I Hate Computer Hardware, Part Deux

"Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura" (sundowne36)
03/23/2014 at 01:49 • Filed to: Computers, Supercomputers, Computer

Fuckin' AZZA, man. If this is their idea of Japanese Steel, then I hate them. There are two accessible screws that holds the side panel close and for some reason, I have a panel gap. Thus, the top screw has to go through two holes that wouldn't align.

I am slightly glad that installing a second Hard Drive wasn't hard without Hulk Smashing a SATA connector but holy tits was it irritating on seeing if I can get it to work. 3 restarts and a bleeding thumb later, I can access my pr0n files that were stored on my old computer.

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DISCUSSION (12)

samssun > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 02:01

You appear to have a sharp kink in one of the bottom hoses inside your case. You can get hose springs to keep a gentle radius, if this is recurring.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > samssun
03/23/2014 at 02:02

Ah, yeah. About that, I kind of half-assed one or two hoses upon installation and I might as well overhaul the system when I get a chance.

I just need to find a stand and a bucket.

Redbulldidlo > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 02:16

Why does your cable management seem to be so horrid, and why do you seem to have 3x the length of hose that you actually need?

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > Redbulldidlo
03/23/2014 at 02:17

I had to cut a ziptie or two to figure out what goes where, and it was a bit of a miscalculation on my end for the latter.

ddavidn > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 02:40

All I can say is.... I've seen worse!

JGrabowMSt > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 10:50

Does your loop really roast the cpu with the hot water from the gpu? Im only guessing from the tubes I can see...

Panel gap is more an issue with cases being made poorly. My case doesnt go together without some careful futzing, because I dobt want to screw up the matte white paint. I also modded my case which didnt help the matter (actually made it a little worse).

Looks like you need some compressed air more than a new fan for that radiator....

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > JGrabowMSt
03/23/2014 at 12:58

Ah, I actually made it to loop from reservoir > CPU > GPU > Radiator > reservoir.

JGrabowMSt > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 13:24

Next time you take it apart, I would go Reservoir > CPU > Radiator > GPU. You don't want to roast your components. You're essentially feeding hot water to the hottest component in your loop.

Also, as it's been said, reference designs are crap. Go for a non-reference cooler, and put little heatsinks on the RAM and VRMs. Better cooling and cooler components to boot. It's pricey, but you can get 90* connectors for tubing so you can keep it neat and shorten the tubes as much as possible.

It also looks like you have a kink in the tube right over the PSU. This computer needs some serious TLC. Honestly, I'd drain the loop, take it all apart, and start from scratch for best results. Sounds harsh, but a hotter GPU wont survive for long in that loop.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > JGrabowMSt
03/23/2014 at 14:30

I tried the heatsink thing - it's not really up to par with what I want compared to a full-cover.

JGrabowMSt > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 15:12

Well, that could be directly related to the loop you have. I would suggest looking at Danger Den blocks first. I dont typically work with water cooling often because of how much maintenance they need (that my customers will never do) but that doesnt change much.

Some of the cleanest and best water cooling setups Ive seen have completely avoided reference cooling blocks, so I would suggest stepping out of your comfort zone for this. Also, what mixture are you using in terms of fluid?

The self contained coolers are all hit and miss. Usually they dont get mounted correctly, and something cracks. I had a iBuyPower machine come to my shop with a mangled fan because of how the radiator was mounted. In my experience, the reliability of air cooling has never been beaten.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > JGrabowMSt
03/23/2014 at 15:18

Hilariously, I tried air-cooling once on a pre-built machine, the ASUS CG5920-BP007 - I heard the fan kick on playing GTA:SA multiplayer a couple of times. And I can't imagine what Saints Row The Third would do on its lowest setting...

I may look at getting a bigger case, the Corsair Obsidian 900D and an additional radiator or two.

JGrabowMSt > Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura
03/23/2014 at 15:54

Don't throw money at it. I would say an Obsidian case would be nice, because you can put the radiator inside the case and at the top. You could rebuild your loop to work quite well.

I think you just had bad experiences, and that can be fixed in time. A number of companies now make very good aftermarket coolers, like Arctic Cooling and Thermalright, but you have to take risks with it, and learn from it. I use a GTX660 Ti GPU. Specifically the Gigabyte Windforce OC version. It has one of the quietest stock coolers, and the card is plenty powerful for what I need it to do. If you go for say a reference cooled GTX260 (I have one in my older machine), once that thing warms up, the cooler simply can't keep up, and it gets really loud.

I don't think an additional radiator will ultimately help your loop. Good, low noise fans, and a better loop design will. I have a very similar machine at work (AMD 6 core, same motherboard, but no 6850 just a GTX560 IIRC). I've never really been satisfied by the performance of the machine, and had constant crashes from multimedia programs. For that reason, I've all but completely replaced the real workhorse machines with Intel ones. My own Dual Xeon rig is air cooled, mainly because of how quiet it is. I will spend extra simple to make sure it's quieter. I think you just need to re-work your loop and try some different fans and different blocks, and you'll be fine.

I will say though, pre-built machines are pretty bad machines to base any experience on. They're cheap, and they're cheap for a reason.