# The Rise Of "Skynet": My first water cooled rig (HAF X, 480 radiator, SLI 580 FTW HC)



## saer (Oct 2, 2011)

*"Skynet": Water Cooled HAF X (840mm radiator, 990X, Tri-SLI EVGA 580 Hydro Coppers)*

Got all the new hardware installed 

Swapped out the RX240 for an RX360











Clearance shot





New tube routing





990X now rests beneath the cpu block 





Grabbed another 580 Hydro Copper





Managed to get my hands on one of the $47.99 (normally $180) X-Fi Titanium HD's from the Best Buy sale 




















Better shot of the HAF 932 Black Edition side panel






Vote for my HAF X  for HAF of the month! http://www.overclock.net/computer-cases/1130235-september-haf-club-case-hall-fame.html

Finally, got my first water cooled rig up and running after about a month of piecing together everything. I had a really good time putting her together and modding the case, which was also a first for me, at least this extensive of a mod anyways. I really took my time in finding exactly what parts I wanted to use as well as researching why I should or shouldn't go with one part or another. 

Very happy with how she finally came together, both in appearance and performance (haven't managed to break 40c in furmark, yet..) 

I was able to get my hands on a Limited Edition Performance-PCs.com EK full cover block in full "blood red plexi", which I found to be extremely rare. I haven't even been able to find a single photo of it online  So I decide to make it the focal point of the build and kept everything else black to further highlight that.  


I wish I would have started a build log, initially. I do have photos from most of the build process, excuse the barrage of pics 


Before she went under the knife and got her feet wet. Had 480sc SLI and a Venomous X cpu cooler  





Taping the top off for cutting 





Front view with the 480 rad installed 





Rad clearance 





Front panel attached with some minor trimming to clear the 480 rad 










Top panel grill support and dust filters removed for better airflow 










Backside of the top panel, 3 tabs had to be removed to clear the fan 





5.25 drive covers also had the supports cut and dust filters removed 










Lower front intake got the same treatment 















Full frontal :lachen:





Rear shot, removed the pass-through covers 





Top panel attached with perfect fitment 





AP-15s installed 










240 rad installed with push/pull AP-15s


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## n0tiert (Oct 4, 2011)

saer said:


> Vote for my HAF X  for HAF of the month! http://www.overclock.net/computer-cases/1130235-september-haf-club-case-hall-fame.html
> 
> Finally, got my first water cooled rig up and running after about a month of piecing together everything. I had a really good time putting her together and modding the case, which was also a first for me, at least this extensive of a mod anyways. I really took my time in finding exactly what parts I wanted to use as well as researching why I should or shouldn't go with one part or another.
> 
> ...





why not create a new bottom frontplate ? the you could mount the rad better and it looks more pro
and you should add some foamrubber under that 240 rad .......

simply use steel plate and just cutout the fans, use rivets to mount it on mainframe


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## saer (Oct 4, 2011)

Limited Edition Performance-PCs.com full cover EK block in blood acrylic 





Installed 















Hydro Copper FTW 2s 





Installed with bitspower d-plugs running in parallel 










Trying to figure out the pump/res setup 





EK Supreme HF 





Came with the silver mounting kit but ditched for the black 





Going with a blood red acrylic top instead of the acetal 










Installed 










Pump/res installed 










Mocked up the block and fittings to figure out tube routing 
























































Shot of rad clearance with plenty of room to mount the 140mm fan


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## saer (Oct 4, 2011)

Birdsnest  










Mounted all my drives in the back (1 HDD, 3 SSDs) 





Fillport 





Drainport 










Some wire management 





Leak testing 










All buttoned up :thumb: 


















































HAF 932 Black Edition side panel 





Can your HAF X "pop-a-wheelie" ?  





Anyone ever noticed this ? "Winning"  






Final touches that I want to do are, custom make a 5 led setup running off of one 2 pin(is this even possible?) so that I can fill the 3 led holes on the mobo block and 2 holes on the cpu block with red leds and make them all pulsate like the standard "E" on the northbridge heatsink. 

Possibly switch out the 240 for a 360, since I have the room for it 

Find another HAF X psu cover to cut in half and completely cover the wiring

Vote for my HAF X  for HAF of the month! http://www.overclock.net/computer-cases/1130235-september-haf-club-case-hall-fame.html


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## t_ski (Oct 4, 2011)

I have an EVGA Classified mobo with an EK block on it.  I took the LEDs out of the stock NB heatsink and inserted them into the EK block, but that was two LEDs from the stock heatsink into the two holes on the EK block.  You may be able to do more, as long as you wire it correctly.  I don't think that it would pull too many amps through the header on the motherboard, but if you are worried about it, you might be able to use a relay.


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## HammerON (Oct 4, 2011)

Nice build


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## johnnyfiive (Oct 5, 2011)

Badass.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Oct 5, 2011)

Very very nice build. Two questions.

1. What's the pump/res combo you are using there?
2. Where is your drain port coming from? Looks kinda like from the bottom of the res or even the pump but I can't tell for certain.


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## SK-1 (Oct 5, 2011)

Excellent.


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## saer (Oct 5, 2011)

t_ski said:


> I have an EVGA Classified mobo with an EK block on it.  I took the LEDs out of the stock NB heatsink and inserted them into the EK block, but that was two LEDs from the stock heatsink into the two holes on the EK block.  You may be able to do more, as long as you wire it correctly.  I don't think that it would pull too many amps through the header on the motherboard, but if you are worried about it, you might be able to use a relay.



Great idea, thanks for the advice 



HammerON said:


> Nice build





johnnyfiive said:


> Badass.





SK-1 said:


> Excellent.



Thank you for the kind words everyone, greatly appreciated 



Spaceman Spiff said:


> Very very nice build. Two questions.
> 
> 1. What's the pump/res combo you are using there?
> 2. Where is your drain port coming from? Looks kinda like from the bottom of the res or even the pump but I can't tell for certain.



1. D5 with bitspower mod kit and bitspower top v2, res is ek advanced 250 
2. The 250 has 5 holes on the bottom for multiple routing options, I have the drain port coming off of one of them


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## BrooksyX (Oct 5, 2011)

Wow, very nice build. Looks great!


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## MT Alex (Oct 5, 2011)

Indeed.  Super job.


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## RevengE (Oct 5, 2011)

Looks good. I love that case.


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## saer (Oct 8, 2011)

Thank you all for the kind words!


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## NAVI_Z (Oct 9, 2011)

sick!!!


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## micropage7 (Oct 9, 2011)

omg, you cut the front just to place the rad?
it should be a nice mod, coz if its not you gonna regret it
btw so far looks pretty good, im waiting for futher steps


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## techtard (Oct 9, 2011)

Nice build, congratulations!


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## saer (Oct 12, 2011)

I really appreciate the kind words everyone


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## Flibolito (Oct 12, 2011)

Great work bro. Awesome cooling for serious endurance, I bet it runs like a champ!


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## Proph3t (Oct 12, 2011)

I want that case now have to go out and buy one!  Awesome build!


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## PopcornMachine (Oct 12, 2011)

Very nice mod you have there.  And excellent pictures too.


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## saer (Oct 22, 2011)

Got all the new hardware installed 

Swapped out the RX240 for an RX360










Clearance shot





New tube routing





990X now rests beneath the cpu block 





Grabbed another 580 Hydro Copper





Managed to get my hands on one of the $47.99 (normally $180) X-Fi Titanium HD's from the Best Buy sale 




















Better shot of the HAF 932 Black Edition side panel


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