First time, what you need to water cool..

Sparx

Sparx

Sparx

Soldato
Joined
30 Jul 2007
Posts
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Location
Lincolnshire
Hey,

I've always been a fan and just air-cooled all the way, however reading and seeing all these lovely water-cooled rigs and most of them using UV liquids, tubing or coils to make it look even more visually awesome just makes me want to get into the water-cooling side of computer cooling! I've been meaning too anyway, so I thought I would now..

My specs are in my sig, and I've researched a bit on water cooling, what you need, how it works, management, etc.. So I'm looking at cooling my CPU (Q6600), my GPU (HD4870) and I'm presuming it would be sensible to cool my motherboard's chipset as well? So that as well.

This is a project I'm planning for the summer by the way within the next 2/3 months, maybe less.

So far I've only spec'd myself the following:

Just as a note as well, this will all be done in a Coolermaster RC-1000 Cosmos case (unless someone else suggests a better case for water-cooling.. This also means the radiator will be sitting at the top of the case after reading a review that says it will fit nicely there with 3x 120mm fans on it.. :p

Now I know I also need things like the coolant/fluids, tubing, coils, barbs, etc.. However other than the spec I've just listed, I'm not sure what else I will need to finish my list to have a complete WC kit so I can cool what I want.. Can anyone else help me finish my list off or modify it to something more suitable if what I have said isn't good enough..? :D I want my first time doing this to be spot on and work first time round so I'd rather get some more experienced opinions and words of wisdom from people who have done this before and know what there talking about.


Cheers. :cool:
 
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You've made yourself a pretty decent list based on your spec, theres not really much to add to it, unless you want to go the whole hog which would be to add:

Northbridge Block (Swiftech MCW30)
Southbridge Block (MCW30) - Not really necessary, but some people like to do it.
Mosfet Blocks - Again, not really necessary but it's up to you
RAM Blocks - No point really, but it looks kinda funky

To be honest, i think the list you've made is a good investment in to functional watercooling. To add the items above in my post would really only assist from an aesthetic point of view, with the possible exception of the Northbridge block, since some mobos do run pretty toasty.

Don't forget you'll probably want to grab yourself a backplate for the CPU block if it's not supplied with one, to prevent bend on your board. They're a fiver or so.

I would however recommend some different fans for your build. The ambers are alright, but you could get lower noise and better performance from the Yate Loons, the Sharkoons or the Noctuas (budget permitting). Yate Loons are my fan of choice, and with 5 minutes or sandpaper and a can of paint you can make them very pretty... but then if i wasn't so tight i'd be willing to pay £15 a pop for the Noctuas and save myself the effort ;)

The only other thing i would advise at this point is manufacturers. The stuff you've chosen is fine. EK and XSPC are pumping out some nice stuff at the moment, but i would advise to stick to either Tygon or Masterkleer tubing. This can make it harder to source your colour of choice, but it's something that I (and a few others round here) advocate a fair bit.

All this is my opinion, of course :)

Edit: Sorry, i see you wanted an actual spec!

Here's the MCW30 for the NB/SB from OCUK
Backplate if you dont get one with your CPU block

Unfortunately i'm not going to be able to link you to Ram blocks or Mosfet blocks as OCUK don't stock them and i can't link competitors... but hunt around for:

Mosfet for Striker Extreme: EK-Mosfet ASUS 3a (x38) - around the £20 mark
Backplate: EK Mosfet ASUS 1,3,3a Back Plate - under a fiver
Ram Block: Koolance RAM-35 block - around £20
(be aware, with a ram block you'd need to look into connections between the blocks)
 
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For tubing I was looking for just clear tubing anyway and wanted UV coils (green?) and then I was intending on using a blue UV coolant so it'd look pretty cool. ;)

Thanks for your recommendations but I'm also not really fully clued up on what I need to 'complete' a water cooling spec.. So I've no idea about what I need like how many barbs I need (what they do?), how many tubes (what size?), what coolant to get, where to, etc.. :o

I also did manage to find everything you said as well with a quick Google. :p

So currently it seems I'm looking at cooling the CPU, GPU, NB Chipset and possibly the RAM? :)
 
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Honestly i wouldn't bother with the RAM unless you're being really anal about it. It will make little difference other than to raise your average loop temperature. Plus, at £20 per block per ram stick you're looking at £80 for the coolers, then £6x £5 for the connectors... ;)

Barbs:
Barbs are the silver (sometimes black) connectors that fit into the waterblock that you attach the tubing to. For every block, you need 2 barbs; one inlet and one outlet. You also need 2 barbs on the reservoir and 2 on the pump (well for you, you only need 2 barbs for both since yours is a res/pump). Edit: and two on the radiator!

You need to decide what size tubing you want also. 1/2" and 3/8" are the usual favourites. It makes little discernable difference to your temperatures (some people argue that 3/8" has a faster flow, and some argue that 1/2" has a larger volume of flow. In reality, however, you wont notice). 1/2" is the fat stuff you see in most WC setups in the gallery here, and 3/8" is the skinnier stuff.

Tubing:
Based on that choice, you need to choose what size tubing you pick. 1/2" ID (inner diameter) will work with the 1/2" barbs, and so on. Some people like to put 3/8" tubing on 1/2" barbs. As you can imagine, it's an extremely tight fit (you need to heat the tubing to make it flexible and then wrestle it on)... but it does negate the need for Hose Clips.
The length of your tubing depends on how many blocks you have. For you, i'd suggest keeping the number of block to a minimum for now. Remember, you can always add more blocks later once you feel comfortable. You shouldn't need more than 3 meters, that should give you plenty of spare (read: room for mistakes ;))
Try and keep tubing lengths between waterblocks to a minimum to reduce pump strain and keep a nice fast flow. Half of Watercooling is an art of finding the best "path" for your water to take.

Hose Clips:
These are the Jubilee clips that you use to clamp the hoses down on to the barbs. There are other clips available, but for sheer simplicity and safety as a first time WCer, go for stainless steel jubilee clips. Just ones from B+Q will do, although they're cheap enough to order from your WC supplier of choice at the same time as tubing or whatever. You need 1 hose clip per barb. And maybe a couple spare ;)

Coolant:
This is up to you. Some people like to buy the bottles of coolant like Feser1. Some people use de-ionised water. It's up to you, really. I went with deionised water as i had it readily available. Just take a look at both and figure it out. If you want to go UV though, you'll need to add UV die to your deionised water, or to buy the UV coloured Feser1 (or alternative coolant).

General tips:
CPU, GPU and NB is a good start for you. It's a nice simple loop and you can add more blocks as you go along if you wish.

The loop order is unimportant with 1 exception. The pump must always follow the reservoir, to ensure a stable flow of water and maximise efficiency. outside of this, it doesn't really matter which waterblock is first, because the water temperature will equalise around the loop.

Obviously you'll need to get yourself some Cold Cathodes to make your pretty blue tubes show up too. tehse are pretty self explanatory though. just plug them in and tape them under a lip or out of sight, and let them do their magic :)

Enjoy!
 
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Thanks for that DampCat, very informative and helpful for me. ;)

So overall to complete this WC kit I need:

  • Reservoir
  • Pump (in my case I already have the first 2-in-1, yeah?)
  • Radiator
  • Radiator Fans (again, I need 3x 120mm in my case, yeah?)
  • Chipset Waterblock (to be used for the northbridge chipset?)
  • Mosfet Waterblock (to be used in conjunction for the chipset waterblock?)
  • CPU Waterblock
  • CPU Backing Plate
  • GPU Waterblock
  • Barbs (2 for each block, 2 for res/pump, 2 for the rad?)
  • Hose Clips (1 for each barb?)
  • Tubing
  • Coolant
  • Cold Cathodes (1 or 2?)

Is this correct? Am I missing anything?

For the tubing, I was looking at PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils 1/2" - Gloss Blue as there a clear light blue tube with just blue coils and was looking at trying to find some clear coolant and then use some green UV dye, any suggestions (just names will do as you can't link to competitor websites).. :)


Cheers. :cool:

EDIT: Would using a T piece from the res/pump be suitable from the outlet? So it'd go from the res/pump and I'd have 2 flows or is that a bad idea?
 
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Mosfet cooling is probably overkill for you since from your sig you are not overclocking. You could argue that NB cooling is also overkill in that regard but if you do decide to overclock the NB would be the next on the list of candidates for water blocks, after the cpu and gpu, although I think I have heard mutterings about the SB also giving out a fair amount of heat on those boards. The other thing you want to consider before building your loop is whether you want to put a facility for draining in, i.e. a T piece with a valve on it. The alternative to this is just to route your tubes such that you can take one off a barb to drain. I prefer a dedicated drainline with a valve as there is far less risk of water spraying the inside of the case the first time you try to take a tube off a barb.
 
A few things:

The anti-kink coils you've mentioned are just like a plastic coated wire (kinda) that wrap around tubing... so in that case you'd need to buy both tubing and the coils. The coils are pretty though, so worth the couple of quid they cost to buy.

As for your list of blocks... yeah, you're pretty close. The MOSFET isn't necessary, so it's up to you if you want to spend the cash on that or not. A GPU/CPU/NB loop would be a perfect begginner's loop so there's no real need to go further than that at this stage. So basically, yes, everythign in your list, minus the MOSFET.

As for 2 flows... no. You have to have one continuous flow of water in a circuit for maximum effect. I'd suggest this loop order:
Res/Pump -> GPU -> NB -> CPU -> Radiator -> Res/Pump

This is based purely on your radiator being in the roof as you mentioned in post 1, though, and minimising the tube lengths. As i said, it doesnt matter which order you do it in as long as the pump is after the reservoir (but in your case, it's 2in1 so it's moot).

Otherwise i'd say you're good to go.
 
Oh, just as a note I will be overclocking when I go water-cooling.. :)

I did have the Q6600 overclocked on my old motherboard (Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R) and got this Asus Striker Extreme fairly recently and haven't managed to figure out how to use it properly to overclock..
 
Okay, so would I be right in saying the tubing would go like so:

Tubing from res/pump outlet to GPU inlet, GPU outlet to NB inlet, NB outlet to CPU inlet, CPU outlet to rad inlet, rad outlet to res/pump inlet..? Meaning I would need 5 tubes, right?

So would buying 3x of this be an adequate amount with spare just incase?
 
Yup that sounds right, and i'd think 3m is probably plenty... although i dont know the exact size of your case or the route your tubing will take, so i hold no responsibility if you're a touch short ;)

(i cant imagine you would be)
 
Well when the time comes I currently have plans to buy a Coolermaster RC-1000 Cosmos case for it as it seems to be much more water-cooling friendly and built than my current case the NZXT "HUSH" Silent.. Besides, it's only a midi-side as well and I'd much rather have a full-sized one now, lots of room to play with. :)

Although I'm open to suggestions if any of you have any better ideas? I just like the sound of the triple rad/fans being able to sit inside the roof of the case comfortably and seen quite a few people using the Cosmos and Cosmos S and working wonders.. :) It is still £140-£150 though so meh!


EDIT
So is there anything missing from this or any better suggestions?

dpej3a.png


Note: The i7 hold down plate is just for future use when I get an i7 rig later this year..
 
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Sparx grab yourself a Cosmos S and pair it with the XSPC RX360 triple rad in the top.

You will be blown away! Also, can I respectfully recommend AGAINST your original choice of CPU block (the EK Supreme). I have had two of these in the past and although I love EK to bits...these particular blocks are VERY flow restrictive. Grab yourself an XSPC Delta V3 instead or the Swiftech Apogee GTZ if you have the £££.

Tom
 
Yeah if you see my little table in my previous post before yours I have changed it to the Swiftech Apogee GTZ. ;)

Also didn't I say I was just going to get the RC-1000 Cosmos and stick the RS360 triple rad in the top anyway? :p
 
Personally i'd try to grab some stainless steel or nickel hose clips, and i'd probably myself sacrifice a couple more ££ for some tygon tubing... but i think you're going to be very happy with that list! The GTZ is a much better choice of CPU block as Hughy has said, so you'll be happy with that. If you want to save £££ you could go for a GPU only block, rather than a full cover block, and throw some ramsinks on there... but it doesn't look like you're restricted too much by budget ;)

The only other case i'd suggest for ease of Watercooling is the TJ07 by silverstone, however, it's a £200+ case... the Cosmos S will work just nicely :)
 
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The pump you've chosen isn't so good. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-027-XS is much better, but is 70 rather than 40. Weak pump means slow flow rate and high temperatures. Your call as to whether you can find an extra 30 quid for the project, but if it's at all possible I strongly recommend you do so. Aside from that you're probably good to go.

I'd drop the cable braid, coils, hose clips, coloured coolant, and probably chipset block. Use the funds saved to get the good pump, and a better radiator. It'll look less flashy but it'll work a lot better.
You're aware that you don't have any barbs I presume. 1/2" barbs and 7/16" tubing is standard. I use 11/8mm tubing with compression fittings. Proud to be difficult.
 
I don't mind spending the extra money, I wanted the cable braid to keep my cables tidy and together. Don't I need the hose clips as well? Coloured coolant is a keeps too. I can save extra for this project..

Also what is really the major difference between 1/2" and 7/16" tubing as I was looking at going for 1/2"..? As for the barbs, there selected extras I can buy on the same product page as the tubing when I order them that's why there not listed. :)
 
7/16" tubing offers no more restriction to flow than 1/2" based on some fellows diligent testing, when matched with 1/2" barbs the important difference is they'll be more difficult to put onto the barbs, and a lot less inclined to come off. It's fairly standard practice around here, some people even do it without clamps. 7/16" is also easier to route.
Hose clips are excellent, but PVC ones less so. Jubilee clips for the win, cost less and work a lot better. Glad you've got barbs included, I got compression fittings with the parts I bought new :)

Cable braid is nice, I was only trying to cut costs so you could get the better pump. I've fed the messier cables down tubing. This took ages, but now the front panel connectors are held together and match the watercooling so I'm pleased. Trying to work out how to feed sata cables down 8mm tubing, not going well so I might end up braiding everything.
 
I don't really have a set budget as long as it's not completely stupid.. I just want to get some quality components that are going to last me.. I'll save for it either way, it's easy enough for me.
 
JonJ678 said:
7/16" tubing offers no more restriction to flow than 1/2" based on some fellows diligent testing.
Click to expand...

Its horrible and cheap and nasty stay away from the cheap masterkleer junk, go with either primochill/Feser/Tygon tubing.

3/8 1/2od over 1/2 barbs works fine, tie ramps are enough instead of those rotten plastic clips.

get decent barbs, again feser/EK/bitspower are pretty good.
OCUK only stock EK/couple of compression fittings.

normal barb or compression fitting.
Normal barbs are cheap and get the job done, however its a pain to install and to take off again.
Compression fittings cost more easier to install and setup and a lot faster not heating tubing with boiling water is required just pop them on.

Do yourself a favor and get some decent fans instead of those cheap akasa things, and a fan controller to manage them.

The drive bay / res & pump is noisy consider going for a 655 or a 350 with a after market top better performance and lower noise when mounted on the foam pads.

I would't bother with the swift tech chipset kit either not worth the money.
Here are a couple of pics for some ideas for yourself this is my latest one double loop setup.

DSC_0022.jpg


DSC_0030.jpg


DSC_0032.jpg


Then again this all depends on your budget and what exactly you won't to get out of it.
If this is your first time doing this don't waste your money on expensive parts and tubing as you will more than likely have it ripped apart within the first two months.

You can get a cheap setup for around £150 or you can spend as much as £900 on watercooling like the above one... reason for the cost of mine was mostly down to the fittings used they cost a bomb.

Finaly the case...
Cosmos a okay case you will need to mod it for watercooling depending on the rad you are going to install in it.
I have been through a HAF 932 / 690 / Cosmos S / 1200 / 900 / load of Lian Li's.
For watercooling my choice is a TJ07 case again but its one of the most expesive cases around next to the mountain mods cases.
 
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