Fractal R2 watercooled [pics inside]

grandpatzer

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Some days ago I started on watercooling a Fractal R2 PC, this is my 2nd computer to be watercooled and I'm much more happy with how smooth things went and how neat it is compared to my Haf 932 watercooled.

I was originaly planning on having the radiator internally but having it externa allows for slower fan and noise so having the heat get outside of case.

I did not get cpu block because it is not really necessary to watercool this cpu.
The air cooler is massive but I was able to nicely reroute tubing, with cpu block it would look more spacy ofcourse but also needs more pump power.

The pump and shoggy sandwich is not attached anyway to case, instead it is hold in place by the tubing, hopefuly this works OK.

Ive yet been able to fill it with water because I haven't figured out how to get my pump working, worst case scenarion I need to order a brand new pump and wait 1-2weeks.

miniattachedtofanrad.jpg

minialmostcomplete2.jpg

minirearfanslot.jpg

minipumpogpu.jpg

minialmostcomplete.jpg

mini4x2spacerinstalled.jpg

mini2xspacervs1x.jpg
 

Lutfij

Titan
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[:lutfij:3]
i think you have one of the cheapest external rad mount advice on Tom's :) nice work with the case - is it primed and running or are you yet to fill it with liquid?

and have you gone past the temp issue you had when running triple crossfire?

build looks nice, but cablemanagement can do better - sorry modo i said before you :p
 

grandpatzer

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Thanks for the kind words Lutfij :)

Yeah the external rad mount was cheap, I think the pictures tell pretty much how it's done (1x M3 metal male/female spacer combination + 3washers and 2 nuts to make sure rad is not punctured). I used 8spacers but I think 4 might be enough depending how much space is needed from PC case.

I did not look into the tripple crossfire bridge anymore, it took alot of time, energy and pain so I'll put that project for some other time, I either did not install it properly or it's deffective.

 

grandpatzer

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I did not get to test it yet as I have difficulties powering on the OEM Laing DDC-1t but the seller is supporting me and I think should eventually figure out the correct wiring for this molex.
 

Lutfij

Titan
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forget the OEM pump and get a MCP35x or Alpahcool VPP single...or that same family of pumps... :) would like to see this thing in action and finally breathing some life after all that trouble you've gone.

* youre welcome!
 

grandpatzer

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No, I should have stated earlier, It's 2 different PC's, they both have same model motherboard.

The Y is instead of reservoir, so I screw in a long tube that I use to fill the loop, then once filled and bled I would remove the long tube and seal the short Y fill tubing.
 

toolmaker_03

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a single tube for filling and bleeding dose that work well for you, I use a 2 tube system for filling and bleeding here is a look.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9879/fillsystem002.jpg

I use a make shift res. like a 2 litter container with this to fill and bleed.

by the way you have done a nice job on your builds, mine don't look so hot. but they are functional guess looks aren't what I worry about when I'm building them, too preoccupied with how to make it more efficient first. but when I get it working the way I won't, I never go back and clean it up. the experimental radiator project, I'm currently working on is a first for me, I am trying to make it look nice and function right at the same time. are you still wonting to try that pump, or is the company sending you a pin out for that pump, so that you can wire it correctly.
 

grandpatzer

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This is actually my 2nd PC watercooled ever and I have yet to test how the single tube works with the Y-fitting, I have looked others build and seems bleeding it might take longer vs reservoir, but some users report it to be easy to fill/bleed, I'm hoping it will go easy.

Thanks for the compliments on my builds, I choose rotary fittings this time around which I found easier to work with, obviously there is bigger risk of leaks.
 

grandpatzer

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Do you guys think if I screw in a 1.5meter tubing to fill tubing and then fill it completely full and let the pump fill the loop and radiator full of water is a good idea?

Obviously the tubing is thin so the air might be difficult to have get out of the fill tubing compared to reservoir which collects air.

Also I still did not figure out pump :(
 

grandpatzer

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I wonder why I'm not allowed to edit my posts here on toms forums?

I finally got the pump running and have filled the loop with water there are some airbubbles still in gpu's, do these disappear if I run 24-48h the system?

Maybe I should keep moving the case to make the airpockets move aswell.


Too long filltubing, wet floor and difiiculties filling:
minskad785.jpg


This is better, I should have had a bit longer fill tubing, now I must have 2 short filltubings attached to each other for easier fill/bleeding:
minskad799.jpg


This bottle turned out to be a life saver, so glad I bought it:
minskad795.jpg


All connections seem to be sealed well:
minskad791.jpg
 

grandpatzer

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Any tips how to secure the pump to the decoupling and case so it does not move?

I'm not able to bleed properly because the pump would fall if I rotate case.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
I'm not sure why you went this route, but it's a decent idea to have your pump mounted in some way or another. I mentioned before that your sound/vibration dampening idea was far more than what you needed, but it seems that you wanted to move forward with it. No harm in that- testing out new ideas is good, but I was trying to save you the headaches.
 

grandpatzer

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I think this is the only good way to decouple this oem Laing DDC-1t 10w because there is not screw holes to install it.

I currently put electric tape around the pump, hopefuly the electric tape does not melt from the heat?