We wanted to have something new to tinker with for some time – now we can start. Old and new are coming together in our new project called „Mäcki“. Among other things, we have acquired a new chassis and a new reservoir.

We have already made trial run with the most important components. We wanted to see at the beginning, if everything fits as we imagined it or if there were any problems. Here is a glimpse at our chassis:




The hardware is perfectly suited for what we are going to do after everything is assembled. You find a complete list of all components at the end of the post. We want to mount the aquaero on the bottom of the upper ventilation grid. Since the four screws of the board unfortunately do not fit the structure of the holes of the grid, we have already commissioned a small metal plate. In the picture below, we have placed the aquaero on top to find the best spot to mount it.




Here are two more impressions from the combination of reservoir and pump:




In any case, the PCB of the GPU should not be longer as it is:




Computer Hardware (26. Mai 2017)
Chassis: Fractal Design Define S Window
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97N-WiFi
CPU: Intel i7 4790K
RAM: Kingston HyperX Beast, 2400MHz, 16 GB
GPU: EVGA GTX 780 Ti SC
PSU: Enermax Platimax 1200 W
SSD: Samsung 850 Pro 512 GB (2x)


WaKü-Hardware (06. September 2017)
CPU waterblock: Watercool Heatkiller IV Pro Copper-Nickel
GPU waterblock: Watercool Heatkiller GPU-X GTX 780Ti „Acryl Edition“
Radiator Top: Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 240mm
Radiator Front: Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 360mm
Reservoir: Watercool Heatkiller Tube 200 DDC
Pump: Laing DDC 12V DDC-1T Plus
Tube: Masterkleer 16/10mm
Liquid: Mayhems Pastel Red
Controller (fans and pump): Aquacomputer aquaero 6 XT
Fittings: Aquatuning Perfect Seal / 90 degree revolvable
Flow meter: Aquacomputer mps flow 200
Fans: Phobya NB-eLoop 1600rpm Bionic

All post for Project Mäcki

Part 1: Assembling the system

First pictures of our Heatkiller Tube
Working on the metal plate for the aquareo
Installation of new CPU waterblock
Photoshooting with the new CPU waterblock
Cleaning the GPU-waterblock
Installation of the WLAN card
Cleaning the fans
Project Mäcki: New litz wire for the DDC pump
Installation of the front radiator
SSD and Cabling
Tubing and Filling
Pictures of the complete system


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Yesterday, we gave our creativity free rein with taking pictures and post-processing them. We will do a review on the Watercool Heatkiller Tube 200 DDC later… but meanwhile, just enjoy the pictures!











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For the installation of the aquaero, we had announced that we wanted to use a small metal plate. We picked it up from the metal workshop just before the weekend. It is mounted at the top of the chassis, directly next to the small 240-radiator.




This is a view from above:




The plate has 8 holes, the outer four with screw threads:







On the back of the chassis, we had these 4 holes drilled.




The aluminum plate is to be painted black, so we had to grind it down yesterday …




… and once sprayed with a base coat.





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Here we are with a brief update on our project. Since our last post, we ground the metal plate and sprayed it with base coat a second time. A couple of days ago, we also applied the first layer of black color. (Please excuse the poor image quality.)




The motherboard (Gigabyte Z97N-WiFi) was part of our „Red Devil“ system, which is no longer in use. It was also watercooled. We have begun to replace the old waterblock for the processor – a Watercool Heatkiller III – with the current Heatkiller IV.




This is a view of the copper plate of the Heatkiller III:







Next time, we will continue with the mounting of the Heatkiller IV on the motherboard.


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In the last post we had already begun to detach the „old“ CPU Heatkiller III from the motherboard. Now we started to install the new CPU Heatkiller IV.

We began with removing the rest of the thermal compound on the CPU.




The back plate belongs on the backside of the motherboard.




All necessary screws and bolts are included in the shipment of the Heatkiller IV.




Here, the four so-called „studs“ are screwed in. They are part of the „EasyMount System“ from Watercool. Everything is described in detail in the assembly instructions for the Heatkiller IV.







After that, the new thermal compound is carefully applied…




…and spread evenly.




Here, our installation of the Heatkiller IV is completed. It was thoroughly cleaned and rinsed with distilled water beforehand. To protect it from any dust, we used two caps.




As far as the orientation of the waterblock is concerned, we would have preferred to have the OUT port facing right. This would have made the tubing a bit easier. But when mounted this way, the waterblock touches the small capacitors on the left side of the socket.


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Even before the final installation of the Watercool Heatkiller IV on the motherboard, we have played around a little bit with the camera and a macro lens (Nikon D610 + AF-S MICRONIKKOR 60MM f / 2.8G ED) … here, you can see a few results. Have fun!
















In the next post, we continue with the revision of our GPU waterblock.


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After we had mounted the CPU back on the motherboard, we turned to the GPU and its waterblock. Both have already been in use in several systems, and they both have some small scratches. That is why we wanted to clean both components thoroughly before we used them again in our current project.

We took the waterblock completely apart, cleaned it and replaced the sealing rings. Here are some impressions for you.




First, we removed the connector and then loosened all the screws to disassemble graphics card and waterblock.







The thermal compound (Liquid Ultra from Coollaboratory) could only be removed with a rough sponge and alcohol.




But in the end, both GPU and waterblock were clean again, although you can see some traces on the nickel surface. The dark strip in the picture is the reflection of one of the flashlights.




To free the graphics card from dust, we used a simple brush. The thermal pads were, except for one, still in good condition, so we decided to re-use them.




Next, we completely disassembled the waterblock. To do that, we carefully removed the covers on the front...




...and then the acrylic top.




The nickel-plated waterblock looked clean after a treatment with water and dishwashing liquid:




The most delicate work is the insertion of the sealing rings and to put on the acrylic top. Do not let anything slip...




...but after a few attempts it was done!




To re-attach the front covers, we applied fresh double-sided adhesive tape.







After the work on the waterblock was finished, we applied fresh thermal compound to the GPU and screwed both graphics card and waterblock back together.




To finish off, we mounted the backplate and the connectors again.




Here are both graphics card and waterblock assembled again. They are both ready for the next step in our project.





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It has been a while since the last update to our project. On the current status, we can only say: we are waiting. After the cleaning of the GPU waterblock, we have spent the last two weeks just waiting for the arrival of small orders like extension cables for WLAN antennas, crimps or strands.



Source: Shutterstock

We hope, that everything will be delivered shorty, so that we can continue with our project.


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Sure you know this: a certain part of a PC project actually consists only of waiting for any ordered parts to arrive. That’s what happend to us in the last two weeks.

But now the ordered black screws are finally here. Also the crimps and connectors from MDPC-X have arrived, as always with a personal dedication on the cover. Thanks Nils!




In addition, we had ordered a special WLAN and Bluetooth card from OSX WIFI, which has also arrived now.




Now finally all the parts are together and we can start the assembly of the system.


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Yesterday, we focused on the WLAN. For the motherboard (Gigabyte Z97N-WiFi) we had ordered an additional WLAN / Bluetooth card with an adapter for the mini-PCI-Express slot, as well as four longer antenna cables.







That's the way the card is supposed to fit into the slot on the motherboard. But it was a bit loose, so we had to look for a solution.




The simplest solution was to carefully apply some hot glue on the edge of the inserted card.




Now, the card can no longer fall out of the slot or get loose, even if the motherboard is in its vertical position inside the chassis at the end.




The four holes on the backside of chassis were drilled at the same metal workshop, which had also made the metal plate for the aquaero assembly. Now, it was time to install the WLAN- and Bluetooth antennas.










In the end, we installed the motherboard inside the chassis and connected the antennas. After all the preparatory work and waiting time in the last weeks, this was a good sign - the assembly of the system is finally going forward.





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