Corsair Air 540 "Crush"

Schtask

Schtask

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
436
Hi [H]. I've been posting this build on another forum, so here it will be condensed. Hope you guys like it.

I'm getting together some items for a H20 build in a Corsair Air 540. Let's start with the specs:

EVGA X58 SLI
Intel I7 920
24 GB Corsair Dominator Ram
2x GTX 780's
2x Samsung 840 250gb SSD
1x Corsair Force 3 Gt 120gb
1x WD Black 700gb
Silvertsone Strider 1000w PSU (Maybe a Corsair 1200AX when I can afford it)

Loop

2x XSPC GTX Titan Waterblocks
1x XSPC Raystorm CPU block
1x Alphacool XT45 280mm Radiator
1x XSPC 360 EX Rad
1x XSPC Bay Res. w/ Swiftech 655 Pump (Here goes Vertical Mounting!)
12 Feet of Primochill Rigid Tubing (UV Orange)
A bunch of Orange LED's
Some Fan Splitters
Some custom circuit stuff
Some 3D Printed Stuff

Here goes nothing:

Step One: What is the color scheme?

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Orange?

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ORANGE!!!!!

Step Two: Rigid Tubing..........Almost as easy as it looks.

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Hmmm.....I had better first tries in Statics and Dynamics...............

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Better...Getting there.... Solid Silicon Filler Tube > Hollow Silicon O Ring Stock
 
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Trying to use fans on the outside means you have maybe 1mm of clearance between the fan and the modders mesh. Crazy.

Actually thinking about installing the 280 on the top of the case and building a shroud for it.
 
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Alright...did some different things.

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At this point, I think the best best will be to have the 360 fans blowing out of the case. I love Gentle Typhoons....but needing a 4 pin molex for power is making me seriously consider the corsair SP 120's.

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120mm x 25mm fans do indeed fit nicely on the Air 540. You may need to do a little pushing to get it right. Also...flat head screws will help a ton.

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Things look a bit differently now. I think Push / Pull is indeed a reality on the 280 rad.

The 360, may be best off doing Push / Pull for just the bottom two fans, and pull for the top as PCfoo suggested.

Headed to the watering hole for some relaxation...then PSU / Hardware Installation tonight, followed by LC loop install tomorrow! See ya!
 
Got a GPU block on tonight as I await the 240 rad. Took some pics.

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Figured I'd start with one card.....that way....If I blow it out, I'm only out 1 gpu and not both. :)

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Finished with backplate.
 
Leak test overnight IMO! Gotta love the X58!
 
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Gonna leave you guys with a few images. Awaiting some parts, and working on some other projects this week.






One thing about this case.......The window came kinda scratched and extremely dirty. Enjoy!
 
Thought I would hit you guys with a few updates. Enjoy!

The neat half of the case is just about done.

Debating on Paint vs. Mod-lighting. SLA-SLI Bridge? Maybe.....

The "Other" side of this case is wire hell.....gotta figure something out. Anyway........



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
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props to you for a unique build. Looks great. How is the 540 to build in? Roomy enough?
 
Looks awesome, love seeing more and more of the 540 builds. Makes me wish I had waited a little longer before buying my R4.
 
I got that I just meant it looked like it doesn't make that bend to the processor, gives a cool effect dig the acrylic!
 
Sweet! Glad you guys like it.

The 540 is great to build in. Having two chambers makes rigid tubing bends difficult back there to the reservoir, but not impossible.

Cooling is great, cable management is easy, it's thoughtfully built and arguably good looking. I had a good time with it.
 
Awesome build. Seriously nice job on the "neat" side :).

How is it working with that rigid acrylic? Rigid? Seriously though, how difficult is it to make it do what you want?
 
It took about 5-6 ft of scraps before I got really good at making the bends.

The tubing itself isn't very forgiving to improper heat application, but once you get a system down, things come together nicely.

Some people are recommending setting up jigs and forms to bend your tubing around.

Know what I used?

A silicon tube to keep the acrylic from collapsing. My eyeballs to see right angles. My hands to bend them. A wax pencil to mark bends and cuts. A dremel to cut.

And that's how I built the entire rig. It's really not that hard.....but make no mistake....it is much [H]arder than running standard loop hose.
 
pics of the case from the other side of the case?

Any problems with the xspc refill/bleed/air bubbles & vertical mount of the bay reservoir ?
 
I can take some pics of the other side if you like....Not much to see there.

[IMG=http://imageshack.com/a/img89/1350/d454.jpg][/IMG]

Filling or draining I just put the case on it's side and get to work with a funnel. The fill port is facing straight up with the case turned, so it's pretty easy.

Air bubbles get worked out of the loop by priming the pump. No problems there.

Since the pump is still at the bottom of the reservoir cage, gravity is still working its magic. There are no issues with vertical mounting so far.
 
Looks pretty cool... I am tempted in giving the rigid tubing a try soon. I can see so much potential with it...
 
It's out of the 5760x1200 pack from Digital Blasphemy. They have some of the best tri screen desktop wallpapers on the interwebz.

I really enjoyed working with the rigid tubing. At first it was a PITA, but once I got the hang of it, it made the build finish that much sweeter.
 
man that came out so so nice. ...and I am definitely picking one of these up for the next build.
 
Sorry it took so long to respond...busy in a new house.

The case is very well put together. It has kind of a matte coating on it that gives almost a rubbery feeling on the surface. If you have ever handled an ASUS G73 series laptop, it's alot like that.

My only real complaints involve the case window (it's flimsy and was scratched on delivery), the power / reset wires are too short, and the case won't fit a 280 + 360 rad....also...vertical drive bays were a weird decision.

The interior layout of this case is well thought out. Builds look very clean inside and out.Very capable for almost anything you could want it to do. It's different and spacious. My temps with this case are crazy good.

Overall I'd give it a 8 out of 10.
 
That case with those tubes are making me salivate. How did you get started with the ridged tubing? Any issues with fitting?
 
Good job but I have to complain about the two offsets, one coming out of the waterblock and the other after the 90 out of the 2nd video card. It throws it off a bit. I can see how the waterblock offset might be necessary depending on how adverse you are to using 90s (since you have so many of them I would assume you are going for aesthetics over efficiency), but the offset going into the radiator seems like it could be avoided with just proper measurements.
 
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