Build Log: The Green Dragon

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jappe66

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Apr 13, 2012
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Welcome to my very first Build Log! I'm not very good at blurbs or anything like that so I'll just get right on it.

Last week I finally ordered the parts for my build. Today one package arrived but I'm still waiting for a second package from different shop. I should have just ordered all parts from the same website so I could have started to work on the build today already 😛

I don't have much for you yet, but I will show you what is my starting point and some teasers!

So my case is a white BitFenix Shinobi XL. I've heard a lot of people complain about it being plastic and crappy but I just don't see what there is to complain about? The finish on those parts is absolutely amazing and it feels very nice to my hands. The side panels are metal as well as the back and bottom. The front and top have BitFenix SofTouch finish.

The case cost me about 150€ about 6 months ago and I wouldn't change it to anything! Now there's so much room and I started to enjoy watching water cooling build logs so I fell in love with this new hobby.

It turned out to be quite big thing on the money side but I decided, what the heck. "I want it so I'm gonna do it!"

My main colors will be white and green. White coming straight from the case itself mostly and the tubing and liquid will be green. Also green LED fans.

Here's my first plan that I made a couple weeks ago:

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At first I was planning to mount the reservoir outside the case like mentioned in the picture but then I found one that would fit perfectly on the inside. To the same location. And when I start building this there will probably be more changes to the plans. Or so I've heard from people who have done this before 😀

Now here's some teasers for you to enjoy:

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So there you go! I named my project The Turtle because I couldn't come up with anything better. Actually I could go further with this idea and get some turtle figures standing on the case when it's finished or something. See how crazy this watercooling makes me? 😀

You will have to wait until early next week for some build pics but I'm hoping to get the other package by Friday.

Not much to show yet but you gotta start somewhere!
 
This is the one I'm getting: http://www.jimms.fi/tuote/FX-797G-TDFC-NEVER

It looks like in the picture there's only one DVI port and also says in the description:

- 1 x Dual-Link DVI-I
- 1 x HDMI (1.4a)
- 2 x mini-DisplayPort (1.2)

Also the EK cooling configurator told me that this card will fit with their universal block. I'm a bit unsure now if I should take the original cooler away from the card to see if it's reference. It would void warranty and couldn't return it anymore.

But if that DVI-port thing tells you if it's a reference card or not, then I think I might be lucky this time 😛 I'll receive the card today so I'll let you know if it really has 1 port or 2.

My GTX550 (first GPU on my build) had different ports when I received it comparing to what the website said in the description. So I don't trust those descriptions 100% anymore.

EDIT: it looks like my GTX670 had 2 dvi ports and this 7970 has two as well.
EDIT2: looks like this isn't reference model... Damn. Thought this would be easier. Isn't there any block which is compatible with this 🙁

EDIT3: So I decided to go back to the Asus card. I don't know what it is but everything seems to be against me now. I was going to order a card which would be a reference design but then I checked SpecialTech and they have removed the HEATKILLER entirely from their shop. Not available at all. Also only the plexi one is available from EK and I don't want that.

From Finland there is only 1 piece of those EK waterblocks designed for the Asus card and the Asus card is the only one I can get besides the XFX I have now. Every other cards have delivery times ranging from one to four weeks. I'm returning the XFX and getting the Asus 7970 DCII.

Looks like the availability of the AMD cards is way more worse than Nvidias. New GTX700 series coming out and AMDs 7900 series is out of stock everywhere.
 
Your whole issue is part availability and while they do make parts for these video cards and they do have many video card models available it's your bad luck to be in a place where there is limited supply available.
Perhaps you should just use the Asus card with the fan/heat sink and not try to put the water block on it, as I mentioned in an earlier post that fan/heat sink that is on the Asus card is a very efficient cooling device and you should be able to use it , overclock it and not get high temps. Most cards are two slot cards and the Asus card is a three slot because of that cooling heat sink.
If at a later time you find a block that is suitable and you want to switch to water then you can.

For some reason I have always found that the water blocks are more readily available for Nvidia cards then AMD cards. I like Evga in particular because they are always making a model with a water block and it's usually the top end model. Since it already has the block on it you don't have to worry about finding a block and attaching it. Being where you are I'm sure if they were in stock they would be very expensive.
 
The two DVI port thing only applies to AMD cards, as they tend to push Displayport on their cards while Nvidia are staying with DVI.

Your in Finland, you have the manufacturer of the Heatkiller blocks sitting directly to the south of you in Germany. Just buy direct from them rather than the UK.
....

While looking for the link to the block, I found something.
I think you will like this very much.
Heatkiller 79X0 water-block Copper, "XFX Edition"
http://shop.watercool.de/epages/WatercooleK.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/WatercooleK/Products/15022
Compatible with the XFX Radeon HD 7970 Double Dissipation GHz Edition (FX-797G-TDFC), which according to that Jimms link is exactly what you have.

Even better is Finland is a part of the EU, you only pay an 18Euro shipment fee versus nearly 40Euro if you lived anywhere else.

:lol:
Everything just went right for you 😀.
 
Haven't sent it back yet, just woke up and it's a good thing that the first thing I do every day is check my email 😛

I think that is a perfect match to my card. Need to check if the manufacturing codes match on the PCB and I'm all set to order that heatkiller!

I hope I'm not getting a bad reputation in the website where I would have ordered the Asus card 😀 I've cancelled my order twice in 2 days for the same card.

Looks like my card is model FX-797G-TD and the heatkillers compatible list has FX-797G-TDFC listed. Maybe need to contact the store to verify if my card fits.

EDIT: Got a response from Watercool Support and looks like it fits to my card! The person who replied to me told me to take off the original heatsink to check if the PCB number is the same. That's weird because that voids the warranty and I wasn't sure at that point if I need to return the card or if I'm keeping it.

Well the AMD logo near the PCI-E slot pins figured it out for me. I don't have the AMD logo there so it's the custom PCB and Watercool Support told me the block fits in with the custom PCB so I'm trusting them 😀 I don't think XFX has made a third version of the PCB anymore, lol.

Finally things are looking better for the build 😛

By the way the machine has been running very smoothly and I love the watercooling! My girlfriend got me hooked into playing Neverwinter so the loop has proven to be useful for me, even though it's not a game that requires too much from your PC.

Room temperature is near 30C (very hot summer incoming!) and fan controller shows temperature inside the case as 32C and CPU temperature is below 50C (when playing) so I'm pretty satisfied :)

Will have to see how big of a difference is bringing the GPU to the loop gonna make.

EDIT2: BOOM! Just got another reply from Watercool Support: "There are reference cards (including XFX 7970 GHz edition) on the market, which have no AMD logo on their pcb. "

So I guess I need to take the heatsink out to see the number on the PCB. There's good chances that my card is NOT reference since it has 2 DVI-ports (counting on you, manofchalk 😀). And if it voids warranty and it appears to still be a reference model, I'll just order the reference block from Watercool.
 
Block is now ordered from Germany and everything should be fine. Thanks for finding that, manofchalk :)

If anyone with BitFenix Shinobi XL is reading this and planning water cooling, I must say it's not the best case to build wc in. I've had to make quite a few moddings here and there but in the end it indeed is satisfying when you see it in action 😛

Don't have any new pictures yet since I haven't made any changes since last time.
 
Full Coverage Water Block Installation Tips:

#1 Take your time do not rush the installation no matter how giddy and excited you are for what's in your hands!

#2 Read the instructions until you fully understand, if there are any doubts regarding any part of the process, read again to be sure you fully understand what and how to do it.

#3 Memory chips are not thermally monitored so you have to be 100% positive of their coverage, especially if one of the reasons you're going to a full coverage water block is overclocking.

#4 There are usually 2 different thickness of thermal pads in the installation kit, the thicker pads are for the (VRs) Voltage Regulators on the card, the thinner pads for the Memory Chips.

#5 The thinnest possible layer of TIM applied to the GPU die is your goal, that's where trail fitting will ensure you're applying just enough to do the job without excess the main reason for suggestion #1, the more time you take and more care and attention to installation detail the more performance gain you'll have from going this route in the first place. Be NASA serious doing this, clean environment, static safety, the whole nine yards!

#6 If the memory chips are glazed over which they will be, you'll need to clean them carefully with a pencil eraser, take your time and don't Gorilla this cleaning process or you'll damage a chip seating, as this will yield the best thermal conductivity and assure the thermal pads stick and stay where you put them.

Any Questions?



 
You know, as long as you keep the original cooler and thermal pads on hand, I bet you could get warranty support anyway. Just like with overclocking the card, they cant tell you'v removed the original heatsink or not.

Ryans Tip 1: So very true, its so very easy to be taken in by the shiny 😀.
 
I have returned a video card for warranty service after taking the heat sink off and putting a block on it. I just put the heat sink back on and sent it in. I think they realize that people will put water blocks on the card and as long as the problem doesn't point to an issue that is from the water block I believe they just look the other way since a water block is going to cool the card better then a heat sink.
 
Sorry guys I didn't notice you had posted replies. Somehow I didn't get email notifications either 🙁
The block should arrive on Monday so that is the day I can finally get this build finished (hopefully).

Thanks for those tips, Ryan! I do read instructions very clearly when working on my computer. Sometimes I like to be 200% sure I'm doing everything correctly so I even check a video guide or multiple written guides from the Internet in addition to the instructions provided with the part I'm installing. Like with installing the cpu block I wasn't sure about the backplate installation and I made sure I did it correctly by watching a video that showed the back of the motherboard :)

I know I'm very excited about this and I'm trying to take all the time needed to make sure I don't break anything. I'm not a usually a guy who uses a lot of force when handling computer components because I know they can break easily.

There are some stickers on the screws you need to open to get the original heatsink off and they say "Warranty void if broken" so it's quite hard to try to keep them whole without breaking them. Though I have no need for the return anymore and hopefully no need to send the card back in upcoming years :)

So some news about the build itself. The Haswell's got released and I got new motherboard and i5-4670k. The motherboard is ASUS Z87-Pro (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z87PRO/). Even though the G1 Sniper is getting released I thought to myself it's just waste of money. Even though it's green, it's not so big thing because I can't even see it so much from inside of the case. My other option was Z87 Deluxe but I compared their specs and didn't see much of a difference. Only thing was the Pro was 60€ cheaper, lol.

I didn't get the i7 because I think i5 is enough for me and for my gaming. It's also pretty good upgrade from my Phenom II X4 according to cpubenchmark.net (Phenom scores average 4,484 and i5-4670k scores average 7,554). I know that's not the best way to determine how much better the i5 is but it gives an example.

Getting fresh screenshots on Monday for you!
 
Huh, my card had no such sticker.

Green and Gold build, are you sure you aren't Australian? :lol:

Unofficial sporting colours of Australia if you don't get it.
boxing-kangaroo_m.gif

Nice mobo, I love how Haswell if anything has improved motherboards more than it has the actual CPU. Now that the VRM's have moved into the CPU, its forced mobo manufacturers to actually make their boards unique, so we are finally seeing diverse boards and new features. Integrated WiFi was something you would only find on top tier motherboards with Z77.

Cant wait 😀.
 
I thought green and gold were more like Irish colors 😛
The wifi is one thing I wanted the motherboard to have. Makes it easier to use the pc at someone else's house, no need for extra long ethernet cables!

I'll check the sticky out! :)

EDIT: Just for my own records Neverwinter is using 48% of the GPU capacity and temperature is 70-72C with full graphics.

Will have to see if the water block makes a nice improvement on the temperature :)
 
The computer is now finalized and I'm more than satisfied with the results 😀 didn't know the water would make SO big difference with the GPU. Here's some results of some tests I made. I'll post pics when I get them uploaded from my phone.

CPU - Stock 3.4GHz (i5-4670k)
Idle - 29C
Prime95 - 50C (max. temperature)

GPU - GHz Stock (Core 1050MHz, Memory 1500MHz)
Idle - 31C
Neverwinter Full Graphics Settings - 50C (max. temperature)

I'm downloading 3DMark 11 at the moment so I'll let you know what kind of results that gives. I'll overclock both CPU and GPU as well and will report the results :)

For comparison with stock air cooler the GPU went up to the 72C mark and with waterblock the max. I have seen is 50C with same settings. Not to mention there's no more those fans making 40dB noise!

What would be good programs to test the performance of the CPU and GPU? I'd like to see how much difference does the overclock give, especially for the CPU.
 
Picture time! Looks like I forgot to take pictures of the final build but here's some from the building process.

Comparing the old and new motherboard. Waterblock is still sitting on the old one.
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A peak at how the radiator is sitting on the top. I will paint those holders white with spray paint later.
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And a peak at how the tubing is going. Those 90 degree fittings blend quite well with the radiator actually.
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Motherboard installed and old tubing is out, mostly. The pump is the only component I didn't need to detach from the case.
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A look at the GPU waterblock assembly. I took a little of that thermal paste away with paper since it looked like a bit too much. The installation went smoothly and it looks like it's installed properly since the temperature's are pretty low :)
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More pictures coming soon...
 
Haha, I would love to build more rigs with water cooling but for now this is just my main PC. Would love to do this for a living for people 😛 I've learned so much about water cooling in so little time. I just woke up so expect pictures in a few hours 😉
 
The lighting wasn't the best possible for these pictures but I did my best to bring up the green LEDs. There is one 20cm LED strip attached above the side panel window and when I turned the PC on for first time it was just amazing! The pictures sure take some of the awesomeness away. I think I succeeded in the cable management as well.

Overview of the case from outside when the computer is switched off.
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One from the back of the case. I've been thinking to install a handle back there for easier lifting of the case (http://www.mnpctech.com/MnpctechBillethandleGrooved.html)
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From the side.
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A close-up from the top radiator's inlet and outlet ports. I think those 90 degree fittings are perfect for that spot :)
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It looks messy at first but it actually isn't. I got it much cleaner looking by going Radiator1>GPU>Radiator2>CPU>Reservoir>Pump rather than going first to CPU.
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The most important part (to me) of the loop.
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Overview of the insides.
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Nothing new/fancy about the reservoir.
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I added one 45 degree fitting to the T-line configuration to make the tubing go more smoothly. There was a little too tight angle last time and a kink appeared reducing the flow. Looks much better now.
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Radiator1 with new Corsair Air series Quiet Edition 1450rpm fans. I wanted those white colored rings to be on the front side but since I did a pull configuration again it just didn't work out and the rings are facing the radiator now 🙁 These fans are very silent and the performance seems to be good as well.
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This part of the case doesn't look much different comparing to the older loop.
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Another one from the side when the side panel is out.
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If you haven't already scrolled down to see the LEDs in action, here's one teaser at first.
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Lights out and LEDs on.
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One thing that mostly catches the eye is the blue power and HDD LEDs. I was thinking to try and change them to green LEDs but that's another story then.

Please give me your opinions and rate the build from 1-10 😀
 
Thanks! Which cables you mean? The ones above Radiator1 (fan controller) or those near PSU?

It was quite hard to set up the PCI-E cables perfectly since the 7970 requires 8-pin cable as well as a 6-pin cable. The extensions I'm using are only 6-pin connectors so the additional 2-pins come from different cable. It might look like a little mess :/
 
Cable management is one of the hardest things to get right and can easily make something look messy, I try to use wire ties where I can but It does look really good with the green lighting and the white. You did a great job with the tubing and the top radiator. It all looks good nice job.

Now your going to be picking it apart and saying what you'll be changing for the next build or upgrade. :lol:
 
Looks awesome! 😀
The external rad being white, perfect. It looks as if it was supposed to be there the way you have done it,

Same verdict as Ryan, would be 10 if not for cable management.

The wires to the front of the case coming from the fan controller and front radiator. Run the fan cables along side of the rad like you did with the external one, zip tie them together and do as short a run as possible to behind the mobo. Same with the fan controller cables, zip tie together and pull tight.

An awesome thing to try, see if you can hook up the LED strips to your fan controller. Having them a bit dimmer would be perfect.

@Inzone
Upgrades are addictive, I added water-cooling to my rig just 3 months after I built it. Then 6 months after that the loop got overhauled 😀
Jappe here seems to have done all that in about a month :lol: