Final watercooling advice needed...

Hudzy

Hudzy

Hudzy

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I'm pretty set on watercooling my PC now, so I don't need convincing of that. I think.

Anyway, Looking at the Lian Li V1000+ it's clear I won't be able to fit the rad from the Swiftech H20-220 Apex "Ultra" Watercooling Kit inside the case, and from what I've heard it leaves a pretty tight space for the psu cable when mounted on the back. But I think I'm gonna try to risk that nonetheless. So that's plan A.

Then I saw the Swiftech MCRES1000P Resevoir & Pump combo unit and thought, since space is pretty tight anyway, would it be worth getting that and then buying the remaining parts of the other kit seperately? That way I could also get a smaller rad. That's plan B. Also if I went down that route, does it make much difference to overall performance getting a single 120 rad? Since that would fit better anyway.

EDIT: And would that pump be able to push enough flow for a gpu block added in?

Plan C I don't really like, or know if it's possible. Maybe someone with a V1000+ could have a look and see if there's room to mount a rad in the roof of the case, internally. Sounds like too much cutting up of the case involved to me.

Any thoughts people?
 
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If you aren't overclocking then a 120.1 will be ok but temps won't be great if you add a GPU block. Have a look in the watercooled case gallery for inspiration.
 
hello have you thought of modding the case to top mount the radiator, not many people do this cos of the worked involved and they are to scared to do it to there case... But it looks good plus it means all your WC parts are enclosed on the one unit... and with a V1000 you have loads of space i have a full 1/2" kit in my wavemaster with the D5 pump and rad top mounted and i can fit it all in... although i have recently changed my D5 for a laind DDC but that not becuase of space issues its cos i wanted to try something different. you will have no troubles on a V1000 and if you have the patience top mount the rad and make a custom grill for it will look awesome.
 
I could walk a 120.2 into the roof of that case.. no worries at all.

A bit of careful consideration on where its placed and how it looks will mean you can avoid a radbox and have cpu, gfx (or 2) and even nb cooling in there no probs.

Seriously, challenge yourself! I have a 120.2 in the roof of my lian li pc65.. it fits! its smaller than the v1000 easily..
 
Thought I'd post an update on this. Went with roof mounting the rad in the end. There wasn't quite enough room to have it all internal because of the soundcard. So I've gone with having the rad on top of the case, 120mm holes cut into the roof, and the fans underneath inside the case. I think it looks nice.

So thanks for the advice :D
 
Don't forget to suck the air through the rad and into the case - may sound wrong, but you want the Coldest possible air flowing through the rad - don't be tempted to blow the hot air out of your case through the rad - remember what the rad is trying to cool ;)
 
I disagree. The rad has already removed the heat from the major source out of the case so the case temps are much cooler than before you water-cooled. I doubt it makes much difference unless there are no other case exhausts and there are other major heat sources that aren't water-cooled.
 
Really depends how much you've watercooled and what's left generating heat inside the case - It would be pretty unusual for the case inside to be cooler that ambient though (Only really possible if you're using a chiller I've found) - so my advice stands - remember you want to give the rad the coolest air possible, as it's cooling your critical components ;)
 
I agree with the last part which is why I would always try to put a rad at the front or the bottom. Putting a rad at the top pulling air downwards just seems wrong to me.
 
MikeTimbers said:
I agree with the last part which is why I would always try to put a rad at the front or the bottom. Putting a rad at the top pulling air downwards just seems wrong to me.
Click to expand...

you always try to put a rad on your front bottom? :eek:

I don't think it would make that much difference to temps, I've tried both and not noticed much of a difference.. one thing I would say though is the OP is blowing air at his rad rather than pulling it through, in my experience that leads to the rad furring up with dust a lot quicker than pulling.

I guess if the fans are pushing air at the rad they can keep blowing at a blocked surface and just make noise and not do much else, if they are pulling air through there's more force acting on the dust?? Clearly I'm not a physics boffin ;)
 
Although pulling air give slightly better results than pushing, it is hardly noticeable. Increasing the Temp of the Air over the rad by several degrees, however, will make a significant difference. But then, unless you're really going to push your rig to it's limit, most of these debates are moot - a couple of degrees here or there are not going to affect your day to day performance, only your bench scores and bragging rights ;)
 
Hmm. Well I've got the fans underneath it pulling air in from the outside. Seemed the best way to go.

Here's a couple of pics...





:p And yeh, I know... the cables are a right mess. I'll sort it out some other time.
 
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I know it seem counter-intuitive, but it was explained well to me - think about what the rad is trying to achieve, it's cooling all the *really essential* bits of your machine - CPU/GFX/NB - the other bits in your machine, it's nice to keep them cool, but they're not as critical as the components you've put under water (otherwise you'd have put them under water :D )

You want maximum cooling over the most important components - you won't achieve that by blowing hot air over the rad! (As I said before - the chances of the inside of your case being cooler than ambient are pretty small unless you're using a chiller/Dry Ice/LN2 ;) - in which case all bets are off!)
 
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