i think i want to water cool

noverwolf · 22 Sep 2016 at 22:10

Case Fractal Design R4
mainboard p9 x79 pro
CPU i7 3820
ram 16 GB DDR3
GPU GTX 980ti strix OC
PSU OCZ ZS 750w
SSD Kingston hyper x 250GB
HDD non as the Seagate 1tb died and is occasionally recognised by OS and when it is access rates are abysmal.

I've been eyeing up water cooling for a while but I think I need to get assistance on whats better off in the long run. my currant CPU cooler is 5 years old and a OCUK own non branded 120mm cooler that has never had the thermal paste replaced and the fan is now very noisy.

Would my hard earned cash be berrter spent on a new CPU cooler like the H100iv2 or just simply replace the fan and leave the cooling till main update (mainboard CPU ram) and look into a custom loop then?

I know custom loops are mainly for looks and noise for a lot of people (as it would be for me) but theres little info on long term maintenance. is it a case of drain every 12-24 months as long as theres no problems?

any advice and pointer are welcomed

Legend · 23 Sep 2016 at 01:06

It really comes down to what you want from your system. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a high end air cooled system, and the best air coolers (Noctua etc.) will give any AIO a run for their money. The only AIO I would personally consider is the EKWB Predator range. They use top end components and it's as close as you'll get to a custom loop but without any maintenance. And maintenance is unavoidable if you want to go custom, so you have to ask yourself whether you want that hassle... not that it's hassle to everyone, it's just part of the experience... but only you can answer as to whether it's for you or not. Don't simply do it because you want a cool looking system without consideration for the work and cost involved (both of which are significant).

As for noise, you don't need to go water to be quiet... in fact, many AIO's can be rather noisy when cranked up. In an air cooled system, your case and fans will have the biggest impact on noise levels, and with adequate research you can certainly build yourself a VERY quiet system that will rival any water cooled one... although a custom loop will always win out on temps as it's simply better at dissipating heat than air. As mentioned though, most AIO's aren't actually THAT much better than air, so don't think an AIO will offer the same performance level as a custom loop because it won't... but the cost difference is a good indicator of that lol!

Hope that helps.

Doogles · 23 Sep 2016 at 02:29

I've looked into it and with the cases we own it is difficult.

Doobedoo · 23 Sep 2016 at 07:34

I have the same case chap and I'm currently amassing components for my own custom water loop. You can fit enough in that case to cool what you have.

noverwolf · 23 Sep 2016 at 15:02

The maintenance wouldn't really bother me. EKWB slim kit fits in top and front mounts and had enough cooling for CPU and 1 GTX 980ti strix not 2 so it is possible.
Can anyone find out if the EKWB Predator 240 would fit the R4 the new 280 I wouldn't as the top mounts are cantered and would there for conflict with the mainboard. I ask as all I can get from Fractal Design is that their own Kelvin 240 fits. the Kelvin has a 30mm rad so needs only 55mm clearance (25mm for fans) were as the Predator need 68mm all in.

I'm now going to try and tune into Sanity FM and evaluate all options going from is a 5 year old AiO going to be working properly (ive never really heard a noise from the pump) to new AiO ill even check out air coolers now (unfortunately in the air cooler front I have corsair vengeance RAM so the heat spreaders are large)

Doobedoo · 23 Sep 2016 at 16:30

I'd have thought the predator kit will be too thick to mount in the top you can fit a rad 30mm thick plus 25mm for the fans.
You should be able to mount it in the front though i'd have thought.

I think the best rad you will fit in the front is the 280mm GTX nemesis which at 56mm thick is perfect it's also not quite as tall as equivalent 280mm rads.

noverwolf · 23 Sep 2016 at 17:50

the front mount is a push in clip job no screws so I think the maximum a rad can be is the thickness of a fan 25mm unless I'm mistaken the R4 wasn't designed with AiOs I'm mind I think that's what the R5 was designed around

Doobedoo · 23 Sep 2016 at 20:26

If you go on youtube you can see a vid it shows the rad attached to the fans which screwed through the fan holder you can mount a 280mm rad in the same sort of way but perhaps with a little modification.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqLxS38SCVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwgVA6_xIis

It will fit as others have fitted 280mm's in the front but you may have to remove the hard drive bays as I have.

I'm currently leak testing my setup but I should have it all installed by the end of the weekend so I'll post up some pics.

noverwolf · 23 Sep 2016 at 21:53

ive seen a lot of reviews on this case and no one mentioned anything about the lower drive cage's ability to be moved in a little bit.

if you can indeed fit a 280mm rad in the front, if the cage is removed completely could a predator be fitted in there (with the fans reversed) since the assembly would be secured to the case by the fans, as that could be an in between step for a custom loop and a way of reducing initial cost. Since I currently don't have a HDD (it died

) the lack of cage wouldn't be a problem. but would the 240mm predator fit in the front with the cage moved

senorgrande · 23 Sep 2016 at 23:08

I don't know if the v2 is much better but I'm thinking about going back to air from the H100i. I replaced the stock fans with SP120s but it's still the noisiest part of my system. It's the only noisy part really.

Doobedoo · 24 Sep 2016 at 07:50

It depends how tall the predator unit is you'll probably be fine but I was working with the measurement of 320mm any taller and your hitting your 5.25 bays.

Obviously it uses a 240mm rad but it also has a pump ect mounted to it so you'll need to find out the overall height of the unit.

VKleita · 24 Sep 2016 at 08:09

Legend said:
It really comes down to what you want from your system. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a high end air cooled system, and the best air coolers (Noctua etc.) will give any AIO a run for their money. The only AIO I would personally consider is the EKWB Predator range. They use top end components and it's as close as you'll get to a custom loop but without any maintenance. And maintenance is unavoidable if you want to go custom, so you have to ask yourself whether you want that hassle... not that it's hassle to everyone, it's just part of the experience... but only you can answer as to whether it's for you or not. Don't simply do it because you want a cool looking system without consideration for the work and cost involved (both of which are significant).

As for noise, you don't need to go water to be quiet... in fact, many AIO's can be rather noisy when cranked up. In an air cooled system, your case and fans will have the biggest impact on noise levels, and with adequate research you can certainly build yourself a VERY quiet system that will rival any water cooled one... although a custom loop will always win out on temps as it's simply better at dissipating heat than air. As mentioned though, most AIO's aren't actually THAT much better than air, so don't think an AIO will offer the same performance level as a custom loop because it won't... but the cost difference is a good indicator of that lol!

Hope that helps.

This is an excellent written post, and subject be used whenever someone asks "Should I watercool?"

Nicely done Legend.

noverwolf · 24 Sep 2016 at 14:14

Doobedoo said:
It depends how tall the predator unit is you'll probably be fine but I was working with the measurement of 320mm any taller and your hitting your 5.25 bays.

Obviously it uses a 240mm rad but it also has a pump ect mounted to it so you'll need to find out the overall height of the unit.

the EKWB Predator 240 has a height of 295mm (from Technical specifications from EKWB website) so in theory it should fit height wise it would just be down to the width

Doobedoo · 24 Sep 2016 at 16:19

You'll be fine with that height also the width should be fine, as far as i'm aware it should pretty much the same width as the fan.

I have my rig up and running now chap so I'll post up a couple of pics in a bit.

Doobedoo · 24 Sep 2016 at 16:24

Top 240mm rad in with a thickness of 30mm plus the rear 120mm 30mm thick.

That was a tight squeeze it only just fits with the rear rad in.

Doobedoo · 24 Sep 2016 at 16:28

Front rad mounted in place this is a 240mm 45mm thick rad.

Plenty of room above the front rad so you'll be fine chap. That piece of plastic that mounts below the 5.25 bays can be removed as well for an extra 10mm.

Doobedoo · 24 Sep 2016 at 16:31

All done and running with just DE-ionized water until i'm happy then I'll put in the red that I have.

So far Realtemp is reporting 16oc on idle, yet to test it at full load.

FlipFlop · 24 Sep 2016 at 17:27

I saw an interesting Youtube video where the cooling was actually no better on the Corsair AIO compared to a EVO 212, also the noise was hardly any different.

As a result I'm getting a 212 for now with a view to making a proper water cooling loop, purely for the challenge and looks as you say - later down the line. Gonna save myself £70 or so for now over getting the AIO.

tyler_jrb · 24 Sep 2016 at 19:17

FlipFlop said:
I saw an interesting Youtube video where the cooling was actually no better on the Corsair AIO compared to a EVO 212, also the noise was hardly any different.

As a result I'm getting a 212 for now with a view to making a proper water cooling loop, purely for the challenge and looks as you say - later down the line. Gonna save myself £70 or so for now over getting the AIO.

I would say no. The 212 I had in my sisters build was crap. cooling a 3570k at 4.5ghz. Would often hit 80-85c while gaming.

Swapped over to a corsair cheap 120mm AIO and it don't even break 60c now.

For a short term solution then yes it would cope. But not for anything long term.

Doobedoo · 24 Sep 2016 at 20:24

Antec do a decent cheap AIO I think it's about £40-45. If you were close to me you could have mine for cheap it's only 1-2 months old as well.