Build Log: The Green Dragon

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jappe66

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:

pumpplan.jpg


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:

vnfmdi.jpg


4vl6c1.jpg


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!
 
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I don't know if I'm just tired but I didn't quite get that 😛

Then it exits at different p[laces so that pci fan will be sitting beneath the air intake ?
Click to expand...

The pci fan would be sitting right under the GPU sucking the heat the GPU makes in and blowing it out from the back. Currently the only air intake I have is in front of the case with those radiator fans. I've been planning to make the airflow better by adding the original 230mm fan to the top of the case taking air out.

The only option to install intake fans anymore is the side panel. Maybe gonna try some day what the green LED fans would look like there. If I like it, then I'll get the Corsairs to cool down the white radiator.
 
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I'm sorry I forgot that you put a water block on the video card. In that case there is no heat coming from the card because the block is taking the heat away with the water circulation. No need for a fan, although I did put a small 120mm fan in the side panel that blew directly on to the video cards and it did lower the temp a few degrees.
 
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:lol: I'm running 15 myself excluding the power supplies, but they're all necessary and all pretty much on the quiet side except for the peltier fans, but the noise level is very tolerable.

 
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I had 3 fans before and now I'm running with 6 but going to use 9 in the end probably :) I don't know where would I even fit 15 fans not to mention 23 😀

The most noisiest fan before watercooling was the GPU fan and after that the CPU cooler, now when there's waterblock I can't really even hear anything. Either the game's noises cover the fans or something else but those fans are really silent. My main reason was indeed to lower the noise level when I changed to water and I succeeded 😀
 
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Most running that many fans have an external RadBox setup, I have an external TEC/RadBox, which CPU wise I'm running below ambient cooling, and the GPU is radiator cooled.

You'll never get any 15~23 cooling fans inside a single case unless it's a Mountain Mods massive cube style or similar.

We're almost afraid to tell you about what you can achieve outside the box as fast as you've jumped into your present cooling, but you've already tasted outside the box a little with your top mounted radiator.

Which by the way I'd like to say once more the white with the green looks great!

So what kind of gaming load temps are you getting?

 
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Haha. I've seen a few external radboxes in build logs I've read 😛 still haven't gotten more into it (yet). I like to keep my case mobile so it's easy to take with me when I move houses :)

About temperatures, Asus AI Suite 3 shows cpu temperature at 42C and MSI Afterburner's OSD shows GPU at 42-45C. And the room temperature is very hot at the moment since the last couple of days have been very hot. Before these hot days the GPU temperature didn't go much above 40C :)

I'm very pleased with these as my CPU is overclocked at 4.5GHz (1.25v) and GPU is at 1100/1550. Only lifted the core and memory clock 50MHz from what they were at default.

Haven't tried lowering the CPU voltage yet though. Might get it to stay stable at somewhere between 1.20-1.24.
 
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Those are idle temps, what are your gaming load temps?

With an Intel setup use Real Temp to monitor your CPU gaming or load temperatures, Real Temp will maintain a minimum and maximum temperature reading so you'll know where your temps are actually reaching, during gaming and stress testing.

Real Temp was designed for the Intel Platform

You can track monitor GPU load temperature with GPU-Z.

Under the sensors tab put a check in the box next to, (Log to File) and it will record your GPU temperatures through the entire time GPU-Z is enabled. You can then go to the (GPU-Z Sensor Log) file in My Documents, and check your actual load temperatures.

My GPUs gaming load temperature so far has not exceeded 30c, but I have a lot more radiator cooling it by itself on a single loop than you do!

My present CPU idle temp is 20c at a 4.5ghz overclock.

At the 20c idle, (I can control my idle temperature), my Intel Burn Test load temperature is 45c.

 
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Oh yeah 😀 I ran the sensor test in RealTemp and the highest temperature the CPU got was 77C. Idle is 40C like mentioned before. Aren't those Afterburner's results for GPU good? 😀 On Screen Display shows the temperature in the top left corner of the screen while I'm gaming.

GPU-Z looks like to be showing same numbers 42C-45C under load. I tried a stress test to get GPU usage to 100% and the temperature raised up to 49C.

I'm eager to see if changing the liquid makes any difference to the temps. I bought 5 litres of Mayhems Ultra Pure H2O so I will be changing that some day soon.
 
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Should I be worried?
10dfog3.jpg


I found this kill coil which should not rust at all: http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Mayhems-Fine-99999-Silver-Kill-Coil-pid-16803.html

The description also states that it's recommended to use 1 kill coil per 1 litre of liquid. My loop is close to 2 litres but I guess I'm good with one still :)

On a side note I changed the x3 BitFenix Spectre fans (green led) to Corsair fans. This time I wanted to try out the Performance edition fans and they indeed did affect the temperatures. I did the same tests as before and here's the results:

Highest CPU temp before: 77C
Highest CPU temp now: 69C

Highest GPU temp before: 49C
Highest GPU temp now: 41C

So changing the fans actually dropped both temperatures by 8 degrees. I'm quite happy with that.

Only problem with these new fans is that even though they're connected to the fan controller, I can't control them. The RPMs jump wildly up and down and I can hear it as well as see it. The middle fan almost stops since at one point I am able to see the wings when normally fans spin so fast that you can't see them.

The noise level is marked at 35 dB in the package and they probably are at full speed every time I start my computer. They are quite loud and then slowly drop down the RPM and they go to very low point where I can't even hear them (just like the Quiet editions) then suddenly after 10 seconds the RPM starts to go up again, stays there 10 seconds and again comes down 😀

If I monitor the settings from the fan controller the RPM just keeps going up and down even though the setting is put to Manual and not Auto. Weird...
 
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Far as I'm aware Silver cant even rust, and unless your running saltwater there isn't much potential for rust to occur even on the metals where it is commonly a problem (Iron and any alloy that uses it, including Steel)
You might be getting an electroplating effect, and some of the Copper particles in the loop are plating with the Silver.
I wouldnt worry about it, if need be you can always pull it out and clean it off.

Really?
With the amount of rad space (and the rads used) your running for the components in the loop, I wouldn't have thought that any change in fan performance would have made a difference. We have somewhat similar loops with the main difference being the rads (slim vs thick) and I don't get any difference in temps if my fans are running at 800RPM or their full 1650RPM. Thats altering all the fan speeds, not just on a single rad (though I can do that).
Though admittedly, on slim rads you don't need good fans to get their full performance. But anyway, lower temps 😀.

No idea on the fans ramping up and down, at a guess it could be PWM issue but I have no idea. Never had that issue.

Manual fan controllers that are just glorified variable resistors FTW 😛
 
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I remember reading about the copper gathering around the kill coil somewhere. It sure looks like rust but most likely is just the copper 😛

I think the two biggest reasons for the cooling performance are: (1) I added the shroud, lifting the fans 30mm from the rad, and (2) the old fans were LED case fans and the Corsair's are Performance fans designed especially to be used with radiators :)

In the Bitfenix fans the air pressure is 0.62 mm/H2O (from BF website) and for the Corsair fans it's 3.1 mm/H2O.

For the results of the temperature tests I should add that I didn't measure the room temperature. It was a lot hotter when I did the tests with the old fans than it is now. Still I believe the fans affected at least 3-5C to the performance.
 
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That is not rust, silver does not rust, it's copper transfer, get that kill coil out of that loop!

The same thing happened to my system get the kill coil out.

So much for the theory that plating transfer could not occur without direct electrical current running through the solution.

The process is called Electroless Deposition and you have the perfect environment for it to take place, something you've added to the coolant has created an electrolyte base for it to happen between the copper and silver.

http://electrochem.cwru.edu/encycl/art-d02-eless-dep.htm

 
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That's little too much physics for my brain at the moment to read through but I get the base point 😛
I'm going to the army tomorrow so I don't know when I have time to work on the computer next time but when I do, I'll change the kill coil and liquid.

It's weird that you can't buy distilled water in Finland anywhere else than a pharmacy :/

i hope the Mayhems liquid is better, might as well get a Mayhems kill coil to get the best compatibility 😛
 
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Damn man, going into military service.
Basic training course?

Depending on how long it will be until you next get to use your computer, you may want to drain your loop. A couple of months of the water sitting still is just going to invite corrosion to happen. At the same time you also should disconnect the front power buttons, wouldn't want anyone turning it on while your away and the loops dry.
 
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Thanks for the tips :) in Finland every man must go to army, or you go to jail for 6 months :/ I can get home almost every weekend so the computer isn't going to stay alone and dust 😛
 
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