1st time water cooling what to do?

snakegb · 23 Apr 2008 at 22:11

Hi there,

1st things 1st , Here is my pc spec to be that is :-

Intel Q6600 2.4 (want to clock to 3.6)
Asus P5K3 Deluxe
4GB Crucial Ballistix 1066
ATI 3870 HD 512mb
620w Corsair PSU

now here comes my problem

I was going to buy the Thermaltake Kandalf LCS VD4000BWS as ive allways wanted to water cool but never done it as yet. but a shop (no names mentioned) said for get it the case is rubbish and a air cooled cpu cooler would be cheeper and better at cooling!!!

so has anyone got this case?

Or should i buy single bits
i have priced up the following but its very expensive about £253

DangerDen ClearFlex60 1/2" Tubing - 3m
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12 VDC Pump
XSPC Full Cover 3870 VGA Block
Alphacool NexXxos Xtreme II Rev2 Double Radiator
Feser One UV Reactive Coolant 2 Litre
EK Supreme Acetal CPU Water Block
EK 1/2" Hose fitting X8
XSPC Laing DDC Pump Top Reservoir

please some one help what would you do?

Thanks

Monkey Puzzle · 23 Apr 2008 at 22:19

I haven't got that case, though thermaltake has a reputation for making awful water-cooling kits that perform worse than top-end air cooling...

Your poposed system looks pretty good, though the thermochill pa series of radiators give the best preformance for low airflow/quiet fans such as the excellent and very good value yate loon fans. They do cost more and are quite bulky though..

7/16th inch hose is favoured by a lot of people as it's easier to route and can be used on 1/2" barbs without clamps by heating with hot water before fitting it on the barbs so it shrinks and forms a good seal.

What case are you planning to put that in?

ethan · 23 Apr 2008 at 22:28

There was also a good review in Custom Pc about the best sub £100 model.

mrthingyx · 24 Apr 2008 at 09:31

Swiftech radiators are probably the best ones for the money at this point in time. Thermochill are the best - full stop - but also the most expensive by a long way.

Stick with cheap blocks from the likes of Alphacool as there is not much difference in performance compared to the ultra high-end stuff. Also, you could probably save on the pump by buying something less butch as IHS-covered CPUs don't benefit from high flow rates as naked ones (i.e. if your processor has a cap on it, it makes no difference: if you can see the little die, then it does).

Also, buy a smaller graphics card block - one that just covers the die - as this will be portable to your next graphics card (maybe with an adaptor) and get some BGA-type RAM sinks. Better performance, cheaper - both in terms of initial investment and long term upgrading - but they don't look quite as flash.

I feel a bit indignant about this next bit: WHY DO PEOPLE INSIST ON USING FESER? Just get some distilled water from your local petrol station and some anti-freeze. Same corrosion performance, same non-conductivity (as far as it matters) and much cheaper.

If you're so worried about your new watercooling system leaking, put it together properly, leak test it successfully, install it and then leak test again successfully. Then enjoy months of maintenance-free watercooling. If you do the job properly and carefully, you should never have a problem. That goes from the start (i.e. selecting appropriate components).

HeX · 24 Apr 2008 at 09:56

If you want a cheaper well performing CPU block look at the XSPC X20 Delta V2, tis a good £10 cheaper than the EK block and it performs very well

I put my basic CPU water loop together for about £100 dead on and it keeps my OC'd Quad at 59C load.

XSPC X20 Delta V2
XSPC RS240 Rad
XSPC X20 400 Pump
XSPC 1/2" Clear Hose
2 x Nexus 120mm Fans
2 x 120mm Fan Grills
6 x Jubilee Clips
1 x Bottle Feeser One
1 x Bag of M4 x 30mm screws

Works a treat

If you are going to be cooling GPU's as well you'll prolly want a 120.3 rad and a better pump than i'm using though.

Also I don't think that res pump top you have picked fits the D5 Vario, you'll just want a normal bay res or micro res.

snakegb · 24 Apr 2008 at 10:09

my current case is the Gigabyte Aurora

Junk · 24 Apr 2008 at 10:34

7/16 tubing for the win. i use Masterkleer.

the Liang DDC Ultra 18w pump is considered the best, but it needs a top for best performance. I use the Alphacool plexitop.

If you can get one, *** D-Tek fuzion is a great CPU block, but the XSPC X20 Delta V2 is getting some great reviews and is cheap as chips.

snakegb · 25 Apr 2008 at 12:18

for a 1st timer would I be better getting this :-

Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultra Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940)

or maybe this

Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940)
that includes :-

- Apogee CPU Block
- MCW60 VGA Block <-------- will this fit the Powercolor 3870?
- MCW30 Chipset Block
- MCR220 Radiator
- MCP655 12V DC Pump
- MCRES-MICRO reservoir
- MCB120 Radbox radiator mounting adapter

also been told get 7/16" tubing and heat it on,, how do you heat the tube on i.e. flame , hot watter ??

DampCat · 25 Apr 2008 at 13:23

snakegb said:
- MCW60 VGA Block <-------- will this fit the Powercolor 3870?

also been told get 7/16" tubing and heat it on,, how do you heat the tube on i.e. flame , hot watter ??

My understanding is yes it will, but it will only cool the GPU, and not the ram chips. If you get a dedicated GPU block, it will cover the whole card rather than the 1 GPU chip.

And yes, use a cup of boiling water to heat it on

(or stand next to the stove i suppose)

snakegb · 25 Apr 2008 at 21:07

mrthingyx said:
I feel a bit indignant about this next bit: WHY DO PEOPLE INSIST ON USING FESER? Just get some distilled water from your local petrol station and some anti-freeze. Same corrosion performance, same non-conductivity (as far as it matters) and much cheaper.

what is the mixture for this i.e. 3 part anti-freeze to 1 part water?

so far based on what people are saying to me i have two choices kit or bits

so am thinking if i buy the
Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940)
i will still have to buy a 3 fan rad total price £250

or bits buy the following

XSPC X2O Delta (Socket A,754,939,AM2, 478 and LGA 775) CPU Water Block
XSPC Dual 750 Bay Reservoir & Pump - Clear
Alphacool NexXxoS Xtreme lll Rev2 Triple Radiator
EK 1/2" Hose fitting
Masterkleer 7/16" Tubing - 3m (possibly to much not sure)
Yate Loon D12SH-12 120mm Case Fan - 3 Pin

total price £208

sorry if am driving you mad

also does it matter what order you connect them as i was thinking

Res/pump + Gpu + Rad + Cpu Res/Pump

MikeTimbers · 25 Apr 2008 at 21:23

3:1 anti-freeze:water

Are you mad? It's the water that does the cooling and the anti-freeze reduces its efficiency. I use water from my reverse osmosis and a capful or two (at most) of Halfords Coolant Conditioner. never had algae. have had galvanic corrosion but the simple solution to that is don't believe manufacturers' claims about their anodising processes. If it's made of aluminium, don't use it!

DampCat · 26 Apr 2008 at 10:29

Snake, go with the kit. it's apparently cheaper and you could get some of those parts in good condition second hand. Plus greater satisfaction building it

Also, the order doesnt matter, as long as the pump goes with the res

Greebo · 26 Apr 2008 at 10:51

snakegb said:
so am thinking if i buy the
Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940)
i will still have to buy a 3 fan rad total price £250

Why do still need the 3 fan rad? The kit comes with a perfectly capable 2 fan rad so why mess?

Either get the Ultra + or just get the Ultra if you want to buy a dedicated gfx cooler and northbridge cooler seperately.

Ignore the bad press in these forums and others about the seals leaking on the pump in these kits. That's the non ultra kits where the pump is mounted on the cpu block. In the ultra kits the pump is seperate.

silversurfer · 26 Apr 2008 at 11:06

Whats the cheapest cost for water cooling just the gfx (for better overclocking).
A ten quid cpu cooler lets me do a 60% overclock so I dont see water offering more there but a gpu runs pretty hot and is not so easy to custom air cool.
I dont think cooling the ram sinks is so essential especially on a 3870 which might be ddr4, low voltage, heat and slack timings arent they?

snakegb · 26 Apr 2008 at 17:15

silversurfer said:
Whats the cheapest cost for water cooling just the gfx (for better overclocking).
A ten quid cpu cooler lets me do a 60% overclock so I dont see water offering more there but a gpu runs pretty hot and is not so easy to custom air cool.
I dont think cooling the ram sinks is so essential especially on a 3870 which might be ddr4, low voltage, heat and slack timings arent they?

Thanks all

your dead on powercolor 3870 is ddr4 low voltage