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First Computer Build + WC

M

MaXXimus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Messages
312
Hey guys, came across these forums today and couldnt wait to come in here and get some advise and/or some suggestions. Seems like a very popular site and good to see multiple users input on most of the threads... kinda like going to the doctor and getting a second opinion...

Anywayz, I orginally purchased an Alienware Area-51 ALX... I know a lot of you are probably either giggling by now or maybe might want to hurt me for being so stupid, but I have wanted one for many yrs and sadly it took my fathers passing and leaving me some $$$ to afford it... this P.O.S. has been nothing but issues since day one and even after repairs its still a P.O.S... so after 3 nightmarish months of ownership its being sent back and Im getting a full refund... you can look on their site and see the crappy components that ya get for $$$ and then compare it to my "build list" and see that my personal build will be around $500 or so less and knock the living stuffing out of their new CrossFire model...

I know this is the water cooling section but if anyone has input on my component choices I am all ears ( though I do feel I made excellent choices and took me months of research). Also keep in mind I want to OC the CPU to at least 4.0 if not squeeze a little more out of it depending upon what your thoughts are on my current setup.

Motherboard - ASUS Maximus Extreme

Processor - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650



Memory - CORSAIR Dominator 2GB DDR3 1800 Mhz

Memory - CORSAIR Dominator 2GB DDR3 1800 Mhz

HardDrive - WD Raptor X WD1500AHFD

HardDrive - WD Raptor X WD1500AHFD

Video Card - ASUS Radeon HD 3870 X2

Video Card - ASUS Radeon HD 3870 X2

CD/DVD - ASUS DRW-1814BLT

PSU - Tagan BZ Series 1300W Modular

Case - Thermaltake Xaser VI

Memory Reader - Atech Flash XM5U

WC - Pump - Danger Den DD12V-D5 Variable Speed

WC - Reservoir - Danger Den Single 5 1/4" Bay

WC - Radiator - Stealth GTS 120 Black Ice

WC - Radiator - Black Ice Pro III

WC - Tubing - 24' Tygon 3603 Tubing 1/2" ID 3/4" OD

WC - CPU Water Block - Swiftech Apogee GTX

WC - CPU Water Block Replacement Top

Fans x8 - Thermaltake A1926 120mm

I was told I should be fine with this but you guys seems a little more knowledgable then where I got my original information. My plan is to have the CPU and the GPU's in a single loop... 360 on the bottom of the case (slight mod needed but easily done) with of course 3 fans pushing down and through the rad. Then having the 120 rad mounted to where the rear exhaust fan is... basic setup for that would be fan>rad attached to the outside of the case and then another fan attached on the inside, and this Im not sure if I should be pushing/pulling into the case or out of the case. Case would have a 120 or 140 fan on the front drawing in and a 120 or 140 on the top drawing out. After Im done I need to see what kind of airflow is inside but thats another easy fix by modding one or two 120's on the side panel.
 
Sounds like quite a project. The only thing is you will have to wait a little bit (I hear only a week or two) for the 3870x2 water blocks. I would also consider maybe waiting to get your 2nd videocard because currently there isn't support for dual x2 cards... meaning you don't get any better performance than with a single x2. The drivers to correct this are supposed to hit us in March sometime they say... but you never know with driver releases.
Also ... cooling 4 video cores and the quad core cpu would probably need two trip rads to really benefit from watercooling. With one video core and a quad core a dual 120 rad is minimal. However, this would really all be your preference. Watercooling has become almost more for looks and sometime silent pcs nowdays instead of high performance. This is because the air cooling tech has gotten to be so good (Zerotherm, thermalright... ).

Now.. My one and only criticism for you build would be the ddr3 memory. That is pointless. You will actually likely see less performance than you would with really fast ddr2 ram. And you are paying like 3 times the price. Look at the [H] reviews on ddr3 ram and you will see.

Other than that.. I'll say that CPU is nice. I've gotten mine to 4.7 but run it 24/7 at either 4 or sometimes 4.5. I would reccomend either the OCZ reaper or flex xlc ram, or Corsair Dom ddr2. Also, that Asus board is really nice.

Well, read up on all your stuff here and other places, and good luck!
 
His only issue there is that the max extreme is DDR3 only I think. I think you'll have to go max formula to use DDR2, which will save you loads of cash compared to the DDR3 setup. The SE version with the fusion waterblock on hte chipset might be tough to find though. I know when I went looking for a blitz formula last month(P35 chipset instead of X38) I couldn't find one anywhere and ended up getting the abit IP35 pro instead.
 
Thanks for the reply...

What if I didnt want to add the cards into the loop then... honeslty I cant see where I can put another 360, wont fit inside and trying to smack it on top of the case I think is just to messy looking, but then only using air and no water on the 3870 X2's wouldnt they be toasting?

While Im at it you mentioned there really isnt any performance gain with water versus air... so what options would you go with if you didnt want to do any water? Maybe if ya have the time and the info you wouldnt mind looking at my parts again and pretend this is your build and ya have $6100 to toy with. One thing though I do know for sure is, I dont want this thing to sound like an F-18 takin off when I hit the power button but I do expect some noise level just nothing that would be considered obnoxious.
 
Imitation said:
His only issue there is that the max extreme is DDR3 only I think. I think you'll have to go max formula to use DDR2, which will save you loads of cash compared to the DDR3 setup. The SE version with the fusion waterblock on hte chipset might be tough to find though. I know when I went looking for a blitz formula last month(P35 chipset instead of X38) I couldn't find one anywhere and ended up getting the abit IP35 pro instead.
Click to expand...

I prefer to stick with X38, so I guess Im stuck with the Extreme and havin to get the DDR3. Also I want to avoid NVidia chipset at all costs because personally I think its to glitchy.
 
MaXXimus said:
I prefer to stick with X38, so I guess Im stuck with the Extreme and havin to get the DDR3. Also I want to avoid NVidia chipset at all costs because personally I think its to glitchy.
Click to expand...

The maximus formula is X38, but uses DDR2 instead of DDR3. I wasn't sure if you were getting the extreme soley for the fusion watercooling block on the northbridge or not. If you're fine with running a fan over the maximus formula's heatsinks to keep them cool you'll save alot of money and lose very little performance.
 
Yeah I'd stay away form the nvidia chipsets too expecially for overclocking.
Personally, If I had the amount to spend, I'd have a hard time spending it all ^_^.
My friend has a similar setup to what I have, but he didn't use his old water setup. He didn't feel like taking it all apart so he just got a thermalright ultra 120 for the cpu and a zalman duo orb for his 8800gtx. Now, he gets around the same temps (tiny bit higher) that I do on water on his cpu. Also his 8800gtx is not far off from mine under load. Since the fans are larger they are relatively quiet.

But still... you have the money.. so I'd go watercooling. I would try to find the ddr2maxiumus se board, and if you can't then I would debate getting something else as watercooling the chipset isn't going to be all that beneficial on these boards (although it is nice). I can still hit 500mhz fsb on my board with air cooling and the temps don't get that high. Also, you could always go full custom and get your own chipset waterblocks (Danger Den, Swiftech, etc all make them).

As far as space for the rads ... are you stuck on getting that case?
Heck with that much money I'd go with the big Lian Li vb2000 or whatever. It is a large case ... but it looks awesome, is highly customizable, and can easily fit two larger 3x120 radiators. I will send you some links to pics of some setup I've seen with these cases.. maybe it will spark you interest.
 
Id get the d-tek fusion with the nozzle kit and use the quad core nozzle.
 
K1tty and Imitation, Im not planning on water cooling the chipset and this point it looks like I may not be water cooling the GPU's either (waiting on confirmation about these X2's that are already OC'ed and dont seem to need WC). Now as for the mobo, I have always gone with the most expensive because I always go under the assumption that its the best.. and frankly... "I want the best". Now what I would like to know is if the Maximus Extreme is "the best" and does it really matter if Im planning on just air cooling the chipset? I want to stick with DDR3 because after reading a lengthly review on DDR3 on Toms Hardware Im not really seeing much on the side of negativity about it. Now aside from the DDR3 differances we seem to have... is the Maximus Extreme a waste of my money if not using the built on water cooling for the chipset?
 
Just going to throw in my $0.02. I'd go for a different case, especially if it's a Lian-Li like someone above me suggest. Those Thermaltake cases might look sick to you right now in pictures, but believe me, that wears off. I got a Xaser III when I built my first computer and I still have that POS sitting on the floor by my foot. Every other day I want to take it to the roof of my dorm and drop kick it off. It's mainly a lot of subtle things, but cable management is a pita, and there's just no easy way to rearrange/clean up things inside this case. I've used some Lian-Li's since then, and the difference is incredible.

Oh yeah, one thing I for sure dislike about my case. Those cool lights on the front (your's has them too, purple for you), they serve zero purpose and had me pissed off within 2 days. I ripped them out...

Good luck with your set-up you're going to love it.
 
If you really want to go all out just get this and wc your cpu:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1240/cas-307/Custom_Lian-Li_V2000B_Plus_Bucky_Edition_Internal_Triple_Fan_Xtreme_Radiator_Water_Cooled_Case.html?tl=g45c259s658#blank

I wouldn't bother wc'ing you X2's because you likely won't get too much more out of them performance wise. You can get factory overclocked ones from newegg. However, they are all the same. You can overclock the cards using ati tool or another similar program.
I agree what has been said about the case. Lian Li's are a world apart from most other cases. I have a cooler master stacker evo and even still I think the Lian Li's are so much nicer (kinda why I ended up painting my case!)
I am going to get an X2 myself here pretty soon. I am not going to watercool it atleast for the time being. I will just leave my cpu in the loop.
 
K1tty I love you!!! I did actually like the case in your link... but that got me thinking and did a Google and came across this BEAUTIFUL MOFO http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=20608... They even mention an option for dual triple rads on the bottom... but I want to call and see what the pricing would be to keep whats in there now (triple and double) and add one more triple... unless thats overkill? Im thinking if I go with this I can get the whole system on water at some point down the road by simply buying the blocks since everything else will already be in there... WOOT WOOT.

What ya think? I know I think this is BITCHEN (only one lil thing I dont like... require me to move my desk because the windowed door is on the opposite side then Im use to)

EDIT: If ya look at pictures I just noticed #10 shows 2 empty 120mm fan holes in the rear... I could just buy as is and not worry about the extra triple and just externally mount a double in the future myself.
 
MaXXimus said:
EDIT: If ya look at pictures I just noticed #10 shows 2 empty 120mm fan holes in the rear... I could just buy as is and not worry about the extra triple and just externally mount a double in the future myself.
Click to expand...

If your talking about the ones above the psu bay those are 80mm last time i checked, and if i were u id save some money and do it all your self, and its funner to.
 
Nick_Leo said:
If your talking about the ones above the psu bay those are 80mm last time i checked, and if i were u id save some money and do it all your self, and its funner to.
Click to expand...



Your right about the 80mm, I wasnt paying enough attention, thanks for the headsup... maybe I will ask the how much more to mod it for a second double. But anyway... considering I have "some" patience but not "a lot", I think it might be safer for the computer and me if I went this route. lol ... Plus Im not exactly equiped properly and would end up having a fooked up looking case by the time Im done hacking it up with what I do have... I know the price is a little steep but after really looking it over a dozen times it really does impress me... quality parts, beautiful looking and nicely modded, I just cant see it not being worth it... at least to me.

Im thinking with the present setup I could put the CPU + NB on the first loop triple rad and then if modding it for a second double isnt too much more then I can do that and be able to have the GPU's on second loop, maybe even go third loop and have 3 differant UV colors... not sure on that one yet but plenty of time to think about options.
 
some pictures?
nothing yet?
u start de work or what?
the components its amazing,case its weak,i preffer a lian li case,v1000b or v2000b.
good luck at work
 
slap slap, that case aint weak LOL, but no I havent even ordered parts... that should be in about 2 weeks or so. Im figuring on being able to start building probably within the first week of March and will be sure to start a new thread with tons of pics.
 
Pictures will come... trust me lol. Im freakin out still working on my parts list because being my first time doing anything like this.. I will be one pissed off camper if I start putting it together and forgot something as stupid as say... compression fittings or coolant. I did change from the Maximus Extreme + DDR3 to a Maximus Formula + DDR2... same performance and saved me $700.00... so now I can have 4 Raptors instead of 2.
 
I would consider sticking with one, maybe two for RAID0, Raptor for the OS drive, then 4 TB drives or something for massive storage. You wont get a whole lot of benefit from so many raptors.
 
I'm currently using a BIP Dual on my e8400 and x800 (need an upgrade). It works great for silence. If your goal is performance and you don't mind paying for it, nothing outperforms the thermochill PA120.3. I would go with a swiftech triple rad second. I'm currently using 7/16 masterkleer tubing over 1/2 in. fittings. No noticable performance penalty, it fits tight and routes easier. I think you choice for pump is good. I would recommend the D-tech cpu block or the swiftech apogee GTX. If you have room a shroud can improve performance and smooth the acoustic signature.
 
Erasmus354: Typically I have 1 drive and no matter what size I always partition it into 4... so I figured instead of being bothered with that I would just slap 4 Raptors... makes life easier for me :)


phedre: If you look at my one post with the link... Im ordering that case and having a second 120.2 added so in total I will have 1x120.3 - 2x120.2 with each being a seperate loop.
 
That's going to be one crazy setup. I hope you end up going with a bigger case like the Lian Li. I have a CM Stacker 830 evo and had a single 120x2 radiator mounted inside the case up front. I am going to add in another 120x2 rad in the bottom of the case as well I think, but things will get tight. I have an apogee gtx waterblock and a liang d5 pump from a previous build I am going to swap to as well.
I'll tell you, having a larger case is very nice. When I first got the stacker I thought it was more room than i would ever use ... boy was I wrong :)
 
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