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Project Insomnia Build Log

dfox mxyzptlk

Hi,

 

Update: Completed Pics

 

I would like to share my 2014 build log and hopefully get some feedback to improve my build. I'm a newbie builder. Since the hardtube became popular, I wanted to build one. I learned by watching RomeoKilo, Singularity Computers, and other builders out there in YouTube. I thought it is easy, and I was wrong... hehe I tried...

 

Specs:

Case: Corsair: 900D (I chose this case 'coz I got it on sale and it has radiator mounts ready)

Motherboard: Maximus VI Formula (I chose this MoBo since it has waterblock already)

Processor: Intel 4770k

Memory: 16 GB Corsair Dominator Platinum (I chose this memory for aesthetics)
GPU: 2 x Saphire R9 290 (I got mine on sale before the R9 crisis, just didnt have time to complete the build)

PSU: Corsair AX1200 (From my old rig)

SSD: 240 GB Intel 530

HHD: 3 x 1TB for Raid 0

 

Watercooling:

Radiator 1: XSPC EX480 Quad 120mm

Radiator 2: EK Ultimate Performance CoolStream 480

GPU Waterblock: 2 x EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel

CPU Waterblock: EK-Supremacy - Full Nickel

Reservoir: XSPC Photon 270 Reservoir/D5 Vario Pump Combo

Fan: 8 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition

Fan: 4 x Corsair SP120 Performance Edition

Fan: 1 x Corsair AP140 Quiet Edition

Fan: 2 x Stock Corsair 900D Fans

Coolant: Mayhem Aurora Red

Tube: 4 x EK 12mm OD Solid Tube Set - Clear

Fittings: 8 x Bitspower Enhanced Dual 90-Degree Multi-Link Adapter

             6 x Bitspower G1/4 Thread 90-Degree Rotary Multi-Link Adapter

             8 x Bitspower G1/4 Enhanced Multi-Link Adapter

             2 x Bitspower G1/4 Thread 90-Degree Dual Rotary Adapter

             etc...

 

Others:

Cable Sleeve: Lutro0 Telios

Cable Sleeve: Corsair Individually Sleeve Cables

LED: eBay Strips

Fan Hub: 3 x ModMyToys 3-Pin Power Distribution PCB 5xWay Block

Acrylic: 3mm 18 x 18 Plexiglass

 

First set of items (I also order EVGA 750W PSU as I don't want to kill my current rig while i'm building):

post-58439-0-07540300-1396690079_thumb.j

post-58439-0-39371500-1396690083_thumb.j

 

As I'm waiting for my other stuffs to arrive (waiting for stock), I started working on the mid-plate with 3mm acrylic...

post-58439-0-43704400-1396690217_thumb.j

post-58439-0-31375300-1396690128_thumb.j

post-58439-0-35042300-1396690131_thumb.j

post-58439-0-90490400-1396690133_thumb.j

 

Stuffs starting to arrive...

post-58439-0-17509600-1396690301_thumb.j

post-58439-0-45594100-1396690393_thumb.j

 

Working with GPU waterblock...

post-58439-0-98183700-1396690554_thumb.j

 

Planning the loop...

post-58439-0-46386500-1396690636_thumb.j

post-58439-0-68117000-1396692312_thumb.j

post-58439-0-60873700-1396692315_thumb.j

 

Oh wait... am I using EK 16mm OD tube fitting? Since I'm very unsuccessful with bending tubes

post-58439-0-27030200-1396692133_thumb.j

(at least I can't get the right measurement and angle given all the tools I have except for the Monsoon Measuring Kit which is unfortunately been out-of-stock for the last 3 months).

 

So I decided to scrap the plan and and proceed to "Plan B", BitsPower fittings...

post-58439-0-22219800-1396691470_thumb.j

 

Bit short on Bitspower Enhanced Dual 90-Degree Multi-Link Adapter and I don't want to buy a piece and wait another week again, this project has been sitting here for too long now... I will do leak testing this weekend and hopefully finish the build. Unless you guys notice where the shortage that I'm talking about and suggested that I should follow the scheme of the build...

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moar

-The Bellerophon- Obsidian 550D-i5-3570k@4.5Ghz -Asus Sabertooth Z77-16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz-x2 EVGA GTX 760 Dual FTW 4GB-Creative Sound Blaster XF-i Titanium-OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB-Seagate Barracuda 2TB- https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/60154-the-not-really-a-build-log-build-log/ Twofold http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/121043-twofold-a-dual-itx-system/ How great is EVGA? http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/110662-evga-how-great-are-they/#entry1478299

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Are you sure that your pump is strong enough?

Otherwise looks promising! :)

Everyone have a cool signature. I don't, so I thought I would write something.

- Cool right?

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Man, that is one build you've got going so far.

if you have to insist you think for yourself, i'm not going to believe you.

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Me likey. I wish I could afford those fittings.... 

CPU: 5930K @ 4.5GHz | GPU: Zotac GTX 980Ti AMP! Extreme edition @ 1503MHz/7400MHz | RAM: 16GB Corsair Dom Plat @ 2667MHz CAS 13 | Motherboard: Asus X99 Sabertooth | Boot Drive: 400GB Intel 750 Series NVMe SSD | PSU: Corsair HX1000i | Monitor: Dell U2713HM 1440p monitor

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Are you sure that your pump is strong enough?

Otherwise looks promising! :)

Thanks for the comment, actually I been asking the same question myself... but I did a little digging and found the exact same question on other forum.

And they commented that D5 pump is fine. I'll do fillings and leak test this weekend and see...

 

Also, been wanting to do parallel on the GPU for aesthetics but not sure how will it perform...

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Thanks for the comment, actually I been asking the same question myself... but I did a little digging and found the exact same question on other forum.

And they commented that D5 pump is fine. I'll do fillings and leak test this weekend and see...

 

Also, been wanting to do parallel on the GPU for aesthetics but not sure how will it perform...

Oh, I actually didn't know it was a D5 pump. In that case it should be good.. Most combo's doesn't use D5's though, so kinda just questioned it without looking your combo up :S (sry 'bout that).

But yeah, a D5 should be able to handle it. 

Everyone have a cool signature. I don't, so I thought I would write something.

- Cool right?

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So I fill the loop with distilled water and run a leak test... of course I prepared the necessary precaution in case there's a leak.

post-58439-0-20033200-1396775580_thumb.j

post-58439-0-79670000-1396775117_thumb.j

post-58439-0-94011800-1396775146_thumb.j

 

After few hours...

post-58439-0-64261600-1396775190_thumb.j

post-58439-0-03480700-1396775264_thumb.j

post-58439-0-48113400-1396775262_thumb.j

 

Next step, I'll fill it with Mayhem's Aurora Red and finally the lighting...

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So I fill the loop with distilled water and run a leak test... of course I prepared the necessary precaution in case there's a leak.

attachicon.gifIMG_0449.JPG

attachicon.gifIMG_0458.JPG

attachicon.gifIMG_0460.JPG

 

After few hours...

attachicon.gifIMG_0466.JPG

attachicon.gifIMG_0468.JPG

attachicon.gifIMG_0470.JPG

 

Next step, I'll fill it with Mayhem's Aurora Red and finally the lighting...

dem paper towels is sexy

-The Bellerophon- Obsidian 550D-i5-3570k@4.5Ghz -Asus Sabertooth Z77-16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz-x2 EVGA GTX 760 Dual FTW 4GB-Creative Sound Blaster XF-i Titanium-OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB-Seagate Barracuda 2TB- https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/60154-the-not-really-a-build-log-build-log/ Twofold http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/121043-twofold-a-dual-itx-system/ How great is EVGA? http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/110662-evga-how-great-are-they/#entry1478299

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That's gonna look freaking amazing with the Aurora Red coolant :D

I have a laptop that sucks because I'm broke.

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Do I need to drain the loop first before adding the Aurora Red coolant? I didn't fill the whole reservoir thinking I can just add the coolant later... still waiting for it to arrive.

 

I finished the lighting and cable management... I put 1 LED strip on the left side of the side panel and 1 under the acrylic motherboard tray cover to make it look like an underglow. I will also try to replace the LED on the reservoir with a brighter one to add a little red glow once it has the Aurora coolant.

post-58439-0-59297100-1396833848_thumb.j

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Good stuff, though I still think that the board looks silly in such a large case

-The Bellerophon- Obsidian 550D-i5-3570k@4.5Ghz -Asus Sabertooth Z77-16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz-x2 EVGA GTX 760 Dual FTW 4GB-Creative Sound Blaster XF-i Titanium-OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB-Seagate Barracuda 2TB- https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/60154-the-not-really-a-build-log-build-log/ Twofold http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/121043-twofold-a-dual-itx-system/ How great is EVGA? http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/110662-evga-how-great-are-they/#entry1478299

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wow.  Wish my 900D looked like yours!!  Well done!!  Can you share some pictures of the basement of your case?  Especially the back side please.  I'm hoping to see how you laid out your piping on the bottom rad.  Really great work!

My build:  Leviathan  Case: 900D  CPU: i7 3770K (watercooled)  Mobo: Z77X-UD5H GPU: EVGA GTX 780 Hydro Copper GPU: MSI GTX 780 watercooled PSU: EVGA 1300W G2  RAM: 32 GB Corsair Vengance  HDDs: 1 x 120 GB Intel 330 SSD (OS X); 1 x 256 GB Samsung 840 pro (Windows 8); 2 x 2TB Seagate Barracuda (RAID 0 Data OS X); 1 x 3TB Seagate Barracuda (OS X backups)  Monitors: 1 x 24" Apple LED Cinema (center); 2 x 23" Apple LED Cinema (surround)  Watercooling: 3 rads, CPU, GPU, GPU, MCP655 pump, Lots of fittings, EK reservoir, EK UV Blue coolant.  Updated build: Leviathan 2.0

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sweet build

Parvum Systems S1.0, 3570K, H100i, Asus Maximus V Gene, Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 16GB @ 1866, EVGA GTX 680 FTW+, Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD, WD Velociraptor 600GB HDD, Corsair AX850

 

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Really great parts you have there :wub:

 

awesome clean looking build

 

Plexi additions are the cats meow :D

 

you going to sleeve the sata cables and usb3 cable?

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Probably some other time... was not too worried about the sata and usb3 cables. I'm more concerned with the usb2s and audio cables...

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You should get light bars for the dominator platinums from corsairs website.

Just google "Corsair dominator platinum lightbar upgrade kit" or something like that. It's $20 per two dimms, comes with blue and white, (so I'd recommend using the white)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nice job man. :)

Main rig on profile

VAULT - File Server

Spoiler

Intel Core i5 11400 w/ Shadow Rock LP, 2x16GB SP GAMING 3200MHz CL16, ASUS PRIME Z590-A, 2x LSI 9211-8i, Fractal Define 7, 256GB Team MP33, 3x 6TB WD Red Pro (general storage), 3x 1TB Seagate Barracuda (dumping ground), 3x 8TB WD White-Label (Plex) (all 3 arrays in their respective Windows Parity storage spaces), Corsair RM750x, Windows 11 Education

Sleeper HP Pavilion A6137C

Spoiler

Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.4GHz, 4x8GB G.SKILL Ares 1800MHz CL10, ASUS Z170M-E D3, 128GB Team MP33, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, 320GB Samsung Spinpoint (for video capture), MSI GTX 970 100ME, EVGA 650G1, Windows 10 Pro

Mac Mini (Late 2020)

Spoiler

Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB, macOS Sonoma

Consoles: Softmodded 1.4 Xbox w/ 500GB HDD, Xbox 360 Elite 120GB Falcon, XB1X w/2TB MX500, Xbox Series X, PS1 1001, PS2 Slim 70000 w/ FreeMcBoot, PS4 Pro 7015B 1TB (retired), PS5 Digital, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Wii RVL-001 (black)

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Amazing. I love the straight tubes using the 90 degree fittings as opposed to bending the tubes personally. Gives it a touch of a steam punk feel. Spectacular.

AMD FX 8350, ASUS Sabertooth 990fx R2.0, Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4x4GB 1866, PNY GTX780, Corsair HX850, Phantom 630, Samsung 120GB SSD, WD Black 2TB HDD

Rest in peace, legend.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, Gigabyte RTX 3070, 32GB RAM, 4TB Samsung SSD, and a crippling depression that causes me to buy games and not play them lol

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  • 1 month later...

OMG I won the Gold at Corsair's System Build (Custom Cooling) PC Domination!

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