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U2-UFO and Horizon builds:
Gaming/Benching Machine -
Started on June 1, 2007
Status: Completed as of September 9th after revision #9
Case: Mountain Mods Horizon w/ Big Window Top w/ black powder coat
Motherboard: eVGA 680i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
RAM: 2GB of Corsair Dominator PC-8500 (1066 5-5-5-15 @ 2.0V)
Video Card(s): 2 x eVGA 8800 GTX
Hard Drives: 2 x Western Digital 150GB Raptors in Raid 0, 2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB in Raid 1
Sound Card: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Bay Devices: Asus 20X DVD-Writer || Lite-On 20x DVD-Writer
PSU: PCP&C Silencer SLI 750W & Meanwell S-150-15
Peripherials: Dell 2407FPW 24" LCD || Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 || Logitech G7 Mouse || Logitech G15 LCD Keyboard || Logitech Quickcam Ultravision
Monitoring & Control Suite: mCubed BigNG || 2 x mCubed MiniNG's || mCubed Sensorbus || mCubed Digital Thermometer Expansion || 3 Aqua Computer Plug n Cool water temp probes|| 5 mCubed Fan Attenuators
CPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.2
Fans: 2 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on pull
CPU Waterblock: D-Tek Fuzion
Reservoir: EK-RES250 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke
GPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.3
Fans: 3 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on push
GPU Block: 2 x EK 8800GTX Full Cover
Reservoir: EK-RES200 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV green dye
Chipset Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.1
Fan: 1 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on push
Northbridge Block: EK eVGA 680i NB
Southbridge Block: EK NF4 1.1 SB
Hard Drive Blocks: 2 x Alphacool HDD3 CU/Plexi 3.5" & Alphacool Silentstar Dual HD waterblock enclosure
Reservoir: EK-RES200 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV blue dye
Update: 9/11/07 w/ completed pics
The Horizon has finally been finished. Aside from possibly a few cabling tweaks and some rewiring of my T-Balancer BigNG, the Horizon won't see too much of a change.
During this build, I've learned some valuable lessons, I'd like to share with others who are considering doing some of the things I've done. The most important thing is that I never ever want to do a multiple loop build again...ever. The pain staking process of having to find room and innovative ways to mount/place components resulted in numerous rebuilds when things didn't fit as how I had planned it out. I probably spent over 2 weeks just drawing the loops out with exact measurements. However, once you get around to actually placing the components physically, they never quite fit as planned. At most, I'll do two loop builds in the future, but I'm most likely going to stick with single loop builds. The headaches are just not worth it. As much as I trust the 10 DDC's that I personally own and use in my multiple rigs, the thought of one failing, which would require me to disassemble the entire build, would probably drive me past the point of insanity. As great as the Horizon looks, rerouting tubing, especially with the pumps on the bottom, requires a total rebuild. In the future, I'll probably stick with a single loop with possibly multiple radiators powered by a single RD-30. I hate to say it, but I think this very project burnt me out from the watercooling scene... at least for a while.
Other things I've learned:
1) Hiding cables is a pain in the ass and requires multiple cuts in the motherboard tray that you didn't plan for with your first wave of cuts.
2) UV dye from Jab-tech and Alphacool are utter crap.
3) I never want to use automated hardware to control my fans/pumps again. Not only is the wiring a total messy, pain in the ass, but the hassles of setting it all up just isn't worth it. The first few days are great when you see all the information at your disposal but seriously, how often are you going to look at that stuff. I feel the same way about bay drive LCD's. Anyhow, in the future, I'll most likely be going back to my Sunbeam rheostats to control my fans and leave my pumps at full speed with RPM monitoring through the motherboard/bios/speedfan.
4) EK reservoirs only work right in one configuration. Even with the rev 2, the whirl pool effect still exists and causes bleeding nightmares. Do not ever route your tubing into your reservoir into the top like I did. It will never fully bleed out all of the air. The EK reservoirs are best setup with the intake and outlet on the same plane.
5) Cut out holes in your motherboard tray for all of your mounting posts for your chipset/CPU waterblocks. It will make life much more tolerable in the event you ever need to adjust the mounting hardware. You'll save yourself a few rebuilds when you realize that one waterblock wasn't mounted correctly. Case in point: EK NF4 1.1 Great block, but world's :banana::banana::banana::banana:tiest mounting mechanism.
6) Ambient temps in the Horizon really suck ass due to the motherboard tray keeping all of the components near the top where all the warm air congregates. I wouldn't recommend getting any other top other than the original top that has mounts for 2 120mm fans. You really need to keep the air moving in this case. My U2 posts ambient temps that are on average 5-7C better than my Horizon and it has 2 less 120mm fans. Now a few C's may be due to the 8800GTX's and other components in the Horizon, but for the most part, I believe the aesthetics of the Horizon come at a cost.
7) When you're planning an over the top build, expect to run about $300-400 over budget and about 2 months over your planned timetable. Simple builds = less chance of running over budget and quicker up time. I probably have over $600 worth of components and accessories that were meant for this build that remain unused only because I wanted it to be a badass rig. Of course, new things always get released and somethings don't fit right and basically at the end of the day, you have an RD-30, PSU, a few waterblocks, a bunch of heat sinks, a PA160, etc sitting in a box.
Original Top - a must have for all Horizon owners imho
Horizon motherboard tray with cut outs for wire management
Motherboard with analogue and digital thermal sensors attached
3 x DDC-2's with Alphacool's top all attached to Mountain Mods HD brackets for mounting on Thermochill PA radiators
Custom cut/made acrylic reservoir holder for 3 x EK Reservoirs
3 x EK reservoirs with w/ Rev 2 bottom and original multioption tops
3 x DDC-2's w/ Alphacool's top attached to PA radiators
Horizon front with new Black Delrin Vandal Bulgin switches (blue on left, white on the right) and bottom 5.25" bay replaced with custom acrylic cutout to support a PA120.1 and 120mm fan
Top and side views of the Horizon with all of the components on the bottom compartment installed
All waterblocks installed onto their respective components
Front
Left side
Front and top sides
Top side
Right side
Internal view w/ completed wire management
BigNG in the bottom right hand corner
2 x MiniNG's and Sensorbus attached to underside of horizontal motherboard brace with velcro
Pictures taken in the dark:
Home Office Work Machine -
Started On: March 14, 2007
Status: Completed on June 15, 2007 after 3 revisions
Case: U2-UFO w/ Original Top w/ black powder coat
Motherboard: eVGA 680i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
RAM: 2GB of Corsair Dominators (PC-8500 5-5-5-15) w/ Dominator Fan
Video Card(s): 2 x eVGA 7900GT SLI
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB
Bay Devices: Samsung SH-S183L 18x DVD Burner || Lite-On 18x DVD Burner || 2 x Sunbeam Rheobus (white/red LED mod) || 5 1/4" Bay 20-1 Card Reader
PSU: PCP&C Silencer SLI 750W
Peripherials: Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Keyboard 7000 || Dell 2405 24" LCD || Acer 22" LCD || Planar 19" LCD || Logitech X-530 5.1 speaker system || Creative Webcam
CPU/Chipset Loop:
Pump: DDC-1 w/ Petra's revised top on Petra Gel
Radiator: Swiftech MCR220QP
Fans: 2 x Silverstone FN122 120mm on pull
CPU Waterblock: Swiftech Apogee GTX
Northbridge Waterblock: Danger Den 680i
Southbridge Waterblock: EK NF4 1.1
Reservoir: Swiftech mcres-micro (w/ G1/4 tap on top)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV red Alphacool dye
GPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-1 w/ Petra's revised top on Petra Gel
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.3
Fans: 3 x Silverstone FN122 120mm (w/ shroud) on pull
GPU Waterblock: 2 x Swiftech MCW60
GPU Memory Waterblock: 2 x Swiftech MCW-Ramcool /79
Reservoir: Swiftech mcres-micro (w/ G1/4 tap on top)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV red Alphacool dye
Anyhow, my home office machine is built for silence. I normally don't overclock it at all and let it run stock. I tried to make look as decent as possible without spending too much time on it as my main focus has shifted towards my 3rd MountainMods build my Horizon.
Gaming/Benching Machine -
Started on June 1, 2007
Status: Completed as of September 9th after revision #9
Case: Mountain Mods Horizon w/ Big Window Top w/ black powder coat
Motherboard: eVGA 680i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
RAM: 2GB of Corsair Dominator PC-8500 (1066 5-5-5-15 @ 2.0V)
Video Card(s): 2 x eVGA 8800 GTX
Hard Drives: 2 x Western Digital 150GB Raptors in Raid 0, 2 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB in Raid 1
Sound Card: Auzentech X-Fi Prelude
Bay Devices: Asus 20X DVD-Writer || Lite-On 20x DVD-Writer
PSU: PCP&C Silencer SLI 750W & Meanwell S-150-15
Peripherials: Dell 2407FPW 24" LCD || Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1 || Logitech G7 Mouse || Logitech G15 LCD Keyboard || Logitech Quickcam Ultravision
Monitoring & Control Suite: mCubed BigNG || 2 x mCubed MiniNG's || mCubed Sensorbus || mCubed Digital Thermometer Expansion || 3 Aqua Computer Plug n Cool water temp probes|| 5 mCubed Fan Attenuators
CPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.2
Fans: 2 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on pull
CPU Waterblock: D-Tek Fuzion
Reservoir: EK-RES250 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke
GPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.3
Fans: 3 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on push
GPU Block: 2 x EK 8800GTX Full Cover
Reservoir: EK-RES200 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV green dye
Chipset Loop:
Pump: DDC-2 w/ Alphacool's top
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.1
Fan: 1 x Yate Loon D12SL-12 on push
Northbridge Block: EK eVGA 680i NB
Southbridge Block: EK NF4 1.1 SB
Hard Drive Blocks: 2 x Alphacool HDD3 CU/Plexi 3.5" & Alphacool Silentstar Dual HD waterblock enclosure
Reservoir: EK-RES200 Multioption (Rev 2) w/ extra Multioption top
Tubing: Tygon B-44-3 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV blue dye
Update: 9/11/07 w/ completed pics
The Horizon has finally been finished. Aside from possibly a few cabling tweaks and some rewiring of my T-Balancer BigNG, the Horizon won't see too much of a change.
During this build, I've learned some valuable lessons, I'd like to share with others who are considering doing some of the things I've done. The most important thing is that I never ever want to do a multiple loop build again...ever. The pain staking process of having to find room and innovative ways to mount/place components resulted in numerous rebuilds when things didn't fit as how I had planned it out. I probably spent over 2 weeks just drawing the loops out with exact measurements. However, once you get around to actually placing the components physically, they never quite fit as planned. At most, I'll do two loop builds in the future, but I'm most likely going to stick with single loop builds. The headaches are just not worth it. As much as I trust the 10 DDC's that I personally own and use in my multiple rigs, the thought of one failing, which would require me to disassemble the entire build, would probably drive me past the point of insanity. As great as the Horizon looks, rerouting tubing, especially with the pumps on the bottom, requires a total rebuild. In the future, I'll probably stick with a single loop with possibly multiple radiators powered by a single RD-30. I hate to say it, but I think this very project burnt me out from the watercooling scene... at least for a while.
Other things I've learned:
1) Hiding cables is a pain in the ass and requires multiple cuts in the motherboard tray that you didn't plan for with your first wave of cuts.
2) UV dye from Jab-tech and Alphacool are utter crap.
3) I never want to use automated hardware to control my fans/pumps again. Not only is the wiring a total messy, pain in the ass, but the hassles of setting it all up just isn't worth it. The first few days are great when you see all the information at your disposal but seriously, how often are you going to look at that stuff. I feel the same way about bay drive LCD's. Anyhow, in the future, I'll most likely be going back to my Sunbeam rheostats to control my fans and leave my pumps at full speed with RPM monitoring through the motherboard/bios/speedfan.
4) EK reservoirs only work right in one configuration. Even with the rev 2, the whirl pool effect still exists and causes bleeding nightmares. Do not ever route your tubing into your reservoir into the top like I did. It will never fully bleed out all of the air. The EK reservoirs are best setup with the intake and outlet on the same plane.
5) Cut out holes in your motherboard tray for all of your mounting posts for your chipset/CPU waterblocks. It will make life much more tolerable in the event you ever need to adjust the mounting hardware. You'll save yourself a few rebuilds when you realize that one waterblock wasn't mounted correctly. Case in point: EK NF4 1.1 Great block, but world's :banana::banana::banana::banana:tiest mounting mechanism.
6) Ambient temps in the Horizon really suck ass due to the motherboard tray keeping all of the components near the top where all the warm air congregates. I wouldn't recommend getting any other top other than the original top that has mounts for 2 120mm fans. You really need to keep the air moving in this case. My U2 posts ambient temps that are on average 5-7C better than my Horizon and it has 2 less 120mm fans. Now a few C's may be due to the 8800GTX's and other components in the Horizon, but for the most part, I believe the aesthetics of the Horizon come at a cost.
7) When you're planning an over the top build, expect to run about $300-400 over budget and about 2 months over your planned timetable. Simple builds = less chance of running over budget and quicker up time. I probably have over $600 worth of components and accessories that were meant for this build that remain unused only because I wanted it to be a badass rig. Of course, new things always get released and somethings don't fit right and basically at the end of the day, you have an RD-30, PSU, a few waterblocks, a bunch of heat sinks, a PA160, etc sitting in a box.
Original Top - a must have for all Horizon owners imho
Horizon motherboard tray with cut outs for wire management
Motherboard with analogue and digital thermal sensors attached
3 x DDC-2's with Alphacool's top all attached to Mountain Mods HD brackets for mounting on Thermochill PA radiators
Custom cut/made acrylic reservoir holder for 3 x EK Reservoirs
3 x EK reservoirs with w/ Rev 2 bottom and original multioption tops
3 x DDC-2's w/ Alphacool's top attached to PA radiators
Horizon front with new Black Delrin Vandal Bulgin switches (blue on left, white on the right) and bottom 5.25" bay replaced with custom acrylic cutout to support a PA120.1 and 120mm fan
Top and side views of the Horizon with all of the components on the bottom compartment installed
All waterblocks installed onto their respective components
Front
Left side
Front and top sides
Top side
Right side
Internal view w/ completed wire management
BigNG in the bottom right hand corner
2 x MiniNG's and Sensorbus attached to underside of horizontal motherboard brace with velcro
Pictures taken in the dark:
Home Office Work Machine -
Started On: March 14, 2007
Status: Completed on June 15, 2007 after 3 revisions
Case: U2-UFO w/ Original Top w/ black powder coat
Motherboard: eVGA 680i
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
RAM: 2GB of Corsair Dominators (PC-8500 5-5-5-15) w/ Dominator Fan
Video Card(s): 2 x eVGA 7900GT SLI
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB
Bay Devices: Samsung SH-S183L 18x DVD Burner || Lite-On 18x DVD Burner || 2 x Sunbeam Rheobus (white/red LED mod) || 5 1/4" Bay 20-1 Card Reader
PSU: PCP&C Silencer SLI 750W
Peripherials: Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Keyboard 7000 || Dell 2405 24" LCD || Acer 22" LCD || Planar 19" LCD || Logitech X-530 5.1 speaker system || Creative Webcam
CPU/Chipset Loop:
Pump: DDC-1 w/ Petra's revised top on Petra Gel
Radiator: Swiftech MCR220QP
Fans: 2 x Silverstone FN122 120mm on pull
CPU Waterblock: Swiftech Apogee GTX
Northbridge Waterblock: Danger Den 680i
Southbridge Waterblock: EK NF4 1.1
Reservoir: Swiftech mcres-micro (w/ G1/4 tap on top)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV red Alphacool dye
GPU Loop:
Pump: DDC-1 w/ Petra's revised top on Petra Gel
Radiator: Thermochill PA120.3
Fans: 3 x Silverstone FN122 120mm (w/ shroud) on pull
GPU Waterblock: 2 x Swiftech MCW60
GPU Memory Waterblock: 2 x Swiftech MCW-Ramcool /79
Reservoir: Swiftech mcres-micro (w/ G1/4 tap on top)
Tubing: Tygon R3603 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD
Solution: distilled water, 2 drops PT Nuke, UV red Alphacool dye
Anyhow, my home office machine is built for silence. I normally don't overclock it at all and let it run stock. I tried to make look as decent as possible without spending too much time on it as my main focus has shifted towards my 3rd MountainMods build my Horizon.
