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Hardware:
Case: Fractal Design Meshify S2 w/ Dark Tempered Glass
Mobo: Asus Crosshair VIII Hero WiFi
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3900x
RAM: 2 x 16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4 3200 C14
GPU: Gigabyte NVIDIA GTX 1080 G1 Gaming
PSU: Corsair RM850x Power Supply
Storage:
- 1x ADATA SX8200 Pro 1TB NVMe SSD
- 1x Crucial MX500 1TB SATA SSD
- 2x WD Red 4TB 5400RPM SATA HDD
Watercooling Parts:
Waterblocks:
- CPU: XSPC Raystorm w/ AM4 adapter
- GPU: EK-FC1080 GTX G1 - Nickel w/ black backplate
Radiators:
- Bottom: XSPC EX240 Radiator
- Front: EK-CoolStream SE 280
- Top: EK-CoolStream PE 360
Fans:
- 5 x Noctua NF-F12 PWM
- 2 x Noctua NF-A14 PWM
- 1 x Fractal Dynamic X2 GP-14
Reservoir: EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 RGB
Pump: XSPC D5 Vario Pump
Fittings:
- 14 x Darkside 16mm OD hard tube compression fittings
- 1 x Darkside 90 degree elbow fitting
- 1 x Bitspower T block
- 1 x Darkside 5mm M-M spacer
- 1 x Darkside ball shutoff mini-valve
- 1 x Bitspower G 1/4 plug
- 2 x NZL-LXG1-BK Koolance 90 degree swiveling elbow
- 2 x NZL-LXG2-BK Koolance low profile swiveling elbow
Tubing: 16mm OD PETG
Coolant: EK-Cryofuel Solid Laguna Yellow Premix
I had been toying with the idea of putting together a new computer for about a year or so now in anticipation of the Zen 2 processors but my previous computer decided to quit before I could retire it
My goal with this build was to make it as quiet and cool as possible while maintaining a reasonable footprint size which led me to the fractal meshify s2 with space for 3 radiators and a place to mount a reservoir. The GPU is also from my previous computer because it's still perfectly fine for 1440p gaming.
Because my previous computer was also my first ever attempt at custom water cooling with an XSPC RayStorm D5 EX240 kit and because I was a little sentimental I decided to reuse the XSPC radiator and purchased an AM4 adapter for the CPU Waterblock.
This was my first time working with hard tubing and it took multiple attempts and so much wasted tubing trying to get the shorter bends right that weren't at a nice 45,90 degrees! If anyone has tips for measuring and getting these bends right the first time I'll gladly listen
Hiding the drain port with three radiators installed while keeping it at the lowest point in the loop proved to be a bit of a challenge. The solution I came up with was to mount the bottom radiator with the ports facing downwards. This left me with 25mm of clearance to squeeze in a low profile rotary fitting which connected to a slightly shorter 90 degree elbow which provided just enough room to run a short tube to a t block with a drain port before coming back up to the GPU. The resulting loop goes reservoir > bottom rad > GPU > CPU > top rad > front rad > reservoir .
Unfortunately due to the nature of the runs and the laws of physics it still doesn't drain from simply opening a valve but swapping the tube that goes from the front rad to reservoir and giving it a good blow clears out most of the fluid.
The older CPU and GPU waterblock style combined with white 3mm LEDs gives the computer a rather neat aesthetic of an almost retro spotlit LED look on the left and a newer more diffused colour changing RGB lighting on the right that has really grown on me.
I'm pretty happy with how this build turned out. It's a substantial upgrade over my i7 4770k! Hopefully this computer sticks around long enough for me to actually re-purpose it in a few years
Thanks for checking out my build. I hope you enjoyed it!
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