Log My Humble NCase M1 (Dual 240mm Custom Loop)

[HottestVapes]

My home internet is down, so pics are on hold. Made some good progress with it today though.


Fitted the pump/res to the back of the case. It uses 80mm fan mount holes, not 92mm. Weird, but it works.

Fitted the block to the GPU. First to check it was making full contact, then wiped the TIM off and reapplied, fitted the block fully. Test fitted it in the case to make sure it cleared the side panel. It does.

Fitted the EK Monarchs, but had a hiccup afterwards. They fell of the DIMMs when I stood the case upright. I thought the leftover sticky pad on the back of them along with the thermal pads on the memory chips would be enough to hold them in place but sadly not. Thankful I’ve got some thermal tape that should do the trick.

Took apart the Eisbaer LT240 and cleaned the rad out along with cleaning out the TX240 rad. Used distilled water/vinegar. Gonna flush them out again with more distilled water in the morning.

Also installed an NVMe drive I got in the Prime sales, and fitted most of my custom cables from CableMod.


Happy with the way it’s shaping up thus far. Definitely set to be nicest looking build I’ve ever put together.

 

[rfarmer]

At least is has the 80mm fan mounts, looks like on v6.0 they did away with them.

 

[HottestVapes]

At least is has the 80mm fan mounts, looks like on v6.0 they did away with them.

Guess I won’t be upgrading cases anytime soon then!
Though at least there’s still alternatives for people planning a similar loop to this in the V6, like the Apogee or that low profile DDC pump/block that’s hopefully set to release this year with the Frozen Q reservoir.

 

[HottestVapes]

 

[HottestVapes]

Hit a road block, despite my infinite wisdom I neglected to order anti-kink coils, a 45 degree fitting or QDC fittings. Any of those would practically solve the problem I’m having with attempting to fit the side radiator to the rest of the loop.


Getting a major kink in the tubing trying to finagle it from the bottom rad, around the GPU and upto the side rad, so I’ve had to call it a day until I order some extra bits to finish it off. Happy with my current progress at least. An earlier pic before I put the tubes in.

 

[rfarmer]

Looks great so far. You have a lot of different tubing to run and I think you are right to wait until you have the right adapters, always easiest to do it the way you want it first rather than having to redo it.

 

[HottestVapes]

Looks great so far. You have a lot of different tubing to run and I think you are right to wait until you have the right adapters, always easiest to do it the way you want it first rather than having to redo it.

Exactly. I’d hate to tear this apart in the future to correct some eager build errors from today. With that in mind, I figure since I’ll have to order more fittings anyway, I should really invest in QDCs to remove the side rad easily in the future for maintenance.

Seen another build in the NCase do the same thing and then connect the two leftover QDC ends to run the loop on just the bottom rad. Seems like it a really good option.

 

[HottestVapes]

Extra fittings ordered, QDCs included. Also got a stop valve to connect to my reservoir for easier draining down the line.

One thing I’m struggling with is sourcing anti kink coil/springs. Aquatuning sell some springs but the delivery is 10x the price of the item. Tad steep for my liking.
Any ideas where to get some easily for 13mm tubing in the UK? Can’t find them on OCUK.

 

[HottestVapes]

Progress pics

 

[HottestVapes]

Re worked every bit of tubing with the new fittings to fix my issue with the bottom rad.
90 degree > 20mm extension > 90 degree > double 45 degree to clear the all the cables and give enough height to clear the GPU backplate.

Two runs left to do that’ll connect to the side rad, now featuring QDC fittings so I can pop that bitch off and admire my hard work.

Also added a drain tap, nearly forgot about it.

 

[HottestVapes]

So the loop is complete, filled with distilled water first for a leak test and I found this bugger found it’s way into the loop.

A quick drain later, a took the right side fitting off the block and picked it out with a bent paper clip. Not sure if it was a small piece of paper or plastic. Likely came out the reservoir, no big deal either way.

Further leak testing now while running Mayhems blitz part 2 through the loop for a thorough clean. Don’t plan to leave it going for 12-24 hours though. Don’t think that’ll be necessary since it’s all new parts, and the rads were cleaned before installing. It’s more a sanity check to make sure it’s properly clean before I put the clear coolant in.

 

[HottestVapes]

Complete.

 

[HottestVapes]

Well here's the full build gallery, all the important bits from start to finish. Not had it up and running very long, but I'm very pleased with it.

The GPU temps have come down a lot, It's pretty warm here today and my Acclero III would have the 2080Ti pegged at around 74-75c with the fans maxed on a day like this, my GPU now is under 60c at max load, 2000mhz boost clock and the whole system, even with the DDC pump, is much quieter now on 4 Noctua fans than it was before with two Noctuas and two Cooler Master fans.

The CPU temps haven't really changed much from running with the Eisbaer LT240 AIO, which is fine in my book as I was happy with it already. I'm considering even locking the TDP to 95w for the 9900K and flashing the VBIOS on the GPU for a higher power limit.
My main use for this PC is for it to be quiet while playing games in 4K. I'd rather take the hit in CPU performance that I won't notice in exchange for slightly better GPU performance given the resolution.

 

[EndEffeKt]

What can I say...work of art. Good job mate.

 

[EndEffeKt]

I am attempting quite a similar, if not the same project qith my v6 later this year. I might come up with some questions at that point

 

[HottestVapes]

I can already feel some tweaks may be in order, might flip the PSU around next weekend and flip the side fans to exhaust, see how well that works for me. For now, I'm just enjoying the finished product.

I am attempting quite a similar, if not the same project qith my v6 later this year. I might come up with some questions at that point

Ask away when the time comes.

 

[Wyd4]

Hey Mate,

What a beauty!!

One call out (as someone who basically did this exact thing in my nCase (I used a predator instead of external pump/res) but the rest holds pretty true, is check your hoses regularly.
With mine, I had problems with the hoses to the side rad kinking over time. Presumably they would get warm and soften a little, then kink then cool.
I did the same as you and had plenty of hose so as not to kink them etc, but it still happened, so keep an eye out.

Otherwise enjoy it!! What a beast!

 

[HottestVapes]

Hey Mate,

What a beauty!!

One call out (as someone who basically did this exact thing in my nCase (I used a predator instead of external pump/res) but the rest holds pretty true, is check your hoses regularly.
With mine, I had problems with the hoses to the side rad kinking over time. Presumably they would get warm and soften a little, then kink then cool.
I did the same as you and had plenty of hose so as not to kink them etc, but it still happened, so keep an eye out.

Otherwise enjoy it!! What a beast!

Thanks for the heads up!

Just checked out your build too, that radiator on the side is fucking massive. I feel inadequate now.

 

[EndEffeKt]

I got some more questions regarding your build if you dont mind:

- how many fittings and angled adapters did you roughly use? I estimated something like 14 fittings, 8 angled adapters and some 20 mm ??? spacers. Not including the drain.
- What kind of tubing and what diameter did you use? Or would you use after your building experience.
- whats the max thickness for the side radiator with 25 mm fans and a sfx psu? Is more than 35mm comfortably possible?

Thanks a lot. I will stamp your name into the case after I copy cat your entire build

 

[HottestVapes]

I got some more questions regarding your build if you dont mind:

- how many fittings and angled adapters did you roughly use? I estimated something like 14 fittings, 8 angled adapters and some 20 mm ??? spacers. Not including the drain.
- What kind of tubing and what diameter did you use? Or would you use after your building experience.
- whats the max thickness for the side radiator with 25 mm fans and a sfx psu? Is more than 35mm comfortably possible?

Thanks a lot. I will stamp your name into the case after I copy cat your entire build

Since you asked so nicely.
I used exactly:

• 10x EK Water Blocks EK-STC Classic 10/13 Soft Tubing Compression Fitting - Nickel
• 7x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Angled 90 Degrees G1 / 4 inch - Nickel
• 2x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Angled 2×45° G1/4 Nickel
• 4x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Extender 20mm M-F G1/4 - Nickel
• 2x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Extender 12mm F-F G1/4 - Nickel
• 2x Alphacool Eiszapfen Quick Release Connector Bundle - Chrome
• 1x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Angled 90 Degrees G1 / 4 inch - Black
• 1x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Extender 6mm M-M G1/4 - Black
• 1x EK Water Blocks EK-AF Ball Valve (10mm) G1/4 - Black
• EK Water Blocks EK-Duraclear Tubing 13/10 - Clear 3M

I would definitely use 16/11 ZMT tubing if I were to build it again now, knowing what I know.

Other than that, I used a 25mm side radiator. I’ve seen thicker used. The build that I took a lot of inspiration from used a 38mm rad, but that was an uncomfortable fit. 35mm is doable though.

Speaking of which, I’ll be swapping my side rad for a 35mm thick 240 once I find one. XSPC sell a 35mm rad but apparently the core is still the same as a normal 30mm rad.