[COMPLETED - 18SEP2011] Raven RV02 LC Build Log

[boiler1990]

Hey guys! I've been working on getting this LC system going for a while now, and have finally gotten everything I need
Since the RV02 isn't the *best* choice for liquid cooling, few LC systems have been built using this case, and I hope that mine will add to the ones out there.

For all of the photos, check out my photo album here: http://s1123.photobucket.com/albums/l554/bravokiloromeo/Water%20Cooling/


Many thanks to rubix_1011 and delluser1 from Tom's, as well as m0r7if3r, Conumdrum, and Dooms101 over at Overclockers.com. Without all of your help (over the course of two potential LC projects), this wouldn't have been possible.


Here's what I have in components so far (and what I paid, for reference):
Don't know how to do thumbnails - I will edit the pics if somebody lets me know how

Pump/Res - XSPC X2O 750 - $60.10 from SVC.com (incl. S&H)

CPU Block - EK Supreme HF Full Copper - $65 used from [H]ardForum

GPU Block - EK FC6970 Nickel/Plexi + Nickel Backplate - $93 used from [H]ardForum

Radiators - Danger Den Black Ice Xtreme III 120.3 + HWLabs SR1 120.1 - $50 used + $55 new from [H]ardForum

Fans - 3x Scythe Slipstream SY1225SL12SH + 1x Scythe Slipstream SY1225SL12H - $31 + S&H from Jab-Tech.com + $9.79 from Amazon.com

Tubing - White Primochill Primoflex Pro LRT 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD - 10ft @ $16.25 from Amazon.com

Fittings - Enzotechnology Matte Black Compression Fittings 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD - 10 @ $6.50 + S&H from Jab-Tech.com

 

[boiler1990]

Here's what my case was before I tore it down over the weekend:

As you might be able to see, the cut out for the CPU backplate is a bit too small for my Hyper 212+, and as you'll see later it is too small for the EK's backplate as well. Going to need to cut that out a little to get it to fit.

Here's the stripped case:

I placed the triple rad in for a size comparison. I could have most likely fit a quad rad if I cut out the hard drive cage on the bottom left, but I can at least leave one of the original 180mm fans, or maybe replace it with the better AP181.

Current status: Waiting on the fans and second rad so I can figure out how I want to mount them. The single rad is going up top where the 120mm cut out is. I need to get screws to put the fans on the rads.
Today I should be able to order the radiator mounts that come with Silverstone cases. In my hurry to move out of my fraternity house at college I left them behind, but luckily they're only $6 + S&H from Silverstone. They're made to mount a triple rad on the original 180mm fans, so with a little drilling it should mount nicely to the bottom of the case.

 

[boiler1990]

Update 20Jun2011:
SR-1 came today, and while a little thicker than I was expecting, it fits quite nicely in the groove for the 120mm fan up top. I bolted the fan on to the rad and as you can see in the pics, the screw holes are only off by a few millimeters. Once I get the Dremel bits I'll be able to fix this and mount it
Also just ordered the radiator mounts, and they should be here in ~3 days.

 

[boiler1990]

Update 21Jun2011:
The last three Scythe Slipstreams arrived. They're the 1900RPM 110CFM versions, and should work better than the Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000s I had.

Also found out the Black Ice Xtreme III is probably a Danger Den model, not a HWLabs radiator, because it doesn't have M4-size screw holes. I think they're #6-32, but I'm going to check. I know for certain M4 screws don't fit though.

My tube of MX-2 for my 6950 also arrived (completely forgot I ordered it), so I can mount my GPU block later this week when I have time to flush it out.

 

[rubix_1011]

I am liking this build log so far...keep up the good work.

Also, I think you are correct on the rad being a DD...I'm not sure HWL's actually released that rad as a X-flow. DD did a lot of X-flow rads back in the day, but most (if not all) of the HWL's rads are dual-pass, so you might be onto something there. They only thing that makes me actually think it 'COULD' be a HWL's rad is the actual thickness...most of the older DD BIX rads were thinner...even thinner than MCR's and current 'thin' lines of rads out today. Up for much debate...are there any serial numbers or markings on it anywhere?

Keep up the great work...again...great to see a build log. I like the choice of white tubing...makes a build look incredibly clean (at least in my opinion) . Also, like the use of rads in spaces you have available...the 120mm being added in.

 

[boiler1990]

Thanks. I'm hoping everything turns out well but I'm open to any suggestions you or others reading this may have. Im going to go to my neighbors for help with the drilling and cutting, since he's got a whole workshop and has helped us with many projects before.

I was told the rad was a BIX3 by the guy who sold it to me, so I've been running on that assumption. I figured it was DD because it doesn't have M4 screw holes, which all of the HWLabs (at least recent) rads use. The design doesn't fit the pictures of both the HWLabs or the DD rads, because the inlet and outlet should be on the same side.

I was thinking about green tubing initially, but I too fell in love with the white. The clear/colored tubing looks a little too rubbery for me.

I also figured that a dual or triple rad could fit on the back if something like the Koolance rad mount could be used. The only problem is that the PSU intake is back there, which would require you to either starve the PSU of air or feed it heated air coming through the rad :/

 

[rubix_1011]

Standoffs for the rad...?

 

[boiler1990]

Not quite sure what you mean...
The mount I ordered raise the rad (slightly) off the bottom like you can see in this build. I just wanted 120mm fans since the stock 180s have low static pressure and CFM ratings even though they're quieter. If it gets too loud I'll just stick in some of the foam they make.

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?s=a6a1d9f144a15eee875de2ab4e319401&t=183775&page=2

 

[rubix_1011]

^That is a very clean build...I like it.

As for standoffs...I use some thin PVC tubing that I cut down to 1/2" long and got some longer screws to mount through the side of my case. My rads sit 1/2" off the side to allow my fans in pull to grab air behind them and pull out. You could do something similar if you hung the rad off the back of the case to give you more room for your PSU.

 

[d0gr0ck]

A word on the Scythe Slipstreams 1900RPM/110CFM, these suckers are loud when pushed up against a Rad running full bore. They were at least as loud as the reference cooler on a Radeon 4870 while gaming in my case.

I have mine running on the 5V line right now instead of a fan controller. Tach line reports them at about 1100RPM and they are virtually silent. I think there's a much better sweet spot for air and noise at higher speed though, I feel like I'm relying on rad area more than fan effectiveness.

My Radeon 6950 loves its watercooling. Core temperature never reports above 40C after unlock, overclocking and slight voltage bump. I've got a MCW60-4870 sans heatpipe add-on and mini coppersinks on the voltage regulation chips

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, you'll see the biggest temp drops on a GPU when watercooled...sometimes almost 50% decrease. It's amazing how well a good water loop can keep your gear cool.

 

[boiler1990]

^That is a very clean build...I like it.

I've figured out you pretty much have to be clean cut in the Raven or the system won't fit

The only problem with the PSU that I think I'll have is that it is not modular, so there are several PCI-E power cables that kind of get in the way. When I swapped over from 3x470s a few months back, though, I didn't clean up the case that much, so I get the chance to start from scratch here. I did get the $30 MIR today, so I could go shopping...

As for standoffs...I use some thin PVC tubing that I cut down to 1/2" long and got some longer screws to mount through the side of my case. My rads sit 1/2" off the side to allow my fans in pull to grab air behind them and pull out. You could do something similar if you hung the rad off the back of the case to give you more room for your PSU.

I still don't quite understand what exactly you mean/how your situation will be that much different than mine. My case sits about 1/2"-1" off the ground, and from the looks of it the rad mounts will be somewhere between 1/4"-1/2" off the bottom of the case. I'm going to have the fans on top pulling the air through the radiator, and there will be more space because underneath the 180mm fans there are fan mounts, a fan filter mount, the fan filter, and then the fan - in total it eats up about 1.5"-2" easily.

A word on the Scythe Slipstreams 1900RPM/110CFM, these suckers are loud when pushed up against a Rad running full bore. They were at least as loud as the reference cooler on a Radeon 4870 while gaming in my case.

I have mine running on the 5V line right now instead of a fan controller. Tach line reports them at about 1100RPM and they are virtually silent. I think there's a much better sweet spot for air and noise at higher speed though, I feel like I'm relying on rad area more than fan effectiveness.

I plan on getting some rubber washers to reduce some of the vibrations, and I got some of that "gel stuff" from Petra's to see if I could do anything with that (worth a shot at least). Otherwise the sound reducing foam is easy to install. I'm also used to the fans from 3 reference 470s, so this should be an improvement if anything. I also have great headphones that can drown out the noise I appreciate the information, and it will most likely help somebody else reading this in the future.

 

[rubix_1011]

Oh, I thought you were talking about if you were to mount the rad on the back of the case...not inside on the bottom. My mistake.

 

[boiler1990]

No problem. Another rad would easily fit on the back of the case, and there are holes cut in the base at the rear to make the tubing clean, so if anyone has the urge to put multiple large rads on the case it is possible.

 

[boiler1990]

Update 22Jun2011:
I got some distilled water the other day so I could start cleaning my parts. Flushed out the GPU and CPU blocks, and the rad, which had very kindly all been well-cleaned by their previous owners before shipping. The GPU and CPU blocks have been officially mounted to the graphics card and motherboard, respectively.

The rad mounts turned out to be $12 after the shipping was added to their $6 price tag. Hopefully they work well, because then future builders with any type of case can get cheap and effective rad mounts.

 

[boiler1990]

Update 25Jun2011:

The rad mounts came Thursday (23rd) but forgot to update

Made the journey to Lowe's (traffic is a mess on the weekends) and got #6-32x3/8" bolts/machine screws and nuts, which were cheap. I probably would have gotten some 1/4" long ones if they had them, because I was worried 3/8" would be too long for the radiator. I attached them to the mounts and they seem ok. #6-32 is a tight fit on this rad, but nothing else really seemed to fit.

Rubber washers were a must; they're going between the fans and the rad so I can reduce the noise.

I have the appropriate Dremel bits (at least, I think) now to cut the backplate section and drill the mounting holes I need, but I'm going to wait until later because it's easily 95 outside right now, and I can't do it indoors

 

[boiler1990]

Update 25Jun2011 Part 2:

Got the top screw holes drilled earlier using a 1/8" bit. I figured out pretty quickly that the fan wouldn't mount because there was no way to get to the screws on the inside of the case (thanks to the radiator), so using some *unconventional* techniques with a regular power drill, I got the self-tapping fan screws in. Then the second realization occurred - the radiator protrudes from the case ever so slightly. I can get the side panel on if I force it, but I would rather not have to...

Also, while cutting the backplate, the Dremel died. The motor spins but the linkage from the drill to the collet is broken, so I'll have to find a replacement once I know the extent of the damage. For the time being, I purchased a Proxxon Precision Tool
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017PWTX8/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001FWXEO6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1YSRK7WCCP82B4672GMM

 

[boiler1990]

Update 28Jun2011:

My Proxxon rotary tool came today, and it is absolutely ridiculous. It drilled the same holes as my Dremel in about 5 seconds (compared to 1+ minutes) and cut more of the backplate in 5 minutes than the Dremel did in 30. I would absolutely recommend Proxxon tools to anyone even dreaming about modding (or any of those other uses for it).

I drilled the last 4 holes for my rad, and cut a decent portion of the backplate, as seen in the photo. It got a bit skittish on me (it's extremely strong), which cut off some of the paint Right now the Proxxon is cooling off because after 15 minutes of use and 30 minutes of cooldown, it's still easily over 100F - it's way too hot to hold. It hasn't overheated though...

The fans are now attached to the rad, and once I can cut/smoothen the rest of the backplate I can install everything. Getting close!

 

[boiler1990]

Update 29Jun2011:
The LC system is installed and testing!

In chronological order:

I finished the backplate cut (only 5 minutes out of my day) and I used a sanding bit (probably not the right one, but it worked) to smoothen it out; it won't even catch fabric As you can see in the pic, it very nicely fits the waterblock backplate.

I then proceeded to mount the bottom radiator and then attached the fittings to all of the components. The tubing was difficult mainly because of all the tight spaces - it's very difficult to get those compression fittings on in general, let alone in a 1" diameter work area. My pointer finger is nearly bleeding, and thanks to my brother I was able to get the last two fittings on.

Just for kicks, I weighed the case with all of the LC system components (dry), and it's almost 27 pounds. I can't imaging what it is with the water and all of the components back inside...

My loop is set up as follows: Pump/Res -> 120.1 rad -> CPU -> 120.3 rad -> GPU -> Pump/Res

I'm running it for a bit to check for minor leaks (only started it about 30 minutes ago), and I am going to run it tomorrow again for about 4 hours before installing everything else. I don't want to run it overnight because if I do have a leak and it drains, I don't want my pump to dry up and burn out. I got almost all of the air bubbles out, and the pump does hum but not as loud as most make it out to. I'd like to run something like an MCP 35X in the future.

I'll update with any relevant information if need be (hopefully no problems arise), and I will definitely update upon 100% completion of the rebuild phase.

 

[boiler1990]

Update 30Jun2011:

Rebuild is now complete!!!

It took me an hour and a half to get everything rewired, but I managed to fit the cables into nooks where the 180mm fans used to be (there's actually more room in there now than before ).

As you can see in the last pic, the temps are awesome. I ran Kombustor in MSI Afterburner and my GPU maxed at 39-40C, and when stressing the CPU and GPU, the CPU hit ~45C on average and the GPU sat at 35-36C. Although it sounds like a hurricane (not noisy at all compared to 3x470s haha), it was absolutely worth it.

Some notes for future builders:
- Drop the stock 180mm fans and get good 120mm ones. Longer GPUs won't fit, and there is nowhere near enough air moving through.
- A 180mm fan won't fit no matter how the triple rad is installed in the bottom. I'd suggest a quad rad for those comfortable cutting out and moving the HDD bay (HDD rack is removable).
- Swiftech's 120mm rads are a bit thinner than the SR-1 (133 vs. 128 mm), and I think it will just barely fit. That said, my rad isn't pushing to hard on the side panel, and it's barely noticeable.
- A dual rad should mount easily to the rear under the power supply intake, but a standoff of some sort will be necessary. Koolance's rad mount looks like an easy way to do it.

I will be posting these pics in the LC Club Thread. Thanks for all of the help!

 

[orangejuice789]

Really nice looking system boiler. Great work and solid temps as well!

 

[rubix_1011]

What load temps are you seeing? Looks nice and clean. Good work! Any issues other than the modding/design adjustments? (I wouldn't really call those issues...)

 

[boiler1990]

Thanks guys. It's nice to be able to use my computer again (been out of comission for about 2 weeks). I miss my desktop backgrounds

Extrapolating from the tests, I'd say I would see about 40C on the GPU and CPU while gaming.

Is there anything more stressful to run other than Kombustor and Prime95? I knew that Kombustor would load the GPU 100%, but as you can see in the second graph, the GPU load decreased as the CPU usage in Prime95 went up (dunno why). I'd like to stress them both and see what results I get.

There don't seem to be any problems, and the modifications were actually pretty easy (just simple drilling and cutting). It probably would have turned out a little prettier if I had used a Dremel prior to this build... In hindsight I would have measured the stuff a little better, but still turned out pretty well.

 

[rubix_1011]

I think it looks great for the work you did, but I understand your thinking...'I would do this differently if I were to start all over...'

I know some like Prime95, some like SuperPI...some like Intel Burn test. I have messed with all of them, but if I really like to push my box, I just load up some BOINC and run some CPU+2 GPU threads at 100% on all 4 cores and 100% GPUs. You can definitely tell the ambient temps rise once my box is pushing that much load...I have to crank the AC up, or open a window in the winter.

 

[ortoklaz]

if you want to see the highest temps on GPU ..run FurMark or play BFBC 2 for half an hour (this game will show you both highest temp for CPU/GPU)