# Phenom's Summer Project 2013



## MxPhenom 216 (Apr 30, 2013)

Few months ago, soon after I got my GTX680 I put it on water cooling with a small custom loop. Well I have really come to enjoy water cooling, putting it together, customization of choosing the parts, and the end result of the performance and aesthetics. So I decided to blow even more money on my rig  and get stuff to add the CPU to the loop. 

CHANGE OF PLANS

With the launch of the 780, I got a really bad upgrade bug, and bought one launch morning Thursday (The 23rd). I have recently sold off my water cooled 680 to Irony, along with my 360 radiator, radiator box, and few other things I got for my original project that I wont end up using anymore. 

Now instead I will only be doing a CPU loop, and I like the Reference GTX780 Cooler far to much to take off in terms of aesthetics, and its pretty quiet. 

Below are pictures of what I will be installing for the project, still have a few more things to get though. Fittings for doing a T-line for draining in the future, and cables for management.







And Dismantle progress of my rig. Drained the 680 loop last week. Taking it all apart to do a big case cleaning, before putting it back together.






So for right now this is all I have going. I will have more later this month, once school is finished for the summer so then I can focus on the project.


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## techtard (Apr 30, 2013)

Congrats, looks good. I recently got bit by the WC bug as well, haven't assembled my Intel watercooling setup yet, still waiting on a case and some other parts.


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## MT Alex (Apr 30, 2013)

Sub-a-roo!


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## HammerON (Apr 30, 2013)

Sub'd to see pics


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## t_ski (Apr 30, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Loop Order:
> 
> pump/res > 680 > 360 rad > 2500k (Will be upgrading to either 4770/3770k in a few months) > 240 rad > pump/res



Any reason why you chose this order?  I would do it in the exact opposite order.  My experience has been that the CPU is more sensitive to heat than the GPU.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Apr 30, 2013)

t_ski said:


> Any reason why you chose this order?  I would do it in the exact opposite order.  My experience has been that the CPU is more sensitive to heat than the GPU.



So my whole theory on this is the fact that the GPU is producing more heat then the CPU, so id rather have the GPU heat going to the bigger radiator then the smaller one, so that the CPU does get the coolest water possible.

Maybe im wrong, but we will see. Nothing better then experimentation.


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## SIGSEGV (May 1, 2013)

hey mate..
where do you get/buy the lamptron FC-5v2 ?
is that from performance-pcs ?


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 1, 2013)

SIGSEGV said:


> hey mate..
> where do you get/buy the lamptron FC-5v2 ?
> is that from performance-pcs ?



http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._Brighter_Display.html?id=N5hCBPkh&mv_pc=2048

I used to have the FC 6 but the screen died a few weeks ago. Replacing it with the FC 5v2, that also has 30w on the channels rather then 20.


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 7, 2013)

I got the parts today. I will post pictures later this week.


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## drdeathx (May 7, 2013)

Skip the Dyed coolant. Not good for the system. Distilled water/biocide/silver coil does the trick


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 7, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> Skip the Dyed coolant. Not good for the system. Distilled water/biocide/silver coil does the trick



Where does it say I'm using coolant? 

Going to be running straight distilled like I currently am.


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## drdeathx (May 7, 2013)

Ahh, brilliant blue is the tubing. The letters were small and I need bi focals....... My bad. looks good tho Phenom... Too bad you didn't see my for sale thread. I have a Thermalchill rad I am selling and it is top notch..


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 7, 2013)

drdeathx said:


> Ahh, brilliant blue is the tubing. The letters were small and I need bi focals....... My bad. looks good tho Phenom... Too bad you didn't see my for sale thread. I have a Thermalchill rad I am selling and it is top notch..



I was contemplating it, but I like the Alphacool radiators because of all the ports they have, and then for screwing the fans it has that protective layer so you do not screw all the way into the fins.


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## drdeathx (May 7, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> I was contemplating it, but I like the Alphacool radiators because of all the ports they have, and then for screwing the fans it has that protective layer so you do not screw all the way into the fins.



LOL, I did that to a 120.2 rad once sprung a leak....


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 7, 2013)

So question for you guys. I want to do something with the colored rings of the corsair fans. Since the blue is not as dark as id like, id rather it match more with my tubing. 

Side note: This Primochill tubing is great. The exact blue color I was looking for! 

So I was thinking, either getting some Krylon Fusion spray paint. Now color wise I want to know what you guys think. Should I get a darker blue paint(Maybe a bit metallic looking), and just do that, or should I get a Nickel Color to kind of go with my memory and such (Since this is kind of a aluminum/nickel and blue themed build with black) or heres the other thing I was thinking about.............

Getting Carbon Fiber Ni-DOC 3M Vinyl and wrap the rings in it. I want something to be in carbon fiber as well in this build so.

So what do you guys want to see.

Oh and, has anyone used the Primochill Sys Prep fluid. Im thinking about using it for this to ensure everything is cleaned out.


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## drdeathx (May 7, 2013)

Make it pink, that fits your flavor!


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## erocker (May 7, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> So question for you guys. I want to do something with the colored rings of the corsair fans. Since the blue is not as dark as id like, id rather it match more with my tubing.
> 
> Side note: This Primochill tubing is great. The exact blue color I was looking for!
> 
> ...



Post some decent pics of your actual rig.


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 8, 2013)

erocker said:


> Post some decent pics of your actual rig.



I will once I get started putting it together, but wont be till my back heals up a bit more. Found out today I have a fracture in one vertebre, and now I need to get an MRI to determine if its from my crash, or if its old.


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## Irony (May 18, 2013)

Just found your thread. Sounds like its gonna be good. 

What happened to your back; you land your bike upside down? Worst I've hurt myself is flipping a horse; Literally end over end lol. just broke my arm. Stupid horse was fine


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## MT Alex (May 18, 2013)

Irony said:


> Just found your thread. Sounds like its gonna be good.
> 
> What happened to your back; you land your bike upside down? Worst I've hurt myself is flipping a horse; Literally end over end lol. just broke my arm. Stupid horse was fine



Damn horses.   I always feel a sense of satisfaction when I pick up a bottle of glue.


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## fullinfusion (May 18, 2013)

what fans are you going to use on that rad?

I have the 120x2 version and wasn't pleased at all with the performance


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 18, 2013)

Irony said:


> Just found your thread. Sounds like its gonna be good.
> 
> What happened to your back; you land your bike upside down? Worst I've hurt myself is flipping a horse; Literally end over end lol. just broke my arm. Stupid horse was fine



I crashed my dirt bike riding for the first time in 8 months on the 3rd. 

Burst fractured my L1 vertebra. Basically where the inside of the bone exploded from the pressure applied to it. I am very luck too, if I would have broken the L2 this way, I would be paralyzed right now. Right after the L2 vertebra, the spinal cord ends, and turns into a channel of nerves. Right now my L1 vertebra, in that canal where there's just nerves, there is a lot of bone, that shouldn't be there. I guess after a year or so that bone in the canal will get absorbed by the body naturally. 

Pretty scarey to me, as its the worst crash ive ever had, I now am in this massive back brace for 6 weeks, and will need physical therapy afterwards.



fullinfusion said:


> what fans are you going to use on that rad?
> 
> I have the 120x2 version and wasn't pleased at all with the performance



Corsair SP120s at ~1500rpm or so. Which have more static pressure then your Noctua's. These Alphacool radiators are in the top 5 in every test from Martin @ martinliquidlab.org. I mainly like them for the sheet that is under the threaded lip for the fans so you don't tighten to much and damage the fins. Peace of mind for  to know once I hit it, I can stop. I didn't know when to stop on my Black Ice X flow rad when I first did the loop.


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## fullinfusion (May 18, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Corsair SP120s at ~1500rpm or so. Which have more static pressure then your Noctua's. These Alphacool radiators are in the top 5 in every test from Martin @ martinliquidlab.org. I mainly like them for the sheet that is under the threaded lip for the fans so you don't tighten to much and damage the fins. Peace of mind for  to know once I hit it, I can stop. I didn't know when to stop on my Black Ice X flow rad when I first did the loop.



Well let me know your temp's ok! Id love to see. I can grab the corsair fans here locally.

Static pressure vs sound. Any idea of the noise at 1500rpm? Is it loud?
Just curious like I said id be interested in them as well as long as it fit's ma needs. 

Im using a black ice rad atm and it also has the back stop for the screws... Also the XT screw's that came with the rad were good for the fans but the others limited mounting options.

It work as a good push/pull config but for mounting it to the top of the case, the screws were way to long.


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 18, 2013)

fullinfusion said:


> Well let me know your temp's ok! Id love to see. I can grab the corsair fans here locally.
> 
> Static pressure vs sound. Any idea of the noise at 1500rpm? Is it loud?
> Just curious like I said id be interested in them as well as long as it fit's ma needs.
> ...



Well I know that this same radiator dropped the temp of Irony's FX8350 from 70c to about 38c.


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## fullinfusion (May 18, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> Well I know that this same radiator dropped the temp of Irony's FX8350 from 70c to about 38c.


Under full I call BS!

Mabey 48c but not 38c... By the way what cpu freq and voltage was he running?


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## Irony (May 20, 2013)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> I crashed my dirt bike riding for the first time in 8 months on the 3rd.
> 
> Burst fractured my L1 vertebra. Basically where the inside of the bone exploded from the pressure applied to it. I am very luck too, if I would have broken the L2 this way, I would be paralyzed right now. Right after the L2 vertebra, the spinal cord ends, and turns into a channel of nerves. Right now my L1 vertebra, in that canal where there's just nerves, there is a lot of bone, that shouldn't be there. I guess after a year or so that bone in the canal will get absorbed by the body naturally.
> 
> Pretty scarey to me, as its the worst crash ive ever had, I now am in this massive back brace for 6 weeks, and will need physical therapy afterwards.



Wow. Thats crazy; glad it wasn't worse. My uncle used to be a mountain climber, worked as an electrician. Then one day he got a good shock on top of a 20' aluminum ladder, fell off broke his back. He had to have a turtle shall back brace for a while too 






fullinfusion said:


> Under full I call BS!
> 
> Mabey 48c but not 38c... By the way what cpu freq and voltage was he running?



You know not of what you speak. Running 4.5ghz with 1.32 volts.


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 20, 2013)

Irony said:


> Wow. Thats crazy; glad it wasn't worse. My uncle used to be a mountain climber, worked as an electrician. Then one day he got a good shock on top of a 20' aluminum ladder, fell off broke his back. He had to have a turtle shall back brace for a while too
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, Im in the same brace right now. Big and white. Was told it will become my best friend during these 6 weeks.

But, later I will post some pictures of the stuff I have so far.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 2, 2013)

Change of plans. Updated OP


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## Mindweaver (Jun 2, 2013)

Nice upgrade man!  I want to see lot's of pic's.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 2, 2013)

Mindweaver said:


> Nice upgrade man!  I want to see lot's of pic's.



Oh you will. My upgrade to Haswell might be included with this depending on when I get a chip and board. And thatll bring some good pictures.


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## Irony (Jun 3, 2013)

Sounds like its gonna be pretty sweet. Can't wait to see it with a pretty 780 stuck in there


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 3, 2013)

Irony said:


> Sounds like its gonna be pretty sweet. Can't wait to see it with a pretty 780 stuck in there



Are you going to do a small log when you get my 680?


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## Irony (Jun 3, 2013)

Ya maybe. Hadn't thought of it


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 3, 2013)

Irony said:


> Ya maybe. Hadn't thought of it



Well I atleast want to see pictures.


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## Irony (Jun 3, 2013)

Ya there'll be pictures for sure.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 5, 2013)

Got a little bit of work done. Had my dad help me bring the air compressor upstairs since I can't carry anything right now with my back condition, cleaned the rig out, removed my megahalem cooler, and then placed the fan im going to have at the bottom of the case directing air straight up to my 780.







Oh and switched the fan ring color for all my fans to white. The blue they give just does not look that good. Not the shade of blue I like.


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## d1nky (Jun 5, 2013)

its a shame we can put those coloured rings on the other side of these corsair fans! 

hopefully they will one day!


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 6, 2013)

FrozenCPU finally got more backplates for the 780. Also ordering the following stuff below with it.






I will also have quite a bit of pictures tonight, made some progress this morning. All coming together. Slowly.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 7, 2013)

Pictures from this morning. More to come tonight. Possibly. Not much else I can do right now though till the stuff comes from Frozen. 

Block taken apart to change jet plates





CPU block posts in. Also showing radiator fans with white rings.





Test fit





I really wish there was a VRM water block that would work with my motherboard.


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## Irony (Jun 7, 2013)

Looks good. I like the nickel/black. Mines copper/black; I guess it doesn't matter since you can't even see it, but I like the nickel better.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 7, 2013)

Irony said:


> Looks good. I like the nickel/black. Mines copper/black; I guess it doesn't matter since you can't even see it, but I like the nickel better.



Yeah, Nickel looks nice. You may have noticed when my 680 came, the block is Acetal Nickel haha.


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## Irony (Jun 7, 2013)

Ya, lol. I was happy to see that; you can actually see the nickel on the GPU block.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 8, 2013)

Started to install water block today and put the memory in to see how itll look. Ill take it back out when I do leak testing later.

Block base. Shiny!





Took Dave's advice and did the line method for the TIM





Dominator Platinums!





All of it together....


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## Irony (Jun 8, 2013)

That ram is awesome.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 8, 2013)

More goodies!

Box from Frozen





Evga box. Wonder what is in here? 





The stuffs





Backplate 





GTX780 (Just now showing it in this thread, outside the box)


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## Irony (Jun 9, 2013)

That looks good my friend. Its gonna be sweet, cant wait to see it installed


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 9, 2013)

Small update from late last night. Played around with my test PSU and fan controller. this FC5V2 is sweet! Comes with fully sleeved cables with nice dense sleeving and a individually sleeved 4 pin molex 12" extender! Not that Im going to use it, since im going to be using SATA power, but still. Pretty sweet.











Then so I could remember what channel each cable goes too. Took some tape and labeled them. First Channel will be front intake fans, 2nd channel will be radiator fans at the top, third will be the pump.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 10, 2013)

Just ordered the last few things I forgot to order last time. This coming weekend should have this whole thing wrapped up. Friday night after all my finals, will have it all put together...........Hopefully assuming I don't make other plans.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 13, 2013)

Last of my stuff came.................well kind of. 






unboxed





So I ordered 2 of the Monsoon Chrome+Black Carbon Fiber, and only received one! Going to have to email (Since I tried calling a few minutes ago and they are closed) to have the other one sent to me. Hopefully by Saturday.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 13, 2013)

Did most of the cable management tonight so I have less to do at the end. I spend more time on cable management then any other part of the system because I am super OCD about it.






With the 90 degree to 180 degree sata cable I got from Frozen, I was able to run all 3 hard drives in one bay without the bottom most one conflicting with the case edge that the side panel rests against.


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## Irony (Jun 14, 2013)

Did a wrench come with those monsoon fittings? Maybe they only send them with the six pack. But its like a dollar for the little wrench by itself,  maybe you can add it to be sent with ur other fitting or something, cuz it would be pretty tough to put those together without it. Unless you got some kinda crazy kung fu grip lol


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 14, 2013)

Irony said:


> Did a wrench come with those monsoon fittings? Maybe they only send them with the six pack. But its like a dollar for the little wrench by itself,  maybe you can add it to be sent with ur other fitting or something, cuz it would be pretty tough to put those together without it. Unless you got some kinda crazy kung fu grip lol



ugh...well we will have to see because I didn't get the wrench.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 15, 2013)

Small update. started putting the tubes in. My other fitting will be here tomorrow so I expect to have it done by the evening! yay


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## HammerON (Jun 15, 2013)

Looking good!!!
Can't wait to see it completed


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## MT Alex (Jun 15, 2013)

I love the color of that tubing, but you probably hear that from all sorts of fellas

I may have to switch to that style next time I upgrade, damn I hope it's sooner than later.

Nice job so far


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 15, 2013)

MT Alex said:


> I love the color of that tubing, but you probably hear that from all sorts of fellas
> 
> I may have to switch to that style next time I upgrade, damn I hope it's sooner than later.
> 
> Nice job so far



Thanks Alex. you are actually the first one to comment the tubing. I like it too, it is very clear. Not like my other tubing I had before.


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## Irony (Jun 15, 2013)

Ya that tubing looks great. Did that monsoon fitting on the block go on ok?


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## t_ski (Jun 15, 2013)

I use Primochill tubing in my system as well, but I think it's the older style.  Yours does look pretty good though.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 15, 2013)

Irony said:


> Ya that tubing looks great. Did that monsoon fitting on the block go on ok?



Yep, just used my man hands!



t_ski said:


> I use Primochill tubing in my system as well, but I think it's the older style.  Yours does look pretty good though.



Yeah this is the Advanced LRT stuff. Tends to be harder, not as soft, as other tubing, but it looks nice, and still bends really well.

http://www.frozencpu.com/search.htm...R43WEoA&searchspec=Advanced+LRT&go.x=0&go.y=0


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 15, 2013)

Test install of the glorious GTX780. To Dave: Yes, now with the 780 in, My system needs a new board even more so now! Looks like poo with the brown of the PCB.


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## erocker (Jun 15, 2013)

It doesn't look brown unless there's a camera flash involved. Don't bother upgrading anything, wait for Haswell-E.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 15, 2013)

erocker said:


> It doesn't look brown unless there's a camera flash involved. Don't bother upgrading anything, wait for Haswell-E.



Yeah I saw stuff on Haswell-E. I will probably just clock my 2500k as far as possible and wait it out. I won't be making enough money over the summer anyways anymore.

But im basically done now. Just need to get that other fittings since it didn't come today like it was suppose to. Then I can get the other tubes connected, filler up, bleed, and play.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 16, 2013)

Got bored, and didn't want to wait to do a bit more work with the tubing. so went ahead and did the T-line with the drain port. Decided id just have the drain port go straight down rather than behind the motherboard tray. Should still look good.






Enzotech 3/8th ID drain plug. Yes the tubing for the drain line right off the T Line is 3/8th ID by 5/8OD. So same outside diameter as the tubing for the rest of the loop, but different inside, since Enzotech didn't have a 7/16" ID drain plug.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 16, 2013)

Pretty much done now. Have all the cabling done, except for the pump so that I can do bleed tests with my test power supply I have. Unfortunately that other fitting I was waiting for didn't come yesterday. So I have to wait till Monday after I get home from work to finish up. I just have one more tube to connect.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 18, 2013)

The other fitting still didn't come today. No Idea what is going on with USPS!


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## Irony (Jun 18, 2013)

Lol. My mom bought something a while ago and she was showing me the tracking info, it got to the post office near us then started heading back to where it came from.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 18, 2013)

Irony said:


> Lol. My mom bought something a while ago and she was showing me the tracking info, it got to the post office near us then started heading back to where it came from.



Jesus, it better come tomorrow, or I will rage!


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 18, 2013)

Finally! fitting is coming today!






It was sitting at the Kent, WA Departing all yesterday.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jun 18, 2013)

Waiting for some small part....the worst part of water cooling (I mean outside of the obvious-and uncommon-disasters like a huge leak). 

Looking good.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 19, 2013)

..............and it lives! 






I will post pictures of the actual build in a bit. Decent ASIC on this 780. One of the better ones ive seen.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 19, 2013)

Alright so here are the pictures you guys have been waiting for.............

Prepping for leak test





The way I filled it. Tube and a funnel. No need to try and pull the res out.






Completed





Its definitely alive........wouldn't you say?





Way it is meant to be played 





Well, its finished. Hopefully you guys enjoyed watching. I appreciate any of the comments you may have. Sorry it took so long, but at least its finished.................now where was I? Oh yeah, time for some Battlefield 3!


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## Irony (Jun 19, 2013)

Looks good man. The green Geforce is pretty awesome. Maybe green tubing next time too? lol 

Can't wait to see some benches!


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 19, 2013)

Irony said:


> Looks good man. The green Geforce is pretty awesome. Maybe green tubing next time too? lol
> 
> Can't wait to see some benches!



Maybe, but probably not. I like the way the blue looks with all the chrome and nickel.


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## N3trox (Jun 19, 2013)

So is this the system's final form? Aren't you gonna reassemble it? ^^ Great work btw tough. ^^


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 19, 2013)

N3trox said:


> So is this the system's final form? Aren't you gonna reassemble it? ^^ Great work btw tough. ^^



Well obviously the side panels and front panel need to go back one which they already are.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jun 20, 2013)

Fixed one picture. Accidently posted the same one twice. Once I meant to post it showing the way I filled it with the tube and funnel.


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