Best watercooling kit for my rig in my sig ;)

Harpss1ngh

Harpss1ngh

Harpss1ngh

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Hi can someone spec one of the all in one watercooling kits for the spec in my sig? It's all sitting in a Cooler Master CM690 Mark 1 Nvidia Edition case at the moment.

I'm uncertain whether I want to put my 2* Palit 260 GTX's (SLI) under water as I might upgrade the GPU at some point so a kit that allows expansion would be ideal, however as I'm uncertain at the moment I don't mind just getting a sealed unit like the Corsair H100 as I might not even get round to it.

Would a Corsair H100 fit in the top of a mark I CM690? OR any other rad in the all in one kits for that matter without having to cut it?
 
You'll want it confirming by someone more in the know, but I think what youre after is something like this OcUK V8 kit?
Top of your case allows for 2 120mm fans so it should fit, as long as its not weird spacing or anything
 
Hi thanks for your reply, I had a look at that one and it looks good but was unsure whether the Rad plus the fans would fit without touching the Ram or other components. I noticed that it comes with barb fittings, is it worth getting compression fittings instead?

Also there are rear and bottom mounted fan mounts, could I in future add a single extra rad if I wanted to cool the GPU's?

Finally, how does the V8 compare to the EK H30 series and XSPC kits? I'm completely new to watercooling so appreciate the advice and anything that can help me get rid of that massive thermalright heatsink!
 
Compression fittings only provide an aesthetics bonus. So it's up to you if you like them really.

As for mounting a 240 on the roof, I've seen that it is possible without modding. You can also choose to mount a 240 on the bottom if you remove the hard drive cage also.

In regards to kit choice, all kits perform very well. The V8 includes some really nice stuff but the EK and XSPC kits provide excellent performance for the money - They will all perform very well especially if you are coming from air and again it will be what you prefer. If are going for CPU only loop then any kit will suffice, but I'd highly recommend the XSPC Rasa RS240 for it's price.

If you don't mind spending a little more, and look to expand then consider the V8 kit as it offers the nicest parts, but it's not like the EK and XSPC kits are shabby either.
 
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Guys, I have a problem. I just measured the top of the case to see whether a 240mm Rad would fit but I only have 50mm of clearance as the Rad would hit the RAM. The combined depth is 35.5mm for the Rad + the 25mm for the Fans so I'd need 60.5mm right? Am I out of luck? The only kit I can see that would fit is the H100 which after seeing the other kits I'd rather not :) Would I have to mount an external Rad or will I have to get a new case? I've seen someone cut up this case to mount a Rad at the top and the Fans inside the top of the case instead, is this the only choice I have?
 
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That's if you want to mount the fans in push. If you mount them in pull, then the fans are mounted at the top.

See this: example.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks, that looks good! So either way I'd have to do some cutting? I was looking at this example which looks good too Push config and this one Push config 2

But to avoid cutting I was hoping to just use an external Rad mount instead like done here. My case has the holes factory drilled in the rear of the case (probably what it was designed for) to do this so I would just need some kind of mount/shroud? Anything on OCUK that I can get with the V8 kit to mount externally?
 
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You don't need to mod if you are going for a top mounted pull config. Edit - just saw you have the Mark 1, not the CM690 II, apologies.

You can get external radiator brackets such as this:
FUS6S.jpg
to mount externally.
 
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That looks great thanks! I'd like to go this route so I think I'd prefer to go the custom route rather than the kits.

There are a few Radiator Mounts on UCUK, I've also seen a Swiftech Radbox that allows a Rad to be externally mounted, would that be better?

Could you spec me a decent 360 Rad with a 5.25 res and a pump good enough for this or should just I bite the bullet and just get the external mounts with the V12 kit? I like that kit but I'd like to get one of the Dual 5.25" badboys!

Thanks for all your advice and pointing me towards the right direction, it's been really helpful!
 
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You do not need a shroud, I haven't had a chance to look at the radiator mounts on OCUK as I use another watercooling vendor (sorry OCUK). As for rad choice it will depend on whether you prefer to use high rpm fans (loudest route, best possible performance) or low rpm fans (quietest route, excellent performance). However all radiators perform very well. The bracket should extend the rad far enough for it does not intrude with GPU connections etc. There's a koolance one which extends it an inch further with a useful quick release feature.

I would recommend the following core components based on your description of needs:

A Laing D5 pump (offers variable speed control)
XSPC Raystorm CPU waterblock
Res - Depends on preference, they have no impact on performance so you pick! * Personally I use a XSPC Dual bay pump res - great if space is a problem.
Rad: EX360 (Slim, excellent performance with low rpm fans), HWlabs, GTX 360 (higher RPM fans)

Alternatively, if you would a prepicked kit I'd highly recommend a XSPC kit - it offers excellent cooling performance for the money and expandability. Check out the Rasa 750 RX360 kit as it contains everything you will need.
 
s7cn said:
I would recommend the following core components based on your description of needs:

A Laing D5 pump (offers variable speed control)+1
XSPC Raystorm CPU waterblock EK nickel plexi FTW
Res - Depends on preference, they have no impact on performance so you pick! * Personally I use a XSPC Dual bay pump res - great if space is a problem.
Rad: EX360 (Slim, excellent performance with low rpm fans), HWlabs, GTX 360 (higher RPM fans)+1

Alternatively, if you would a prepicked kit I'd highly recommend a XSPC kit - it offers excellent cooling performance for the money and expandability. Check out the Rasa 750 RX360 kit as it contains everything you will need.
Click to expand...

I personally prefer the OcUK kits for pre selected ones
 
Main thing is the price difference really, I favour high price to performance kits a lot (probably to do with my studying of economics) and to me, the OCUK kits don't really tick those boxes. Admittedly the OCUK V12 kit will perform the best and it has excellent quality components, the XSPC kit will not perform significantly different, and any additional spending on better quality parts are subject to diminishing returns - Do you really need to spend another £90 to possibly lower your temps by up to 5* if that?
 
Sorry to hijack your thread but im starting a new watercooled build when iget paid and was wondering if should get a XSPC EX 360 or XSPC RX 360 rad? Going in a Xigmatek Elysium.
 
EX is slimmer in profile and does well despite with low speed fans despite it's med fpi. RX is really nice if you plan on going for pure silence < 800 rpm fans.

EX would probably be your best choice as it's slimmer.
 
Whats the performance difference like? EX is £30 cheaper. ill be cooling a i7 1366 and GTX 580, both overclocked.
 
Roughly 150 watts of heat dissipation which translates to roughly 2-4 degrees difference. Bloomfield and a 580 will be fine on a single 360 tbh - it's only when you add more to your loop that the RX is worth it.
 
s7cn said:
There's a koolance one which extends it an inch further with a useful quick release feature.
Click to expand...

Is it the BKT-HX001? That seems exactly what I'm looking for thanks:D

I've settled on the following components:

*XSPC EX360 120mm Radiator - Black
*XSPCX2O 750 Dual 5.25” Bay Reservoir Pump
*EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Copper Plexi
*XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear (I want to match the green styling of my Nvidia edition CM690 case so should I go clear with Green UV liquid or UV reactive green tubing and Green or Clear liquid?)
*OcUK 1/2" Barbed Fitting - FatBoy Style - Black Nickel Finish (I noticed these are 1/2", are they better than the 7/16 ones? The tubings 7/16 after all. I also couldn't find compression fittings for this which I would prefer, let me know if you can find them)
OcUK Tube Cutter Aluminum 3-14mm
*Koolance BKT-HX001 external mount

I was going to get 3X Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1450 RPM but I already have 3X Thermalright TR TY-140's (They're 140mm but have 120mm mounts). Would these do the job or will I need to get the Scythes?

Thanks guys, I'm almost there!
 
The GT's are really nice, they push a lot of air with high static pressure and are silent. The TR TY's will do the job however. Yeah it's the HX0001 bracket.

The setup looks good, no complaints there.

As for coolant I'd advise against premixed as they usually stain or gunk up blocks. If you are after some colour, I would recommend Mayhem's dye + distilled water and a silver kill coil. They have shown some excellent results and do not gunk afaik.

Fitting size does not matter so long it fits the tubing ID and OD. (there are negligable performance differences ranging from 0.05 to 1 degrees differences from thicker tubing).

Compression fittings can be found from other vendors, unfortunately I cannot link it in this thread.
 
Do I need to get a seperate PSU bridging connector by the way?

The OCUK V12 uses those tube and barbs which is why I picked them.
I assume the barbs already come with the O rings? Will I need to get clips?

There are compression fittings on OCUK which are 7/16" [16/11mm] here. Could those work without any difficulty or should I just stick with the 1/2" barbs? I'm just confused with the sizes as the tube is 1/2" and the fittings 7/16" lol.

BTW I appreciate your patience as I'm asking 21 questions, but just trying to learn so I don't bugger anything up :)
 
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Harpss1ngh said:
Do I need to get a seperate PSU bridging connector by the way?
it would help

The OCUK V12 uses those tube and barbs which is why I picked them.
I assume the barbs already come with the O rings? Will I need to get clips?
see below, I think you may have the wrong sizes


There are compression fittings on OCUK which are 7/16" [16/11mm] here. Could those work without any difficulty or should I just stick with the 1/2" barbs? I'm just confused with the sizes as the tube is 1/2" and the fittings 7/16" lol.
get 7/16 barbs with 7/16 compressions or 7/16 tubing with 1/2 barbs

BTW I appreciate your patience as I'm asking 21 questions, but just trying to learn so I don't bugger anything up :)
Click to expand...
 
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