Contemplating watercooling

jayenh

jayenh

jayenh

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Joined
29 Jan 2014
Posts
61
Contemplating moving most of my existing build in to a new case, adding another 290x, and watercooling the lot.

here's my basket:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 290X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Battlefield 4 PC Game £399.95
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Primo Full Tower Case £199.99
1 x MSI Z87-G45 Gaming Series Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £124.99
1 x XSPC RX480 Quad Fan Radiator V3 £105.95
2 x XSPC Razor R9 290X / 290 VGA Waterblock £89.99 (£179.98)
1 x XSPC RX240 Dual Fan Radiator V3 £64.99
1 x XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Black) V4 £59.98
1 x XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel) £51.98
3 x Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition Low Noise High Airflow - Dual Pack (CO-9050002-WW) £19.99 (£59.97)
1 x XSPC HighFlex Hose 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD, 15.9/11.1mm, 2m, Black £5.99
12 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.19 (£38.28)
Total : £1,312.30 (includes shipping : £16.85).



My current build is an i7 2600k @4.5ghz, 8gb ddr3 1066 ram, 120 and 480 gb SSDs, Corsair 850w modular PSU, and an asus PCI-E 2 mobo (replacing because I think I need PCI-E 3 for crossfire without the bridges, which the 290x's don't seem to have). My current 290x is the MSI Gaming version, I assume its a reference card under that cooler so the waterblock will fit, and that there will be no issues crossfiring it with another brand and reference card.

I'm basically after some feedback, and probably a little push to make me spend the cash :p

Feedback on the mobo would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm very much out of the loop now. There was a time when the Asus Pxxx Pro mobo's were pretty much the ones to have when it came to overclocking. No idea if that's still the case. I picked the MSI because it wasn't too expensive. I don't have a problem going with something more expensive if it will do the job better but I'd rather not go over £150.

I realise some of these questions bridge a gap between watercooling and build advice, but I figured I'd post this here because I'm primarily looking for watercooling advice. It's been about 8 years since I watercooled a PC, it was a kit and was my first and only attempt at it. My plan is to put the CPU through the 240 rad and then the GPU's through the 480. The 240 will be mounted at the front pushing out, the 480 at the top pushing out, and air will be pulled in through the bottom of the case to keep the airflow mainly moving up over the motherboard and ram. If I've missed anything basic I'm sorry, but that's why I'm posting this here :)

edit: Another question. Would I be better off running the CPU and GPU's as separate loops?
 
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Not got much time but quickly:
- consider getting a d5 pump, the 750 may struggle with a CPU, 2xGPU and 720mm of rads. A d5 will have this capacity and be quiet.
- a pump not in a bay may be quieter (vibrations) but this is debatable
- for fluid, I can recommend mayhems x1!!! You will likely need 2 litres maybe 3.
- fans, get the SP variant of the corsair fans not the AF. SP are designed for rads and give a higher static pressure
- don't bother with separate loops.
- consider adding an xspc temp gauge in with a t fitting

Lastly, off you can afford, do it. I found it really rewarding both technically and from a noise-performance view point!!!
 
lukext said:
Not got much time but quickly:
- consider getting a d5 pump, the 750 may struggle with a CPU, 2xGPU and 720mm of rads. A d5 will have this capacity and be quiet.
- a pump not in a bay may be quieter (vibrations) but this is debatable
- for fluid, I can recommend mayhems x1!!! You will likely need 2 litres maybe 3.
- fans, get the SP variant of the corsair fans not the AF. SP are designed for rads and give a higher static pressure
- don't bother with separate loops.
- consider adding an xspc temp gauge in with a t fitting

Lastly, off you can afford, do it. I found it really rewarding both technically and from a noise-performance view point!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips, I'll have a look at your suggestions. Affordability isn't really the problem, mainly the fear of buyers remorse :p I did enjoy my venture in water cooling last time. It was fun just building it all.
 
Minor update:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 290X "BF4 Edition" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £409.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Primo Full Tower Case £199.99
1 x Asus Z87 SABERTOOTH Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £188.99
1 x XSPC D5 Photon 270 Reservoir/Pump Combo £139.99
1 x XSPC RX480 Quad Fan Radiator V3 £105.95
2 x XSPC Razor R9 290X / 290 VGA Waterblock £89.99 (£179.98)
1 x XSPC RX240 Dual Fan Radiator V3 £64.99
1 x XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel) £51.98
2 x XSPC Razor R9 290X / 290 Backplate £24.95 (£49.90)
3 x Corsair SP120 Performance Series High Pressure - Dual Pack (CO-9050008-WW) £23.99 (£71.97)
1 x XSPC HighFlex Hose 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD, 15.9/11.1mm, 2m, Black £5.99
2 x Mayhems Ultra Pure H20 Watercooling Fluid 1L £4.99 (£9.98)
12 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.19 (£38.28)
Total : £1,538.22 (includes shipping : £16.85).



Should I be looking at an SLI/Crossfire bridge? If so I assume it would want to be a 3 slot bridge? I was just going to use tubing but if I'm going to do this I guess I should do it right. I looked at a temp gauge but I wasn't sure which T piece to get? They all seemed to be the wrong size? Sorry if these are silly questions but I could really use a second set of eyes (from someone with more knowledge) to check all this and make sure everything I'm looking to order is compatible and nothing is missing.

edit: I'm an idiot, this temp gauge (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-223-XS&groupid=962&catid=2138&subcat=2154) with another pair of fittings will work.
 
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Hi Jayenh

I am pretty sure you do not need a crossfire bridge. The 290X is a bridge-less card, it should tell you in the manual. Or do you mean a link for the loop between GPU's? Looks like the VGA block you have chosen has plenty of port options so you will probably be ok without one.

I'd maybe consider some angled compression fittings as they come in handy but it depends how you are putting it all together.

If its your first water-cooling build you will want one of these for filling you loop without powering the motherboard etc (never test your loop with power going to the motherboard, any leaks and you will regret it)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-021-OK&groupid=962&catid=1534 (out of stock but you will find plenty on ebay, maybe on OCUK I didnt do a proper search)

and hose cutters are pretty handy for getting the cuts nice too, check it will do for your sized tubing cos I didn't :)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-287-XS&groupid=962&catid=1534

I would also recommend Mayhems coolant, comes with a handy fill funnel which is a godsend if you have ever tried filling a loop without one lol.

Maybe get another lot of tubing too so you have room for mistakes when cutting it down, its cheap enough.

It probably goes without saying but watch a few tutorial online if its your first time watercooling to avoid common mistakes.

Good luck anyway mate.

oh and make sure you flush your radiators first too, all new rads need flushing.
 
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Unless you can find a 2nd hand Sabertooth, you're gonna have to go Haswell or just choose a different Z77 mobo :) (Though they're getting harder to find)
 
Save some money buy one of these EK DCP 4.0 Pump (12v) £40 a very good pump and a reservoir, will have no problems cooling your spec.

Using one myself 4820K:4.6GHz SLI 670 with a 560 >620mm x 145mm x 60mm.
 
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Ok, I'm just trying to plan out my loop and I have a question about the pump/reservoir. I picked the XSPC 270 combo because the 170 is out of stock, but I'm not sure the 270 will fit how i want (upright on the bracket near the centre of the enthoo primo, just right of the motherboard), so now I'm wondering about other options (preferably in stock) that might also be cheaper. Are those combos essentially just the vario pumps stuck onto the bottom of a res? Because if they are there are plenty of varios pumps in stock, and the XSPC 170 res is also in stock, and if its simply a case of attaching them it seems a waste of money to buy a combo.
 
Like this?

jxp2ONw.jpg

Oops, thats a big picture lol

rightclick + view image

The tube is an EK one which measures 6cm diameter. The xspc ones measure 7.5, so you are cutting it close depending on your GPU's.
 
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Haha, yeah thats big.

Yes, that is where I want to mount the res, but I want to simplify it by using a res/pump combo. I like the clean look of the XSPC res, but i think the big 270 might be too long.

Looking again I think I answered my own question. It looks like the combo's have something between the pump and res for the in/out.

I was basically wondering, does this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-254-XS&groupid=962&catid=2133

plus this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-141-XS&groupid=962&catid=2141&subcat=2142

equal this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-272-XS&groupid=962&catid=2141

but it would seem not. The Vario does say to combine with a top piece or res though...
 
And ordered... ****! :eek:

Thanks to those that helped.

After a bit of research it seems the 270 res/pump combo does fit so I stuck with that.

Saturday delivery... game on next weekend! :D
 
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