So, I finally ordered parts for my first WC build!

alxlwson said:
Ahh, thats what I thought. I did feel I remembered goofy for the E's, due to die orientation.
How you like that sheet? I wanna replace the Gelid I'm using under and over the lid, but havent decided if I wanna go back to the CLU or try something else.
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Zarathustra[H] said:
I haven't deflowered it yet in my current setup, but I used it once before when I had the rare 180mm maingear cooler in my system, and as I recall the temps were much better with the indigo Extreme than with AS5.

The main benefit seems to be that while complicated to install, it minimizes the importance of getting a good mount. You might get equivalent or better performance from some other pastes if you have an absolutely dead on perfect mount, but the indigo extreme seems to take the mount more or less out of the equation, as long as you follow their directions precisely. (you have to reflow it in a horizontal orientation, and follow their detailed instructions for what to look for on the temp chart. If you don't it won't work right.

For my GPU I didn't use the included EK paste, and instead went with the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut paste as it reviews the best out of all the non-conductive pastes.
Click to expand...


Oh, and another note. The sheets are application specific, so you have to buy them for the specific CPU you want to use them on. They wouldn't work under the lid.

Since you have delidded it already, Have you considered going direct die like in the old days? I wonder if typical CPU block would mount correctly, or if the spacing would be all wrong.
 
Oh, that's the one that needs the reflow. Yeah, I'm not screwing with that lol, especially with a monoblock. If I can find the vrm block, I may try it with my MX.
 
EK does have a shim for direct die mounting, but from what little I've read, it doesn't help like it did back in the day. I've read 2°C differences, if any at all. Now, it could help with the monoblock, with the heat saturation issues that I'm experiencing.
I really should back some voltage down though. IIRC, asus 5-way set me up for 1.312 @4.5, which is a little high.
 
alxlwson said:
I really should back some voltage down though. IIRC, asus 5-way set me up for 1.312 @4.5, which is a little high.
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Hehe, on my sealed all in one water cooler, I had my i7-3930k at 1.45v to hit 5.0ghz in cold weather. I backed it down a bit (1.42? can't remember) for 4.8ghz. The 3930k's are remarkably voltage resistant chips.

Been running it at over 1.4v sicne I bought it in 2011 and it is still running strong.
 
alxlwson said:
EK does have a shim for direct die mounting
Click to expand...

If you are going to use a shim between the block and the die, might as well use the heat spreader, right? I mean, once you delid it and properly paste it, that's all the heat spreader is anyway, a shim, right?
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
Hehe, on my sealed all in one water cooler, I had my i7-3930k at 1.45v to hit 5.0ghz in cold weather. I backed it down a bit (1.42? can't remember) for 4.8ghz. The 3930k's are remarkably voltage resistant chips.

Been running it at over 1.4v sicne I bought it in 2011 and it is still running strong.
Click to expand...


Damnnnnn
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
If you are going to sue a shim between the block and the die, might as well use the heat spreader, right? I mean, once you delid it and properly paste it, that's all the heat spreader is anyway, a shim, right?
Click to expand...

Its a shim to make sure you dont smash the chip haha. Its like the IHS, but has a hole cut in it
 
Well, it's filling and leak testing time:

IMG_20160817_205236.jpg


I was going back and forth about it, and finally decided that I'd run the promo chill Sysprep through the loop before filling it with my coolant. I got it for free and I have it. Might as well use it.

This XSPC reservoir kind of stinks from a filling perspective. There is only one opening on top, and if you like me attach a fitting, a tube and a funnel to that opening, there is nowhere for the air to go when you fill it. The vent port on the top back was of no use during this process as the inlet to the pump is on the bottom.

I had to massage the tube for the entire half gallon or so that went in which was a major pain.

After the first fill it quickly became evident I had a slow drip from the 90 degree fitting coming right off the pump, so I had to drain it and replace the fitting.

Turns out I'm not very good at draining (yet).

Opening the drain port at the edge of my workbench with a bowl underneath it was fine. A trickle came out. Then I attached a tube with a fitting on one end and put the other end in an empty gallon jug, and opened the vent port at the top, and what I thought was the rest flowed out into the gallon jug.

When I took the 90 degree fitting off - however - I got a nice surprise and drenched my bottom fan. Turns out quite a bit stays in the loop.

The fan wasn't connected, so I'm sure it will be fine once it dries, but I'm going to have to research how to properly drain a loop before the next time.

So I filled it with the Sysprep solution again and now I'm doing case gymnastics to try to get the air out of the loop.

My D5 pump seems to have a high pitched whine which worries me. The pitch changes when I change the pump speed, so I know that is it.

I hope this doesn't mean I have a bad pump, and I hope it will be less noticing when I close the case and put it under my desk, as high pitched noise are one of my biggest pet peeves.

Maybe it is just due to there being air in the loop and it will disappear over time?

Also, I don't know if I am imagining things, but it almost feels like the loop is getting to be above room temp with nothing loading it.

I had heard the pump dissipates it's heat into the loop, but I didn't expect it to make a noticible difference...
 
~36w of pump heat plus hydraulic friction, with no fans to move air across will do that.
Also, it's impossible to have a running loop, even without a heat source, to be room temp.
Pressure(form of energy) loss throughout the system is turned into heat.
Pascal wrote great things about hydraulics.
 
Draining loops is universally a major pain in the ass. The best way that I have used - and I'm sure there are much better ways out there - is to insert a t-line into the lowest point of the loop. Then you can open up the bottom of the t-line, and most of it will drain out pretty well. But very annoying regardless.
 
verylostindeed said:
Draining loops is universally a major pain in the ass. The best way that I have used - and I'm sure there are much better ways out there - is to insert a t-line into the lowest point of the loop. Then you can open up the bottom of the t-line, and most of it will drain out pretty well. But very annoying regardless.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the info.

Hoping to learn as much as I possibly can about draining before trying to drain out all the Sysprep and replace it with my Ekoolant.
 
Also, there is always some hanging out in the pump itself. Do take care there. Haha.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Well, it's filling and leak testing time:

View attachment 6817

I was going back and forth about it, and finally decided that I'd run the promo chill Sysprep through the loop before filling it with my coolant. I got it for free and I have it. Might as well use it.

This XSPC reservoir kind of stinks from a filling perspective. There is only one opening on top, and if you like me attach a fitting, a tube and a funnel to that opening, there is nowhere for the air to go when you fill it. The vent port on the top back was of no use during this process as the inlet to the pump is on the bottom.

I had to massage the tube for the entire half gallon or so that went in which was a major pain.

After the first fill it quickly became evident I had a slow drip from the 90 degree fitting coming right off the pump, so I had to drain it and replace the fitting.

Turns out I'm not very good at draining (yet).

Opening the drain port at the edge of my workbench with a bowl underneath it was fine. A trickle came out. Then I attached a tube with a fitting on one end and put the other end in an empty gallon jug, and opened the vent port at the top, and what I thought was the rest flowed out into the gallon jug.

When I took the 90 degree fitting off - however - I got a nice surprise and drenched my bottom fan. Turns out quite a bit stays in the loop.

The fan wasn't connected, so I'm sure it will be fine once it dries, but I'm going to have to research how to properly drain a loop before the next time.

So I filled it with the Sysprep solution again and now I'm doing case gymnastics to try to get the air out of the loop.

My D5 pump seems to have a high pitched whine which worries me. The pitch changes when I change the pump speed, so I know that is it.

I hope this doesn't mean I have a bad pump, and I hope it will be less noticing when I close the case and put it under my desk, as high pitched noise are one of my biggest pet peeves.

Maybe it is just due to there being air in the loop and it will disappear over time?

Also, I don't know if I am imagining things, but it almost feels like the loop is getting to be above room temp with nothing loading it.

I had heard the pump dissipates it's heat into the loop, but I didn't expect it to make a noticible difference...
Click to expand...

The trick to filling that reservoir is to stick a coffee stirring straw in the top. Alternately, you can fill it really slowly.
 
alxlwson said:
Also, there is always some hanging out in the pump itself. Do take care there. Haha.
Click to expand...

Would it be a bad idea to use a little manual pump like this in my vent port to try to force water out the opposite side of the loop, or would I risk breaking something?

IMG_20160818_163240.jpg
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Would it be a bad idea to use a little manual pump like this in my vent port to try to force water out the opposite side of the loop, or would I risk breaking something?

View attachment 6851
Click to expand...
You don't actually have to drain all of the water out unless you're actually disassembling the entire system, in which case you just take all the parts out and dump the coolant out into the sink. Just be aware that there's some in there if you go to disassemble the pump/res unit.

Edit: To actually force all of the water out, you would likely need an air compressor, that can push a pretty high volume of air, which is not something I'd recommend.
 
a lot of times pumps will have air bubbles trapped in them and make strange noises. a lot easier in my m1 versus your setup but I rotate the case around, tap on the pump, and cycle the power on the pump to dislodge the bubble. Also a good way to test for leaks is to have another old psu on the side with a inline switch then only hook up the pump, then its easy to cycle the power. Seems to work pretty well for getting bubbles out. as far as draining the system, yeah that can be a pain, sometimes all you can do is rotate the case around until you get all the water out. Another way I have seen people clean the loop is to hook up the kitchen faucet to one end and have a t valve on the other and run a continuous stream of water to flush everything out. Then rinse with distilled to flush out any contaminated water. One thing about cleaning rads is that you should do it before there even installed. I like the Mayhems cleaning kits, they are a bit spendy, but the rads looks super clean when you let the cleaning solution sit in them then drain and flush. Better then clogging up those nice blocks. Rads from the factory I have seen have had a lot of contaminants in them.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Would it be a bad idea to use a little manual pump like this in my vent port to try to force water out the opposite side of the loop, or would I risk breaking something?

View attachment 6851
Click to expand...

To answer my own question, this little pump was fantastic at helping me empty my loop. Some small drops left inside but almost everything came out this way. Very happy with it!


IMG_20160818_172444.jpg


alxlwson said:
I just blow through mine with the lungs :)
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I was tempted to try that, but I neither want to contaminate my loop with bacteria or get any of that nasty shit in my mouth :p
 
Not a bad idea, half the fun of WC is trying new things yourself and finding solutions.
 
So, I wiped my sweaty finger prints off it and took a quick cellphone shot.

98% done.

Turns out that blue Alphacool logo wipes right off with isopropyl alcohol (oops!)

Would probably look better with sleeved power cables, but I'm not a masochist, so that won't happen.

This is an "all go, no show" build after all. (And here I am showing it off :p )


IMG_20160818_211359.jpg


I'm debating whether or not to get it up and running tonight.

While filling it with distilled water to flush out the Sysprep, some water inexplicably ran out my top bleed port and dripped down the back.

I think it's all gone, and it's distilled anyway, but I'm considering staying on the safe side and sticking it in my office with the AC blasting and a fan blowing on it all night...

Really tempting to fire it up though. It's essentially done at this point. All I need to do is heat up the CPU to reflow the Indigo Extreme...
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
So, I wiped my sweaty finger prints off it and took a quick cellphone shot.

98% done.

Turns out that blue Alphacool logo wipes right off with isopropyl alcohol (oops!)

Would probably lool better with sleeved power cables, but I'm not a masochist, so that won't happen.

This is an "all go, no show" build after all. (And here is am showing it off :p )


View attachment 6861

I'm debating whether or not to get it up and running tonight.

While filling it with distilled water to flush out the Sysprep, some water inexplicably ran out my top bleed port and dripped down the back.

I think it's all gone, and it's distilled anyway, but I'm considering seeing on the safe side and sticking it in my office with the AC blasting and a fan blowing on it all night just to be on the safe side...

Really tempting to fire it up though. It's essentially done at this point. All I need to do is heat up the CPU to reflow the Indigo Extreme...
Click to expand...
How much of a difference did the indigo extreme make for you ?
 
Ieldra said:
How much of a difference did the indigo extreme make for you ?
Click to expand...

Last time I used it was back when I had a weird 180mm AIO cooler marketed by MainGear. I remember it dropping a few degrees from.my AS5, but I can't remember any details. Its been a few years...

For this build I never tested it without the Indigo Extreme, and don't plan on it, so I unfortunately won't have any comparative numbers.

Still have to reflow it.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Last time I used it was back when I had a weird 180mm AIO cooler marketed by MainGear. I remember it dropping a few degrees from.my AS5, but I can't remember any details. Its been a few years...

For this build I never tested it without the Indigo Extreme, and don't plan on it, so I unfortunately won't have any comparative numbers.

Still have to reflow it.
Click to expand...

I was quite tempted to order a couple, but shipping costs was greater than the price of the damned thing
 
Ieldra said:
I was quite tempted to order a couple, but shipping costs was greater than the price of the damned thing
Click to expand...


I wasn't going to use them this time, but a couple came in the box with my Supremacy EVO Elite Edition, so I figured why not....
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
To answer my own question, this little pump was fantastic at helping me empty my loop. Some small drops left inside but almost everything came out this way. Very happy with it!


View attachment 6854



I was tempted to try that, but I neither want to contaminate my loop with bacteria or get any of that nasty shit in my mouth :p
Click to expand...

You should already own a datavac, and if not get one. Open a hose end, stick the datavac on there and spin it up and watch out as all hell sprays out. I setup a length of tubing into a bucket with a towel to catch overspray. But usually I don't do it that way, instead I use big 3g bottles and straight flush fresh distilled in. That said the datavac is awesome on its own.

https://www.amazon.com/ED500-DataVac-500-Watt-0-75-HP-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW
 
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thesmokingman said:
You should already own a datavac, and if not get one. Open a hose end, stick the datavac on there and spin it up and watch out as all hell sprays out. I setup a length of tubing into a bucket with a towel to catch overspray. But usually I don't do it that way, instead I use big 3g bottles and straight flush fresh distilled in. That said the datavac is awesome on its own.

https://www.amazon.com/ED500-DataVac-500-Watt-0-75-HP-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW
Click to expand...
Living in Italy here and I've been looking for something similar for three years maybe. The best I've found is a portable gas powered compressor that comes with a backpack. Seriously.

I ended up buying a 'blower' from Dubai, paid almost one tenth the price of the aforementioned backpack thing.

I don't even have to take the dust filters out of the case now
 
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I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with this little $8 Chinese PWM fan controller I got off eBay.

pwm.jpg


It gives me way more flexibility than motherboard fan control, which always thinks it knows better than I do and limits my settings.

I lopped the connectors off of the included thermal probes, and soldered them to the two Phobya inline water temp probes I bought. it picks up the temp just right, and I can program a basic fan control setting on two channels using it.


The instructions on the page are a poor English translation from - presumably - Cantonese Chinese and are impossible to understand.

Functionality is basic, but it does the following:

Minimum fan speed: Duty cycle of 10% - 100% (Fan will never drop below this speed, regardless of temp)
Low Temperature: Temperature at which fan speed will start ramping up from minimum fan speed.
High Fan Speed: Temperature at which you reach 100% duty cycle.

So, it doesn't allow for fancy fan curves, but that really isn't needed.

My Industrial Noctua fans have a minimum speed of 25%, so that's what I used as the min speed. This results in ~500rpm
I set them to stay at this speed until the loop temperature hits 28C and then rapidly spin up to 100% by the time they hit 32C.

This is just my first try. I'll likely have to tweak it tonight, once I get the machine up and running and do some load testing.

Setting the fan control is a little challenging, as you need a compromise. I want the best possible performance, but at the same time, I don't want the fans to go berzerk if I turn the fan on on a warm day, before I have the AC on.


Do any of you control fan speed based on loop temp? What settings do you use?
 
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I've got an Aquaero 5LT that I'm using for fan control; it's a pretty neat little device. I've got it set up with my radiator fans on the PWM channel and two temperature sensors; one ambient case and one coolant in the reservoir.

In the Aquasuite software I have a virtual sensor that is the difference between ambient and coolant temperatures and a custom fan curve that will ramp the speed up from 30% to 50% fairly quickly over a short change then gradually to 100% over the rest of the curve.

The initial quick ramp is where I have a difference of about 1 to 3 celsius in my setup and the rest happens after 3 celsius. I think full speed is hit with a 10 celsius difference (I've never seen this, I usually am maxing out at 6 celsius when running a GPU test + CPU test). It's a pretty neat tool and beats my old static numbers for the fans, haha.

This keeps it pretty much inaudible for me when just doing normal PC stuff and when gaming it gets a little windy but nothing loud, like running the fans at full blast.
 
Final pics

closed.jpg


Everything looks better with dramatic lighting :p



open.jpg


And the shot from the USB camera I stuck inside the case to monitor water levels, since I can't see my window because it is up against a wall:

water level.jpg
 
GPU Temps are amazing. Overclocked to 2063Mhz the Pascal TitanX never goes above 34C under load at a 74F (23.3C) ambient temp.

CPU temps I am less sure about. The CPU maxes out at 54C in Prime95 at stock, non-overclocked settings. I know these Sandy Bridge-E chips give off more heat than the latest chips though, so maybe this is normal? I'll have to google for others results.

Considering 74F is 23.3C, and my water temps are about 30C at load I guess that means I'm at a ΔT of 5.7C which isn't terrible. I guess I could improve on that by ramping up fan speeds higher, but I'm not sure I want to.

Just need to figure out if these CPU temps are right...
 
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My pump definitely has more of a hum to it than I had expected. I'm a little bummed out about this. It might drive me nuts.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
My pump definitely has more of a hum to it than I had expected. I'm a little bummed out about this. It might drive me nuts.
Click to expand...
Play around with the pump speed. Mine is obnoxiously noisy at some speeds, and almost imperceptible at others. It seems to be more of a resonance thing than a linear relationship to the speed.

54 doesn't seem outrageous for Sandy-E, to me. My Haswell-E system maxes out at about 52 after 20 minutes of Prime95. Idle is around 30 or 31.
 
I'm with you on sleeving- I want it to work well but I can't see $20 on cables (and really can't see doing it myself)...
But it's a nice looking setup!
 
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