Watercool upgrade- Corsair A540

Aionard

Aionard

Aionard

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Joined
1 Aug 2014
Posts
29
Hi guys, my first post on the forum after some reading, so thanks for all the great threads already out there!

As the topic suggest, I took it upon myself to upgrade my (somewhat) lousy PC form a certain infamous website. So The firs step was changing a case (for some extra room) and a PSU for a GPU upgrade later on, Here's what I put together yesterday:

12508665.jpg

It's a:

- Asus p8z68-v lx MOBO
- Itel i5 2500 Quad, 3.3 OC'd to 3.8
- 1GB AMD RADEON HD6850 (I know I know...)
- 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz
- PSU is a Corsair RM Series RM 1000 '80+ Gold' 1000W
- 1TB Seagate Barracuda

So the plan is to firs LC the CPU and then to throw in a LC GPU. I browsed for hours and read a ton of threads and was thinking about 2x240 rads (top and front) and an upgrade to:

- GTX 780

Now the questions are:

- is the planned rad setup enough?
- compression vs barb fittings?
- has anyone ever gone for the OCUK LC GPUs? or am I better of putting one together myself?
- I was thinking for going for XSPC or EK components, possibly a mix, as there is a bit of problem getting pumps with res combos.

I plan to add the LC loop for GPU next month and the GPU around Jan/Feb (for the Witcher 3 :3). Your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially about recommended tubing and fittings as well as possible modules/brands to avoid.

Thanks for your time!
 
Aionard said:
Now the questions are:

- is the planned rad setup enough? Yes, 1x120 per component, +1 as a rule of thumb
- compression vs barb fittings? Compression if you want the extra security, personally I use them. I also think they look better although they can add a lot to the price of the loop
- has anyone ever gone for the OCUK LC GPUs? or am I better of putting one together myself? How confident are you in these sorts of things? Part of getting into WC for me was wanting to learn new skills.
- I was thinking for going for XSPC or EK components, possibly a mix, as there is a bit of problem getting pumps with res combos. Should be OK with these but you can get help here if you name your spec

I plan to add the LC loop for GPU next month and the GPU around Jan/Feb (for the Witcher 3 :3). Your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially about recommended tubing and fittings as well as possible modules/brands to avoid. If you're doing it in two steps then have a draining plan in place before you build. A valve could be placed in the lower part of the loop for example.

Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
 
@Hellfish - thanks for the input! that is my aim too, to learn something new, from what I've seen EK has some hassle free cundles for gpu. The valve was a part of the plan, a T fitting with a small piece of tubing should do fine?

@String - That is a SWEET build, I like where you put the pump, i was thinking in the other chamber above the PSU to have a cleaner feel to it. But a nice light setup will just bring some nice reflections from res. will definitely steal a lot of ideas from your build ;)

So compression fittings will be more secure then? The extra few quid are not an issue since I am doing it in parts ;)
 
Aionard said:
@Hellfish - thanks for the input! that is my aim too, to learn something new, from what I've seen EK has some hassle free cundles for gpu. The valve was a part of the plan, a T fitting with a small piece of tubing should do fine?
Click to expand...

Cool, go for it then. Always good to learn new stuff.

Yeah, you will need a T-fitting, two compressions (one for either side) and you may want to stick a stop fitting on the exit from the valve. Then a bit of tube with a compression on the end which you attach when you want to drain.
 
that's the problem I'm having, I'd rather go for pump + res as there is less points of possible failure on my part ;) but separating them does open some nice options.

@hellfish - I may then buy a gpu first ( a regular, sad, air cooled one:P) and then just put in the whole loop at a later date, buying a LC GPU would strip me of that option (in case my LC fails horribly)
 
UP as I don't want to start a new thread ;)

So the pay day is here and I'm ready to set up my first CPU only loop. Here's the setup:

EK Water Blocks EK-DCP 4.0 PWM X-RES (incl. pump)
XSPC EX280 Dual Fan Radiator
EK-Supreme LTX CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock
XSPC HighFlex Hose 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD, 16/10mm, 2m, Clear/UV
EK Water Blocks EK-CSQ Fitting 10/16mm G1/4 - Nickel
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g)

Additionally:
Aerocool Strike-X, X-1000 panel, Fan control

I will be using my case (140 mm) corsair fans to begin with, if there is some extra space left I may go for push/pull.

For liquid I will just go with regular purified water, no additives.

So, have I forgotten anything? or am I good to go wet? ;D
 
looking at your project, I don't think I will, it's the same case and very similar idea. I'll throw in 2 fans then, and use the old ones as extra if it fits.

* edit - there is no sp140 in ocuk, will have to settle for stock now, should be fine given that I only run a mildly oc'd cpu that so far does fine on air cooling?
 
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ah, true, I can see it now. I won't be putting anything in the back, and will have the occasion to re-evaluate prior to plugging GPU next year.

But, save the fans, I should be good to go?
 
So here it is!

Took me a better part of today, not without some serious WTFs.

I found the EK fittings slightly on the loose side with the tubing from xspc (rings weren't really compressing anything) so I gave the tubing 3 spins of electric tape prior to pushing on the barb. They were really hard to push on and the ring seems to be holding on to it now.

Bled out almost instantly, 2-3 cycles of on/off. The pump is now running for about 3h and (touch wood) no leaks. I think I'll leave it on for tomorrow too though, I don't want to leave it unattended overnight or when I'm at work.

I do hope that it will not fail miserably! :D any thoughts?

vdz9im
 
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