The Red Queen

[dave.leblanc]

Hi Guys,

Long time PC enthusiast. I've been building my own PC's since the late 90's but I've never built anything really cool. I'd put whatever I could Jam in a case connect the wires slap on the panel fire it up and I was done. I've had a long time fascination with Water Cooling but I've never built a Water Cooled rig of my own.

A couple months ago I decided to finally pull the trigger start a new build except this time I wanted to build something truly custom that I could be proud of. I started doing some research and spent a lot of time Watching Daz's excellent tutorials on YouTube. I've got a few parts on hand and a bunch more in the mail and a few things to still sort out but after speaking a bit with Daz about some of my parts on order he suggested I join the forum and start sharing my build and well what is a rig you can be proud of without a community of people who (hopefully) will enjoy what I'm doing

I've decided to call this build The Red Queen because of my affinity for the Resident evil series and this build is actually going to be a dual system build. I'm building this around an AZZA 4000 which has space to mount a mini-ITX based server in a "top compartment" of the case. This build will act as my main workstation for work (I'm a web services and applications developer/consultant) with plenty of power for me to run my VM's all day and plenty of gaming juice for unwinding at night. The server side will be an in house Firewall/complete replacement to my garbage Bell-Aliant Actiontec Router and it's limited functionality connecting my server directly to my ONT.


Workstation Parts:
AZZA Fusion 4000 ATX Super Full Tower Computer Case - Received
Asus Rampage IV - Received
Intel core i7 3930K - Received
CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 64GB (8 x 8GB) 2133Mhz DDR3 - Received
2 x XFX Double D FX797ATDJC Radeon HD 7970 - RMAd
2 x XFX Double D FX797GTDFC Radeon HD 7970 - Received
Rosewill HERCULES-1600 1600W PSU - Received
4 x Seagate Barracuda 1TB - Ordered
2 x SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 128GB SATA III (SSD) - Ordered
LG CH12LS28 12X Blu-Ray Reader & Lightscribe DVD Writer Combo Drive - Ordered

Server Parts:
ASUS P8H77 - Received currently in another chassis
Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB - Received currently in another chassis
Intel Core i3-3220 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core - Received currently in another chassis
Diablotek PHD Series PHD380M 380W Micro ATX Power Supply - Received
Intel E1G42ETBLK 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express x16 Multi-Port Server Adapter - Pending

Cooling Parts:
CPU Block Summit EF (Intel) Acrylic Top - Received
2 x EK-FC7970 CSQ Full Cover Block for HD7970 - Plexi Nickel - Received
2 x EK-FC7970 CSQ Backplate - Black - Received
EK-FC Bridge TRIPLE Parallel CSQ Plexi - on back order
EK-FC Link BLANK Parallel CSQ - on back order
EK-FB KIT RE4 - Plexi+Nickel CSQ for ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard - Received
EK-RAM Dominator x4 (CSQ) Waterblock - Plexi Nickel - Received
FrozenQ Fusion Reservoir Rev.7 UV Red - 160mm - Received
Twin D5 Dual 5.25" Bay Clear Reservoir - Dual Laing D5 - Received
24V Dual Pump Controller SINGLE 5.25" Bay CTR-SPD24 - Received
2 x DazMode*STORM D5 VARIO 8-24V Pump w/TACH cable - Received
Feser Tube UV Hose - 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD - RED - Received
Feser One - Cooling Fluid - UV RED - Received
Coolant Temperature Sensor Stop Fitting Black - Received
120mm Quad Radiator Gasket - Received
120mm Triple Radiator Gasket - Received
Slim High Density Quad 120mm Radiator XSPC EX480 - Received
Multi-Port Slim High Density Triple 120mm Radiator XSPC EX360 - Received
AeroCool X-Vision 5 Channel fan controller - Received
6 x SilenX EFX-12-15 120mm Effizio Quiet Case Fan - Received
2 x SilenX EFX-12-15R 120mm Red LED Effizio Quiet Case Fan - Received


Modding Parts:
APEVIA G-120MM 120mm Fan Grill - Received
3-pin Single Braid PWM Fan Extension Cable - Red - Received
DARKSIDE Front Panel I/O connection kit - Red UV - Received
8-Pin PCI-E HSL DarkSide Single Braid Cable - Red UV - Received
6-Pin PCI-E HSL DarkSide Single Braid Cable - Red + Red UV - Received
4pin Floppy Extension Cable Sleeved UV Red - on order
8pin EPS Power Extension - UV Red - Received
4+4pin P4 Extension - UV Red - Received
XSPC Reservoir M20x1.5mm to G1/4" fillcap adapter - Received
Bitspower X-Station Mini Power-Extension II Female Version - Red - Received
SATA 2-WAY Power Cable Red Red UV - Received
24-Pin Single Braid Cable - Red + Red UV - Received
SATA 6 Gbps Cable UV Red - Received
numerous LEDs in some combination of RED and UV - Received
numerous UV CCFL kits - Received
various Red connectors - Received/Pending (more?)
red UV sleeving - Received/Pending (more?)
red UV heat shrink - Received/Pending (more?)


Pics:
my first round of parts from Daz


a look around the case after I've started tearing into it

[dave.leblanc]

The Monster PSU I've chosen to power this rig


I started mocking up some of the wiring to start getting an idea of what sorts of additional extensions, sleevings etc I'll need

[Hooded]

Cool Build to the Daz Zone.

Great list of parts, loving the pics.

[bungwirez]

Welcome to the insanity Dave.
Absolutely crazy list of parts.

the only thing I would advise from your list is to be 100% that your ordered GPU's fit those CSQ blocks.
the 7970 have a butt ton of compatibility issues.
the only Double D listed on the EK configure-matron is model FX-797G-TDFC
but perhaps you've already done your research?
In that case ... rock on buddy!

[snef]

Yes , Bung is right

Sorry but, the waterblock will not fit

EK have a warning on the web site, i dont know why they dont updated configurator

Your hd7970 are not reference board

They are new board from XFX

A good thing to know with xfx
If the card have 2 dvi ports, its not reference design
If only one, they are

[gdesmo]

Nice to see someone else with an AZZA 4000 and good selection of parts. Was wondering why you went for the 1600 watt Rosewill, it is a really good PSU made by Super Flower but is way overkill for your needs. If you plan on adding 1-2 more cards in the future you will blow your breaker every time you really push it. Solution would be to run a 12 gauge 20 amp circuit to your area if you have not done so already. Look forward to seeing the progress as I am still waiting on some parts for mine but will be assembling and chewing the case away with my dremel shortly.

[dave.leblanc]

Yes , Bung is right

Sorry but, the waterblock will not fit

EK have a warning on the web site, i dont know why they dont updated configurator

Your hd7970 are not reference board

They are new board from XFX

A good thing to know with xfx
If the card have 2 dvi ports, its not reference design
If only one, they are

GAH! this is so frustrating I didn't pay close enough attention to the exact model # on the Double D too many variations it seems.


Here is my Dilemma... the reason I'm going AMD over NVIDIA is specifically to take advantage of the eyefinity tech as I'm trying to build a 6 monitor setup for my workstation. I thought I'd finally found the configuration that was going to let me do that..


does anyone have any advice or suggestions on which board I can run 6 monitors AND watercool?

[Father Fuzzy]

Thats quite the case and Cool project you have going on

Looking forward to seeing it running

[Hooded]

Dave, look up the GPU-blocks you want/like then check for the cards fit it.
Also the new 7990 are coming out real soon, 2 or 3 of those would run 6 monitors easy.
7990 Review

[dave.leblanc]

it seems after much reading and checking out the compatibility list on EKWB that I'm going to have to either daisy chain displayport 1.2 monitors or wait for MST hubs to start being available (hopefully) later this year

[dave.leblanc]

it seems after much reading and checking out the compatibility list on EKWB that I'm going to have to either daisy chain displayport 1.2 monitors or wait for MST hubs to start being available (hopefully) later this year

I took a look at the 7990's and aside from not wanting to wait for them it looks like I still need some adapters and what have you to get everyting all jiving together

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...gb,3264-9.html

see this 7970 setup Toms hardware did even with the DUAL DVI's the setup had to use the 2 mini display ports to expand to 6 screens


it seems I'll be returning the XFX Double D FX797ATDJC for a pair of XFX Double D FX797GTDFC

and when I'm ready to expand I'll need a pair of these

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DP-To.../dp/B0072CM0MU



EDIT:

some more reading and research seems to indicate that AMD in partner with BizLink and Accell will finally be releasing their MTS hub May/June


this is a response from Accell that was received by some members on overclock.net

I am responding to your inquiry about the Bizlink MST mDP 1.2 hub. I work for Accell a wholly owned subsidiary of Bizlink Tech and we are their retail brand so they passed along your inquiry to Accell. Bizlink is strictly a large OEM wiring harness and cable assembly company and does not in small qty's or to end users.

Your original inquiry is at the bottom of of this email for reference

Currently we are not selling this new item(s) yet.
We debuted and demonstrated the device at the Jan. CES show in Las Vegas, but it is about 60-75 days our from being a production level product for partners to sell. About the end of May or early June the product should be in the markets and available at a number of stores as well as online etailers.

[DazMode]

Massive build!

[Neo182]

Welcome to Dazmode zone! ;D

Looks like quite the mega machine! Good luck keep us up to date.

[dave.leblanc]

Alright so lots more parts showed up today and I sent the TDJC XFX's back to NewEgg. They were super easy to deal with and even waived the re-stocking fee due to the confusion.

I even got a big box from Daz today!

I just have to say a HUGE thanks to Daz who was totally on the ball and caught my mixup in QDC's over the weekend contacting me to sort it all out before the order went out yesterday.

mother boad and CPU arrived Monday


mmm mmm ROG






Leak Test

[Hooded]

Right on. It's coming together fast.
Nice leak test setup.
Great parts pic.