Category Archives: enthusiast
Time for a new build – Steel White Part 1
So…I made the mistake of looking too hard at some new cases.
At first I was drooling over the Fractal Design Vector RS. https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/vector/vector-rs-tempered-glass/blackout/
Then… Due to inventory shortages and still in the looking mindset, I started looking at the Lian li O11 Dynamic… https://lian-li.com/product/pc-o11-dynamic/
Yet as I looked deeper, one thing bothered me…I kept my computer on my left hand side, so I never get to look at my window and this one, being spectacular, really demands it… What if….? They made a case that can be reversed…. Well they did…. The O11 Dynamic Evo https://lian-li.com/product/o11-dynamic-evo/
At the same time I started picking at motherboards and considering the proart line. I was leaving towards the X760e version.. https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/proart/proart-x670e-creator-wifi/
But it’s $500 and while it adds more I/os and the option for pcie5 gpu support over the b650… https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/proart/proart-b650-creator/
I also started looking at the gigabyte aero… The aero adds one huge benefit over every other board. Visionlink support. This really ups the game when using a graphical interface for art. Which I’m much more likely to take advantage of over anything the proart offered. https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650-AERO-G-rev-10#kf
There are other parallel searches and researching I’m performing while considering cases and motherboards. One of which is processors. Let’s just say this was pretty difficult. So far I’ve only discussed AMD boards but I did consider Intel. Especially the 13600k https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/230493/intel-core-i513600k-processor-24m-cache-up-to-5-10-ghz/specifications.html
Eventually though the lack of ddr5 and likelihood of Intel switching sockets soon, drove me towards the 7700x https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-7-7700x?gclid=Cj0KCQiApKagBhC1ARIsAFc7Mc6P3YQE_FJjjhE82sX3-_IxE9x7rLGXaTiE5wzjmB8Fo-ubYDKMgSIaAryDEALw_wcB
And then a deal popped up and I couldn’t pass on a 7900x for only a few dollars more https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-9-7900x?gclid=Cj0KCQiApKagBhC1ARIsAFc7Mc5TVyYTF8_CGMyS0UZSjoS7yG041ap3PXKegyE6ow3NhDz3pJzA8bAaAgXQEALw_wcB
Enough for now, part two soon!
Cosmetics before move
In the coming months, I will be moving. When that occurs, I will be giving another shot at UV Orange Coolant. It appears that pretty much everyone has gotten out of the market of making it anymore, so I’m rolling the dice on a brand that I don’t know as well.
Until then, here’s the latest couple of updates.
UV Dye, Yay! Oh wait no….
So I received my order for the Primochill UV Orange Dye today. Strangely….just like the UV Orange Coolant, the UV on the packaging was marked out with black marker. I still added the dye, it at least improved the color, but is definately not UV reactive….e-mail sent to http://www.performance-pcs.com . yay fun. I have also sent my 3rd e-mail and tried to call about the broken cathode that I received, but still not response from http://www.adorama.com .
On the plus side, my 3 new fans came in. I’m setting them up to specifically be quiet. They are the same as the 3 intake fans that I have set up for the radiator in color. 2 are 120mm and 1 is 140mm. They work great at least.
New keyboard, spray paint and consideration
Soooo, there’s a few delays, I’m still waiting for the UV Orange Dye. It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to get the side window for the 915, upper portion of the case. Coolermaster seems to have abandoned the case altogether and doesn’t even have replacement parts. I’m tempted to mod it myself, but with it being my first attempt at a side panel mod, I’d at least like to have a back up. I had a 3rd cathode coming in, but it came in broken, sooo waiting on the customer support of Adorama.
While waiting I found a deal on a G.Skill Ripjaws KM780 RGBÂ (brown switches for around $100 after some running around), so I picked it up. I’ve been running a Steelseries 6GV2 (black switches) for several years, but the “C” key seems to over poll and I’ve had issues with that keyboard since purchase. I’ve also owned a Steelseries Apex (rubber domes and it was soooo wide), a Corsair RBG Red (never worked as I wished it to and returned to Best Buy), and a Corsair with brown switches (LEDs started dying within a day and they couldn’t replace the board with the exact same one, so I got a refund from Corsair). Anyways, I also wanted orange LEDs, but despite paying $50 more for a Ducky Shine 4, I would have to go RGB. For RBGs I was considering this G.Skill, the silent switch Corsair Strafe (currently only available at Best buy for ~$160) or a Ducky Shine 5 with Natural White Cherry MX switches (first RGB on switch for Cherry), running around $160 on eBay. I didn’t go with this just because it was cheaper, but I liked the extra buttons, the design and its basically comparable the rest of the keyboards (okay, supposedly Corsair’s software has improved over my previous experience and supposedly better than the G.Skill’s software, but to be honest, I just set this keyboard up and it did exactly what I wanted with no issues). The better benefit of the Ducky Shine 5 is that there is not “key bleed” (light shining outside of the keys, the Natural Whites only shine through the key itself, so that it highlights just the character).
Another fun thing was pH testing ORANGE water….no matter what I did the results were orange…so with a suggestion from my friend [XMEN]Gambit, I went with a digital pH meter.
Now for pictures and a couple of videos:
Lights and power
While wrapping up installation, I’ve discovered that I the fluid I received is not UV reactive. I’m working on getting some die, but since that will take awhile I’ve started cleaning up the install and installing lights. I have another 2 15″ UV bulbs incoming and I’ll be working on getting couple of more case fans to replace the stock fans.
Holding water
Today marks the second filling of water (maybe third) and the water system test. Now to leave it running for a day or so.
I say second filling because I had a leak at the drain valve, fixed with some plumbers tape, the fixing of which lead to a leak in the fitting on the bottom of the reservoir. So I guess I found the weak spot, as this fitting is real close to a turn and was much more difficult to reseat than it was to initially connect.
Tomorrow I’ll drain the distilled water and fill with the colored water. Then connect a couple of lights.
Sorry for the delay, but I have been busy working on the build!
At this point I have installed all of the hardline.
I’ve water tested. I have discovered one leak from the threads of the drain valve to the reservoir. Somehow I don’t have any plumber’s tape handy, but that will be fixed as soon as the stores are open again! Then there will be pictures of the second water fill (clear) while I test under pressure, then another drain, fill with colored water, ph test, add biocide and then add lighting.
I’m going to add a windowed side to the upper/itx portion of the case and light that portion as well, unfortunately this only appears to be available directly from Coolermaster and their site is closed until 01/03. I’d like to add fans to the top of this portion of the case, but there are no fan holes, just mesh….so I’ll probably have to get creative or hope that the heat sufficiently dissipates via the mesh.
The boneyard
The filling funnel
fill funnel from the top
pump/cpu block is in!
underside of CPU block/pump
The line from the reservoir to the 2nd video card, installed! (surprisingly easy)
This is where the drain valve will go1
drain valve installed
line from 2nd gpu to reservoir complet
line from 2nd GPU to reservoir installed! This has to get easier from here…oh wait no *cries
line from gpu to reservoir installed
This little bugger from the 2nd gpu to the first was insanely hard to get right! Finally got it, but wow…
The LGA
cpu block/pump installed
final line installed
My fingers are killing me! I thought that this “s” curve would be easy. Exit CPU, 90 degree curve, 180mm, 90 degree curve…but this little angle they put on the cpu ports was annoying and added to the difficulty as a whole. I even had the piece made perfectly, but I went to fast and it must’ve been to fragile as it broke apart while trying to attach.
Adventures in Line Bending
Today I began the hardline bending portion of the build. I decided to get a bit more precise in designing the lines. This resulted in me picking up some white board and peg board. This allows me to draw out my plan and mount the 90 degree mandrel to a fixed position.
Since this was my first attempt at bending the pipe, I decided to take a practice run with a 24″ piece. The first step is penciling the points of bending and at what point the line lines up with the edges of the mandrel.
This requires the use of silicone string, mandrel and a heat gun. It turns out that the power at my apartment cannot handle me cooking and running the heat gun at the same time, as running the heat gun for a few minutes resulted in all of the power to my apartment switching off. After running out for a replacement dinner and finding the outside breaker, I was able to resume the bending.
Somehow I’ve lost my shot of the final adjusted install. It will have to be in the next update!
Mini Update – The Parts Are In!
Today I picked up the parts and tools necessary to complete this project. Unfortunately I have some responsibilities to handle this weekend, so this will just be an overview of what I have received. It is kind of redundant when compared to the previous post, except there’s pictures!
Nilk's Place 