100% New to Watercooling

blackconverse

blackconverse

blackconverse

Associate
Joined
25 Nov 2008
Posts
122
Hello :)

I am attempting to step 100% away from air cooling as it's just starting to irritate me now in terms of background noise etc I just have absolutely no idea where to start looking for watercooling kits etc Does anyone have any recommendations in terms of what to purchase?
 
If noise is an issue currently and you have tried aftermarket air coolers, then an AIO unit wont make you much happier. If you want quiet in comparison to aftermarket air coolers, i suppose its go custom water or go home.

Need what petey says though, or there is not much we can recommend besides fans.
 
Uncle Petey said:
We need to know what case you have, what components you want to cool and max budget first :)
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1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) -
1 x Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Edition OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

I am looking to replace my current case, and would be open to recommendations :) In terms of budget then I would be open to various price poins I like the best of the best.
 
For a smallish case, i would recommend Corsair Air 540, for a full sized tower case, Phantek Enthoo Primo.

I have the Phantek, prior to this i had a CM Stormtrooper, i felt the Stormtrooper case was a fairly large size, i was not prepared for the sheer size of the Phantek, its epic in size but the options for watercooling are simply staggering. Without doubt the best case ive owned though.
 
Oh and budget over well £600 for all the kit including a case, it isn't cheap. Then you have to flush the rads when you get them, change the fluid every 6-12 months, think about a way of bleeding and filling the loop with minimum hassle. It is not a case of fitting an forgetting, the loop will need maintenance.
 
best thing to do to start with is do research and a lot of it don't rush into things , look on youtube , read these forums, get a idea in your own mind what items u want then ask for opinions to make sure u got things correct, my own personal experience I spent months researching(ofc I didn't have funds at time). but 1st things 1st decide on what case u want.
 
I am just wondering due to my lack of experience if it would perhaps be better to pay someone else to install a watercooling system? I wonder if overclockers actually have such a service.
 
blackconverse said:
I am just wondering due to my lack of experience if it would perhaps be better to pay someone else to install a watercooling system? I wonder if overclockers actually have such a service.
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But you would miss out on all the (stress) fun:)
I built my first loop a few months ago and was pleased with the result. Looks a lot better + runs cooler and quieter.
Found members here very helpfull. :D
As others have said take your time and read up - if you are as impaitent as me consider one of the kits .( at least you can be confident that everything will fit together!)
Lastly got to mention shaypers loop build guide stickied at start of watercooled section - Excellent
 
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AgedIdiot said:
But you would miss out on all the (stress) fun:)
I built my first loop a few months ago and was pleased with the result. Looks a lot better + runs cooler and quieter.
Found members here very helpfull. :D
As others have said take your time and read up - if you are as impaitent as me consider one of the kits .( at least you can be confident that everything will fit together!)
Lastly got to mention shaypers loop build guide stickied at start of watercooled section - Excellent
Click to expand...

It's not that I am inpatient but inexperienced plus the matter that water and electrical items to do not mix :P I can just imagine me pouring water all over the motherboard ha ha
 
blackconverse said:
It's not that I am inpatient but inexperienced plus the matter that water and electrical items to do not mix :P I can just imagine me pouring water all over the motherboard ha ha
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If you don't build it yourself, gaining no experience, you will run into trouble if you have any issues such as leaks, pump failure etc.
 
seriously speaking a custom loop is not difficult to set up. Getting it looking perfect takes extra work but you really don't need to it just looks nicer.
 
blackconverse said:
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) -
1 x Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Edition OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

I am looking to replace my current case, and would be open to recommendations :) In terms of budget then I would be open to various price poins I like the best of the best.
Click to expand...

The bad news is that there are no blocks for your card.
The good news is that you probably wouldn't need one for it anyway unless it's simply too noisy for you :)

Personally, I wouldn't go to all the expense of a full loop if it only for noise reduction. You can lower noise levels pretty well with aftermarket aircooling (cpu and gpu) if you want.

Example: K2/D14/Silver Arrow/Megahalems/True Spirit 140 etc with a single TY-147 fan would be virtually silent and cool your cpu with no problems.
An Arctic Accelero/Gelid Icy Vision would do the same for your card.

As for your lack of experience... Bah, we all had to do it for the first time and **** bricks on the opening power up.
It's kind of a rite of passage and you'll wonder what all the fuss was about once you've got it up and running.
As long as everything's tight and you don't have faulty parts, there shouldn't be anything to worry about :)
 
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