Hot!Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update

Author
ty_ger07
Omnipotent Enthusiast
  • Total Posts : 11918
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2008/04/10 23:48:15
  • Location: Land of 10,000 lakes.
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 98
2016/07/16 20:58:38 (permalink)
Spoiler:

 
I can't find my original build log; it seems to be long gone in an old version of the forum or something.  Also, I realized that my mods rigs was WAY out of date and that I don't even have a P67 any more.
 
Here's a quick little system update.  I finally got rid of the old kinky spirals of silver-colored flexible hose and upgraded to rigid tubing instead.  I never thought I would buy dyed coolant again, but here I am with dyed coolant.  Weird.
 
The radiator stack is in the bottom of the computer case.  I remove and install it all as one big blob every time I want to clean the fins or make a modification to the radiator stack.  I plumbed it all with rigid tubing without any concern for how much harder it will be to drain and maintain in the future.   In the future, I will probably change the one rigid tube in the photo below over to flexible hose with a quick disconnect to make draining the whole loop above it much easier.
 

 
 
I have never played with this rigid PETG tubing before.  My bends aren't perfect but the bends are much better than the kinky hose which this tubing replaced.  Everything is straight and proper where it can be seen or where it matters.  The following are some random images during the slow tedious upgrade process while I sniveled through my runny nose.  
 
 
Spacing the fittings up above the GPU waterblocks to clear the GPU PCBs was a bit tricky and it took me about an hour of trial-and-error until I found a stackup of shims and o-rings which would seal properly and provide necessary clearance.
 

 
The tubes to the CPU have a little joggle in them.  For some reason, in this picture, the two tubes don't appear symmetrical.   But, looking at my computer next to me, the tubes appear to be symmetrical.  Hmm.  It must be a weird reflection.
 

 
Usually, I run everything in the cooling system in series.  I decided to parallel all the blocks this time in order to reduce the quantities and lengths of tubes needed.  The cooling performance has remained virtually the same after I placed a larger (more high flow) jet plate in the CPU block and turned the pump RPM up a bit.
 
The fans and pump speed are controlled indirectly based on CPU temperature which creates a PWM output profile out from the motherboard which is then fed into a DigiSpark Arduino circuit board which is screwed to the back of my motherboard tray.  The Arduino board controls the fan minimum speed and ramp speed better than my motherboard BIOS is able, and makes the pump run at one of two different precise speeds (while idling or under load) instead of letting the pump ramp and settle in annoying audio harmonic frequency ranges.  The Arduino board has one 5v power input, one ground, one PWM input from the motherboard, and two PWM outputs (one to the pump and one to the fans).  The PWM ouput to the fans is split tapped off so that each fan gets a PWM signal.  Then, only one of the fans feeds its tachometer signal back to the motherboard where the motherboard creates the initial fan speed ramp profile based on current CPU temperature.  It is all a little bit convoluted, but it works very well and I love the automation without needing any additional software.
 

 
When I changed to a parallel loop instead of a series loop, I pretty much just experimented with a couple CPU block jet plates and plugged a USB cable into the Arduino board and flashed it with faster idle pump speeds until I found a speed which wasn't in an annoying audio harmonic range and provided acceptable idle/low load CPU temperatures.
 
I would like to take better pictures of the finished product in better lighting after I clean off all the smudges and dust. (and after my health returns)
post edited by ty_ger07 - 2016/07/20 13:08:49

Attached Image(s)

#1

9 Replies Related Threads

    XrayMan
    EVGA Forum Moderator
    • Total Posts : 49998
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2006/12/14 22:10:06
    • Location: Santa Clarita, Ca.
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 92
    Re: P67 Rev. 1 Build Rigid Tubing Update 2016/07/16 23:01:00 (permalink)
     
    Looks good so far.         

    My Affiliate Code: 8WEQVXMCJL
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     



     
     
     
     
     
           
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
       
     
     
       
     
     
       
     
     
       
     
     
       
     
     
       
    #2
    rjohnson11
    EVGA Forum Moderator
    • Total Posts : 56335
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2004/10/05 12:44:35
    • Location: Europe
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 52
    Re: P67 Rev. 1 Build Rigid Tubing Update 2016/07/17 01:11:18 (permalink)
    Looking forward to final pics and hopefully you can take one picture in the evening.

                
    (Pazmeister: rjohnson.....YOU ARE A LEGEND, problem solved, i am sendning my missus round to you now so she may have your babies!!) , R.I.P Jeffreyham,
    R.I.P Corsair_Mike, R.I.P Wrinvert,  i7 5820K, Corsair H100, Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (CMK32GX4M4A2666C16R), EVGA GTX 1080FTW ACX, Corsair AX1200, EVGA X99 Micro2, Samsung Sm961 m.2, One Corsair SSD, Crossover 4K,
    #3
    ty_ger07
    Omnipotent Enthusiast
    • Total Posts : 11918
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2008/04/10 23:48:15
    • Location: Land of 10,000 lakes.
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 98
    Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/20 12:45:57 (permalink)
    Here it is!  The moment you have been waiting for!  I updated my Mods Rigs page as well.  Feel free to give me a +1 on my Mods Rigs page or leave a comment.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    The blackout material is black foamboard.  It works really well for tidying things up and is easy to work with.  Find it in the Arts and Crafts section of your local store.
     
    I hope you enjoyed and gained inspiration.
    post edited by ty_ger07 - 2016/07/20 13:27:01

    Attached Image(s)

    #4
    rjohnson11
    EVGA Forum Moderator
    • Total Posts : 56335
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2004/10/05 12:44:35
    • Location: Europe
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 52
    Re: Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/21 09:47:05 (permalink)
    Outstanding work

                
    (Pazmeister: rjohnson.....YOU ARE A LEGEND, problem solved, i am sendning my missus round to you now so she may have your babies!!) , R.I.P Jeffreyham,
    R.I.P Corsair_Mike, R.I.P Wrinvert,  i7 5820K, Corsair H100, Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (CMK32GX4M4A2666C16R), EVGA GTX 1080FTW ACX, Corsair AX1200, EVGA X99 Micro2, Samsung Sm961 m.2, One Corsair SSD, Crossover 4K,
    #5
    ty_ger07
    Omnipotent Enthusiast
    • Total Posts : 11918
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2008/04/10 23:48:15
    • Location: Land of 10,000 lakes.
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 98
    Re: Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/21 09:49:30 (permalink)
    Thank you so much! 
    #6
    AlexisRO
    FTW Member
    • Total Posts : 1888
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2008/12/22 09:28:18
    • Location: Bucharest Romania
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 9
    Re: Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/24 03:17:53 (permalink)
    Very clean looking! Personally I'd look for another SLI bridge but that's just me.
     
    If i remember corectly you had an MSI P67 GD65 mobo? Did you have any problems with it or going to Asrock Z77 gave you any benefits?

    System:  2600K - MSI P67A GD80 - G.Skill Ares Blue 4x4Gb 1600 - MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB  - 120Gb Intel 530, 1Tb WD, 3Tb Seagate - Corsair HX850W - Creative Sound Blaster Z - LG DVD-RW - Windows 10 Pro 64 - CM 932 Advanced - Edifier S530D - Dell U2412M (1200p)

    Watercooling loop: XSPC Raystorm - EK-FC970 GTX TF5 -  Alphacool D5 with EK X-Top v2 - XSPC reservoir - Lamptron FC2 - 2x Swiftech 360 QP

    When the heart is ungoverned by reason, charlatans have powerful tools to decieve.
     

    #7
    ty_ger07
    Omnipotent Enthusiast
    • Total Posts : 11918
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2008/04/10 23:48:15
    • Location: Land of 10,000 lakes.
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 98
    Re: Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/24 13:42:24 (permalink)
    AlexisRO
    Very clean looking! Personally I'd look for another SLI bridge but that's just me.

    Yes, I thought about it, but a big gaudy plastic one isn't any better in my opinion.  A nice plain metallic black SLI bridge would be nice (if it existed).  I may have to make something up myself. 
     
    I have backplates for my cards as well, but I would have to cut them up and drill them out a bit to make them fit with my water cooling system.
     
    If i remember corectly you had an MSI P67 GD65 mobo? Did you have any problems with it or going to Asrock Z77 gave you any benefits?

    Yes, you remember correctly.  How do you remember?
     
    I had 3 SSD drives fail within a period of months.  1 SSD had something fry on its PCB (looked like something in its voltage regulation circuitry) and the other 2 just started being more and more intermittent until they eventually stopped working completely.  Finally the SATA ports on my motherboard quit working completely as well.  I don't know which piece of hardware was the root cause, but I ended up with 3 bad SSDs and 1 bad motherboard in the end.  P67 motherboards had become harder to find and there was no reason not to go with Z77 instead.  ASRock just happened to give me what I wanted for the price.
    post edited by ty_ger07 - 2016/07/24 13:47:41
    #8
    AlexisRO
    FTW Member
    • Total Posts : 1888
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2008/12/22 09:28:18
    • Location: Bucharest Romania
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 9
    Re: Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/24 16:44:08 (permalink)
    Maybe the first version of EVGA sli bridge? Altho can't remember if it were in that lenght.
     
    Well was looking at watercooled rigs for ideas on how to make mine and yours had those silver tubing, liked those as well.
    Sounds like the big problem that P67 chipsets/boards had initially before the recall. Was your board a B3 version? If not, it may be Intel's fault lol

    System:  2600K - MSI P67A GD80 - G.Skill Ares Blue 4x4Gb 1600 - MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4GB  - 120Gb Intel 530, 1Tb WD, 3Tb Seagate - Corsair HX850W - Creative Sound Blaster Z - LG DVD-RW - Windows 10 Pro 64 - CM 932 Advanced - Edifier S530D - Dell U2412M (1200p)

    Watercooling loop: XSPC Raystorm - EK-FC970 GTX TF5 -  Alphacool D5 with EK X-Top v2 - XSPC reservoir - Lamptron FC2 - 2x Swiftech 360 QP

    When the heart is ungoverned by reason, charlatans have powerful tools to decieve.
     

    #9
    ty_ger07
    Omnipotent Enthusiast
    • Total Posts : 11918
    • Reward points : 0
    • Joined: 2008/04/10 23:48:15
    • Location: Land of 10,000 lakes.
    • Status: offline
    • Ribbons : 98
    Re: Z77 Rev. 1 Build Update 2016/07/24 19:45:31 (permalink)
    I have no idea which board revision it was.  I didn't take the time to look.  After troubleshooting, all I did was buy a new SSD, buy a new motherboard, and scrap the old stuff.  I didn't even try to get warranty replacements.  It was an excuse to upgrade a bit and tweak stuff.
    #10
    Jump to:
  • Back to Mobile