Ghost S1 full water loop with Ryzen 3900x and 2080Ti (first attempt at custom water loop)

flar

Average Stuffer
Original poster
Jan 19, 2020
78
46
I finally finished my Ghost S1 build and wanted to put out some details in case they help others do better on their builds. My history in building computers includes:
  • Assembling a SWTPC 6800 system in the late 70s from a kit. Soldering IC chips and components onto bare PC boards and all.
  • A Shuttle XPC build in the early 2000s
  • 2 basic DIY PC tower builds with AIO coolers over the past 8-10 years
  • This build which was my return to SFF after the Shuttle build and my very first custom water loop
Computing components:
  • Louqe Ghost S1 base in limestone
  • Louqe Small tophat in pangaea
  • Louqe Large tophat in limestone
  • ASUS ROG Strix 570-i
  • AMD Ryzen 3900x
  • Seagate Firecuda 520 M2 1TB
  • Samsung 970 Evo Plus M2 1TB
  • Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600c18 2x16GB
  • Corsair SF750 PSU
  • nVidia RTX 2080Ti FE
  • pslatecustoms silver unsleeved cable set
Loop components:
  • Alphacool NexXxos ST30 240mm radiator
  • Swiftech Apogee Drive II (base only)
  • Alphacool Laing DDC310 pump (rewired to a single 3-pin fan header)
  • EK Vector RGB GPU block (nickel/plexi) + backplate (black)
  • 2 x Noctua NF-A12x25 fans
Fittings (all G1/4 16/10):
  • 4 x Koolance NZL-LXG2 low profile elbow
  • 6 x Alphacool 17234 Eiszapfen compression fittings
  • XSPC 10k Plug temp sensor
  • <3m Mayhems Ultra Clear tubing
  • <1L EKWB CryoFuel clear
  • for tophat mounting: black nylon motherboard standoffs (15mm barrel + 6mm screw base)
Some details about the build...

The case and fitment

Originally I wanted to have an extra small tophat between the two limestone pieces just as a color accent band. I do like the way it came out, and it also provides some breathing room (potentially improved airflow?) between the top of the components in the base unit and the bracket on which the fans and radiator are mounted. When I got the parts I realized there would be an attachment issue because the only place Louqe provides screw mounts for attaching pieces is at the top and bottom of the main case unit. The first tophat gets to screw into that socket, but the second one has nothing to screw into. The system allows for a single tophat on top and a single tophat on the bottom, but no stacking. I did see other reports of doing something similar where they used longer screws that feed through both tophat mounts but I didn't feel that would be stable enough because there is nothing for the second tophat to rest on. I thought about adding nuts to the longer screws just below the mount for the upper tophat so that it wouldn't sag, and also about using a collar that bridges the gap so the mounts of the upper tophat can rest on that, but I eventually found motherboard standoffs that do pretty much exactly what I wanted. I ended up getting a nylon kit on Amazon with an assortment of standoff sizes, but you can also find them in brass. I'm terrible with diagrams so I'll list the connected parts in order of their connections:

[bottom]
  • Ghost S1 case with screw mounts on top
  • one nylon washer from the MB standoff kit
  • the mounting tab for the first (small) tophat
  • the 15mm standoff screwing down those pieces
  • the mounting tab for the second (large) tophat
  • one of the usual Louque mounting screws holding the large tophat to the top of the small tophat+standoff
[top]

It isn't as solid as a metal connection all the way, but as long as you don't pick the case up by the tophat(s), it feels solid standing on its own. Also, there are metal standoff kits available usually in a brash finish if you want to try this with all metal pieces.

With regard to fitment of the stacked pieces, the top of the main case has a deeper groove than the top of the tophats. The reason for this is that usually you have the top bracket resting on the top of the main case and then the tophat on top of that - but on the top of the tophat you just have a thin lip for the cover to fit into. The end result is that the second tophat doesn't sit as deeply on top of the first tophat and there is a small "panel gap" there. It is less noticeable because of my choice to use a contrasting color, but you can see it if you know what to look for and where. I can live with that, but it would be nice of all of the tophats were designed for tight stacking (and proper stacked mounting).

In the loop I saw on many builds using these EK GPU blocks they typically ran into clearance issues because a typical right angle elbow fitting sticks out just too far from these blocks. Usually the elbow fitting can fit inside the case, but if you add a compression fitting to its outlet, then the compression collar blocks the case side from sliding on. Those builds ended up resorting to a barb fitting there and the case side just barely slid past them. I researched lower profile elbow fittings and found the Koolance NZL-LXG2. They are short enough that even when you add a compression fitting with its large collar to the outlet, they still clear the sides. I can slide my case sides on with about 1mm of clearance still.

One caveat with the low profile fittings, though. If you install them on a flush socket, the outlet of those low profile fittings is flush with that surface. If you look at the EK water blocks, in any direction but down (and even in the down directly there is still a lip), there is a flush surface leading away from the terminal mounts. Luckily, the surface of the terminal block is raised from the surface of the plexiglass mount by a couple of mm so there is just enough extension on the elbow and just enough clearance on that lip that you can fit the compression fitting but only if the elbow points within about 5-10 degrees of straight down. (Pictures of the fittings below.)

Those same low profile fittings also work well on the Apogee base where I was able to install it with the in/out ports in their fully upright positions with no clearance problems when sliding on the case side covers. I measured the distance from the cooling base to the top of the compression collar on the taller fitting (the IN side) as just over 65mm.

All in all, the hardest part of sliding the case sides on is having to occasionally jimmy them past the junctions of the tophats if they aren't perfectly aligned - no component in this build even touches the side covers. I have to be careful when lifting it as if I grab any piece of the side covers they slip right up with no resistance. (I realized after assembly and plugging it all in that I could screw the main side covers to the base, but I think I'll leave them loose for now to train myself not to grab them and until I'm 100% sure I won't have to go in and fix something...)

The cooling loop

First, my pump/block choice. I did order an Alphacool LT solo, and did try to use it at first, but the mounting bracket tabs would not go into the slots on the pump. I think they overpainted my mounting brackets and I would have had to dremel them to be able to slide past each other. To be sure, I've seen videos where builders slide these brackets on with their fingers and I was using all of the strength in my arms with padding to prevent pain and I couldn't get them to seat. It is not a good design from my perspective.

So, my backup was to use the Apogee that everyone likes for its power, but I didn't like the fact that it uses 18w which means it must take power directly from the PSU - adding to the cables in the tiny compartment. I found that some were swapping the Apogee pump to an Alphacool DDC310 which is a bit more powerful than the LT solo, but not nearly as powerful as the MCP35x that comes standard on the Apogee. The advantage is that the DDC310 only draws 10w so it won't overpower a MB header. By default the DDC310 is wired to a 4-pin Molex, but it is simple to rewire it to a 3-pin fan header. In fact I didn't even have to do that because Performance-PCs offers a wire sleeving service and for a nominal up-charge they will rewire it to a 3-pin fan header for you while sleeving it in a nice braided black sleeve. It looks great and greatly reduces the cable clutter in the small case. I think it works very well. This is my first water cooling rig, but the water (and bubbles) moved pretty quickly through the system when I was bleeding it. I'd say the water takes about 5-7 seconds to go from radiator out to radiator in.

Swapping the pump to the DDC310 was very simple - just a few screws here and there and it dropped right in. I noticed that it looks like Swiftech left the vinyl sheet on the thermal pad between the pump and the heatsink which I thought was odd. Also, there turned out to be a tiny bit of plastic molding/carving flashing in the pump chamber that I wish I'd spotted while I was doing the swap. As it was I had to pull it apart and trim it off only after I had finished plumbing the loop and realized the noise I was hearing wasn't going to disappear on its own. :(

(Note for others: There is also the EK SPC-60 that is 8w, has similar specs to the DDC310 and comes already wired for a 4-pin header. It should be a good alternative to the DDC310.)

I decided to go with a non-standard loop order. Water comes from the radiator to the GPU block then to the CPU pump/block and then back to the radiator. I figured that the GPU has a lower thermal threshold so I wanted to make sure it had first crack at the cooling. Now that I've gotten everything going I see that it also produces the most heat while staying way cooler than it really needs to, so perhaps that wasn't the best idea. I know it produces the most heat because the water temps go up way more when it is under load than if the CPU is running Prime's most abusive test for even longer. It also never breaks 55C which is well below its thermal threshold whereas the CPU can get up to 80C which is nearer its 95C threshold. My loop order was probably not my best choice. Also, the loop order meant that bleeding air out of the GPU the easy way by moving it to the GPU block outlet meant that it would head next to the pump and get aerosolized and at that point it would fly through the radiator rather than stop there and collect. :(

Pictures

Closeup of tube routing from GPU side across to CPU to radiator showing low profile fittings on Apogee inlet/outlet:


Closeup of tube routing from radiator to GPU and across to CPU side, showing low profile fittings on GPU terminal:


Tubes in and out of radiator and the temporary fill/reservoir tube used to trap air and bubbles during bleeding:


Overall view of CPU side before final case assembly:


Overall view of GPU side before final case assembly:


Final assembled case:


Final case assembly closeup of panel gap on second tophat:


Closeup of standoff attachments used to double-stack the tophats:


Things I might do differently next time

Inspect the pump block more carefully! I had it apart when I was swapping the new pump on and I even saw that other builders had problems with slivers of plastic hanging off where the molds or cutting machines had shaped it. Indeed my Apogee block had some plastic that was rubbing against the impeller. I thought it was just cavitation noise and only due to running at full speed all the way through the bleeding phase of the loop only to realize it wouldn't go away even after bleeding and even after running it at minimum RPMS. I had to disassemble the fully bled loop to find the plastic shavings and trim them off. The pump is now (near) silent. Wish I'd done that originally.

The rewiring and sleeving on the DDC310 looks nice and reduces the cable clutter in the case. If I had to do it over I might ask Performance-PCs to shorten the cable a bit. It is long enough that the cable comes out of the pump at the bottom and then I wrap the wire all the way around the Apogee mount underneath the mounting bracket and it still has more than enough length when it reaches the bottom again to reach the fan header with length to spare. You might want to figure out how much cable you need to reach your MB fan headers and have them trim it a bit as well if you go that route.

Blooper reel

I kept reminding myself to remove all of the vinyl protector sheets from the thermal pads on the GPU block when I was assembling it. What did I forget to do? What didn't I remember until the block was mounted? At least I remembered it when I was doing the back plate so I didn't have to remove it from the case and replumb the loop to fix it.

The Apogee pump had thermal compound between the pump and the heatsink. What did Swiftech forget to remove? The blue film on the top of the compound. (So, it isn't just me...)

I really don't like the Apogee mounting system. While it was pretty straightforward, it is slightly fiddly trying to get the spring loaded screws to bed into the motherboard backplate mounting holes. Part of this could be that I had already built the system out once with an AIO and didn't want to remove the MB to mount the Apogee. I should have waited and started with the pump block I was eventually going to use and installed it with the MB out of the case.

One casualty of the Apogee mount system is that the first time I put it all together I ended up getting it slightly cockeyed and had to back off a little on one of the corners and try again at tightening. When I pulled it apart to diagnose a noise in the pump I found that I had scratched the Apogee base plate. It is way off on the side and not near any of the Ryzen chiplets so I didn't fret it, but holding a large pump block while trying to get fiddly spring loaded screws lined up with holes buried underneath MB components is not a win in my book.

When I realized the noise from the DDC310 was probably an obstruction I had to disassemble my plumbed loop to find it and dremel it off and I chose to do that with the system full of water, which was probably not a wise way to go, but I didn't have enough fluid for a second fill of the loop, so I made do.
 
Last edited:

Krazychoo

Cable Smoosher
Mar 25, 2020
10
13
Absolutely great build and even better explanation of everything.
I have a question since I'm in the same situation with gpu block, meaning GPU fitment. I thought EK angled 90 will fit but they don't.
Now, you are saying with Koolance low profile 90 swivel within 5-10 degrees going down you can fit regular compression fitting using original terminal.
Will EK torque 10/16mm compression fitting work (the once I'm using here)? If not, which kind will?
Here is my build...

 
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flar

Average Stuffer
Original poster
Jan 19, 2020
78
46
The reason I went with those koolance fittings is that 2 builders have tried to use standard right angle compression fittings on the terminals that exit out the front face and they didn't clear the sliding side panel. I remember one of them was using the alphacool fittings, but I don't remember if the other was as well. Both of them went with barb fittings on the right angle connectors and were able to reassemble the case, but it was tight. My koolance fittings have no trouble clearing the side panels at all.

The videos I remember seeing with the barb fittings were:


Optimum Tech where they couldn't get the compression fittings to clear:

and their followup with barb fittings:


JayzTwoCents where he realizes compression won't fit and gets barbs:
 

flar

Average Stuffer
Original poster
Jan 19, 2020
78
46
BTW, I also ordered one of those alternate right angle EK terminals but didn't use it. The main thing was that I was afraid to try to tighten the terminal into the block given all the warnings they had about overtightening. But also the right angle terminal looked a little spartan compared to the regular terminal that comes with the card.
 

rfarmer

Spatial Philosopher
Jul 7, 2017
2,588
2,702
Great looking build. I used the Koolance adapters in my Ghost build too and they worked very well, I am also using an Apogee Drive II.
 

Krazychoo

Cable Smoosher
Mar 25, 2020
10
13
Thanks for reply... of course I've seen every Optimum Tech's video, he's the reason I got into SFF.
BTW I just got L tophat and got ton of space for proper DDC and 1x 120mm rad in bottom.
 

flar

Average Stuffer
Original poster
Jan 19, 2020
78
46
Blooper reel

I kept reminding myself to remove all of the vinyl protector sheets from the thermal pads on the GPU block when I was assembling it. What did I forget to do? What didn't I remember until the block was mounted? At least I remembered it when I was doing the back plate so I didn't have to remove it from the case and replumb the loop to fix it.

Sigh. It's official, I'm an idiot.

I had to RMA my GPU and after a week or so of testing I finally got around to mounting it on the GPU block that has been lying on its side next to my case during the process (I didn't want to replumb the loop so I left it in the loop without the GPU in it).

What did I forget again? AAAARRRGGGHHH!

And again, I realized it as I was about to mount the back plate so I at least saved myself toasting the vinyl coverings. And it gave me a chance to check my first attempt at a thermal application with the Kryonaut applicator.
 

AP2

Airflow Optimizer
Feb 1, 2017
291
325
I havent really kept up with this case, but is it readily available? kinda want to try it out.
 

flar

Average Stuffer
Original poster
Jan 19, 2020
78
46
You should check the thread dedicated to the Ghost S1. They release them in batches from time to time.