New tower-21 build, MINI WORKLOG

[HaCKs]

SPECS

Hardware
Intel core 2 extreme QX9650
XFX 780I motherboard
2x Raptor 74gb raid-0 ( vista X64 ultimate)
1TB Maxtor 7200RPM SATA2
4GB OCZ Reaper
3x 9800GTX 3-way SLI (still boxed up, for use once good water blocks come out)
2x 9600 GT SLI (cheapy solution while waiting for 9800 gtx blocks)

Cooling
DD Tower 21 case W/ custom etching and fillerport
DD D5 pump
TDX Universal CPU Block
maze-5 SLI setup for 9600 GT's (temperary)
7/16th ID 5/8th OD tygon-R 3603
Compression fittings for everything except pump and t-line
Black ice PRO III 360MM radiator
$300 worth of fittings and modding extras from petrastechshop and frozencpu


Needless to say, this should be a fun week. I am told my case goes "under the lazer" at DangerDen, and will ship tomorrow, so expect a lot more pictures along the way on friday. I started this whole project in an Ultra Aluminus case, but soon discovered that a 240MM rad clear the PSU so I didn't bother to cut the holes for that, oh well!

[HaCKs]

Last night I installed the DD sli maze5 setup on my two 9600 GT's, it went smooth EXCEPT for two things:

1. There is NO clearance at all with the compression fittings (It works, but BARELY)

2. The zalman heatsync's did NOT stick to the memory at all, I followed the instructions to a t and left them overnight, when I woke up I picked up the card and three of them simply fell off. I just ordered some arctic silver epoxy, that should do the trick.

[HaCKs]

I made some progress the other night, and took some pictures to get comments and suggestions. I would like to add that this morning I realized I was VERY unhappy with the plumbing of the whole system, and I draned it and started over (pictures later tonight) I have switched the rad to have the barbs on the top, and have made a better location of the t line to make it easier to fill.

[THRASH]

sweet case, won one recently

[HaCKs]

With all these people that have been winning them, I don't understand why it was so impossible to find pictures!

[metry]

Yeah, roll in some build pics! We are all curious to see how these new cases look like in the real world!

[HaCKs]

My tracking number says it is out for delivery, so I will get some pics up tonight with the build.

[HaCKs]

*edit*

[metry]

nice pics!
There's just a couple of things that spring up to me:
- The loop sequence is rather unusual. You get better performance going pump -> CPU -> GPU's -> Rad -> (T-line) -> pump
- The T-line should connect to the poly-T barb that is perpendicular to the other two. = Less flow restriction, cause your liquid has to make a sharp turn to get back to the pump (and you probably notice during your loop file process that the pump didn't always have liquid to suck)
- You might want to put some hose clamps on for the long run.

These are just my suggestions to give you a hand. It's your build, do it how you like.

[HaCKs]

Thanks for the tips!

To be honest, I was aware of all of the issues:

1. The location of the pump means I have no chance of getting to the cpu first, but a 4ghz qx9650 @34c is not bad at all, so I don't care.

2. the T line problem has been solved, I knew it was sloppy the first time I was doing it, but I was excited and rushing it, I replumbed it earlier today and it is much better now.

3. hose clamps are ugly, I can not pull the tubes off the barbs as hard as I try, so I am not worried about it.

The temps are amazing, and I have some yate loons and a GTX 360 rad on its way so I should be okay when the 9800 GTX blocks come out and I move up to 3x 9800GTX tri sli.

[metry]

good for you!
For the cpu temps, you might want to check your core temps out under full load, as they run far more hotter than the "CPU temp" (read from an ugly motherboard thermal diode)
The "core temp" readings are from Digital Thermal Sensor (DTS) located directly in the processor. It's the core temps that matter because they translate directly the local temperature of the cores. Try this program "core temp"

[HaCKs]

I've been using core temp for a long while now


I've been overclocking since the celeron 333mhz (got that bitch up to 400!)

I remember when you had to move jumpers on the motherboard to set the voltage and multiplier. What a pain in the ass.

[[DD]JERM]

Good job...sorry I couldn't get to you earlier to confirm the GTX and Pro having the same mounting hole locations!

[[DD]JERM]

Also linked you from the product page!!!

[Spart]

Hacks do yourself a favor and wait for the 9900 series or go ATi. Even the Nvidia Fanboys find the 9800's laughable as they are almost exact copies of the G92 8800's. There's a price difference but little to no performance difference.