Updated FT02 with 540 radiator!

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Idef1x

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
227
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I just wanted to share how my FT02 turned out. I was plotting redoing the tubing, but then I straightened the long tube with two zip ties and I actually kind of like the result. I bypassed the waterafall-effect on the EK-spin reservoir, so now I don't get tons of air curculating the loop and it's quiet too.

I must admit I was a bit let down by the build quality of the Magicool radiator - this is miles apart from HWLabs, but it gets the job done.
 
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mmm that's hot. stop making me confused as to wanting this case or the new nzxt this spring!

I esp like the line going from pump to rad there in the front, how'd u get it to look like its rigid and not droopy tubing? am i seeing a couple zip ties holding it up on the vid cards?
 
Imitation said:
mmm that's hot. stop making me confused as to wanting this case or the new nzxt this spring!

I esp like the line going from pump to rad there in the front, how'd u get it to look like its rigid and not droopy tubing? am i seeing a couple zip ties holding it up on the vid cards?
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the hotness and sexual gravity of the rig keeps the tubing rigid :D
 
Imitation said:
I esp like the line going from pump to rad there in the front, how'd u get it to look like its rigid and not droopy tubing? am i seeing a couple zip ties holding it up on the vid cards?
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Well, at first it was droopy and looked terrible. Before even mounting it, I had tried to heat it up while stretching it, so it didn't bend so much, but it wasn't enough. Then today I experimented with just turning the tubing on the fittings, while still having water in the system. The tubing drooped quite a bit right in front of the video cards, but I fixed that with the two blue zip ties. It turned out pretty good IMO :)
 
Looks great. I just ordered the NZXT Switch 810 to go watercooling. Maybe I could have kept the FT02 and done watercooling in a similar setup. I have a third video card though for PLP so that might get in the way.
 
Ive got an FT02 as well and im curious...did you mod your case? What happened to the HDD cage and that expansion bay looks WAY different...in a good way imo.

Actually, the original reason I started the reply was to ask what kind of pump that is mounted directly to the radiator.
 
Just a stunning build, well done!
 
USMCGrunt said:
Ive got an FT02 as well and im curious...did you mod your case? What happened to the HDD cage and that expansion bay looks WAY different...in a good way imo.

Actually, the original reason I started the reply was to ask what kind of pump that is mounted directly to the radiator.
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?? his pumps are mounted to the front of the case, with some sound isolation material in between. i think it looks like theyre mounted to the fan a little, but that would be silly. :p probably just some more sound isolation material in between or something. and as for the type, per his sig: "[Pump] = 2x Laing DDC-1 Plus, [Top] = Aquacover Dual DDC"

EDIT: oh, and love the build OP. shuper shmexy. :)
 
USMCGrunt said:
Ive got an FT02 as well and im curious...did you mod your case? What happened to the HDD cage and that expansion bay looks WAY different...in a good way imo.

Actually, the original reason I started the reply was to ask what kind of pump that is mounted directly to the radiator.
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I removed the HDD cage from the case. To do so, I had to unscrew the aluminium body from the steel frame and remove a load of rivets. The 5.25" bays are not modded - I only removed two of the four plastic holders.

And as ekuest says, the pumps are two "Laing DDC-1T Plus" with "Aquacover Dual DDC" from Aqua Computer. It might be a bit overkill, but When I got a second pump as a gift, why not use it :p

ekuest said:
his pumps are mounted to the front of the case, with some sound isolation material in between. i think it looks like theyre mounted to the fan a little, but that would be silly. :p
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Yeah the insulation material is actually standard in the case. To mount the pumps I used velcro. The foam probably is a bit silly and doesn't look terribly good, but it is just to add some more support, since I don't entirely trust that top I'm using - the inlet/outlet are only half-threaded (if that makes any sense).


But thanks everyone for the kind words! :) This FT02 is my precious.
 
Idef1x said:
I removed the HDD cage from the case. To do so, I had to unscrew the aluminium body from the steel frame and remove a load of rivets. The 5.25" bays are not modded - I only removed two of the four plastic holders.

And as ekuest says, the pumps are two "Laing DDC-1T Plus" with "Aquacover Dual DDC" from Aqua Computer. It might be a bit overkill, but When I got a second pump as a gift, why not use it :p



Yeah the insulation material is actually standard in the case. To mount the pumps I used velcro. The foam probably is a bit silly and doesn't look terribly good, but it is just to add some more support, since I don't entirely trust that top I'm using - the inlet/outlet are only half-threaded (if that makes any sense).


But thanks everyone for the kind words! :) This FT02 is my precious.
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Hmm...how difficult was it to remove the unibody? I haven't looked at mine for doing that and am at work. I modded by drive cage as well to get my GPUs to fit...but I used tin snips and hacked the shit out of the HDD cage...would look a lot better getting the rest of it out.
 
USMCGrunt said:
Hmm...how difficult was it to remove the unibody? I haven't looked at mine for doing that and am at work. I modded by drive cage as well to get my GPUs to fit...but I used tin snips and hacked the shit out of the HDD cage...would look a lot better getting the rest of it out.
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It's not that difficult to remove and reattach the aluminium body. It is secured by a number of small screws running along the edge of the steel frame. It needs to be done, because two of the rivets securing the HDD bay can not be removed with the aluminium body in place. It took me a few hours to get it all done, but it could be done faster if you're more handy than me.
 
How are your case temps by the way since your pumping all that heat off the radiator back into the case and assuming the same with the radiator up top drawing air in from exterior?
 
USMCGrunt said:
How are your case temps by the way since your pumping all that heat off the radiator back into the case and assuming the same with the radiator up top drawing air in from exterior?
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They are quite good in my own opinion. I ran 10 runs of Intel Burn Test at maximum load with all memory allocated, it topped at 62c on the hottest core.

An hour of BF3 at 2560x1440 with recommended settings and my two moderately overclocked 6950s with unlocked shaders topped at 42-43c. So quite fine.
 
Those are decent for the GPUs for sure but I was referring to your actual case temperatures since the motherboard is being bathed in all that heat, was wondering if there was a way you could see like, your internal case temperature...does your motherboard have any temp sensors on it?
 
I have no idea what the temperature inside the case is tbh. The motherboard reads 51c under prime95 atm. But the upper rad is an outtake btw - just so I don't mess up the air flow completely. The small rad probably doesn't do much good, but I like the look of it :)
 
Temps are probably fine due to the massive amounts of air being moved. Based on what Idef1x is saying, the water temperature probably does not go above 40 C. Since the air has to be cooler than the water in order to be able to transfer the heat, and that there's continuous airflow, the temperature in the case almost definitely will not exceed 35 C, and probably doesn't exceed 30 C, depending on ambient temps.
 
Looks great.

Did you ever try running the radiator on top of the fans with the fans blowing? Everything I have read on fan configurations points to blowing cool air through radiator to be more effective that pulling.
 
SonDa5 said:
Looks great.

Did you ever try running the radiator on top of the fans with the fans blowing? Everything I have read on fan configurations points to blowing cool air through radiator to be more effective that pulling.
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Nope, I haven't tried the push-configuration. I don't like the idea of an exposed radiator, and I have yet to find a place that stocks the SilverStone 180mm fan filters.

And I'm fairly certain, that push vs pull is a tie. Here is a test where pull has a slight advantage:
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A friend is waiting until nVidia drops their next gen cards before doing that in his FT02... yours looks clean. Nicely done.
 
Love the look, very clean not a crazy mess of tubing going around seemed to work out great for you!
 
plinkett said:
Aww, so cute, you live with your parents. ;)
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No I don't, but I don't really see what makes you jump to that conclusion. I just live in a small apartment, studying. My rig just sits next to our bed, so it wouldn't take up all the living room space.
 
Idef1x said:
No I don't, but I don't really see what makes you jump to that conclusion. I just live in a small apartment, studying. My rig just sits next to our bed, so it wouldn't take up all the living room space.
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Nice build! I am going to be placing an order for that 540 Rad just from your thread :)
 
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I just got a 3930k and an Asus Rampage IV Formula. I will be populating the last two slots soon, when I get the last of my RAM back from RMA.

I want to change the color of the tubing. I'm really keen on the clear tubing with blood red coolant, but I don't think I will get it - kinda afraid of getting color gunked up in the system and the tubing turning cloudy.

But what do ypu guys think? Clear, red, black or white tubing?
 
I think red would look fantastic but from what ive read, you never get a true dark red color, it always ends up being a bit bright on the pink side of the spectrum. Maybe try red tubing and red fluid, less transparency may make it a bit darker.
 
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Red tubing it is. I also added red LEDs to the CPU block and white cathodes in the case.
 
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