Watercooling Advice

RomeoS

RomeoS

RomeoS

Associate
Joined
8 Jul 2004
Posts
1,818
Location
London
Hullo everyone,

So I have decided to upgrade my tired old Scythe Ninja to some lovely watercooling goodness.

My aim is to only watercool the CPU for now then add the GPU at a later date. My case is the Antec P182.

The kit I am thinking of:

1X EK-Supreme HF - Full Nickel CPU Water Block £49.98
1X Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump £74.99
1X Thermochill PA140.3 140mm Triple Radiator £86.99
1X EK Multioption Reservoir X2 250 Advanced £29.99
3X Fractal Design 140mm Silent Cooling Fan £35.94
6X Bitspower 1/2" Compression Fitting - Matte Black [WAAD-222] £41.94
3X Masterkleer 7/16" Tubing - 1m £7.47
1X Alphacool Tubing Cutter (4-14mm hose) £2.94
1X innovatek Protect PRO 250ml Prevent Your Cooler System From Corrosion. £8.99

TOTAL: £339.23

So far, I have only ordered the CPU block but need advice on the rest of the components.

The questions:

1. Will I be able to mount the res + pump combo somewhere in the case?
2. Will I be better off with a bay res + pump combo?
3. The compression fittings are a bit expensive, are there any cheaper alternatives? Meaning I still want compression fittings but perhaps a cheaper brand.
4. How loud is the pump?
5. Is there any other components I need to consider?
6. Should I go for 1/2 tubing?
7. Where can I mount the rad? I do not want to modify the case too much.
8. Anything missing?
 
Hi anant_shah94,

The link sends me to Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 12800C8 (1600MHz) Low Latency Tri-Channel (PVT36G1600LLK) [PVT36G1600LLK].

Floor meaning the lower chamber of the P182? I cant see a triple rad fitting in there with the PSU? I want the whole thing to be self contained so not keen on a rad box.

Is there any specific mounting points for the res in the P182? I know on some cases there are but I dont see any in the P182.
 
whoops, sorry the link is here for the comp fitting

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-012-FO&groupid=962&catid=1529&subcat=

just had a look and you might have a hard time of fitting a triple rad inside the case without modification of some sort. Seeing as you're not adding a gpu yet why not get a single rad and mount it on the back of a hard drive cage or something. In terms of res, you could just get a bay res, which ocuk don't seem to sell anymore. Or get a swiftech micro res which fits just about anywhere
 
You aren't going to be able to fit a 140.3 in your P182 without a lot of modification (and even then I'm doubtful it's possible), fact is that with a P180 case there is pretty much no room inside for a radiator larger than a 120.1 internally. Your best bet would be a triple rad mounted on the back via radbox which would be nice and easy since iirc the P182 has pre cut holes for tubing in the back.
 
Thanks for your replies so far.

I had a good look around at how other people set up their P182's for watercooling and it doesn't look good.

Most folks have gone for 2 or 3 120.1 rads whilst the more brave modified their P182's to fit 120.2 or 120.3 rads at the top/front.

The people who have modified the top have gone for very slim rads which will not work in my case as the motherboard has heatpipe coolers on voltage regulators. Mounting a rad at the front of the case is also a no-go as I will loose the use of both blueray drives.

There has to be a easier way to internally watercool using this case :(
 
Last edited:
You don't need that 140.3 rad to cool a cpu trust me. A single rad will be absolutely fine. Then if you ever decide you want to wcool gpu, just replace it with a double/triple rad
 
Best advice I can give you mate is to start with a decent case. Buying a case that is larger and better suited to WCing will make working with your PC / the build process allot easier. Like you I toyed with using a smaller case (antec 900 in my case) and at the end of it I found a second hand Lian Li G70 which had already been modded for watercooling. This made the whole process a lot easier...
 
If you use compressions you must match ID (inner diameter) and OD (outer diameted) of both tubing and fittings or your going to have a big leaky mess on your hands. 7/16 id hose works great on 1/2 barbs not with 1/2id compressions.
 
Cheers for the advice.

I thought about changing cases but I cant bring myself to do it. The P182 I've had now for a number of years as it provides excellent noise and vibration dampening.

I went through a ridiculous number of steel/aluminium cases in the past from budget £18 ones to £200 Silverstones but none of them compare to the P182. This may be different with the current high end cases but I doubt it.

Not sure if I should get a bay-res/pump combo or get a high end pump that can have a res attached to the top.

Still got some way to go in finding a low airflow 120.1 rads that works well paired with 7-900 rpm fans. I could mount a 120.1 at the front of the case and a second 120.1 at the rear.

JeffyB, I figured as much, going to go for 1/2 all the way now :)
 
Last edited:
Simplfy the setup and just buy a thermochill PA120.2 and hang it off the back fan or mount it on (not in) top of the roof of your case. Then if you need to expand your already ready to do so with no extra outlay.

I wc my cpu and my 5850 on one PA120.2 and 2*tri cool fans set at low with no problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom