Down the path to the Dark Side...my first ever WC build!

[3.0charlie]

Originally Posted by Babrbarossa

Just be very careful not to poke holes in the fins with extra long screws- that would be tragic ;-) Sometimes washers can help for slight adjustments to length. I've had good luck just cutting long bolts off with a dremmel- doesn't mess up the threading like I thought it would- just screw a nut onto them after cutting the ends off to straighten the threading if it looks a little ragged on the end. Works best when the metal is still warm.

... screw a nut onto them before cutting the threads. Use the nut as a gauge length. Once the cut is made, simply remove the nut and the threads will straighten up. A Dremel cutting wheel is the tool for the job.

[Babrbarossa]

Originally Posted by 3.0charlie

... screw a nut onto them before cutting the threads. Use the nut as a gauge length. Once the cut is made, simply remove the nut and the threads will straighten up. A Dremel cutting wheel is the tool for the job.

Hehe! come to think of it, that IS what I did last time

[zlojack]

Thanks for the tips...

I went to Crappy tonight but the dude had no clue about screws... I bought some that I think will work, but I think I'll wait 'til tomorrow, since the St. Paddy's day pint turned into several and I don't want to do anything stupid....

[3.0charlie]

Make sure you have the correct thread size....

[Babrbarossa]

whatever you dp, don't try to focus on the threads too intently tonight or you'll get dizzy

[zlojack]

They look good. They are shorter than the ones I had, but that's alright, as they're less likely to puncture the fins...

I guess tonight will be the night for mounting stuff in the case.

[zlojack]

Wow... this is taking longer than I thought!

I dismounted the old rig last night and got one of the EK blocks onto the 3870 X2. Got some of the hardware back into the case and bam... it was midnight already!

Put the Maximus Formula in the freezer overnight and this morning the heatsinks popped off nicely. Definitely that method works better for breaking up the thermal adhesive than heat.

I'll try to post up some pics of random stuff tonight and hopefully have some advances for you guys to see.

I had some trouble with a couple of paint chips (@#$%^#%@#%$). This is after sanding, priming, sanding, painting, sanding and clear coating. I don't know what else I could have done. I think I'm just going to go ahead and then touch up the worst of the chips when I'm done....

[zlojack]

Ok...some progress!

Finally got the motherboard done up and the waterblocks put on the mobo and the GPUs. Hopefully tonight I can finish the install and start the leak test... *crosses fingers*

The Maximus Formula has a problem: once you've run it and the thermal adhesive cures, it's a real pain to get the stock heatsink array off. There are two ways to do this: heat or cold.

I opted for cold and put the motherboard in the freezer overnight (couldn't find freeze spray anywhere!) on Monday and Tuesday morning the heatsink array popped off like nothing. Cold is definitely the way to go for this.

I mounted the Fuzion with the Pro Mount kit but instead of the Pro Mount backplate, I used the backplate from my Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme since it has posts that go through the holes in the mobo, making it easier to reseat the block without having to dismount the motherboard in the future.

The EK NB went on no problem once I drilled out the backplate (bye bye warranty, I hope my board works when I power back on!!!)

The SB was a bit of an issue as the Enzotech block I bought had to be modded slightly and still went on crooked... I had to drill an extra hole closer to the body of the block to get the pushpin to go all the way through....it's not pretty, but it's on there nicely, and can be removed should I decide to do so in the future. I also had to bend the pin in the top corner to get the pushpin to fit...

Thermalright HR-09's went on the mosfets and now tonight I should be able to put the loop together!

Here are some pics.

Waiting to be violated


A night in the freezer and *POP*


Shiny Fuzion


Fuzion with Pro Mount and TRUE backplate (check the quad nozzle!)


CPU & NB partners in crime!


Here's my crooked SB cooler...still makes full contact!


All together



Hate to see her go


EK work of art!


Partners in crime!


This guy's up next, God of Thunder, Zeus!

[Cptn Vortex]

Wooo it's coming together

[sswilson]

I'm watching closely.

I've got a build to do this weekend with the same mobo & vid card.

I haven't done any research yet on the bios.... have you come across anything I should know about? (It's going to be a X3350, but that hasn't shipped yet so it'll be an E6420 just to get it up and running).

I've also got 4X1 Gig of Ballistix 8500, but know that some folks have had issues with that combination on this board so I'm holding my breath. :)