Archon

[Grinder]

So, current hardware for this is:

Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula-Z
AMD FX-8350
Corsair RM1000 Gold
Fractal Design XL R2 (modded)
2x Sapphire R9 290X (hynix)
4x4GB DDR3 Samsung Magic Ram
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB (not yet installed)
2X WD Caviar Blue 1TB (not yet installed, currently WD Caviar Black 2TB)

XSPC Bayres with D5 strong
12 to 24V converter (not yet installed, trying to decide if I will use it)
2x Swiftech MCW82 + ramsinks and custom VRM heatsinks
XSPC Raystorm
Swiftech MCR320-XP
Swiftech MCR220-QP
Swiftech MCR140-QP (not yet installed)
XSPC Black Chrome fittings + white 1/2 ID Primoflex
Y fittings for parallel GPUs (not yet installed)
Fans are Fractal Design 140mm, Corsair AF140, and Corsair SP120 performance edition
Lamptron FC Touch (not yet installed)

I have already installed the mobo, CPU, ram, and the 290X's (thanks vrdublu for hooking me up with a second Hynix 290X). Currently I am adding the MCR140-QP (thanks again vrdublu) to the exhaust area in the upper rear of the case, using two Corsair AF140 fans in push/pull. Not super high static pressure, but push/pull will help, it's a low FPI rad, and they match the look of the SP120's on the MCR320-XP in the roof and the MCR220-QP in the bottom.

While I'm at it, I'm changing the loop order and installing the Y's for more even flow to the GPUs in parallel (this was an issue when using T's in my H220 Unleashed build so I'm doing it here as well). I know order matters little, but I always like to dump as much heat as possible outside the case and deliver coolest water to the CPU, even if the gains are small. So order is CPU, lower rad, GPUs, upper rad, pump/res, rear rad.

Next I'll remove my T-Balancer MiniNG and return it to Blood and Guts, in favour of installing a Lamptron FC Touch (thanks Prolab).

Pics when I've finished those changes...

[Hooded]

Sounds like a good plan so far. Will be watching for pics

[Grinder]

Here you go.

The rad was kind of a pain. It only fit in one orientation and was an extremely tight squeeze against the upper rad. I forgot to mention that I stole the RM1000 from Blood and Guts to beef up the power from the HX850 that was in there, so some changes coming for Blood and Guts as well.

The Lamptron has tons of power, but I don't like that it doesn't truly ramp. i.e. you can only set a temp below which it runs at the level you specify, while it goes to 100 percent above that. Looks nice though. The MiniNG will go back to Blood and Guts to rejoin the other T-Balancer components that I have (BigNG and Sensor Hub). I set up the Lampton to have rads on channel 1 (water temp sensor), VRM cooling on 2 (probe on GPU VRM), case fans on 3 (ambient case temp), and the ram fan on 4 (probe taped to a stick). That leaves 2 channels unused.

That's it for now. I'm considering whether to replace my 5Ghz 8350 and C5F-Z, since the 8320E in Blood and Guts will actually hit 5.1, and I could entertain myself with something new here. Will also have to decide whether to keep the 290X's here or swap them for my Sapphire Tri-X 290's. Need to see what they are capable of first. I know that one of my 290X's will hit 1200/1625 with +125, I'll have to see if the other can match that in crossfire.

Can anyone recommend the latest Catalyst drivers that works well with Trixx or Afterburner? Crimson won't let you change voltage, and has issues cooperating with other GPU overclocking tools.

[tafkamk]

Here you go.

The rad was kind of a pain. It only fit in one orientation and was an extremely tight squeeze against the upper rad. I forgot to mention that I stole the RM1000 from Blood and Guts to beef up the power from the HX850 that was in there, so some changes coming for Blood and Guts as well.

The Lamptron has tons of power, but I don't like that it doesn't truly ramp. i.e. you can only set a temp below which it runs at the level you specify, while it goes to 100 percent above that. Looks nice though. The MiniNG will go back to Blood and Guts to rejoin the other T-Balancer components that I have (BigNG and Sensor Hub). I set up the Lampton to have rads on channel 1 (water temp sensor), VRM cooling on 2 (probe on GPU VRM), case fans on 3 (ambient case temp), and the ram fan on 4 (probe taped to a stick). That leaves 2 channels unused.

That's it for now. I'm considering whether to replace my 5Ghz 8350 and C5F-Z, since the 8320E in Blood and Guts will actually hit 5.1, and I could entertain myself with something new here. Will also have to decide whether to keep the 290X's here or swap them for my Sapphire Tri-X 290's. Need to see what they are capable of first. I know that one of my 290X's will hit 1200/1625 with +125, I'll have to see if the other can match that in crossfire.

Can anyone recommend the latest Catalyst drivers that works well with Trixx or Afterburner? Crimson won't let you change voltage, and has issues cooperating with other GPU overclocking tools.

Loving that fun in the front. Custom paint job?

[DazMode]

I think it not the best way to split flow like that. Liquid flows whre it si easierst, so if block not equal one card will get higher flow and other card will starve. In theory anyway.

[Grinder]

Loving that fun in the front. Custom paint job?

Yes, thanks. The upper right part is the box art for the old Archon game printed on photo paper, but the fan in the middle is masked and spray painted.
http://www.dazmode.com/_forum/showth...ll=1#post30232
http://www.dazmode.com/_forum/showth...ll=1#post30476

I think it not the best way to split flow like that. Liquid flows whre it si easierst, so if block not equal one card will get higher flow and other card will starve. In theory anyway.

Agreed, but blocks are identical models. Should be identical flow, but you're right that it is worth checking. I'll see what load temps are like between the two. When I did this for H220 Unleashed, it made a huge improvement over using T's and coming from the top, despite one block having suffered galvanic corrosion in that build. Besides, I like the higher flow that parallel gives me, and since I'm only water cooling the GPU and not the ram and VRMs, I don't need to dissipate as much heat.

[Necrodead]

Agreed, but blocks are identical models. Should be identical flow, but you're right that it is worth checking. I'll see what load temps are like between the two. When I did this for H220 Unleashed, it made a huge improvement over using T's and coming from the top, despite one block having suffered galvanic corrosion in that build. Besides, I like the higher flow that parallel gives me, and since I'm only water cooling the GPU and not the ram and VRMs, I don't need to dissipate as much heat.

The GPU blocks actually get less flow when in parallel.

Two GPUs
With two cards, putting the blocks in series will yield a restriction of 2*R (two times the restriction of a single card) and the flow rate through each will be 1*F (the same flow rate as the overall loop). With two cards in parallel, the restriction will be R/2 (half the restriction of one card) and the flow rate through each will be F/2 (half the overall flow rate). This means that putting cards in parallel is 1/4 the restriction of putting them in series, with each card having half the flow rate.

Noting the above minimum flow rate of 0.5gpm, you would not want to put the cards in parallel unless the overall flow rate would be about 1gpm (or more) for most blocks. There are some blocks (generally high restriction) that perform well even at lower flow rates, which above we determined their minimum flow rate to be around 0.3gpm, making the minimum overall flow rate for parallel to 0.6gpm. Once we've established that our overall flow rate will exceed this, we have the choice between series or parallel (otherwise, series is the only viable option).

Now, if our blocks are low-restriction (lets say 0.8psi @ 1gpm (XSPC)) then it would be silly to cut our flow rate in half just to gain 1.2psi (1.6psi vs 0.4psi); but if our blocks are high-restriction (lets say 2psi @ 1gpm (Hydrocopper)) then the benefit becomes more obvious to gain back 3psi (4psi vs 1psi). To give you a perspective: the D5 puts out about 2.8psi @ 1gpm (vario setting 4; D5 B on max); that means in series your overall flow rate would be less than 1gpm if the hydrocoppers were in series and significantly more than 1gpm while in parallel. In the case of the low-restriction blocks with the same D5, in series the overall flow would still exceed 1gpm, and if put in parallel the overall flow rate would likely not exceed 2gpm so you would have less than 1gpm through each block.

Also really liking your build! Very nice personal touches, I haven't seen a custom fan like that before. Good use of the white + black parts. Also it looks like Elaine likes your computer in the 2nd pic.

Sucks about Crimson, just had to update last night because Diablo kept crashing. Thankfully I was running my non-voltage increased overclock, but now I can't even go back if I want? Shame on you AMD. If I want to fry my components then I will!

[Grinder]

The GPU blocks actually get less flow when in parallel.


Also really liking your build! Very nice personal touches, I haven't seen a custom fan like that before. Good use of the white + black parts. Also it looks like Elaine likes your computer in the 2nd pic.

Sucks about Crimson, just had to update last night because Diablo kept crashing. Thankfully I was running my non-voltage increased overclock, but now I can't even go back if I want? Shame on you AMD. If I want to fry my components then I will!

Agreed WRT flow in the block itself, I was referring to the loop itself having better flow since two GPU blocks in parallel are much less restrictive than serial. IIRC Swiftech had some numbers on it back in the day. I figured with 3 rads and 3 blocks, plus a fair bit of tubing, I'd be better off with parallel.

Thanks, I hadn't noticed how much Elaine was taken with the rig

Yeah, still trying to figure what version to go back to that will play nice with tools that let me crank up the volts. Maybe the pre Crimson beta...

[Grinder]

I removed the C5F-Z/FX-8350/4x4GB DDR3 Samung Magic Ram. Incoming are these parts:

Gigabyte X99 UD4
i7-5930k
Corsair Vengeance LPX 4x4GB DDR4 2666 (thanks 10e!)

[Hooded]

Now that's an upgrade

[gdesmo]

I'll say ! Sweet !

[Grinder]

Go big or go home I got a good deal on the parts, and sold my AMD combo, so I couldn't resist.

Here is the current chaotic state of affairs:



I managed to get the mobo in place without tearing the loop apart (yet). There are a few things that need to be addressed.

The primary PCIe slot for the new mobo is higher, so there is no longer room at the exhaust fan location for the 140mm rad. I've decided to use my full cover EK blocks/backplates/parallel connector (from Blood and Guts) for these 290X's, so the air cooling fan mod will no longer be needed on the GPU VRMs/RAM. I've moved it to the exhaust fan. Removing it and the other 140mm that was at right angles behind it should free up enough room that I can move the 140 rad to the upper of the two front 140mm intake locations. I'll re-hang the HDD cage a little to the left of where it was before.

[Grinder]

Change of plans. For this build I'm going with the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 that I got from 10e. I'll try to find a 6700k to go along with it. The white in the mobo should fit in, and I have other plans for the 5930k/UD4.

Here is the mobo again:



I'll probably stick with the plan of moving the 140 rad to the front and streamlining the loop.

[10e]

I'm glad to see the tape I used to secure the CPU cover plate stayed intact haha.

[Father Fuzzy]

I swear those 2 M2 slots keeps winking at me