Advice for complete novice

sdavlaws

sdavlaws

sdavlaws

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Joined
8 Mar 2008
Posts
190
After a large amount of overtime over christmas i have decided to watercool my pc to try and make it quieter and hopefully get a little more speed.

I have a coolermaster HAF X, looking to have both my 2500k and msi R9 290 gaming in the loop.

Been looking at this kit

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-266-XS&groupid=962&catid=1532

With this GPU block which will supposedly fit the msi card.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-546-EK&groupid=962&catid=1520&subcat=2765

My questions are would the single 360mm rad be ok for this?

Other than the barbs for the GPU block and coolant would i need to buy anything else?

If you can think of a better combination of components i have a budget around £225-250

Thanks
 
The 360mm rad would be fine if you're not planning to push your gear to the absolute max while also having lower fan speeds for less noise. I'm not too sure how noisy that res/pump combo is however but my guess would be not ridiculous.

As a rule of thumb you always want 120mm rad space for each component you want to cool and then have another 120mm rad space extra so you should be fine.

You just need the barbs for the gpu block as well as making sure you have enough tubing. I would recommend upgrading to primochill tubing because it has no plasticiser in it and will give you much more lifespan in your loop. Plasticiser is one of the additives in cheaper tubing that can "mix" into your coolant and potentially gunk up some of your gear. It also leaves your tubing to go yellow/cloudy over time.

Grab 2m of this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-107-PM&groupid=962&catid=1530&subcat=1775 and you will be set. What's an extra £10 to save you hassle in the long term.
 
Would you be willing to stretch your budget a bit and get some higher quality parts?

YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290(X) - Rev.2.0 £86.99
1 x XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Black) V4 £59.98
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GTX-Lite 360 £49.99
1 x EK-Supreme LTX - Acetal+Nickel CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £32.99
8 x EK Water Blocks EK-CSQ Fitting 16/11mm G1/4 - Black Nickel £5.99 (£47.92)
2 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - UV Blue £5.99 (£11.98)
Total : £289.82 (includes shipping : ).



Worth checking that rad will fit too as its 54mm thick, but would perform better than the XSPC (which I also have)
 
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Thanks guys,

I will definitely get better tubing if you get a better life span out of it.

I think the rad should fit, will double check though.

I would be able to find an extra £50 or so if it would get me a worth wile increase in quality/lifespan of components, silence and/or performance
 
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Looking back at it I've spend over £600 on watercooling in the last 5 years. Most of it about 5 years ago the 360 rad, pump, cpu block and that was all fine for my CPU. But now I've added 2 GTX 680 blocks I just felt that XSPC think rad wasn't going to be enough and added a 280rad now both gfx card hit about 48C flat out and cpu about 55C.

I guess the point im trying to make is if you get good kit in the first place it lasts. I got an Alphacool VPP655 pump and its run fine over all that time and still keeps going. But watercooling is expensive so you have to be prepared for that. My first loop was using barbs and I had a couple of leaks that I resolved with cable ties. I think I got XSPC 45degree fittings and they were crap and leaked if you moved them and it was all a bit of a pain.

After that I bought all EK blocks, Compression fittings and primochill pipe. Everything went together much easier and was all dry first time so it pays off.
 
Thanks :)

I knew this wasn't going to be a cheap decision.

If saving a extra month or so and spending more would result in a better long term option so be it. The last thing i wont to be doing is if i take a real liking to water cooling replacing everything in 18 months and hence costing more in the long run.

I have done research but this can only tell me so much without ever building/living with a W/C set up. If the consensus is i need deeper pockets fine i just don't wont to spend a small fortune for something that is massively over engineered/specd.
 
I would advise against the XSPC 750 Bayres/pump combo if you're looking for silence - they're known to be quite noisy with vibrations. Personally I'm not a fan of bay reservoirs either, but that's a personal thing.

The top two popular pumps are either D5 or DDC. These can are branded under different name, for example the 'Alphacool VPP655' Cat J mentioned above is a D5 variant. DDC is also strong and should last you, but they tend to produce more heat so you might need to look into a heatsink for it to protect your investment. Personally, I have an XSPC D5 Vario because space wasn't an issue in my case (DDC is more compact).

Another good budget option is the EK-DCP 4.0, although you're more likely to want to replace this in the future if you want to expand your loop.

The main downside of course, is that these pumps are more expensive. Also, you'd need to buy a reservoir separately, and in some cases a pump top too. You can save a bit by getting a combined reservoir + top (eg. the EK X-RES combos, XSPC Photon, or something like that).
 
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I have the EK 4.0 pump and its a little on the noisy side for my liking unless its berried under some dampening foam. It is however good headroom.

You have hit the nail on the head there with buying better stuff in the beginning but it all depends on the case. I remember the first case I watercooled was a HAF XB. It had a 280mm up front and a 120mm in the back. Both of those rads have been a pain in the ass to fit into other cases. 240mm or 360mm radiators will always be the best bet.
 
Thanks for all the advice,

I think it looks like a kit is out of the window then.

If you wouldn't mind specing up a recommendation of what you guys with experience would go with so i can see what this is realistically going to cost it would be appreciated.
 
Taking some of the feedback on board would this be a better option in the long run?

Also how much coolant would i be looking at needing? And do i need to add a biocide to the coolants like the mayhems premixes?


Your basket

XSPC DDC Single Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo £89.99

EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290(X) - Rev.2.0 £86.99

Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GTX-Lite 360 £49.99

EK-Supreme LTX CSQ Intel CPU Waterblock £29.99

Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 19/13 - UV Blue £5.99 (3No £17.97)

XSPC G1/4" to 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD Compression Fitting (Chrome)
£3.49 (8No £27.92)

Sub Total : £252.38
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
UPS Access Point
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £52.08
 
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