First mATX build, OC noob looking for hardware advice

[0bzeek]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mostly as a hobby/gaming box. Looking to make a system where I can really play with some overclocking using water cooling in a SFF design.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget not a huge issue ATM. Comfortably willing to spend 2k (maybe 2.5k) I'd like the bells and whistles for once and would love some help on how to get it.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
North of Boston, MA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Everythi... MoBo, CPU, RAM, Case, 1x SSD, 1-2x HDD (storage flexible, would love to play with Raid if at all possible. case/mobo allowing), Blu-ray drive, PSU, GPU, Monitor, Gaming Mouse and Keyboard

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.


6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
None. Looking for as large and quick a 3-4 hundred dollar budget will get me.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as I find a proper case and get feedback and suggestions on hardware choices. Opinions ftw

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? etc.
SLI by 2, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, RAID on mATX /?

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No.



-----------


First post, second build. Built a 500 dollar budget box 8 years ago or so. Needless to say, things have changed. It's been a long time since I've done this so any build help would be great. I'd really like to know if you have better ideas about the hardware.

My goal with this system is to thoroughly enjoy the money I spend this time around by utilizing things I couldn't with a budget build (i.e. water cooling, SLI, RAID, high end GPU/CPU). Have been enamored with water cooling for a long time and have always loved the small compact SFF cases I've seen. So I'm hoping that somehow there's a way to have my cake and eat it too. SFF cases make WC more of a challenge, not to mention SLI. The whole project becomes very case dependent.

I've scoured the web for the perfect case and come very close many times but can't seem to find that perfect case. So I'd especially love some help with this as I'm very keen on the WC but can't begin the joyful process of getting these things until I have the case sorted out.

Things I'm looking for in a case:
SLI capable
Can Contrain Full sized PSU (bottom or side vented)
Cube style form
Windowed
Cable management a plus
removable parts (i.e. mb tray)
able to mount 1 or 2 rads internally. perhaps 2x 120mm or 1x 240mm?
Space for an internal pump and res or pump/res (drive bay?)

Now I should mention I've looked through just about everything on Newegg and Frozen CPU and I'd really like to find a high quality case. I've owned cheap chassis before and seriously regretted it. This time around I've learned my lesson and hope to find a nice, unique case. For the right case with a ton of enthusiast features I'd scrap the cube design. Any ideas in the case area for less obvious but high quality brands in the 200 dollar range would be highly appreciated.

I've put together a preliminary list as a possible build and while I've spent hours and hours catching up benchmarks and reviews and technologies I still feel that it's haphazard and incomplete. So before I drop a couple grand, maybe you can help?

Anyway here's my newegg wishlist:
$190 ASUS mATX Maximus IV Gene-Z
$680 For two EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
$130 Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W
$320 Intel Core i7-2600K
$86 CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
$135 SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA II
$80 LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu Ray 3D Feature SATA

Looking to use a SDD for the OS and (if possible) get a RAID setup with a couple hard drives. Maybe 1TB each, hopefully both 6Gb/s?

Haven't settled on a monitor yet, but looking in the 300 - 400 range upwards of 23". Plan on using best buy gift cards for this however, so I need to track down something on their website/from their store.

Questions:

is 1000w PSU enough? too much?
What are some good qualities to look for in Hardware to alert you that they're good for OCing?
In a Water cooling loop with CPU and 2 GPUs how many rads does one require for decent cooling? is it really necessary to do separate loops or is pressure loss not enough to worry about?
Are there any MoBos which have 2 PCI slots x16 instead of 2 by x8 when in SLI?
If not am I basically throwing away my money on the second GPU by going mATX?
Is the performance difference between a 560 and a 570 currently enough to justify the price difference?

Have a ton of questions about a water setup too but they're all case dependent. I've been kinda stuck not having found that dream case yet!

I'm totally willing to entertain ideas for entirely different builds if you have some good ideas on how to get the most out of an OC minded build.

Hope you can help! Thanks!

 

[Dangman]

I've moved this thread to the correct subforum so hopefully you can get better case help. With that said, here's my notes on your planned setup:

$680 For two EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
.....
Is the performance difference between a 560 and a 570 currently enough to justify the price difference?

Depends on which GTX 560 card you're talking as there are three different GTX 560 revisions (regular GTX 560, GTX 560 Ti, GTX 560 TI 448 Cores). With that said, the GTX 570 isn't a good buy considering that the GTX 560 TI 448 Core provides 97% of the performance of the GTX 570 at 85% of the cost. So unless you absolutely need that 3% extra performance for a 15% increase in cost, go with two of the GTX 560 TI 448 Core cards instead:
$295 - eVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW 1280MB PCI-E Video Card

$320 Intel Core i7-2600K

Do note that when it comes to gaming, there's little to no real world performance difference between the 2500K and the 2600K. So save the money and go with the Core i5 2500K instead.

$135 SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA II

Not a good choice at all considering that it's an older and fairly slow SSD. I recommend these faster and more reliable SSDs instead:
$120 - Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 64GB SSD w/ USB to SATA Adapter and Drive Cloning software
$180 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD

get a RAID setup with a couple hard drives. Maybe 1TB each, hopefully both 6Gb/s?

I recommend this drive:
$126 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

$130 Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W
....
is 1000w PSU enough? too much?

A good 1000W PSU would have been too much. However you happen to choose a low quality 1000W PSU IIRC. I recommend these PSUs instead:
$143 - NZXT HALE90-750-M 750W Modular PSU
$156 - Corsair HX750 750W Modular PSU

Are there any MoBos which have 2 PCI slots x16 instead of 2 by x8 when in SLI?
If not am I basically throwing away my money on the second GPU by going mATX?

There are but they're not mATX nor are they cost-effective. In addition, there are little to no real world performance differences between x8 and x16 speeds in games. So no, you're not wasting your money on a second GPU with SLI with a mATX or ATX mobo that only has x8/x8 SLI. It'll be quite a while before you'll need more than x8 speeds.

The mobo and RAM that you chose are good choices.

 

[Zap]

For the right case with a ton of enthusiast features I'd scrap the cube design.

There were some cube style cases close to what you were looking for, such as the NZXT Rogue and some other high end one whose name escapes me at the moment, but they have been discontinued.

Anyway here's my newegg wishlist:
$190 ASUS mATX Maximus IV Gene-Z
$680 For two EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5
$130 Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M 1000W
$320 Intel Core i7-2600K
$86 CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
$135 SanDisk Ultra SDSSDH-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA II
$80 LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu Ray 3D Feature SATA

Pretty much what Danny Bui said.

You will be happy with the Gene-Z for overclocking. ATX boards have nothing on it in that respect

You can go cheaper on RAM with a 2x4GB kit. Games are 32-bit which means by default they are only allowed 2GB addressing space, so 8GB is already way overkill.

In a Water cooling loop with CPU and 2 GPUs how many rads does one require for decent cooling? is it really necessary to do separate loops or is pressure loss not enough to worry about?

It really depends upon how obsessed you are with temperatures. A single loop with one 2x120mm radiator should be enough to keep the overclocked CPU and dual GPUs cool enough. By "cool enough" I mean that the GPUs (which will run the hottest) will be running cooler than if using their stock air coolers.

There are but they're not mATX nor are they cost-effective. In addition, there are little to no real world performance differences between x8 and x16 speeds in games. So no, you're not wasting your money on a second GPU with SLI with a mATX or ATX mobo that only has x8/x8 SLI. It'll be quite a while before you'll need more than x8 speeds.

Just to elaborate, socket 1155 is electrically limited to around 20 PCIe lanes available for expansion slots (there are more, but taken up by motherboard stuff). 16 lanes comes from the CPU and 4 lanes from the chipset. If you see a socket 1155 motherboard with multiple x16 slots, those slots are physical (AKA can fit x16 cards) but not electrical (AKA does not actually have x16 lanes). Note that there are some ATX boards with additional PCIe lanes added using something like an NF200 chip. Yes, those are additional lanes, but they still get shoehorned into the 16 lanes of the CPU.

If you REALLY REALLY REALLY want dual electrical x16 lanes knowing full well that it does not add perceptible performance, you will have to go with socket 2011 for CPU and motherboard. Your costs will go up since the cheapest 2011 CPU right now is around $600, but supposedly there will be a $300 CPU released in the near future. The motherboards also cost more. Note that there are (or will be) micro ATX socket 2011 motherboards.

 

[0bzeek]

Hey at least I picked a good MoBo and RAM (ha, I cheated. Saw them together in a vid review on the board )

Wow. Thanks for the explanation! Between the time since I build my last rig and now may as well have been a life time. Thanks for expounding on why 8x/8x is just fine. I wasn't aware of the technical limitations of the socket, but suspected that may be the reason I hadn't seen any 16x/16x mATX boards.

I looked at all of the suggestions and had to laugh when I saw I'd selected a SATA II SSD. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'll be taking all of those suggestions. Additionally on the topic of GPUs I found these FS 2x HD 6950's with Waterblocks Would there be any reason why I should just go stock 560 ti's instead? Seems I'd be saving a boat load of money to purchase these high end GPUs with the waterblocks on them already and as they're unlocked they're more up my alley (for my intentions to learn to OC). Is there any reason I should go stock? hope it's not a faux pas to ask if I should buy hardware sold by another member in a forum.


So down to the case:

I've found a bunch of cubes I like however (same problem as you said) most of them are out of production. and the cubes being produced now are either too high end (custom 800 WC designed beasts) or too low end (think Qmicra). And worst of all I'm just too picky. So instead I found a sharp looking acrylic from Danger Den which is nothing at all what I thought I was looking for and doesn't have any of the bells and whistles I thought I wanted, but hey, when you see something sexy you know it's sexy right?


$150 On Sale - Danger Den 16

But since we're on the topic of Cube cases, just for the knowledge of anyone else who may be looking and also wants a WC option in their cube, this is a new case out from Xigmatek:

Gigas

It's a spacious cube with a fair number of features. HardwareHeaven review

 

[Dangman]

I'll be taking all of those suggestions. Additionally on the topic of GPUs I found these FS 2x HD 6950's with Waterblocks Would there be any reason why I should just go stock 560 ti's instead? Seems I'd be saving a boat load of money to purchase these high end GPUs with the waterblocks on them already and as they're unlocked they're more up my alley (for my intentions to learn to OC). Is there any reason I should go stock? hope it's not a faux pas to ask if I should buy hardware sold by another member in a forum.

Main issues:
- GTX 560 TI 448 Core SLI would perform faster than HD 6950 2GB CFX with new games on and/or a month or two after their release date due to AMD lagging behind in driver development for newer games. With that said, once AMD catches up, then HD 6950 2GB CFX would perform faster than GTX 560TI 448 Core SLI.

- Only one of those HD 6950 cards actually has a warranty and that's assuming that the owner registered the XFX card in the first place.

- Used so higher chance of probable issues later on.

- Possible length issues depending on what case you're using. The eVGA GTX 560 TI 448 Core FTW that I recommended earlier is roughly 9 inches. The HD 6950 is about 10.5 inches

$150 On Sale - Danger Den 16

You might run into possible GPU length issues as it's not apparent what's the max GPU length you could have in that case.

 

[Calroth]

It really depends upon how obsessed you are with temperatures. A single loop with one 2x120mm radiator should be enough to keep the overclocked CPU and dual GPUs cool enough. By "cool enough" I mean that the GPUs (which will run the hottest) will be running cooler than if using their stock air coolers.

Yah. Right here is your first big trade-off between SFF and performance.

In the "regular" water-cooling world, the advice would be, one 1x120mm radiator for each waterblock, plus a 1x120mm radiator "for the loop". So 4x120mm to be comfortable.

Stepping down 3x120mm is a compromise, yet still quite workable for your configuration.

At 2x120mm, we're entering a grey area. Yes, you'll get more overclocking headroom. Yes, it'll be quieter than air. And yes, it'll be cooler than air. But many people build a water loop to "take it to the next level", and your choice of SFF will compromise that.

Constraints like this are what makes SFF fun

P.S. Some extra thoughts. You probably won't have the room for a dual loop, so go single. And, if you haven't done much watercooling before, a full-size case is probably easier for your first build...

 

[0bzeek]

Decided to go with the Tower 16. Internally there's only room for one rad, however Danger Den is going to custom cut the back place to replace the vents with 80mm fan placements and 2 tubing passthroughs. So off the rear will be mounted a second rad (external 2x80mm as that was all that would fit) with barbs passing through the case. Here's my question though. With the 240 in the front and the dual 800 in the rear how should the loops be set up? Because this is my first OC and my first WC I'm thinking I'll just go serial.

Parts to be cooled:
CPU
Mosfet
Dual GPUs

What I'm curious about is the order in which to run the system? My initial inclination was CPU-->Mosfet-->80mm rad-->gpus-->pump--> 240 rad. There's likely not enough room in the system for a reservoir so I was thinking I'd use a T line and a fill port to use a length of 3/8th as a res. Soon as I can I'll get together a google sketchup of the box.


Additionally, I'm about to purchase my main hardware components but I'm having a twing of nostalgia (coupled with a desire to see competition in the market place). back in 2002 when I made my last system AMD was a real competitor and I loved my little Athalon XP. Couldn't beat the price and I was more than happy with the performance. That being said, AMD is not the company it was 10 years ago and when I went to put together a top of the line AMD system I found that a last gen processor from Intel posted much higher benchmarks than the newest FX processor. So I rethought my plans. So i'm wondering. Is there anyone who can attempt to convince me that going with Phenom II or even the FX won't leave me cursing the day I was born or would it be a total waste to go with an AMD product at this point (performance wise more than budget)? I was a big AMD fanboi back in the day but have been using an Intel Core 2 Duo since '08 on my laptop. Is there any hope?

If there were a reasonable argument as to why I wouldn't notice significant performance differences while gaming I would still consider rethinking my switch to Intel, if only for the sake of the market place.

 

[Calroth]

What I'm curious about is the order in which to run the system? My initial inclination was CPU-->Mosfet-->80mm rad-->gpus-->pump--> 240 rad. There's likely not enough room in the system for a reservoir so I was thinking I'd use a T line and a fill port to use a length of 3/8th as a res. Soon as I can I'll get together a google sketchup of the box.

The standard advice is, order doesn't matter. (At least not as much as other considerations, like getting a clean layout.) No matter what your order is, temperatures will stabilise to about the same.

The only rule is, reservoir always directly before pump. And you don't have a reservoir...

...unless you go for a combined drive bay pump+reservoir. Your case only has a single optical bay, but that's enough for some of the smaller units. And you probably didn't need that DVD drive on a regular basis anyway. But if you did, external DVD burners start at $30. Plug it in when you need it.

Additionally, I'm about to purchase my main hardware components but I'm having a twing of nostalgia (coupled with a desire to see competition in the market place). back in 2002 when I made my last system AMD was a real competitor and I loved my little Athalon XP. Couldn't beat the price and I was more than happy with the performance. That being said, AMD is not the company it was 10 years ago and when I went to put together a top of the line AMD system I found that a last gen processor from Intel posted much higher benchmarks than the newest FX processor. So I rethought my plans. So i'm wondering. Is there anyone who can attempt to convince me that going with Phenom II or even the FX won't leave me cursing the day I was born or would it be a total waste to go with an AMD product at this point (performance wise more than budget)? I was a big AMD fanboi back in the day but have been using an Intel Core 2 Duo since '08 on my laptop. Is there any hope?

If there were a reasonable argument as to why I wouldn't notice significant performance differences while gaming I would still consider rethinking my switch to Intel, if only for the sake of the market place.

Sure! My current (full-size) rig is an AMD Phenom II X4. I bought it with one of those newfangled 990FX motherboards, with the intention of upgrading it to Bulldozer. This was before Bulldozer came out.

Then it did come out, we all discovered that the name "Train Wreck" was more appropriate, and I'm still on the Phenom II.

Now, I still like AMD. But let's be frank here. Intel will be dominant for the short/mid term. So if you're building a rig and expect to upgrade it in the short/mid term, you know where to find Intel...

 

[Dangman]

Additionally, I'm about to purchase my main hardware components but I'm having a twing of nostalgia (coupled with a desire to see competition in the market place). back in 2002 when I made my last system AMD was a real competitor and I loved my little Athalon XP. Couldn't beat the price and I was more than happy with the performance. That being said, AMD is not the company it was 10 years ago and when I went to put together a top of the line AMD system I found that a last gen processor from Intel posted much higher benchmarks than the newest FX processor. So I rethought my plans. So i'm wondering. Is there anyone who can attempt to convince me that going with Phenom II or even the FX won't leave me cursing the day I was born or would it be a total waste to go with an AMD product at this point (performance wise more than budget)? I was a big AMD fanboi back in the day but have been using an Intel Core 2 Duo since '08 on my laptop. Is there any hope?

If there were a reasonable argument as to why I wouldn't notice significant performance differences while gaming I would still consider rethinking my switch to Intel, if only for the sake of the market place.

As an owner of an AMD setup, I can honestly say: Don't bother with AMD. Your best bet from a bang for the buck value is an Intel setup. Really not much hope with AMD.

 

[cloudpost]

1000 is a little much but if you going to be water cooler i say keep it

actually rosewill's psu's are actually not to bad. They have been upping their game lately. Its even 80 rated.

looks good man!

 

[0bzeek]

Alright.

Spoke with Danger Den. came to an agreement on a price or some custom mod to a case. Didn't even haggle, their prices seemed more than reason IMO. Although I did work myself a bit of a deal by only ordering an on sale pre-constructed DD Tower 16 with a modified back plate as an addition to it rather than order a complete new one. Anyway here she is as she currently stands

I had the back plate modified to include Pass throughs for a 3/8th inch tubes alone with 80mm fan holes in place of the vents which came stock (see stock photo at bottom for reference)

Another perspective of the proposed WC setup inside. Hoping to have the entire system Water Cooled just for my amusement.

And finally the rear view.

What would you propose for loop setup? I'd appreciate some input from people who've delt with wcing before. Wondering how to set up the loop. I'd love to have some idea on making a parallel system but am not sure how to do it. If someone could propose a potential setup (i.e. a 2 way splitter here, a 3 way join back to the res etc)

On and these picture are inaccurate as far as the res thing goes. I've decide to go with a Koolance RP-1200 series Pump/Res

EDIT: forgot to include Danger Den Tower 16 stock photo

 

[Calroth]

I like your ideas!

Regarding the order: in my opinion, the order of components doesn't matter (except, reservoir always directly before pump; in your case a combined res+pump is fine).

Therefore, the shortest and easiest-to-build loop is probably: res+pump > RAM > CPU > MOSFET > external rad > GPU1 + GPU2 > internal rad > res+pump

In practice, you might find a different configuration easier to build, in which case, that's fine too.

As for your desire for a "parallel system". Not sure what parts you want to put in parallel, nor what your goals are. For most builds, everything is in series... various people have tested to show, there's not much temperature advantage to be had from parallel.

The only parts that people commonly hook up in parallel are the GPUs. In this case, it mainly depends on what GPU waterblocks you use. For example, EK have parallel/series "bridge" connectors for their GPU waterblock line. Koolance, similar. Assuming you're ordering through FrozenCPU, have a look through their SLI connectors range and see what suits!

 

[0bzeek]

Yeah I actually ran across those and plan on purchasing one. If nothing else it looks like a much easier setup than tubing or an SLI connector. But I was under the impression that a parallel system was benificial because there's less pressure loss. i'd seen some discussions and read some sales pitches for items like a 3 outlet waterblock which seemed to suggest there's benefit to that sort of set up. is there any real benefit or is it really just pretty minimal?

My other thought was that I'm looking for used compression fittings and many seem to be in 1/2". What size would be easiest to work with but give me good flow still? My thought was that 1/2" ID would probably kind. What the largest I could go with. Would 1/2" be fine? or should I stick with 3/8" and lower?

 

[Calroth]

You might want to search the web for some opinions (yea or nay), but in general I think the consensus is:

Pressure drop (or flow restriction): don't worry about it (either parallel or serial), it's not a huge factor unless you're doing something really out there like chaining 8 GPUs together

Tubing size: similar to the flow restriction above, performance is slightly higher for 1/2" ID, but not enough to be a huge factor either. The real differences between 1/2" and 3/8" are in looks (bigger tubes have arguably more bling bling!), and ease of installation (bigger tubes are more unwieldy, don't bend as tightly, take up more space, etc.)

There are other tube sizes too, like 7/16" and 1/4", etc. Again, performance is similar (except for maybe 1/4") and it's mostly down to, how do you want your system to look.

 

[0bzeek]

Made 9/10ths of decisions as the parts start to trickle in.

Purchased two 23" LED screens, a klipsch set of 2.1 speakers (they boom ) and a back up battery/surge protector from BestBuy with a combination of gift cards and reward points cutting the price in half.

This is how my new egg box showed up. I was skeptical so I snapped a picture before I opened it. Just in case. Everything looks to be in good shape despite UPS man handling 800 dollars of components. There were two hard drives in there, so I'm a little concerned about those. Will just have to wait to find out

Between the stuff from newegg, ncix and members of [H] and techpowerup, starting to accumulate a tidy sum of the over all system

Danger Den should have shipped my case today according to estimates they gave me. So hopefully this time next week I'll be building.

 

[0bzeek]

Making the final purchase for parts. This is the main WC purchase. I've already bought two rads seperately one Black Ice GTX Xtreme 240 and one Black Ice Mirco II dual 80 along with a Danger Den MC-TDX water block

Any final suggestions? Possible redflags or thoughts? Would love to get some input before I make this rather large purchase. Opinions welcome! In fact I'd really really prefer to have an opinion or two to make me more comfortable. I tried not to mix metals if I could but there's some nickel plating in the mosfet and ram blocks. I read in the forums that nickels not a big deal though.

$50.99 - EK-RAM Dominator X4 - Water Block for Corsair Dominator Ram - EN (Nickel)
$8.00 - PrimoFlex Pro LRT Black Tubing -3/8in. ID X 1/2in. OD
$11.00 - Feser Tube Active UV Hose - 3/8" ID (1/2"OD) Anti-Kink Tubing - UV Red
$54.95 - Swiftech MCP350™ 12 VDC Pump
$27.04 - Phobya Hose Clamp Hexagonal Key 10 - 11.2mm Black
$29.88 - Danger Den G1/4 High Flow Fittings - 3/8"
$68.95 - EK-MOSFET Max IV Gene - EN (Nickel)
$12.98 - Phobya Variable SLI/Crossfire VID Connection Nipple G1/4 - 1 Slot
$6.99 - IandH Silver KillCoils - Antimicrobial .999 Fine Silver Tubing / Reservoir Strip
$7.98 - Phobya Noise Destructor V.1 for Pump Decoupling
$39.95 - Mod/Smart Professional System Sleeving Kit - Black
$9.35 - Arctic Silver 5 - 3.5 grams

 

[Calroth]

I tried not to mix metals if I could but there's some nickel plating in the mosfet and ram blocks. I read in the forums that nickels not a big deal though.

Correct—nickel is perfectly fine... but there's a wrinkle.

EK Waterblocks have, in the past, made nickel-plated waterblocks with a defective nickel coating. This coating would corrode, flake off and cause damage to pumps and other parts of the waterloop.

EK have corrected this in the new "EN" series, which you're buying. So in theory you are fine. But many people will not consider buying EK nickel blocks again, no matter what; their reputation has taken a hit. If you're interested in learning more, this may be some side-research for you... if not, your EK blocks will probably be fine

Love the rest of your ideas. Black and UV-red tubing will look sexy

 

[Dangman]

$50.99 - EK-RAM Dominator X4 - Water Block for Corsair Dominator Ram - EN (Nickel)

Isn't that a bit much? I mean I guess if you're going for bling yeah that waterblock is a choice but for regular use, you honestly wouldn't need this.

$9.35 - Arctic Silver 5 - 3.5 grams

Go for the Arctic Cooling MX-4 instead. It doesn't have the curing time requirement that AS5 does.

 

[BigJayDogg3]

It's quite possible the stuff I bought wasn't "Mod/smart" product since it didn't come packaged the way that stuff is. BUT. I bought "mod/smart" sleeving off of Amazon from a couple different partners. Neither of them were very good.

I got a small piece of MDPC sleeving in when I ordered my Molex extractor. MUCH better coverage than the crap I bought.

Again, completely possible I got sold some knock-off material.

 

[0bzeek]

Isn't that a bit much? I mean I guess if you're going for bling yeah that waterblock is a choice but for regular use, you honestly wouldn't need this.

Well, neither rad is going to be venting inside because it just doesn't seem to me to a good idea to blow hot air across the board. and since there are no other fan ports there's really not much air flow going across the board. That's the one problem with this plan. 9/10ths of the purpose of the RAM block is exactly that. Bling. But it's also just a way to make myself feel better about a case I've designed with shitty air flow and high negative pressure (which isn't a problem in and of itself but there's not many "inlets" to allow for passive air flow into the system and their placement is less than ideal) /shrug

Go for the Arctic Cooling MX-4 instead. It doesn't have the curing time requirement that AS5 does.

I considered this. But because I plan to assemble everything over the course of a week or so. I decided it really didn't matter if it had a 200 hour cure time because I'll be waiting on the last of the parts to arrive in the mail anyway.

 

[Calroth]

In my view, if you have a $2000-2500 budget, and you're already running a water loop... why not drop another $50 plus fittings and have a RAM waterblock

 

[0bzeek]

So, ordered the parts. they arrived today. Unfortunately Danger Den only shipped out my case this afternoon so it's another week before arrival. In my boredom I decided to put on the two water blocks that I got in the mail onto the mobo. The MOSFET and RAM blocks

Everything's going well. First block on, hooray.

And then...

And so, I realize my first noob mistake.

Apparently the RAM I bought doesn't come with heatsinks that will allow this block to be installed. So... Now I have to decide whether to send back the RAM to NewEgg, the Block to performancepc, or simply buy and install new heatsinks on the RAM. I'm leaning toward NewEgg since they seem to ahve a pretty good return policy. Thoughts?

 

[Calroth]

Erkkk...

I wouldn't try replacing the heatsinks on the RAM. There's enough complication with a memory waterblock as-is.

So it would seem like your choice is between a) exchanging the RAM for compatible parts, and b) returning the waterblock and telling yourself that it probably wasn't necessary anyway?

I have no experience with NewEgg's return policy... but if you're still set on that waterblock, by all means try for the RAM exchange

 

[0bzeek]

Yeah, I've long wanted an entirely water cooled system, so this will be a lot of fun. I've drooled over the thought long enough and best I can figure it, I'm waiting another week for the case to arrive anyway and what's another 10 bucks on shipping for an exchange? Arguably as much of a waste as it would be to change plans with the RAM block but with less satisfaction.

And since I've got to wait a week for the case to show up anyway. May as well send back the RAM. Shouldn't hold me up too badly.

In the mean time:

More loots

 

[Calroth]

Quick random tip for tubes and fittings. If you find that the tube is too tight to get onto the fittings, keep a cup of hot water nearby. Dip the end of the tube in, to heat it up. That will make it easier to slip on. (Also works when pulling it off... but don't burn yourself!)