Corsair Obsidian 1000D Build Log/How to Guide

Hey folks, first off thanks for the existence of this thread, has been a big help planning my build.

I have a question around how to best use the space above the hard drive cage while also accomodating a long gpu (especially said gpu is mounted vertically).

Background context - I have a 9900KS and an aorus xtreme 2080ti with the EK waterblock. All in the card is upwards of 33cm in length, and when you toss in 1-2cm in offset due to the vertical gpu adapter, it seems like that starts to overlap significantly with the area where lots of people are placing their pumps and reservoirs. Additionally I'm currently in an inwin 909, which is an admittedly pretty case, but I currently have temps rising over time b/c my rads are quite frankly starved for air... (current build for the curious: https://imgur.com/gallery/yMZNuhV)

So I'm planning a 'one last case & cooling' kind of upgrade, so while I know the rads I'm about to list are overkill for these parts, I am hoping for them to last at least 2-3 more generations of cpu's and gpu's. Also absolutely silent running is my top priority, with a good looking build following behind. Money and space are not really an issue.

So the plan is:

- 2x360 rads on top (probably slim HWL gts with only fans underneath in push)

- 2x480 rads on front (probably HWL GTX or equivalent, might wind up going alphacool b/c of the drain ports)

- 1 cpu, 1 gpu, maybe monoblock for the mobo

My initial thinking suggests that I need two pumps to run through all of that at a decent rate without the pump noise becoming audible (in my current build the pump is the loudest thing by far).

For design and symmetry's sake, I was hoping to do two reservoir+pump combo units standing next to each other on the hard drive cage, but I'm not sure if that will fit.

So my question is to all the existing owners out there, or people who have done more research/planning than I have yet - how do you think about getting a 2nd pump in there in a way that looks nice but still leaves space for potentially long gpu's of the future

For reference I've mocked this up, I _think_ it's relatively to scale. The dark grey is the rads, black-and-teal is fans, and the lighter grey is the pump-res/combo (or in the bottom left just a solo D5 pump unit (EK quantum) that I was trying out to see if I could do pumps there instead)

The above is what leads me to believe I can't fit 2 pump/res combos in that section with a long card. Unless:

- the card with vertical mounting comes far enough out that there's space _behind it_... unclear

- I've gotten something off with my scale

What are people's thoughts?

[edit] --- another thought -- do ya'll think it'd be possible to fit 2 pumps in the area where the ITX system would go? (assuming a vertical gpu like in the above phoot) Not sure of how much depth there is in that area with a gpu in that kind of position above

if you don't use the XD5 but another pump res with a bracket that allows horizontal mounting, you can do that. Used a 300mm long EK pump rez horizontally myself for quite some time. A bit tricky to fill but once done it works fine. Just need to plan your tube routing well.

That said you're not obliged to use pump/res. you could have two reservoirs up top, horizontally, and two pumps at the bottom. There's so much volume you can do just about anything :)

Hey folks, first off thanks for the existence of this thread, has been a big help planning my build.

 

I have a question around how to best use the space above the hard drive cage while also accomodating a long gpu (especially said gpu is mounted vertically).

 

Background context - I have a 9900KS and an aorus xtreme 2080ti with the EK waterblock. All in the card is upwards of 33cm in length, and when you toss in 1-2cm in offset due to the vertical gpu adapter, it seems like that starts to overlap significantly with the area where lots of people are placing their pumps and reservoirs. Additionally I'm currently in an inwin 909, which is an admittedly pretty case, but I currently have temps rising over time b/c my rads are quite frankly starved for air... (current build for the curious: https://imgur.com/gallery/yMZNuhV)

 

So I'm planning a 'one last case & cooling' kind of upgrade, so while I know the rads I'm about to list are overkill for these parts, I am hoping for them to last at least 2-3 more generations of cpu's and gpu's. Also absolutely silent running is my top priority, with a good looking build following behind. Money and space are not really an issue.

 

So the plan is:

- 2x360 rads on top (probably slim HWL gts with only fans underneath in push)

- 2x480 rads on front (probably HWL GTX or equivalent, might wind up going alphacool b/c of the drain ports)

- 1 cpu, 1 gpu, maybe monoblock for the mobo

 

My initial thinking suggests that I need two pumps to run through all of that at a decent rate without the pump noise becoming audible (in my current build the pump is the loudest thing by far).

 

For design and symmetry's sake, I was hoping to do two reservoir+pump combo units standing next to each other on the hard drive cage, but I'm not sure if that will fit.

 

So my question is to all the existing owners out there, or people who have done more research/planning than I have yet - how do you think about getting a 2nd pump in there in a way that looks nice but still leaves space for potentially long gpu's of the future

 

For reference I've mocked this up, I _think_ it's relatively to scale. The dark grey is the rads, black-and-teal is fans, and the lighter grey is the pump-res/combo (or in the bottom left just a solo D5 pump unit (EK quantum) that I was trying out to see if I could do pumps there instead)

 

 

The above is what leads me to believe I can't fit 2 pump/res combos in that section with a long card. Unless:

- the card with vertical mounting comes far enough out that there's space _behind it_... unclear

- I've gotten something off with my scale

 

What are people's thoughts?

 

 

 

[edit] --- another thought -- do ya'll think it'd be possible to fit 2 pumps in the area where the ITX system would go? (assuming a vertical gpu like in the above phoot) Not sure of how much depth there is in that area with a gpu in that kind of position above

is the card Dual or Triple Slot buddy?.. if its Double slot. most of us with the 1000d put them in the ITX gpu mount. that moves it forward past the shroud and caddy...

if you don't use the XD5 but another pump res with a bracket that allows horizontal mounting, you can do that. Used a 300mm long EK pump rez horizontally myself for quite some time. A bit tricky to fill but once done it works fine. Just need to plan your tube routing well.

 

That said you're not obliged to use pump/res. you could have two reservoirs up top, horizontally, and two pumps at the bottom. There's so much volume you can do just about anything :)

Coming off a case with a horizontal res I'm forcing myself to place a bit of moratorium on them... too much of a hassle to fill, and that was with a case that I could rotate at will... not a benefit I'll have with the 1000d!

2 pumps at the bottom (mounted on top of the hard drive cage I guess you mean?) I guess could work, I'm assuming you're implying that there is enough _depth_ in that area that even if the graphics card encroaches it would be fitting in behind wherever the pumps are?

is the card Dual or Triple Slot buddy?.. if its Double slot. most of us with the 1000d put them in the ITX gpu mount. that moves it forward past the shroud and caddy...

Just a dual slot - if you move it down there is there space even if it extends into the hard drive cage?

It's hard to get a feel for the depth of different areas of this case, not something I've able to find many diagrams for

Also, how do you think about draining the card if it's in that position? That creates quite a local minima for the loop, doesn't it?

http://i.imgur.com/dlhCv40l.jpg

about the best i have right now buddy.

as for draining.. i have drain valves in the front and the back of the 1000d for both loops... drains easy enough.. a virt GPU will always allow fluid to pool in it no mater where you mount it.. but by having 2 drains in each loop. its easy enough top blow the fluid out..

http://i.imgur.com/FLpn3QGl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/iKMcqpHl.png

Thanks for those pics, very helpful.

Do you know how long that GPU is? It looks like if it was a little bit longer it'd be tight, but would probably be fine as long as you took out that thumbscrew - wdyt?

Alternatively, how much space is behind those pumps?

If one were to mount the pump/res's to the back wall, would there be space in front of them for a graphics card that is mounted vertically using the adapter on the main system's PCIE slots?

ahh... okay

so if I want to get two pumps in there I've really got to bring the GPU down into the ITX system area

Okay... new idea, as it seemed like even if I managed to fit 2 pump/res combos on that hard drive cage, it'd be tight, and I would definitely lose the ability to fit long cards in the future... and it doesn't seem like graphics cards are getting shorter any time soon

So the new idea is to remove the hard drive cage, then I'll be able to mount 2 d5 pumps (or some dual d5 pump top) in the bottom area, and use a single longer tube reservoir on the back wall on the right

(ignore the specifics of the tubing run, that is only an initial sketch)

What do people think? Any obvious flaws?

definitely going with double pump either way, cause in a single loop I don't think a single D5 could push through the 4 rads

at least not at noise levels I'd consider acceptable

definitely going with double pump either way, cause in a single loop I don't think a single D5 could push through the 4 rads

 

at least not at noise levels I'd consider acceptable

i was 1 D5 pushing through 2 blocks and 4 rads.. 2 x xr7 360mm and 2 x xr7 480mm. the XR5 pump/res combo was more than man enough for the job. i did eventually split the loops but not because of the pump. pump would happily do its job sub 50%

Same.. 2 blocks, 3 rads.. the temps change at worse by 2 or 3°C between having the pump at 40% and 100%. Could run even slower.

Anyway you'll probably run it at a speed that doesn't resonate with your case rather than a round percentage.

It's not an AIO pump eh :) it has balls :)

okay now on to fans and rgb

@zotty - if I understand your diagram correctly, you have:

ICUE lighting 'channel' 1 - front 16 fans represented as 1 column of 4

ICUE lighting 'channel' 2 - top 14 fans + 2 back fans as 1 column of 4

Therefore you can get vertical sequential lighting effects that are perfectly in sync within either the front block of 16 fans or the top block of 8*, is that right?

I'm going to be working with QLs and so was planning on using the lighting node cores. But am struggling to determine the best way to group the fans into various channels and subsequently what kinds of rgb splitters I'll need to implement that (if any)

I currently have:

- 8x3-pack QL

- 1 commander pro from previous build

- 1 commander pro that comes with the 1000d

- 1 or 2 LNP's, but they may be needed for some other rgb concerns (strips, waterblocks, etc)

(side note: not concerned with the pwm side of things, I'll get powered pwm hubs)

My main requirement is that each 'wall' of 8 fans remains in sync, second priority is horizontal pairs being in sync.

I've read through your RGB faq, but apologies if I've missed something. The options as I see it are:

1 - connect each column of 4 fans to an LNC

- each column will appear as a separate channel in ICUE

Pros: every fan addressable individually, sequential effects up and down a column

Cons: syncing some effects across columns may be unreliable, so horizontal pairs not in sync

also -> requires 8 internal usb headers

2 - find some way to merge LNC's downstream? -> is this possible?

3 - bridge each horizontal pair

i.e. using (rgb fan splitters), then connect each column (8 fans now merged to 4) to an LNC

- each 'wall' of 8 fans will now appear as a separate channel in ICUE

Pros: horizontal pairs guaranteed to be in sync, each wall guaranteed to be in sync, only need internal usb headers

Concern -> will there be any issue with LNC's effectively powering 8 QLs?

4 - ditch the LNC's and go with rgb led hubs instead

then I would essentially do what Zotty's done

- each column of 4 fans into 1 rgb led hub (so i'd need 8 rgb led hubs)

- join the rgb hubs with rgb hub splitters

- into a commander pro

Concern -> will the led channels have issues with so many QLs on 1 lighting channel? or will they be okay because the rgb fan led hubs are powered, and the control signal only thinks there are 4 fans anyways

1 would be the simplest, but may compromise the eventual RGB quality. E.g. if I run 'Arc' on each column and they are somehow out of sync, it'll look crap. Unless this concern is unfounded, my current build doesn't have fans on different channels so It's hard to check

2 seems unlikely.

So it feels like 3 and 4 are the only viable options.

What are your thoughts?

ditch the LNC's and go with RGB Fan LED hubs and clone them all lol..

with out a doubt the best way to go.. and keep them in the banks of 4 as like you pointed out. all syncs nice.. in fact this is the only way to sync rgb in a case the size of a 1000d.

right now.. mine has changed and i am running all 8 RGB Hubs off of channel 1 on the 1000d Commander Pro and Hydro X rgb on channel 2. but I am all LL fans right now.. works fine.. icue is told there is 6 fans connected for RGB and the 2 rear fans are chained on the end of one bank of 4 (hope that makes sense). i have seen many people follow the same method with QL's with no issues. mine will also be gaining QL's soon and i plan to do the same method...

hope it helps bud...

Apologies for hijacking this thread, however this has been invaluable in my build. I have some concerns regarding fans and splitters. In lieu of the XSPC splitter (discontinued). Would this be a acceptable replacement?

https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?area=en&pid=526

I will be using 8 LL140 fans on two EK 560 radiators, as well as 4 case fans. Current plan is for push configuration. However will be adding more once I determine which fans would be best to use as pull though due to the size of rads not sure if push/pull is worthwhile?

Using so many 140 fans, do you foresee Amp or voltage issues?

For reference I am using a Thermaltake W100 case with top and bottom P100 pedestals. So room is not an issue here.

Any input would be appreciated.

Yes, the Silverstone one should be fine.

Push/Pull, in general, lets you have the same airflow with lower fan speeds. With thicker radiators, it's even more critical to ensure good airflow through the thicker radiators. I'd definitely suggest it.

On the 12V rail? Not at all. Only potential issue may be on the 5V rail, depending on your PSU. Some PSUs are very underpowered on the minor rails. Make sure you have at least 20A on the 5v rail. 25A is better. Some of us need more than that - even pushing the big 30A 5V rails to the test.

Thanks for the info, so a follow up question. Do you think using basic ML 140 fans would suffice. No need for RGB as they will be obscured.

I just got my hands on the AX1600i, did not read the specs... will have to do some reading tonight lol.

Edit: Looks like 30A on 5V rail for AX1600i. Now I need to get couple more PWM splitters lol...

DevBiker, thanks for the help, much appreciated

No need for RGB? What insane blasphemy is this??

And yes, the AX1600 support 30A on the 5V rail; that's the most that you'll get. If you go overboard on the RGBz, you can actually put a hurtin' on that but it does take a bit of doing to make it happen - think 32 QL + strips + more. You'll be OK, I think.

as far as splitters go - the aqua computer splitty 9 is what i went with, don't have it all put together yet but did a few jumped-psu tests with one and it seems to be working fine - and the build quality is impressive

in other news, all my parts are in and my build is commencing this weekend, just did my fan testing tonight and we're 26/26, all lit up and lookin good

oh yeah, don't worry

and i've gotta find the one fan that has a slightly off-center applied corsair logo sticker and make sure that it's facing a rad...

details like these are why the build is starting tomorrow once the rum and coke has worn off

Then this happened.

http://i.imgur.com/zzaudBcl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4HFt5YCl.jpg

along with this

http://i.imgur.com/JlEaQYHl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OdCHXXtl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vQeUlYQl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SP3hsPIl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ePTTL6Hl.jpg

going to play on Air for a few weeks to get a baseline on my 3080's temps. then get the block fitted and start refitting the second loops pump and tubing. also swapping out some of the LL's for QL's and maybe a rad or 2... :)

Watch this Space

Hello!

I joined just to say thanks for this guide and log! Really helps me figure out how I want to run things!

Also, have you used the QL RGB nodes that are provided with the fans? I’m currently aiming for 16 QL’s and 6 ML’s up top as well as a single Hydro X loop for a single system (for now).

Smart mounting the nodes to the back of the fans but I’m curious to see if that can be done with the QL nodes.

Thanks, can’t wait to finish mine, I may have to order extension cables and splitter for both RGB and Power depending how these nodes set up.