Reconfiguring the Pink PC

Our console-killer needs some love to get it ready for testing.

Our Pink Pariah has had its fair share of knocks and scrapes since we built it prelockdown, and it’s in dire need of a renovation and some key component adjustments before we can inject any new coolant into the thing.

At its heart this machine has an AMD Ryzen 5 2600X six-core, 12-thread processor, an Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC Edition graphics card, 16GB (2x 8GB) of Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4 @ 3,200MHz, and a 1TB WD Black PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSD with heatsink, all inside a Phanteks Evolv Shift X (sadly no longer for sale), and powered via a 750W Corsair SF750 80+ Platinum PSU.

Back in its heyday, it was no slouch in the performance department (especially for living -room gaming), but with the advent of the RTX 3000 series, Intel’s 10 series CPUs, and AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series, it’s now somewhat long in the tooth. However, the thing it has always done really well is produce heat. And that’s something we absolutely need to test out here. With the panels on and dust filters in place, this tiny system often hit 85 C on the GPU alone during long-term intense gaming sessions at 4K.

When this writer’s future spouse got fed up of it being in the living room and told him to move it upstairs, we removed one of the rear glass panels and pulled off the dust filters from the sides with the radiators attached to improve airflow, and this dramatically

affected temperatures – under-load GPU temps topped out at a meager 59 C compared to that aforementioned 85 C, with CPU temps hitting 69 C max. Neat, and that’s just adjustments to intake air, plus space to exhaust that heat.

The Upgrades

So, what needs fixing? Well, the problems lie in both the usability of the machine for draining and filling, and some potential issues that may arise in the future in the form of the water blocks we originally attached to the CPU and GPU.

When we built it we decided to use Phanteks’ latest liquid-cooled water blocks. Everything else – frosted tubing, pump, reservoir, RGB rings, and radiators – came from Alphacool. For our coolant, we went with Mayhems’ Pink Pastel.

The problem is that the water blocks on the CPU and GPU have developed microfractures around the G1/4-inch ports. We think this is due to user error, because we used ethanol to clean the blocks during the original photo shoot. Using alcohol on plexi typically causes it to shrink, then develop microfractures. Over time, they can lead to full-blown leaks. Not good.

We also need to add a decent drain port at the bottom of the system, and preferably an aeration port at the top as well. For all of this we reached out to Alphacool to get some additional gear in to reconfigure the loop for our new tests. This included a new CPU block, a new GPU block, and a few new fittings to add an aeration valve. But that does mean we need to fully drain, strip, and reconfigure the system ready for the tests.

01 OF MICROFRACTURES AND MEN

Here we have a prime example of what we’re talking about with regard to those microfractures. These have been developing slowly over time on the block, ever since the photo shoot, progressively getting worse, but as this rig isn’t used often, they’ve not been at the top of our list of priorities. You can see the fractures are emanating from the G1/4-inch ports themselves – this is obviously where there’s a considerable amount of pressure being pushed down and where the plexi glass is weakest. Top tip: Don’t use alcohol wipes on your plexi blocks.

02 DRAIN PORT CANDIDATES

This is our first candidate for a drain port location. Thanks to the design of the Alphacool radiators, there are multiple G1/4-inch ports on both sides. This is the slim 120mm radiator we have in the “bottom” of our case, next to the PSU. The 120mm fan there effectively sits below the chassis, stuck between the case and its detachable feet. In a perfect world, we’d disassemble the entire machine, drill out the plate, and attach a 90-degree fitting and a ball valve. However, the radiator has an additional port, facing out on the other side, which could be a better solution, and it doesn’t require any modding. The only problem is that if a ball valve is used there, it will stick out the back of the case, and you won’t be able to reattach the side panel (or tempered glass window).

03 AERATION VALVE

One of the key principles involved when it comes to draining a liquid-cooled system is the movement of air and pressure. Gravity helps you move some fluid from a pressurised system, but if you don’t have air passing through it, it’s a very slow process. In systems with both a fill and a drain port, usual best practice is to open the drain port (draining the coolant out into a bucket), and open the fill port as well, so air passes through and the coolant flows out at a much faster rate. Because our system’s fill port is located in the middle of our PC, this does present some issues when it comes to draining. So, we’re adding an additional aeration valve (effectively a T-block fitting, with a plug on top of it) at the very top of our rig, to help the draining process.

05 BLOCK SWITCH

With the GPU out, we then turned to the CPU block, and removed that as well, being extra careful because the RGB cable plugs directly into the case itself. Here is where we made our first mistake, because we accidentally got some coolant on the board. We did the best we could, mopped it up with a microfiber cloth, then used a heatgun to dry the board off – however, this would come back to bite us later. Then we placed in the new Alphacool block (a satin block to match our tubing), and attached the DRGB frame as well, and plugged it into the header close by. After that, we were lucky, in that all the tubing runs we’d used in the previous build fitted perfectly back into position, with some help from a bit of flexibility from those angled fittings.

04 SYSTEM DRAINED

To drain our system, we moved to it a sink, carefully unplugged the bottom port on the radiator, and quickly attached a length of soft tubing, placing the end in the sink. Then we opened up the fill port on the reservoir and began to drain the coolant as best we could. As our fill port is in the middle of the loop, we attached a clean length of soft tube to it, then blew into it, to encourage the rest of the coolant to leave the system. Only do this if you’re replacing your coolant with one that contains a biocide, because it can introduce bacteria to the system and encourage organic growth. Once as much of the coolant was out as possible, we started to disassemble the various parts of the machine, including the GPU. G1/4 ports on different manufacturers’ blocks can be in different locations, so it’s no guarantee that, when swapping blocks, the tubing will fit back in place afterward, but it’s handy to keep them nonetheless.

06 T-BLOCK INSERTION

We then removed the topmost tubing run (now hanging loose since the removal of the GPU), and placed it to one side. With the 90-degree fitting out, we installed a small male-to-male extension, then screwed in a T-block – a giant extension fitting that has G1/4 threads at three locations. You can also get X-blocks and Y-blocks. They’re usually designed for adding drain ports, or splitting flow off in parallel loop designs, where coolant flows through two separate runs at once. We’re using it as a pseudo 90-degree fitting, then placing a plug on top to act as an aeration valve. There’s a slight issue with the fact that it’s not rotary, as once it’s secured, that’s the angle you get. Fortunately, the panel pass-through fitting it’s attached to can rotate in the hole we originally cut out of the case, so it’s not an issue. If you use one, pair it with a male-to-male rotary extender, to avoid the problem.

07 GPU BOO-BOO

We’re never ashamed to admit when we mess up, and this was the second major boo-boo of the build (the first was getting coolant on the motherboard). In short, midway through the first day’s photography and system stripdown, we realised we’d ordered the wrong GPU block for the graphics card. The Asus ROG Strix RTX 2080 OC uses a custom PCB, and we’d ordered in the block for the reference design instead. D’oh. A quick call to Alphacool, and it managed to ship us the correct part in less than a day. Fun fact: The expedited shipping almost cost more than the block itself. You can see the differences between the two GPU blocks: The one installed, the M08, is far larger than the one we originally requested (M02), and comes with a cut-out for those MOSFETs that the other doesn’t have. You win some, you lose some.

09 WAIT! THERE’S A PROBLEM

With the old GPU block, we used the backplate that came with the standard air cooler. This retained the RGB lighting and kept the card quite slim. However, with the Alphacool block, you have no choice but to install the backplate that comes with the card. The problem is that it extends the GPU block out back, as it has thick thermal pads to help dissipate heat from the back of the memory chips and other VRM parts. This would be fine in any other build, but our reservoir is in a fixed location and can’t be moved. Basically, the GPU wouldn’t fit back in its slot at all. To get around this, we took inspiration from last issue’s Hydra Mini build, and unsecured the PCIe riser cable that comes with the Shift X, attached it to the card pre-installation, then secured the card in place at the back, so it can rest on the reservoir without contacting anything or creating any conflicts. Annoying? Very.

08 GPU BLOCKS

We’ve finally got the correct water block in, so it’s time to install it on the card. How do you go about that? Well, the first thing we had to do was remove the old Phanteks block. We’ve got the entire card removed from the case and plugged up, so next on the list of things to do is remove as many screws as we can. Remove the backplate first, and that gives you access to the main screws that hold the GPU block in place. Once that’s out of the way, it’s time to carefully remove the card from the block, then proceed with a quick clean-up and removal of the old thermal paste and thermal pads. After that, installing the Alphacool card is a piece of cake. Use the included colour-coded thermal pads in the positions indicated by the manual, add a blob of thermal paste to the GPU, then carefully pop your graphics card on to the water block, lining everything up. Add the remaining pads to the backplate, screw it down, and you’re good to go.

10 GRAPHICAL ALIGNMENT

At last, we have the GPU in position – it was a bit of a squash and a squeeze, but it’s in now and not touching anything. We’ve also extended the fittings on the front radiator to give us a little extra room, and that tubing run that goes from the front radiator to the graphics card is going to be redone as well (the original setup had a slight crookedness to it that annoyed us). There’s a little wiggle here now, but we’re not too worried about it, because once the tubing runs are all in place, and the fittings secured, that should help keep it in its position. It’s still got the two PCIe notches in place as well, and the screws above it, too, so it’s not all that bad.

11 MISSTEPS AND ADJUSTMENTS

Look at that pink coolant in the bottom tube. This is a fresh tube that we’ve just bent and installed, and used an extension fitting to get to sit right, and it’s got coolant in it. Where from? The radiator. It’s all too easy to fail to properly clean coolant out of a system. In this case, though, it’s intentional, as Mayhems requested that we test the coolant under all sorts of conditions: With a flushed loop, with gunk in the system, with some coolant still in there – the idea is we look for any user scenario and see how the coolant responds. The second thing to note is we’ve got away with reusing the same tubing that connects the GPU to the T-block. The only thing we needed to do was shorten one end and add an extension fitting to the other. The angles are very precise, and it would have been a nightmare to bend a fresh tube.

13 ODD COOLANT

With the system primed, we notice that it’s a lot pinker than we thought it would be. This is no doubt in part to that pink pastel coolant being trapped in the radiators from before – ideally, the whole system would need a few flushes to get the bulk of the coolant out, but we sadly didn’t have time during the shoot (a proper flush requires the loop to be running for a good 24 hours). Nonetheless, the way this coolant reacts with light is something else. As you can see, the light ring we attached to the reservoir emits a green glow, and the coolant immediately around that absorbs it and changes colour, while it’s a lighter pink in the rest of the system. Change it to any other colour and you see the same result. In fact, you can see this even better in our frosted CPU block, up top, in the next shot. It seems the particles themselves reflect the light wavelengths – brilliantly so.

12 TIME FOR SOME MAYHEM

As this coolant is different from most, and the size of the particles in it are smaller than blood cells, we’ve taken some extra precautions. Equipping ourselves with a decent pair of latex gloves, we carefully pour the XTR coolant into our fill bottle over a sink, secure the cap on the bottle, and head back to the machine. We remove the plug from the 90-degree fitting on top of our reservoir, and remove one of the plugs from the top of the res (to act as our fill port). We add a length of clean soft tubing to the 90-degree fitting. This is going to be used as a last resort to move the coolant around the loop if necessary by blowing into it. According to Mayhems, XTR is very effective at killing off any potential bacterial growth. Then it’s a case of filling the reservoir, sealing the caps, and powering the pump off a separate power supply to cycle the coolant around the system.

14 OFF-CAMERA PROBLEMS

We mentioned we made two major errors during the conversion process for this rig. The first was requesting the wrong GPU block; the second was that we got coolant on the motherboard. A quick glance at this picture and you’ll notice that the Corsair Dominator Platinum memory is cycling through its RGB rainbow preset, in a similar manner to the CPU block (the reservoir light is controlled via a small in-line remote). At the time of the shoot, we believed that small spillage on the board had managed to get some particulate into some of the memory traces and was causing the board to short, stopping us from configuring it. We left it for a couple of days extra after the shoot to try to let it dry out further, but to no avail. On a hunch, over the course of a weekend, we drained the system entirely, and disassembled the top part of the build, near the motherboard, to take another look. After reseating the CPU and memory, then refilling the system with one of our other bottles of coolant, lo and behold, the system powered on and displayed properly.