Beginner to watercooling - advice needed

liamgo

liamgo

liamgo

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hi all been looking at watercooling my rig lately, i like the idea of the convenient and easy to install pre built kits like the h50 but ive been browsing the watercooling section on ocuk and im thinking of buying the bits separate, i quite like the idea of having the reservoir in a drive bay (blingy)

this is what i have so far, what else would i need? (fittings,tubing etc)
is this feesable in an antec 300 case? (i presume so seeing as im only dealing with one 120mm fan?)
is that enough to cool just the cpu? (again i assume so seeing as thats all the h50`s have?


YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Supreme LT CPU Waterblock - Nickel [3830046990099] £30.62
1 x XSPC 200 Bay Reservoir & Pump - Clear £30.62
1 x EK CoolStream Radiator XT 120 (120.1) [3831109860007] £24.98
Total : £96.73 (includes shipping : £8.75).

thanks guys
 
You're going to need some fittings. I'd go for some compression fittings as it's much easier and IMO more reliable, if you get barb fittings and it's done wrong, you'll be mopping up your desk.
Tubing, I'm not sure which is the best diameter, i'd choose 1/2" and you are going to need some cooling solution and possibly a kill coil.
 
Yes those fittings are a good choice, I haven't done any W/C for years so 3/8" is probably the norm now.

A kill coil is a piece of silver wire dropped into your reservoir to kill any bacteria which may live in the cooling solution. It's only really necessary if using Distilled Water. If you use a proper cooling solution, it's not needed.
 
seekdestroy said:
btw, look at the thickness of the radiator, although 120.1, most radiators are difference in sizes, some are quite thick.

If you could spare £20 more, the HF version of the CPU Block is better. But depends on your budget.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-051-EK&groupid=962&catid=1519&subcat=

Also, make sure tube and compression fittings are the same size.

De-ionised water from halfords is cheapest coolant :) + Silver Kill Coil
Click to expand...

hi thanks for that, i `think`il be ok with the shallower cpu block as i wont be overclocking this chip (doesnt like going over 3200mhz) and yes sadly a budget of around £120,

just want to give it a go really, dont need anything uber fancy at this stage, its my first build and i wanna experiment a bit :)
 
OcUK isn't the best place for fittings etc. Although there is a lot more in the clearance lines:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=595&catid=667

The size of the tubing is up to you. 1/2" is the biggest. depends whether you care about looks etc. 1/2" should perform better as there would be more water in the system, so should cool more. but we are talking 1-2C difference, lol.

Also, make sure you don't get caught out with the ID and OD (inner diameter and outer diameter).
 
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ahh cheers for that, loads more choice, still a bit confusing, dont suppose you could pick me out some fittings? im not even sure how many id need for the build, assuming 2 for the fan, 2 for the block and 2 for the res though?
 
I have used Maskaleer 7/1''ID 5/8''OD which is quite common now, also EK do some nice 7/16''ID 5/8''OD compression fittings at a reasonable price, you should need 6 fittings in total if just doing the cpu, and 1 Maskaleer hose pack would defiantly do it.
 
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liamgo, just sent you a trust message to a couple of kits you may find handy, both under budget, main thing is they come with everything needed, so u don't have to worry about incompatibility.
 
I really wish OcUK would stock that stuff, hate having to trust message people with links like that lol.

Out of those 2 kits the 2nd @ £115 is the better choice as its a thick radiator, so you could turn the fan speed right down, the cheaper £100 kit uses a thiner radiator so u would have to use a fan @ arounr 1000rpm realisticly.

Down side though is those kits don't come with instructions on how to instal, some do but those don't. But atleast you would know its all compatible in the first place.

To those wondering what the kits are, its the XSPC Rasa kits..
 
liamgo said:
ahh cheers for that, loads more choice, still a bit confusing, dont suppose you could pick me out some fittings? im not even sure how many id need for the build, assuming 2 for the fan, 2 for the block and 2 for the res though?
Click to expand...

This post suggests that you need to do some research. Watercooling isn't something that you can easily dive into with little knowledge. Remember that you're essentially filling your pc case with water (:p) so you need to know what you're doing.

In short what you need is:

Radiator - this is the place where all the heat is dissipated
Pump - moves the water round the system
Tubing - medium via which the water is transferred
Reservoir - contains a large store of water, ensures pump doesn't run dry
Waterblock - fits on your component to transfer the heat from the component (eg cpu) to the loop
Fittings - used to attach the tubes to the other components in the loop.

Remember: no anti freeze, use distilled water etc.

Google watercooling guide or something, there's loads of info available. You need to research for weeks or months before you'll be ready to start speccing components :)

This posts sounds ominous in way, but I'm just trying to give you a sense of what needs to be done. Watercooling, when done properly, is a wonderful thing :)
 
TheCenturion said:
This post suggests that you need to do some research. Watercooling isn't something that you can easily dive into with little knowledge. Remember that you're essentially filling your pc case with water (:p) so you need to know what you're doing.

In short what you need is:

Radiator - this is the place where all the heat is dissipated
Pump - moves the water round the system
Tubing - medium via which the water is transferred
Reservoir - contains a large store of water, ensures pump doesn't run dry
Waterblock - fits on your component to transfer the heat from the component (eg cpu) to the loop
Fittings - used to attach the tubes to the other components in the loop.

Remember: no anti freeze, use distilled water etc.

Google watercooling guide or something, there's loads of info available. You need to research for weeks or months before you'll be ready to start speccing components :)

This posts sounds ominous in way, but I'm just trying to give you a sense of what needs to be done. Watercooling, when done properly, is a wonderful thing :)
Click to expand...

+1 to this, rather to take it slow than do it right.

Never rush into watercooling, especially when building it, or you could lose your whole PC!
 
thanks for the advice i plan on spending a week or so looking into it, im in the habit of doing that anyway.

silence or performance? erm well seeing as this isnt for any extreme cooling (stock clocks) id like to go more for a quieter set up, its just something to learn on really.
 
zoomee said:
two main things to think about when watercooling:

Silence or performance? ;)
Click to expand...

You can get both if you do it right.
People switch to watercooling for those very reasons, more performance than air cooling and much quieter if done properly.
 
Heres some links that got me started,

I read the ocuk advanced overclocking sticky
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17803239
Trawled the xs forums
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=70
and the stickies there
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202394
and then discovered skinnee and martin, two of the best reviewers of watercooling gear. This is where delta temps and watercooling clicked in my head, the graphs and tables didn't mean much to me at the start now i go straight to them to see how many watts can be disapated at XXXrpm fan speed
http://www.skinneelabs.com/
http://martinsliquidlab.org//
Be clear on what your goal is. Silence, performance (you can achieve both)and aesthetics and match your hardware to your needs. Think about your future cooling needs as it will probably save you money in the long run and most of all be patient :)
 
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