New Case and Kit for Watercooling

Soldato
Joined
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Wigan
Hi, I need to swap my case over due to excess heat so I'm going to go fully underwater. Can anyone who's got similar please advise, not really budget restricted as such. It's a case and a water cooling kit that's required for CPU,R4E motherboard and at least two cards.
All help appreciated,thanks in advance
 
Budget for new case?

A loop for all your stuff will be in the £500 region presuming you go for the better stuff.

Also, just a note, watercooling your cards will void the warranty ;)
 
Couple of things first.

What case do you have now?
Whats your objective, cool or quiet or both?
What sort of use does the system get?
What sort or ambient temps do you have?
Do you care what it looks like in the end or do you have aesthetic requirements?

You say budget not really restricted "as such", do you have a budget in mind? Just asking because really the sky is the limit when you are talking about the best watercooling cases costing up to £3-400 before you even add the watercooling parts.

Of course you can do it cheaper, depends how handy you are with a hacksaw, dremel and how comfortable you are cutting your case up.

That CPU and two 680s you would need at least a 360 radiator, possibly with a secondary 120 or 240 radiator if you could fit one.

Just about any of the larger cases would work, Elysium, Bitfenix Colosos or Shinobi, The Corsair 800D is doable but might need a bit of modding to fit a 240 as well as a 360 but a 120 on the rear exhaust would work.

Generally thicker rads work better with low speed fans, but thinner rads offer superior cooling with high speed fans (plus the requisite noise levels)

Budget for a decent pump, like a Liang D5 or DDC 18w and budget for either an aftermarket top (if using a separate res) or a top with res if you want to go that route. Some find it neater to use a bayres, some like a separate tube res. I have no preference, depends really on space/cost/convenience.

The rest is down to personal preference, tubing size, colour, fittings brand, compression or barbs, its just what you like to work with.

Oh and read, there are lots of good FAQ's and sites around. This very board has a great sticky about watercooling, and there are other great sites such as XstremeSystems LiquidCooling and lots of testing done at the likes of Martins Liquid Labs and Skinees

And last but not least the OcUk Project Logs subforum is pretty awesome for ideas.

Hope this inspires rather than scares you off, but once you get started its a bit of an addiction. Just don't try and watercool the cat :eek:
 
I have a price of about £750 all in. If I could get away with it I would like to use my existing case(corsair 600 white) but i doubt i would get a decent rad in there. My main issue is how hot my cpu and mobo get when trying to get a decent OC. Warranty won't apply as if i watercool my cards i'll off load these and get cards with blocks already fitted(not in the cooling budget).I had a look at pre built watercooled cases but want to be able to repair it myself,so a self build it is.
Would it be worth just putting the cpu and mobo under water or not? thanks for your input
 
Would it be worth just putting the cpu and mobo under water or not? thanks for your input

CPU, yes. Mobo is subjective. I personally gound my motherboard was getting too hot and loud for my personal liking, even on silent profile so I think that it's worth cooling.

Ofcourse, my idea of too loud will probably be different to yours.

Are you happy going for an external radiator?
 
Couple of things first.

What case do you have now?
Whats your objective, cool or quiet or both?
What sort of use does the system get?
What sort or ambient temps do you have?
Do you care what it looks like in the end or do you have aesthetic requirements?

You say budget not really restricted "as such", do you have a budget in mind? Just asking because really the sky is the limit when you are talking about the best watercooling cases costing up to £3-400 before you even add the watercooling parts.

Of course you can do it cheaper, depends how handy you are with a hacksaw, dremel and how comfortable you are cutting your case up.

That CPU and two 680s you would need at least a 360 radiator, possibly with a secondary 120 or 240 radiator if you could fit one.

Just about any of the larger cases would work, Elysium, Bitfenix Colosos or Shinobi, The Corsair 800D is doable but might need a bit of modding to fit a 240 as well as a 360 but a 120 on the rear exhaust would work.

Generally thicker rads work better with low speed fans, but thinner rads offer superior cooling with high speed fans (plus the requisite noise levels)

Budget for a decent pump, like a Liang D5 or DDC 18w and budget for either an aftermarket top (if using a separate res) or a top with res if you want to go that route. Some find it neater to use a bayres, some like a separate tube res. I have no preference, depends really on space/cost/convenience.

The rest is down to personal preference, tubing size, colour, fittings brand, compression or barbs, its just what you like to work with.

Oh and read, there are lots of good FAQ's and sites around. This very board has a great sticky about watercooling, and there are other great sites such as XstremeSystems LiquidCooling and lots of testing done at the likes of Martins Liquid Labs and Skinees

And last but not least the OcUk Project Logs subforum is pretty awesome for ideas.

Hope this inspires rather than scares you off, but once you get started its a bit of an addiction. Just don't try and watercool the cat :eek:

I have a white 600 T ,I would like it quiet and cool.
Video editing and gaming at the moment and probably folding when complete.
Temps on the highest core is 77 which i know isn't too hot just would prefer it to be lower so as to be able to OC the cpu you higher.
I would prefer everything to be inside and would like it to look decent.
Thanks for all the info looks like i'll be doing a lot more reading. Many thanks for taking the time to reply.
 
Here's a potential basket you could go for. I've not included GPU blocks as you'll be getting tech labs cards. Res, fittings, blocks and fan controller can be changed to your personal preferences. I've included the mobo block for now, but ofcourse it's entirely up to you to decide whether it will be worth it for you.

As said, do your reading beforehand so you know what you're going to be doing :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Xigmatek Elysium Full Tower Windowed Case - Black £139.99
1 x OcUK Tech Lab - D5 Vario Pump & Alphacool Clear HF D5 Top Value Combo £84.98
1 x EK-FB ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Waterblock - Plexi & EN Nickel £79.98
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator SR1 360 £69.98
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 FC2 5.25" Bay Fan Controller - Black £24.98
2 x Mayhems Pastel - Blueberry Blue Coolant 1L £14.99 (£29.98)
5 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450 RPM - 3 Pin £13.99 (£69.95)
2 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 15,9/11mm (7/16ID) Clear 3.3m £10.88 (£21.76)
1 x OcUK Tube Cutter Aluminum 3-14mm £8.50
14 x OcUK 7/16" [16/13mm] G1/4 - High Flow Style - Shiny Silver - Compression Fitting £3.29 (£46.06)
Total : £740.34 (includes shipping : £16.85).

 
Would prefer eveything inside the case,anyway all on hold until this rumour of a keplar recall is sorted out.Really appreciate the time taken to reply,cheers
 
CPU, yes. Mobo is subjective. I personally gound my motherboard was getting too hot and loud for my personal liking, even on silent profile so I think that it's worth cooling.

Ofcourse, my idea of too loud will probably be different to yours.

Are you happy going for an external radiator?

Thats my issue,the heat causing throttling and that onboard mobo fan is driving me loopy! (have to wear headphones that bad)
 
Out of curiousity,if you was doing a WC with my bits which case would you go for and why?
Also would putting the mobo underwater improve my chances of a better OC?
Atleast get rid of that high pitch whinning?

I would choose the ely. huge case, plenty of rad a=capacity

Unlikely to improve OC signficantly

If the whining is coming from the fan, then yes
 
I've got an Elysium sitting in my workshop, just waiting for a few parts to arrive and I'll be doing a new build with a 360 and 240, should be fun. Will put some pics up while I get on with it. Not a normal build, but some might find it interesting ;)
 
Out of curiousity,if you was doing a WC with my bits which case would you go for and why?
Also would putting the mobo underwater improve my chances of a better OC?
Atleast get rid of that high pitch whinning?

I'm just about to embark on a very similar build. I ordered a Coolermaster Cosmos II because I really like the look of it & its got ample room for watercooling. I ordered the Rampage IV Formula instead though because I kept reading about that darn fan & the Formula does away with it in favour of a regular heatsink with no fan
ASUS%20Rampage%20IV%20Formula.jpg


I though about watercooling the Extreme instead but the added cost of the board (£90 at the time) & then the cost of the waterblock plus fittings & then the added untidyness of the extra tubing in the loop significantly put me off.
That extra cash went on my extravagent case :P
 
I've got an Elysium sitting in my workshop, just waiting for a few parts to arrive and I'll be doing a new build with a 360 and 240, should be fun. Will put some pics up while I get on with it. Not a normal build, but some might find it interesting ;)

Thanks will keep a eye on this,going to start gathering my new toys in preperation
 
I've got an Elysium sitting in my workshop, just waiting for a few parts to arrive and I'll be doing a new build with a 360 and 240, should be fun. Will put some pics up while I get on with it. Not a normal build, but some might find it interesting ;)

I look forward to it :D

Doing an ely build myself soon :D
 
I'm just about to embark on a very similar build. I ordered a Coolermaster Cosmos II because I really like the look of it & its got ample room for watercooling. I ordered the Rampage IV Formula instead though because I kept reading about that darn fan & the Formula does away with it in favour of a regular heatsink with no fan
ASUS%20Rampage%20IV%20Formula.jpg


I though about watercooling the Extreme instead but the added cost of the board (£90 at the time) & then the cost of the waterblock plus fittings & then the added untidyness of the extra tubing in the loop significantly put me off.
That extra cash went on my extravagent case :P

Thought about the cosmos myself but couldn't justify it,if i'm WC defo doing the mobo as that is expletive explitive if you get my drift. If I knew how to post a link, theres a case I'd love to know if its up to the job,(Xilence Interceptor Full Tower Case - Black/Red ) for sale at OCUK or its big brother. What you think?
 
Thought about the cosmos myself but couldn't justify it,if i'm WC defo doing the mobo as that is expletive explitive if you get my drift. If I knew how to post a link, theres a case I'd love to know if its up to the job,(Xilence Interceptor Full Tower Case - Black/Red ) for sale at OCUK or its big brother. What you think?

That case is a beast by the looks of it.

Plenty of info about it here & looks like it will fit some rads in ther nicely.

There is a review here too (although he uses a mATX board in there........)
 
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