Watercooling advice

Scotteh

Scotteh

Scotteh

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14 Sep 2011
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Well basically, plan on changing to watercooling in january when I get off university for holidays.

I plan on getting the Haf X aswell so should be enough space

Also going to change to a 6950 2GB and have a i5 2500k.

So basically what equipment would I need to watercool both of these?

(asking so far ahead as i'm looking to get the cost of it, and the price won't exactly change in next 2-3 months neither will the equipment used really as I just upgraded to their build so won't be getting anything else)

Guessing it would be better to get seperate parts than a kit and gpu block?

Thanks!
 
You should know what equipment.

CPU Block, GPU Block, Pump, Radiator and maybe a Reservoir :)

I haven't ever tried kits (like EK's one) so maybe someone who has can tell you if they're good enough. I'm sure they are, but I always liked to pick and choose.

What size radiators does your case fit?
 
I know the equipment required, i'm looking at recommendations on what to get.

Last time I looked at watercooling was 2 years ago when I built my last computer.

Last time I used custom loops no kits, but bylooking at it the kits work out a bit cheaper.

HAF will support a 240, 360, or 280mm radiator with no modification
 
CPU block £49.98
GPU block £74.99
Pump £59.99
Res £24.98
Rad £83.98
Fittings x8 £23.92
Tubing £10.88

£328.72

You will also need some fluid and maybe a silver kill coil if u are not going to use any coolant or bioside and the tubing and fittings can be changed for your preference, i just picked thoes to give u an idea of the price of a full custom loop cooling cpu+gpu.
 
I'd prefer a res that goes into the optical disk bays.

Whats silver kill coil? :P

I'd want to continue the black/red theme of the HAF X, so will either go with red tube + clear coolant, clear tube + red or black coolant. (opinions on what'd look better?)

Would a 240 rad be enough?

Would I be cheaper going with the ek kit + gpu block? if so would there be difference in performance?

Thanks!
 
A 240 probably wont be enough for a 6950 and a 2500k. The HAF isn't a great case for watercooling as there isn't a lot of options for radiators. I was thinking of sticking a pair of the phobya 200mm rads in the roof but I'm not sure they'll fit on the inside, perhaps mounted externally on the roof.
 
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 FLEX 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with upto 5 Monitor Support & with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex Games £229.99
EK H3O Watercooling Kit - Supreme LT 360 **2011 Compatible** £149.99
Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942) £114.98
XSPC Razor HD6970 GPU Waterblock **Also Supports HD6950** £74.99
Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 16/10mm (3/8ID) Clear 3.3m £10.88
EK-EKoolants Blood Red £11.98
EK PSC Compression Fitting 10mm 3/8" - G1/4 - Nickel [3831109845301] £11.00
OcUK Value PSU Bridging Connector (24 Pin) £1.30


Would that perform well/be compatible with each other?

based on above changed to a 360 rad.

Also @lrlcr according to specs taking out fans at the top would have enough space for a 360 rad?
 
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lrlcr said:
A 240 probably wont be enough for a 6950 and a 2500k. The HAF isn't a great case for watercooling as there isn't a lot of options for radiators. I was thinking of sticking a pair of the phobya 200mm rads in the roof but I'm not sure they'll fit on the inside, perhaps mounted externally on the roof.
Click to expand...

What? The haf x is excellent for radiators! The op needs to get a triple radiator (360) this fits in the roof of the haf easily and will cool his hardware fine

Op, you should look at a black nice sr-1 radiator for the roof of your haf x.
 
Decided to ignore w/cing my gfx

Person on another forum had issues RMA'ing a fault card with Sapphire as it was watercooled, apparently removing stock fan, etc is voiding the warranty.

Guess i'll stick with 360 rad though for future builds if I use the w/c with it.

Will probably just go with The EK H3O Watercooling Kit - Supreme LT 360 and some EK-EKoolants Blood red, comes to about £170.

Will probably add the gfx to the loops several months after the CPU so assume that will just need 2 more fittings + re-sort the tube?

Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
rjkoneill said:
What? The haf x is excellent for radiators! The op needs to get a triple radiator (360) this fits in the roof of the haf easily and will cool his hardware fine

Op, you should look at a black nice sr-1 radiator for the roof of your haf x.
Click to expand...

Depends if a 360 is going to be enough for your hardware. I've been looking at wcing my haf with an eye to crossfire under water down the road. I doubt a 360 would be enough and I doubt I could squeeze another decent sized rad in without some significant modding.
 
rjkoneill said:
What? The haf x is excellent for radiators! The op needs to get a triple radiator (360) this fits in the roof of the haf easily and will cool his hardware fine

Op, you should look at a black nice sr-1 radiator for the roof of your haf x.
Click to expand...

The HAF X is crap for l/c. you lose a drive bay, meaning you only have 3. placing a res isn't easy. only space for a 360 rad and no ideal places to mount a pump. Nice case, but I would rather get the elysium. They're both equally as FUGLY TBH

Scotteh said:
Decided to ignore w/cing my gfx

Person on another forum had issues RMA'ing a fault card with Sapphire as it was watercooled, apparently removing stock fan, etc is voiding the warranty.

Guess i'll stick with 360 rad though for future builds if I use the w/c with it.

Will probably just go with The EK H3O Watercooling Kit - Supreme LT 360 and some EK-EKoolants Blood red, comes to about £170.

Will probably add the gfx to the loops several months after the CPU so assume that will just need 2 more fittings + re-sort the tube?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

EVGA don't care if you liquid cool. If your card was bought from OcUK, then your also ok as they don't care whether youve liquid cooled, as long as there aren't any signs of you doing so ;)
 
I built a pc in a Haf X the other day and was surprised how unversatile it was... hardly any places anywhere for extra fans or radiators etc. I certainly won't be using one for my watercooled build. Xigmatex Elysium is currently the case I'm going for as its a big step up price wise for something better.
 
moogle said:
EVGA don't do radeons (what he's getting) :)
Click to expand...

Fair enough :p
But my HIS card was from OcUK. Fitted a waterblock, no problems with RMA. Zotac also allow it (officialy)
According to ScottiB (who works for MSI) they've never rejected an RMA due to a waterblock being fitted as long as there is no physical damage.
Apparently Gigabyte don't care, and Martini1991 said that Sapphire don't give a **** either :p

1uke said:
I built a pc in a Haf X the other day and was surprised how unversatile it was... hardly any places anywhere for extra fans or radiators etc. I certainly won't be using one for my watercooled build. Xigmatex Elysium is currently the case I'm going for as its a big step up price wise for something better.
Click to expand...

+1
The HAF X is awkward to liquid cool
 
Ah, on another e-tailers website they said Sapphire refused an RMA due to the card being water cooled (apparently taking off stock cooler voids the RMA) as i'm using a Sapphire card i'd rather wait to watercool it if it does indeed void warranty :p

So will get W/c about Jan, then June or so stick the gfx card in the loop.



If not HAF X what case would you recommend (full tower) that isn't like £200

Was just looking for one about £140.
 
Xigmatek Elysium? I haven't got one but I have the Xigmatek Utgard atm and liking it a lot.
 
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