Project DD01 - Corsair 900D, Asus Maximus VI Formula Custom Water Cooled

[DavidNSY]

Update Final Pics


Hello from Australia! 🙂

I'm totally new here and also a beginner in building water cooling system and case modding as well. I've just done my first build recently and decided to make a build log to share with you my long but very excited journey. Yeah that's my first water cooling build ever, first time modding something, first build log so far.

Also English is not my first language so I'm sorry if you found something funny in my post. However I'll try to post as much detailed pictures as I can hopefully that will cover me well.

Ok, here we go! Components:

Core:
CPU: i7 4770k
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Formula
RAM: 2x 8Gb G.Skill Trident X 2400 mHz
GPU: 2x HIS Radeon R9 290
PSU: Silverstone Strider Gold 1200w
SSD:

• Samsung 840 EVO 250Gb
  
• 2x Corsair Force 240Gb
  
• ASUS Raidr Express 240Gb (optional)
  

HDD: WD Green 4Tb

Cooling:
CPU water block: EK Supremacy Plexi/Nickel
GPU water block: 2x EK Radeon R9-290X VGA Liquid Cooling Block - Acetal
2x EK R9-290X VGA Liquid Cooling RAM Backplate
2x EK Coolstream PE 480mm Radiator
EK Coolstream PE 240mm Radiator
Pump: 2x Swiftech MCP655
Fan:
Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition Red LED
2x Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition Red LED
8x Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition
6x Corsair Air Series AF120 Performance Edition
Reservoirs: Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 250 Clear
Bitspower Dual D5 Mod Top
2x Bitspower D5/MCP655 Shining Silver 2 Pump Mod
Bitspower crystal link
E22 acrylic rigid tubing
Coolant: Mayhem X 1 Red
Bitspower fitting: too many to list

Other material and stuff:
ModMyToys Power Distribution PCB 3 and 8 way
Red and White LED strip
Some MDPC-X sleeving
1.2mm Aluminium Sheet
3mm Frosted and Clear Cast Acrylic

And the Show of course 🙂

The Giant






Sorry for the quality, those pics have been taken by my phone, I'm going to get a DSLR Camera for the next shots.

The ROG 😄









Armor

HIS R9 290



Two little devils

Fans

Rads



Pumps





All together

CPU Block

GPU Block

Fittings








I'm also running this build log on overclock forum at the same time (which suppose to be the original one).

Ok, that's just for now. Too much pics for a post? Correct me if I'm wrong, any feedback and suggestion would be much appreciated as my lack of experiences. Hope you enjoy guys and see you in the next update which will be posted very soon, Cheers!

[MeanMachine]

DavidNSY wrote:
Thanks bro 🙂 currently working on 4.4 will be trying to push it further up to 4.6 or 4.7 if possible. I'm still confusing about stability test, what tool should I go with? Are AIDA and Realbench enough?

For stability testing you can use Prime95 which will stress test all cores using an algorithm where each pass will increase the load. (Its a bit harsh!)
I only use it for 1-2 passes to initially test for stability.

Or you can try HWBot which I like very much.

ROG Realbench used for benching and bragging rights and is much better than other synthetic benchmarks you see in reviews.

Please keep us updated as you have a friend here.

[DavidNSY]

MeanMachine wrote:
For stability testing you can use Prime95 which will stress test all cores using an algorithm where each pass will increase the load. (Its a bit harsh!)
I only use it for 1-2 passes to initially test for stability.

Or you can try HWBot which I like very much.

ROG Realbench used for benching and bragging rights and is much better than other synthetic benchmarks you see in reviews.

Please keep us updated as you have a friend here.

That's right, I know that bro 😮

I actually could reach 4.6 at Vcore 1.29 uncore 35, Vring 1.2, VCCIn 1.9 (uncore, Vring, VCCIn will be tweak later) stable for 4 hours of Realbench stress test and AIDA over night. However it ran into heat issues very quickly under p95 small FFT or especially AIDA FPU test, 100 degrees celsius in few seconds with p95 and about 98 degrees with AIDA that need further investigation. As I've mentioned before, this build is mainly for gaming purpose and I just play Battlefield 4 only. Unfortunately, DICE has just made a big mess with their server update patch last week, that caused the game crash all the time with crossfire configuration. It took me few days just for figure out the problem. Now I almost have to start over the stability testing, will keep you up to date of course.

[Evolist_ua]

Red and white it's very cool)

[eyeballer]

WOW! JUST WOW! Nice work mate 😄

Looking forward to your OC results!

[naj1991]

realy nice build... 😉 but question... you've say (and ive seen) that you have buld a other way to the cpu.. i ve asked me where the way it is now.. 😉
are there: agb, pump, grka, downradiators, cpu, mobo and upper rad? and is the flow more, less or allways the same? 😛 *theoreticly it must be the same, but i never test it...

for benchtools look what the other peoples take.. (that you can compare your results by others)
->the most take futuremark produkts to compare or heavenbench / uniginvalleybench ...the peoples here probably ROG-realbench too, i dont know
->but let me see what you make in heavenbench 4.0 with you 2 r290x cards.. 😉 *ive make 2034points/~80Fps in 1080p (8xAA, Quality ultra, teslation extreme) with 3x gtx 670-4GB but 1 of it is bull**** -needs 1.2V vcore to be stable (how long it will run with there is written in the stars) and must disable some ramstons in the back of the pcb.. :mad: (real sucking from zotag- that was the last cards from this companny... next time i tray gigabit products... better layout for voltages many times and hope better selection) with the 580er, msi was bull****tin me bevore.. (1 GPU of 3 was destroyed after ca. 1.5 years on a ligthning...-and sending me 3 diffrent revision pcb's 0.o") ....i play really with the thought, to say nvidia good by for a long time... physX is an dieing old thing and the new architecture of amd cards is nearly the same of nvidia... only half price... ^^ and works longer with no problems... (thats my feeling...) i was changching from amd to nvidia @the time of 400 series.. but it was every time a lot of problems with their cards with some drivers they give you to download in the time... and the mantle will have more future as PhysX i think... there are only **** games the where payed from nvidia who have this physik engine... 😉 all other (origin) need havoc and in the future with mantle they've sayd... (sorry for offtopic but me is easy boring this day... ^^)

[DavidNSY]

naj1991 wrote:
realy nice build... 😉 but question... you've say (and ive seen) that you have buld a other way to the cpu.. i ve asked me where the way it is now.. 😉
are there: agb, pump, grka, downradiators, cpu, mobo and upper rad? and is the flow more, less or allways the same? 😛 *theoreticly it must be the same, but i never test it...

Before it was like this - start from res -> pumps -> bottom rads -> all components -> top rad -> res


Personally I like this layout for the look, yeah not about performance. I though it would be fine with pressure provided by two pumps. Not sure about flow rate either so I tested it by the second layout which is better.

[ealterry]

Hi, just want to ask. Based on your setup, your cpu will be receive a warm or hot coolant from the gpu, is it acceptable with your current cpu temperature?

[naj1991]

okok thx... thats realy intresting..., i allways come from pumps, have all components and to the end the rads... my guess is that the pumps don't give verry much heat to the liquid.. probably a half °C but i think not more-never test it.. but i will test it when im home...^^... (after all my parts the water have ~30° in load... and 26/27° when it comes baq to the agb... i think when the water is near by 25° bevore it goes to the components all will be nice... and my presumption is that the jet-cooler on the CPU say thx to the extrapressure (probably the gpu's too) of a direct link from the pumps... (it must have more pressure vs. a rad in the middle of it... (first normal profile of tube (10mm id) then rad.. (x*cross-section of 10mm id) and then back to the 10mm profile..) 😕 i allwas think that it have higher temps... minimum on the cpu... my reason to think tis is that i become (with a laying pmp500 ~175l/h through the cpu block and after that the mb nd rads (and througth the same rad with 2 pmp450 like you, after crossing 3gpu coolers 320l/h.. and i think the greatest pressure you have not on the jet coolers then but on the outway of your bottem rads... this guess can be absolutly fail i know... but its the most logic effect for me when you have the rads between pump and cooler... *this is much theoretics, but one thing thats never realy test anybody bevore.. (i never see a meaningful comparison)

edit:/ i must say that ive allwas seperate loops for (CPU-MB) and the GPU's (only)
thats the reasn why i ve asked where you have the smaller down rad not between the GPU's and CPU... cpu probably have better temps when its between of it.. but it not must be...

[MeanMachine]

Hi DavidNSY

Something is definitely wrong, and @ 100c, I'm surprised it didn't shut down before it got that high. My system is set to shut down at 85c for safety, at 100c constant, your CPU wont last long. If you get chance run HWMonitor and post results.

[naj1991]

ask, witch program you take to read your temps? *when this temps are correctly you have a problem with the config of your Watercooling... what are your idle temps and what is your flow when the liquid goes baq to the agb? do you have your d5's on stage 4/5? *probably your gpus make so much heat in the liquid that the cpu has a problem with so heaty liquid... (cant get more heat to the liquid...) *you have 2x 290x gpus bevore the liquid goes to cpu.. but then the liquid must have min. 40° or more after GPU's to have problems like this i think... but this cant be when the gpu's do nothing... or 2x 290x are realy so heaty as my friends say to me.. (70° overclocked under water is nomal in load they've sayd) 0.o ---> normal way is the low heating part and then every step a more heating part to cool... this means, CPU first! (the smalest contact from liquid with the cooperblocks) then MB (bit bigger contact-can give more heat) and to the end the GPU's (very big contackd surface from liquid and the block surface- they have no problem with probably heating liquid... normaly... (with aircooler they can make nearly 100° and no problems...) but cpu needs fresh cool water to be cool... 😉