Watercooling kit - help choosing all the right parts

wildman · 11 Jan 2012 at 21:08

I have built many systems in my time but I have never ventured into watercooling. I think this has been mainly out of fear of the potnetial complexity involved in getting all the right bits and then putting it together correctly. So my current system I tried to cheat and got a H50, and all I can say is I was disapointed.

Now I have decided to start a water cooling project so I have come here looking for some help. This will be a 100% new build and my starting point will be a corsair 800D case.

The aim of my project is mainly looks but also want to get good performance. Likely hardware will be an 1155 SB CPU and a Z68 motherboard, with a 6970 GFX card. I would want to watercool both CPU and GPU.

For looks I would quite like to use a bay res and coolant that is UV reactive (is this possible)

so I was thinking of maybe this for the res ?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-013-KA&groupid=962&catid=2133&subcat=

or

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-066-AC&groupid=962&catid=2133&subcat=

however this is when I get stuck, what pump(s) would I need to get for this and what other fittings would I also need to get

coolant wise I was thinking of http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-006-MH&groupid=962&catid=1531&subcat= as I like th look of it and with a light fitted in the case I think it would make a nice effect ?

sorry for the ignorance likely displayed in this post.

I am looking at maybe laying down 400 quid just for the water cooling parts

Cleeecooo · 11 Jan 2012 at 21:43

How's this?

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK Tech Lab - D5 Vario Pump & Alphacool Clear HF D5 Top Value Combo £84.98
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (360) £79.99
1 x EK HD6970 Full Cover Waterblock - Nickel Plexi **EN Nickel Plating** £74.99
1 x EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi £56.99
1 x EK Dual Bay Spin Reservoir - Acetal £46.99
1 x XSPC EX240 120mm Radiator - Black £39.98
1 x Lamptron FC5 V2 5.25" Bay Fan Controller - Black £34.99
5 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM - 3 Pin £15.98 (£79.90)
1 x Mayhems Aurora - Galaxy Purple Coolant 1L £14.99
1 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 15,9/11mm (7/16ID) Clear 3.3m £10.88
14 x OcUK 1/2" Barbed Fitting G1/4 - FatBoy Style - Black Nickel Finish £1.68 (£23.52)
Total : £560.83 (includes shipping : £10.50).

You'll be failry hard pressed for £400 for a gfx card loop if ou want to use the 800D to its ful potential and also have the best bits

wildman · 12 Jan 2012 at 19:45

Can you do this in stages, I think doing it all in one hit might overwhelm my brain

So for example I get the case, the res, the pump, tubing, CPU block, rad for cpu loop, coolant and build the CPU loop first, get the system up and runnign etc. After getting to grips with that then go for the GPU loop after ?

Or will I be just making it harder in the future.

From the list of parts below for the CPU I assume the following would be needed

1 x OcUK Tech Lab - D5 Vario Pump & Alphacool Clear HF D5 Top Value Combo £84.98
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (360) £79.99
1 x EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi £56.99
1 x Mayhems Aurora - Galaxy Purple Coolant 1L £14.99
14 x OcUK 1/2" Barbed Fitting G1/4 - FatBoy Style - Black Nickel Finish £1.68 (£23.52)
1 x EK Dual Bay Spin Reservoir - Acetal £46.99
3x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM - 3 Pin £15.98
1 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 15,9/11mm (7/16ID) Clear 3.3m £10.88

Also what the combination bay res pump solutions like ? I am figuring they are not really that great compared to getting sepparate items ?

I already have a touch screen aerocool fan bay controller to use

Sorry for the wall of questions

cammy5477 · 12 Jan 2012 at 20:04

that koolance drive bay res looks awesome...as cleeecoooo spec'd you need a d5 pump for it...
mr cleeecooo also spec'd 2 rads....1 x 360 and 1 x 240 with 5 fans, you could use just the 360 to start with 3 fans to save a bit but if it were me i'd want to do it in a one'r.
otherwise your draining your loop constantly...remember the mayhems aurora lasts only 6 months tops? it looks amazing though

Cleeecooo · 12 Jan 2012 at 20:13

cammy5477 said:
that koolance drive bay res looks awesome...as cleeecoooo spec'd you need a d5 pump for it...
mr cleeecooo also spe'd 2 rads....1 x 360 and 1 x 240 with 5 fans, you could use just the 360 to start with 3 fans to save a bit but if it were me i'd want to do it in a one'r.
otherwise your draining your loop constantly...remember the mayhems aurora lasts only 6 months tops? it looks amazing though

This exactly.

Whilst you can do it in stages, it'll be much easier to do in one

wildman · 12 Jan 2012 at 20:18

Cleeecooo said:
This exactly.

Whilst you can do it in stages, it'll be much easier to do in one

Ok that makes sense I guess I just need to start buying the parts and putting it together over a longer period of time. For drainage do I need to put someting like a T joint in the bottom of the loop to allow for easy drainage or do you drain from the res ?

Cleeecooo · 12 Jan 2012 at 20:19

wildman said:
Ok that makes sense I guess I just need to start buying the parts and putting it together over a longer period of time. For drainage do I need to put someting like a T joint in the bottom of the loop to allow for easy drainage or do you drain from the res ?

T line is the easiest

wildman · 13 Jan 2012 at 18:46

Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25" Reservoir for 1 or 2 Laing DDC Pumps Rev.1.2 £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
EK-FC6970 V2 Acetal+EN (Nickel) £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Laing 18W DDC-Pump 12V DDC-1T Plus £59.99
(£49.99) £119.98
(£99.98)
EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
XSPC RS240 120mm Radiator - Black £38.57
(£32.14) £77.14
(£64.28)
Mayhems Aurora - Tharsis Red Coolant 1L £14.99
(£12.49) £14.99
(£12.49)
Mayhems Aurora - Galaxy Purple Coolant 1L £14.99
(£12.49) £14.99
(£12.49)
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450 RPM - 3 Pin £13.99
(£11.66) £55.96
(£46.64)
Sub Total : £437.52
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £89.60
Total : £537.62

only problem is I don't know what tubing or fittings i need to get on top. ALso would this all fit in an 850D. Going to run 2 loops with a 240 rad on each, one for the GPU and one for the CPU.

Or would i be better off just running one loop with the rads connected in series ?, I just like the idea of having 2 different coloured coolants red and purple. Was then going to go for a red /black theme for the mobo/ram etc ?

Cleeecooo · 13 Jan 2012 at 18:54

wildman said:
Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25" Reservoir for 1 or 2 Laing DDC Pumps Rev.1.2 £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
EK-FC6970 V2 Acetal+EN (Nickel) £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49) no plexi?!
Laing 18W DDC-Pump 12V DDC-1T Plus £59.99
(£49.99) £119.98
(£99.98)
EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi £56.99
(£47.49) £56.99
(£47.49)
XSPC RS240 120mm Radiator - Black £38.57
(£32.14) £77.14
(£64.28) get the EX rad instead
Mayhems Aurora - Tharsis Red Coolant 1L £14.99
(£12.49) £14.99
(£12.49)
Mayhems Aurora - Galaxy Purple Coolant 1L £14.99
(£12.49) £14.99
(£12.49)
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450 RPM - 3 Pin £13.99
(£11.66) £55.96
(£46.64)
Sub Total : £437.52
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £89.60
Total : £537.62

only problem is I don't know what tubing or fittings i need to get on top. ALso would this all fit in an 850D. Going to run 2 loops with a 240 rad on each, one for the GPU and one for the CPU.

Or would i be better off just running one loop with the rads connected in series ?, I just like the idea of having 2 different coloured coolants red and purple. Was then going to go for a red /black theme for the mobo/ram etc ?

If you went fual loops, you'd need 2 pumps, 2 res' (depending on res), 2 rads etc

Get either 1/2 barbs or 7/16 compressions. 2 for each component.
And 7/16 tubing

wildman · 13 Jan 2012 at 19:03

Cleeecooo said:
If you went fual loops, you'd need 2 pumps, 2 res' (depending on res), 2 rads etc

Get either 1/2 barbs or 7/16 compressions. 2 for each component.
And 7/16 tubing

I put 2 of the laing 18 W pumps in there as they fit directly on to the koolance res which was the attraction for me as I want to keep things as tidy as possible.

One other question whats the difference between the plexi GPU block and the one I selected ? I went for the non reference design one as I don't know what 6970 I will be getting just yet and didn't want to end up with a non reference card and a reference only block ? I made the assumption that a non ref block would still fit a reference card... is that wrong ?

Cleeecooo · 13 Jan 2012 at 19:08

wildman said:
I put 2 of the laing 18 W pumps in there as they fit directly on to the koolance res which was the attraction for me as I want to keep things as tidy as possible.

One other question whats the difference between the plexi GPU block and the one I selected ?
purely looks, but as you have a plexi CPU block, may aswell do the GPU in the same flavour
I went for the non reference design one as I don't know what 6970 I will be getting just yet and didn't want to end up with a non reference card and a reference only block ? I made the assumption that a non ref block would still fit a reference card... is that wrong ?
yes

wildman · 13 Jan 2012 at 19:10

so 14 x OcUK 1/2" Barbed Fitting G1/4 - FatBoy Style - Black Nickel Finish [63251]

and

1 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 15,9/11mm (7/16ID) Clear 3.3m

would be right for the rest of the kit ?

Cleeecooo · 13 Jan 2012 at 19:11

wildman said:
so 14 x OcUK 1/2" Barbed Fitting G1/4 - FatBoy Style - Black Nickel Finish [63251]

and

1 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 15,9/11mm (7/16ID) Clear 3.3m

would be right for the rest of the kit ?

yes, remember the second rad

wildman · 13 Jan 2012 at 19:14

CPU = 2 barbs
GPU = 2 barbs
res = 4 barbs
pumps = 4 barbs

am i missing something here ?

I guess I will need 2 tubing kits for a dual loop ?

sorry for my ignorance here, its my first journey into the world of watercooling

cammy5477 · 13 Jan 2012 at 19:26

wildman said:
CPU = 2 barbs
GPU = 2 barbs
res = 4 barbs
pumps = 4 barbs

am i missing something here ?

I guess I will need 2 tubing kits for a dual loop ?

sorry for my ignorance here, its my first journey into the world of watercooling

pumps have barbs built in to them but the res may not come with any so get the 4 for that.
your t may need barbs for the drain loop plus whatever you choose to use at the end of the drain loop, im sure you will get away with 3.3mtrs of tube but it doesnt do any harm having spare

Cleeecooo · 13 Jan 2012 at 20:12

cammy5477 said:
pumps have barbs built in to them but the res may not come with any so get the 4 for that.
your t may need barbs for the drain loop plus whatever you choose to use at the end of the drain loop, im sure you will get away with 3.3mtrs of tube but it doesnt do any harm having spare

He's using the pump res combo, so they need barbs i think?!

3.3 mtrs, and some XSPC crap