Slow progress!
As usual, I took to finding myself something to do while I wait for EVGA to get their stuff together and get those EVGA Classified water-blocks back in stock. In typical tweaking manner, I decided to play around with the multiple BIOS feature of the cards.
 

 
I kept the BIOs untouched for the standard toggle on each card, and also left the LN2 BIOs alone (for now). I have made some minor changes to the OC toggle BIOs so that I can unlock full fan speed (need it till blocks are released) and a higher possible overclock and voltage. Obviously it's not fool-proof, and doesn't rid that annoying NVIDIA "we don't want this generation card beating our new gen" issue with the down-throttling, but with the right temperature and tweaking these are working rather well and very stably.

I re-ran my tests with better cooling and was able to pull a few hundred more points out of 3DMark 11. Sadly, I can already tell some of these GPUs are winners, and others not so much - at least as overclocking is concerned. That should level out once their all under water, but for now max fan speed will have to do.


So I find myself at another stand-still, distracting myself with other hobbies till the blocks are available (such as collecting expensive things; see picture above). I have an order on standby from my Canadian watercooling parts supplier, and I'm eager to push that button and finalize the sale. As well, I'm keeping my eye out for when Obsidian 900D's will be available on the market as I believe it will be my mod-case to move this build into and integrate a few more quad rads. That's it for now sadly! Hopefully, if I go down that dark path, I can show a bit of soldering work in the near future. Till then, thanks for reading! 
 
New 3DMarks 11 Score: 27,346
(Hopefully better to come once I optimize the CPU overclocking).


 

... Wow nice build

Good looking build. I hope that the 900D comes out soon. I'm really looking forward to seeing some builds done in them.

Man this rig is awesome. Great work. 

Very clean and beautiful build, +1 and good luck!

GREAT BUILD keep it going!!!!

No offense, but if you find the cosmos II ugly, why don't you 1. Mod it, or 2. Not build with it? No real use in getting a killer setup in it and then switching out right away. I haven't seen anything custom in this rig besides a watercooling loop. Additionally, telling us how much you spent on parts in bold red font doesn't earn any extra points. The majority of people on here have thousands in their custom rigs too.

With the amount of money put into this, it's not hard to imagine buying a simple dremel and a can of spray paint. Modding doesn't have to cost money - especially if you choose a case for a build and then later say "I think the case is ugly but I built with it anyway." Seems like a cop-out when in the same thread you say "I'm occupying my time collecting expensive things" 

Andrew_K

No offense, but if you find the cosmos II ugly, why don't you 1. Mod it, or 2. Not build with it? No real use in getting a killer setup in it and then switching out right away. I haven't seen anything custom in this rig besides a watercooling loop. Additionally, telling us how much you spent on parts in bold red font doesn't earn any extra points. The majority of people on here have thousands in their custom rigs too.

Sorry if I offended you for some reason. It's a build log of a watercooling loop, not a case-mod. If it were such I'd probably post a case-mod on Overclock.net or something. The overall goal is a for a solid overclock build that I can get some good results with, and I do understand your field goes in a much more custom direction. I've always admired MNPCTECH for their work, but I don't have that level of equipment or hands-on skill to do the kind of work you guys do; props to you.
 
That said, do be nice. Your post gives off a bit of an angry vibe, though I'm sure you didn't intend it that way. I would rather round off a number for total parts then list 100 different, alone meaningless, but together useful components. It wasn't meant to generate offence, it's how things work in my head, and I apologize if it did. This is my hobby to keep me grounded and sane in the busy-ness of dentistry, and while I enjoy writing about it and posting my build log, I also understand there is better work out there: there should be . 
 
As for the case swap, it's because of the history of this case. The original design was fabricated a longtime ago, way before I had access to the necessary funds to support the project as it stands. When I had originally designed the watercooling loop, I had a one loop design that needed something that would fit it well; COSMO II was the best fit at the time as it supported what I had setup for the loop with minimum modifications to the chassis. As the project evolved, I needed more space, and was going to simply go through fabricating external mounts and dealing with it that way, but it wasn't ideal. I prefer minimalists designs; I don't like giant rads hanging off the outside of the case. The Corsair 900D didn't even exist yet, and I hadn't the funds to buy a custom CaseLabs or make an MNPCTech order. COSMO II was the best fit at the price, especially when you consider it's an arm and leg to ship in cases to Canada; it was readily available in stores already. Frankly I don't like the looks of it too much, but I'd rather my stuff fit for now then have to work around getting something else across the border and to me in the time frame I had. The nice thing is, when I'm done, I can take my old build I gave to my little brother and integrate his watercooling build into the COSMO II so he doesn't have such a beat up hand-me-down case. 
 
Anyway, I'm rambling. Hopefully when I get parts going I can get back to the build and setup loops, etc. And when the Corsair 900D is released, who knows, maybe by then I'll have some more experience and hands-on free time to actually do something fun to the case; right now the free-time doesn't exist. I spend more of the day looking down patients mouths than sadly playing with my new toy here hahaha.
 
Props btw to your current build, it looks amazing. Can't wait to see it in completion!

Update:

Just got the first batch of parts in. Hoping the rest come in soon so I can commence the build. The project might move a little slower as I am knee deep in work atm. Here are some pictures of the first set of goodies to tide you over:
 

 

 

 

 
Thanks! Expect more to come! 

whoa you got a feser 480 rad? I got the 120, 240, 360... just missing the 480...

Awesome stuff here!  Can't wait to see it completed.  Very well thought-out.