First time water cooling ?

Stolly

Stolly

Stolly

Soldato
Joined
11 Mar 2004
Posts
5,000
Love the idea of water cooling, but don't know what to buy or where to start.

Would i be best off with the Corsair Nautilus500 ? Seems easy for a beginner ?

Or would something else be better suited ?

I'd like an external radiator really, seems that taking the heat out of the case is the best idea.

What can be recommended for £200 or less ?

I've got an FX-60 that i want to cool. Its not overclocked but i may in the future. Mainly i want it to be quiet.
 
If you do your research a custom kit is the best option. Failing that then the swiftech apex ultra kit is a very good base for a novice watercooler.
 
w3bbo said:
If you do your research a custom kit is the best option. Failing that then the swiftech apex ultra kit is a very good base for a novice watercooler.
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OK, fair enough.

So i need a..

CPU block
Pump
Radiator
Tubing
Coolant

Anything else ?

If anyone has any experience to share before i make some expesive mistake it will be much appreciated.
 
Buy a Swiftech Apex Ultra kit and forget the custom option. For a first timer, the Swiftech stuff is very close to custom (like 1-2C) and far less stressful.
 
there's also the school of thought that once you try it (WC'ing) you will want to tinker with things here and there....for this reason custom is the way to go.

i think 1-2c off a good custom job is ambitious btw ;)
 
MikeTimbers said:
Buy a Swiftech Apex Ultra kit and forget the custom option. For a first timer, the Swiftech stuff is very close to custom (like 1-2C) and far less stressful.
Click to expand...

Would agree , for a first timer.

I started with an Asetek kit ( :o / not the best but did exactly what i wanted and was an easy transition to W/C ).

The advantage with the kit is that its all there ( in a box ) , and once you're confident , and want to upgrade , the Swiftech Apex Ultra kit is a good kit and you will easy sell and recoup a good amount for a custom rig.

Go for it , it's fun :D

Mark
 
marscay said:
i think 1-2c off a good custom job is ambitious btw ;)
Click to expand...

Really? Let's take a look.

- Apogee CPU Block
- MCW60 VGA Block
- MCW30 Chipset Block
- MCR220 Radiator
- MCP655 12V DC Pump
- MCRES-MICRO reservoir
- MCB120 Radbox radiator mounting adapter

So it comes with a top-performing block, a radiator that is only second to the PA120.2 and one of the best pumps in the business.

Add the fact that the Swiftech stuff is matched. All blocks have performance curves where they perform best with particular flowrates. Matching the "best" block with the wrong pump could cripple its performance.

With a Swiftech kit, you don't need to worry about all of those complex PQ curves and just get on and build it. A custom kit might look good on paper and perform extremely badly.
 
The apogee block alone is not regarded as a top performing block anymore. It was out performed by the Storm(all revisions), mp05, Nexxos block and with the new kids on the 'block', D-tek fusion+Apogee-GT, it falls even further behind which in itself could amount to a greater difference in temps without even considering the other parts in the loop. I beleive the new apex kits come with the GT version of the apogee if you can find them but most often than not they will still include the older apogee, which while being a good performer is far from being the best.

The swiftech kit IS the best kit available, especially for a novice wanting a no hassle watercooling loop but a little research and greater investment would mean better temps - by more than a couple of degrees. Heres what I suggest if you want to go the custom route without too much difference in price from the apex kit :

CPU block - D-tek Fusion £38
Pump - DDC pro with alphacool top £54
Radiator - PA 120.2 -£50
Tubing - masterkleer 7/16 £10
Coolant - distilled/di-ionised and zerex (if you don't mind pink). £5
EK res - £23
barbs + clamps £8

Total £188
 
w3bbo is pretty much spot on, for more or less the same money as the kit you can get the current top of the line components for cpu block/pump/radiator instead of good components with the kit.....minus the gpu + chipset block i guess :p

with that chipset block in the loop you lose quite a bit of flow too.

but to each their own of course.
 
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We're quibbling here, guys. Even a simple heatsink must be taken as a unit with its fan in order to accurately predict its performance. Has anyone here compared a custom system against a Swiftech Apex Ultra? I'll accept that the standard Apogee may not have an equivalent C/W as the Storm or the Nexxxos XP but CW needs to be considered alongside the whole system.

As for pricing, one issue with custom is finding it all. It is unsual in the UK to find them all in one store so that means multiple delivery charges and orders. I'm not knocking custom and unlike many people here, I have both. I have two custom systems and a Swiftech kit system. The kit was easy to setup but then so were the custom ones. If I needed to water-cool another system, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a kit from Swiftech as it is more than good enough and represents good value-for-money.

YMMV. HAND.
 
I'm new to and interested in watercooling and i am thinking OF going the Swiftech way but if i was to use the swiftech kit and just get a better cpu block to replace the swiftech block would i get lower cpu temps or would i need a new pump and other extra's etc...to get a better temps? I'm gunna get a QX6700 which i wanna push as far as i can on water.
 
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If you can source a swiftech kit with the new GT block instead of the standard apogee you will have a great kit. Contact the site you intend on buying from to confirm it has the GT block ;) Then swap out the thin o-ring for the fatter one which is included and you will have some of the best temps possible for a quad.
 
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