Confirming my WC build, Are these good choices?

Fezmid

Fezmid

Fezmid

Associate
Joined
6 Dec 2009
Posts
15
Hey guys -

So I'm going to be building a new PC for the new year -- and decided to try water cooling for the first time ever. I've been reading everything I can find for the past two months and I think I'm finally ready to start placing my orders. I wanted to run this by some of the "experts" first though, to make sure I don't run into any problems. So, here I am... :)

Case: HAF 932
CPU: Intel i7 920
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5
Memory: 12G ( Corsair HX3X12G1600C9 )

Radiator: XSPC RX360 (I could be convinced to go with Thermochill PA120.3 instead...)
Pump: MCP355
Reservoir: XSPC Acrylic Reservoir for Laing DDC; I'm still not sure I understand how this reservoir top goes on top of the MCP355, but I'm assuming I'll be able to figure it out when I have the parts in hand, right?
CPU Water Block: HeatKiller 3.0 CU

The video card is undecided at this point -- and I probably won't WC it, at least not at first.

So those are the main pieces. The parts I'm still confused on are the barbs/compression fittings and the tubing. I get the impression that any decent tubing works, but I don't know what barbs/compression fittings to use or how to pick the tube diameters. From what I gather compression is easier to use and looks nicer, but barbs are pretty much just as good? Do I need special tools for the barbs? Some posts talk about using a "spanner" - which I don't have.

The other thing I'm worried about is the differences in metal types -- I've read about the corrosion caused by different metals, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what types of metal each piece is using. That's why I'm hoping someone can say whether the components I have listed for my loop are a good fit together.

One more question! I think I need to buy three 120mm fans for the rad, right? I'm not sure where those go -- the bottom of the rad or the top? It's also something I can probably figure out once I get the pieces, but I'd like to know as much as possible now! :)

Thanks everyone!
 
WHat is your graphics card? I would highly recommend water cooling it as doing so will greatly drop the heat and noise of the computer. As for fans fitting them either as *push* (blowing into the rad) or *pull* (sucking the air through and blowing out the other side) makes a rather small difference. A very important thing to do is to minimise the use of tubing to as little as is necessary. This will greatly improve the efficiency of your loop. There is a very handy tool for doing so HERE
 
@neo Watercooling the graphics card will absolutely not reduce the "heat of the system". It'll make everything else in the loop run hotter and the system will throw out exactly as much heat as before. It will generally reduce noise however.

Push vs pull doesn't matter much. One thing well worth considering is using 38mm fans undervolted instead of 25mm ones, as static pressure matters for radiators and 25mm fans can't compare for this. You want some sort of shroud as well if you can fit it, whether it's folded aluminium, old dead fans with the hubs torn out, cardboard based etc. The idea is to space the fans away from the radiator slightly, this improves efficiency somewhat. Tubing length doesn't matter much, the pressure drop across the rest of the system makes the drop across the tubing negligible unless you've got mad lengths of tube, especially when using a ddc.

@OP Good, though expensive, component choices. The heatkiller cu performs fractionally better than the cheaper heatkiller but does look quite nice. I'd probably go with thermochill or feser myself, but I don't have any data to back this statement up. Which ddc? There's a 10W and an 18W one, not sure which the 355 is. The reservoir + pump is pretty obvious, the pump comes apart via four screws, you then put the reservoir on instead of the piece it came with.

Barb v compression you've pretty much got down. Basically either work in very similar fashion. I think barbs are easier as you don't get tube twist issues, but there's people on both sides of the fence on this one. A spanner is, um, what a spanner always is. I can't tell you the size as my compressions seem to use a range, but as a few fittings e.g. bitspower are knurled instead it probably doesn't matter if you don't have one. I use pliers to tighten them.

Galvanic corrosion is a very scary thing which is generally poorly understood. I for one don't really understand it. The consensus is aluminium + other => bad, though it's quite possible to use it without particular harm done as long as it isn't directly bolted to a piece of copper. You'll have no issues with any of the pieces listed.

Fans, 25 vs 38mm, shrouds etc. This site in general is excellent.
12gb of ram is difficult. I recommend getting 6x2gb of 1333mhz ram instead if you can get it at a lower price, the odds of you being imc limited are considerable so faster ram than this is unlikely achieve anything.
 
Last edited:
As far as galvanic corrosion is concerned the problem arises due to a difference in a value called electronegativity. This drives a process whereby one metal is reduced and subsequently electroplated onto the other metal. The key is to keep to the same metal as far as possible in the loop, and if not possible then as close values of electronegativity as possible (e.g. copper and nickel is acceptable).
 
The res just screws through the pump to the top.
Personally I would go with a MCP655 and either a Swiftech microres or EK multi option just to give more options!
 
Phunky Phish said:
The res just screws through the pump to the top.
Personally I would go with a MCP655 and either a Swiftech microres or EK multi option just to give more options!
Click to expand...

So you're recommending these?

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=wc-004-sw

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=wc-050-sw

what are the advantages? does that res connect directly to the pump like the xspc res and pump?

edit: this thread seems to cover a lot of the pros/cons:
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/460250-mcp355-vs-mcp655.html

I like the fact that the MCP655 is "industrial" strength and less likely to break, but the smaller pump doesn't seem likely to break in general either, so it might be a tossup there... I'm guessing the HAF 932 has plenty of room for the bigger pump too...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom