I did install the lighting kits last night and they look pretty cool. I'm saving those for the final assembly pictures. I will post some pics of the GPU's before I put them on the MB as well as some other misc pics of the reservoir. The reservoir is really nice. I mean the cylinders are really cool and look fantastic, but they take up a lot of room inside and I was looking to avoid excess tubing and crap in the case. There will be loads of pics of the final assembly.

Since smduff complained there were no pics today, I took two little boring ones. The first is the fillport. it will screw right to the front of the reservoir.

The second is for the 4 pin molex connectors. There is a pair for each side of the reservoir. One for the pump and one for the led's. I didn't like the look of them being a mess so I thought a little piece of sleeving made them look better. What do you think?


I was just asked by a friend of mine for a link to my build thread. I asked him to wait until it was done and then I will send him the link. My question for the admin's is do you want me to dissect the thread, copy and paste in a build thread at SBG? OR can I just link to the thread here and have some of my other friends check out the thread. I don't know if any will stick around or not to visit, but it is possible. I complete understand if you don't want the traffic (there will likely only be a few people, I'm just not that popular...LOL). However, I would prefer to give this site some props and just link to it. I really don't expect any of my friends from SBG to stick around as no one over there talks about OC'ing or custom rig builds. I know some of them have them, but (like me) don't really talk about them on our site. There is one guy that built a nice rig a couple of years ago, but he rarely talks about it. There are a few people that have some sweet lap tops though. It is up to you, I respect your wishes. I'd like to link this thread to UDVDR as well. I'm sure a few of them would like to see the new rig. You guys let me know how you feel about it. Much easier to ask before hand than to just assume stuff is cool. I know I get annoyed when people just spam our site with no warning.

Link away go wild LOL, and it looks much better sleeved IMO nice work.

I agree with Steve! Link it anywhere you would like it and tell anyone about us! A link at UDVDR would be great also!

I am really impressed with all the sleeving you have done. It really makes a build look nice.

While we are at it if you would like to make a nice thread about your site here on the forum please do. That's why I added the section. I have heard that some overclockers are gamers also... You may even get me gaming again someday.

I'll do that tonight...thanks for the offer and the props

I can't stress enough about how much I like the quality of this reservoir. Granted, it isn't in and working, but it looks very well made and designed even better. The individual tanks can be joined to form one large tank and still work with one pump or use the dual pump/tank set-up that I am using. I have two LED's per side to light up each tank. It should look really good once I get this installed tomorrow. I can't wait.

Ugly...messy wires.

getting there...

Ahh...much better! Even switched the white molex connectors to black to finish it off.

That my friend is looking dam hot great job.

So maybe I decided to install it right now...

Doesn't that look like it was meant to be there? I'm going to try it there, but if I have any trouble mounting stuff, I am going to relocate it to the top. Time to address those GPU's...YES!

Very nice looking & excellent work Savage!

Yup looks good, good call on adding the video cards............Then fill the loop and plug it in and show us all the pretty lights LOL.

Well I put the cards together.

The red sleeved wires are coolant temp sensors to the control board for the pumps/fans/temp and flow sensors. The black sleeved cables are gpu block temp sensors going to the MB temp sensor plugs.

Then I installed them in the case...

In this picture I noticed I forgot to install a couple of plugs. I put them in, but I'm obviously getting tired and careless. Time to call it a night.

More progress tomorrow. Tomorrow it gets filled and leak tested. I might even take a shot with the lights on...is looks pretty tight.

Looking really good, can you move the temp sensor wire from the top plug to a side plug it might clean the look up a bit, not that its bad now LOL just a thought.

The only side plug on the EK blocks is taken with the last temp sensor. I'm kind of stuck with that location for now. I agree though, it looks like ass sitting out in the open like that. I'll keep thinking about it. I had it between the cards, but there just wasn't enough room when I put the top on.

Awesome, it is really coming together now. Good luck with the leak test.

Savage, where did you get the sleeve material from?

It is from FrozenCPU...linky
I like it, but wish I had a hot knife. I'll likely invest in one for my next build. So much easier to work with than scissors.

Thanks for the link. Can you use a Exacto knife?

Sure...you just get the same results :D:

The best method (short of using the recommended hot knife) that I have found is to use a candle. Light candle, cut sleeve material, briefly put sleeving above flame to singe, form the end with fingers. This works pretty well, but it does take a toll on the finger tips after a while. Glad I was forced to take a few days off after I ran out of material. I use a candle for the heat shrink, so much easier than a lighter and I don't have a heat gun.

Savage, the detail you are putting into this build is stunning!
The fact that you have it all documented is awesome.

I moved the temp sensor. Thanks to Steve for saying something. I didn't like it either and didn't know if it was me being tired or not. I'm in the process of relocating to the back "T" that feeds the bottom GPU. It will be close enough to get a reading of the temps before the GPU's and as it exits. Prolly a better location for accuracy as well.

Thanks Joel! It is a lot of work doing things "just so", but I really think it is worth it in the end. Having the log ups the quality and keeps you focused. I'm really happy to share the experience and hopefully will help someone along the way. You never know...

I only wish I had the coin at the moment to follow in your footsteps. I don't need a new build as the one I have does what I need and runs real smooth.

But watching your process really makes one think about a new build. :D:

Don't do it...please don't do it.

That is exactly what happened to me! I have two people to blame for this...one got a new lappy with 16GB of fricken RAM! He runs a lot of VM's so he allocates it across several virtual machines. He is a great guy that has become my most trusted adviser over the years. When he finally sees this build thread, he is going to be excited! The other culprit is a friend of mine from the site that was all gung ho to build a new rig, but some things came up that delayed his build. I was all excited to help him and decided if he wasn't going to build one, I would.

I also built a few nice computers for the office and the boss said it was about time I built one for me. That didn't hurt either :wink

Made the GPU connections...I'm down to the very bottom at the dual rad connections from the reservoir up to the CPU block. This one will take a little time to do it right. While I work on that, I have a question.

While I'm sure everyone that builds a new liquid cooled loop feels going in that there system is free from leaks, I'm not infallible and can see a leak or two along the way. Would you fill the system with distilled water to check for leaks or the final coolant? Chances are good that it will just take a bit of a turn on a fitting if there is a leak and if it is major, I can just drain the system and move on. I really don't want to have to drain distilled water out of the system if the thing does go leak proof. I'd rather not have any distilled water in the system. I'd like to have pure coolant if possible.

What do you guys do on your initial fills?

Did you flush the rads before mounting them in the system? If not that should be done before running liquid through the whole system. You want to get any debris out of those rads so it will not possibly travel elsewhere in the loops. For testing I would use the cheapest stuff you can find.

Doh! No I didn't flush them...ok. Distilled water it is. Thanks. Why didn't I think of that!?!?

Reservoir/Pump connections complete.

Feed for GPU's. You can see the relocated temp sensor. That is the GPU drain on the right going up. It is a swivel, so it can swivel down to drain the GPU loop. That radiator is on top, and the drain is at the low point that should make for decent draining.

Here is the connection for the CPU loop at the bottom radiator. That is a temp sensor and a drain tube going to the right. If I am going to have a leak, it will be at this radiator connection because it is the most difficult to access in the entire system.

P.S. Duty calls...going to be tied up for a little while with work. I'll get back to the build as soon as I am able to do so. Prolly won't be able to fill until this afternoon. Sorry guys...

looking really good, as for coolant i have found that distilled water and pt-nuke work the best it gives the lowest temps premixed coolants have a horrible reputation for gunking up the works over a period of time, I just did my loop for the new build and spent some time scrubbing my block what a pain in the arse.

Just a side note I can guarantee you have a hot knife in the house already everyone does LOL. Butter knife and a stove work wonders just don't let the wife see, he he.

4hams wrote:Savage, the detail you are putting into this build is stunning!
The fact that you have it all documented is awesome.

Reminds me of the work that Bundymania has done. :Cool: