Project: Maximum Water - Minimum Case

dedwards

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
74
This build seems pretty much plain vanilla compared to some of the amazing custom work on here. But I think it has some unique features so I wanted to post a log.

Some design parameters -

1. I like watercooling.
2. But it must be all-internal.
3. Neat wiring is a must.
4. I wanted to try to fit a 3x120-rad water system into a standard mid-tower case.
5. I wanted to build a C2D system for overclocking.

Obviously, the case is a crucial component here. I've worked with Silverstone and Antec, as well as some cheaper brands, but I've been wanting to try a Lian-Li. I really like the clean lines and simplicity of the PC-6x / PC-7 line. The PC-7 Plus II came out with 120mm fans front and rear, so I decided on that. The PC-A16 was released after I bought my case, or I would have gotten it.

Here's a quick list of the components -

Lian-Li PC-7 Plus II case
Seasonic M12-500 modular PSU
Asus P5B Deluxe motherboard
Intel E6400 C2D CPU
G.SKILL F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ RAM
EVGA 7600 GT video card
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB HDD
SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner
Swiftech Storm Rev. 2 CPU waterblock
Swiftech MCW60 GPU waterblock w/ ramsinks
Swiftech MCW30 chipset waterblock
Laing DDC pump w/ Petra's top
BIP III radiator
Masterkleer 7/16 tubing
Yate-Loon D12SL-12 fans

I had an idea for the radiator placement, and according to all my calculations it should fit. Time to find out for sure...

Here's a pic of the case stripped down and ready for modding. I removed the standard HD cage from the front floor of the case.

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Using a 1.5" holesaw and a Dremel, I made openings in the back panel for the wires to pass through. The upper round opening is just ahead of the PSU, and will allow the PSU cables to be routed behind the motherboard tray. The oval opening was made by cutting 3 overlapping holes with the holesaw, then cleaning up the remnants with the Dremel. This opening will be underneath the front edge of the motherboard, near the main power connector.

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Next, I cut the opening in the case floor for the radiator. I did the long sides with a jigsaw, and the rest with the Dremel, then finished with a hand file.

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After filing the edges of the opening, I made some pads for the radiator using an old mousepad.

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In this configuration, the radiator and fans will block the bottom edge of the motherboard and the last 2 expansion slots. This is a compromise that worked for me - YMMV.

Test fitting the motherboard and radiator, I came across a challenge - there wasn't enough room for the front panel headers to fit comfortably behind the rad. Hmmm - time to get creative. I cut the plastic connector blocks in half, removing the outer piece, then carefully bent the pins 90 degrees. The pins were then covered with heatshrink tubing. With this arrangement, everything fits OK. I decided not to use any of the other front-panel connectors - I can live without them, and they would have been very difficult to fit.

Here's a pic of the modded front-panel connector. Sorry for the crappy pic - you can actually see the one lying on the table better -

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Back to the Dremel, I made another opening in the drive-bay area for wiring to pass through. There were slots on 2 sides already, so I just made 2 straight cuts for a square opening -

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Here's a pic showing the radiator, waterblocks, and some of the wiring installed.

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Here's a shot showing the radiator from the bottom.

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On the Yate-Loon LED fans, I modded the cables to remove the unnecessary connectors, and did the sleeving. Turned out pretty nice!

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Things got moving quickly, and I didn't take as many pictures. Here's a shot of the water-loop, ready for leak-testing. I connected the pump and fans to an extra PSU and ran it for 24 hours with the PC turned off.

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Another issue with this design - the standard case feet don't allow enough space underneath the case for proper airflow to the radiator. I thought about casters, but didn't really want them. I found these furniture leveling feet at the hardware store. The nice thing about these is that the plastic inserts fit the holes on the case perfectly. No modding needed.

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This pic shows the dark side - where the wiring mess lives. You can barely see the case feet at the bottom.

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Since I removed the HD cage, I'm putting the drive in the 5.25 bay area. I was worried about the drive running hot with no airflow, so I decided to get a cage with a fan. Lian-Li to the rescue. This is their EX-34 HD cage with fan and filter.

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I had to mod the cage so that the drive would fit reversed, without the cables hitting the fan. Drilled out the rivets and re-attached with bolts, shifting the cage about a half inch further back. I forgot to take pictures of this - I'll try to get one later.

I still need to clean up a few wires, and take some pictures of the completed rig. Stay tuned for the glamour shots...

DE
 
Looks pretty nice so far - are the fans on the radiator sucking air from the bottom of the case, or blowing downwards?
 
Judging by the fact that the hubs are on the top, I would say sucking the air upwards.
 
i like the idea for the case feet, but how stable are then when the case is lifted, do they want to fall out? does the case move on the feet if it's pushed?
 
@skudmunky -

Rakinos is correct - the fans are set to blow upward, so they draw air from outside the case and pull it through the rad. This also gives additional airflow inside the case to cool the RAM, MOSFETs, etc.

@omegatotal - I wrapped a small piece of tape around the plastic inserts, so they fit tightly. No worries about falling out. The case seems stable, but I still need to break out the level and adjust it exactly.

OK, so here are the finished pics. It's tough to get an exposure that really shows the effect of the CCFL's, but I think it looks pretty good.

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Here my overclock so far - nothing extreme yet.

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Temperature is not bad, as you have 7600GT + Chipset in the loop, and every thing is inside the case.

I have the exact same temperatures with 2 x MCR320 radiators + 8800GTS + CPU + MCP655 + 6 yaat loon fans, and the radiators are outside the case.

I think my week point is the Water Block which is Apogee.
 
No res, just a t-line. In the pic showing the back side of the motherboard tray, you can see the t-line among all the wires.

I wanted to use a res, and I actually bought a Swiftech Micro. I just couldn't come up with a clean way to mount it, and avoid any nasty bends in the loop. If it had an option to place the intake and outlet barbs on opposite sides, maybe...

I'm pretty happy with the temps, considering the overclock. At stock clockspeed, the idle temp was around 29-30.

Now all I need is a new video card and UT2007... ;)

DE
 
i would have placed the cpu in front of the chipset to give better temps but as the temps are gd on load then its ok
 
fantastic work bud.

don't worry about the order of the blocks in your loop.

imo, 1/2 a degree isn't as important as a clean setup and tidy loop which you've pulled off.

good job.
 
Thx stormshadow.

That is correct - the loop order is - PUMP - RAD - GPU - CPU - NB.

I could have put the CPU first, but the loop would have been messier.

Something else I didn't mention. I used the 7/16 Masterkleer and it is great stuff to work with! The bend radius is awesome - check out the CPU - NB run. I soaked the ends in hot water and used a little dish soap on the barbs. Everything went together like a charm.

I am a little disappointed in the UV glow effect on my coolant. I'm using distilled water and Pentosin 8:1, with a few drops of this UV dye -

http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=80&cat=55&page=1

Anyone have any ideas on how I could get a brighter UV effect? I guess I would have to partially drain the loop, because the water in the t-line just sits there and doesn't circulate?

DE
 
i'm not sure that pentosin and uv dye work well together. And i assume those are UV fans right? Not blue LED?

and that white ccfl could be washing things out too a little
 
The fans are blue LED's. I was under the impression that the CCFL's would provide UV light - is this mistaken?

DE
 
That is a great setup, everything is so clean. I like water cooling systems that are completely contained in the case.

Great Job.
 
you need UV CCFLs if you want UV light. I agree, yours look white-ish.
Great setup though, very clean, although I am no fan of big, bulky tubing myself I have to admit that you made it look quite decent!
 
The fans are blue LED's. I was under the impression that the CCFL's would provide UV light - is this mistaken?

DE

didn't see this response...

yea - u need some type of UV light for the UV dye to react.

either in the form of UV LED's (like replacing your fans) or UV CCFL's (like replacing the white one you have)

it emits kind of a dark purplish light
 
Thanks. I've got 2 CCFL's, so I think I'll just replace one of the tubes with a UV.

DE
 
looks great man I like how the pump and the radiator outlet are like sooooo close. does the air blowing out of the case pool near the bottom?
 
Thanks. I've got 2 CCFL's, so I think I'll just replace one of the tubes with a UV.

DE


Nono, Different colour CCFL's use different voltage inverters.

A white cathode and a UV cathode need different inverters (you can get away with swapping a white and blue CCFL, but not white and UV).

It would probably work, but since most "super white" cathodes need more voltage than UV cathodes... Your UV tube might not be running for very long.
 
Thanks for this info - I had no idea. Glad I saw your reply before ordering.

I will get a UV tube with inverter just to try it out, and see what kind of effect I get. I may just stick with the white cuz I like the look of it.

DE
 
I like it. Im currently tying to get ultimate low temps with my WC setup in my Armor Jr. I didnt like the swiftech stuff as it wasnt giving me the kinds of temps i was looking for. I opted for a limited Edition Fluid XP Vortex Pro Copper/Alumiuim CPU, Heatkiller Chipset & GPU Copper/Aulminum with an Eheim Pro pump and Black Ice 240mm (all internal). Im seeing about a 27° avg on the CPU's with mild OC'ing. Im seriously thinking about going TEC though

But i love the look of your setup. it looks very clean. :thumbs up:
 
you did one helluva job on that build! I am very impressed and love the looks of it... clean, sleek, compact, water cooled... and a triple rad to boot... very well done!

~NortH~
 
Your temps are actually lower. TAT does not report correctly for C2D processors. Try getting coretemp .94 NOT .95 or speedfan. I'm currently getting 26/55 @ 3.2 on an E6400 w/ a Scythe Infinity air cooler.
 
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