My first custom WC (x-qpack)

I

[IO]ERROR

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Messages
160
My girlfriend got me a Zalman Res1 Plus for Christmas last year and it's been great. With a single S-flex at 800rpm is dead silent. I was cooling a Athlon64 3700+ San Diego and a BFG6800GTOC and like I said it worked great but now I want to step up my CPU and video card(s) (going SLI) so I needed a system to handle the heat. I don't OC but the Zalman would be hard pressed to handle the heat I was going to make.

My new system is still built on the idea that I wont be OCing at all. Already have the Zalman WB03, NWB01 and GWB03 and hoses I didn't want or feel the need to change them out. They work for my needs and if later on I need to, I'll pick up new blocks but no sense in wasting money on new blocks if I don't need them.

My New Setup
Swiftech MCP355™ 12v Water Pump (Native 3/8")
Petra'sTech DDCT-01 Custom Delrin DDC Pump Top
Swiftech MCR220 "Quiet Power" Dual 120mm Radiator - BLACK
Danger Den Fillport - Black
2x Yate Loon D12SL-12 120mm Silent Fan w/ RPM Sensor
Couple 5/16" Compression Fitting (since I am using the Zalman hoses)
Nickel Plated Inline "T" Connector Fitting - G1/4 Thread

Zalman WB03
Zalman NB (More then likely wont be used)
Zalman GWB3

Laptop 8x DVD-R/W, CD-R/W with IDE converter


The plan is to use a laptop drive in the left side (looking at the case from the front) near the fillport to free up air space. And to mount a single HDD in the middle CD-Rom tray (may change I'm not sure). Every x-qpack I have seen so far has used a single 120mm rad on the back. I wanted to do something different and wanted it fully internal. When I'm done both loons will be pulling air thru the rad and the s-flex will be exhausting it.

The rest of my parts come in this week but this is my progress so far.

[Top]
WC_001.jpg


[Side]
WC_002.jpg


[Front]
WC_003.jpg


[Back]
WC_004.jpg


[Side w/rad]
WC_005.jpg


[Video Card]
WC_006.jpg


[Top with mobo]
WC_007.jpg


[T-line]
WC_008.jpg


Added some more photos. I'm not liking the way the T-line looks and may cause some problems down the line with my SLI cards so that might be getting pulled. Hopefully I can find a 3/8x3/8x1/2 T-tine and use a 1/2 hose to my fillport.


[Waterlines mocked in place]
WC_009.jpg


WC_010.jpg


WC_011.jpg


Added a few more photos. This is everything mocked up in place. Currently the system failed it's leak test. One drop after 24hours of leak testing showed up. I just need to tighten down the barbs on the rad to fix it.

Also the dvd-rom came in today so the mobo will be pulled so I can cut and openning for the drive.

Over all I'm happy with it.
 
I had my x-qpack with the single radiator mounted on the back of the 120mm hole. They're neat little cases, but they're so small that it can be pretty frustrating to do any work on 'em. Good luck with your build, it looks good so far.
 
penguin said:
I definitely like how you installed the rad. Nice and clean looking :)
Click to expand...
Thanks. Not much in it yet to make it messy but clean is my plan.

Mark305TBI said:
I had my x-qpack with the single radiator mounted on the back of the 120mm hole. They're neat little cases, but they're so small that it can be pretty frustrating to do any work on 'em. Good luck with your build, it looks good so far.
Click to expand...
Yeah working with SFF is a challenge but if planned right you can squeeze alot into them. Since I'm working with a rather big rad for such a small case I had to think outside the box with my other internal parts. Thats why I'm using a laptop DVD-rom and a single HDD.
 
[IO]ERROR said:
Yeah working with SFF is a challenge but if planned right you can squeeze alot into them. Since I'm working with a rather big rad for such a small case I had to think outside the box with my other internal parts. Thats why I'm using a laptop DVD-rom and a single HDD.
Click to expand...

I was wondering how close the fan was to the side of the 5.25" bay. Nice call with the laptop drive. That's called makin' it work!
 
[IO]ERROR said:
Yeah working with SFF is a challenge but if planned right you can squeeze alot into them. Since I'm working with a rather big rad for such a small case I had to think outside the box with my other internal parts. Thats why I'm using a laptop DVD-rom and a single HDD.
Click to expand...
That's a pretty good plan. I had dual Raptors in mine, a regular dvd-rw, and .5" ID tubing. It had a D5 in the first version, and a CSP-MAG in the 2nd version.

This is what I ended up doing to it.
 
nonlnear said:
I was wondering how close the fan was to the side of the 5.25" bay. Nice call with the laptop drive. That's called makin' it work!
Click to expand...
Years of planning a CarPC openned up my eyes to the laptop dvd-rom.

Mark305TBI said:
That's a pretty good plan. I had dual Raptors in mine, a regular dvd-rw, and .5" ID tubing. It had a D5 in the first version, and a CSP-MAG in the 2nd version.

This is what I ended up doing to it.
Click to expand...
I looked through your tread a few times while planning mine. I was going to mount my pump like yours but after measuring and checking out my options for a dual rad none of them would fit into the area I needed without removing the flat cross beam.

My next step is a custom built case. I'm already in the planning stage of that and hopefully will start it by the end of the year. ;)
 
annaconda said:
Looks nice, but keep us update with the final version.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'm currently leak testing the system. It ran all lastnight and this morning there we zero leaks. :D

I took more photos but forgot my camera this morning. :mad: I ended up WCing the NB also since I had the block and it was a short jump. Over all I'm happy with it. I still haven't gotten my slim dvd-rom but I guess that is what I get for ordering it off ebay.
 
looks nice , im thinking about working on my X-QPack too . Would be interesting to see how it looks in the end .
 
The only bad thing about Q-pack is you cannot find Micro Overclock Motherboards.
 
[IO]ERROR said:
Sure you can.. BIOSTAR TForce6100

From what I read about this mobo is it's an overclockers wet dream. You can get this board in 754, 939 and AM2. :D
Click to expand...
the abit one for am2 is amazing too I hear, even better than the biostar.

but ioerror was referring to the c2d world

Nice setup. What are you going to do about the hard drives? The big thing I could see stopping me from doing this is that it'd knock out the space for the two hard drives (I'm thinking of somehow squeezing 3 in atm).

Thanks for posting in my topic also. :)
 
ziddey said:
the abit one for am2 is amazing too I hear, even better than the biostar.

but ioerror was referring to the c2d world

Nice setup. What are you going to do about the hard drives? The big thing I could see stopping me from doing this is that it'd knock out the space for the two hard drives (I'm thinking of somehow squeezing 3 in atm).

Thanks for posting in my topic also. :)
Click to expand...
Yeah now that I look at his setup he is running an intel.

As for HDD's I'm running one internal and one external. The internal HDD sits (well will once I'm done) where the lower 5.25 drive would sit. This lets the two loons blow right on it and doesn't block much if any air flow.

I'd take some photos but my BFG 6800GTOC took a crap on me so I'm running an old 9700 PRO. Not that it mattered much since I ordered a new mobo and planning on an 8800GTX, plus the BFG card has a life time warranty. I just wanted to beta test the new WC system on my old gear before dropping in the new stuff. :D
 
I made some changes to my setup. I'm getting a new 8800GTX along with my new mobo. The 8800GTX is 11inch long and I heard the only way to fit it into a qpack is to cut out for the power connectors on the 5 1/4 drive holders. Since I'm not really using this for anything I thought it would be better to remove it completely.

These are some shots of the new setup. My HDD will be mounted flat where the 5 1/4 slots are. I added some sheet metal there lastnight but didn't get any new shots. Also the DVD drive is mounted right (not like the photos).

The pump is mounted under the rad with some lexan holding it in place. I chipped a piece of it so I'll need to recut that tonight.

Anywho here is what it looks like now less the metal work I did after these photos.
WC_012.jpg

WC_013.jpg

WC_014.jpg

WC_015.jpg

WC_016.jpg

WC_017.jpg


I didn't put the GPU block in the loop yet since I don't think my current block will fit the 8800GTX yet. Time will tell.

As you can see there isn't much left of the guts of the qpack. :D My next setup is a custom case still. I've been sourcing some metal brakes for the job. ;)
 
sure looks nice , but u cut a lot of metal out of the case ....what about stability issues when u transport it ???
 
game14 said:
sure looks nice , but u cut a lot of metal out of the case ....what about stability issues when u transport it ???
Click to expand...
Believe it or not it as solid as before. In fact I would say more solid. That L brace I added made a big differance. That was the real weak spot on the qpack.

I should have photos Monday of everything finished. :D
 
Ok well I don't have any more photos but I will admit I am pleased with the system.

So far I have the CPU clocked to 2.64ghz [240fsb x11] (2.2ghz stock) and my load temps were CPU-38c and Case-35c with a room temp of 20.5c. I cool my CPU, NB and GPU (not used yet). I'm sure with a little more tweaking and some voltage I should be able to hit 3ghz and stay sub 50's. I'm just taking baby steps right now.

Not bad for 5/16 tubing and Zalman blocks. :p I'll run Prime95's Torture Test overnight and see what I come up with.

Stress Test Photo (1440x900 @ 111kb)
 
I'm assuming you painted the case, correct? Very nice job if so! I modded a Microfly with a 240mmx120mm rad wc system and an ATX mobo, although my paintjob looks like kindergarten art compared to that. :D

The laptop DVD drive and hard drive mounting was a good idea, those took up a ton of space for me, and made adding/removing parts very difficult.
 
hmm ....actually thought we gonna see some pics how it looks like done :D
 
game14 said:
hmm ....actually thought we gonna see some pics how it looks like done :D
Click to expand...
Well I changed game plans again. My Zalman GPU block wont fit on the 8800gtx so it will need to be replaced. Since I'm replacing the GPU block I figured I might as well remove all the Zalman parts and sell the Zalman res1+. So I ordered a new CPU block and a passive NB cooler. Still not sure what I am doing for the GPU but this weekend I'll atleast have the new CPU block in (provided UPS shows up with my block).

I've taken apart this setup at least 5 times now. :p It's not as hard as people make it out to be.

I will provide photos Monday as long as UPS gets here this weekend. They are already a day late with it. :mad:
 
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