Having confirmed that the components are good to go with a successful windows installation, a few prime95 runs and an overclock with a previously successful profile, we were confident to proceed with the next step of removing the air cooler and fitting the XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240 water kit.
Fitting the Barbs
Fitting the barbs was easy and we used an adjustable shifter after screwing the barbs in by hand. The ting to be careful of is over tightening and destroying the soft brass. Our barbs were tightened to be firm when using a thumb and forefinger to move the shifter. When fitting the hose, there will be a temptation to twist the hose over the barb – avoid this for a number of reasons; you might over tighten the barb, you may loosen the barb, you may twist the hose so that it doesn’t sit right and get a kink in the line.
Fitting the Radiator
The radiator was installed in the roof using the offset 240mm radiator holes with the in and out barbs positioned to the rear of the case. The logic behind this was to avoid kinks in the hose that might occur if the barbs on the radiator were too close to the reservoir. The offset mounting holes in the Arc Midi R2 are great and meant that we could use push/pull fans if we wanted, a thicker radiator or high profile memory and motherboard heat sinks. Fractal Design did well here and we are seeing this approach on more cases in recent times. the only snag we hit here was that the short radiator screws that XSPC supply have 2-3mm tall hexagonal heads on them that make attaching the roof panel on the ARC Midi R2 difficult due to the filter. This isn’t a criticism of either the case or the XSPC kit but more an observation of a potential compatibility quirk that we needed to work around. In the end, we were able to manoeuvre the top panel on with some jiggling and by leaving out a couple of the 8 screws. I had some other screws with much flatter heads in the toolbox but was reluctant to use them, risking damage to the radiator.
Fitting the CPU Water Block
The socket on the G1.Sniper M3 has solder points around it on the underneath that touched the XSPC backplate – thankfully, the XSPC backplate has a layer of insulation on it so this wasn’t an issue but it’s worth noting the challenge. The main issue with the solder points and the XSPC backplate was that the plate didn’t sit perfectly in place without some assistance so it made mounting the CPU water block slightly more fiddly than it would be on a different motherboard. We left the protective film on the base of the water block until the very last minute before fitting it in the final build.
Fitting the Reservoir
The bay reservoir was a minor challenge and in the area we least expected. The Arc Midi R2 has a standard dual 5.25″ bay gap and the XSPC reservoir is a dual bay unit but the fill port on the top doesn’t screw in perfectly flush. In the combination of hardware we selected for this build, the tight tolerance of the case 5.25″ drive bay housing meant that the slightly raised fill cap hits the inner top edge of the drive bay. We got around this by pressing up on the top edge of the drive housing with just our thumbs where the fill port needs to pass through. The Arc Midi R2 is build well and whilst it didn’t feel like we made much progress, it was just enough “persuasion” to get the job done. The reservoir was placed forward enough to allow access to the fill port so that when the hoses were installed, there would be enough slack to top up or re-fill the bay reservoir. A pen light was used to confirm the in and out ports on the rear of the reservoir at the time of measuring and fitting the hoses.
Cutting Hoses
There are a number of messages in the XSPC instructions relating to cutting the tubing. The instructions recommend against using a knife – we tested it on left over piece of tubing at the end and decided that a knife is certainly not the way to go. We had some large, solid sharp household scissors that did the job well. It’s important to get a good clean cut in order to achieve a secure seal around the barb and a jagged / uneven edge is far more likely to leak. When cutting hoses, it’s best to cut the hose a little longer than you think you might need because you can always shorten it but if you cut it too short to start with, then you have to start again.
Fitting the Hosing
Due to the outer diameter of the barbs and the inner diameter of the tubing, a fair amount of pressure is required to get the hose over the barbs. We were able to get the hose attached to the radiator and reservoir using the required amount of force, double and triple checking the flow direction along the way. We then positioned the hose to the CPU block, marking and cutting it but not actually fitting it. After removing the CPU block from the socket (where it was dry fitted for sizing), we then squeezed the hoses over the barbs and held it in place on the CPU socket to make sure that there were no kinks or issues obstructing flow. Everything looked like it should.
Fitting the clamps these black clamps apply pressure to the hose where it is stretched over the barb to avoid it sliding off. To us, the hose felt tight enough without the clamps but they were included in the kit and listed on the instructions so we fitted them. They are made of plastic and ‘ratchet’ tight by simply pressing them together. When fitting the clamps, if you do this without the fans attached to the radiator, think about where the fans need to sit and where the bulky part of the clamp will end up before tightening it.
