Another virgin watercooler needing advise !

[Damob9k]

Hi All,

I'm hoping you experienced water coolers can give me some advice and pointers.

First of all I’ll explain what my system is and what my overall requirements are.

System:
Asus P6T, just replaced my trusty old i7 920 with a Xeon W3690, this is cooled by a Corsair H50 with 2 fans in push/pull.
12GB of Corsair Dominator ram
1 x GTX 660 Ti
1 x Samsung 840 Pro
1 x WD 1 Gb temp/dowload drive
All housed in a Coolermaster ATCS 840

The rest of my storage is on a home built NAS with 13.6 Tb of usable space !


Overall requirements:
Overclock the W3690 (Duh ! Obviously ) nothing extreme tho. It's clocked to 4049Ghz atm, not getting any hotter than 65c with the H50, I'd be happy with 4.5 + (I've only had the Xenon for a day so not played with it that much yet.

Keep it cool n safe BUT quiet unless it's working hard - Currently I have speedstep enabled and all my fans controlled by the motherboard via PWM and a few PWM splitter cables.

My flat is open plan and I don't want to be hearing my PC roaring when I'm sat down watching a film on my HTPC, so the way I have things running now is how I want to be able to run with a proper custom loop.

For the time being I'm just going to cool the CPU, but I probably will add the GPU to this later.

I've been looking at some of the kits that are available - XSPC Raystorm, Alphacool and the OcUK Tech Labs V12 Watercooling Kit 360, but there are bits about all of them that I don't like so much.

For instance I have read that the XSPC X20 750 is a bit noisy / vibration issue? Plus I don't fully understand the relationship between the specs and what I need now or in the future .i.e. the X20 does 750lph but has a seemingly lower head delivery.
And from what I have read from reviewers is that the D5 pump is the best, but I have no idea if I would need a D5 or a DDC pump or whether actually the X20 would be perfect for me !

I do like the fact that there is a XSPC version of the D5 that is PWM controlled.

About the only thing I can decide on is that I do like the XSPC reservoir.

As far as Rad's are concerned, I think I have narrowed it down to the Aqua Computer AirPlex Revolution or the ThermoChill PA120.3 360's probably the AC revo is my fav based on reviews.

And it sounds like the EK-Supremacy EVO is the block to have.

Fans wise I think either the Corsair Air Series SP120 PWM High Performance Edition's or the Noctua NF-F12 PWM 120mm Focused Flow are the ones I’ll go for.

SO ...

Do you guys think I'm on the right track, or am I way off and/or overkilling it for what I need ?
Would any of the "kits" be perfectly adequate for my requirements (bearing in mind I want to be able to utilise PWM) or am I best to go the fully custom route ?

I would be really grateful if you guys could help me with any of the above questions or even explain to me what I should be looking for in building my fist "proper" watercooler

Many thanks

Damob9K

 

[mjallan123]

I tried reading your post but it's a bit long and unwieldy.

If you want to cool the cpu just get a block from a well known company like EK, XSPC, Aqua Computer etc and just pick the one that you like the aesthetic of.

Get yourself a nice 360/420mm rad. Go for low FPI (fins per inch) and low rpm fans if you want a quite computer or go for high FPI with high rpm fans for more performance and overclocking.

Get yourself a Laing D5 pump, that's really the only one I would recommend.

Some Primochill LRT tubing in whatever colour you fancy with some xspc compressions.

 

[Diuz]

Hey Damob9k,

I recently watercooled my CPU, less than a month ago in fact...

Here's a video of what I did:

I went with a custom set up as opposed to a 'Kit' such as the XSPC Raystorm kit you mention. If only because I wanted a true custom loop.

Step 1: Choose a water block (you like) for your CPU, they pretty much all do the same thing when it comes right down to it.

I went with an EK-Supremacy EVO Full Copper no messing around with a full copper block.

Step 2: Choose a reservoir and pump, preferably a D5 combo.

I went with an XSPC Twin D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump
I had a lot of spare drive bays doing nothing so made sense.

The rest is just tubing / fittings / coolant & thermal paste and your pretty much ready to go.

Custom loops are all about personal preference these days. All the big manufacturers such as EK / XSPC / Bitspower all know what they are doing so just look around an see what you fancy.

D,

 

[savagesam117]

And I've been told, avoid XSPC tubing like the plague!!

Personally I'd go for something like a ek pump/res combo because it looks nicer. I'm not a fan of the dual bay one, and I've heard they can be a bit noiser due to vibration.

I've just finished buying the last of my loop and I will be hopefully building it and making a video for the nvidia comp this week It seems to have become a lot less daunting now that I actually have the parts in front of me.

^ I liked your video, good review of some of the components.

 

[Diuz]

And I've been told, avoid XSPC tubing like the plague!!

Personally I'd go for something like a ek pump/res combo because it looks nicer. I'm not a fan of the dual bay one, and I've heard they can be a bit noiser due to vibration.

I've just finished buying the last of my loop and I will be hopefully building it and making a video for the nvidia comp this week It seems to have become a lot less daunting now that I actually have the parts in front of me.

^ I liked your video, good review of some of the components.

Can't personally say if XSPC tubing is good or not as I have never used it but I have used Primochill, specifically -Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 19/13 - Clear and can attest, it is the nutz =)

EK do make some very nice looking pump/res combos indeed.
I can totally understand the reasoning for not being a fan of the dual bay combos though, not many people are, which is a big factor as to why I chose it.

I can attest, mine at least, being as quite as a mouse. The vibration problem could be attributed just as much the individuals case and by extension the build quality of the drive bays. Who knows...

My case happens to be a Silverstone TemJin TJ11 so the build quality is second to none. The drive bays themselves are made out of 2mm thick aluminium so very sturdy.

That said I can understand the issue. And am sure that alone would put some people off. But I digress and have hijacked this thread enough =P

The point being choose something you like, preferably something with good reviews.

I know none of my parts were chosen without doing a **** ton of research first.

D,

 

[Damob9k]

OK thanks for the replies.

I'll keep it short for those that don't like lots of those wordy things

So I think I'm set on:
EK-Supremacy EVO
Aqua Computer AirPlex Revolution or ThermoChill PA120.3 - 360 (depending on price)
XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump
Corsair Air Series SP120 PWM fans

As far as the D5 pump goes, would you recommend the standard, vario or PWM version, and why ?

Cheers

Damob

 

[Diuz]

As far as the D5 pump goes, would you recommend the standard, vario or PWM version, and why ?

Go with a standard mate, make life simpler.

Typically you find the lowest pump setting that can maintain your CPU temps, while under-load, @ around 60c-65c.

Then leave it alone, there really should not be any need to keep changing the speed of your pump once the above 'perfect setting' has been found.

For instance, my Twin D5 combo comes with 2 dialed screws on the back of each pump labeled 1-5.

The perfect setting, for me, happened to be setting number 2 on both pump dials. Approx 2000rpm on both pumps according to my fan controller.

Even under 24hr Prime95 and CPU stability testing my max CPU temp was around 66c at those setting. In short - no need at all to whack the pumps up to full and call it a day.

Dial them back manually till you find a good setting with consistent UNDER LOAD temps or 65c and you will be golden.

Will also increase the life of your pumps as well, as they are not on max settings 24/7. Which is a good thing =P

D,

 

[Damob9k]

Cheers Diuz,

Oddly it seems I can buy the XSPC dual res and the XSPC D5 Vario for 7 quid less than the cobo !
Think i'll go for that
Unfortunately it seems that Overclockers are out of stock on pretty much all the other parts I want.

 

[Diuz]

Cheers Diuz,

Oddly it seems I can buy the XSPC dual res and the XSPC D5 Vario for 7 quid less than the cobo !
Think i'll go for that
Unfortunately it seems that Overclockers are out of stock on pretty much all the other parts I want.

Np bud glad if I'd been any help.

For a custom loop, you have run into a problem nearly everyone experiences.

All the parts you want being in stock at the same time. It seems this is pretty common.

Took me roughly 1 month to assemble all the parts before I could even start the build.

That said I would get in contact with Overclockers UK customer support staff and explain the situation, am sure they will move heaven & earth to get your parts to you in a timely manner.

D,

 

[savagesam117]

Np bud glad if I'd been any help.

For a custom loop, you have run into a problem nearly everyone experiences.

All the parts you want being in stock at the same time. It seems this is pretty common.

Took me roughly 1 month to assemble all the parts before I could even start the build.

Another site you could consider and one I would gladly attest to having excellent customer service is *competitor* <-- No, no, no!

That said I would get in contact with Overclockers UK customer support staff and explain the situation, am sure they will move heaven & earth to get your parts to you in a timely manner.

D,

You might want to remove that competitor link!

Second hand is also great for water cooling stuff. All of mine at the moment is second hand, apart from my tube and fluid.

 

[Damob9k]

Yup, looks like I may have to use 2 or possibly 3 suppliers to get what i want, just got to decide on the rad as the one I had decided on is now gone.

Looks like I can get the Pump, Res and all the tubing and fittings from here tho.

I want to get it all for next week ! I have some time off, and want to play

 

[russell664]

Just to add to the discussion, I have been using XSPC clear tubing for a year or so, and mine is just fine, with no apparent issues.

Maybe If I drained there would be stains, but other than that it is all good.

 

[Damob9k]

Damn it ! just taken my car down to the garage to have an issue looked into ... now need to get 3 new tyres (might as well get 4) and new front wishbones

Had an argument with sensible me, he won so going to have to do the WC'ing in stages.

At least getting it in bits means that I won't have to compromise so much

So going to buy the parts that I have already decided on, and decide on the other bits later.

Cheers all

D