# Silverstone TJ07 build - t_ski style



## t_ski (Oct 20, 2010)

I've become a little bored with my Thermaltake Spedo Advanced, so I started looking around for a case that would suit my needs a little better.  I think I found that in the Silverstone TJ07, so I picked up a used one in black with the window.  Now I need to make it mine.

The hardware that will be going into this case is the stuff from my siggy:


EVGA Classified 760 with EK nickel/acetal FC block
Intel i7 920 with HK03 nickel
3 x 2GB OCZ Reaper 1866
Two Radeon 5970's with EK nickel/acetal blocks
BIX 480 radiator
Danger Den D5 with EK-Xtop
Three OCZ Agility 2 SSD's
One 500GB Seagate HDD
Two Lite-On DVD drives
Silverstone 1KW PSU

My current PC has an overall blue theme, with the nine Yate Loon blue LED fans, the blue LEDs on the Zalman ZM-MFC1, and the power LED on the Spedo.  I also have blue Primoflex tubing throughout the case.  Of course, all the watercooling equipment is either black, nickel or both, which also goes along with the black PCB on the E760 and the 5970's, as well as the OCZ ram.  Here's the inside of the system (one 5970 installed at the time, of course):







The downside is all the blue does not really go with the red of the Classified, but if I go with red I'll have to buy all new fans and tubing.  At this time I am looking for ideas as to which way to go with this case, so I thought I'd post a couple ideas.

If I go with red, I don't want a bright red, but something a little more subtle:






Same thing goes for blue, as a medium blue looks crappy IMHO:






I also have different ideas on this:


Outside blue, inside black
Outside black, inside blue
Outside blue, inside blue
Outside red, inside black
Outside black, inside red (a bright red might work better here)
Outside red, inside red
????

I still need to buy a few parts anyway, so I have some time to fiddle around with this before I make my decision.  And, BTW - I suck at Sketchup, so if anyone has a better TJ07 model, please let me know.  I'd appreciate the ability to use it!


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## douglatins (Oct 21, 2010)

Just google a TJ sketchup there are loads of them, if i find mine ill send ya


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## t_ski (Oct 21, 2010)

The one I used was one I found through the model finder build into Sketchup:

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=dfb1b368c4fcf538cce101f6f733eba0

This one looked good, but I can't figure out how to color it (I think it's because of the image overlay):

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b151e0b100613667148bc7fecd0dd25e&hl=fil&ct=lc

I'll have to check this one out when I get home:

http://scc.jezmckean.com/cat/11

Ooh! and rads, too:

http://scc.jezmckean.com/cat/50


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## t_ski (Oct 22, 2010)

I got home tonight and started thinking...

If I change this to red, I will need to buy new fans, new tubing, plus mod my G5 and G15 to match.  Not sure I have the cash for that, so I think I will go with blue.  What do you think?  Blue outside and black inside, black outside and blue inside, or blue all the way around?


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## t_ski (Nov 12, 2010)

Started some work on this.  Sleeved a couple fans for it.
















Where will these go?  In the top.  I started with this:






I took out the fans and put these in.  Carefully.  It was difficult, since the mesh wanted to bend a lot, and there is a gap under the fans...











I've also started to receive some of the parts for this build.  Here is the Lamptron FC-2 comtroller:






Of course, my luck means this doesn't fit right in smoothly.  I'm going to have to cut away a small section of the 5.25" bay sides to make way for the controller (remove the box in red).






I also have a Lamptron vadal switch that will replace the front power button.  I got a Blue Ring style in black to match the theme, and I got the sleeved power cable for it, too.






It will go here, but I have to expand the whole a little.  I'm glad I didn't get the 22mm one...






I also got a Phobya quad rad stand for my BIX rad.






It will go in the bottom section, as these cases have ample room for it.  That's why I bought this case.






Next thing I need to do is find some 92mm fans to replace the stock ones in the back of the motherboard tray.






I would love some blue Yate Loons to match the ones I'm going to use in the rest of the case, but from what I can see, Yate Loon doesn't make a 92mm like these blue ones.  Is there another close match out there?  The other alternative is to get a murderMods backplate clean, but who knows when they are going to be back in business...


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## t_ski (Nov 20, 2010)

I have been working on a few things this week.  My daughter was sick so I stayed home with her on Tuesday, and I did a little work while she was napping.  I made two cables and sleeved them: one long 3-pin Y-adapter and another for the power for the Lamptron FC-2.  I also gutted the case, and have been painting the internal parts satin black.  Still working on that, so I will have some pics posted when these are ready to go.

I would love to have the outer shell powder coated or painted with automotive paints.  Anyone have any ideas of how much either on of those might run?


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## garyinhere (Nov 20, 2010)

you'll save a lot on the painting(if you go that route) if you do all the prep work yourself... like sanding and taping.
Not sure on power coating best bet is just call around and get quotes... most of those guys like to work on something "different" so you might get a boredom discount lol
Looks good subscribed!


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## (FIH) The Don (Nov 22, 2010)

when i asked how much my g5 case would cost in metallic red i was told it would be around 120$, and i can only imagine it would be cheaper over there

also, have you thought about red + white color scheme?

black + something is so boring(no offense)


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## TotalChaos (Nov 22, 2010)

cant wait to see more, looking great so far


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## t_ski (Nov 23, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> also, have you thought about red + white color scheme?
> 
> black + something is so boring(no offense)



No, not really my style.  I've already started with satin black on the inside, and I will be figuring what I do with the outside next.  I may just end up leaving it stock   I'm not sure I can make it to after the holidays to get some expensive work done on it.  IDK...


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## ckoons1 (Nov 23, 2010)

i have a TJ07 with black internal-top-front-bottom and red panels with window. inside is red/black.
Take your time and do it the way you really want or you'll wish you did


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## t_ski (Nov 24, 2010)

Pictures as promised, although they are a little dark.  Still getting used to the new camera and trying a few other techniques I learned.  First up is the Y-cable I made for the two fans on the top:











This is the new (longer) cable for the Lamptron:






The Silverstone mid-plate painted black:






And a few of the other black internal parts:






Here is the PSU plate with the painted black insert:


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## TotalChaos (Nov 24, 2010)

sweet stuff


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## t_ski (Dec 5, 2010)

New toy:











The gray metal is going to need a coat of satin black to match the rest though.  I need to do the motherboard tray as well, but it's been rather cold here for a while.  I'm afraid it will ruin the paint if it's not warm enough. 

I also put the case back together and installed the Lamptron  My cuts in the 5.25" bay sides worked perfectly.  I will try to get some shots of that up tomorrow (later today really).  I've been playing with some new settings on the camera, and I think I've got it figured out a lot better.


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## (FIH) The Don (Dec 5, 2010)

i got one of those for a buddy aswell, its pretty good and cheap 

why dont you spray it inside ? do it in a corner , and cover the area in some plastic, then open all windows and do it?


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## t_ski (Dec 11, 2010)

WOOT!!! It's 40 F outside and I'm painting!


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## t_ski (Dec 17, 2010)

So, this update is a bit overdue...   First up, the pics I promised previously.  The inards painted satin black!









I bought some Lian Li mesh grills for the front panel.





I installed the Lamptron FC2.





I decided against using the vandal switch for the front, although I really liked it.  Instead, I am using the original panel button and LEDs, but I sleeved the cables in black mesh and covered the back of the PCB in acoustic foam (just for looks).









Installed back in the case:





The TJ07 comes with an I/O panel that fits in the 3.5" bay at the bottom, but it won't fulfill all my needs.  Plus, it's ugly, too :shadedshu





So, I replaced it with the Silverstone SST-FP35B I showed you earlier: this time, in black!





One (other) thing I did not like about the reader was the extra wires at the ends of the cables to allow for different wiring schemes.  This was not needed, so I popped each wire out of the header one-by-one and trimmed off the extra wire.





Here the card reader is installed in the bay:









I did get to do some more painting.  I started on the motherboard tray, but I did not get everything finished before the cold weather started to move back in.  In the meant time, I'll leave you with a few other new parts: Lian Li motherboard thumbscrews and black rivets!





I have more parts on the way which will hopefully be here by the first of next week.


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## t_ski (Dec 18, 2010)

I decided I have had enough of waiting on the weather to get warm enough to paint, so I grabbed a page from the MNPCTech files.  I bought a new clamp light with a ceramic base and a 250W heat lamp.  I plugged this in over my mobo tray and painted away in the garage.  It's dry now, but I need to wait until tomorrow to pop the rivets in place.  Everyone else in the house is asleep


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## t77snapshot (Dec 18, 2010)

t_ski said:


> I decided I have had enough of waiting on the weather to get warm enough to paint, so I grabbed a page from the MNPCTech files.  I bought a new clamp light with a ceramic base and a 250W heat lamp.  I plugged this in over my mobo tray and painted away in the garage.  It's dry now, but I need to wait until tomorrow to pop the rivets in place.  Everyone else in the house is asleep



Aww everyone get ready for some _midnight modding_!!!! I can't wait to see the paint job ski. Your pictures look great too, what camera are you using?


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## blu3flannel (Dec 18, 2010)

This is gonna look good. I wish I could do a complete color scheme like this with my build, but I'm just not sure about sleeving. I don't wanna mess with all the pins and stuff.


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## t_ski (Dec 18, 2010)

t77snapshot said:


> Aww everyone get ready for some _midnight modding_!!!! I can't wait to see the paint job ski. Your pictures look great too, what camera are you using?



I've used three cameras now.  The ones with the date at the bottom are my wife's Samsung (great camera for a sub-$100 point and shoot), and the old pic of the current loop was from my Panasonic FZ-5.  I loved that camera, but sold it to fund a new one, which I replaced with a Panasonic FZ40.  The trick is learning the ins-and-outs of a different model with new bells and whistles, but a few onlines guides have helped.  Try this one:

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/0...ts-the-adafruit-photo-tutorial-by-johngineer/



blu3flannel said:


> This is gonna look good. I wish I could do a complete color scheme like this with my build, but I'm just not sure about sleeving. I don't wanna mess with all the pins and stuff.



Doing the sleeving is very easy, as long as you understand how the pins work and can be careful when trying to depress them before sliding them out if the headers.  It helps to have a tool kit like this one (which I have):

SUNBEAMTECH PMTK PSU Modding Tool Kit

Oh, and there are a ton of case mods out there for the CM 690.  Search the forums here and the rest of the web for some inspiration.


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## t77snapshot (Dec 19, 2010)

t_ski said:


> I've used three cameras now.  The ones with the date at the bottom are my wife's Samsung (great camera for a sub-$100 point and shoot), and the old pic of the current loop was from my Panasonic FZ-5.  I loved that camera, but sold it to fund a new one, which I replaced with a Panasonic FZ40.  The trick is learning the ins-and-outs of a different model with new bells and whistles, but a few onlines guides have helped.  Try this one:
> 
> http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/0...ts-the-adafruit-photo-tutorial-by-johngineer/



Damn! that is one excellent tutorial, thanks t_ski, I will have to get that a try for sure. I am looking for a decent camera right now in the range of 2-300 bucks and the Panasonic FZ40 seems pretty nice, hmmm.


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## stinger608 (Dec 19, 2010)

t77snapshot said:


> Damn! that is one excellent tutorial, thanks t_ski, I will have to get that a try for sure. I am looking for a decent camera right now in the range of 2-300 bucks and the Panasonic FZ40 seems pretty nice, hmmm.



I would have to agree with Snapshot here! That is a great guideline/tutorial on digital photography man!!! Great link T-Ski!!!


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## t_ski (Dec 19, 2010)

There is also an FZ38 that's a little chealer, and slightly lower specs if you can't afford the full $300 for a camera.  I like this one because it has many advanced features but still can be simple to operate.  Auto mode takes decent pics, too.

Samsung makes an SLR-style  point and shoot very similar in specs to the FZ40, and Tiger usually has it for around $200.  Did not look into any reviews on it though, but like I said, my wife's is pretty decent for sub-$100.

Also, check this thread out (if you haven't already):

 Sexy Hardware Close-Up Pic Clubhouse.

We discuss some tips every now and them...


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## t_ski (Dec 21, 2010)

My box of new stuff came in today.  I spent about two hours swapping out some (minor) parts that were already installed in the pics above, and I sleeved the two 92mm fans that go on the back panel.  Everything is starting to look like an AC/DC song...


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## copenhagen69 (Dec 21, 2010)

great looking stuff so far ... just found it and sub for me


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## t_ski (Dec 27, 2010)

OK, so the holidays are over and I have a few minutes to upload and post all the images I have taken since the last photo update.  Here is the mobo tray, now that is has been painted and reassembled with those black Lian Li rivets!













Some of the new parts I received:

Black Ice Xtreme 120mm rad
EK res tube (I have an EK150 now, this is a 250)
EK brackets (I have one on my current system and the second one broke,  Plus, it's clear and these are black.)
UN rad brackets (to hold the 120mm rad in the front bays)
Two kinds of black continuous grommet (one is notched, the other isn't)
Standard #6 thumbscrews (20 of them)
Black make molex connectors
Four 92mm black fan grills
Four 120mm black fan grills













What did all that get me?  Well, I went from this:







...to this:









Notice the changes?  Here's the entire list if you didn't guess them all:


Replaced white notched grommet with black continuous grommet
Replaced white molex connectors on fan controller and card reader cables
Sleeved the short power cable on the card reader

And I also did this:










Installed fans the stock Silverstone fand with black fan screws and fan grills
Sleeved the fan cables in black
Bundled the two cables together with black wire ties (should be hidden, but will help with cable management)

That's it for the moment, so I will leave you with a new pic for the Sexy up-close hardware pic thread:


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## t_ski (Dec 30, 2010)

A minor update for you.  I was messing around a little last night and lightly assembled a few parts:









Put on the PSU plate, the mobo tray and installed the res clamps where I was planning to place the res.  Motherboard standoffs and the top PCI slot bracket were put in, and I swapped out the white 3-pin connectors on the 92mm fans for some that are (almost) black.  I also test-fit the 120mm rad in the front bays, and now I'm thinking I may have to add a bay to the top of the stack to install my one 3.5" HDD.  Just not enough room between the card reader and where the SSD's will go (bottom open bay).


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## t_ski (Jan 19, 2011)

Kids had a couple snow days last week, and I stayed home with them for one of them.  I got some minor work done.  I made and sleeved the rest of the fan cables (custom cables from the fan controller to each set of fans).  I also came up with a solution for how to address the storage drive that was easier than you'd think.  I need to take some pics though...


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## TotalChaos (Jan 19, 2011)

please do post more pics


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## copenhagen69 (Jan 19, 2011)

awesome!


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## t_ski (Jan 24, 2011)

So, I finally got a few free minutes to take pics and upload them for all of you.  First off, the custom fan cables I made:






I'm not totally happy with the way the sleeving turned out, as the fibers are very thin and become see-through when expanded.  I might resleeve them if I have time.  There are two long ones (each with double headers) that will go to the quad rad on the bottom of the case, one double header for the rear fans on the mobo tray and one double header for the two fans that go on the front rad.  Front rad you say?






This is the seond rad that will go in the front drive bays.  This will help bring down temps a little bit more, but will also healp provide a neat way to keep the tubes straight from the res to the pump.  You can also see the blue Primoflex tubing and Bitspower compression fittings I will be using throughout the loop.











This is the Lian Li bay device that holds up to four 2.5" drives in a 5.25" bay.  As of right now, I only have three OCZ Agility 2 drives, so the forth is not being used.  Wait, the forth is not being used?  Then why don't we do this?






I used a gift card I got for Christmas and bought myself a 500GB 2.5" drive for storage.  This will allow all the drives to fit in the one bay, and I don't have to figure out some other way to fit a 3.5" drive in the top (or someplace else).  Genius!

At this point, I'm getting closer to when I will move everything into the new case.  I still have to figure out the mounts for the rad and sleeve a couple more fans for it.  I plan on moving all the data from the 3.5" 500GB drive to the 2.5" 500GB drive first, and I will also remove the second 5970 and fit the EK waterblock that's been patiently waiting for many, many months.


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## mATrIxLord (Jan 25, 2011)

this looks really nice dude!! sub'ed to see moar pics and info!! great job!


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## InnocentCriminal (Jan 25, 2011)

Sub'd!

Great work so far and I love this case.


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## t_ski (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks.  I decided to resleeve the new cables, but I ran out of shrinkwrap


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## t_ski (Jan 31, 2011)

Here are the new fan cables, resleeved:


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## t_ski (Mar 24, 2011)

I still have this on my to-do list, but a lot of it has been put since I was doing the mini-ITX server build. That's almost done, and I was hoping to do some work on this next week while the wife is out of town.  I need to buy some other fittings, etc...


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 9, 2011)

anything new on this awesome project?


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## t_ski (Apr 10, 2011)

Unfortunately not.  I bought a bunch more fittings, but I think I need to buy a few more, just in case my plan does not work out.  Aside from that, I've been focusing on trying to clear out some old hardware so I have the funds to finish this.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 10, 2011)

ah i see 

well, at least its still going 

might be getting a TJ07 from one of my friends soon, i freakin' love these cases, some of the most beautiful ever made imo !


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## t_ski (Apr 28, 2011)

Well, on a whim I sold both of my Radeon 5970's (and one of the blocks - I still have the other available *HINT*HINT*).  I purchased one 6970 for the moment and I am contemplating _not_ watercooling the card.  It was such a hassle to get the old one out without having to completely take the loop apart, which is something I'm wanting to wait until I can get the chance to move everything over.

Anyway, not having the card watercooled (or at least not yet) makes the flow of the loop change, which is fine because I did not have all of it completely planned anyway.  Now I just need to rethink that part...


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## ERazer (Apr 28, 2011)

sub'd

i feel ur pain, i took down my loop just to replace my gpu


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## t_ski (May 27, 2011)

I'm taking the day off and working on this.  I have quite a bit done so far, but I'm not sure if I can finish it up tonight.  Maybe this weekend???


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## (FIH) The Don (May 27, 2011)

i will certainly be looking forward to whatever you have been doing


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## t_ski (May 29, 2011)

I've taken everything out of the old Spedo case and started transferring parts to the TJ07.  Of course, along the way I've had to sleeve lots of fans, clean lots of parts and figure out where to run everything.  I'm even going to have to re-drill and tap the fan mounting hold on the small rad because I have no friggin' idea what size screws it's supposed to use, and I can't find anything at the hardware store that matches it.  And the ones I got with the rad are too big to fit the holes.  I'm going to make them into M4 like the ones that were shipped with it, and that happens to be the same size as the ones on the big rad.

Hopefully I can do enough work today to start leak-testing the loop...


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## t_ski (Jun 1, 2011)

I've got the loop finished, but I may have a slight leak from the res.  I have an EK Multi-Option res (version 1, not X2).  I originally bought a 100, but bought a 150 tube as an upgrade.  However, when I first used the tube in my last loop, I knew it just would not seal right on the bottom.  I had to put some teflon tape on it to seal it good.  I redid the tape as I put the loop together, but when I was trying to fit everything together, I ended up taking off the tube so I could spin the base to connect the fitting (soon you'll see how tight the loop is).  I put the tube back on and thought the tape still looked good, so I did not redo it again.

As I was filling the loop, I over-filled the res and got some leaking from the top (I have a tube with a straight barb on the top for filling purposes).  Not a ton of water leaked out, but it was enough to make a bit of a mess, which makes it hard to tell if there is a definite leak.  I need to take about 1" of water out of the res so it gets down below the tube, at which point I can take off the tube and re-tape it.

Unfortunately, my schedule is very busy this week, so I'm getting to it when I can.  The good news is that I have not seen anything else from the loop that looks like it's leaking, and I should be able to get the rest of the air out of the loop when I seal the res on the bottom and the top.  Once I get the system back up and running, I will start posting some pics.


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## t_ski (Jun 5, 2011)

I spend a little time with the loop today.  I removed some water out of the res with a few paper towels and retaped the fittings for the tube.  I filled it back up and worked out most, if not all, of the bubbles, and found no leaks after running 4 or 5 hours.  Tonight or tomorrow I hope to start managing cables...


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## babeman (Jun 5, 2011)

A very cool thread! Like the progress screenshots with your whole mod. 

Keep goin! Will continue to tune in


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## t_ski (Jun 6, 2011)

I did not get to work on this last night, but I spent a few hours this afternoon on it and have the case back together and all the cables managed.  I had pics to resize and upload, and more pics to take.  I was able to get online a little bit and update the video card drivers and redo the Afterburner settings now that I have both card in the case.


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## PopcornMachine (Jun 6, 2011)

Looks like a very thorough job!


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## Chicken Patty (Jun 6, 2011)

Subbed, looking great so far bro!


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## t_ski (Jun 12, 2011)

So after a week or two of messing around with things, I'm finally ready to upload some images for you. First, I had to take everything out of the old case:

















Everything has been in the case too long, as you can see there is quite a bit of buildup on the rad (mostly drywall dust) and inside the res is some kind of funk.
















Parts and cables everywhere!!!

So after some initial cleaning, I placed the mobo on the new tray and started to add the fittings.





















As you can see, I am using Lian Li thinbscrews to hold the motherboard in place, and Bitspower compression and rotary fittings. The blue Promichill tubing is 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD and bends nicely, but requires some big compression fittings.

My San Ace 120mm x 38mm monsters needed to be cleaned up, then have their cables sleeved and plugs changed. They come with a 4-pin server fitting, but soon these are gone and swapped for some standard 3-pin black plugs. Black sleeving and black heatshrink finish the look.
















I originally wanted to place the San Ace fans on the outside of the rad and use four of them, but there was not enough clearance between the rad and the side panel for 38mm thick fans. I chose to use my trusty blue LED Yate Loon medium speed fans instead.






Two of the San Ace fans still made it to the back side of the rad:






With the PSU in place, the fan was pointed at the rad to add some more airflow to the area.






To add three SSD drives and one 2.5" data drive, I used the Lian Li 4-in-1 bay module.











Here's the motherboard tray slid in the case with one of the GPU's in place.






The 4-in-1 module sits in the bay below the Blu-Ray drive, then Lian Li mesh bay covers fill in the rest of the space.






What are they hiding? Another Yate Loon medium speed fan on the front of a single 120mm rad.






I had previously sleeved the tail on my D5 pump, but it was way too long.  I cut it short and resleeved it, this time adding a black Molex connector.






Then i did the same thing to the LED for my Bitspower Crystal LED, but used a 3-pin connector for this one.






Fast forward a little, as this was the frustrating part. I needed to do the tubing, but only had a little time to do it, so some pics got skipped. Then I ran into the issues I spoke of earlier with the leaky res, and trying to get all the air out of the loop.

Finally it was all wired up, and the loop was leak tested and bubble-free.  I placed the rest of the components in the system and got it ready for a trial run. Here is the system off:






An finally the system powered on:


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## TotalChaos (Jun 12, 2011)

Bro I am drooling over here. that's one sweet setup


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## PopcornMachine (Jun 12, 2011)

That is a thing of beauty.


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## InnocentCriminal (Jun 12, 2011)

How it's meant to be done.

Good stuff!


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## (FIH) The Don (Jun 12, 2011)

sheeeeeeet 

this is nice


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## t_ski (Jun 12, 2011)

Thanks, guys.  I am pretty happy with most of the way it turned out.  The only thing I do not like is the ecxess cabling in the system.  I was not able to do much with the extra wires below the drives and there is a lot of extra cabling behind the 2.5" drives.  I was thinking about doing something like what I used on my mini ITX build:



t_ski said:


> http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/273/cablemod.jpg
> 
> http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/458/cablemod2.jpg



However, I'm not sure if I am totally satisfied with the Lian Li 4-in-1 module.  Someone else had one that allowed hotswap, and I'm wondering if that might fit the bill a little nicer for me here.  If I go with that route, I have another idea of my sleeve as well on how to change up the front a little.


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## t_ski (Jul 26, 2011)

Received some new toys:


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## sneekypeet (Jul 26, 2011)

Love my AX1200, just be prepared for the loud clicks it makes when powering up


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## t_ski (Jul 26, 2011)

Relays, or impending doom?


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## sneekypeet (Jul 26, 2011)

one helluva relay! It thumps when the power on the case is pushed....first time I powered it I thought I broke something

BTW, you need some red fans to match the rig


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## Altered (Jul 26, 2011)

Congrats on a Very nice system.


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## t_ski (Jul 26, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> one helluva relay! It thumps when the power on the case is pushed....first time I powered it I thought I broke something
> 
> BTW, you need some red fans to match the rig



I'll keep that in mind when I get it installed.

I don't like the light that the red fans give off very much.  Besides, the kids' rig is red.  I think red=hot, blue=cool.  My CPU cores are idling between 17C and 30C.  That's cool...


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## Fourstaff (Jul 26, 2011)

One of the cleanest builds I have seen for some time. Would be nice if you can take a good shot with the lights off to show the blue glow


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## t_ski (Jul 26, 2011)

My next goal is to install the PSU and graphics card.  If I get that done, I'll snap a pic or two for you.  Remind me if I forget


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## InnocentCriminal (Jul 26, 2011)

t_ski said:


> My next goal is to install the PSU and graphics card.  If I get that done, I'll snap a pic or two for you. *Remind me if I forget*



Righto.


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## freaksavior (Jul 27, 2011)

That's pretty snazzy 

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/3980/4in1b.jpg


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## t_ski (Jul 27, 2011)

The one thing I don't like about it is that the drives are set in by about half an inch or so, which makes the cables on my PSU hard to fit.

At least it did with the Silverstone.  I haven't put the AX1200 in, but I am testing the new 6970 by itself ATM.  Looks like I may have to do a reinstall of the OS to get the CCC working again though.  It just dies every time I try to launch it, with no errors or anything.  I can't set up an Eyefinity group or check on Crossfire settings without it


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## t_ski (Jul 28, 2011)

I spent a few hours this afternoon and a few more this evening removing my old Silverstone PSU and taking out the two 6970's.






Then I cracked open the box on the AX1200.




































I installed the new PSU and re-ran some cables.  Then I got these guys out.
















Then I started running the rest of the cables.











The system has defintely gotten louder with the addition of the third GPU and the AX1200.

Although I'm having issues with CCC (and a few other things), I figured I run 3DMVantage to see if all three cards are working.  What do you think?


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## t_ski (Jul 29, 2011)

Fourstaff said:


> One of the cleanest builds I have seen for some time. Would be nice if you can take a good shot with the lights off to show the blue glow



As requested:


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## Chicken Patty (Jul 29, 2011)

Those cards are beggin' to get wet


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## t_ski (Jul 29, 2011)

New blocks or new monitors? Can't decide...


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## sneekypeet (Jul 29, 2011)

so does that AX1200 "clunk" like an old amp or what?

...just grab a single 40" display, sell of your screens to pay for the blocks


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## Fourstaff (Jul 29, 2011)

t_ski said:


> As requested:
> 
> http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/115/blueglow1.jpg
> http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9316/blueglow2.jpg
> http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6839/blueglow3.jpg



Naisu! If you can silent the red LED and also the random yellow one ...


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## t_ski (Jul 29, 2011)

sneekypeet said:


> so does that AX1200 "clunk" like an old amp or what?
> 
> ...just grab a single 40" display, sell of your screens to pay for the blocks



It doesn't seem to clunk when I turn it on, but when I power it off I can hear a "blink."



Fourstaff said:


> Naisu! If you can silent the red LED and also the random yellow one ...



The red LED was pulled from the stock EVGA NB heatsink.  The neat thing about the LED is that it pulses like a heatbeat, even when the rig is powered off.  I think the yellow one is for the ram...


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## t_ski (Sep 24, 2011)

Parts have been ordered for the next phase of this project, and some of them have arrived...


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## t_ski (Sep 30, 2011)

Got the parts in the system over the past few days.  I need to put the pics up for you guys - hopefull this weekend?


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## t_ski (Oct 2, 2011)

Here's the update of the work done this week. First, the new parts:












Another two things I bought were an LCD Temp display and a Bitspower plug temp sensor. I didn't take any before pics, but here you can see the two spliced together and the power wires sleeved.






A major oversight I had when building a loop that fits this tightly inside the case was that there was no easy way to drain the loop for maintenance and upgrades. I corrected that oversight by adding a T-line and a plug. I went simple on this as the funds were a little tight trying to buy everything I wanted for this system and another, but I figured this would be well hidden anyway.






Supporting three monitors in Eyefinity puts a higher load on the video cards, and I was tired of seeing idle temps at 65 degrees C and above. I chose to resolve that with two Koolance VID-AR697 waterblocks.


























My matching Sapphire 6970's.






Mounting the blocks was rather easy. The hardest part was getting the stock heatsink off the second card.




































Unfortunately, the water in the previous loop had turned brown, possibly due to adding too much biocide. I had to disassemble the loop to drain it and got this:






I put in the T-line and flushed the loop with some white vinegar. After it was running for an hour I went to drain it again and found the water had turned a greenish-blue.






I assume that meant it was working. I rinsed it two more times and drained it again so I could add the video cards and blocks.






I am very pleased with the design of the loop, and the Bitspower Crystal Links were down-right simple. They do look out of place though.






I decided to cut two small pieces of tubing and split them open. I was able to wrap them around the Crystal Links like this:






That part of the update is complete. I have some more things in mind to do, and I need to find a permanent place to mount the LCD temp display. Oh, I forgot to mention: I put the temp sensor in one of the spare holes in the reservoir, and moved the Criystal Fitting (blue LED plug) to the top of the res.


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 2, 2011)

t_ski said:


> That part of the update is complete. I have some more things in mind to do, and I need to find a permanent place to mount the LCD temp display. Oh, I forgot to mention: I put the temp sensor in one of the spare holes in the reservoir, and moved the Criystal Fitting (blue LED plug) to the top of the res.



Congrats.  It looks great. Cool water blocks on the 6970s. Thanks for all the great pictures. 

Question about video card cooling.  I guess you have the hoses set up parallel, but is there an advantage over having the hoses connected serially? It seems that the water might not flow throughout each card that way, but I must be wrong.

Thanks.


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## t_ski (Oct 3, 2011)

Basically, the water will flow where there is the least restriction (resistance).  When you are using two blocks that are the same, the resistance is the same.  By running parallel, I was able to not restrict the flow through one small tube (each of the Crystal Links are smaller in ID than the hose), and it allowed me to exit the blocks on the opposite side than the entry (top left in to bottom right out), which worked very well for my loop design.


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## n0tiert (Oct 4, 2011)

Beautiful Build m8, 

you should color the CD/DVD drive black...... for given the final touch.


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## specks (Oct 4, 2011)

Damn it!

Every build here makes me feel even poorer and makes my pc even worse than pond scum!

If you guys have some spare parts you wont mind giving them away I would be very glad to accept them.



Oh, and while I was viewing this thread me and my pc are crapping


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## t_ski (Oct 4, 2011)

n0tiert said:


> Beautiful Build m8,
> 
> you should color the CD/DVD drive black...... for given the final touch.



One of the things I was contemplating was removing the white lettering from the drive, except for maybe the BR logo in the middle.


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## t_ski (Dec 5, 2011)

*UPDATE*: My rig is currently being torn apart.  I have the CPU and ram sold, and have the three SSD's and the motherboard w/waterblock listed for sale (at awesome prices, BTW).  I have new parts on order that will hopefully be here this week.  I need to sell either all three SSD's or the motherboard to pay for the one final part I need to take this rig to the next level...


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## (FIH) The Don (Dec 6, 2011)

you going x79 or?


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## t_ski (Dec 6, 2011)

Yes, X79.  I have a new CPU, mobo, ram and one of two SSD's on the way


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## t_ski (Dec 10, 2011)

Some parts have arrived this week.  I'll let the pictures do the talking...


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## t_ski (Apr 6, 2012)

It's been a while since I updated this.  Lots of new stuff:


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## johnnyfiive (Apr 6, 2012)

badass


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## copenhagen69 (Apr 6, 2012)

pictures are amazing!!!

nice little setup you got running now ..


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## t_ski (Apr 6, 2012)

Thanks.  I actually have some new fans installed on my rad, but I'm having some issues with them not wanting to start up.   When I hit the power button on the rig they start to twitch, but then I have to give them a spin with my finger to get them going.  For some reason they are only getting ~4.9V off each channel of the fan controller.  I either need one of these:

http://www.jab-tech.com/BitsPower-X-Station-PowerExtension-II-Blue-BP-XPSP2M-BL-pr-4267.html

...or one of these:

http://www.jab-tech.com/Scythe-Kaze-Q12-12-Channel-Fan-Controller-KQ02-BK-pr-4841.html


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## t_ski (Apr 7, 2012)

t_ski said:


> I actually have some new fans installed on my rad, but I'm having some issues with them not wanting to start up.   When I hit the power button on the rig they start to twitch, but then I have to give them a spin with my finger to get them going.  For some reason they are only getting ~4.9V off each channel of the fan controller.



I figured this one out.  A bonehead move on my part, but when I made the power cable for the Lamptron fan controller I accidentally wired it to 5V instead of 12V.  I swapped the wires around tonight and now they are roaring away at full speed.


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## micropage7 (Apr 7, 2012)

if the ram fins in blue too (anodized blue) or make it silver it would be much better. 
red and blue aint match


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## t_ski (Apr 7, 2012)

If I get some nice nickel/acetal blocks for the video cards, then I might look into buying the optional black fins that Corsair sells for these.


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## tamw (Apr 28, 2012)

Cool rig! =D

Really nice water system, you plan on puttin those 7970 on water too?

What speed are you running your cpu at? 2011 overclock well?

Always wanted Tj07 =) is there room for 2 waterloops in that case?


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## t_ski (Apr 28, 2012)

I would love to watercooler the 7970's, but I still have a few things to straighten out.  I was hoping to get a third 7970, but I've heard there are issues with three cards and Eyefinity, which I'm using.  Funding is also a problem, especially if I need to get three waterblocks. 

I honestly have not done a lot of overclocking on this CPU.  The one thing I did do was use the built-in AutoTune, which netted me an overclock to 4.8GHz.  I imigine with time, patience and more tweaking it could easily do 5.0GHz.

There's definitely room for dual loops, but I find them messy.


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## nathantrumpet (Jul 20, 2012)

Hey, this is a great build log!! Have any new updates?

Also, would you be able to comment on the overall system performance? Seeing as how you've gone through the past 3 generations of Radeon video cards, which configuration was the most enjoyable for gaming? Which SSD setup seemed the fastest? I'm just curious to know if you can notice a difference with each subsequent upgrade. Thanks.


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## t_ski (Jul 20, 2012)

Since I last posted, I have added a third 7970.  Everything is running fine and smooth, but I have not bothered to OC anything now.  So much power and I don't use it to its full extent most of the time... 






*3DMVantage*

Dual 7970's|925/1375|45183|i7 3930K @3.8Ghz






Three 7970's|925/1375|50619|i7 3930K @ 3.8Ghz (stock run)






*3DM11*

Dual 7970's|925/1375|14023|3930K @ 3.8GHz






Three 7970's|925/1375|18006|i7-3930K@stock






I noticed a HUGE difference going from the 6970's to the 7970's.  Not so much going from 5970's to 6970's.  As far as SSD raid arrays, there was not a huge difference in "feel" between the three 60GB SATA2 SSDs in Raid 0 and two 120GB SATA3 SSDs in Raid 0, but I like the simplicity of two drives over three and also the extra space from the increased drive size.


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## Chicken Patty (Jul 20, 2012)

t_ski said:


> Since I last posted, I have added a third 7970.  Everything is running fine and smooth, but I have not bothered to OC anything now.  So much power and I don't use it to its full extent most of the time...
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/120529/triple7970.jpg
> 
> ...



Got any better pictures of the internals with all the cards in there?  Looks great though!


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## t_ski (Jul 20, 2012)

Chicken Patty said:


> Got any better pictures of the internals with all the cards in there?  Looks great though!



Anything in particular you're looking for?  I'll have to take some for you.


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## the54thvoid (Jul 20, 2012)

Nice power there.  Do you get any coil whine from that set up?  My Powercolor LCS is a little whiny (wouldn't hear it above the gfx card fan if it had one mind!).

I'm tempted to get another 7970 for CF....


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## t_ski (Jul 20, 2012)

I suffer from tinitus (ringing in the ears).  If there's any kind of coil whine, I can't tell


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## Chicken Patty (Jul 20, 2012)

Just one without the side panel.  Would like to get a better shot of the inside, that's it.


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## the54thvoid (Jul 20, 2012)

t_ski said:


> I suffer from tinitus (ringing in the ears).  If there's any kind of coil whine, I can't tell



Ah, I'm nearing 40 years old, maybe it's tinitus I've got too.


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## puma99dk| (Jul 20, 2012)

i so luv the TJ07 case from Silverstone but and been thinking about buying one myself even i want a small one myself cube style or HTPC dunno yet.

but still awesome build ^^


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## t_ski (Jul 20, 2012)

Chicken Patty said:


> Just one without the side panel.  Would like to get a better shot of the inside, that's it.



I'll see if I can get one up for you this weekend.


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## t_ski (Jul 22, 2012)

Here you go, CP.  Using the blue glow from the 120mm Yate Loon fans:












Same pics with white lighting:


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## Chicken Patty (Jul 23, 2012)

Awesome bro, love the setup, looks fantastic!  Thanks for the pictures.


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## Maxforcess (Jul 27, 2012)

t_ski said:


> As requested:
> 
> http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/115/blueglow1.jpg
> 
> ...


very intense color



you can use Enermax T.B.SILENCE 120MM Blue LED -much better color


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## t_ski (Sep 2, 2012)

Well, I've been saving up for quite a while, and am ready to make my next purchase.  I'm thinking of getting three EK CSQ block with an FC-link, or I can get another set of Dominators.  64GB is tempting...


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## t_ski (Sep 4, 2012)

Pulled the trigger this morning and bought three of these:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...=35211&zenid=6947daeef8f404b451ee9d4c1f8fa9ba

...and one of these:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...=34579&zenid=6947daeef8f404b451ee9d4c1f8fa9ba

I only had a few days left until the Labor Day coupons expired


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## t_ski (Sep 12, 2012)

Two small updates.  One, you remember these, right?






I thought they needed some more friends to play with:






And so I went from this:






...to this:






(I've got to do something about all that red  )

And two, this this thing:


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## manofthem (Sep 12, 2012)

Just bloody awesome!  Props for you good sir! 

Please update asap, I can't wait to see those cards added to your loop!!!

(I just realized I have similar cards as you, Sapphire and Asus reference cards, 2 only for me  not 3...)


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## de.das.dude (Sep 12, 2012)

sexy build. sub


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## freaksavior (Sep 13, 2012)

64gb of ram. Gooooood lord!


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## HammerON (Sep 13, 2012)

Nice GPU blocks! Love the bridge as well
Are you going to be adding these to your current loop or add another?
Can't wait to see pics with them installed!!!


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## t_ski (Sep 13, 2012)

They are going in the same loop.  I'm not a fan of dual loops, at least in a case this size.  If I had a Little Devil case and could put a quad rad in the bottom for the GPUs and a quad rad in the top for the CPU (& possibly mobo or more), then I might be willing to go that route.


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## manofthem (Sep 14, 2012)

So what's your loop going to be like with your setup, whats your rad situation?  You're going to need some ballsy rad space eh?  I'm trying to redo mine currently and use 2 360 rads for cpu and 2 gpus, hopefully it'll be better than my 360 and 140


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## t_ski (Sep 14, 2012)

Same rads I'm using - one 480 and one 120, and the loop is going back like it was when the EVGA X58 board was installed (search the thread for that, it's here).


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## t_ski (Sep 18, 2012)

Getting ready to do some work.  Here's a "before" set of temps:











Room temp was 19.2C and the water temp was 21.1C.


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## t_ski (Sep 19, 2012)

New parts:






EK FC7970CSQ:




































EK FC Bridge CSQ (triple parallel):




































The cards:






















































































A side project.  The old XT power supply I use for filling and bleeding the loop had something clanking around inside it when I picked it up.  Turns out the fan fell apart and needed to be replaced.






My storage for this rig needed proper mounting:






Took some modder's mesh from MNPC:






Stacked the up nice and neat:






Crap - the SATA cables are all right-angled versions and hit eachother.  Let's try this again:






A little better, but still not enough.  Need to make some more brackets:






Much better:






Several hours later the loop is bled and leak-tested.  Time to power up (fingers crossed):
















Going to rest some & try to get rid of this headache.  After this settles in I'll post the "after" temps.


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## the54thvoid (Sep 19, 2012)

That's beautiful mate.  I just grabbed my second 7970 (MSI OC version) and an EK waterblock. Unfortunately my first block is old style, 2nd is circles!

Still, water cooled 7970's all the way


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## manofthem (Sep 20, 2012)

Beautiful job t_ski!  Looks terrific, I'm the slightest bit envious, but well done regardless. 
Looking forward to temps!

As 54thvoid said, 





the54thvoid said:


> water cooled 7970's all the way


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## vladmire (Sep 21, 2012)

dont know what to say


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## HammerON (Sep 21, 2012)

I see you bought sneeky's EK water cooling set he had for sale
Should match your new EK GPU water blocks nicely
Pics please when you get the items and get them installed!!!

What fittings are those that you are using attached to your cpu water block? It looks like I need to get something similar as I am going to use compression fittings in my next build.


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## t_ski (Sep 21, 2012)

They are BP 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD 45 degree rotary fittings, and the top one has a 10mm extension on it to lift the compression part away from the other fitting.  Otherwise, they hit each other and won't screw on.

I haven't decided what parts I'm going to use from sneeky's kit, but I plan on using the CPU block for sure.  It will probably be a while before that goes in though, due to the time involved and the time available.  I had Tuesday and Wednesday off from work, and it took a lot of time over about a 27-hour period to install these.  In fact, it took two hours alone to mount each GPU block (remove the stock cooler & clean, mount the block, remove to check contact, adjust and remount, remove to check contact, adjust and remount).  I also had to flush the loop, build the SSD/HDD holder three times, and clean the rig in general.


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## t77snapshot (Nov 8, 2012)

t_ski said:


> New parts:



Oh my! so many mods.. so beautiful..


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## manofthem (Nov 8, 2012)

t77snapshot said:


> Oh my! so many mods.. so beautiful..



Yeah she really is a beauty, the monster that is leading the WCG charts, pumping out WU's like nobody's business.


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## t_ski (Nov 9, 2012)

...and staying cool the whole time


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## t_ski (Mar 20, 2013)

And my setup at my desk:


----------

