Case Mod - In Progress WC'd Antec 1200 i7 & GTX295 rig dual rads *FINISHED + FINAL PICS/RESULTS*

Hi all, been trying to get around to properly cooling my Antec 1200 with i7 & GTX295 but with one thing and another I've only just got around to starting it off!

Full Spec of hardware:

• Antec 1200 full tower case
• Asus P6T Deluxe Motherboard
• Intel Core i7 920 D0 CPU @ 4ghz
• OCZ Reaper PC3-12800 1600MHz Ram 7-7-7-24
• XFX Nvidia GTX295 Graphics Card
• Asus Xonar DX Soundcard
• Gigabyte Odin 800w Modular PSU

WC spec list:

• EK Spin reservoir
• Swiftech 18w DDC pump
• XSPC DDC Pump Acrylic Top V3
• 2 x Phobya G-Changer 240 Radiators
• EK Supreme Acetal CPU Water block
• AquaComputer AquagraFX GTX295 Water block
• 1/2" ID 3/4" XSPX tubing throughout
• Feser Compression fittings throughout
• 2 x Yate Loon D12SM-12D 120mm Fans for front rad
• 2 x Kaze-Jyuni Slipstream 120mm Fans for top rad

Yesterday I went about stripping the case and fitting the Rads in, wasn't sure where to put them but decided on one in the front and one up top as there was so much free space up there!

I have spaced the top rad slightly of the Antec Big-Boy fan to create a better gap between them which should help in exhausting the hot air. I used motherboard brass fittings to space out the rad and it worked well, just had to slightly enlarge the holes on the rad to take them.

Just waiting for a few more parts to arrive then I can continue the build, for now here are some of the strip down and rad fitting...

Rig as it was running with side off


Close up of guts


Motherboard etc removed


Rig in temporary position so I can still use it & game!


Pics of rads & a Yate Loon fans


Yate Loon left, Kaze Jyuni right


Yate Loon left, Kaze Jyuni right


Rad held in place by 4 small L-shaped Brackets


Checking clearances for front fans before fixing in rad


All screwed up into place with brackets & fans


Top pic looking down on rad & fan sandwich, notice the brackets


Motherboard brass stand-offs fixed to top rad


Holding top rad into place to mark screw holes


Top rad fitted and lid about to go back on


Looking up at top fan with Kaze Jyuni's fitted


Front shot of the top rad & fans


240mm Rad just about fits up there, literally 2mm free space!


Shot of fan testing, Kaze's are loud and move loads of air but they will be on a fan controller anyway, the Yate Loons hardly make a noise and with all Antec fans on low its soooo much quieter than before, just hope all this keeps the temps good!


Quick front shot showing EK res etc, ready for part 2!



Any comments good or bad? Im just hoping 2 x dual rads are good enough to cool the over clocked i7 & 295

Cheers all,
Rob.

 

Those rads certainly are up to the job and that's exactly how I had mine set up but I used mcp220 rads and 4x ds12h yates for the front rad and 2x ds12h fans in the roof running at 7v ish.

Good work! Never made a log of mine, should have I suppose.

Oddly identicle kit that came out of mine bar the 295 tht was a single pcb and the ram that was the 1866mhz cl9 stuff.

Andy

 

It's a bit late, but I find these intriguing: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=26723

 

Look at the specs though... Aluminium and composite Aluminium. Ew.

You are packing a serious amount of cooling into that case, will be interesting to see you temps.

 

Yay for dual antec 1200 loops! Plus you've mounted them in the same place. Looking good, where did you get the 'L' brackets from? Need a pair for mine, lazily propping them up won't cut it for me lol.

Where you planning on putting the pump? There isn't a fat lot of space left with the front occupied by the rad and fans.

 

Yeah I knew about them but being aluminium I didnt bother as I dont want issues running different metals in my loop, heard bad things!

Haha cheers bud, L shape brackets just come from B&Q, like 50p each or something, had them sat about from a previous project and it just so happened to be exactly the right size so I needed to didn't have to make different holes in them!

I have an Idea for the pump but cant test my theory until the final parts arrive, it will be on show just hope there is enough space for the tubing though as im using 3/4"

 

Couple of quick pics from today, didn't have much time but managed to spare half an hour to cut down one of the hard drive mounts/caddies as it wouldn't go in due to hitting the end tanks. With a quick chop theres plenty of space now to access the front rad pipes meaning I can still use 2 x HDD's which are cooled


After the hacksaw had been out, normal one on right


Fitted inside with 2 HDD's leaving a nice bit of room for rad piping


Outside of case looking normal again

 

Got the bulk of the work done over last couple of days, couldn't mount the pump where I originally wanted so had to settle for the bottom of the case but shouldn't cause any problems

Here ya go:


Rest of the Watercooling Parts


G1/4 LED holders with UV LED's fitted into EK Reservoir


18w DDC Pump mounted on rubber feet


Motherboard & PSU mounted with EK Supreme CPU waterblock


Starting to pipe it up with red UV coils


Stripped GTX295 (was slightly scary stripping it knowing warranty is out the window)


GTX295 PCB's all de-greased & de-dusted


New Thermal paste & memory pads ready to fit to waterblock


Both GTX295 boards carefully fitted to Waterblock


Another side shot of GTX295 all waterblock'd up!

 

Ridiculously nice choices!

 

This is coming along nicely mate!

Andy

 

didnt realise that antec was so big... Its rather roomy in there isnt it

 

Great looking mod so far.

 

Thanks for the positive comments people

Has a couple of hours free last night so done a bit more, I managed to sleeve the case header cables and pump and also finished the plumbing, leaving the filling up and testing to tonight wooooop!


Sleeve'd Front Leds/Switches/USB & Audio


GTX295 in place and all piping connected ready to go!


Angle shot of piping

 

Woooooooooop! Its alive Fully working, no leaking and soooo much quieter! Didn't have time to stress it last night but idle temps are between 32-35 degrees on the CPU @ 4ghz and both the GTX 295 cores

Some more pics -

Testing water loop without powering Mobo


EK Reservoir filled but not running


Whole machine fired up and running happily!


Funky shot 1


Funky shot 2


Case shot with it fully running, looks pretty much standard from the outside

 

Nice work.

Stress temps would be interesting.

 

sweet build man

 

Some more funky shots of it all working, just playing with the overclocks now but seem to be running at great temps so far and only other thing I need to do is add in the 2 x cold cathodes to finish it off

 

Very nice

Think I will buy this case for the space though I still think 130 quid is a bit too much for what it is.

 

some very nice final shots there

 

Where can you buy things like that cable sleeve? Looks awesome!