / top. It's very sturdy.

[FlyZ]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

wowzers. good choice of space saving rez. glass or acrylic?

It's acrylic, EK Multioption.

Comes in different lengths.

Edit: and I fail, should really refresh thread before I post

[JayDeeHobbit]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I love your loop. Efficient route to keep a nice clean look.

[chrisk]

Nice job! Some serious PPD right there!!!!

[Rison]

Thanks for the comments guys. That WC loop has gone through a lot of changes in a year.. from a spaghetti factory to what you see today. I can't take credit for most of it - it's mostly your guys' ideas on this forum that I expanded upon to make the loop.

As for PPD, I have a Linux VM Bigadv (8core) Windows SMP (4core) and 480sc folding for a combined PPD of 18.5k+6.5k+15.5k= 40,500 PPD.. give or take.
edit: the VM is also on one of those bastard GRO-A3 bigadv units. - it's normally around the 24k mark.

[sswilson]

I second the Kudos on your loop. It just doesn't get any better than the routing you've got going there!!!

I noticed you've got a fill/drain tube attached to the top of the res.... if that wasn't in place, would you have enough room to drop the res forward to fill it?

[kendallcschm]

nice build!! and wow... a super clocked GTX480 with 1500MB of ram... that thing must rape