# [Build Log] Fractal Define S water miniproject



## valistar (Nov 8, 2015)

Hello everyone, 
this is my first techpowerup.com forum post 

I wanted to share with you guys the build I'm currently working on. For the last 3 years I was using white DimasTech Bench Table V2.5 case for my watercooling setup. Recently I decided that it's time to move on to more decent looking case as the PC is now in the living room and it just stands out too much. My weapon of choice was Fractal Define S, which has everything I need and looks very nice. Apart from the design upgrade the bench table was just too hard to move around so taking it out to LAN party for example was almost impossible. So here we go...


The list of pc/cooling parts I will be using (most of them from previous build):

 Fractal Design Define S - black window
 EK Water Blocks EK-Multioption RES X2 - 250 Basic
 EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy - Acetal 
 EK Water Blocks EK-FC580 GTX - Acrylic 
 EK Water Blocks EK-FC580 GTX RAM Backplate - Black 

 Laing DDC-1T Pump - 12 V
 Bitspower DDC Top - POM Version
 ModMyMachine Shoggy Sandwich V2 - black
 Phobya G-Changer 360 V.2 - Full Copper
 Phobya G-Silent 12 1200rpm Black Silent Edition ( 120x120x25mm ) 3x
 MagiCool Copper Radiator - 140 mm

 Mayhems Pre-Mix X1 UV Blue 1000ml
 PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT 16/10 mm 2x
 PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT 16/11 mm

 Monsoon 16/11mm (ID 7/16" OD 5/8") compression fitting 6pack - Matte Black
 Monsoon 16/10mm (ID 3/8" OD 5/8") compression fitting - Matte Black 4x
 Alphacool HF double nipple G1/4 outer thread to G1/4 outer thread 10mm - Deep Black
 Alphacool HF L Connector G1/4 OT to G1/4 IT Revolvable - Deep Black
 EK Water Blocks EK-PSC Adapter 90-Degree 1/4" - Black 2x
 Bitspower 1/4" Matt Black Mini Fitting 13mm ID 5x
 Mayhems Silver Coil

 Nanoxia 24-Pin ATX extension 30cm - sleeved black
 Phobya heatshrink 6mm (1/4") 3:1 black 30cm
 MDPC-X flexo

The actual hardware I will be using is little bit older, I'm planning on complete HW upgrade next year. For now it's Intel i7 at 4.2Ghz , reference gtx580, 12GB 1600Mhz ddr3 ram, 2x 256gb Crucial SSD, asus xonar essence stx... GPU is the biggest bottleneck since I upgraded to 3440x1440 display. So once the new gen of gpus will hit the market I will grab one and watercool it for sure.

Almost all the parts were in, so 2 days ago we started the building process with my friend (I highly recommend not doing watercooling by yourself, it might get frustrating at times and in some phases you require two pairs of hands anyway...). Here are some photos from yesterday (raw, no edit):





Of course there was a lot of cleaning to do, after 3 years of running you would think so. Original fluid still looked pretty clean, inside of the hoses shown some dirt... The blocks, the pump and radiators were pretty oxidated but nothing not to be expected - we cleaned them up with the combination of vinegar, distilled water and some other cleaning agents. Took us about 5 hours to get everything ready.

After we put everything together and started plugging in the hoses I found out that I had mistakenly ordered wrong fittings... I already had 6 Monsoon 16/11mm (ID 7/16" OD 5/8") from previous build and I ordered 4 new Monsoon 16/10mm (ID 3/8" OD 5/8"). That meant that the new ones fit nicely with PrimoChill 16/10 tubing, the old ones of course won't. Nothing we can't handle, I already ordered new 16/11 tubing and I will use a combination of both in the system. Would be too expensive to return either of the fittings and this would work pretty much the same anyway.

I will update you guys as soon as I make some progress.
Stay tuned, comment, ask and criticize if you want


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## valistar (Nov 8, 2015)

[reserved]


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## ChristTheGreat (Nov 9, 2015)

I love the Define S.

I'll follow this build


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## valistar (Nov 16, 2015)

Hi,
so the build is progressing slowly, here are couple photos (sorry if the white balance is little off, i had a different camera)




The photos are from last week when I first tested the loop for leaks with distilled water after I got the correct tubing for my fittings... I also made a short video of the filling process, but I don't know if it's even worth to upload it - I will try to make a better one when the build is finished and I put in the blue liquid .

The current setup with the reservoir mounted on top of the pump directly is not that good - the pump vibrates and I feel like the res amplifies it and transfers it to the case. The anti-vibration mount for the pump itself doesn't do much when it's hard mounted to the res. This makes this DDC pump too noisy so I'm redoing that - I will try to put a short tubing and two fittings in between them and see if it's better. Also I will be replacing all the fans with black Noctua industrialPPC-2000 PWM, for better performance and sound signature...

Stuff that needs to be done:
- sleeving the PSU (I have a lot of mdpc-x left from previous builds, just need to find the time)
- fixing the pump/res
- cablemanagement
- led lights
- blue water
- i'm thinking about making a custom PSU shroud but currently I don't know how would I do it


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## valistar (Nov 25, 2015)

So my Noctua fans arrived now so I can redo everything again . I also bought some cheap heatgun so I can get on with my sleeving. Plus LED light strips that I ordered from China arrived, they are super bright - hopefully I can regulate them somehow (I got blue and white).





Once everything is in final positions I will model the PSU shroud and have it laser cut and bent 

The fans will be regulated with PWM/speedfan. At 350 rpm (minimum) they are super quiet, at 650 they are still silent and moving noticeable amount of air. I hope I will have good temps within 650-800 range even under load.


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## valistar (Dec 22, 2015)

So after a while a small update.. The finish is in sight (until the HW upgrade), only couple things missing:
- single sleeve psu cables
- put blue water in (i have to order another bottle, somehow 1L isn't enough)
- final photos

So I had this custom PSU shroud made from black acrylic, laser-cut following my design. The shape copies the curves of the case and the holes allow easy installation without the need to unplug anything (I really wanted to avoid having to unplug tubing or pump). So it's two pieces, the top one just rests on the stands. Check the picture gallery below, it's really hard to photo black (and glossy) things, it looks better in real life - line between the two doesn't stand out as much. Let me know what you think 






Btw any tips on how to prevent dust from sticking onto the plexi window?


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