Details of my AMD 7950X CPU, AMD RX 7900XTX GPU custom water cooling PC build (Nov 2023)

bike9876@エボ猫.コム

Parts List:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
GPU: ASUS Radeon RX 7900 XTX TUF GAMING OC 24GB GDDR6
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX Rev1.0
RAM: Kingston 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 6000MT/s CL36 FURY Beast Black RGB EXPO Non-ECC (KF560C36BBEAK2-32)
PSU: 1000W Corsair RM1000e, PCIe 5.0 Fully Modular, 80PLUS Gold (SKU CP-9020264-UK)
SSD: 2TB WD Black SN850X, M.2 (2280) PCIe 4.0 (x4) NVMe
Case: Corsair iCUE 5000D RGB AIRFLOW Mid-Tower Case, Black (comes with 3 x iCUE AF120 RGB ELITE 120mm fans) (SKU CC-9011242-WW)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB PRO USB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Cherry MX Red UK (SKU CH-9109410-UK)
Cooling (Corsair):
- iCUE AF120 RGB ELITE 120mm PWM Triple Fan Kit (SKU CO-9050154-WW) (only 2 used as case comes with 3 fans)
- Hydro X Series XD5 RGB Pump/Reservoir Combo, Black (SKU CX-9040006-WW)
- 240mm Hydro X Series XR5 NEO Water Cooling Radiator, 30mm Thick (SKU CX-9032002-WW)
- 360mm Hydro X Series XR5 NEO Water Cooling Radiator, 30mm Thick (SKU CX-9032003-WW)
- Hydro X Series XC7 RGB PRO CPU Water Block, Black (SKU CX-9010015-WW)
- Hydro X Series XT Hardline 14mm Clear Tubing (10/14mm ID/OD) (3 x 1m) (SKU CX-9059003-WW)
- Hydro X Series XT Softline 13mm Clear Tubing (10/13mm ID/OD) (3m) (SKU CX-9059001-WW)
- Hydro X Series XF Hardline 14mm OD Compression Fittings Pk4, Black, Brass, G1/4" BSPP (SKU CX-9052008-WW) x 3 (10 fittings were needed)
- Hydro X Series XF Softline 10/13mm ID/OD Compression Fittings Pk4, Black, Brass, G1/4" BSPP (SKU CX-9051002-WW) (3 fittings were needed)
- Hydro X Series XL5 Performance Coolant 1L, Blue (SKU CX-9060004-WW)
- Hydro X Series 90° Rotary Adapter Pk2, Black (SKU CX-9055009-WW) (1 adapter was needed)
- Hydro X Series XF Ball Valve, Black (SKU CX-9055019-WW)
Cooling (EKWB):
- EK-Quantum Vector² RX 7900 XTX ASUS TUF D-RGB Graphics Card Water Block - Nickel + Plexi (EAN 3831109904268)
Fan/RGB Control:
- Corsair iCUE Commander Core XT RGB Lighting and Fan Speed Controller (SKU CL-9011112-WW)
- Corsair 3-pin RGB extension cable 30cm (from ebay)
- Corsair 3-pin RGB to standard ARGB male adapter (from ebay)

Notes:

I used 3 separate PCIe power cables from the PSU to the GPU. With a decent PSU (and cables) like the RM1000e, it should be ok to use 2 power cables (with one split), but I played safe.
The graphics card is very heavy, and sagged downwards towards the right hand side. I supported it by drilling a hole in the plate behind the right hand side of the graphics card (the motherboard cable cover CC-8900523), and screwing in a screw so the screw head would support the card. I screwed in a nut at the end of the screw and tightened it against the plate to help stabilise the screw. (A magnetic "sag bracket" came with the graphics card to help solve this problem, but the bracket wasn't long enough to work with a water-cooled card instead of the normal air-cooled system.)
The 240mm radiator is on the top of the case, the 360mm radiator is at the front. I replaced the case PSU shroud extension cover (CC-8900541) with the alternative PSU shroud low profile cover (CC-8900539) that comes with the case. This was needed to allow the pump/reservoir to go low enough.
3 fans were set up to pull air in at the front, and 2 to exhaust air from the top.
For both front and top, the radiator was "inside" the fan mounting plate, and the fans were "outside".
I used hardline tubing throughout except for going from the top radiator to the front radiator. There I used a 90° Rotary Adapter from the top radiator and soft tubing (and 2 softline compression fittings).
The iCue 5000D case comes with a 6-fan PWM repeater (CC-8900355), a 6-fan Corsair RGB hub (CO-8950020), and a Corsair Lighting Node Pro (CL-9011109-WW) (controls up to 2 RGB devices). I removed the PWM repeater (remove 3 screws) and the RGB Hub (is attached via a sticky pad - can lever off with eg a flat-bladed screwdriver).

I attached the Commander Core XT next to the Lighting Node Pro (is magnetic).

Fan and fan RGB cables were attached to the Commander Core XT Fan and RGB ports 1-5.

The Reservoir/Pump RGB 3-pin cable was attached to the Core XT 3-pin port (I needed a Corsair 3-pin 30cm RGB extension cable). Its temperature sensor was connected to Temp 1 port on the Core XT. After the system had been cleared of air (see below), I connected the pump's 4-pin fan cable to the Core XT Fan port 6.

The GPU water block RGB cable was connected to the Lighting Node Pro RGB 1 port (I needed a Corsair 3-pin RGB to standard ARGB male adapter).

The CPU water block RGB cable was connected to the "daisy-chain" RGB connector on the pump.

The Lighting Node Pro and Commander Core XT USB cables were connected to the motherboard USB headers (F_USB1, F_USB2). SATA power was connected to both devices.
I set up the reservoir port facing the glass panel as a drain port - attached a ball valve to it via some hardline tubing and a compression fitting at each end. Then a softline compression fitting attached to the other end of the valve. I will attach some softline tubing when I need to drain.
When bleeding the system of air, I used a spare PSU to power the pump via a molex cable. The PSU needed a 24-pin PSU cable connected, with a PSU bridge connector (as provided by the pump/reservoir) at the other end (otherwise the PSU won't turn on). After running for 24 hours, I connected the pump to the internal PSU, and connected its 4-pin fan cable to the Core XT Fan 6 port.
The (internal) PSU was placed in the case with fan downwards and on-off switch towards rear.
On startup, I updated the BIOS, and set the RAM speed to DDR5-6000 36-38-38-80-1.350 via Advanced Mode -> Tweaker -> Extreme Memory Profile (EXPO 1 setting).

More Pictures:

PC from front PC from top