nosilla iCX Member Total Posts : 278

Reward points : 0

Joined:

Location: Humboldt

Status: offline

Ribbons : 3

permalink)

CPU: Intel i7 975 Extreme Edition

Motherboard: Evga x58 SLI

RAM: G.skill 1600 (12gb)

GPU's: Two EVGA 780 GTX

PSU: EVGA 1300 Watt G2 Gold Rated PSU



Watercooling....

CPU block: XSPC Raystorm

Radiators: XSPC and OCCOOL 240mm Copper

GPU blocks: Ordering website messed up...cards on air for the next week or two...

PUMP: D5 inside reservoir



The loop goes like this: PUMP/RES > RADIATOR > CPU (was going to go to GPU's after) > RADIATOR > PUMP/RES



Hey there guys. I got my hands on a sweet brand new i7 975 extreme for a ridiculous deal and decided to do a new build and put it all under water.

My buddy and I both waited until we had days off from work to get together and help each other out with our builds.

I had to make a few slight edits to my case for the radiator to fit ie tin cutters to the drive bay cage to make clearance. Other than that, I thought this build went together smoothly and posted to windows on the first go. Yipee!



Here is my build log...powered by micro beer and Turkish coffee!!

First things first, taking apart the case...which had a z68 and i5 in there. I'm going to do something with that later.





Next thing is fixing the first radiator to the front of the case. Set the fans to push air into the case. After tightening the barbs tighter than hand grip, I started to hook up the hoses to the pump/res











Had to be a little generous in the length of tubing to allow the reservoir to be pulled out to fill.



When attaching the second radiator I ran into a problem. The curled edge on the drive bay is impeding the radiator fitting by just a cm or two. Time to bring out the tin cutters.











There, much better. Continuuing with the tubing. All hooked up! Time for a fill and leak test.





No leaks yet! Going to run it for a while...





While that's running...time to redo the thermal paste on the 780's...seriously got a 10c drop. The paste they used was ridiculous!





The old paste. Didn't bother with a pic of the new stuff on there. I used Arctic Silver





The view of the heatsink on the motherboard. Love that design. Wonder how they machined it.





Applied some thermal paste and installed the board. No leaks from the cooling.



Waterblock seating. Holy crap that was a pain to get the screws to get started. Glad I had an extra set of hands to apply pressure to the block as I inserted the screws.





Had some extra Silverstone golfball style fans. Thought I'd throw them on the radiator to make push/pull config because...why not?

Those 4 fans hooked up to the cases 5/7/12 volt fan controller switch on top of the case. I know the wiring is a mess. I'll fix that in a bit.





First boot. Only one 780 card was running in there at the moment for possible trouble shooting...but it all posted just fine. Wiring still needed to be cleaned up







Isn't she a beaut? It only took one 12 pack of Steelhead IPA from the local brewery to put it all together too!



Here is a night time pic at home...and one of the desk top with my CDJs and mixer in front of my 27" monitor

One of the LEDS on the card was modded to glow white. It wasn't going to matter since the original plan was to put the cards under water as well but the company shipped me the wrong water blocks...So now I have to live with the color differences for now.







I'll post a 3dmark score soon. For those who are wondering about my z68 and i5....the i5 was at 4.3ghz and i got exactly the same score as I did with the i7 975 at 4.0ghz. the i7 is still a beast. I plan to overclock it some more sometime soon.

15,339 points...the processor is at 4.0ghz for the time being. i plan to shoot for 4.5ghz or more, depending on how voltage hungry this baby will be.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/7638188



16,555 points

i7 975 extreme processor overclocked to 4.4ghz @ 1.4volts

Might bench with the cards overclocked, but i'm pretty happy with the score.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/7649447



if you're curious...the i5 2500k and z68 with 8gb of ddr3 @ 1866mhz

15,380 points...the processor was at 4.3ghz

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/7635520



It's nice to see older technology still hold it's own with the new stuff, if you treat it proper. :)





















post edited by nosilla - Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi 2CPU: Intel i7 975 Extreme EditionMotherboard: Evga x58 SLIRAM: G.skill 1600 (12gb)GPU's: Two EVGA 780 GTXPSU: EVGA 1300 Watt G2 Gold Rated PSUWatercooling....CPU block: XSPC RaystormRadiators: XSPC and OCCOOL 240mm CopperGPU blocks: Ordering website messed up...cards on air for the next week or two...PUMP: D5 inside reservoirThe loop goes like this: PUMP/RES > RADIATOR > CPU (was going to go to GPU's after) > RADIATOR > PUMP/RESHey there guys. I got my hands on a sweet brand new i7 975 extreme for a ridiculous deal and decided to do a new build and put it all under water.My buddy and I both waited until we had days off from work to get together and help each other out with our builds.I had to make a few slight edits to my case for the radiator to fit ie tin cutters to the drive bay cage to make clearance. Other than that, I thought this build went together smoothly and posted to windows on the first go. Yipee!Here is my build log...powered by micro beer and Turkish coffee!!First things first, taking apart the case...which had a z68 and i5 in there. I'm going to do something with that later.Next thing is fixing the first radiator to the front of the case. Set the fans to push air into the case. After tightening the barbs tighter than hand grip, I started to hook up the hoses to the pump/resHad to be a little generous in the length of tubing to allow the reservoir to be pulled out to fill.When attaching the second radiator I ran into a problem. The curled edge on the drive bay is impeding the radiator fitting by just a cm or two. Time to bring out the tin cutters.There, much better. Continuuing with the tubing. All hooked up! Time for a fill and leak test.No leaks yet! Going to run it for a while...While that's running...time to redo the thermal paste on the 780's...seriously got a 10c drop. The paste they used was ridiculous!The old paste. Didn't bother with a pic of the new stuff on there. I used Arctic SilverThe view of the heatsink on the motherboard. Love that design. Wonder how they machined it.Applied some thermal paste and installed the board. No leaks from the cooling.Waterblock seating. Holy crap that was a pain to get the screws to get started. Glad I had an extra set of hands to apply pressure to the block as I inserted the screws.Had some extra Silverstone golfball style fans. Thought I'd throw them on the radiator to make push/pull config because...why not?Those 4 fans hooked up to the cases 5/7/12 volt fan controller switch on top of the case. I know the wiring is a mess. I'll fix that in a bit.First boot. Only one 780 card was running in there at the moment for possible trouble shooting...but it all posted just fine. Wiring still needed to be cleaned upIsn't she a beaut? It only took one 12 pack of Steelhead IPA from the local brewery to put it all together too!Here is a night time pic at home...and one of the desk top with my CDJs and mixer in front of my 27" monitorOne of the LEDS on the card was modded to glow white. It wasn't going to matter since the original plan was to put the cards under water as well but the company shipped me the wrong water blocks...So now I have to live with the color differences for now.I'll post a 3dmark score soon. For those who are wondering about my z68 and i5....the i5 was at 4.3ghz and i got exactly the same score as I did with the i7 975 at 4.0ghz. the i7 is still a beast. I plan to overclock it some more sometime soon.15,339 points...the processor is at 4.0ghz for the time being. i plan to shoot for 4.5ghz or more, depending on how voltage hungry this baby will be.16,555 pointsi7 975 extreme processor overclocked to 4.4ghz @ 1.4voltsMight bench with the cards overclocked, but i'm pretty happy with the score.if you're curious...the i5 2500k and z68 with 8gb of ddr3 @ 1866mhz15,380 points...the processor was at 4.3ghzIt's nice to see older technology still hold it's own with the new stuff, if you treat it proper. :)

i7 975 Extreme 4.4ghz @ 1.4volts

Evga x58 SLI motherboard

Evga 780 GTX 3gb SLI

G.Skill 12gb DDR3 @ 1600mhz

EVGA 1300 watt G2 PSU







i7 975 Extreme 4.4ghz @ 1.4voltsEvga x58 SLI motherboardEvga 780 GTX 3gb SLIG.Skill 12gb DDR3 @ 1600mhzEVGA 1300 watt G2 PSU #1 8 Replies Related Threads