Done CPU, but how to move onto GPU

Glacius

Glacius

Glacius

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6 Dec 2013
Posts
500
Hey all,

After a lot of looking around and advice on here I went for a OcUK Tech Labs Fathom All in One Custom Cooler 240mm as my CPU cooler, and works great thus far, but after installing this and playing a few games I have begun to notice just how loud my 290X is.... especially when under load, so I would like to watercool this as well so my question is what is my best option and are there any pro's and con's to either just installing a closed look just for the GPU as I have an all in one cooler on my CPU, or remove the pump/res from my CPU and do a full custom loop?

I really have no idea where to start and any help would be great.

Case wise I have plenty of room its a Full Tower NZXT 820

Thanks in advance
 
The 290x are capable of putting a volcano to shame :D

Id go with a loop just for the 290x then if you want to add in the cpu then youd only look at another say £60 for block and two fittings.

Any idea how much you'd be ok spending? Just specked in another thread something that could work for you too;

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC RayStorm D5 AX360 WaterCooling Kit £252.95
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel £95.99
2 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.19 (£6.38)
Total : £364.92 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Should bring down the temps rather well and eliminate majority of noise. 120mm fans are considerably nicer to hear than 80mm gpu fans.

Or go that route but buy the parts individually and add in cpu later (or not at all).

Edit:just realised you asked for advise as well not just a spec sorry.

I would suggest replacing the lot as nothing can really compare to a full custom loop. Even with the 290x a 360mm rad should see the temps come down on your cpu as well.

Out of interest and doing calculations what cpu is it?

So in short pros of full custom loop;
*lower full system temp (possibly)
*only one pump(and better quality one) for much less noise
*looks better (most important part :D)


pro of keeping loops seperate;
*Easier
*slightly lower cost
 
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Thanks for the quick reply :) as for what I am willing to spend I would say Max £500 all in to cool the GPU and CPU, CPU wise it is a AMD FX9370 so thats a volcano as well as the 290X lol

I don't really want to go over the top on a kit as would only want to cool 2 things (Cpu & Gpu) but on the other hand I don't want to go stupidly cheap and have to end up replacing anything anytime soon.

Hope that makes sense.
 
Arrgh of course you are the man with the dents in the rad.

Right calcs;

220W cpu
300w gpu

(nice hardware but my god you must sweat in that room haha).

So lets say 600w (for a bit of oc room).

Apparantly you can have a 240mm in bottom and 360mm in top.

so...;

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC RayStorm D5 AX360 WaterCooling Kit £252.95
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel £95.99
1 x XSPC AX240 Dual Fan Radiator (Silver) £74.95
2 x Noctua NF-F12 PWM 120mm Focused Flow PWM Cooling Fan £15.98 (£31.96)
4 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.19 (£12.76)
Total : £478.22 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Give you quite a lot of oc room and saves enough you could get a fan controller as well :)

Or the one above should be suitable for moderate use but I wouldnt go overclocking to far on it.
 
Yep I am indeed the Dented user lol as for the heat to be honest since getting the new case its not to bad until its left on over night then it really does get warm, on the plus side saves of the heating bill and having to use the radiator in the room.

Thanks for the spec yet again but I was just thinking as I have the Phantom 240mm Already would it just be a case of disconnecting the Eisberg pump/res then I would have a 240mm Radiator with the tubing already attached?

Sorry for all questions never done a full custom loop before.
 
*Facepalm*

Yes, yes you would be fine to use that rad :D

Lets pretend that didnt happen :)


So revised;

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC RayStorm D5 AX360 WaterCooling Kit £252.95
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel £95.99
Total : £358.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).




You have 4 compression fittings theyre chrome not black but hardly the end of the world :D So you dont need anymore for the gpu block.

There should be enough tube in the kit to run it all. Just to save yourself heartbreak finding out you dont have enough tube grab a tape measure and rough out lengths of tube needed to run around the case. (you get 2meters with the kit).

My really rough estimates using a picture of the case and dimensions from a competitor suggest 1749mm so 1.75m so you have 25cm to screw up with :d (we all do).
 
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lol Thanks for the advice, and can I just make the below list of things that I need for a full custom Loop:

2 x Radiators (1 Top for CPU and 1 Bottom for GPU)
1 x Pump/Reservoir (Such as a dual bay XSPC one)
Quite abit of tubing
CPU Block
GPU Block front and Back Plate
Fluid (Although I have loads of Mayhems pre-mixed UV Fluid)
Compression Fittings
Fans (Have a lot of brand new Corsair SP120's)

Anything Else I would need for a full custom loop or any extra's that would aid in the draining/refilling when I get round to it in the future.

Also Already have a fan controller just I won't fit that until the custom loop is in :)
 
Some people like to use a t-line fitting at the lowest point of the loop for draining.



Other than that I think you've got it all covered :)
 
Sorry this could go on for awhile :P but do all the fittings need to at least be this size: (7/16 - 5/8) 16/11mm Compression Fittings ? Don't really understand all the different ones.
 
No worries go for it :) happy to help when I can.

With the fittings you should get the exact ones that match the tubes. Eg 16/11mm tube would need 16/11mm fitting. You can go larger but you'd have to stretch the tube over the barb bit and then the ring that screws down would be too large so defeats the purpose somewhat.

Basically the larger the ID(inner diameter) allows more flow whilst the OD(outer diameter) is the ascetics part whilst the difference between them gives the structural support(so OD-ID =5/2 =2.5mm thick walls). So thicker tubes are stronger but they make it more difficult to route the tubes(can't bend them as tightly) I've always gone for the middle ground of 16/11 so good flow and easy routing.
 
Explained that rather well I must say, makes a lot more sense now :)

Hopefully the last question, What are the main differences and pro's/con's to have a bay Res/pump and a Tube res/pump or is it just for looks as I qould quite like a Tube one I think in terms of the looks but can imagine its quite difficult to mount.
 
To me the pro/cons of each are;

Bay res;
pros
*Compact
*clean looking being a combo

cons
*Vibration directly into the case as you cant decouple them
*slightly louder due to vibration

tube res
pro
*put it any any angle you can think of
*looks great with coolants like mayhems pastel/aurora
*quieter as you can suspend the pump/mount it onto foam
*much more room for manovering you could put the pump on one side of the case with the tube on the other without issue (as long as the res is still mavity feeding the pump)

cons
*Need more room
*need more connections
*seem to be more expensive (really not sure why)
Untitled_1.png

(marvel at my paintshop skills :D)



I used the cable routes like above to mount my old tube res(some fancy cables ties) or you could drill a hole. They tend to come with two brackets that are mounted with a single screw. After brackets are up you can take out your res by just pulling it. Simples.
 
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Many Thanks, at this rate I ma going to owe your a beer or 2, and have to agree with the awesome paint skills :P

OK Well after that little guide and as its my first build I think Ill go with a bay res for now and see how things go.

I have a list of parts but I feel like a total pratt having to ask this but how do you copy and paste the list in the same format as you and many others do, as when I copy and paste my basket it looks nothing like the way you do it lol
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo V2 £109.99
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel £95.99
1 x XSPC AX360 Triple Fan Radiator - White £89.99
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy Elite - AMD £80.99
1 x XSPC AX240 Dual Fan Radiator - White £74.95
1 x XSPC Razor R9 290X / 290 Backplate £24.95
Total : £486.46 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Ahhh yes it works :) Quite cool that lol, Well so far these are the parts, would they all be compatible and also What kind of fittings/tubing would I go for to make sure they all fit then hopefully I am done. Going to sell the Phantom 240 All in One to a mate so that will be some of the cost back at least.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator SR1 360 £69.98
Total : £79.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).




YOUR BASKET
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator SR1 240 £55.98
Total : £65.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).




First of all let me save you £40 Use those rads instead. I swear by them and have used them in all my builds. Thicker rads than the ax series so better cooling.

Also backplates are really for ascetics I'm not too convinced they do anything more than look pretty.

As for tube/fittings I'd go with;
YOUR BASKET
2 x XSPC HighFlex Hose 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD, 15.9/11.1mm, 2m, Clear/UV £5.99 (£11.98)
10 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Black Chrome) £3.19 (£31.90)
Total : £53.50 (includes shipping : £8.00).




Then just add some distilled water(chemists 5 gallons for £3) and pick a color dye :)
 
Many Thanks :) Right almost there I hope just couple of final queries,

You put above I would need 10 of the Black chrome fittings, but would these be OK below as yes I am quite OCD when it comes to the colours of fitments lol so Would the White Monsoon connectors be the same and do the same job?


1 x Monsoon 16/11mm (ID 7/16 OD 5/8) Free Center Compression Fitting - White £5.29

And I went abit OTT with the fluid when I got my All in One Phantom and got 2 extra bottles of this:

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

So would this fluid be ok just to put straight into the system?

I will stop asking 20 questions soon :)
 
Haha I'm ill so cant go out so nothing better to do :D To be honest its always better to ask a question rather than get something wrong :) My first kit I ordered the wrong fittings I ordered 13/10 fittings for 16/10 tube ended up waiting another week to get things sorted out.(I only saw the 10mm bit and ignored the OD :(

Yes those monsoons will work fine (I love them but couldnt afford them) get the 6 pack you save a few quid.

Yup that fluid would be fine.

I would still go buy some cheap deioinised water to flush out the rads before you install them. Just incase theres any lumps of metal floating around. The pump will thank you for it.
 
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I would just add that if you want a totally silent system DON'T get a bay res.

Just completed my first build and I can hear my D5 dual bay when it's set to 2 - not the pump but just a slight vibration against the case. It's not loud but I can hear it when there's no background noise like TV, games/music.

Also it was a pain to fit and fill as a novice :)
 
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