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[Build Log] H2O-Micro (<3 Liter watercooled gaming system)

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Intro
I’ve be very intrigued by the Alienware Alpha and the ASUS ROG GR8, systems that are marketed as console replacements. However after doing research on them one thing became evident that made me cry.
The graphics card in them aren’t as good as the can be in that size. Don’t get me wrong we should all be happy they are trying to make a Console replacement, but they only slightly improve on graphics with the Alienware Alpha listing “GTX Graphics” or better known as GTX 860M and the ASUS ROG GR8 has a GTX750Ti.


The Goals
I have 5 goals that I wish to accomplish with this build
1) Under 3 Liters in volume
2) 4K Gaming
3) Watercooled CPU and GPU
4) Clean design
5) Quiet when gaming

The Specs
CPU
- Intel Core i7-4790
GPU - Palit GeForce GTX 970 4GB
Motherboard - Asus Q87T
RAM - 2x8GB SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz
Storage - SanDisk X110 128GB (might upgrade it to 256GB)
WiFi - Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Plus Bluetooth
PSU - HD-PLEX 250W DC-DC board and 350W External power brick

The Hurdles
In order to get under 3 Liters AND fit a complete watercooling loop in it I’m doing a lot of custom designing for it, here is the shortlist:

CPU Waterblock
Full cover GPU Waterblock
PCIe 4x to 16x Riser PCB
Custom 2x80mm Radiator
Reservoir
Case

The Progress
I have already made a lot of progress which you can find right here

Case
This design is close to ready, once I have all the internal parts completly laid out I will be ordering the case, I would like to hear your opinions on the aesthetic of this case.
Version 1


Version 2


PCIe Riser PCB
I made my initial design as seen and ordered it. Almost finished and ready for testing



Radiator
A supplier of the company I work at made me this custom radiator. You can see a 120mm Fan and a 280mm radiator as a size comparison


CPU Waterblock
I finished the design form my CPU Waterblock


GPU Waterblock
No real progress to show yet, I’ve been doing some designing based of web images but until I’ve gotten my own GTX970 I won’t have a final design to show

Power Supply
So I’m going with a Thin M-ITX motherboard together with a HD-PLEX 250W DC-DC board and an external 350W Power brick. The way it is going to be setup is like follows:
Thin M-ITX motherboards generate their own voltage onboard, just like any notebook motherboard. I have a DC Jack on the back I/O that supplier 20V and the motherboard turns it in 12V, 5V, 3.3V, you name it.
However, Thin M-ITX motherboard are not designed to run with discrete graphics cards, the motherboard only has a physical PCIe 3.0 4x slot and those are limited to only supply 25W instead of the 75W a PCIe 16x slot can deliver, also there are no PCIe 6pin or 8pin connectors present.


This is where the HD-Plex 250W DC-DC board comes in. It is meant for small systems to have an external brick but still have the 24pin, CPU 8Pin, GPU 8Pin and some sata connectivity. I’ll only be using the GPU 8Pin and the board 12V rail to supply the GPU with power.
The PCIe raiser disconnects the 12V that normally comes from the PCIe slot itself in order to allow the HD-Plex board to supply all the needed 12V power to the GPU.

I still have a ways to go but I’m making good progress.
 
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Wow looks really interesting and kudos for the old school custom water cooling with all custom made parts :)

For the CPU
Is it really worth while designing and manufacturing your own CPU block? Also how does it look on the inside?

For the GPU
How are you gonna connect the VGA to that riser? Also maybe this Gigabyte GTX 970 would be better fit due to the smaller pcb, if you are making a custom block anyway?

For the PSU
I need to look into how that works. Sorry for all the questions and good luck with the build :)
 
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Wow looks really interesting and kudos for the old school custom water cooling with all custom made parts :)

For the CPU
Is it really worth while designing and manufacturing your own CPU block? Also how does it look on the inside?

For the GPU
How are you gonna connect the VGA to that riser? Also maybe this Gigabyte GTX 970 would be better fit due to the smaller pcb, if you are making a custom block anyway?

For the PSU
I need to look into how that works. Sorry for all the questions and good luck with the build :)

I need the CPU waterblock custom because of the height constraints. measured from the motherboard to the top of the CPU block it's only 18.3mm high. The only small waterblock I know of is the apogee LP and it is 31.5mm above the processor almost 40mm if you count from the motherboard up, mine is half of that

I'm waiting on the PCIe 16x socket it was out of stock at my supplier, they have new stock on 02-02-15 so that should be coming soon. Als I had a ASUS GTX970 mini but the PCB is 10mm taller which makes the case bigger then an reference GTX970.
Also with regards to the Gigabyte GTX970 mini it has dual slot I/O which I can't have I can only fit Single slot I/O cards

I'll be making a schematic of how the PSU setup will look in the future.
 
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wow pressing the size is pretty challenging
since the room inside is limited, i hope it has nice airflow so you dont make it oven inside
 
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wow pressing the size is pretty challenging
since the room inside is limited, i hope it has nice airflow so you dont make it oven inside

Inside the case itself there will be zero airflow, so it is much like a passive system and with the real heat producing parts, CPU and GPU being handled by the watercooling I expect little problems with heat buildup. The only question about the CPU VRM and Chipset and what temperatures they will reach.
 
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Here's a mockup of my design, I won't be showing the waterloop for now, I will be showing this off later on when I have the physical blocks in hand, gotta keep people guessing somewhat ;)
 
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sub for this. interesting build considering making it as compact as you could

Good luck with your build

edit:
Inside the case itself there will be zero airflow, so it is much like a passive system and with the real heat producing parts, CPU and GPU being handled by the watercooling I expect little problems with heat buildup. The only question about the CPU VRM and Chipset and what temperatures they will reach.

you may have a problem cause the mobo needs to cool to. Not unless you water cool the mobo VRM and PCH as well.

and also, where will you locate the pump?
 

[Ion]

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That's awesome! :toast:

Subscribed!
 
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Compact build... Custom WaterBlocks
Subbed, I've got to see this.
 

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It's a motherboard/cpu_block/graphics_card/gpu_block sandwich!
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Well I had myself a small problem, how do you test a PCIe riser that can only be folded over a Thin M-ITX motherboard?

Luckily on another forum a member (l3p) was interested in my riser, upon asking why he was interested he answered "Ik dacht dat hij wel handig kon zijn als je een GPU plat op een E-ATX bord wilt leggen. (Dus bovenop de andere PCI-e slots"

Wait what?
Let me Englishify that: "I thought it could be useful for folding a GPU flat over an E-ATX motherboard. (On top of the other PCI-e slots)".

Gotta love when other people turn on the lights in your head. I had an Maximus IV Extreme laying around but no CPU for it. quickly got myself a used Pentium G860 to test with.

*fingers crossed*



It works!
the slot it is running in is only 4x 2.0 so fps aren't great, but at least it works!

Here it is all soldered up.



Also, why would l3p want to fold the GPU over the motherboard? Well you can slim down you build and show of a waterblock.

He did something similar before but at a 135 degree angle and with a flex riser
 

czr

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Subbed.

I had similar idea for my Asrock H81TM build, but with an air-cooling, lowprofile FirePro or Quadro GPU and 19V 90W external PSU.
For the moment I'm waiting for Delock Riser (41788) to arrive.

What are exact dimensions of the case shown in conception?
 
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I've finished up the GPU waterblock


Now on to the finishing touches and doing a sanity check of everything.

Subbed.

I had similar idea for my Asrock H81TM build, but with an air-cooling, lowprofile FirePro or Quadro GPU and 19V 90W external PSU.
For the moment I'm waiting for Delock Riser (41788) to arrive.

What are exact dimensions of the case shown in conception?

My current dimensions are just under : 21.5cm x 26.5cm x 5cm
how do you intend to air cool the CPU with the GPU overtop of it?
 
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I've finished up the GPU waterblock

Is that a render? can we see more? :) Also did you draw and render the whole card?
 
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Is that a render? can we see more? :) Also did you draw and render the whole card?

Yes it's a render, I'm thinking of doing a small composite render of the GPU, CPU and case.
I've drawn the entire card, though not all components.
 

czr

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how do you intend to air cool the CPU with the GPU overtop of it?

With custom-made copper radiator and 80mm fan mounted next to the LP GPU.
It's i3-4130 (54W TDP including iGPU), with a slight undervolting it should be fine.
 
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Inside the case itself there will be zero airflow, so it is much like a passive system and with the real heat producing parts, CPU and GPU being handled by the watercooling I expect little problems with heat buildup. The only question about the CPU VRM and Chipset and what temperatures they will reach.

ehm, it could affect your components for long term btw maybe you could make it passive by using the case as heat spreader for your vrm
 
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Hey guys,

Just a quick question I am curious about. What kind of finish would you like to see on the case?
A. Normal Black Anodized Aluminum
B. Brushed Black Anodized Aluminum
C. Black Powder Coating
 
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I think A or C would be the best. I think brushed would give rougher "industrial" look which doesn't suit this case. Why don't you make renders with the different finishes so we can get a better picture :)
 
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Just a small update as it has been rather quiet now.

I’ve ordered the waterblocks and reservoir from my supplier, they should be getting milled come Monday, so with a bit of luck I’ll have them in my hands before the end of next week.

I’m also close to ordering the case itself from another supplier. Because of pricing I will be getting 2 Horizontal cases and 2 Vertical cases.
1 Horizontal and 1 Vertical case will be sand-blasted and then anodized either black of “space grey”
The other 2 will be powder coated black, matte and with a structured finish.

The only thing I need to order now are the O-rings for the blocks and the interconnects.
 
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I kinda made a mistake :(

The fitting that goes on the reservoir is not going to fit.

Now I have to hope I can find someone to lathe a lot of material of the fitting and hope the fitting doesn't mind being über skinny

 
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I've a question @QinX
How do you plan the hdplex psu to turn on when you press the button? PS_on must be shorted...
 
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