Fractal Arc Mini R2: Watercooling Build Log + Review

[tamzzy]

Sooooo...I've finally received my case 3 months later, but it's still free after all

Big thank you to FD
So apparently UPS tried to deliver to my address but for some reason or other, couldn't...so in their bright mind, decided to deliver to the hospital next to my home good thing I work at the hospital

Build specs:
I currently have a i7 3770k + 7990 with a full custom watercooling loop (240mm rad space) in a Bitfenix Prodigy. Space-wise, I have a 256GB Samsung 830, 480GB OCZ Vertex 2 and a 3TB Seagate HDD, I think I'll rationalise them into a 1TB SSD and a 1TB HDD at some point during the build.
For the Arc Mini R2, I'm thinking of adding another 7990 (quadfire baby!) and another 240mm of rad space.
Now I know some people will say OMGWTF! 480mm won't cool a 3770k + 2x 7990, well, short answer is yes and no. 480mm won't be enough if you're stressing both CPU + all 4 GPUs. But for gaming purposes, its fine.
My 240mm rad cooling my 3770k + 7990 tells me so

Lugged this up to my ward...lol


Opening...reasonable packing I guess =)


The obligatory box-shot

Note some damage to the box's bottom left corner. I was a bit worried something might have been damaged inside...

Opened up (and obligatory angled case-shot)

Phew, no damage!

Top of the case looks really good...10/10! Take a note Corsair: hidden fan mounts = nicer looking case and also, dust filter!


Looking under though...

Non-removable dust filter /facepalm

Pre-cable managed + black/black braided wires = good


Screw set...another /derp moment, I'll have to install motherboard standoffs...come on FD, that's being cheap now


...and this is what happens to the standoff fastening tool after 8 uses. It won't last for much longer, but then again, I don't think it was designed/manufactured to last longer than that


3.5" drive bays taken off...and talk about over-engineering, the bottom 3.5" bay required 6 screws to remove it!


Test mount:

[tamzzy]

Weeeeee...rads arrived!

Build quality = 8.5/10, minor scratches, some painting inconsistencies and 1-2 bent fins.
Overall still very impressed, and I'm considering them free cuz I bought them with BTC (oh the perks of having electricity included in the rent)

Now you may ask, why 120x2 and 240x1? This is why:

A 240mm rad WILL NOT fit underneath the drive cage (ie: if you want the use of the drive cage, you cannot use a 240mm rad)
So before I bought the rads, I did some googling and measurements...

...and this is the result:

IT FITS! YAY! (but only just...literally to the 0.5mm)
This is also another reason why I went with alphacool rads. Their radiator's width is ~2mm wider than a normal 120mm fan, which is far less than their competitors, so you can only do a side-by-side like this in a Arc Mini R2 by using alphacool 120mm rads.
This brings me to the negative about the Arc Mini R2...an extra 2-3mm height would have made all the difference, but no matters, I got it sorted

Now to the 240mm rad...

Literally millimetre perfect again...phew!

It has to be mounted with the inlets/outlets at the rear if you want to use the drive bays:

And another time, millimetre perfect. There's literally no room for error... (you can see it better on the bird's eye view picture)

This is what happens if you mount the ports the other way round:


Another 0.5mm millimetre perfect job:

The screws alphacool provided are literally just big enough so it doesnt go through the screw holes at the top.
Either alphacool needs to provide screws with bigger heads or FD needs to make the hole smaller...I don't think I trust 8 screws holding the 240mm rad up top. I'll have to find washers or screws with bigger heads

[tamzzy]

update 1/7/14

Kingston HyperX tall RAM vs Alphacool UT60:

Just nice again lol...

Thanks JamesM for selling me a 7990 with waterblock. Also got a 1TB WD Red 2.5" HDD (1TB SSD yet to arrive)


HDD mounted on the back:

I feel that FB should improve on this design. A tool-less mounting mechanism like that found in the Phanteks would be brilliant. But still...better than nothing

i7 3770k under an EK Supremacy, quadfire 7990, 4x4GB Kingston HyperX RAM all mounted


Flushed the rads and mounted them...everything fits!

The only complaint i have is that the front mounting sucks, really sucks its decent enough for fans, but it's a right PITA when trying to mount fans + rads.

Just for perspective...my DCP 2.2 lol


One of my old bitspower fittings =x not pleased...


So, question for readers...red tubing or white tubing? I can't decide lol...TBC....

[tamzzy]

mini update 2/7/14

Look what I got! xD

It's a single bay, DDC 3.2 pump, perfect for a "mini" build lol

There we go:

Looks decent enough, although I usually prefer cases with doors like the NZXT phantom/Phanteks Primo/Define series

[tamzzy]

More stuff arrived! \o/


Big thank you to Cavallino for a 1kw superflower platinum
It's crazy heavy lol

Opening up...

Oh look what we have here! A 1TB samsung 840 evo too!

Obligatory shot of the PSU's capabilities

It can deliver the full 1kw on the 12v rail. No problems for the quadfire 7990s then!

PSU fitted.

I mounted it fan up because the label was fugly...
The Arc Mini's rubber dampened PSU mounts didn't quite fit the 20cm long PSU. But I guess most people aren't running quadfire 7990s and needing 20cm long PSUs either, so I can't really call it an oversight on FD's part

Drives fitted.

1TB samsung evo and 1TB WD Red 2.5"

Now comes the PITA bit...

CABLES! Derp...I'll leave that to another time.

Just time to get fittings and tubing...

[tamzzy]

After a 2 week hiatus...these arrived! weeeeeeeeeeeee...



So I decided to get 13/10 Primochill white tubing and Koolance fittings (only cuz I had some from my Prodigy which I dismantled lol) + QDC



The QDCs are pretty hefty when fitted together...I made the mistake of not getting some for my Prodigy build, and draining the loop was a PITA. Not making the same mistake twice. Got 3 QDCs lol

Also got some Koolance 60 degree rotaries

They're dual jointed!

Gonna finish the loop tomorrow...

[tamzzy]

Coolant fluid came today...


So starting to do the fittings...
My planned loop would be:
Bay res -> Pump -> 7990s (parallel) -> 2x120 rad -> 240 rad -> CPU -> back to res
I did it this way cuz, even though there'll be more tubing, I think this would be the optimal configuration for cooling the quadfire 7990s without impacting the CPU.


Nice and reasonably neat (so far)


Bay res with QDC. This was what I originally wanted to do, but when I inserted the res, I couldn't use the QDC without first taking out the res from the 5.25" bay. So back to the drawing board.


Final loop configuration. I decided to mount the QDC, one on the CPU block, and 2 on the EK link. I put 2 on the EK link so it'll be easier to remove the GPUs if i ever decide to upgrade them.


Filling the loop and testing...phew! No leaks (yet)...


1 word. Headache.

PS: I'm not an expert with EK DDC pumps (my last pump was a DCP 2.2 lol). But the pump shouldn't be clicking right? I've made sure there isn't debris in the loop and flushed the reservoir...twice. Should I RMA it?

[tamzzy]

There...closed!



First boot...


I think the power/HDD LEDs are quite cool, blue for the power and red for the HDD activity. Looks snazzy.


Also just ordered this:

1 x XSPC LCD Temperature Sensor (Blue) V2 + G1/4" Plug Sensor £5.99



Which should fit nicely into the 2nd port of the bay res

[naturbo2000]

Fair play. You got the offside panel closed better than virtuoso or me. But it did take you 10 days! ;-)

[tamzzy]

Lol! That panel was an ass to close! But that being said, after a day or so, the cables stiffened up in their place so it is easier to open and close now (which i have had to do a few times cuz i needed to top up the loop)

[virtuo]

Really enjoyed this one, cheers. Puts my quick and dirty cheapo build to shame (although the glossy ODD looks odd with the brushed case)

[tamzzy]

haha, i wanted to try quadfire and winning the case was the push i needed =x
and yea the ODD looks out of place, but i cba to replace it lol. i spent around £600 quid on the build (£900 if i include bitcoin =( )