do i get....or is it....oh im confused :(

SGWills

SGWills

SGWills

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i been playing about with pc's for many a year now and i am quite happy to build a pc, however i recently become interesting in water cooling. i have read the threads and am i a bit better informed but im still confused. Basically i kinda know *** i need to get but am a little hazy on a few things.

Before i get my questions out a little info about *** i wouldnt mind cooling. want to keep things simple and hopefully keep everything inside the case. now the next bit mite sound odd to a few but its *** i wouldnt mind trying, within my loop i want to cool NB, SB and CPU. i wouldnt mind upgrading the graphics cooling later but for now i would just like them in the loop.i spose the main reason behind the NB + SB cooling is i find those fans the worse for pc noise, but thats my opinion

now for my questions :P

1. is there a specific order to connect everything after the res -> Pump?
2. could i get away with a 120.1?
3. is there any components you reckon would give a better proformance for
money ratio?

Budget wise cheaper the better, same with anything :P but im will to shell out a bit to get a cooler & quieter pc

many thanks in advance

SG
 
the order you connect things doesnt matter to much, might have 2-3c difference at worse. (dons flame suit)

you can get away with almost any rad, the bigger you get the lower the temps. so a 120.1 will cool everything, but dont expect very good temps.

ill leave recomendations for performance down to others.
 
As I understand it the best components to spend on are RAD and pump as you can keep using them even when you get new blocks and a new comp. This if taking the long view provides the best 'bang for buck'.
 
thanks for the quick replies :) would i be able to get away with a 120.2 inside my case thuo ? ? ? and also what items should i be looking at? e.g price/brands and model.

much appricated :)

SG
 
What's you budget? From your previous comment noise is a major consern so reccomendations are with this in mind.

Radiator:

Low budget: Black Ice Pro
High budget: PA series from thermaltek
(Use yate loon fans the SL series and 5v them)

CPU Block

Low budget: XSPC Xtreme (be careful to get the Xtreme not the old one) block
High budget: Fuzion block

Chipset blocks

Low budget: Get passive coolers, thermalright and nocta do some nice tower ones - probably the best route anyway you don't really need to watercool chipsets even hot ones like the 650i it just heats up your loop
High budget: No idea, haven't looked at them as in my oppinion it's not worth it.

Pump:

Low budget: DTek-DB1
High budget: 2 x DTek-DB1, or DDC3.2 10w version (still quiet but not AS quiet) (you may want the plexi top for 1/2" connectors), or Danger Den D5 (get the one with variable settings)

Res:

Low budget: Fill port
High budget: Alphacool cape res made of plexi (DO NOT GET an Aluminium res - Alu and Copper do not mix)

Coolent:

Low budget: Deionised water and anti-freeze
High budget: Destilled or double destilled water with a few drops of Zertex super coolent and something to kill the algee (iodene will work there's also some 3rd party stuff). Alternative is Freser 1.

//:Edit

Tubing:

Low budget: Masterkleer
High budget: Tygon

Remember to get clips and barbs as appropriate.
 
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thanks for a quick reply, shall start looking at reviews etc for them when i get home from work. budget wise, seing as the ultra kit is about £200ish i would aim 4 that amount just to cool those 3 components/chipsets.


SG
 
CPU - E6420
Mobo - Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
GFX - Leadtek 640mb 8800gts

i started having a look at some of the parts mentions in the previous posts but i didnt finish til 10pm so i was a bit tired :P found a few things that i think would work bout obviously i would appricate a kit put together by people who know a lot more than myself :)

many thanks

SGW
 
As a quick aside I learnt about Plasticizer and silicone tubing today. There's a thread on here about 3/8" silicone tubing streaching over 1/2" barbs without issue. I would therefore like to change my expensive tubing reccomendation to include silicone 11mm ID tubing as well as tygon.

Found some at auction at 3m for aprox £20.
 
thermochill 120.2 approx £50, d-tek fuzion or swiftech appoge variant approx £40, EK/DD full cover vga blocks £55 (or) dtek fuzion and unisink £45 ddc or d5 £40-£60. unfortunatly it's very hard getting specific nb/sb blocks, but have a poke around swiftech.com, maybe the swiftech MCW30 chipset block will fit your mobo, you'd have to do some measuring, hole to hole on your mobo. also mips do waterblocks that will fit your board, they come in packs so 1xsb, 1xnb and 2xmosfets blocks, but no uk reseller and their website is in dutch, so good luck with that :) http://www.mips-computer.de/
 
thanks chris and elfy. gives me a price range to aim 4 and also the items to review :) any other help, from other forum members aswel, is appricated :)

SG
 
You can build your own res pretty easily or just use a t-line to fill the system that will save you £30 to spend elsewhere to.
 
A res makes maintenance easier from what I read. Also it means that when your pipes and blocks 'sweat' coolent the pipes'll still be full due to the extra water in the res.
 
after looking at another thread, how would this suit my needs? i have thought about what was said earlier in the post and i am thinking of either just cooling the cpu in my loop or the cpu + gfx. my list at the min

Thermochill PA 120.1 Radiator (fitted where the hd bay is at the bottom of the
case)

Thermochill PA 120.1 Shroud (from what i read it makes it quieter ? ? )

Feser One Coolant Blue
Laing DDC-Pump 12V
Zalman ZM-GWB8800 8800 GTS VGA Full Cover Water Block
havent sourced tubing yet :D
EK-Multioption RES 400mm rev.2

now for my stupid question, barb size ? does it matter ?
any changes you would make to my lists would be appricated, including ideas on how to make the most of the space in my case

and just out of curiousity, will moving my hdd's from the bottom of the case effect their lifescale or preformance because they will not have the cooling from the 120mm fan that they sit in front of?

SG
 
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I personally would go for at least a 120.2 rad if not a 120.3 without the shroud and undervolt the fans further - this (at a guestimate) will be much quieter and you can always build your own shroud out of whatever material comes to hand. A bigger rad will allow you to get better temps now and add more to your loop later on if you should choose to go SLI or something.

Full GPU waterblocks are (IMO) not worth the expense. RAM doesn't need to be that cold (look at the effects of heat spreaders on system RAM - 0.1% overclock increase or something pathetic) and little aluminium sinks should be enough. Often these full gpu waterblocks have aluminium in them too - but I'm a bit sketchy on the details as I haven't looked at them in depth.

The pump is a good choice and the res is fine.

Barb size matters very little as long as it's consistant. It should obviously be the right size for your tubing. Remember that the thermochill rads take a different thread size to most other watercooling components so you'll need the correct barbs for the thermochill.
 
the only reason i would have gone for a 120.1 is that i could keep the loop all within the case *well that was the idea :D* by moving the hdd caddy at the bottom of the case.

so back to the barbs :D if i pick the barb size that the thermochills use and just keep that size for tubing and the other barbs etc that should be ok ?

with the full blocks, i am ashamed to say i have always used stock cooling on cards and i chose the full cover block so i could take the easy way out :D. with the RAM etc is it fiddly to change them to passive cooled or could i save myself the anger and frustration and use a full cover block

Many Thanks

SG
 
that res is a rather large res.. i have the 200mm versio (multioption 150) and, to be quite honest, i don't really need it, a t-line would be fine to fill the system..

I would also go for the 120.2 rad, but again, if you want internal mounting, this can be tricky.. what case is all this going into?

The pump is a good choice, should last you a while.. if you want 1/2" barbs though, you will need to get a different top, adding close to another £20 to you system, and if you do add a top, DONT go for the plexi top as suggested, they are very prone to cracking, i'd get a delrin top instead. I opted for 1/2" tubing and barbs, but i like the look of the 1/2" tubing, looks beefier :D it really doesnt affect performance at all, especially with a pump as good as the one you have chosen...
 
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