Another newbie water cooling question - rad size.

Abz Hussain

Abz Hussain

Abz Hussain

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Joined
18 Mar 2011
Posts
810
Location
East London.
I plan to water cool the following:
  1. i5 2500k CPU - overclocked.
  2. Either, 460GTX SLI or 560TI SLI, overclocked
  3. Mobo/chipset for the Z68-UD7-B3, (not sure if available yet)

What i want to know is what kind of minimum requirements i need for this lot in terms of number of rads and size of rads. Also what would be optimum for these and what would be 'just right' ?

Cases: im having trouble deciding on a case for my build. I had originally decided on the Fractal Design Arc MIDI - however build quality issues are disheartening me from that one.
Corsairs 600T, and the other Corsair alternatives, although nice as they are, way too big for my liking.
So regardless of case size can you recommend the Rad solution?
Thanks.
 
360 (thick) and a thin 120 will be ideal, but the 360 alone will manage :)

Case wise, would the bitfenix shinobi XL be too big for you?
 
Cleeecooo said:
360 (thick) and a thin 120 will be ideal, but the 360 alone will manage :)

Case wise, would the bitfenix shinobi XL be too big for you?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the rad specs.
Will the lone 360 manage well or would that slim 120 just give it that little extra that the above components may need?

Yes, just been over to their website and that case is way too big for me. I know i said the Arc Midi was putting me off but its not a given yet. I know a 360 rad can fit into it with some modding - will also mean losing the top 5.25 bay.
 
The 360 is the minimum needed to keep all the components at good temps, the 120 just gives it anlittle push to make your temps a bit better :)
 
OptimaLnrg said:
When you start to consider watercooling the 600t seems a hell of a lot smaller. :/
Click to expand...
Hi there, when i say big im referring to the overall external case dimensions. Inside the 600T is ample room from what i see. My problem is having such a big case sitting on my desk.
Having said that options are rather limited for water cooling and 'smallish' mid towers.
 
Cleeecooo said:
Not very up to date on mid towers, but;

NZXT tempest
Lexa s
Antec skelly?
Bitfenix shinobi
Corsair 500R
Click to expand...

Cheers, will go through them and see if any of them tickle my fancy.
Just to go back to the original topic, regarding the rads, by thick are you referring to 60mm rads?
 
600T is quite small by watercooling standards

I have the 650D which is pretty similar and if you look in my build log you will see I managed to get 240+200

You could put a 240 up top and 120 in the front without any/much modding I imagine
 
stueng said:
600T is quite small by watercooling standards

I have the 650D which is pretty similar and if you look in my build log you will see I managed to get 240+200

You could put a 240 up top and 120 in the front without any/much modding I imagine
Click to expand...

Looking into your build log now. Thanks for that.
Im a fan of smaller cases, have thought about external mounted rads but its not pleasing to the eye for me.
 
stueng said:
600T is quite small by watercooling standards

I have the 650D which is pretty similar and if you look in my build log you will see I managed to get 240+200

You could put a 240 up top and 120 in the front without any/much modding I imagine
Click to expand...

I put a 240 up top and 120 in back with zero moding on a 650D
 
Abz Hussain said:
I plan to water cool the following:
  1. i5 2500k CPU - overclocked.
  2. Either, 460GTX SLI or 560TI SLI, overclocked
  3. Mobo/chipset for the Z68-UD7-B3, (not sure if available yet)

What i want to know is what kind of minimum requirements i need for this lot in terms of number of rads and size of rads. Also what would be optimum for these and what would be 'just right' ?

Cases: im having trouble deciding on a case for my build. I had originally decided on the Fractal Design Arc MIDI - however build quality issues are disheartening me from that one.
Corsairs 600T, and the other Corsair alternatives, although nice as they are, way too big for my liking.
So regardless of case size can you recommend the Rad solution?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

OK, having a rethink and looking at the budget, item number 2 will now be a single GTX 560Ti overclocked.
Does that change my rad requirements at all?
Also while im here, can some tell me if i can cool the chipset/mosfets on the following board - Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4-B3

Thanks
 
Hi, as a guide you need 1 120mm rad per component you want to cool. so 1x CPU and 2xGPU means you need at least a 360mm rad. I see you're thinking about only doing 1 card ATM, but I still suggest cramming those rads in, as if, in future, you get another card, your loop will be ready to go :)

As for the mobo, it is completely pointless cooling it as it just adds heat to the loop. It is for aesthetic reasons only tbh and as you don't want a big case to show off your work, it hardly seems worth it. Just in case you really, really want too though, enter the details and check here :):

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1

EDIT: Just had a quick look on there, seems you can get full blocks for the mobo, but they are quite expensive:

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist?mb_mbs=379
 
Last edited:
Abz Hussain said:
OK, having a rethink and looking at the budget, item number 2 will now be a single GTX 560Ti overclocked.
Does that change my rad requirements at all?
Also while im here, can some tell me if i can cool the chipset/mosfets on the following board - Gigabyte Z68XP-UD4-B3

Thanks
Click to expand...

I spent weeks searching for a reasonably priced motherboard in black that had a full waterblock.. couldnt find one

since the only reason to watercool a motherboard is looks the individual mosfet/chipset blocks are pointless since they dont look as good as teh full blocks

my advice, that board is sexy as hell as it is, it doesnt need anything more
 
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