Can you confirm this would work?

95thrifles · 28 May 2009 at 19:07

Thinking of going watercooling, if I do I'll be buying a Silverstone TJ07 case
Looking at initially one loop, might add a 2nd later
Initial loop would be just CPU and one gfx card
When adding 2nd loop Id have 1- CPU/NB/mosfets 2- prob 2 gfx cards in xfire
Anyway so for my initial loop Im looking at these parts

- Swiftech Apogee GTZ CPU block - it doesnt state size of barbs/connectors?
- EK FC4870x2 acetal with 1/2" barbs (going to be getting new gfx card)
- Laing DDC 18W pump/Swiftech MCP355 with aftermarket top EK DDC X RES 100 with 1/2" barbs (comes assembled)
- Thermochill P120.3 with 1/2" barbs
- 6 Noctua P12 fans for the rad
- 3/8" ID tubing
- feser VSC heat carrier fluid

Am I right in thinking I wont need any connectors, the tightness of the tubing over all the barbs will make good seal?
Can you just confirm if I've made any glaring errors?
Thanks in advance for help

JonJ678 · 28 May 2009 at 19:26

Most people run 7/16th inch tubing rather than 6/16th over half inch barbs. It'll do your head in getting the tube over the 1/2" barbs but they wont ever come off

Does the thermochill use g1/4" thread? One of the premium radiators doesn't and I'm never sure which it is. It'll be inconvenient if you change to different fittings later on.

Feser has filled my blocks with crap. I'm not impressed, deionised water for me

95thrifles · 28 May 2009 at 20:09

Cheers, so 7/16" would still make good seal? Or would I be better going for 1/2" tubing and using compressions fittings?
And I dont need anything else I may of missed off?
And the 120.3 would be enough for decent temps on CPU (think im going to get a q9550) and a 4870x2?
What about connecting to the CPU block? As before it doesnt say anything about barbs/connectors, will I need anything for this?
Place where Im looking at getting kit from (somewhere else as everything is out of stock here, sorry) gives me the option of the 120.3 without barbs or with either 1/2" or 3/8" barbs, so was thinking the 1/2" barbs would be best?
And lastly the order, was thinking
rad -> pump/res -> cpu -> gpu -> rad
look ok?

JonJ678 · 28 May 2009 at 20:43

I can help with some of that, but not all I fear. 7/16" with 1/2" barbs is the most commonly used I believe. I'm using 11/8mm compression fittings, the thicker tubes kink easily and the thinner ones restrict flow a lot less than you'd expect based on testing at xtreme systems. One thing is you need 1/2" compression fittings for 1/2" tubing, sizes have to match. There is potential for variable tubing sizes within a system, but that's probably best avoided

You've not missed anything essential. Shrouds are popular, ptfe tape is a good idea. I'd probably get a couple of barbs spare in case something doesn't come with them when you expect it to. I've got a load of 1/2" barbs you could have for postage if you wanted as most of my stuff came with them.

I think a 120.3 would be fine, depends what decent temps is though. I'm a bit unsure as to how many/what size radiator is needed for a system, I posted a thread a while back asking which was ignored. I've decided to overspec them then run the fans slower, if you under spec it then you can just run the fans faster. I'm going with a feser 240 and two feser 120s to cool a q9550 and 8800gt. Hopefully they'll cool more things if needed, the choice was made based on what fitted comfortably internally.

I don't buy much from here as so far they've had few things I want in stock. Two radiators and both blocks are from mm though, second hand for the win (student).
Loop order makes very little difference. Tubing length matters a bit, so whichever order minimises tubing length is generally best. Avoid tight bends, and make sure the reservoir is just before the pump. I've got the xspc version of your ddc top because the ek one was out of stock in respectable places.

95thrifles · 28 May 2009 at 21:40

ok cheers jon
I'll give it a go as is, if temps are problem I'll just have to go dual loop sooner rather than later
I was thinking that the P12's having good static pressure would mean no need for shroud? or is it still best to get them anyway?
What about ptfe tape? whats that for?
Thanks again for your help, appreciate it

kerrgreg · 28 May 2009 at 22:07

It is best to go with a shroud something to do with the way wind works and somehow thats most effective i dont quite understand why but it seems to work better this way ive also heard that the p12 and most of the noctua range arnt great for rads but you'll have to wait for someone to confirm this.

i would imagine that to get near the low 20's you will need more than a tripple when you have a 9550 oc'd and a 4870x2 but again theres nothing to back that up, i had a e8400 at 3.5ghz limited by temps on a single TA i no its not the same but it can effect it a lot and thats only a dual core with a small oc, and from owning a 4870 you will know they get pretty warm. i would be looking for a quad for a single loop or two tripple's

To JonJ678 what ive been told on this forum before is thats using more than one rad in a single loop does not seem to help i dont understand why but when i did it, ( 2 singles) it didnt make much if any differance.

JonJ678 · 28 May 2009 at 22:12

There's never a need for a shroud, but it'll improve performance. Can use old 120mm fans with the hub ripped out for them. Recommendation I've seen is one inch shroud with fan pulling, and 3 or 4 with the fan pushing air through the radiator. I'm unsure how this applies to push-pull, as I use one scythe fan per radiator configured to pull air through it. I don't use a shroud, the feser radiators are set up with 4 or 5mm between fins and fan. Adding a shroud would probably help, but take up too much space for me. You're right that those fans are a good choice.

Dual loop means two radiators, so a stepping stone would be two radiators in one loop I think. I'm still not convinced by dual loops despite an extensive thread somewhere detailing their pro's and cons. Seems to be a lot of extra components for little reason.

The tape is polytetrafluoroethylene / teflon. If you wind a small amount around the barb thread before screwing it into the block/radiator it helps prevent leaks. Wind in the right direction, you want the twisting motion to wrap it further around rather than unwind it as you screw it in. Doesn't take much tape, but I'd be reluctant to assemble a loop without it.

More than happy to help, I wouldn't have a loop without these forums

If more than one radiator in one loop doesn't help I'm going to feel very silly when I put the feser 240 into it. System on rma at present, temperatures weren't doing great previously and being radiator limited seemed plausible. DDC 18W, ek supreme and ek 8800 block. Was on two 120 fesers, if the limit isn't radiators any idea what it was?

kerrgreg · 29 May 2009 at 07:57

I would say that your problem would be the rads but although adding a double will help theres amassive amount of resistance in the loop having 2 blocks and 3 rads, the way i understood it and from what i was told on here adding a 2nd 120 was not help since the amount of resistance it added killing your flow rate meant that you didnt really gain in temperature decrease.