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More than a year ago I set off on a journey to build a custom PC Case, that journey lead me to building a water-cooled monolith. Initial requirements were to ensure that the rig would be scalable to the ever changing hardware market and have capacity to manage the ever increasing heat loads of performance hardware components, for that reason the journey was to build a tri-water-loop rig that can be adjusted for different hardware configurations. Just to recap on the project here is the list of things that were done:

  • New holes for fill ports
  • PSU Mounting hole
  • Case sandblasted and powder-coated black
  • Majority of wiring re-done and cable sleeved
  • Custom temperature indicators mount’s for front panel
  • Custom fan control mount on front panel
  • Copper loops constructed, polished and lacquered
  • Custom UV light switches mounted on rear
  • Custom external fan connectors mounted on rear

You can check rig work log here New Rig Worklog

Next step is to choose the components that can complement this beast! Any suggestions are welcome, prices are estimates will be looking for a best deal.

Waterblocks

  • CPU Block: Watercool HK CPU Rev3.0 S1366 = 128
  • CPU Block: Watercool HK LC CPU S1366 Rev3.0 = 69
  • GFX Heatsink: Swiftech Caldera Full Coverage Heatsink - HD4870X2 = 62
  • GFX Block: D-Tek FuZion GFX 2 = 80
  • GFX Block: Swiftech Caldera 4870X2 Full Coverage = 241
  • GFX Block: Danger Den DD-4870-X2 = 211
  • GFX Block: EK Radeon HD 4870 X2 = 256

Qty Description

  • 2 x OCZ Core Series V2 120Gb 2.5” MLC SATA Solid State Disk (SSD)
  • 2 x Corsair TR3X6G1866C9DF 6GB (3x 2GB) PC-15000 (1866MHz) DDR3
  • 2 x ASUS EAH4870X2-HTDI-2G 4870 X2 2G,DDR5,DVI,HDTV,HDCP,HDMI
  • 1 x WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR RE3/1TB/7200RPM/32MB/SATAII
  • 1 x ASUS RAMPAGE-II-EXTREME LGA1366,X58,6DDR3,FSB1800(OC)RAID,ATX
  • 1 x INTEL CORE i7 EXTREME/i7-965/3.2GHZ/6.4 GT QPI/8M CACHE/LGA1366
  • 1 x Thermaltake ToughPower 1500Watt Active PFC Cable Management, SLI & EPS
  • 1 x Sony BWU300S HD Ready Internal SATA Blu-ray Drive
  • 1 x Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe Fatal1ty Pro Series

This was the final component list

Products Ordered Picked Availability Price Discounts Amount Updated
ASUS - EAH4870X2-HTDI-2G 2 2   $899.00 $17.00 $1,764.00 11/2/09
Asus EAH4870X2-HTDI-2G RADEON HD4870X2, R700, 2G, GDDR5, PCIE2.0, DVI, HDTV, HDCP, HDMI              
ASUS - RAMPAGE-II-EXTREME 1 1   $775.00 $11.00 $764.00 11/2/09
Asus RAMPAGE-II-EXTREME LGA1366, X58, 6DDR3, FSB1800(OC)RAID, 2GBLAN, 3xPCIE2.0, 2FW, ATX              
Corsair Micro - TR3X6G1866C9DF 2 2   $759.00 $14.00 $1,490.00 11/2/09
Corsair TR3X6G1866C9DF 6GB (3x 2GB) PC-15000 (1866MHz) DDR3 For X58 MB/i7 Core, 3x240-pin DIMMs, Triple Kit, 9-9-9-24 1.65V              
Creative - SBXFI-TITAN-FPS 1 1   $265.00 $10.00 $255.00 11/2/09
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe Fatal1ty Pro Series              
Intel - BX80601965 1 1   $1,769.00 $28.00 $1,741.00 11/2/09
Intel Core i7 Extreme 965 (3.2Ghz/ 8MB/ 6.4GT QPI/ Quad Core)              
OCZ Technology - OCZSSD2-2C120G 2 2   $499.00 $9.00 $980.00 11/2/09
OCZ CORE SERIES V2 120G SATAII 2.5” SSD              
SONY - BWU300S 1 1   $485.00 $0.00 $485.00 11/2/09
SONY BWU300S INTERNAL 8X BLU-RAY READER/WRITER SATA              
Thermaltake - W0171 1 1   $499.00 $0.00 $499.00 11/2/09
Thermaltake W0171 ToughPower 1500 Watt Active PFC Cable Management, SLI & EPS support              
Western Digital - WD1002FBYS 1 1   $309.00 $7.00 $302.00 11/2/09
Western Digital WD1002FBYS Caviar RE3, 1TB, 7200rpm, 32mb, SATAII/300, NCQ, 24x7 Reliability              

The total price (small car)!

Product Subtotal $8,416.00
Discounts $136.00
Discounted Subtotal $8,280.00
Freight Charge $0.00
Surcharge $0.00
Grand Total $8,280.00

But you have to do this once in your life!

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