I will make a suggestion on barbs for the benefit of all. I also found that the 1/2 Tygon was great at unseating barbs, especially the plastic variety. I went to the local plumbing supply shop and purchased brass fittings for about $1/each. I am now using these in the res and chipsets with the worm screw style clamps and a wrap of teflon tape. These flat don't leak. They also do not require an O-ring, which is the weakest link anywhere in the loop.

Arlie, will you please upload a photo of the brass fitting you're using?

On this build I used all worm screw clamps (instead of the plastic clips) and Teflon tape.

Update: I removed the EK w-block from the 8800GTX tonight: the card was bone dry. It looks like XFX won't cover me on this dead card. After replacing four or five (I lost count), I really can't blame them. lol. There were a few occasions where a defective w-block was to blame, leaking fluid. This time, ironically, I think the card truly was faulty.

XFX makes an excellent line of video cards; however, based upon my extensive ummm -*test*-('")ing . . . ha ha . . . I would strongly, strongly caution anyone against using their 8800GTX cards with the EK waterblocks. I have two running perfectly fine using the Stealth w-blocks.

The EK GPU blocks are among the most popular out there and deservedly so: they are meticulously constructed. The one bad block I had was most likely faulty because of my error in trying to squeeze the EK between expansion cards, creating a slight arc that loosened the o-ring seal.

As easy as it is to blame the w-blocks, I don't see how they contributed here. I think the problem lies in insufficient contact between the heatsink and the video card's VRAM. EK includes thermal pads for this purpose -- tacit acknowledgment of possible contact issues.

The video card worked fine for 90 minutes, then severely distorted characters and color palette. I allowed it to cool off for an hour and received a perfectly good video signal for 30 minutes before a repeat of the same distortion issues. Another hour to cool off, then reboot with no video signal -- card entirely dead. I've been told and have read that when there is a problem with VRAM, it manifests itself in this way: alphanumeric and color distortion as the memory overheats, then permanent damage to VRAM.

I realize all these cards are generic for the most part with a few tweaks here and there. I'm beginning to suspect that XFX's factory overclocked cards differ in that they allow for very little margin of error in cooling of the card.

I was thinking about using some anodized aluminium fittings on my upcoming H2O setup, don't know about using dissimilar metals, but I never encountered problems using these on my cars, these fittings are push-on and dont require hose clamps.

http://www.holley.com/704609ERL.asp

I've used these fittings on carbies and havent had one leak fuel on me yet, they are a lot cheaper in brass/copper.. but these look really nice.

I wouldn't mix copper and aluminum. Research that first as I believe they interact badly with each other.

No problems running them on cars with copper radiators, and they run for years. Although just as easy and cheaper to go buy some copper/brass compression fittings or something... I'm going watercooled, very exciting times

You guys have the rads, anyone know the fins per inch?

Jason,

You can see the brass fittings in the pictures I have posted under new builds, FW07 rigs. There are two in the reservoir.

Hi Arlie, I checked that blog, but the photos were so small (even when pulling them up on Image Shack), that the shape and type of barb is impossible to make out -- save that they are copper.

Believe it or not, we don't have a dedicated plumbing shop in the small town I live -- just a general True Value hardware store. They may stock these, but think I'll have to take a drive to find an exact match. If you have a part number, I can call ahead to make sure they stock the barbs. Thanks, Arlie.

There are dozens of companies that make them. Here is a link to one catalog online: http://minnesotawanner.com/pdfs/fittings.pdf

If you take one of your plastic barbs to a local plumbing supply, they can find the part for you post haste. They are classified as low pressure fittings and are available in brass and stainless steel. You might even check with a marine dealer in your area, as brass would be a preferred material for fuel systems in boats.

They are so so much easier to work than the plastic fittings that I will never again put plastic fittings in any of my builds.

Arlie, I don't have a single plastic barb in the build. After the Swiftech southbridge w-block disaster, I will never use anything other than metal barbs.

Thanks for the link.

Everything is up and running. All that is left to do is to punch a couple 120mm case fan holes in the top of the Lian-Li this evening. The new Dremel with circle cutter should arrive in time for the festivities.

XFX took mercy on my overheated VREG's and is RMA'ing the card. They are not offering advanced replacement. Given the number of returns with the previous build, I'm happy to get a replacement and didn't push for it.

XFX stated that thermal paste won't provide adequate contact -- even with the stock heatsink -- that their tape is necessary (the cheap stuff that creates a gooey mess and leaves fiberglass fibers all over the PCB). I then questioned why, if that was the case, did not XFX supply extra thermal tape, given that (1) the tape disintegrates when removing the HSF; and, (2) XFX acknowledges, encourages and covers under warranty substitution of the stock HSF with waterblocks and other alternate cooling solutions. The head of RMA did not have an answer. I found this ironic, considering they attempted to use substitution of thermal solution as a reason to deny the RMA.

At the moment, I have a new BFG factory overclocked edition card running on the EK waterblock. It's been running for 12 hours now without a hiccup at decent temps -- average of 50C. This a few ticks higher than the cards running off the Stealth blocks, but that's typical for full coverage GPU w-blocks. Of the full coverage GPU w-blocks, the EK blocks have the best rep. Apart from the VREG contact issues, it's well earned. This time I left the stock thermal tape in place on the VREG's, because it's a bit thicker than the EK supplied thermal pads. So far, so good.

CPU temperatures are also very good, with a high at idle of 36C (where the QX6700 runs at 47C on water, average, at idle with a modest overclock).

Next step is to cover everything up good and cut the two fan holes. There is plenty of slack in the Tygon running to the radiator, so it won't be a problem getting adequate clearance. Obviously, I'll make sure the motherboard and other electronics are well shielded from any stray metal shavings.

Jason-
I would not try and do any cutting in the top of the case with anything mounted inside. It will get covered in metal dust, shavings etc. That stuff gets everywhere no matter how careful you are. Maybe a punch would be OK, until you try and file down rough edges, but dremel, metal and electronics, all in one space, is asking for trouble IMHO.

I don't have a 5" punch, Merc (2" is the largest I have on hand). I understand where you're coming from, but think this may be the exception, in that the top of the case is partitioned off from the motherboard tray in this older Lian-Li case design (a case they no longer make).

I intend to cover both top and bottom of the case top in painter's tape, sealing the side of the case with plastic, and enclosing the top panel in plastic (with a plastic collection bag beneath the top panel). Because the Dremel is small and easier to control than a jig saw, I think the mess will be better contained. That's my hope, anyway!

If cutting holes I use the jigsaw and dremel. Do pie slice cuts with the jigsaw and cut the circumference with the dremel.

I will echo Merc's advice. Do not cut the case with ANY components mounted inside. You're asking for trouble if you do. Some of the metal filings will be almost microscopic, but that is enough to short a motherboard.

If you're going to cut your case, strip it bare. Blow it out thoroughly afterwards and then wipe it down with a paper towel and some windex or rubbing alcohol to get rid of the really small stuff.