Case for my first watercooling loop

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12 May 2010
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Walsall
Hi everyone, I put a thread up in general hardware but perhaps it might be better to post in here instead.

basically I'm still running my old x-58 rig and am thinking of performing a mini upgrade to keep me going for a little while longer. Back in the summer I upgraded my i7-930 for a Xeon 5650 and bought a Rajintek Triton also. This coupled with my R9-290x means my rig is running rather warm which is causing me some overclocking problems. Currently temps on ibt hit the mid 80's which is too high IMO.

I'm thinking of replacing my old CM400 case with a new one and also adding a proper watercooling kit to help out. This will be my first attempt at watercooling proper, so I don't trust myself to buy the right bits, which means I've been looking at kits from ocuk that I can assemble myself. Case wise I've looked at the NZXT H400, Fractal R5 and Corsair Carbide 400c. I want something quiet and sleek but with good cooling characteristics. Not looking to cool the gpu but an upgrade in the future would be a possibility.

I've had a crack at assembling the bits I'd need which are as follows. My budget is about the £300 mark all in.

Lian Li HydrOC CB-01 High End CPU Waterblock: £39.95

Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator SR1 280: £39.00

EK Water Blocks EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (incl. pump): £99.95

Mayhems Ultra Clear Watercooling Tubing (38 - 58) 10/16mm x2 metres:£3.38

Monsoon Free Center Hardline 3/8 X 1/2 (13mm) 6 Pack - Chrome: £24.95

Mayhems X1 UV Green Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L: £7.99

Fractal Design Define R5 Midi Tower Case - Titanium Window: £83.99

Total cost £311 inc delivery.

Is there any advice you guys can offer me in terms of the case and watercooling bits? Will I see a significant step up from my Triton cooler? Also would it be worth repurposing the rad from the Triton and creating a twin rad setup as well?

Any advice is really appreciated!
Cheers guys! :)
 
Thanks for the suggestion on the case guys, also thanks for picking up on the fittings too! :)

I must admit looking at it it looks as if it may be quite a loud case, looks to be lots of ventilation which is both a good and a bad thing I guess! How have you found it? Is it quieter than you expected?
 
Quiet enough, the loudest thing at the moment on my setup is the pump.
Got the fans running at 800 RPM, pump full speed to get the last of any air out.
 
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