Case Mod - In Progress Project Bright Panel: 800D, Liquid, Illuminated Mid Panel =Completed=

New Tubing

Well, the Durelene Tubing from Sidewinder has arrived. Looks to bend pretty well without kinking. I'm going to keep my blue tubing around just in case I decide to switch back at some point.

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The new tubing is installed, and the Mayhem Pastel liquid with Blue Berry dye looks to be a perfect match. Below to the left you will see a picture of the new tubing and liquid compared to what I previously had in stalled. Again, it looks to match the blue highlights on my sleeving, and the new fans perfectly. The old tubing almost looks purple next to it. On the right is the build with the new Durelene tubing installed.

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Now that I am through that change out, next step is to test the Corsair Link vs the Aquaero 5 XT.

 

PowerAdjust 2 & Pump Setup

Thanks. Things are really starting to come together.

PowerAdjust 2 / Pump Setup

This week I have been working on getting the AquaCompuer PowerAdjust 2s all sleeved up and ready to hook into my system. These will be used to control the speed of my pumps either via an Aquaero 5, or independently via a temp sensor. I have not yet decided which way I am going to go (Aquaero 5 or Corsair Link) for my fan controller, but until then, I will at least get my pumps set up and get a liquid "flush" through the system with some distilled water.

Here is the prep work I did to dye the cables from my pumps black, along with the USB header cables that connect to the Aquaero 5 and PA2s. It is actually vinyl dye, not spraypaint, so it doesn't flake off when bending the cables. In one of my last builds, I had a bunch of questions about the dye, and what kind I used, so I decided to include a picture of it in the build log this time around.

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I also wired up the PowerAdjust 2's after a bit of Questions / Answer sessions on the Aqua Computer English forum. It wasn't clear to me how to modify the cable on my pump to correctly interface with the PA2, so I did a little sketch and asked which option was better to use since my pumps are not controlled via PWM. Option 1 was the correct wiring method as seen below. Next to it is a picture of the 5pin power connectors going to the PA2s, along with the "AquaBus" jumper cable connecting the controls for the two pumps. You do have the option to control each one independently, but I want both my pumps operating at the same speeds.

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There is an important step that has to be done if you plan on using more than 1 PowerAdjust modules for pump / fan control. Each has to be given a Unique ID number to be see all the fan channels correctly in the software. Here is what you have to do in order to get 2 or more working together.

First, you should setup your Poweradjusts using the older Aquasuite version 4.72, which you can get here. Once installed you need to connect each Poweradjust (one at a time) over USB, to then update your PowerAdjust frimware and then adjust its Aquabus address. Once you have loaded up AquaSuite, select "Firmware" from the PowerAdjust 2 menu and update to v1003.

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Now you must give your PowerAdjusts a unique ID. I gave one the address of 51, the other is 52.

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Once this is done, you can disconnect the USB, plug them in over Aquabus and you should see extra fan channels in your Aquasuite 2012. Of if you don't plan on using Aquaero for your Fan Controller, you can leave them plugged in via USB for independent control. Next up... distilled water flush, and Fan Controller Battle Royal
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I'll always follow some good 800D lovin'

Looking great dude.

 

Ya, really like this case. Gives my big gorilla hands plenty of room to work in


I Sprung A LEAK... and Fan Extensions

Just wanted to post a mini-update, along with some crappy findings...
I finished wiring all my fan extensions that I will be using with my fans and the controllers. All have been cut to the exact length, sleeved, tested and work great.

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I also decided to post a picture of some of my wiring diagrams that I have done up to help me keep my thoughts straight while making my own cables. Shows how I wired illuminated vandal switches, my light panel, led strip, reservoir LEDs, and fan extensions along with RPM reducers which I may use on the fans not attached to radiators.

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So with everything wired up, I decided to do a leak test. Everything was looking great untill... LEAK!! And not just a leak requiring a tightening of a fitting, it was a leak in the seam of my XSPC reservoir.

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To add insult to injury, I pulled the res out, and had it sitting on my work bench. My son came in behind me, and managed to pull it onto the cement floor, further cracking the unit.
I was able to put it back together with my liquid acrylic cement, and fill the seam. Also ran an additional leak test with just the res to see what would happen.

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It seemed to fix the leak, but at this point, I am going to toss this reservoir, since I can't really trust it for long term use. New one should arrive any day now.

 

New Reservoir

New Koolance Reservoir

Received my new Koolance RP-401X2 Friday to replace my leaking XSPC unit. I really like the look and quality of this new reservoir.

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I had to cut the feet off of my Switech MCP355 pumps for them to work with this Res/Pump combo. Once installed they have a lot of head pressure and are pretty quiet.

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I then proceeded to bled the entire loop of air bubbles and everything is running cool and quiet. Now I am going to work cable management, and writing up a detailed review / set up guide with the AquaComputer Aquaero 5 LT, and the Corsair Link. Stay tuned.
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Corsair Link Review

Ok, it is review time.

Click on the link below to launch a YouTube video I made that shows both the hardware and software in action.

Video - Corsair Link Cooling & Lighting Kit Overview

I have two control systems that I have had a chance to play with for the last few days. I will first post my review for the Corsair Link Cooling & Lighting Kit, followed by the AquaComputer Aquaero 5 LT. Each contains a video walk-through showing the components and the software, followed by more detailed screen captures of the various setup screens of the software. And here we go...

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The Corsair Link Kit comes in to variants. The Basic Cooling kit which comes will all that is necessary to control your fans. Then there is the Cooling & Lighting kit which controls fans and comes with a Lighting Node which controls the RBG LED lighting strips.
Both kits include one (1) Controller Node which has 5 fan connectors, and a few temperature sensor plugin locations. Each fan channel can support up to 2 amps, and the node can support a maximum of 4 amps total across all channels. That being said, if someone is wanting to control both fans, and a liquid cooling pump, they would most likely have to purchase a second Control Node as the single one would be quickly maxed out with multiple fans and pumps.


When first starting up the Corsiar Link Software, the first thing that needs to be done is update the firmware for the various components. This was a necessary step for me because before the firmware update, my fans wouldn't change from spinning at 100% at all times.

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Here is an overview of the various sensors and readings that can be seen within the software. As shown in the above video, you can choose from a variety of computer cases and overlay the sensor data on top of your component locations. Its is all drag and drop at this point, and you can also easily change the name of any sensor data shown on this screen for better customization.

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Next up we have the "Groups" screen. This is where you make connections from sensor data to fan (or pump) control. This is also drag and drop, and every easy to configure.

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There is also a "Graphs" section that can show any of the sensor data listed on the Overview page. It is very basic, and doesn't offer much as far as customization goes of colors or graph size.

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Once all the grouping is set up between sensor data and fans, we can move on to taking more control of how the fans will operate in our system. The first bank of options is shown below. They are pre-defined control curves, and the names are pretty self expanitory. Below them are the "User Defined" settings including custom control curves. These are easy to set up, and seem to work just fine.

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As mentioned earlier, I have the Link Kit with the Lighting Module, so I thought I would show the different LED configuration options. More detail about these options and how they work can be seen in the above video.

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Ok, so that is the Corsair Link Kit. Very capable software. Next up I will review the AuqaComputer system I have, and compare the two in a future post... after I get some needed sleep. Look for it tomorrow night.

 

if only you could make a lighted (illuminated) mobo plate.. awesomeness will be over 9000

 

That is actually a pretty cool idea. Might just have to do that on my next build

Shouldn't be too hard to accomplish, but would require a much larger acrylic panel, and it would also have to be thinner in design. Something to look into for sure.

 

And now its time for a similar walk-through for the AquaComputer Aquaero 5 LT.




Click on the link below to launch a YouTube video I made that shows both the hardware and software in action.

Video - AquaComputer AqauSuite 2012, Aquaero 5, and PowerAdjust 2 Overview

AquaComputers makes a variety of prodtucts that all communicate together via the Aquasuite software. They have flow sensors, pumps, radiators, reservoirs, cpu blocks, etc. I have the main controller unit, the Aquaero 5 LT, and two PowerAdjust 2 modules to control my MCP355 Pumps.

The Aqauero 5 can be pushed up to a maximum of 1.65 amps per channel (20 watts) or 5 amps total. AquaComputer designed the output based on the temperature of the fan amps themselves to prevent damage. The cooler you keep them the closer to 1.65 amps they will push. For this reason, I installed a larger heatsink on my Aquaero, to keep things nice and cool and retain the ability to limit the RPMs as to keep things quiet when maximum performance isn't needed.

This will vary greatly depending on the fans you have, but 1.65amps is enough to run roughly 20x fans at 100%. However, the load and heat increase as you dial down the RPM's so the real limit is probably closer to 12 - 15 fans, fewer if you use higher amperage units. This is an amazing amount of fans to control off a single channel and is also enough juice to run a water pump such as the MCP355 or D5.

Even though it is possible to run a pump off one of the fan channels, it is better to use the Poweradjust 2 due to the high start up power draw of these pumps. Each PowerAdjust2 also has a large heatsink to keep the unit cool when you lower the speed of the pump. If you want to just run a pump at 100% all the time, you could probably just add it to one of the fan channels on the Aquaero 5. But if you do a lot of power based throttling like me, it is better to use the Poweradjust 2 for the pumps, and keep the fans on the Aquaero just to be safe. So, that is how I have set the hardware up. Lets jump into the software now.

When first opening up AquaSuite 2012, go the the settings tab to set up your basic units, and language. You can choose what units to use for temps, and flow measurements. This is also where you configure the software's startup options.




Next head over to the System tab to make sure you are running the most current firmware for your hardware components.




Now we can jump to the Overview page where you can set up how you would like to view the data that Aquasuite (and Open Hardware Monitor as mentioned in the above video). You can choose what data points you want displayed, and add graphs to monitor temps, flow rates, RPMs, ect. You have the ability to customize the look of all the items on this page (colors, fonts, opacity, etc.) But what you see below is just using the default look. You can set this page to launch automatically when Windows starts so you can monitor everything from a glance.




This is also a view of another Overview page, but this one has a picture of my case, with the various temp and RPM boxes placed over the hardware components in my system. Its a neat idea, but I personally think it looks a bit too cluttered. I prefer the look of the above page instead.




Next up is the Sensors Page. Here you will see the temps that Aquasutie brings to the table via physical temp sensors (like my in-line temp sensor in my loop), along with software sensors from 3rd party programs like Open Hardware Monitor or AIDA64. You can modify the names of the various sensors to better suite your needs.




Now we will take a look at the Fan Setup tab. Here you can name your fan banks, set minimum / Maximum RPM levels, and a ton of other stuff that I haven't had a chance to play with yet.




On the same page you can see that my pumps are also visible. This is because they are connected in the following manner:
Aquero 5 HighSpeed Aquabus connector -> PA2 Aquabus connector 1 / PA2 Aquabus connector 2 -> PA2 Aquabus connector 1
So with that setup, I have 1 pump on each PA2, and they are can both be controlled via the Aquaero 5 in Aquasuite. The PowerAdjust 2 is a controller which was optimized for the use with a DDC pump (or anything else with a constant load of up to 25W at 12V.) The maximum surge current can go up to 48W so you have enough reserves for the massive starting current that some pumps or fans generate. A configurable startboost allows you to make sure that for example a pump has enough time to spin-up before it is getting slowed down by the controller. This Startboost setting can be seen in the image below.




Now we get into the really cool part of the Aquasuite 2012 software... Controller Curves.
With custom controller curves, you can make it so your system runs silent when high power isn't needed, and rev up to 100% when you need that kind of power. I have set up 3 different curves so far, and they are working extremely well. When my system first boots up, it is near silent, yet everything stays nice and cool. My curves don't look "pretty" at the moment as I haven't had much time to really tweak them, but at this point they are very functional. Once I get everything overclocked, I may have to adjust the temperature variants of these curves.

Controller Curve 01 - CPU Temp controls the 3 fans on the top radiator
Controller Curve 02 - GPU Temp controls the 4 fans on the bottom radiaor
Controller Curve 03 - Liquid Temp controls the speed of my pumps



There are a lot of other tabs in the AquaSuite 2012 software, but I either haven't had a need for them yet, or I don't own components that will register with those pages (Aquacomputer pumps for example). Overall, I am very pleased with the Aquacomputer components and the new software to control them. In the past my system was near silent except for the pumps. Now even the pumps are silent during basic computing tasks.

AquaComputer Aquaero 5 vs Corsiar Link Kit

AquaComputer Pros

• Extreme Customization and Options
• Multiple Components available for liquid cooling systems
• Easy Hardware installation
• Works with most fans and pumps currently on the market
• Controller Curves
• Software seems stable and is feature rich
• Build Quality
• 4 Fan Connectors (Upgradable To 10)
• Optimized for liquid cooling systems

AquaComputer Cons

• Much of the documentation is only in German (English Forum is a big help)
• Setup isn't as straightforward as could be
• Cost (for some)

Corsair Link Pros

• Easy Hardware installation
• Controller Curves
• Software is easy to setup and use
• Build Quality
• 5 Fan Connectors (Upgradable with more Control Nodes)
• Can read CPU & GPU temps on its own (doesn't require 3rd party programs)
• Advanced RGB LED lighting control

Corsair Link Cons

• Customization and options not as advanced as competition
• Not really made for liquid cooling (unless using self contained Corsair cooling products)
• Fairly new software, can be buggy at times

I have enjoyed taking time to use both units, but after going through various scenarios with my hardware, I will be using the AquaComputer products to control my system components from this point on. Both kits offer their advantages, but the Aquaero 5 fits my needs better at this time.

 

Getting ready to do my final build pics. Stay tuned.

 

Incredible work Mr_Armageddon

 

A little hard.. if it is too thick, the mobo wont fit its rearplate (or should I say mobo backplate)..
But if it is too thin, maybe it wont hold the weight of mobo and parts...

Overall normal thickness should be less than 6mm (based on mobo spacer). Ah, yes if we use the space between mobo plate and the case, there will be no more pain in the as*...


Dont mind my post, its only my food for thought... sorry...

 

I was thinking the same thing. I probably can't have the panel built the same way, as the LED strip would inhibit the height of the sidewalls of the light box, but using reflective materials, I'm starting to get an idea in my head on how to make it work.

Pretty sure I can pull it off, but like I said, will have to wait for a future build. This one is just about done

 

Uh oh... I may need to upgrade my graphics cards now after the newest edition to my workspace. Going from a resolution of 1920x1200 to 2560x1600 is going to put even more stress on my good ole 580s in SLI.

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I finally scored a Dell 3011U monitor! Been wanting a 30in panel for a while, and now my workspace / man cave is in my eyes complete. I will be flanking it with a Dell 2007FP Ultrasharp (1600x1200) on each side, rotated in portrait mode, giving me a semi 3D wrap-around effect with a total resolution of 4,960 x 1,600.

Too bad Nvidia Surround doesen't support PLP monitor configurations, even if they all have the same vertical resolution. I hear they are working on it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I am still sorting through the last of the pictures, and will be posting them all soon. Stay tuned!
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Also just want to add that I am going to finish the "directory" for this build log, so it will be easier to find information on what I have done. Located in the 2nd post of this thread.

Here come the final build pics...

 

Final Build Pics

Final Build Pics !

Time to wrap this build log up . It has taken much longer than anticipated, but its finally done, turned out better than I had expected, and of course it also overclocks and performs like a champ.

I am going to post a smaller version of each picture in the post, and below each picture, a link to a full size version of the image for those who want some close ups. ​

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Final Build Pics_01

Final Build Pics - 01

Here we have an angled side shot of the case with the window removed. Really pleased with how the colors of the liquid turned out, matching the Corsair fan rings. ​

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As mentioned before, a higher resolution version of each image can be found at the links below the pictures.

 

Final Build Pics_02 - Side Shots

Final Build Pics - 02

Here we have another shot, directly from the side.​

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As mentioned before, a higher resolution version of each image can be found at the links below the pictures.

 

Final Build Pics_03 - Side Shots w/ Window

Final Build Pics - 03

Shots with the windows installed. Looks great.​

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As mentioned before, a higher resolution version of each image can be found at the links below the pictures.