# The Utterly Imbalanced CaseLabs TX10-D build(s)!



## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Welcome to my build log now sponsored kindly by Hellfire Toyz, EVGA and FrozenQ PC Mods














Background

My first ever build originated late last year with the Corsair 900D, Asus Maximus VI Formula, i7 4770k and dual AMD R9-290x cards all on a custom loop. But even before I could finish the loop, the mining craze hit and I sold off my Hawaii cards for a small profit and went with 2x EVGA 780 Ti Classified KPEs instead. So that went well for a few weeks till I realized a single Corsair AX1200i jsut wasn't enough power for this system when benching on water. I began looking towards CaseLabs then and put on a feeler post on Craigslist to sell the 900D. Then the magic happened 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I traded my 900D build (As seen below during the leak test stage):







for this:









Excuse those potato pictures since they were taken with excitement without setting up my dSLR. I really made out like a bandit in this trade. That is a TX10-D with pedestal and extended top along with plenty more goodies. So now, I do a massive benching/gaming rig on one side and one that's, well, just there for my girlfriend to replace her aging laptop that is pretty much a desktop these days due to the degraded battery.

Update log

Coming soon


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Reserved for final pictures


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

*Components for side 1: Modelling/Benching/Gaming*

Main Components

Platform: x99 only if the $1000 Haswell-E octacore overclocks well, else x79
Processor: Intel i7 5930k (Anticipated, not obtained yet)
Motherboard: Undecided
Ram: DDR4, brand/model undecided
GPUs: 2x EVGA 780 Ti Classified K|ngp|n Edition cards (Bought)
PSUs: Corsair ax1200i, EVGA Supernova 1300G2 (Both bought)
OS: Windows 7 (Bought)
SSD: Undecided
HDD: Hitachi Travelstar 1 TB 7200RPM (For Steam, bought)
HDD: Toshiba 3 TB 7200RPM (For backup and storage, bought)
External HDD: Hitachi 4TB USB 3.0 (Bought)

Cooling

*1) CPU/Motherboard/RAM loop*

CPU Block: EK Supremacy/Koolance 380I (Have the Koolance block, will see if the EK block is better for Haswell-E)
Motherboard block: Depends on the board (Undecided)
RAM block: Undecided, depends on if DDR4 even benefits from watercooling
Radiators: Alphacool Monsta 480mm (Bought)
Fans: Corsair SP120 QE PWM push/pull on the Monsta (Bought)
Fan controller: Aquaero 6XT w/loop temperature sensors and flow meter
Reservoir(s): FrozenQ Mods 400mm Liquid Fusion Cylinder in Fluorescent Red (Bought)
Pump: Laing D5 (Undecided on exact model)
Tubing: Primochill Advanced LRT Clear in 1/2" x 3/4"
Fittings: Assortment from various brands
Coolant: Undecided

*2) GPU loop*

GPU Block(s): EK GTX 780 Classy in Acetal/Nickel (Bought)
Radiators: Watercool Mo.Ra 3 Pro 9.140, Hardware Labs Black Ice SR1 560mm
Fans: Gelid Wing 14 in push/pull on the Mo.Ra (Bought), Undecided on the SR1
Fan controller: Same Aquaero 6 XT as above + secondary voltage controller for Mo.Ra fans (Undecided)
Reservoir: FrozenQ Mods 400mm Liquid Fusion Cylinder in Fluorescent Blue (Partly bought)
Pump: Swiftech mcp35x2 or the upcoming mcp50x2 (Not bought)
Tubing: Primochill Advanced LRT Clear in 1/2" x 3/4"
Fittings: Assortment from various brands
Coolant: Undecided

Peripherals

Monitor: Dell U2713HM (Bought)
Keyboard: Roccat Ryos MK Pro w/Cherry MX Brown switches (Bought)
Mouse: Roccat Kone XTD (Bought)
Speakers: Creative GigaWorks T40 Series II (Bought)
Headphones: Sennheiser HD598 w/FiiO e17 (Bought)

The cooling here isn't set in stone, I got plenty of space to put in a Phase change unit for the CPU but I am not a big fan of the noise. I might also consider a Bong cooler as the front flex bay compartment will be mostly unoccupied. I am open to thoughts and suggestions!


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

*Components for side 2: Productivity*

Main Components

Platform:  Z87
Processor: Intel i7 477k(Bought)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus 6 Formula (Bought)
Ram: Corsair Dominator Platinum 2x8 GB 1866 C9 Kit (Bought)
GPUs: A mid end card for CUDA and Adobe CS Live (Undecided)
PSU: Something 500-600 W max (Undecided)
OS: Windows 7
SSD: Samsung 830 512 GB (Bought)
HDD: Toshiba 3 TB 7200RPM (Bought)

Cooling

CPU block: Either EK Supremacy or Koolance 380i (See above for Side 1)
GPU block: Undecided
Motherboard block: EK M6F Acetal/Nickel
Radiator: Phobya G-Changer 120, XSPC AX480
Fans: Corsair SP120 QE PWM (Bought)
Fan Controller: Undecided
Reservoir: Bitspower Z Multi Water Tank 400mm (Bought)
Pump: Swiftech mcp35x (Bought)

Peripherals

Monitor: Acer 1080p Monitor (This is what she has now, I really want to get a better one for her soon)
Mouse: Logitech Performance Mouse MX
Keyboard: CM Storm Trigger w/Cherry MX Blue switches
Speakers: Undecided


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Please excuse the phone camera pictures, my dSLR battery charger had died when these were taken so the next few pictures are not the best.

Rad fans so far:











That's 18 Gelid Wing 14s and 20 Corsair SP120 PWM fans. I wish I knew about the Corsair PWM issue before but you do what you can! At least I got a great deal on these fans. II will need at least 4 more 140mm fans.

I also want to warn people about the QC of the Aquacomputer Aquaero 6 (XT or Pro versions)- they seem to not adhere completely to the 5 1/4" bay standard dimensions. Plenty of owners have had issues fitting it in, I was lucky with the 900D. In this case it was a lot more snug than I would like. Thankfully, CaseLabs made an accessory just for this (http://www.caselabs-store.com/flex-bay-5-25-device-mount-short-nonconforming/) and I will be ordering it soon. In the meantime, I went ahead and installed the passive heatsink accessory. When operating low PWM signals, the device gets pretty warm so this would help dissipate the heat better- especially with a fan blowing at it.


























and then installed it into the case along with one DVD drive:


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

I went ahead and got some Cougar CF-V14HB fans for the SR1 and a Datavac compressor. The fans are very, very nice indeed! The compressor is also definitely worth the money and I got my rads as dust free as possible. The way I have it planned is to have all rads on quick disconnects so I can easily remove the rad/fan assembly and take it outdoors for dusting. No point spending money on restrictive filters that will also limit how I can use the rads.











I also got a Swiftech 120mm rad after this picture was taken. In the meantime, about them Cougars:































I think I am a believer in the Cougars now, and I love the drop-in radiator mount concept- especially coming off the terrible to use side mounts in the 900D. Today I go back to the Mo.Ra mount and attempt some drilling.

If anyone else is interested, here are radiator volumes for the rads I have measured so far:

1) Phobya G-Changer 120 (Pretty much an Alphacool UT60 120): 220 mL
2) XSPC AX480: 300 mL
3) Alphacool Monsta 480: 670 mL
4) HardwareLabs Black Ice SR1 560: 490 mL


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 1, 2014)

I'm liking this build!


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Thanks, got more updates ready to post but don't want to rush the thread too much.


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 1, 2014)

Of course not.  But I imagine it's going to be a long process anyway.  So, will both sides be able to be used at the same time when it's finished?


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Yes, both sides can be simultaneously used since for all intents and purposes they are exclusive. The case has 2 sets of Start/Reset buttons and each side has their own set of components. Side 1 is for me, side 2 is for my girlfriend. She currently has an ultrabook that barely does what she needs and has to go to her lab to get any work done.


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## Vario (Jul 1, 2014)

Nice.  Thanks for sharing, awesome case!


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## TRWOV (Jul 1, 2014)

sub'd


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Thanks for coming along for the ride. It will be a long, but hopefully fun one. The major wait is Haswell-E here, so thankfully I can get building with the existing stuff here- and plenty of stuff there is too! I got my camera gear ready to go but have next to no experience with product photographing:






The main issue here is that of lighting and space. The case is massive so I can't really move it anywhere, and so I am forced to use existing lighting and materials I have- so no light stand or light box just yet.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jul 1, 2014)

That's one helluva case.


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

That it is! I got yet another package from PPC 2 weeks ago. Other than the odd fitting, splitter and flexbay solid covers I got 2 more things I am very excited to use





















I will only be using the Blitz kit on the unfortunately known to be "dirty" Alphacool and Phobya rads, the others will be just fine with hot water flushes + distilled water rinses hopefully. That's still a pretty decent kit for the money.


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## fullinfusion (Jul 1, 2014)

sub'd this is going to be sweet


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## HammerON (Jul 1, 2014)

Sub'd as this looks to be an interesting build


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## TRWOV (Jul 1, 2014)

sweet mother of God, so many rads


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## VSG (Jul 1, 2014)

Really? Here I was looking at triple 180mm rads just because I have a mount and place to put it in 

But let me tell you this: 18 fans and the 72 hex screws are not easy to mount on the Mo.Ra:











I know, I know.. I will have to  cable manage better and drill a few more holes to give power/control the fans above but at least I am making full use of the extended top now. I also installed the SR1 below the Mo.Ra on the left side of the case:






With everything put in place, it looks a lot neater:






Now, I will need to add in more 5 1/4 devices so that front bay area isn't fixed by any means. I also got a Diva 'Dapter (aka the Double D's) from Darlene (IT Diva on OCN):






For those who have no idea what this is, it is a amplifier board to boost the PWM signal off an Aquaero. Now the newer batches of the Aquaero 6 are supposedly already boosted, but this will help fully control devices such as Corsair SP120 PWM and the Laing D5 PWM that don't exactly adhere to the Intel PWM standard. Since I have 16 SP120 PWM fans in here, I am eager to test it out.

While all this was going on, I got in touch with Thermenewho have been making thermal paste from graphene. While their gen 1 paste from graphene oxide wasn't ground breaking, I got 2 samples of their new gen 2 paste and it is really promising. We have a home built device to measure electrical and thermal conductivity of thin films and I tested this against MX-4, PK-3 and AS-5. I don't know how the latter 3 measured their values but, other than PK-3,  the actual values I got are different than what they report- especially AS-5 which was noticeably worse.






Thermene, on the other hand, came in at 11.44 W/mK which is the best of the 4 I tested. The measurements done took cure time into consideration and the mounting is not a variable either so I am very impressed by it. I was in no way sponsored to say this and I will be using it in my build (and likely everywhere else in the future). PK-3 was quite close too for those who are wondering.


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## fullinfusion (Jul 2, 2014)

VSG said:


> Really? Here I was looking at triple 180mm rads just because I have a mount and place to put it in
> 
> But let me tell you this: 18 fans and the 72 hex screws are not easy to mount on the Mo.Ra:
> 
> ...


I've never heard of that TIM before!

Can I have a tube?


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

fullinfusion said:


> I've never heard of that TIM before!
> 
> Can I have a tube?



It's not bad at all, since that update I have done Gelid GC Extreme and a couple more. But go ahead and contact these guys: http://www.thermene.com/

They are nice people and will send you a tube for testing. I spent one tube in testing and am using the other for this build, that's how impressed I was with it.


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## erocker (Jul 2, 2014)

Nice, I didn't know they came out with a different formula. I'll have to give it a try. A 5c difference over Tuniq TX-4 isn't too shabby! I'm not convinced it will make much, if any difference at all on a (lidded) Ivy Bridge or Haswell chip, but my TIM needs replacing anyways.


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## THE_EGG (Jul 2, 2014)

Holy mother of case batman! And those radiators :O

Looking like a sweet as build man. Looking forward to seeing the final product!

Also after buying a few Cougar fans myself a couple of months ago, I am also a 'Cougar Convert'.


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## chinmi (Jul 2, 2014)

this build gonna be great. sub'd for further read later on


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

erocker said:


> Nice, I didn't know they came out with a different formula. I'll have to give it a try. A 5c difference over Tuniq TX-4 isn't too shabby! I'm not convinced it will make much, if any difference at all on a (lidded) Ivy Bridge or Haswell chip, but my TIM needs replacing anyways.


Ya, lidded Ivy/Haswell aren't very good on average. Luckily whoever did the TIM + IHS on mine did a relatively good job. I can do 4.7 GHz on the 4770k at 1.4v. Not the best chip, but enough for benching and the individual core temps are pretty similar. 

I haven't done a temperature test yet, that's why I got a couple of 120mm rads. I will do it for all the TIMs I have with me soon.


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## Shambles1980 (Jul 2, 2014)

now if only i had the money to do something like this too lol..
cant have to many fans and radiators


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

Yes sir, especially when I am benching. I am in the Top 10 of the HWBOT Novice League and that's not even with this build complete yet. When overclocked and overvolted, the 780Ti classified kingpin cards pull about 650-700w each on water. All this power has to be dissipated somewhere. Previously I had dual 480 rads (the AX480 and Monsta 480) which tried but couldn't keep the cards cooler than 50 C. With GK110, the cooler the cards are the more stable the overclocks at the same voltage. For example, 1550 MHz core on Valley was just fine with a single card at 30 C (ambient temp was 15 C and it was a quick single run). But at 40 C, only 1493 MHz core was stable enough to get the benchmark done.


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## Frick (Jul 2, 2014)

VSG said:


> the 780Ti classified kingpin cards pull about 650-700w each on water.



How the heck is that possible?


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

Frick said:


> How the heck is that possible?



The PCI-E specs are just theoretical. An 8 pin can provide way more than 150W, a 6 pin way more than 75. The AMD R9-295X2 is a prime example. Once you overvolt a card, all bets are off. Here is a KAW photo with power pulled from the wall using a single KPE and 4770k on an ax1200i:







Assume 90% efficiency and you are at 715W for the rig. The 4770k pulls about 90-100W at 1.35V that it was at during this test, so the KPE was at 550-600W easily even with everything else in at that time.


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

I love, love, love the removable motherboard tray. Such a simple idea and yet so useful!






Since Haswell-E isn't out yet, I decided to assemble the z87/KPE rig. First off, the Maximus 6 Formula:






I kinda cheated since the EK M6F and the Koolance 380i was already on from the previous build. Also, that massive cutout means either easy cabling or untidy looking mess of cables. I will make my mind as cables come in on whether or not I get the back covers for the motherboard trays. Next up, more bling bling with the Corsair Dominator Platinums and the light bar upgrade kit:






I see the upcoming x79/x99 build as a bit of redemption in that I bought into the hype from "tech reviewers" and went with the stereotype forum favorites: 900D, Asus ROG with all them gaming features like Sonic Radar that I have used never, Corsair Dom Plats etc. Oh well, live and learn. Too bad the upcoming Rampage V Extreme will still be one of the best x99 boards and have features I will continue to never use.

Now then, let's have something Classified:






Again, if anyone wants to see more pics of this engineering beauty, I link two albums: Unboxing the KPE and Watercooling the KPE 

Now then, one KPE is good but two are better:






Ok, ok I know it is on the stock cooler but I have to test it first. How about a better looking SLI bridge instead?











A 120mm exhaust fan later, it is back in the case for now. I got a thin 120 rad on the way that I might put in exhaust instead if it doesn't clash with the MOSFET block. The Phobya G-Changer definitely doesn't.






A better look at the sheer amount of space left:






Not to worry, there will be two massive reservoirs going in there along with 2-3 pumps. Heck, in my mind that space actually seems small now. One more look, this time with the door closed:






I might have to get one XXL windowed door if this doesn't suffice. I will be removing the entire motherboard tray out, install the tech station parts and use it outside with the dual 480 rads till I get all the reservoirs and pumps inside.


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## rtwjunkie (Jul 2, 2014)

I love the update!! This is the mother of all projects. Keep it coming.


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## Vario (Jul 2, 2014)

VSG said:


> I see the upcoming x79/x99 build as a bit of redemption in that I bought into the hype from "tech reviewers" and went with the stereotype forum favorites: 900D, Asus ROG with all them gaming features like Sonic Radar that I have used never, Corsair Dom Plats etc. Oh well, live and learn. Too bad the upcoming Rampage V Extreme will still be one of the best x99 boards and have features I will continue to never use.



LOL total forum stereotype build for sure!  EVGA cards, ROG board, corsair fan with the red rings, dominators...


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

So how do I successfully multiquote? I click on it for multiple posts but no idea what to do next lol.


rtwjunkie said:


> I love the update!! This is the mother of all projects. Keep it coming.



Thanks a lot, as I indicated before I have done more since this update (2 weeks old) but not sure if flooding all of them in at once is a good idea given all the pictures. But then again some things like the EVGA 1600G2 I got yesterday will have more impact presented sooner than later.



Vario said:


> LOL total forum stereotype build for sure!  EVGA cards, ROG board, corsair fan with the red rings, dominators...



Sigh.. Yes! I watched videos from guys like Linus and Logan and then decided to go for the stereotype build. Big mistake! The 900D is a great case for the price- especially when available at ~$275 but there are so many compromises in it. Ditto with the Dominator Platinums and AX1200i and pretty much any ROG product- you are paying for the brand name too. At least Corsair has really good customer service but Asus is terrible there. The Corsair SP120 fans are actually still the best performance/cost wise- especially the HPE ones. But they are really loud. So I figured I will go PWM to get a better control and tune them in lower than typical 3-pin fans allow. BIG MISTAKE! More on that soon.


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## Vario (Jul 2, 2014)

Nah dude try the Koolance 120x25
http://koolance.com/fan-120x25mm-108cfm
Static Pressure: 5.4mm-H2O
~$9-10


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## Toothless (Jul 2, 2014)

Subbing. I'm so jealous of that case.


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## VSG (Jul 2, 2014)

Vario said:


> Nah dude try the Koolance 120x25
> http://koolance.com/fan-120x25mm-108cfm
> Static Pressure: 5.4mm-H2O
> ~$9-10



Good point, I have heard people praising their performance for the price point they are at. Let's jump ahead two weeks magically to the next update 

Warning: loads of pictures and an update that is mostly about fan splitters and Corsair's "PWM" implementation. Now then, a couple of international packages came in this past week. First up:






Now what could that be? Oh ya, replacement brackets for the Aquaero 6 so they actually do fit in a standard 5 1/4" bay.






Those didn't look any different from the naked eye, or dSLR lens for that matter. In fact, here is an image with one of the old and new brackets each next to each other. Imaginary brownie points for those who can tell which one is which:






Got them installed on the AQ6, man that red heatsink looks very nice!






But does it actually help out? It was hard to fit the AQ6 in earlier, the display front plate used to bulge out a bit and I was just about to order the Caselabs short non-confirming mountswhen I realized I might as well make good use of Shoggy's offer of replacement brackets. This way, I can be rest assured that this would work with any case for anyone in the future- if it does work, that is!






Yes!! Thanks Shoggy, it was a massive relief getting this in easily with no real effort.

Before I go to the next international package, I had something in mind with the Aquaero, Darlene's Diva 'Dapter which was referenced previously in here and the Corsair SP120 "PWM" fans. My other PSU, the Corsair ax1200i, is already in the case so I figured what better way than this to test out the EVGA 1300G2 that I had recently bought:


























Customary EVGA logo close up shot above. Speaking of close up shots and small objects, here is the NZXT Grid which is currently at a great price on Amazon (US website anyway) next to a Nexus 4 for comparison. The thing is much smaller in person than what I expected from images:






10 channel 3-pin fan hub, each channel capable of supplying upto 3 watts. It comes with all the cables needed as well. So at <$10 currently, this has to be a steal- not really. Thanks to an OCN member, I realized that the rpm (tach) signal wire is split to all 10 ports in this making it useless to use with most fan controllers because the rpm speed inputs from all of the fans will corrupt the signal and the fan speed will not be correctly reported to the controller. Even cheap 3-pin fan splitter cables will only have all three wires going to one of the fan plugs, and just the 12v and ground to the rest. So I decided to open 'er up to see if newer batches had this corrected by any chance.
















Unfortunately not, while faint one can still see the RPM trace going across from channel to channel on the PCB.. Oh well, there was already a solution provided above so I did the same, i.e, cut off the RPM signal prong from 9 of the 10 ports and make sure that single port with the RPM prong is occupied:






Problem solved, the Aquaero displayed RPMs correctly now. So I now started testing the real issue I had: Corsair's PWM implementation on their SP120 fans. Feel free to skip this section if this is not relevant to you. First up, the SP120 QE

Hooked directly to the Aquaero, at 50% PWM control:






Now connected to Channel 1 of the Swiftech 8 way PWM splitter, which is powered straight from the 1300G2:






Ok, that's close enough. Let's add in another fan:






We already start to see the effect of a non-standard PWM implementation. So now with fan 3 added:






Fan 4:






Fan 5:






Getting bad now, what about 6 fans on the splitter?






Ouch! Now adding fan 7:






Full speed already, no control whatsoever possible. Finally, fan 8:






Nothing changes as expected. So can the Double D help out? I hooked up the splitter to the adapter and had the passthrough over to the Aquaero.






Now with all 8 channels filled, and at the same 50% PWM signal:






Darlene is a magician- or someone with a very good electrical engineering background. Personally I prefer the former. Control is back on, the only change being a lower RPM compared to when a single fan was hooked up directly. I can live with that, I don't imagine having to run full speed anyway. The QEs are pretty quiet (who would have thought!) so let's try out a bigger challenge- the Corsair SP120 HPE fans.

First up, a fan hooked directly to the Aquaero at 50% control:






Now the same fan hooked via the Swiftech splitter:






Identical for all intents. Let's add fan 2:






Sigh.. Why did you have to do this, Corsair? Oh that's right- proprietary implementation + making a controller that is the only thing to work with it = Profit :thumbsdow

Fan 3 added:






Fan 4 added:






Now with fan 5:






and the dreaded 6th fan:






As expected, a massive jump with 6 fans on. A few users have reported having no control with 6 fans but I have a wee bit left as was the case with the QE fans. But now with fan 7:






As before, everything now runs at ~100% speed no matter what. Adding in the final 8th fan does nothing really different:






Does the 'Dapter help here too?






Yes, it does. As with the previous case, the RPMs are lowered a bit. That isn't an issue for me as I said before but I am curious as to why this is happening. Moving on, I hooked up both splitters to the adapter PCB and then to the AQ6:






No need to repeat the results here, it was the same as before. So I am confident the PCB will perform as intended with all channels occupied. In fact, this is so good that daisychaining also works. I hooked up 15 fans total (8 HPE, 7 QE) to the adapter and then to 1 channel on the AQ6 and it worked great. There is a caveat though- if I hooked up the 8 HPEs to 1 channel on the Swiftech splitter that housed 7 other QE fans, then there was no control available. If I daisychained it so that the QEs were hooked to the splitter that had the HPE fans, it was fine. Another point of curiosity but since I don't have any plans on having these different fans on the same channel, it does not affect me. Hopefully it will help others who want to try this.

Tl,dr.: Darlene's Diva 'Dapter works great. If you have a PWM controller (Newer Aquaero 6 units have this taken care of apparently) and have Corsair's PWM fans, chances are it won't work as expected. This will help.

Now to the other international package, Mayhems sent me a Blitz Basic kit for coming in close to winning his contest a few weeks back. I had already purchased a Blitz Pro kit from PPC so here they are together:






Blitz Basic has only his Part 2 solution which is enough for a 4 L effective cleaning solution of a loop. Now if you have rads that you suspect haven't been cleaned well from the factory *cough..Alphacool, Phobya..cough* or have purchased 2nd hand rads which have had dyes/colored coolant run through them, I would recommend using Part 1 on the rads alone. Here is the issue I have: Thanks to US customs, Mick was forced to change the formulation of Part 1 so it only gives 1 L effective as opposed to 2 L everywhere else. The Alphacool Monsta 480 alone consumes over 650 mL filled and I got a Mo.Ra 3 9.140 and Black Ice SR 1 560 that were used by a previous owner which I want to clean up as well. While I am at it, I might as well clean the other rads I have too. So I would imagine needing 3-4 L effective Part 1 (I have numbers for all the rads but that Mo.Ra) which means needing another 2-3 Blitz Pro kits just for more Part 1. I am tempted to just do the Monsta and and SR 1 rads now and have the rest cleaned with a dilute phosphoric acid solution but if anyone has suggestions otherwise, I am all ears.


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## Shambles1980 (Jul 3, 2014)

lets talk real cfms and static pressure for a sec here ... http://koolance.com/fan-120x38mm-184cfm

im sure 184 cfm @ 20.4mm h20 is pretty impressive.. also should be good for a rad. dont think you would need to go push pull even lol.


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## VSG (Jul 3, 2014)

Shambles1980 said:


> lets talk real cfms and static pressure for a sec here ... http://koolance.com/fan-120x38mm-184cfm



Pretty sure that was tested and the actual numbers were lower. What did prove rightly advertised was this monster: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835213001

It takes a 30W channel all to itself too!


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## Shambles1980 (Jul 3, 2014)

well lets all go out and buy those then lol. cant have enough cfm and static pressure..

also not to hijack your thread so if you could find the results for the koolance ones id be happy if you pm me the link.

edit

also id probably just throw a bunch of bycarbonate of soda in the rads then fill it up with some vinegar. then step well back. and rinse it through with some more vinegar after. aslong as the pipes are copper that should clean them pretty good.
just run some distilled water through them after

oh and p.s

the fans get faster the more you add because effective resistance is reduced..if you take 4 fans. and wire 2 up in sereis and then the other 2 to those parallel the resistance should be the same as a single fan. so the speeds would be the same as a single fan.
(the 1st 2 paralel 1/2 the resistance the second two double it and 2x 1/2 = 1 ) 
if that makes sense. its a bit more complicated than that really but its ohms law..

(12v+ goes to fan 1 input live, fan1 output ground  goes to fan 2 input live, fan 2 output ground goes to 12v- .. = 2 fans running at 6v)
or.
(1x 12v line + fan 1 input live goes to 12v+ fan 2 input live goes to 12v+, fan 1 out put ground goes to 12v-, fan 2 output ground goes to 12v-... = 2 fans running at 12v but at 1/2 the resistance compared to only 1 fan..)

so really you can wire up fans in a combination of series and paralell and get the effect you want with out a fancy controller. controllers for the most part just add the needed resistance to balance out the diferences. (like a crossover in a speaker cabinet without having to filter frequency)


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## VSG (Jul 3, 2014)

Shambles1980 said:


> well lets all go out and buy those then lol. cant have enough cfm and static pressure



I did see a couple of those at my university in a server rack. Way too loud for my taste. Here's the scary part though, there is another fan that consumes more power: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835213008

Edit: Just saw you had added more above. Ya, I will likely be going bicarb/vinegar for the other rads. Also, the part on RPM increasing when adding more fans doesn't make sense to me. PWM fans are meant to run at 12V always and the only reason this is happening here is because Corsair's PWM implementation has a longer down time between the pulses. A pull-up mod, as in the PCB above, helps take care of that. This problem doesn't happen with standard PWM fans/pumps or even 3-pin fans if used with a proper splitter (not the NZXT Grid lol).


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## Vario (Jul 3, 2014)

That digital display is pretty sweet.  
Surprised they thought running a bunch of tachometer sensors would work for a 1 to 10 splitter hub..


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## Doc41 (Jul 3, 2014)

DAT case and rads.........  
me like big , looks great so far and looking forward for updates


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## VSG (Jul 3, 2014)

Vario said:


> That digital display is pretty sweet.
> Surprised they thought running a bunch of tachometer sensors would work for a 1 to 10 splitter hub..



The Aquaero has a configurable display but honestly once you set up the software, it can be let alone to do it's job. It can handle alarms, emergency pc shutdowns, flow meters, temperature sensors, PWM/Voltage control on all channels and more. 

Unfortunately most splitters do this, including the ModMyToyz PCBs.


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## VSG (Jul 3, 2014)

Another update:


There was always doubt of the best orientation of a CPU block, especially in the case of the Koolance 380i where Stren and a few other reviewers noted a difference of 2-3 ºC from orientation. Now one can attribute this to a lot of things but I wanted to be sure. I had the block oriented as shown below assuming that was the way to go:






Since I wanted to replace the Arctic Cooling MX-4 paste on there with Thermene anyway, I called up Koolance and got the ok to open up the block without voiding any warranty.






Not too bad a spread, but let's get rid of it. One of the benefits of having access to chemicals is this:











That's much better. Now let's take a look inside that 380i:
















This purple stuff along with the left over coolant/dirt was quickly taken care of. Some of that purple stuff (anyone have any idea what it is?) was still left behind despite my best efforts but not enough to worry me unless someone can confirm that as possible corrosion. But seeing how the jetplate was oriented, and knowing that the 4770k has the die oriented vertically, I knew I had the orientation wrong previously. Now let's have some Thermene on:






Assembling the block is way easier with the backplate already on:
















With the CPU taken care of, I now had one KPE left to put the water block on. Removing the stock heatsink is very easy, and then immediately we get to see the factory TIM application:






Not as bad as was the case with my Asus 290x but definitely can be better. Got it cleaned up, and then it was time to introduce it to the EK FC 780 GTX Classy (Shouldn't it have been the EK FC GTX 780 Classy? Oh well!):











All done, and with the stock backplate on again it was time to put it back into place for now:






It will come back out soon since I will be testing those cards individually first before putting them together. But for now, it is ok. Meanwhile, a package arrived from Stren of XtremeRigs.net:






Two pieces of Project Thief! A 480mm drop-in rad mount that will be used on the XSPC AX480 and a 180.3 drop-in rad mount just in case I decided to expand side 2 with GPUs. I also bought this off him:






By itself, it makes no sense. But combine it with the massive TX10-D HDD super mount, and things get clearer:






So that's one cage taken care of, and there is still enough space for 4 more such cages if need be. That's it for now, I will install in some of the drives in this cage soon and put the assembly in place. I really need to get the rads cleaned up too. Hopefully more TX10 parts are on the way to me from another source!


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## Vario (Jul 3, 2014)

That purple stuff is strange? Maybe a machining remnant or watercooling dye that gelled up.


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## VSG (Jul 3, 2014)

Not from my end though, I  only had distilled water and Primochill Liquid Utopia.


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## VSG (Jul 3, 2014)

A word from my sponsor:


> Our eBay store will be discounted entirely tomorrow and tomorrow only - EVERY item will be marked 5% off. We are also offering free shipping on EVERY domestic order over $150. Video cards, cases, power supplies, water cooling parts - EVERYTHING will be on sale. Sale starts tonight at midnight. http://stores.ebay.com/HELLFIRE-TOYZ-LLC/i.html



His usual prices are not inflated so this would be a good deal. Definitely check it out!


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## VSG (Jul 5, 2014)

So I previously unboxed the EVGA 1300G2 but as fate would have it, I got this on Tuesday:






Ok that wasn't exactly the halo effect I wanted so let's get right to opening up the EVGA 1600G2:
















Look at all these cables:





















That's enough PCI-E power for 3 MSI 290x Lightnings/EVGA 780Ti Kingpins without needing a daisy chained cable 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Oh, I forgot to mention I also got a 750G2 for Side 2. So here's a EVGA fanboy shot:











But wait, there's MORE:
















So how do they look all mounted on the PSU mount?






~5000 W of PSU in there, enough to burn down any circuit I have in this place. The ax1200i is pretty much spoken for already but the 1300G2 needs a new owner who will care for it and keep it longer than the ~6-7 days it has been opened 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Anyway, so here's the final PSU configuration:






The EVGA 1600G2 for Side 1 and EVGA 750G2 for Side 2. I got these both at a tremendous price so no complaints. But not everything worked out as planned, I had a set of Lamptron handles that I was hoping to install on the PSU mount to make it "drop-in" style too. Unfortunately the only place I can have them without interfering on the 4 mounting locations are the extreme ends and the handle holes match exactly the screw in locations of the mount to the case:






So there is no way I can think of making this a drop-in mount unless I am missing something obvious. Oh well! Next up, this goes in the case and I see if the stock cables are long enough. Side 2 has the same motherboard that I currently have but for Side 1 I have to assume a similar layout and see.


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## TRWOV (Jul 5, 2014)

VSG said:


> Imaginary brownie points for those who can tell which one is which:



The one on the right is the old one. Where can I exchange my points? 

You had me drooling at the PSU group shot....


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## VSG (Jul 5, 2014)

TRWOV said:


> The one on the right is the old one. Where can I exchange my points?
> 
> You had me drooling at the PSU group shot....



You are right, please go to Mt. Gox for some imaginary bitcoins 

Another small update, this time of the good kind: UPS man came by 2 days ago. Here is what I got:







Definitely need to gift the UPS man come Christmas time. Above is 1 XXL window door for Side 1 (because XL just isn't enough to show off 2 FrozenQ reservoirs and the respective loops), 2 480mm rad mounts and a few flexbay/HDD mounts thrown in. Now I have enough for all my rads as well as enough for an additional 480mm and 540mm (180x3) rad if need be. Come to think of it, I got the space for those two as well. Hmmm....

Now I need to clean up the rads with the Mayhems cleaning kits and my own dilute phosphoric acid solution and start putting them all in. I have also decided to go hardline in the motherboard area, at least for Side 1. Copper or acrylic is the question now. What do you guys think?

Also, the build log is now as updated as anywhere else. Hopefully this wasn't a rush since now on it will be slower


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## HammerON (Jul 5, 2014)

VSG said:


> So I previously unboxed the EVGA 1300G2 but as fate would have it, I got this on Tuesday:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




That is an amazing amount of wattage with all those PSUs


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## VSG (Jul 5, 2014)

HammerON said:


> That is an amazing amount of wattage with all those PSUs



Haha.. Yup! Enough to blow up any household circuit here. One of the times I miss the 220v circuits back home.


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## VSG (Jul 7, 2014)

So I had some thumbscrews at the front that were getting stripped and no matter which screwdriver I tried or how much WD-40 I added it did nothing. In the spirit of the US independence day, since finesse didn't work I resorted to brute force to get what I wanted 






Dremel + metal cutting blade + WD-40 on the screws equals:






I cut a large, flat hole in each of the stripped screws so I could then use a flathead screwdriver with increased torque. 30 minutes later, all of them were out and I can now play with the front of the case as I wish:






There is enough space for a 5x120mm rad in the front on each side if I want. Bitspower had promised such a rad (600mm rad) last year but nothing came of it so far:






Oh well! I am doing some radiator cleaning now, I had to remove all the fans off that Mo.Ra though and it will be a real pain to put them back on 
















Used Part 1 of the Mayhems Blitz Pro cleaning kit on the Alphacool Monsta 480, Phobya G-Changer 120 and Swiftech MCR120-XP. No prizes for guessing where most of that gunk came from. The amount that came out was pretty shocking though, as I had the monsta in a loop before for ~ 2 months and had the Primochill SysPrep running through it initially. Guess now we know that does absolutely nothing! For the rest of the rads, I had a 1:10 by volume solution of distilled white vinegar and distilled water in them for 6 hours followed by flushing with regular tap water and then distilled water. The effluent from these was much better which goes to show XSPC, HardwareLabs and Watercool really clean their rads before shipping them. Now on to Part 2 of the kit to do a general scrub and neutralize the pH back to 6.5-7 after the acid bath. For this I set up a rad only loop which took up most of my my table downstairs:











The loop is still running (24 hours recommended) as I write this. Tomorrow morning I drain it, run just distilled water to clean it up and we are all ready to go!


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## ne6togadno (Jul 7, 2014)

VSG said:


> So I had some thumbscrews at the front that were getting stripped and no matter which screwdriver I tried or how much WD-40 I added it did nothing. In the spirit of the US independence day, since finesse didn't work I resorted to brute force to get what I wanted
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


you tried with wrong screwdriver.
with this 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  screwdriver you could've dealt with those thumbs with ease


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## VSG (Jul 7, 2014)

Not sure if that was serious or not, but either way that wouldn't have worked. The stripped thumbscrews were holding on a flexbay solid cover so there was only about half a centimeter of wiggle room to turn. Before this I tried out needle nose pliers but there wasn't enough grip available.


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## VSG (Jul 8, 2014)

Can I request suggestions on colors for the exterior of the case? I am considering getting it powdercoated in a color/texture of my choice if the price is right. Interiors are black (as is the exterior for now):

Here is a picture of the samples (didn't realize till later that I have #34 in there twice). I reduced it to a 5 MP picture to retain detail and yet not overwhelm the page so please excuse the size if it is too big for your screen:






They got many more colors obviously, I was thinking of something in the brown-grey family so got more of those. The rest are just an indication of the other color families available. Not in there is a copper strain that they had run out of samples for. Now I currently have everything in black and am planning to keep the interior black for now due to their single color minimum charge policies. So now I am requesting suggestions from everyone here and elsewhere. I currently have no preference, so will definitely weigh in suggestions before making my decision. Please bear in mind that I still need to give the place a test sample to see if they can do a good job so nothing is guaranteed.Thanks!

Edit: Resized it, it was too big for this forum. Here is a link to the 5 MP image: http://imgur.com/2pJQ2yX


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## Toothless (Jul 8, 2014)

20, 21, 22, 63, and 18 are my favs, but then again 56 is really nice too.


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## VSG (Jul 8, 2014)

Lightbulbie said:


> 20, 21, 22, 63, and 18 are my favs, but then again 56 is really nice too.



Brown was the first color I thought of honestly. Great choices.

Having said that, the interior will be black. So brown/bronze on black might not look much different than the current black on black. I have this posted on 6-7 forums where the build log is current so will weigh in every suggestion before making up my mind. Thanks for the votes!


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## VSG (Jul 10, 2014)

FYI, EVGA has sent me one of their individually sleeved cable kits (in red, compatible with the G2, P2 and T2 series of PSUs) to check out. Does anyone have any particular requests or tests?


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## Vario (Jul 10, 2014)

ne6togadno said:


> you tried with wrong screwdriver.
> with this
> 
> 
> ...


Yep vice grip would have worked too.  Vice grip needlenose too.


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## VSG (Jul 10, 2014)

So as I mentioned earlier, Jacob from EVGA sent me an entire cable kit in red to check out and use it in my build if I like it. The least I can do is share my thoughts and ask if anyone here has any specific requests as far as pictures and tests go.

I currently have these with me to test out the cables:






Here's what the kit looks like when received:
















Once the box is opened, we see 3 bags inside:











Not much to gain from those 2 pictures so let's open them up. Bag 1 has the 20+4 pin ATX cable and 2 4+4 pin EPS cables:






If you have a correctly calibrated monitor, the color of the image below will be exactly how it looks in real life:











Too bad I sold my Corsair red sleeved kit last week, but I do have one 20+4 pin ATX cable in white from Corsair for comparison:











Corsair uses PET sleeving I believe compared to what I have been told is Micro Cord in the EVGA cables. If this is incorrect, please let me know.






Look ma, no heatshrink! These cables look and feel neater in person already. While I can't demonstrate this easily, these cables are also more malleable in that they can be bent easily and they retain the bent shape better than the Corsair cables.











I understand why Corsair went for heatshrink, and I give them props for making the individually sleeved cables available as a kit but the issues of mass production means not everything is perfect. For instance, the heatshrink here is not all uniform in length or application. Some of the heatshrink is actually beginning to come off despite me never having actually used this cable before. This isn't to say everything is perfect in EVGA land.






The Corsair sleeving is thicker, but the inner wiring in both these cases is 16 AWG- so far so good. But a closer look at the wires in each cable show something I haven't really thought about till now:











These are wires in the same 24 pin ATX cable. At first I thought this was a mistake since only 1 wire was thinner than the rest but then I looked at the stock cable and there were many more thinner wires in there. All the thinner wires (18 AWG I believe, will confirm once a local sleever is done taking the cable apart and putting it back together) are actually in one area which is not critical in power delivery. So, if anything, EVGA is actually putting more effort into making these individually sleeved cables better for power delivery. Now whether or not there is a real world difference between 16 and 18 AWG will be found out soon, at least in my case.

On to bag 2 which contains the VGA cables:






2 daisychained 6+2 pin + 6 pin PCI-E VGA cables and 4 6+2 pin PCI-E VGA cables. Here is where I am a bit concerned about:






The wires on the daisy chained 6 pin connector all seem to be 18 AWG. This is plenty enough for most people, but if someone is benching hard and has no other choice but to use daisy chained cables, then this may cause an issue. I will be testing this out real soon. The pro overclockers typically have 1 PSU per GPU and some go even more extreme. 8 Pack, for example, likes to use a 1200W PSU for each 8 pin PCI-E connector being used when benching. So common sense would dictate you just use 1 cable per connector and not go with daisy chained connectors when operating way past TDP of a GPU. But when you have 2-3 GPUs like the EVGA 780 Ti Classified K|ngp|n edition or the MSI R9-290x Lightning, you have an 8+8+6 PCI-E connection on each card:











So while there are enough PCI-E connectors on something like the 1300G2 and 1600G2/P2/T2 for 3 of these cards, the kit here has only 6 cables. EVGA is looking into making supplemental VGA only sleeved cables available for purchase, so please do let them know if this is something you are interested in. They are also considering selling bare-bones PSUs (no stock cables) for a lower price than the regular models. This would be great for anyone wanting any sort of custom cables so once again please do let them know of any interest in this.

Finally on to bag 3 (peripherals):






4 x 3 SATA, 1 x 3 Molex and 1 x 2 Molex + 1 Floppy connector. Funnily all these wires here seem to be the thicker 16 AWG type even though 18 guage would have been plenty. I also think the floppy connector is redundant and should not have been in here but I am sure there will be someone now to prove me wrong.

If there are any errors in what I have written, please don't hesitate in letting me know. I am not by any means an expert in this field and am only looking at this from a consumer's point of view. Also do let me know if there are any particular requests for photos or tests. These were all taken hours ago and the wires are currently being tested as we speak but I will gladly do all I can.


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## Vario (Jul 10, 2014)

VSG said:


> Can I request suggestions on colors for the exterior of the case? I am considering getting it powdercoated in a color/texture of my choice if the price is right. Interiors are black (as is the exterior for now):
> 
> Here is a picture of the samples (didn't realize till later that I have #34 in there twice). I reduced it to a 5 MP picture to retain detail and yet not overwhelm the page so please excuse the size if it is too big for your screen:
> 
> ...


Red Baron #66 INV/REDIFS1


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## VSG (Jul 10, 2014)

Vario said:


> Red Baron #66 INV/REDIFS1



 I got a few more color samples today if that changes your vote:






I don't even know why they gave me blacks to be honest, but there they are anyway!


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## xvi (Jul 10, 2014)

Lots of safety colors in there. "Men Without Hats" would be proud.


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## Vario (Jul 10, 2014)

I still vote that red! 

I just picture bright red like a Ferrari on the outside, and on the inside all the wiring red, red accents on the circuit boards, etc, all contrasted against black interior case metal to make it all pop out.


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## VSG (Jul 11, 2014)

Pretty confused now lol. I will make up my mind over the weekend. The GF needs to agree as well.


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## xvi (Jul 11, 2014)

VSG said:


> The GF needs to agree as well.


That's the most important criteria of all.


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## ne6togadno (Jul 11, 2014)

VSG said:


> Pretty confused now lol. I will make up my mind over the weekend. The GF needs to agree as well.


paint it 2 coloers.
let gf choose color of her side then paint your side accordingly


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## VSG (Jul 11, 2014)

ne6togadno said:


> paint it 2 coloers.
> let gf choose color of her side then paint your side accordingly



Since the exterior panels are the same in the front and back, and powdercoating can't be split in halves, they have to be the same color.



xvi said:


> That's the most important criteria of all.



The GF has spoken, these are the colors she was ok with:











Blue speckle looks different in different light, that isn't the camera exposure at work here.






I deleted the close-up of this by accident, will take another when I get back home later if needed 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	






















































Also, I won an EVGA 1200P2 (recently released, selling for $230-250) courtesy their Memories of EVGA Promotion:


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## ne6togadno (Jul 11, 2014)

VSG said:


> Since the exterior panels are the same in the front and back, and powdercoating can't be split in halves, they have to be the same color.


it can.
question is how much they will charge you for extra work they will have to do with masking.
dark roast


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## VSG (Jul 11, 2014)

ne6togadno said:


> it can.
> question is how much they will charge you for extra work they will have to do with masking.
> dark roast



Didn't think about masking, good point. They have a $195 minimum color rate though. I will get the quotes soon so will be able to make a decision then. Thanks!


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## Vario (Jul 11, 2014)

Blue speckle but its going to clash so bad with the rest of the system.


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## VSG (Jul 11, 2014)

Vario said:


> Blue speckle but its going to clash so bad with the rest of the system.



Ya, even though I love how it looks different from different angles that is not the best for my case. I like Weathered Iron, Dark Roast and Bisque Speckle- the last of which will give me a light exterior, dark interior. All of these are pretty unique colors though!


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## VSG (Jul 12, 2014)

So I finally tried out the cables in the current rig to see how they looked. First up, motherboard, CPU and only 1 KPE hooked up with discrete VGA cables:






Don't mind the large cutout in the motherboard tray, I have a back cover coming in and will likely drill in a cable management hole in it. These were so easy to navigate and install compared to the Corsair set I had- the thinner sleeving definitely helps. They also retain the "bend" easier. I did get a sample custom paracord sleeved 6 pin PCI-E cable from the previously mentioned custom sleever which looked better and held shape better but for a $90 kit, this is really good. Some cable combs or lacing and the cables will look much better.

Now with the 2nd KPE hooked up, I had to use a daisychained VGA cable here without any choice:






The dreaded loop appears. Fortunately, thanks to that wall of VGA cables and the easy to bend cables, it is not hard at all to tuck in the loop:






One small thing I really appreciated was that the 6 pin and 2 pin sections of the 6+2 VGA cable are separated all the way from the PSU connector. So it is very easy to simply use the 6 pin part only if you have to!

I have decided to use the cables in my build and also set up some thing in motion with EVGA about the 1200P2 (hopefully anyway!) so I gladly announce EVGA as a sponsor of this build:






I also set up the 3 quad radiators back with fans, since I have already shown the SR 1 560 with the Cougars before I won't show it again. Here is the XSPC AX480 with 8 Corsair SP120 QE fans:











Those rings are definitely not finalized yet, but this rad is going to be on Side 2 where most of the components are set already. So I may well end up having all red rings in there. For the Alphacool Monsta 480, I decided to have the drop-in mount in the front so that the first set of fans provide enough gap to allow the front set of ports not interfere with the rad mount:











That's one thick assembly. I am considering removing the rings all together and going stealth like with the SR 1, let's see.


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## Vario (Jul 12, 2014)

I feel that if you go with a non-color paint (grey black etc) then you might as well keep the stock black color.


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## VSG (Jul 12, 2014)

Vario said:


> I feel that if you go with a non-color paint (grey black etc) then you might as well keep the stock black color.



One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that some of the exterior has scratches on it. Not necessarily noticeable, but definitely there. I agree in that I will likely go in a color noticeable different than black. That Bisque Speckle, for example, is what I personally am leaving towards at this point.


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## Vario (Jul 12, 2014)

VSG said:


> One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that some of the exterior has scratches on it. Not necessarily noticeable, but definitely there. I agree in that I will likely go in a color noticeable different than black. That Bisque Speckle, for example, is what I personally am leaving towards at this point.


You seem dead set on it but your likely to get scratches no matter eventually, not to mention if the powder coat isn't done quite perfect.  I think the bisque speckle isn't bad of the colors you can do, but I still like that red .


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## VSG (Jul 12, 2014)

Vario said:


> You seem dead set on it but your likely to get scratches no matter eventually, not to mention if the powder coat isn't done quite perfect.  I think the bisque speckle isn't bad of the colors you can do, but I still like that red .



Nothing is dead set, I still haven't measured everything and received a quote based on it


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## ne6togadno (Jul 13, 2014)

VSG said:


> Nothing is dead set, I still haven't measured everything and received a quote based on it


first finish with cutting (if you going to cut anything) and then send it for painting. this way you wont risk to damage painting when you are cutting.
also dont forget to ask em with how much coating change dimensions so you can drill/cut holes with accurate dimension a bit bigger.


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## VSG (Jul 13, 2014)

ne6togadno said:


> first finish with cutting (if you going to cut anything) and then send it for painting. this way you wont risk to damage painting when you are cutting.
> also dont forget to ask em with how much coating change dimensions so you can drill/cut holes with accurate dimension a bit bigger.



Great advice! I don't have anymore cutting to do, and I did ask them about dimension changes. Since the powdercoating involves removing the existing coat first and then applying the new one, they assured me that the dimensions won't change more than 0.1mm on average. I will still be sure to check before and after to be sure.


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## ne6togadno (Jul 13, 2014)

VSG said:


> Great advice! I don't have anymore cutting to do, and I did ask them about dimension changes. Since the powdercoating involves removing the existing coat first and then applying the new one, they assured me that the dimensions won't change more than 0.1mm on average. I will still be sure to check before and after to be sure.


i was referring custom cuts (if you made any).
paint thickness is calculated already for factory made cuts. you only need to be sure you can get new coating with same thickness as factory coating.


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## VSG (Jul 13, 2014)

ne6togadno said:


> i was referring custom cuts (if you made any).
> paint thickness is calculated already for factory made cuts. you only need to be sure you can get new coating with same thickness as factory coating.



Yup, will make sure to account for it. I don't have any custom cuts for the exterior panels, every mod on the case is inside.


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## ne6togadno (Jul 14, 2014)

VSG said:


> Yup, will make sure to account for it. I don't have any custom cuts for the exterior panels, every mod on the case is inside.


where are photos then


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## VSG (Jul 14, 2014)

ne6togadno said:


> where are photos then



Lol I should have meant every mod necessary will be on the inside. So far the only changes done are drilling a few 1" and 1/4" holes into the Mo.Ra mount and removing the divider between the bottom compartment and pedestal. I am sure there will be more necessary (already know a few things I need to do) but they will all be inside.


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## ne6togadno (Jul 14, 2014)

VSG said:


> Lol I should have meant every mod necessary will be on the inside. So far the only changes done are drilling a few 1" and 1/4" holes into the Mo.Ra mount and removing the divider between the bottom compartment and pedestal. I am sure there will be more necessary (already know a few things I need to do) but they will all be inside.


no matter where are mod. problem is photos are missing.
you wont pass it so easy
this isnt work log if there isnt any pictures insde (color table cant go into account)


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## VSG (Jul 14, 2014)

I did post a picture of the Mo.Ra mounted on top of the mount with holes:







I am not sure what you mean otherwise, I got pictures of everything I am doing- not just the powdercoating colors.


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## VSG (Jul 18, 2014)

While I am waiting for the powdercoating company to get back to me with a quote, I am very happy to announce my 3rd sponsor: FrozenQ PC Mods






Some of you may have recognized the reservoir I was using so far in these pictures:











These were great after I went through with customer support regarding a few things that arrived broken. The issue with these reservoirs was that the end caps were compressed on and the helices inside could be rotated. So a lazy delivery person could end up creating some serious issues as it was in my case. Also, leaks were a risk with the compression type caps. So after a lot of feedback they went back to square one and redesigned everything- new equipment, new streamlined manufacturing and this is the new result:

FrozenQ Liquid Fusion Reaction Cylinder Reservoir
















The 250mm version is already available for pre-order now, with the 150mm and 400mm versions coming out soon. They can make a custom length reservoir also. Do check out the various color options available for the end caps, helices and cathode (way too many to list out here).

FrozenQ Meteor Light Reaction Cylinder Reservoir
















Here the accent rails will be available in Blue, Green, Red and Orange as stock options with any color of your choice available as custom order.

So I will be getting 2-3 of the new LF Reaction reservoirs I think. I will likely sell the existing 400mm reservoirs I have since they are a bit too long for the motherboard compartment with the pumps in there as well.


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## VSG (Jul 18, 2014)

I got the quote which was pretty reasonable so I am dropping off the pieces on Monday. Used some epic MS Paint skills and 5 minutes of my time for this:


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## VSG (Jul 23, 2014)

It looks like the powdercoating will only be done next Mon-Tuesday 

In the meantime, I got my hands on an mcp35x2 top which meant I could finally see if 2 mcp35x pumps would be enough for the Mo.Ra. It chewed up a single pump when I hooked up a simple loop with reservoir, pump, compression fittings, angle adapters and the Mo.Ra- nothing else. At 50% max power as controlled by the Aquaero 6, I barely got 0.9 GPM. When I tuned it lower to 35% so the pump was at a noise level more conducive to what I would like in the final build, I got 0.6 GPM. Adding in 4 QDCs got me into laminar flow and once I add in the GPU blocks and 2 more QDCs I can only imagine how low it would go! 

So anyway, I got another mcp35x pump (from a forum marketplace) which was pretty much new:






The older one on the left has a different logo. Turning one pump to the side, we see the good ol' warranty void sticker:






Speaking to Bryan over at Swiftech, I learnt it was completely fine to remove the stock tops _IF _adding on the Swiftech mcp35x2 top. But the guys at Swiftech are generally understanding of other tops and will help out with RMA once they have established the 3rd party top was not the cause of any error- your mileage may definitely vary here.






So taking off that sticker leaves behind a nice trail of evidence that is hard to remove but not impossible. To remove the top, one simply has to unscrew the 4 screws at the bottom:
















The new pump actually came with hex head screws, and not a very common size either. Good thing I have a multi bit driver!











Make sure the O-rings are in place before putting on the new top. Speaking of which:











I am not set on this color yet- especially with the black interior. But that won't matter for testing here and so I put on the top, being careful to screw each pump in with the included screws and making sure there is no discernible gap between the top and the pump bodies.











This thing is a powerhouse for most loops. It is also pretty loud at full speed and caused a cyclonic noise when sucking in water from the reservoir even at 50% max power. This should not be confused with 50% duty cycle as seen from the below PWM response chart from Swiftech:






At the same kind of noise levels as before (35% power, ~50% duty cycle), I got 1.2 GPM with the Mo.Ra alone in the loop and about 0.9-1 GPM with 4 QDCs. When the mcp50x comes out, I will hopefully get 1-2 to test against these for performance and noise. Depending on what I go with for Side 2, I may have a D5 pump also for testing.

One last thing- before putting on the top, I connected both pumps in series to see how the top affects things. At lower flow rates (0.60-1 GPM), there was no discernible difference in flow rates. I will be getting an inline pressure sensor soon to see if head pressure is affected. At higher flow rates (1.2+ GPM), the top increased flow rates about about 0.1 GPM compared to having two pumps in series hooked up by fittings- at least in my case. So I can definitely vouch for going with a dual pump top each time. It also looks better in my opinion.


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## VSG (Jul 28, 2014)

Powdercoating done! I am currently at the place waiting for the parts to cool down, they literally just removed it out of a massive oven and it is ridiculously hot in here with ovens all around:





















Those pictures (from my phone) do it no justice. These look absolutely great


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## VSG (Jul 29, 2014)

I found some time to work on the pedestal. The poor thing had been left as a frame only for over a week:






First up- base added:






That leaves these bare spaces where the casters go (what a shocker!):






For some reason I had the standard casters on the case even though the TX10 comes with HD casters as default. Much as I would have liked the SD caster platform, I couldn't justify $180 on it when even the SD casters were working ok. But I went ahead and got a set of HD casters:






That's better. Now it is much easier to roll around in place and makes putting on things way easier too:






Now it's time to put on the powdercoated pieces. First up, the side panels:






I was set to save money and just have the outer sides powdercoated at first. But when I realized this wasn't going to cost as much as I though, I went with double side coating. Definitely made the right choice here I believe! Now let's add in the back and front panels and fit in a flexbay cover as well:






Hmmm.. I am glad I made that mock up in paint before. The black flexbay cover looks so out of place here:






Let's fix that up quick:






Much better. Now I know I promised close ups to better represent the powdercoat accurately, but without better lighting the camera just can't see what I can with my naked eyes. I went over to the local camera store and even they admitted that a table top "studio" was going to be my best bet instead of going big with studio lights and backdrops. So I am going to place an order for it and it should be here pretty soon. That will allow for a lot more freedom in taking component pictures, including a little something red from EVGA for benching.


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## avatar_raq (Jul 29, 2014)

Subbed.


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## VSG (Jul 29, 2014)

Thanks! 

I have found even this looks different in different light like the Blue Speckle earlier. When direct light hits it, the Speckle part is much more obvious and it looks more white in color with spots of black. When diffused light hits, it is more of a white-pale yellow. Under typical fluorescent bulb lighting, it looks more caramel. I am pretty sure the all the speckles do this.


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## VSG (Jul 29, 2014)

I wish I could show better how it looks in person, the texture is also very unique and makes it very dist/moisture resistant. Here are the promised close-up shots:
















Also worked on the doors and got them done:











I realized later than I had the handles put in the wrong way. No biggie though, took all of 10 seconds to correct. The powdercoaters did a great job masking all the threads and screws. The plexi went in no problem:






Time to screw it in!






I really like the implementation here, this way one can just buy the plexi window instead of buying the whole door. It looks great the other way round as seen here with the other door:






Now on to the main case. First up, the poor frame:






Let's screw in the pedestal and add in the back panels:






Before anything else get's done, something came up that brought back memories of 2011: A Space Odyssey:






If these were bigger and shone at night, it would be nightmare worthy. Good thing they are just 2 of the 4 vandal switches going in here:






Each switch is held in place by a O-ring and a screw nut:
















All done! Now time to mount this in the case:






That fit in perfectly. A few minutes later, everything is in place. Here's the money shot (or at least as good of a money shot as I can get with this lighting anyway):






No, that's not it.. Let's try again:






Ah much better. The speckle is quite prominent in person, just nowhere as much as that mock up above. Let's see it from the side now. First up, Side 1:






Don't worry about the components in there, everything other than the GPUs is going on Side 2. Speaking of which:






The GF doesn't care at all about XXL window vs XL window so I decided to go ahead with the stock door as I got it. Finally the back:






None of this will really be seen so I didn't bother getting the motherboard tray done. I was also a bit paranoid about possible shorting issues- likely an unjustified paranoia. Anyway, the case exterior is done and now I can begin putting in other components!


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## Loosenut (Jul 29, 2014)

Amazing work, can't wait to see what the end result will be!


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## VSG (Jul 29, 2014)

The way the pictures make it look beige/old school, I should find a few floppy drives and throw them in there for a troll build. Nah, just kidding


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## McSteel (Jul 30, 2014)

Late to the party, but I'm subbing to this pornography. Nice to see a build that's not just a money-throwing fest, but is actually purposeful and well thought-out - despite possibly costing more than I earn in a year.


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## VSG (Jul 30, 2014)

Well a lot of things are not needed as much as I wanted to do- the powdercoating for example and the upcoming Intel octacore. But I will be keeping this case and build for a while and budgeted it well so I am ok with the expenses.


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## VSG (Jul 31, 2014)

So about those new Frozen-Q reservoirs:






Alex has also made a side port adapter for the new reservoirs in case people don't wish to use angled adapters:











On the note of sponsors, Mundi from IceModz is sending me some of his really long RGB LEDs with controllers to try out and use in the motherboard compartments here. He is also sending some acrylic tubing (10/12mm) as well. So I am pleased to have IceModz as a sponsor of this build:











The guy is really nice and down to earth. He has great prices and shipping is way cheaper than one expects it to be from Iceland. I have heard only good things about his lighting solutions so I will gladly test them out.


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## VSG (Aug 4, 2014)

Ok I finally set up the "studio":











Definitely still a work in progress, I need to iron out the wrinkles in the backdrop sheets (that come in white, black, red and blue) and fix those lights better. I underestimated how much space this would take- my dining table downstairs barely fits it. The lights (bought separate) are really nice- maybe too bright actually. The softboxes don't diffuse them enough. This is what the light looks like compared to an ordinary CFL:






Perhaps the black back drop would have suited this better, but you get the idea. These lights get hot quickly, so I wouldn't recommend leaving them on for extended periods of time. Luckily each softbox comes with a rocker switch. I am also thinking of having a flash behind the box and controlling it wirelessly if needed. Anyone have suggestions that may be useful here?

On the same lighting note, BitFenix sent along some of their products to check out and use if I want:






I am going to make a lighting overview comprising a bunch of products and then go with the ones I like best. Anyone have specific requests with the BitFenix Fury 750G as far as pictures or tests go?

Thanks to BitFenix for sponsoring this build also:






[/QUOTE]


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## VSG (Aug 8, 2014)

Ok, so this is mostly an unboxing of some parts. Here's what a 140 x 38mm "Yate Loon" fan looks like:







The quotes in there because these aren't the same version that Petra sold, or even those bought directly from Yate Loon. They run a little slower (1250 rpm max) but at $1.40 each I am not complaining. This is how it looks next to a Swiftech MCX12-XP and Phobya G-Changer 120mm radiator:











These fans are monsters, having a molex input (w/passthrough) for power. The Aquaero 6 could easily power 1 of these, but I haven't tried to see if all 9 I have can run off a single channel with needing the molex input. They move a decent amount of air- nothing close to a Corsair SP120 HPE or NB-eloop B12-4 at full speed. Noise wise, they are about the same as a SP120 QE and slightly louder than an NB-eloop B12-2.

I then opened up the BitFenix care package. They included 2 of their aluminum case badges too:
















Nope, these aren't free and nor do they come with their products like the PSUs. Not sure about the cases though! Next up, the Alchemy LED strips:






They sent me 4 x 60mm strips of white LEDs.






Let's see them lit up:











That doesn't really help much. What about a black background?











Ok, that's better. Let's turn off the softboxes and see how these illuminate the interior. I have 2 strips hooked up here:






Not too shabby. With all 4 strips, I bet it is enough for a single TX10 motherboard compartment 

I have more lighting samples coming in and will do a small comparison before deciding on what to go with. Next up, the Fury 750G:





















At this point, I saw the accessory box in there and figured that was a nice touch to help store unused cables. After all, this was a semi-modular design PSU with only the 24 pin cable attached. But then:











So much for that! The modular cables are bundled in 2 sets and is accompanied by a 14 AWG power cord:






They also give 5 screws in case you lose one for whatever reason. I wish these were black but not a deal breaker.






Here's the PSU itself now:











So you either go fan down and get the BitFenix logo on top + side lettering, or go fan up and get the spec sheet in typical cases. Another thing to complicate that decision is the fact that the motherboard cable is all the way to one side. So depending on how the PSU is placed, the cable may not be long enough.






A look at the internals is best seen from the review over at TechPowerUp, I won't be opening this up. But I did get a PSU tester so I will review performance later. 

Finally, a little something red from Gunslinger:































Ok enough of the teasers. It is the hard to find EVBot from EVGA:











This will be pretty useful when benching, especially if/when I do go subzero.


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## VSG (Aug 28, 2014)

I finally am done with 1 NDA only to have another pop up real soon. I got the new EK Supremacy Evo which I spent the last 2 weeks testing (among other things):































I made a review of it here for anyone interested: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/new-ek-supremacy-evo-my-review.204599/

I was hoping my order from PPC had the small LEDs in it but nope. I wanted to show the Plexi top with the locations for 2 LEDs in it. I now have a bunch of 10/12mm acrylic tubing thanks to IceModz as well as some more stuff that will be shown soon. I also got a few EK and Bitspower 10/12mm fittings for these along with a sample piece of the Alphacool chrome tubing and fittings- they are surprisingly good. I will show them really soon once the Corsair 380T NDA is up.


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## VSG (Sep 2, 2014)

I got a Haswell family portrait done: 2 core, 4 core and 8 core





















Here's big daddy:


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## VSG (Sep 10, 2014)

Update time (although probably not one you were expecting since I have not yet finalized on my x99 motherboard and RAM):

Another sponsor? I must be the luckiest guy in the world:






I was speaking to Will, the CEO/CTO at Hardware Labs, about a few things in general and then realized my hotbox would be a great place to test out radiators. One email later, he had 2 of his new Nemesis radiators on the way to me:






A GTX 560 (No, not an old Nvidia GPU) and a GTS 480. We had previously agreed on a GTX 480 and a GTX 560 but he was extremely confident on the GTS 480 being able to beat out other 480/560mm radiators and sent this as an intended replacement for my SR 1 560 radiator. The few reviews out there all seem to agree that these rads pull a lot of weight in performance compared to larger radiators so I am pretty eager to test these out soon.

Here's a look at the GTS 480 (GTX 560 barely fit in my light box):

























































Bonus- A terrible video looking at the two rads stacked: 










I will do a full review soon.


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## VSG (Sep 13, 2014)

Now thanks to Mundi from Ice Modz, I obtained 5 meters of some really nice 10/12mm acrylic tubing. So of course I got a few 10/12 fittings to see how they are before I decide on getting them in bulk. In all likelihood this will be for Side 2:











First up the EK HDC fittings:






The finish on these is nice but I would have liked a little more on the "barb" end to grip on to when securing/removing the tubing. Next up, Bitspower Enhanced multilinks:






No wonder I have a ton of BP fittings, the finish is great on both parts here. The tubing needs to be near perfect though else it won't fit in fully- I ended up cracking one of the ends on my tubing because of this. I also got the EK fittings in red as previously seen with the Supremacy Evo. Perhaps it is from the anodization but the compression ring is much coarser than the nickel finish HDC here and feels somewhat cheaper to me personally.

Oh, I also got a section of the new Alphacool plated copper tubing (10/13mm) and 2 of their fittings to try out:






The 10/12mm fittings definitely don't fit. The tubing is quite hefty as expected and the finish isn't bad (I made a mistake and got the black chrome version instead). It is also a fingerprint magnet and, as per James Walt, can actually bend without the finish crazing. I will get a bender and check for myself.
















Here are the fittings opened:





















Now a size comparison:
















So far I am leaning towards getting the BP fittings for the 10/12mm tubing although the EK nickel HDC is also pretty good. Nothing finalized just yet.

Mundi also sent along some of his lighting that he is known for:






Here is 1 set:






You can connect these as long as you want and the only limitation is the amps on the PSU rail powering the cable. I got the RGB kit with wireless controller because he is a pretty darn amazing guy. The default color when hooked up is blue:











Very easy to cycle through the colors and brightness, here are a few examples:





















There are various modes and brightness levels to play with as with most RGB wireless controllers.

Finally, he also sent 2 of his sleeved wires at my request. Other than lighting, he makes custom extensions at a very reasonable price (inclusive of shipping worldwide) so I asked for 1 each of a 16 and 18 AWG wire in different colors:
















The sleeving is heatshrinkless, even for 16 AWG, and looks very well done. If any of the lighting or sleeving shown here sounds interesting, do go visit his website: http://www.icemodz.com/


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