Tom's Hardware Member System Gallery

[UnknownUser1022]

My recently finished first hardline watercooled system.

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB)
G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB
Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB 2.5"
EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Classified
Corsair CSM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition
x3 Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition
EKWB GTX 980 Classy Nickely GPU Waterblock
XSPC Raystorm V3 CPU Waterblock
XSPC D5 Vario
XSPC Acetal Pump Top
Barrow 190mm Cylinder Reservoir

 

[Darkbreeze]

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kza3W0XX2RE&feature=youtu.be"][/video]

 

[UnknownUser1022]

Nice rig man! Looks like a high tech research lab in these photos.

Do you not intend to SLI that 980? I think it'll be a close call with 2 980s and just one 650W power supply.

Yea I was debating on SLI with the 980 since sli 980s is pretty strong. Still not sure yet though. My monitor is only a 1080p monitor at this point so once I upgrade I will potentially look into picking up another one. Thanks for the compliments I will be adding another set of LEDs to the underside of the GPU this weekend to shine some light down there.

@unknownuser1022, what case is that. Looks like the Phanteks Enthoo Evolve judging by the profile but I can't tell for certain. That's the case I WAS going to get, but it was twice the price of my Define S and I needed to shave the cost down a bit to get the Grid+ and Hue+. How was the room for rear cable management in that and how was it to work in?

Yes it is the Enthoo Evolv ATX there are obvoiusly two versions the ITX version and the newly release ATX which is what mine is. Working with it was a breeze and I had no issue with cable management on the backside. The pump installation is a little bit annoying simply because you have to screw the bracket down from the bottom side of the case. And since I had to drain and flush so many times because of the dish soap issues it was annoying. The top has a nice pull out bracket that makes mounting rad and fans a complete joke. I mean my 1 year old probably could do it.

The only issue with top mounted rad is that if you do not run your cables before you push the rad back you dont have much space to get hands up in there to connect cables or run them through the grommets.

All in all the case was easy to work with just required a little more planning than some other cases because if you forgot to run something you likely have to take something else out to run it.

It is so beautifully constructed though. Thing feels like a tank and the swinging door panels are such a nice feature.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I was tossed up between that case and the Define S. I actually only went with the Define S because it had almost all the same features, but was half the price. I'm entirely happy with the decision, but there is an tiny nagging suspicion I'd have been even more pleased had I shelled out the extra cash for the Evolve ATX.

On another note, I decided that my GPU card fan shroud was too dreary, so I figured I'd remove the cooler, repaste (It's been a couple of years now so it was probably time anyhow. Paste was pretty dry anyway.) and color the shroud like I did the sides of the front panel on my case. Turned out pretty fair. Still waiting on doing the custom sleeving though. I'm thinking I may order replacement cables for my G2 PSU so I can sleeve those a bit at a time without having to have my system unusable while I'm doing the sleeve job.

Before:

After:

 

[cst1992]

Just my opinion but if you color that 'Sapphire' in the second-to-last photo black it'll make a nice contrast to the rest of the case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, I considered that. The printing is extremely difficult to do that with though because of the way the plastic is formed. I may try it at some point, but I had a heck of a hard time doing the Superman logo on the front of the case and I'm not sure I want to break out the magnifying light again so soon.

If I knew I could get it exact, I wouldn't hesitate, but I very sketchy on trying to get it done without messing up the rest of the paint job. I might actually be able to rub off the dye on the lettering but I'm worried about trying that either. Maybe later.

More important, I'd sure like to find a backplate for that card, but there doesn't seem to be any for the R9 280 dual-x cards available anywhere. Plus, I'll likely be replacing the card sometime in the next few months, so it's probably only a temporary resident anyhow.

 

[jimthenagual]

 

[nukemaster]

An interesting take on the All In One Zalman took.

Nice system.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Jesus, not having a half decent camera so I can get shots like some of these guys get is pissing me off.

Adding another little tidbit, I ordered a second set of feet for my Define S, colored the portion that normally was the rubber base of the feet, flipped the second set of feet over and thus created custom one of a kind feet for this thing. I got the idea from the mock up I did of the case in the beginning as the reflection beneath the case on the counter it was sitting on made it look like there were two sets of feet with one set flipped, and I liked the effect.

 

[cbryan89]

CPU: i7-6700k
GPU: MSI GTX 980Ti 6G Gaming (x2 SLI)
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (2666)
MOBO: Asus ROG Maximus VIII Formula
PSU: EVGA 1000w Platinum
Case: Phanteks Evolv ATX
M.2: Samsung 950 pro 256 GB
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 1 TB
CPU cooler: Corsair H100i GTX (w/ Corsair SP120 fans)
Case fans: Corsair AF120 and AF140
Case lighting: Deep Color RGB kit
Cable extensions: Smart Kobra

 

[Darkbreeze]

That's pretty sweet. I think that's one of the better graphics card PEG cable routing jobs I've seen. Simple and clean. I like it. Time to do a custom loop and eliminate those droopy hoses. Maybe some yellow lighting or dye in the tubing. It's pretty damn nice just the way it is though.

 

[cbryan89]

That's pretty sweet. I think that's one of the better graphics card PEG cable routing jobs I've seen. Simple and clean. I like it. Time to do a custom loop and eliminate those droopy hoses. Maybe some yellow lighting or dye in the tubing. It's pretty damn nice just the way it is though.

Thanks man. I'll be doing a custom loop within the year. Mostly waiting to see what Pascal looks like, and if it's as impressive as everything I've been hearing, I'll probably pick up a new set of cards and wait to watercool those. Plan on doing a yellow pastel fluid.

 

[jimthenagual]

Almost done. Just have to install the UV lighting, probably tomorrow. Loving the system so far!

Specs in signature
Cooling system is:
XSPC photon 170 pump/res
XSPC 360 and 240mm rads
XSPC Raystorm Pro cpu block
EKWB gpu block and backplate

 

[Darkbreeze]

That's just sick Jim. Really cool. The more builds I see using that case, the more I wish I had spent the extra money on it, but I can't really complain about my 75.00 Define S either. Still, I REALLY like the build.

 

[Bearmann]

Beautiful work, Jim!

 

[detroitwillfall]

thats a very sliick case, reminds me of the powdered mac pro aluminum bodys only nicer! and of course love the cooling! 😀

 

[jimthenagual]

Thanks! It was fun putting it together. My first rigid tubing build and I gotta say, much harder than I was expecting. I went through a lot of extra tubing.

The photon also was a tight fit in the case. Tred a few different configurations but ended up as you see it.

The photon D5 pump is also louder than I expected. I video recorded the noise and sent a link to XSPC but they said the noise sounded normal to them. So that's a bit of a let down as I was looking for a quiet system.

All said and done I am very pleased. Love this system, thank to those who helped along the way.

 

[jkuzic]

Intel Core i7-4790K
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer
MSI 980TI SLI @1500mhz
HyperX Fury Black Series 32GB
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250gbx2 RAID 0
Super Flower Leadex Platinum 1000 W
LG UltraWide 29UM67 FREESYNC
Antec P380

Full EK water cooling parts + Corsar SP 120 QE fans

 

[cst1992]

Be careful, that thing might burn through the table!

How did you make the PSU look like that? Looks incredibly sexy.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Be careful, that thing might burn through the table!

How did you make the PSU look like that? Looks incredibly sexy.

The PSU itself has LEDs on the connections for the connectors and it looks like he has a RGB strip on the bottom and top outputting a redish/orange light.

 

[jimthenagual]

Beautiful work. your bends look nice and straight, your psu cables are all lined up nicely. Sweet ride you have there!

 

[gilbadon]

http://imgur.com/a/xU9uX

 

[jimthenagual]

Added some U.V. lighting today

 

[jkuzic]

Final update

Custom SLI bridge from MSI

Rig gallery http://imgur.com/a/f4u29

Thank you guys for positive comments

 

[Darkbreeze]

That's sweet.