xtremesystems + OCAU

I posted this build on two forums to see if they had any suggestions etc…but mostly for the feed back:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=241981

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=836949

Josh’s work log

Check out my mates worklog. he is a noob so go easy on him lol just kidding man. na its looking good so far, keen to see the final product.

http://joshfox.posterous.com/

FINISHED!

So happy with how it all turned out! Its my first watercooling build and i dont think i will go back to air cooling after this. it looks awesome temps are down 8-10 degrees compared to my previous set up! all that is left to do is to overclock her. not sure when il  get the chance to sit down and give that ago but i will post my results! thanks heaps for following my build log. let me know what you think in the comments. if u guys want any specific photos i will be happy to put them up….until nnext time….Happy gaming! hope u all had a good xmas! and all the best for the new year!

P.s. Here is my temps. Ambient (room temp) 25 deg, Temp @ idle 27 deg, Temp @ load 33 deg! plenty of room for overclocking !

BLEEDING THE SYSTEM

I wrapped each fitting with paper towel so if there was a leak i would know where it was coming from.

And i had a leak from the cpu block so i had to drain it and start over

The orings that came with the fittings were too thin for the cpu block so i changed them out for thicker ones

Had to remove the cpu block to change out the o rings so i left it off to bleed it just incase

I left it running over night like this and came back in the morning….NO LEAKS! wooo time to remount the cpu block and finish her up

RES

These are crap photos coz i kept getting glare off the acrylic

Compression fitting

And again

Pump mounted

Fitting in case (taken after i added the coolant)

Different angle

RADIATOR

Flushing the rad

Fans mounted to rad

180mm to 120mm adapter mounted

both adapters fitted

rad mounted

Just enough clearance between the video card and rad

CPU Block

Cpu Block with compression fittings…fitted :S

Block mounted to motherboard

WOOOO!

wooo i got all my bits! its all finished! so happy with it. ill seperate the posts into sections so its not just a mas of photos.

All my pretties

All the hardware mounted ready for some liquid goodness!

Oh ye i made the big mistake of taking photos without checking them…for alot of them there was a smudge on the lens so ye sorry about that.

Ok this is definatly my last post till after christmas. If ur not familiar with the Raven Rv02 case, theres a few pics HERE. You will notice that everything is turned 90 degrees so that all ur components (mouse, kb, monitor etc) plug in at the top of the case. Then a cover goes over the top to hide all the cables. The mesh on this cover seperated from the plastic surroundings fairly easily so I decided to paint it red . i did this at work and unfortunately i forgot to bring my camera with me so i only have before and after pics. And yes they are batman bed sheets in the background….you know you are jealous.

Before.

After !

Mounted.

Different angle.

lol Kinda looks like PUDGY is strangling my dog….he probs deserved it.

Painting the cathodes

Ok earlier i mentioned i was going to fix my cathodes so they were more red than pink. here is how i did it.

This stuff we use at work for spraying on brake light lenses when they fade.

(crap photo) I masked off the areas that didnt need to be painted

Waiting for the paint to dry

For comparison, here is one painted and one not painted

Before i painted it.

And after. (again im having trouble capturing the light with my camera. looks way better in person)

mounted in case

We have power

With my bat-panel on

Stoked with the results!  Now im just doing some cable management and other bits and peices which probably dont need to be post. but if anything comes up ill post it asap ….hurry up christmas!

Quick update.

I put one of the case fans in

Case fan installed and running.

I also test mounted the cathodes. They are more pink then red when they light up. but i have a solution for that will post when its done

I sleeved the power cable to the fan

Also sleeved the cables to the fan controller of the 180mm fan.

120mm and 180mm sleeving together

I also sleeved the power switch, hdd led and reset switch cables from the case

A better photo of the lights i replaced earlier.

I am affraid that will be it for a few days untill i get more bits. CANT WAIT !!!

bits and peices.

This is one of the rocker switches that will be controlling my cathode kits.

Another view of the switch

Front panel cover + weapon of choice

Two holes drilled. Not the neatest cut but they get covered up.

Switches mounted

Panel refitted :) turned out alot neater then i thought.

I replaced the stock Blue Led’s for the power Led’s with Red ones. Looks alot better in person, camera didnt really capture the light well.

stripping the case

All components removed and ready for some “pimpin” (Crap photo sorry)

Removed the two 180mm fans

Ill be mounting the radiator on top of the filters of the 180mm fans. As you can see they are quite effective at catching the dust.

Test fitting the Radiator bracket. Its basically a 180mm to 120mm adapter. Fingers crossed it all fits.

“Temporary” rig location

The Cable Sleeving

Click on each pic for a description

Introduction to “Red Raven”

Hey all!
This will be my first computer mod/build of this size. So im hoping you guys enjoy this journey as much as i do. Ill start by posting my current Rig.

CPU: Intel Q6600 @ 2.4ghz (stock….for now)
RAM: 4 x 1 gig sticks of corsair DDR2 800mhz ram
MOTHERBOARD: Evga 750i sli FTW edition
VIDEO CARD: Palit GTX275
PSU: Corsair HX620
COOLING: Thermalright 120 extreme with 2x 120mm fans
CASE: Silverstone Raven Rv02

I wil be calling this build the “Red Raven” basically coz im taking my raven rv02 and adding some red (Stroke of genius)

What i hope to achieve during this build is:

- Firstly, significantly lower cpu temps so that i can push my clock to hopefully over 3ghz. (but will settle for 3)
- Secondly, but not far behind the “firstly”,  make my case and all its components look awesome!

Now here are all the bits i have/have coming for my build. (NOTE: i will be using the majority of my existing hardware)
Watercooling:

• Swiftech Apogee GTZ CPU Waterblock
• Swiftech MCR320-QP Radiator
• Swiftech MCP355 waterpump
• XSPC Laing DDC Bayres One
• PrimoFlex PRO LRT 1/2″  Tubing

To get a bit of an understanding for how i want to set up my watercooling, check out THIS. Only i will be removing two of the 180mm fans on the bottom of the case and mounting 3x120mm fans on the rad. This will give me better cooling of the radiator and give me a bit more clearance in between the rad and the graphics card.

Bling (Lighting)

• 4x Coolermaster Silent 120mm Red led fans (3 for the rad, 1 for the case)
• 2x Logisys 12″ inverterless Red cold cathodes
• Im going to sleeve the main power supply cables from the PSU using red and black sleeving.

Ok, so now you know my intension’s, and how i am going to go about acheiving my goals with this build. the following posts will be progressive pictures and info of my build. Im not sure how long this will all take but bare with me on this one.  Oh and ill take this opportunity to apologise in advanced for my poor camera work and spelling .

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