New Workstation Build v2015

[Justin]

Got tired of waiting for Sabertooth Z170 retail availability, so I switched to the Maximus VIII Hero and pulled the trigger on the workstation build.


I've done a couple of builds for others with sealed-system liquid CPU coolers from Corsair, but I decided to try out a custom liquid cooling setup this time for my system.

Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Computer Case  		$149.99
SeaSonic SS-860XP2 860W 80 PLUS PLATINUM power supply		$179.99
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO LGA 1151 Intel Z170 			$228.99
Intel i7-6700K Skylake Quad-Core 4.0GHz 			$359.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 2666		$234.99
ASUS GTX 970 STRIX OC 4GB 					$324.99
Intel 750 Series 400GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe MLC Internal SSD 	$369.99
SAMSUNG 850 Pro 2.5" 1TB 					$469.99
(2) Seagate 4TB 7200 RPM 128MB Cache 3.5" Enterprise Drive	$553.98
Intel Ethernet Server Adapter I350-T2				$129.99
(3) Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-2000 PWM 140mm SSO2 Bearing Fan 		 $78.57
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit					$139.99

Cooling system:

3 meters PrimoChill PrimoFlex 13/10mm clear tubing 		 $24.39
EK-Ekoolant Pastel BLUE (concentrate 250mL)			 $21.95
EK-Supremacy EVO Elite Edition CPU block - Intel 115x 		$126.49
EK-CoolStream PE 360mm radiator 				 $79.99
(10) EK-ACF Compression Fitting 10/13mm - Nickel 		 $54.90
EK-DBAY Acetal resevoir with spinning flow indicator		 $66.99
EK-XTOP D5 PWM - Plexi (incl. pump) 				$124.99
(3) EK-Vardar F3-120 (1850rpm) radiator fans			 $71.96

 

[wct097]

Why liquid cooling? You overclocking? Seems to me like major overkill for a workstation.

 

[Justin]

The EKWB liquid cooling components are pricey but the quality is top notch and the assembly was painless. That pump is insanely quiet, even at high speeds.



I have the Intel 750 PCIe drive as the OS drive, with the Samsung 950 Pro as high speed secondary storage, and the twin 4GB Seagate spinners setup in a mirrored Win10 REFS storage space.



Played with it a bit this weekend (took all this shit home to assemble and tinker with) and so far so good and is quite speedy.

 

[Justin]

Why liquid cooling? You overclocking? Seems to me like major overkill for a workstation.

Most assuredly overkill, just wanted to experiment with custom liquid cooling mainly. This will run 24/7 for several years so the overkill cooling won't hurt.

I will probably do a mild overclock to 4.6GHz when I figure out the best settings for such, and I may decide to add the GPU to the cooling loop if it ever bothers me noise-wise.

 

[abqtj]

that will never work

 

[wct097]

I think it's interesting, but never really had the desire to do it myself. I personally haven't found a need for overclocking. Typically, when I build, I'm building with the latest and greatest and probably won't be able to gauge the difference it would make.

 

[Justin]

that will never work

Because it is missing the Apple logo?

 

[abqtj]

Because it is missing the Apple logo?

well that's one reason of about 9...good luck

 

[Justin]

well that's one reason of about 9...good luck

Picture #2 show it all in fact working, like a charm.

Not sure what you're getting at.

 

[abqtj]

That might work for a few weeks...but...

 

[Justin]

Joe, please stop posting under Steve's account.

 

[kthrash]

Liquid inside a computer.. What could go possiby go wrong???

 

[abqtj]

Joe, please stop posting under Steve's account.

 

[Justin]

Liquid inside a computer.. What could go possiby go wrong???

if it's good enough for corporate data centers...

 

[BrandonM7]

Liquid inside a computer.. What could go possiby go wrong???

Lots of small form factor machines (like really thin laptops) have been doing it for years. Most of the time it isn't pumped, but it still has juice, heat pipes, and a radiator. Use an inert, non-corrosive, non-conductive juice and WGAF. I've seen dorks build machines with the entire motherboard submerged just for the shock effect.

 

[Justin]

Lots of small form factor machines (like really thin laptops) have been doing it for years. Most of the time it isn't pumped, but it still has juice, heat pipes, and a radiator. Use an inert, non-corrosive, non-conductive juice and WGAF. I've seen dorks build machines with the entire motherboard submerged just for the shock effect.

Wait til Apple comes out with the liquid cooled iPhone 8S.

 

[luv_jeeps]

I haven't looked at prices on stuff in awhile, but I would have thought the proc and ram would have been more. Where did you source the parts?

 

[Justin]

I haven't looked at prices on stuff in awhile, but I would have thought the proc and ram would have been more. Where did you source the parts?

Mostly Newegg.

 

[abqtj]

Big mistake

 

[luv_jeeps]

Mostly Newegg.

I buy most of my stuff from them...
I'm still running an older Asus MB and 3.2Ghz quad core with a couple of SLI cards and 16GB of RAM in a nice Thermaltake case. Still runs well.