My first watercooling build! (Obsidian 800D and Xeon W3540)

[Spblue]

Hello all! I just finished my watercooling build last week-end and I figured I'd post a mini-worklog. It's nothing special, considering some of the awesome stuff people are doing in here but here goes...

I borrowed a friend's camera to take some pics and I suck at taking pics, so I apologize if some of them are on the blurry side.

System Components
Motherboard : Asus P6X58D Premium (SATA 6Gb/s & USB 3.0)
RAM : 6x G. Skill 1600Mhz 7-8-7-24 @ 1.5V
CPU : Intel Xeon W3540
GPU : XFX ATi 5870
Case : Corsair Obsidian 800D

Watercooling (Huge thanks to Dazmode for awesome prices and taking the time to help a noob out!)
CPU block : Nickel-plated Heatkiller 3.0
GPU block : EK 5870 waterblock
Radiator : TFC Xchanger 360
Reservoir : EK 150
Pump : MCP 655 (With EK Top)
Tubing : Clear Feser 3/8" ID 1/2" OD
Fluid : Feser One Blue
Feser compressiong fittings
6x Scythe S-FLEX SFF21G 120mm Fans
Scythe KM02-BK Fan Controller

Obsidian 800D:

All the watercooling components gathered. I bought almost everything from DazMode. I highly recommend buying from him for all your watercooling needs.

First, I installed the EK GPU block on my XFX 5870. The EK block was very impressive, the finish was mirror perfect.

Next, I took 6 Scythe S-FLEX fans and I daisy chained them in two pack of three fans. This allows me to control all 6 fans using only 2 channels of the fan controller. The Scythe fans aren't very power hungry: they need only 2.88 watts each, so even 3 of them on a single channel isn't near the 20W per channel limit of the Scythe fan controller.

After I mounted the fans on the radiator, and mounted the radiator + fans inside the case, all that was left was to install the motherboard, RAM and cpu.

Here are some pics of the completed system:

There we go! For my first watercooling build, it didn't go too badly. I had a leak on my reservoir when I first filled the loop, but some manual tightening fixed it. After that everything was smooth and I was able to get some overclocking done! I wasn't quite able to reach 4.4Ghz stable, unfortunately. At least I got somewhat close :

That voltage is pretty much as high as I'm willing to go for a 24/7 overclock. Even with 6 fans in push/pull on my 360 Xchanger, the CPU still reaches 80C with linpack. It doesn't even get to 70C with Prime95 though, so everything should be good. All in all, that was a fun experiment. I might try getting a 6 cores to put in there when they get a little bit more affordable...

Hum, how do I upload pics without them showing again as attachments? h34r:

 

[martin_metal_88]

Nice for a first WC build it have been well done and it's clean! Also a really good OC with you xexe!

 

[Rison]

good work.
just some advice on the loop - I would go from the pump > GPU > CPU > Rad > Res > back to pump for less tubing / cleaner look.

 

[whited]

good work.
just some advice on the loop - I would go from the pump > GPU > CPU > Rad > Res > back to pump for less tubing / cleaner look.

Yeah it looks like one tube from the cpu is streched pretty thin, than the one to the gpu has alot of slack.

Other than that congrats. :biggrin:

 

[enerGy]

yea if you had done a different tube route it wouldve looked a bit cleaner
still though, very nice first watercool build, hopefully you dont get to hooked or youll be one poor manh34r:

 

[AmuseMe]

yea if you had done a different tube route it wouldve looked a bit cleaner
still though, very nice first watercool build, hopefully you dont get to hooked or youll be one poor manh34r:

No doubt h34r: Once you go water, it's nothing but money down the drain lol. Yesterday I pieced my TJ07s loop together, and thought "Hm... How can I make this look cleaner?" Than I spend another $100 on rotaries/ adapters.

To the OP, very nice build, especially for your first time.

 

[Spblue]

No doubt h34r: Once you go water, it's nothing but money down the drain lol. Yesterday I pieced my TJ07s loop together, and thought "Hm... How can I make this look cleaner?" Than I spend another $100 on rotaries/ adapters.

To the OP, very nice build, especially for your first time.

Hehe thanks. Funny how you mention money, when I bought the pump, res and fans from you. :haha: