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Therapy Build - 1st custom loop


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dude, I sincerely hope your doing ok, peace...

 

Thanks mate, yup doing OK thanks.

 

This build came about a couple of months ago when I was diagnosed with a cancer. So while I've been getting ready for and having treatment I've been planning this build to keep me distracted. Treatment is finished now and now I'm just waiting to find out how it went, hopefully all will be good.

 

Now that treatment is over I have time to return to return to actually implementing the build instead of just planning it !!

 

Peace back !

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Hi guys,

 

Apologies again - my favourite hate is forum threads that stall - especially when they are mine !!

 

Back on track with this now.

 

So the latest components arrived today, the mobo and CPU cooler. I agonised for ages over the mobo choice and now that its here I am VERY happy with my choice.

 

yzNYnqJ.jpg

 

Now I can start planning the tubing layout now I have the main parts. Still don't have the graphics card and its cooler yet, but since the location of that is known, I'm hoping that won't hold me back too much.

 

Still need to finish off the case painting, the weather has turned warm down here now so hopefully next couple of days I can knock that out !

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Really not too happy with the little bit of black left on the base, even though it should be almost invisible once the case is full. Initial attempt to remove the base for painting on its own was spectacularly unsuccessful so my plan B now is to paint the base "in situ".

 

That's happening right now, results tomorrow !!

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OK, Things are starting to get interesting now.......

 

Here's where I'm currently at:

 

z2d39Xc.jpg

 

Radiators with their fans are now in.

- 360 on the front (top of photo) with 3 LL120s on the outside

- 280 on the top (left of photo) with 2 ML 140s also on the outside

 

I started this build wanting the RGB effect to be visible from the outside of the case rather than the inside, hence the current fan placements.

 

Now looking at the inside I realise its going to have no lighting other than the RGB effect on the pump/res, the CPU cooler and the graphics card cooler (not in yet). I'm not sure if I'm happy with that now ! I also have 4 RGB strips that came with a Lighting Node Pro pack I bought separately. I'm hoping to use these, but haven't figured out how/where yet. There is also the onboard mobo RGB, but I'm thinking of turning that off and having it as purely a Corsair show.

 

Thinking about adding internal fans, clearly I can't up top, the rad is up against the mobo as it is - not sure that's a good idea either. I *could* add 3 more 120s behind the front rad, but at the expense of room for the pump/res so undecided on that too.

 

Ideally I wanted the front rad connections at the top, but with the 280 rad in place up top that was just too tight a fit so they have to go down the bottom. Not ideal, but also not the end of the world I figure. I know others in here (and elsewhere) who are smarter than I am have opted for a 240 up top instead of a 280. I debated that for ages, but decided I really wanted the 280 and knew I would have space issues to deal with - so here I am !!

 

Now practising bending my hard tube and trying to decide the best tube run. Also tossing up adding a 120 rad to the rear behind the fan - just for an even more complex tubing run !

 

So many points of potential failure, but also a lot of fun !

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got to spend some holiday time for good to make a bit of progress here !!

 

Yesterday I assembled the GPU cooler - turned out to be a lot easier than I feared.

 

Now I finally have all the components to be cooled together in the case so I can start return to thinking about what the loop is going to look like which hasn't really been possible (for me anyway) until I could actually see all the bits.

 

So here's the raw canvas now:

 

kwTcdho.jpg

 

After staring blankly at this for a while and and then walking away, it finally hit me how I wanted the tubing to run - and for me that's half the battle. Actually more like 80% of the battle. Now its just a matter of actually doing it.

 

This morning I placed 2 more orders for parts, including some M-M extenders and the EK leak test kit from my local supplier. Not sure if I actually need the M-M extenders yet, but I figure I'll get them in and have a look at them and then if I do need them I have them on hand.

 

Also managed to track down some double 45 degree rotary bends too. I have a feeling not all my joins are going to line up perfectly and I have a sneaking suspicion I will need to resort to these. Had to order these direct from EKWB in Europe though to match the rest of my fittings - for some reason it seems they aren't stocked by anyone here in Australia - (that I could readily find anyway).

 

Now to perfect my bending skills ....

 

But with over 40 degree heat here in Australia today and bushfires everywhere I am a bit reluctant to fire up the heat gun so might just do some basic straight cuts until the cool change kicks in this evening ! That should at least allow me to get an initial feel as to how sane my plan is !

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Looking Good! That's about the point I sat there for about an entire evening after work trying to plan out where the tube runs would go. As soon as I "thought" I had it I found pics of others builds and decided to change things.. Had to order more fittings and a couple more temp sensors. I added an additional temp sensor on the outlet port of my GPU so I could tell if it was getting warm. So many options when planning tube runs and fittings. Fun times. Glad the GPU was easy for you. =)
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RGB Strips is the 500d is perfect for a 4 strip set. I have them set along the inner edge of the case. You should be able to place them and then run an extension to plug into a lighting channel somewhere. Run them in before you plumb the bottom fittings which should help in placement. You might also want to check how your PSU cable are going to look before you do the plumbing. May change how you want things to run. Just make sure you unplug them before leak testing.
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I do have 4 RGB strips that I am planning to use and still haven't decided where I want them. Especially since my fan lighting is visible from the outside of the case rather than the inside, I figure the strips will be a good way to get some inner bling happening !

 

I have also looked at other temp/flow sensors to add to the loop, but so far haven't found any I really like the look of. Also, I'm conscious of the fact that this is my first custom loop and I don't want to over complicate it at this stage. I fully expect that after 6 months or so of having it up and running I will pull it all apart and apply a whole lot of learnings and have another go anyway so the Project Manager in me is trying to manage Scope Creep at the moment !

 

I have been thinking about the PSU cables too as they usually really annoy me and I really want to make them look as good as I can. I'm going to order a custom length kit from Cablemod, but need to measure the lengths I need first, which I can now do since the components are now in place. I am already unhappy with the cabling holes in my main tray that don't quite line up with where my 24-pin connector is. That stuff is really hard to work out before buying the parts though !

 

(Interesting aside re: the parts I ordered this week, especially for others who live here in Australia - I placed 2 orders with a local supplier here in Melbourne for some EKWB fittings and also a separate order directly with EKWB themselves in Europe for some other fittings I couldn't find locally. The local store I ordered from is less than 20kms from my house so I *could* have jumped in the car and made a trip and been there and back in under an hour and got on with my life, but I elected to go for the "convenience" of online ordering and delivery. There's something cool about just having stuff turn up at your doorstep. All 3 orders were placed on Monday afternoon of this week, today is Friday morning as I write this. The order from EKWB direct has already flown half way around the world (Slovenia --> Germany --> London --> Melbourne, Australia) and is now on a DHL truck for delivery to my house TODAY. The 2 orders from my "local" store less than 20 ks away are still allegedly being handled by Aussie Post and *may* be delivered next Monday, but may still be later than that. Delivery cost was equivalent for all the orders and I just picked the basic delivery options, no "Express" or "Priority". From now on I will order direct from EKWB.

 

Note to Corsair who, for reasons best known to themselves, choose not to deliver to Australia / NZ - its actually not that hard, or that cost prohibitive - EK can do it. Try it, you might get yourself some more customers. )

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Hey mate, the case is gorgeous looking with the white interieur.

I run an i9 9900k and a 2080 super, both supplied with corsair watercooling stuff. It's absolutely unnecessary to go with 2 pump/reservoir combos from the cooling point of view, I even got the formula board with the watercooled pcb. After long term gaming sessions water temps are under 35°C.

Also the pretty LL fans are not the best decision when it comes to watercooling. you should go for the ml pro ones, which provide more static pressure while running on low rpm.

Show more pics! :)

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Thanks for the support guys - much appreciated.

 

I am very happy with the white interior too. My current dilemma is I've noticed it obviously shows every speck of dirt. This won't be an issue once its all assembled and sealed of course, but in this "construction zone" that I'm in now, I'm thinking I should probably give it a clear sealing coat. Easy enough to do now as nothing is screwed into the case yet. More food for thought !

 

I wasn't sure whether the teardown would be worth it, but now I see it nearly done I'm very happy with it.

 

I've measured the cable runs and ordered my cable kit from Cablemod. (Shout out to their support team too - my new ASUS mobo had a Cablemod discount voucher in it which didn't work when I keyed it in at checkout, but their support team were right onto it and got it sorted for me over a weekend - thanks Joe!) Not sure how long that will take to get here, could be 3 or 4 weeks as they are now in their yearly housekeeping slow period - although my order did apparently land in time not to be affected - time will tell.

 

Now trying to source the Ryzen 3950X CPU that I want. My usual supplier of all things PC is now OOS of them indefinitely so I'm scrounging around. Found a couple of other retailers here in Aus who claim they have some in stock. Will try one out tomorrow.

 

Had a scare a few days ago - my daily drive PC is now on its last legs. Suddenly all 4 USB3 ports on the rear are busted. Started looking at a quick mobo swap on that just to get me through the few weeks I reckon I have left on this new build, but its an X79 / DDR3 board and trying to get them these days is not fun. Have also lost access to my work area at home where I had the new beast set up (the Mrs wanted the real estate in the back room back !!) so now have to find somewhere new to set up a build area. I have a big house and there's only 2 of us here so you'd think there'd be plenty of room, but apparently - No. Anyway, that problem ain't gonna get solved here !!!

 

I take your point about the ML PRO fans too flash. I have 5 of them on my daily drive (with an AIO) and I love them - and can't hear them at all. Budget is getting tight now though so can always swap out to MLs down the track as I already have the LLs that came in the case plus some others I bought.

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The latest care package arrived today - from the good folks at Cablemod !!

A little disappointed I didn't get the nice Cablemod box, but in the interests of keeping shipping costs down to an affordable level, I can understand why bubble wrap is the preferred outer !!

 

WoUukv3.jpg

 

- Red cables are the 24-pin and dual EATX connectors.

- Green for the nVidia graphics card. With gold combs in a nod to the Australian sporting colours

- RGB cables for the SATA and Molex utility cabling for the Corsair lightshow and cooling devices. Yes these should be completely invisible in the end result behind behind the mobo tray, but I don't care - that's for my amusement !

 

And a couple of packs of anodized thumbscrews to tidy up some of the mounting points around the pump/res and other areas.

 

Due to a mess-up at my work, they've decided not to pay me for January so while that gets sorted out I have to pause the buying of the last few parts I need to complete this:

- CPU (Ryzen 3950X)

- PSU (may be able to swing a spare into play, but not sure yet)

- RAM

- M.2 drives

 

Luckily I still have all of the tube bending and fitting to do so that will keep me busy for a while.

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  • 1 month later...

Apologies for the lack of updates here recently, this project has been packed away in a box for the last few weeks due to me getting kicked out of my work room at home !

 

I've found a new workplace now so am about to pick this up again. Also, with our impending holiday on a cruise liner just cancelled to to this world Corona silliness I find myself with time to fill again !

 

I also decided, once I saw the White QL fans announced, that these would sit very nicely in my white-interior 500D case, so I've just ordered a pack of 3 of those.

 

This will make the internal plumbing even tighter now as I was only planning fans on the outside of my front 360, now I want push pull, with the QLs on the interior as well.

 

It will be worth it.

I know it will.

I just have to keep saying that enough times and eventually I will believe it !

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sooooo, this COVID nonsense is really slowing things down !

 

Turns out I went too early in ordering the pack of 3 white QL fans - they have evaporated in Australia. So I've turned that order into 3 white LL fans and I'll go with them for now. I can upgrade to QL down the track. Still waiting on delivery of that fan pack though - things have really slowed down here. Good thing I'm not in a hurry !

 

Have also just rechecked wiring for the internals and discovered I need a fan hub now. Adding in 3 more fans has pushed me past the capabilities of the single CoPro. I now have 9 fans to manage and conventional wisdom suggests no more than 8 per CoPro so I have ordered a fan hub. I really don't want to mess with fan splitters anyway, I'd rather have a separately powered device and know I have headroom.

 

Cause and effect - that fan hub of course needs SATA power so I now don't have enough SATA doo-hickeys on the cables I ordered from Cablemod weeks ago. I can re-order new SATA cables from Cablemod or just stick with the plain ones that will come when I order my new PSU. Since these cables will all be totally invisible behind the mobo I'm tempted to just go with a plain one from the PSU pack. Mind you I still haven't done a test cable run using the main cables so when I do that I may find an error that needs correcting. If so and that necessitates another order, then I can add the new SATA port into that.

 

By the time this all finishes the next gen Ryzen CPU will be out - lol !!!!

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Woke up this morning to the realisation that the white LL fans are NOT an appropriate substitute for the QLs I originally wanted. I've remembered that the light show on the LL series is only visible on the intake side, and I have them mounted as Pull on the inside of the rad, thus with the exhaust side facing inside the case and the front light show side buried hard up against the rad.

 

Now I'm back to either QLs (and an uncertain delivery timeframe) or see if I can find some MLs in White (and an uncertain existence!)

 

First world problems :-)

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