My kit had a blue LED built in both the VGA and CPU water block, but you have to connect those to a fan connector to get it to light up. Also, my PSU also has blue LEDs so that adds to the shiny stuff. If you don't plug in the LEDs, you should be fine.

Yeah. Just don't get the UV reactive coolant, and also make sure the water hoses aren't UV reactive too. If they are you can just replace them. I'm the same way you are. No icons on desktop, PC is just a square - no bulges or curves, just a black box (admittedly with blue fans, for a little blue glow.) And before that it was the P180, which I picked for the minimalist design and "silent-ness."

Quote from Crashgate3 :

Yes, but you'd also be better of spending £200,000 on a house rather than a Ferrari, but people stilll buy Ferraris

Lol yer but this is more like spending $30,000 on a Caterham which would be quicker than a $120,000 jeep or something, I duno. Either way water cooling shouldn't just be bought under the impression it will cool your PC better, or it is quieter

Yeah, the main reason I'm getting it is just because I can... The challenge itself is worth the extra expense.

I've been doing a fair amount of reading on the Overclockers.co.uk forums, and I definitely think now that an all-in-one kit isn't the best solution. I'm going to get the parts seperately and make the loop myself.

One thing that I'm unsure about is what size radiator I'll need for the CPU, northbridge and two GPUs - they generally come in 1, 2 or 3x120mm, to fit that amount of 120mm fans. I know I'll need more than 120.1 (haha look at me, picking up the notation already.. ) but 120.2 and especially 120.3 look like being a very tight fit in the case. I've been having a look at the Thermaltake Armour case and it looks like you'd be able to fit a 120.2 radiator vertically up the front of the case, and possibly put another 120.1 in the loop at the back if absolutely neccesary, as it appears the single fan rads will attach to pretty much any existing 120mm fan mount. I have no idea whether this is possible though, or whether having a huge radiator right in front of the only inlet fans will affect the cooling of the other components.

I need to ask on a few more specialist forums really - have to wait though, as OcUK forums have to approve each membership before you can post there.

Yer tbh man I didn't actually read that you were going with watercooling, but it sounds like you've got it sussed. The Armour is a nice case, I'm pretty sure I've seen a double fan rad mounted in the front of one before.

Either way, good luck with it, I'm sure it'll turn out pretty nice

It would probably be better to mount your radiator on the outside back of the case, so it won't give off heat inside of the case but on the outside instead. It also leaves plenty of space on the inside of your case.

On the back though, it would be using the warm air from inside the case and so wouldn't be able to cool the water as much. Having a look at other watercooled systems, most have the rad taking air straight from outside the case.

There will also be the side-fan in the case door to bring cool air in too.

Quote from Crashgate3 :

On the back though, it would be using the warm air from inside the case and so wouldn't be able to cool the water as much. Having a look at other watercooled systems, most have the rad taking air straight from outside the case.

There will also be the side-fan in the case door to bring cool air in too.

Well, if your water cooling your CPU, graphics card(s), and northbridge, there won't be much warm air coming out of the case, will there?

Hehe, I suppose so...

The main problem seems to be that the kind of radiators designed for multiple water-blocks are just way too big to fit on the back. You can fit a single 120mm rad on an exhaust fan mount, but that appears to be only enough to cool one chip (judging from what I've read and seen online).

Quote from Jakg :

EDIT - That watercooling system looks nice, but if it wont turn on i think i know why - you forgot to plug the bloody power into the mobo!

It has a PSU jumper in, so it doesn't power the mobo incase there is a leak

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ @2.3GHZ 2X 512KB
2GB PC5300 @667mhz (running single channel though)
8600GTOC 512MB
Basic Logitech Wireless Keyboard+Mouse
400W Speaker System
300GB Barracuda

I use my keyboard to race, yeah I know I'm crazy. Gotta get a wheel one day.

On the way: Athlon 6400+/8800GTOC 512MB/22" HP LCD

Curious - how come you're going from an 8600 to an 8800? Did you buy the computer in a store and are now upgrading it? Or did you make the mistake of getting an 8600 and are now getting the 88?

Here is my new Computer I built a few days ago You will see there is a link to a file full of pictures of the new comp.

Specs:

Cpu: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 8MB
MB: ASUS P5E3 DELUXE/WIFI-AP X38 ATX DDR3 3PCI-E16 2-PCI-E1 2PCI SATA RAID 2XGBLAN Draft N Motherboard
Ram: OCZ Platinum OCZ3P13332GK 2GB DDR3 2X1GB DDR3-1333 CL 7-7-7-20 Dual Channel Memory Kit
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 120MM Fan 2X PCI-E
Video: EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GTS Crysis Edition 650MHZ 512MB 1.94GHZ DDR3 PCI-E DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1000GB 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
Sound: SB Audigy Platinum w/Front Bay (Already Had this from old system)
DVD Burner: Plextor 18x slot-load (Already had this from old system)
CD Burner: Plextor 40x (Already had this from old system)
Case: Antec Nine Hundred


Pictures:
http://www.MaximumRepair.ca/NewComp.rar

Hmm, quite the nice build. I was checking out your site too, seems to be very professional, I like it I might have to swing by, or drop you guys an e-mail when I plan on getting a new system. Being in Huntsville, Toronto isn't much of a drive.
~Bryan~

some updates on mine
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4600+(same)
Mobo: ASUS Crosshair (same)
Memory: 3x 1024Mb Apacer 800Mhz(changed)
VGA: 8800GTS 320Mb Xtreme Edition XFX(changed)
HDD: 4x 500Gb Seagate 7200rpm HDD's (first was 1 160gb)
Case: some casemodders case

Quote from dropin_biking :

Hmm, quite the nice build. I was checking out your site too, seems to be very professional, I like it I might have to swing by, or drop you guys an e-mail when I plan on getting a new system. Being in Huntsville, Toronto isn't much of a drive.
~Bryan~

Hey,

Thanks for the complements, I do like the site myself but keep in mind under the "Systems" section those prices are not up to date so expect it to be a bit cheaper. I'm in the middle of updating prices and putting together some new configs for that section.

Also this is my own side business that I do on the side so I do it out of my home so no store and so on. But if you are interested I can easily build you a system I make them often for other clients.

Anyways just let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks
Bryan

Gaming PC

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz s.939
Mobo : EPoX 9NPA+ Ultra
VGA : ATI Radeon HD2600XT 256/128 GDDR4
RAM : 2x512 PQI DDR400 PC3200
HDD : 320GB Seagate SATAII 7200.10
Picture : 17" RoverScan Optima 170 1280x1024 75Hz

Communication Centre for LFS Leagues (Skype, MSN, TS, IRC etc... use for minimize CPU load etc on PC)

Acer Aspire 5051AWXMI

CPU : AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile MK36 2.0GHz
VGA : ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 Hypermemory 256MB
HDD : 120GB
RAM : 1GB DDR2
Picture : 14.1" CrystalBrite


Picture of condition while LFS leagues using Skype communication http://www.c4racing.net/failid/IMGP0825.JPG

Quote from Sketchyrollin564 :

This is the thread to show, and give ideas for your LFS cockpit in your computer area. Try to keep it to only people with wheels.

Heres mine. And yes, i use that math text book as my "imaginary" clutch pedal, that i actualy kick, when i shift.

here is my grymma cockpit

Quote from fastandfurious74 :

here is my grymma cockpit

xcbvxcbxcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

Quote from fastandfurious74 :

here is my grymma cockpit

xcbvxcbxcccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

-drool-

Made some major upgrades to memory and processor;

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2Ghz X2 1MB X2
3GB DDR2 PC5300 667mhz dual channel
8600GTOC 512MB
300GB Barracuda
Windows Vista Home Premium

Here is my VERY VERY expensive rig,

CPU: 2 x QUAD core XEON E5410 "Harpertown". Clocked at 10,66 GHz
Mainboard: Tyan Tempest i5400XT.
RAM: 4 x 2048MB DDR2 dualchannel highend RAM 1066Mhz.
HDD primair: 2x Western Digital Raptor 150 Raid 0.
HDD secundair: Samsung 1 TB (1000 Gb) Datadisk.
DVD: Samsung SH-S183 DVD Burner.
Graphic: 2x Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB SLi.
Case: Thermaltake Armor Black.

Everything is Liquid-Cooled.. well.. almost everything ofcourse

With 3DMark 2006: 21.258 points. And with F.E.A.R i got almost 230 FPS. LFS is about 200 FPS. Graphic settings are Very Heavy or Ultra.

This is my current rig.. im planning to casemod to make it even more beautiful.

WOW.

Not quite sure what you mean by "10,66 GHz", though...

I have one word to say to you - SKULLTRAIL!

Quote from Jakg :

WOW.

Not quite sure what you mean by "10,66 GHz", though...

I have one word to say to you - SKULLTRAIL!

with 10,66 GHz i mean 10 GHz and 600 MHz.. let's just say 10 GHz

and what is Skulltrail..? my english isnt that good xD

Quote from ElProempie :

Here is my VERY VERY expensive rig,

CPU: 2 x QUAD core XEON E5410 "Harpertown". Clocked at 10,66 GHz
Mainboard: Tyan Tempest i5400XT.
RAM: 4 x 2048MB DDR2 dualchannel highend RAM 1066Mhz.
HDD primair: 2x Western Digital Raptor 150 Raid 0.
HDD secundair: Samsung 1 TB (1000 Gb) Datadisk.
DVD: Samsung SH-S183 DVD Burner.
Graphic: 2x Nvidia 8800GTX 768MB SLi.
Case: Thermaltake Armor Black.

Everything is Liquid-Cooled.. well.. almost everything ofcourse

With 3DMark 2006: 21.258 points. And with F.E.A.R i got almost 230 FPS. LFS is about 200 FPS. Graphic settings are Very Heavy or Ultra.

This is my current rig.. im planning to casemod to make it even more beautiful.

Its not 10.66Ghz, its just 4 x 2.6Ghz cores. That doesn't mean you've got 10Ghz, it just means you've got 4 available cores of 2.6Ghz.

Quote from mcintyrej :

Its not 10.66Ghz, its just 4 x 2.6Ghz cores. That doesn't mean you've got 10Ghz, it just means you've got 4 available cores of 2.6Ghz.

Yes.. but overall i've got 10 GHz.