First water cooling attempt

pdhenin

pdhenin

pdhenin

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25 Aug 2011
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216
Hi Everyone,

I think my Antec 25 Kuhler H20 620 is finally starting to show its age, my i5 2500k at 4.5Ghz is starting to hit towards the upper 70s under load and climbing.

I would quite like to have a go at creating a custom loop just for my CPU

My case is a Zalman Z9 Plus which has space for 2 120 mm fans along the roof so I should be fine with a 240 mm radiator.

Can anyone recommend any cheapish water cooling kits and any advise for a first attempt. For now it will only be the CPU that I will be cooling.

CPU = i5 2500k
Mobo = Asus P8P67 Pro
Psu = Seasonic M12II-850 Bronze (850W)

Alternatively I could just pick up an Antec Kúhler H2O 950 Liquid CPU Cooler

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-011-AN

What are the advantages of a customer loop over a bundled pre sealed water cooler?
 
Go with the OcUK kit.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-041-OE&groupid=962&catid=1532

You will also need a PSU bridging connector to jump start the pump, and ideally some hose cutters.

You are doing the right thing in going for CPU only. I went down the w/c route a year ago and it was my first attempt too. With coloured coolant your rig will look epic, and the cosmetics far outweigh an all in one. You might also get even better temps.

If you haven't watched the Tiny Tom's video guide, watch it. You can find it on youtube. I used it as basis training for my loop, it's invaluable and almost mandatory before your first loop.

I will refrain from posting link on here before he refers to one of ocuk's competitors in it

Oh yeah one of ocUK staff has encyclopedic knowledge of w/c and it's worth getting him on board. RJK, he helped me when I did my loop.

Good Luck. You wont regret it.
 
well an All In One is limited to the CPU only and is cheaper but less effective

A custom loop costs more but is more configurable as you can add GPU's memory and chipset blocks later if you want and gives much better performance

its all down do budget/requirement
 
Thanks, I will have a look at picking up a kit soon. I've grabbed the H20 950 to tide me over for a month or two for now as my 620 is jumping around a lot even after a new coat of MX-4
 
Hahahaha, so I just found the OC3D, Tiny Tom Logan basics guide for water-cooling. His accent's a bit different isn't it! He's way more cockney in his newer stuff.
 
Thanks, I will watch the video.

I got my 950 from overclockers today, I have my surgical spirit and coffee filters ready to try it out later.
 
I'm going to order the x8 now its back in stock, I have a few questions if anyone can help?

My case is a Zalman z9 plus which has space for two 120mm fans along the top shown below and I have 2 drive bays free so the reservoir should fit ok.



I'm going with the pastel blue berry coolant just for the look but i'm unsure about the radiator. I want a dual fan radiator which I believe they all are, but for a single cpu cooling attempt is it worth going for the standard, advanced or premium option.

Standard - XSPC EX240 120mm Radiator

Advanced - Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator SR1 240

Premium - XSPC RX 240 Dual Fan Radiator V3
 
What ever one fits in too your budget personally I would go for the rx but thats me
up too you
all 3 will give you good temps what fans will you be using
What gpus are you running .
 
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Out of the three radiators I'd be going with the slimmest of the radiators (EX240 is only 35mm, both the SR1 & RX are 56mm +25mm for fans) as there doesn't look to be that much space in the roof of the case (especially as your motherboard appears to have quite a large protruding heatsink)
 
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FYI
be careful! the z9 does *NOT* take a 240mm rad up top because the fan mounts are spaced weirdly. you'll need to mod it first
 
@ Mark this day Its just a cpu loop, my GPU is a Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Rev2.0 WindForce 3X which I might add to the loop later on.

@tammzy Thanks for the heads up.

Can anyone recommend a cheapish decent case for water cooling?
 
tbh, its not too hard modding the top of the z9 to take a 240mm rad. it's just a matter of drilling a few holes in the correct spots (if that's your cup of tea)

i see you already got yourself an antec 950. why dont you try that first and see how you get on. a full custom loop is all fine and dandy, but possibly not worth the money if you're just going to cool the cpu

re: your gpu: the gigabyte 280x is a custom (ie non-reference) card. i doubt you'll be able to find a waterblock for that =x

but if you need an excuse to change your case...what's your budget lol
 
I would say around £100 for the case.

I have the 950 in at the min and I'm not to happy with it tbh. The antec software controls the fan speed and it seems to take to long to adjust to raising temps and on extreme mode 2200 RPM it sounds like a hoover. Also on my Mobo there are some caps to the left of the CPU socket and the holding ring for the water block is pushed tight on top of them. This seems to be preventing it from making a tight seal.
 
You could go for this all the works done for you
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-045-TL&groupid=962&catid=2726

If you push your budget
Cooler master cosmos se is 135

The corsair 540 is only 98 pounds

my list of cases for you to go for

1.corsair 750d little brother of the 900
360 rad in the top plus can fit a 240 in the front

2.corsair 650 d nice case just done a build in 1 for a friend
Can only fit a 240 in the top

3.nzxt h4 40
Can take 2 360s has a power supply cover to help with cable management

4.corsair 540
240/280 in the top in the front you can fit a 360

5.phanteks enthoo primo way over your budget
But such a Amazing case
Top you can fit a 480 front 240 bottom 480 side 240 rear 120/140

I would go for a case which can hold at least a 360 rad
I just checked for you ek do not make a block for your card you might have to buy a universal block which will only cool the core
 
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Mark This Day said:
You could go for this all the works done for you
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-045-TL&groupid=962&catid=2726

If you push your budget
Cooler master cosmos se is 135

The corsair 540 is only 98 pounds

my list of cases for you to go for

1.corsair 750d little brother of the 900
360 rad in the top plus can fit a 240 in the front

2.corsair 650 d nice case just done a build in 1 for a friend
Can only fit a 240 in the top

3.nzxt h4 40
Can take 2 360s has a power supply cover to help with cable management

4.corsair 540
240/280 in the top in the front you can fit a 360

5.phanteks enthoo primo way over your budget
But such a Amazing case
Top you can fit a 480 front 240 bottom 480 side 240 rear 120/140

I would go for a case which can hold at least a 360 rad
I just checked for you ek do not make a block for your card you might have to buy a universal block which will only cool the core
Click to expand...


Thanks, quite a few options to choose from :) I will have a look through.
 
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