redteamgo
 
morning Cool GTX, I am using Koolance QD3 10/16 compression fittings.  cheers!
 
 

redteamgo
 
I almost did the 9x2 140mm but 200mm is just a much better value.  each 200mm 1200rpm Noctua fan is <$30 direct from germany.  so you're buying 10 less fans at $30 a pop plus the 200mm moves much more air more quietly, even tho the max RPM is 1200 vs 1500 .  So "save" $300 by going with 200mm fans and be a bit quieter .  the choice is clear :P

redteamgothe other big thing I have observed is that getting the rads and obstructions out of the case and going fully external makes a big difference.  everyone says airflow counts, yada yada yada, it but its true.  case airflow counts.  there is only so much you can do when you have 4 rads in your build.  but if you get rid of all of the rads and its just fan city, I am able to sustain much higher memory overclocks at stock voltage and almost no change in reported temperatures.  I could hit those +mem numbers before but not at these temps.  the 3090 KPE backplate thread has a lot of detail on the insanity that went into my 3090 KPE, which I'll spare you from LOL.  you can see for yourself in some of the HWinfo screenshots.  it really becomes a matter of insufficient voltage and bios performance caps on power draw.

redteamgo

Flybye
Interesting and nice setup! I haven't played around with an external cooler like that in 15+ years.
 
Somewhere I think I read you were tapping 100c on full load. Did you end up buying the 1700 bracket?
 
Which Aqua controller did you get? I have the Octo, but I only use it to control fan speeds and view water & air temps. The software definitely has a lot of options to it.

Hey there, I think you read right.  In Prime95 workloads at 5.3/4.1 ghz pcore/ecore, its stable but it thermal throttles to 100 very quickly.  Under regular workloads, its far better.  Are you referring to a  contact frame made for 12th gen?  no i am using the retention mechanism that came with the Z690 Dark


I have the aquero XT6 but I didnt install it.  After fixing my MORA orientation, my flow rate is vastly improved and really temperatures didnt change much at all, which is good.  I'd rather just keep the 3x140mm
intake fans rather than 2x140 and the controller and more wires.
 
ps: happy thanksgiving!
 

redteamgo
Hey B0ba, that is sweet.  do you have everything picked out?  
 
on the contact frame, I did read through that thread.  it kind of scared me off and I stuck with the Dark's stock mounting solution.
 
trouble is as well that once the Z690Dark is in, the rotated socket doesn't allow you to remove the CPU block's backplate.. so I'd have to break down the entire rig and that just isnt happening lol.  contact frames will probably be a little more mature product lifecycle wise soon.  when I finally get the 13900k, i may take the plunge but I really don't feel any pressure to upgrade now.  there really isn't much to reach for performancewise other than having the newest thing.

B0baganoosh

redteamgo
Hey B0ba, that is sweet.  do you have everything picked out?  
 
on the contact frame, I did read through that thread.  it kind of scared me off and I stuck with the Dark's stock mounting solution.
 
trouble is as well that once the Z690Dark is in, the rotated socket doesn't allow you to remove the CPU block's backplate.. so I'd have to break down the entire rig and that just isnt happening lol.  contact frames will probably be a little more mature product lifecycle wise soon.  when I finally get the 13900k, i may take the plunge but I really don't feel any pressure to upgrade now.  there really isn't much to reach for performancewise other than having the newest thing.

Yup. Other than the water-cooled GPU. Sticking with my hybrid 3080ti for now. I'm curious about 7900XTX Liquid Devil when it launches, but I'll wait to see benchmarks. I may also just wait to see what comes out next year as I'm on a 1440p monitor and I just don't feel like dumping even more money on the monitor to make it worth upgrading to that tier of GPU. I like to push FPS and do benchmarks for fun, but I do feel like where the 4090 is at, especially for the price, I'm just wasting money if I'm still on a 1440p monitor. Not that any of my stuff is cheap...so idk...it's my main hobby we'll see what next year looks like lol. Anyway, you can follow the rabbit hole here. That's the plan, but there's a link to an old hardware post where I started playing with the idea and then put a parts list together.
 
Back to the frame, as I said I noticed the 12900k had started to develop that high-spot-low-spot look to the paste when I took the block off this time, so I figured it was worth putting all my experience from that previous drama to use and take a fresh stab at it.
 
I think I can try to summarize where I went wrong and why knowing what I know now I was comfortable trying it again with the new 13900k (maybe I should put this in that thread and the contact frame thread lol):
 
1. My Optimus water block doesn't utilize a backplate by default.
2. I did the install with the case in the upright position. So without a backplate behind the LGA1700 backplate, the LGA1700 backplate can come right off when you take off the factory bracket. I was careful, but I think there were times where this moved out of position.
3. I was also tightening my water block too much I think. There are no springs or anything, it's just knurled nuts on posts that you finger tighten and maybe I took their "just tighten until you can't finger tighten anymore" too literally.
>>Combine these items and what I believe was causing my issue was flexing of the board around the socket and all this flexing and potentially misaligned brackets led to intermittent contact quality, which led to issues.
 
So my adjusted successful steps:
A. I got one of the EKWB backplates they offered for free (you just pay shipping basically) because their old one wasn't compatible with LGA1700 and they made a new one to offer compatibility for their coolers. I then bought bolts that thread through the back of that EK backplate, some nylon washers, and some lock-nuts for it. The bolts are the same thread as the Optimus mounting posts (the block-side-size, not the original motherboard-side-size).
B. I put the original z690 bracket back on very carefully and made sure that it was tightened down in a manner that ensured the LGA1700 backplate was once-again correctly and evenly mounted.
C. Then I very carefully mounted the EK backplate behind that into the motherboard with the bolts, putting the nylon washers and nuts on the front of the motherboard. It is also important not to over-tighten this...I have a habit of that I guess(classic tighten until the bolt breaks, then back it off a quarter turn).
D. So with that in place, I can take off the factory bracket without the factory LGA1700 backplate moving as the EK one holds that in place now. This is critical.
E. This time, when I followed the steps from Thermal Grizzly and GN on installing the aftermarket bracket, it went much smoother.
F. I then put my water block on and adjusted their instructions to "just tighten until the nuts no longer easily finger tighten anymore" (it's subtle I guess lol) and I haven't had any of the frame-weirdness with the 13900k at all.

Flybye

redteamgo...It sounds like I need a real torque wrench so I dont overtighten and get it to the exact spec....

I kept thinking about the same thing.  Sadly, torque wrenches that go low enough for that plate are not cheap considering I'd only buy it for that single purpose. The cheapest one I could find is this one on Amazon. I think I'd be too paranoid trying to manually tighten those screws.

808sting
I would've used 10/16 for everything since the Koolance ERM and most RADs use G1/4".  Tried to minimize restrictions by using triple rotary adapters.  I liked the larger flow and low spill of the QD4, but decided to use CPC NS6 fittings.  These are the largest quick disconnects that have 3/8" barb options.  EKWB used the smaller CPC NS4 QDs in their older kits.  That's where I first used them.
https://www.cpcworldwide.com/Liquid-Cooling/Products/PPSU-Plastic/NS6
Colder Products make some nice metal quick disconnects, but the NS6 was easier to source from freshwatersystems.com
 
The MO-RA3 would've have been cheaper and have way more capacity, but the Koolance was turn-key.  I've had it for a few months and it's quiet compared to my internal 360 RAD with push-pull fans.  I really like how your MO-RA3 looks with the 200mm fan housing and grill.  I saw the new Bykski and it uses (3) 360 RADs with complicated distro blocks.  I didn't want to use dual D5s if I didn't need it.  My flow is 4.3LPM on max and good enough for 30 min relatively quiet transcoding/rendering.
 
If I had more time and building a 2nd primary system replacement, I would go MO-RA3.  Been using my 900D case since it was released.  Now, you are case independent for future builds.  Too bad newer GPU cards are huge.