A full set up.

savagesam117 · 8 Feb 2015 at 21:30

I know this is quite a lot to ask, and i will be doing some more research into this but at the moment i've tried to spend the last week or so reading into water cooling and it's like a totally different world. I thought PC hardware was difficult at the start but this is a totally different ball game.

I cannot get my head around what i need, the best stuff to go for. To be honest, I'm baffled!

My PC spec is in my sig, would you be so kind as to spec a WC loop to match?

I will need a new case. Would also like to add the GPU into the loop but maybe this can be done at a later date? I'd also like a fan controller thingy? if it's needed at all? I don't know.

Your help is very much appreciated.

Oh and preferably not cost an arm and a leg? but i will spend if needed as i want a quality set up that i can build and leave without any hassle

Edit*

I understand there is another one of these threads, so i do apologize but this is a hard thing to get into!

jacob1995knight · 9 Feb 2015 at 09:44

You will need your basic setup:

CPU block - make sure its a good brand, EK are well known.

GPU block - Same as CPU block, good brand.

Pump - want to make sure the flow rate is sufficient, so maybe a DDC pump or a D5.

Reservoir - bay reservoir, pump mounted, or internal to the case, your choice.

Radiators - looking at your current setup - a 360mm rad as well as a 240mm rad should do it.

Tubing - thicker the tube, faster the flow rate.

Fittings - just make sure its a good brand that is the same as the tubing you chose

Fluid - what ever you want, however, some colored fluid stains so watch out there, i would recommend starting with a clear liquid.

Fans - good performance fans for the radiator - corsair, cooler master, brands like these.

Case - would recommend corsair 750D, plenty of room for upgrades, looks good and good airflow.

savagesam117 · 9 Feb 2015 at 13:21

jacob1995knight said:
You will need your basic setup:

CPU block - make sure its a good brand, EK are well known.

GPU block - Same as CPU block, good brand.

Pump - want to make sure the flow rate is sufficient, so maybe a DDC pump or a D5.

Reservoir - bay reservoir, pump mounted, or internal to the case, your choice.

Radiators - looking at your current setup - a 360mm rad as well as a 240mm rad should do it.

Tubing - thicker the tube, faster the flow rate.

Fittings - just make sure its a good brand that is the same as the tubing you chose

Fluid - what ever you want, however, some colored fluid stains so watch out there, i would recommend starting with a clear liquid.

Fans - good performance fans for the radiator - corsair, cooler master, brands like these.

Case - would recommend corsair 750D, plenty of room for upgrades, looks good and good airflow.

Okay, that's exactly what i need. Gives me an idea and can make a list of different parts now. Thank you very much.

ubersonic · 9 Feb 2015 at 13:59

jacob1995knight said:
Tubing - thicker the tube, faster the flow rate.

Not exactly, small tubing (say 8mm) will castrate the flow rate via restriction so from that POV bigger = better, however it's hard to actually get restrictive tubing these days as most manufacturers/retailers phased it out for PC's, the difference between 3/8" and 1/2" is virtually nothing.

Remember the exit from the pump is via a 1/4" fitting, so once the loop is primed/bled the only real difference 3/8"-1/2" tubing will make is the velocity/pressure of the fluid travelling through the tubing, not the flow rate.

savagesam117 · 9 Feb 2015 at 15:34

ubersonic said:
Not exactly, small tubing (say 8mm) will castrate the flow rate via restriction so from that POV bigger = better, however it's hard to actually get restrictive tubing these days as most manufacturers/retailers phased it out for PC's, the difference between 3/8" and 1/2" is virtually nothing.

Remember the exit from the pump is via a 1/4" fitting, so once the loop is primed/bled the only real difference 3/8"-1/2" tubing will make is the velocity/pressure of the fluid travelling through the tubing, not the flow rate.

Ah right, okay. Yeah i was thinking that, you can have bigger tubing a pump of lower flow rate so the velocity and pressure will be lower?

I'm going through the list supplied and looking at pumps and reservoirs, do you recommend getting them separate? as XSPC do both in one unit?

Is there any advantages or disadvantages? I don't really want to be able to see a lot of it, i'd like the reservoir on show then all you'll be able to see is is the tubing running from cpu, gpu etc.

MrMD · 9 Feb 2015 at 16:29

A pump/res combo generally have a smaller footprint space wise aswell as requiring less tubing for an entire loop.Generally its just easier to get all setup. Reduces costs too as you require less fittings ect

Sarah469 · 9 Feb 2015 at 16:38

make sure you decide exactly what case you want before u start looking at any other components, it will affect what you will buy

savagesam117 · 9 Feb 2015 at 19:20

MrMD said:
A pump/res combo generally have a smaller footprint space wise aswell as requiring less tubing for an entire loop.Generally its just easier to get all setup. Reduces costs too as you require less fittings ect

Ah right okay, that makes sense. I think they look a bit better, less parts on show and stuff.

Sarah469 said:
make sure you decide exactly what case you want before u start looking at any other components, it will affect what you will buy

I'm going to go for the Corsair 750D, very smart, looks a bit like the case i've got at the moment. AND i've seen a lot of builds in these cases and they do look very nice, I'll have loads of space as i dont have a dvd drive. Only an SSD and a regular HDD.

I'd love to get a Phanteks Enthoo Primo but i can't justify spending that on a case!

Legend · 9 Feb 2015 at 19:52

To hijack this slightly, as I had some similar questions, which may be useful for the OP anyway;

1) Is there any difference between flexible and rigid tubing?
2) Is it typical to have x2 rads? My only experience with water is an AIO, and they obviously just use the one rad. Does using two give you that much better performance, or is it more because you might be incorporating a GPU in there, therefore necessary?
3) Coming from an AIO, the pumps these days seem very quiet... is it the same for WC pumps, or can they be nosier?

savagesam117 · 9 Feb 2015 at 19:58

Legend said:
To hijack this slightly, as I had some similar questions, which may be useful for the OP anyway;

1) Is there any difference between flexible and rigid tubing?
2) Is it typical to have x2 rads? My only experience with water is an AIO, and they obviously just use the one rad. Does using two give you that much better performance, or is it more because you might be incorporating a GPU in there, therefore necessary?
3) Coming from an AIO, the pumps these days seem very quiet... is it the same for WC pumps, or can they be nosier?

From what i've read..

1) I can't answer that yet. Don't have a clue.

2) It depends on your set up depending on how many rads you need to keep the system cool and what overclocks you're running that kind of thing. Adding a second would be a second point of cooling into the system meaning that it will maintain that temp all the way round keeping the temps down.

3) I've heard and spoken to people that say WC is very quiet depending on your fans and what you're running the system at. So would be pretty quiet, all depending on how and where it is mounted.

But hey, what do i know, I'm only just starting in the world of water cooling

MrMD · 9 Feb 2015 at 21:13

For rads, it depends what components you want to cool.

The standard rule of thumb is 120mm of rad space per component + an extra 120mm rad space

So Cpu only loop = 1 240mm rad
Cpu+ 1 Gpu = 1x360mm rad or 2x240mm rads or 1x240mm and a 120mm rad
Cpu+ 2 Gpu's= 2x 240mm rads or 1x480mm rad

ect ect

Their are various WC pumps,some even have variable pump speed settings aswell.But for the most part they are quieter than AIO's.Fans are gonna be the loudest thing in your system,most people fo for high static pressures fans optimized for low RPM.

Im not sure if rigid acrylic tubing offers any real benefit over flexible tubing,other than it doesn't stain over time.It is a lot harder to work with tho,as you have to cut your own tubes and they have to measure exactly.Most people use them for the aesthetics

savagesam117 · 10 Feb 2015 at 01:04

Would you recommend buying one of the water cooling kits or build one myself? I'm guessing it would be cheaper to do it myself.

MrMD · 10 Feb 2015 at 01:14

savagesam117 said:
Would you recommend buying one of the water cooling kits or build one myself? I'm guessing it would be cheaper to do it myself.

Well the watercooling kits you build yourself.

Its just a bundle of all the components/fittings/tubing ect you need to build a CPU loop.

The bundles start at £100,realistically if you want to pick your own parts and build a quality CPU loop thats quiet and can be expanded with GPUs and more rads as/when needed your lookin at around £150-£200 depending on what pump/fittings you would want.

Its more expensive than the cheapest bundles but you would be getting higher quality kit(In particular the pump,most important part of a loop)

Edit: Im building a loop in the next few weeks, here is roughly what my loop will be

YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-D5 Vario X-RES 100 (incl. pump) £105.95
1 x XSPC EX240 Crossflow Radiator £44.99
1 x EK-Supreme LTX - Acetal CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £29.99
1 x Mayhems X1 UV Green Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99
1 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 13/10 - Clear £5.99
6 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.49 (£20.94)
Total : £225.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).

I already have some Noctua F12's so i wont need to get fans,so thats saved me £20/30.This is just for my CPU,but i will have no issues adding GPU's later on if i choose all i would need to do is add another radiator.Just an idea for you what it costs to to do it using midrange parts

savagesam117 · 10 Feb 2015 at 01:47

MrMD said:
Well the watercooling kits you build yourself.

Its just a bundle of all the components/fittings/tubing ect you need to build a CPU loop.

The bundles start at £100,realistically if you want to pick your own parts and build a quality CPU loop thats quiet and can be expanded with GPUs and more rads as/when needed your lookin at around £150-£200 depending on what pump/fittings you would want.

Its more expensive than the cheapest bundles but you would be getting higher quality kit(In particular the pump,most important part of a loop)

Edit: Im building a loop in the next few weeks, here is roughly what my loop will be

YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-D5 Vario X-RES 100 (incl. pump) £105.95
1 x XSPC EX240 Crossflow Radiator £44.99
1 x EK-Supreme LTX - Acetal CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £29.99
1 x Mayhems X1 UV Green Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99
1 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 13/10 - Clear £5.99
6 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.49 (£20.94)
Total : £225.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).

I already have some Noctua F12's so i wont need to get fans,so thats saved me £20/30.This is just for my CPU,but i will have no issues adding GPU's later on if i choose all i would need to do is add another radiator.Just an idea for you what it costs to to do it using midrange parts

Yeah when I meant built myself I mean as in piece it all together like what you've just posted

I'll post the bits i've got at the moment and if you wouldn't mind advising on what you'd recommend with that.

I think I may just go CPU at first then add in another rad and GPU block down the line. I don't know, it depends on how much it will come too.

I want to go pretty basic to start off with and then get into more complex stuff like rigid tubing and all that sort of stuff. This will be my first attempt at this.

I'd have to add a case onto that price but that seems pretty reasonable to me.

Legend · 10 Feb 2015 at 02:19

This question may be akin to walking in to a Church and asking if God really exists lol, but is watercooling ACTUALLY worth it from a performance point of view? If you are just doing a CPU loop for example, what does this give you over a top end AIO? Especially as the likes of the Swiftech and the new Fractal Kelvin offer expand-ability options anyway, should you decide to do more. I love the look and idea of WC'ing, but is that basically the point... it's not for uber performance and icy temps so much as for the fun and customisation etc. that it brings? I actually don't know myself, or have a strong opinion either way, as I'm just starting to get in to it all and figure things out.

savagesam117 · 10 Feb 2015 at 02:45

Legend said:
This question may be akin to walking in to a Church and asking if God really exists lol, but is watercooling ACTUALLY worth it from a performance point of view? If you are just doing a CPU loop for example, what does this give you over a top end AIO? Especially as the likes of the Swiftech and the new Fractal Kelvin offer expand-ability options anyway, should you decide to do more. I love the look and idea of WC'ing, but is that basically the point... it's not for uber performance and icy temps so much as for the fun and customisation etc. that it brings? I actually don't know myself, or have a strong opinion either way, as I'm just starting to get in to it all and figure things out.

I don't need temps, I've got pretty good temps at my oc and I'm happy with that, I'm purely doing it for aesthetics and later I want to add a second gpu, so WC will be cooler as far as that.

I don't want an aio, too generic, I want it to be mine and something that not many people have.

Legend · 10 Feb 2015 at 11:18

savagesam117 said:
I don't need temps, I've got pretty good temps at my oc and I'm happy with that, I'm purely doing it for aesthetics and later I want to add a second gpu, so WC will be cooler as far as that.

I don't want an aio, too generic, I want it to be mine and something that not many people have.

I totally understand that, and it's exactly why I'm looking to go down this road also... but was just curious if there are other benefits.

savagesam117 · 10 Feb 2015 at 14:53

This is what I've got so far

This is ridiculous!!

Without fittings, fans or fluid

I'm guessing this is a bit overkill on parts? I guess once i get basics then i can upgrade individual parts bit of a pain to change though, having to drain and then rebleed the whole system.

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC D5 Photon 270 Reservoir/Pump Combo £139.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £134.99
1 x Watercool Heatkiller GPU-X³ R9 290X - Black Edition £89.99
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Xtreme 360 £73.99
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GT Xtreme 240 £56.99
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy EVO RED Edition £54.98
Total : £565.93 (includes shipping : £12.50).

I'm thinking just CPU atm.

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC D5 Photon 270 Reservoir/Pump Combo £139.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black (CC-9011035-WW) £134.99
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-CoolStream PE 240 (Dual) £39.95
1 x EK-Supreme LTX - Acetal+Nickel CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £32.99
3 x Corsair SP120 Performance Series High Pressure - Dual Pack (CO-9050008-WW) £22.00 (£66.00)
1 x Mayhems X1 UV Red Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99
1 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 13/10 - Clear £5.99
Total : £442.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Again without fittings.

MrMD · 10 Feb 2015 at 15:33

For your first part list,you wouldnt need two rads,could get away with only the 360

For the 2nd you dont need 6 fans lol,only need a single pack of two.Push/pull on rads has only a negligible difference in water temperatures.

Half your issue is needing a new case as thats a fair chunk of change at £135 :/

D5 is the best choice of pump tho,the photon combos are nice,but at £140 they are expensive.I was lookin at these,as they are would suit the look and layout im goin for in my Air 540.But by getting parts separate im able to get a D5 with a pumptop, and a different tube res of my choice for around £100,saving £40.

In theory this wont only save me money,but will actually look and fit better in my case,and obv will be more custom.

savagesam117 · 10 Feb 2015 at 15:42

MrMD said:
For your first part list,you wouldnt need two rads,could get away with only the 360

For the 2nd you dont need 6 fans lol,only need a single pack of two.Push/pull on rads has only a negligible difference in water temperatures.

Half your issue is needing a new case as thats a fair chunk of change at £135 :/

D5 is the best choice of pump tho,the photon combos are nice,but at £140 they are expensive.I was lookin at these,as they are would suit the look and layout im goin for in my Air 540.But by getting parts separate im able to get a D5 with a pumptop, and a different tube res of my choice for around £100,saving £40.

In theory this wont only save me money,but will actually look and fit better in my case,and obv will be more custom.

List one, Really? i thought that it was one rad per component? or because its a 360mm fan then it will be big enough for both?

List 2, this would be fans for the whole case, not just the rads

Yeah I understand that, i entered the competition of winning a new case on here so who knows

Yeah I think i may do that, just have the res on show would look nicer and separate pumps look nicer too. Any you recommend?