Warmachine 3.0 Build

[Skippman]

Well, I'm posting this from Warmachine 3.0 with a fresh Windows 7 install on my twin WD Black drives. I think it's safe to say the OCZ SSD is the cause of the problem. I've installed all my drivers with no problems at all, even using the RAID0 array. I'll be taking the SSD back to Micro Center tomorrow to see if I can exchange it.

[vbironchef]

Maybe get a Intel SSD instead.

[Skippman]

If they'll let me exchange it...

[vbironchef]

I really thought it was a power supply issue.

[Skippman]

IT LIVES!!!!

I ran to Micro Center today and exchanged the SSD for a new one. The guy at the counter offered me a 2 year replacement plan for $20. Normally I don't buy things like that but given how touchey these things seem to be it seems a wise investment.

Windows is now installed without BSOD's. All drivers updated. I'm typing this on Warmachine 3.0 right now! My Windows score is 7.5 right now due to my proc not being overclocked. I'll have to get to that eventually but for right now I'm just excited the damned things working correctly!

[vbironchef]

Awesome! More pics please.

[Skippman]

Here's what it looked like when assembled on my tech bench.



I'm pretty pleased with how well the red dye in the coolent matches the hoses from PrimoChill! It almost looks like the whole thing is the same color. It definatly does under the LED light only.



What's really interesting is how much light the LED's on the motherboard put out!




I wish I was better at taking low light photo's.

[Major_A]

Looks good. Glad you got the system working as it should too. Did you clone the Windows install over to the SSD? WD gives you a free copy of Acronis. I've put a WD drive in my machine before just to use the software.
http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... p?swid=119

If you have a steady hand just adjust the exposure to a longer time to take better low-light pics. I don't have a steady enough hand, so I use a tripod.

[sbohdan]

Congrats_beautiful setup!
I have a question: I'm planning to get into water cooling with my next setup and I've noticed that you have no reservoir in your loop. So what is the deal? Any disadvantages to have none?

I was thinking of these components:

1. Swiftech Apogee HD http://www.amazon.com/Swiftech-Apogee-P ... 0066OUA7W/

2. PrimoFlex Pro LRT Clear Tubing http://www.amazon.com/PrimoFlex-Clear-T ... 00150U84M/

3. Feser One - UV GREEN - F1 - Coolant http://www.amazon.com/Feser-One-GREEN-C ... 000P0HX14/

4. Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25" Reservoir http://www.amazon.com/RP-402X2-Dual-Res ... 004MG0PSA/

5. Koolance PMP-400 pump - matching with the reservoir. http://www.amazon.com/PMP-400-Pump-10mm ... 004YECG14/

6. Swiftech MCR320-QP radiator http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcqupo3xbl.html

I guess leaving out the reservoir would save me $100 (could ad it later maybe?)

This is my first venture into water cooling, so any input is appreciated

[Skippman]

Looks good. Glad you got the system working as it should too. Did you clone the Windows install over to the SSD? WD gives you a free copy of Acronis. I've put a WD drive in my machine before just to use the software.
http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... p?swid=119

If you have a steady hand just adjust the exposure to a longer time to take better low-light pics. I don't have a steady enough hand, so I use a tripod.

I'll try that tonight. Wonder if I can use my telescopes tripod instead. I did a fresh install as I read somewhere that Windows will detect the SSD and adjust the install accordingly for things like TRIM. If this isn't true and I need to manually set some stuff up will someone please chime in?

Congrats_beautiful setup!
I have a question: I'm planning to get into water cooling with my next setup and I've noticed that you have no reservoir in your loop. So what is the deal? Any disadvantages to have none?

The deal was I wanted to keep the loop as small as possible so I decided to go with a T-Line instead of the res. There's really no pros/cons to it other than the ammount of fluid it's possible to keep in the loop. I have to watch a little more closely than most, but even still I only had to add twice in 2 years to my old loop. I decided to use some clear Tygon hose for the T-Line vs. the red PrimoChill I'd used on the rest of the loop. With the fluid in it, it's impossible to tell that I used anything else. The clear hose has the advantage of being easy to see bubbles and fluid levels in, things most people look for in a res.

As far as coolent, the Fesser 1 stuff is EXCELLENT. I cannot say enough good things about it. My last rig ran 2 years without a flush and had ZERO buildup in any of the parts. I only cleaned them because I had the loop apart anyway. Couple words of advice on that.

1.) ONLY USE DESTILLED WATER! I cannot state that enough. I attribute my lack of build up to using nothing but destilled water in the loop for both cleaning and rinsing. It's only $1 per 2gal jug so don't skim on that.

2.) Use vinigar to clean the loop before building, but rinse thoroughly with DESTILLED WATER. A 50/50 mix like bubba recommended works great.

3.) Use an external PSU for filling the loop. This will let you leak test without supplying power to anything inside the case in case of leakage.

[Apoptosis]

Congrats_beautiful setup!
I have a question: I'm planning to get into water cooling with my next setup and I've noticed that you have no reservoir in your loop. So what is the deal? Any disadvantages to have none?

I was thinking of these components:

1. Swiftech Apogee HD http://www.amazon.com/Swiftech-Apogee-P ... 0066OUA7W/

2. PrimoFlex Pro LRT Clear Tubing http://www.amazon.com/PrimoFlex-Clear-T ... 00150U84M/

3. Feser One - UV GREEN - F1 - Coolant http://www.amazon.com/Feser-One-GREEN-C ... 000P0HX14/

4. Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25" Reservoir http://www.amazon.com/RP-402X2-Dual-Res ... 004MG0PSA/

5. Koolance PMP-400 pump - matching with the reservoir. http://www.amazon.com/PMP-400-Pump-10mm ... 004YECG14/

6. Swiftech MCR320-QP radiator http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcqupo3xbl.html

I guess leaving out the reservoir would save me $100 (could ad it later maybe?)

This is my first venture into water cooling, so any input is appreciated

I removed all of your Amazon Affiliate links... Not sure if that was your account or not, but I don't want that trend to start here as I think it will just create more spam.

[smack323]

yeah I been noticing those auto links- i figured it was from the forums to generate some ad money or something.

[Major_A]

If your drive supports TRIM Windows 7 is supposed to enable it by default. There are a few more tweaks I'd apply with SSD. Luckily there's an app you can use to help you out.
http://majorgeeks.com/SSD_Tweaker_d6382.html
and/or
http://majorgeeks.com/Tweak_Me_d6364.html

[sbohdan]

Congrats_beautiful setup!
I have a question: I'm planning to get into water cooling with my next setup and I've noticed that you have no reservoir in your loop. So what is the deal? Any disadvantages to have none?

I was thinking of these components:

1. Swiftech Apogee HD http://www.amazon.com/Swiftech-Apogee-P ... 0066OUA7W/

2. PrimoFlex Pro LRT Clear Tubing http://www.amazon.com/PrimoFlex-Clear-T ... 00150U84M/

3. Feser One - UV GREEN - F1 - Coolant http://www.amazon.com/Feser-One-GREEN-C ... 000P0HX14/

4. Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25" Reservoir http://www.amazon.com/RP-402X2-Dual-Res ... 004MG0PSA/

5. Koolance PMP-400 pump - matching with the reservoir. http://www.amazon.com/PMP-400-Pump-10mm ... 004YECG14/

6. Swiftech MCR320-QP radiator http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcqupo3xbl.html

I guess leaving out the reservoir would save me $100 (could ad it later maybe?)

This is my first venture into water cooling, so any input is appreciated

I removed all of your Amazon Affiliate links... Not sure if that was your account or not, but I don't want that trend to start here as I think it will just create more spam.

Amazon Affiliate links? I have no idea what that is? I only included the links to the parts I'm considering...

BTW, what do you think about these parts? Any suggestions on better ones?

[Skippman]

Thanks Major! I'll look into those tonight.

I plan to start OC'ing this sometime next week. Not sure what average temperatures are for the i5 proc though. Right now, whilst playing BF3 it's running about 40c. Is that fairly consistant?

[vbironchef]

A great way to check your temps is to do some folding@home with your cpu and your graphic card. It will make everything run 100% and you can really get a good read on your max. temps..

[Skippman]

BTW, what do you think about these parts? Any suggestions on better ones?

I think we need to start another build thread for your new project. ;)

I'm not complaining about mine being hijacked. I'm glad I started converstation. I'm saying you'll probably get more responses that way. :D

You're looking at $130 for the res and $70 for the pump for a total of $200. I'd recommend the dual bay res from XSPC and the Koolance PMP-450S Strong High-flow Pump or any other Laning D5 based pump.





Like the pump/res combo you're looking at this pump mounts in the res. The pump is a much higher performance pump with the same noise level as the one you're looking at. It's flow rate is 17.4L/min vs the 8.7L/min of the pump you're looking at meaning it's moving better than twice the coolent through the loop, barring restrictions. The pump is $80 and the res is $60 bringing your total to $140 vs the $200 for the Koolance res/pump combo. Unless you particularly liked the styling of the Koolance res which is pretty dang keen looking.

[Major_A]

I just posted this in another thread but I'll repost it here so you can get a look at TweakMe!. Great little program, BTW.

[Skippman]

Major, I followed your recommendations with the TweekMe! programme. Hopefully it'll give me some improvements eventhough my SSD already scores a 7.9 on the Windows Experience which we all know is kind of silly.


Now I need someone to make me a new banner graphic!

[Major_A]

It's not really speed enhancements, rather write enhancements. The NAND in the SSD is only good for so many writes, this in theory minimizes the unnecessary writes. You might want to disable System Restore, that alone likes to take up a bunch of room.