I have never watercooled before but now I am moving to my HAF 932 I am considering watercooling. My first and most important question is, how much will it cost? I am mainly looking for silence over extreme overclocking but will plan to do some modest overclocks on it using the sig below. I plan to cool my CPU and GPU and use a 120.2 or 3 rad. Could you spec me a decent system with price in mind, but with a full cover GPU block? I am running a 1055T CPU and the GPU will be a 6970 (I know the blocks are not out for them yet but an estimate price is fine!) Really interested in taking the step but I'm not 100% convinced.
First time watercooling?
- Thread starter Gundog48
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All in for a cpu and gpu loop you are probably looking at the £300 - £400 region depending on exactly what parts you get. For silence I would suggest a Laing D5 pump (usually run at speed 2) fan controller and a triple rad. You probably could get away with a double but simply more rad space slower you need the fans to be and only a few quid difference in price.
EK HF Supreme CPU BLock - £60
GPU Block - Probably ~£65
D5 Pump - £90
EK Res - £27
Tubing - £14
Fittings - £40
Rad EK XT 360 - £40
Total : £336 if my mental calc is right. Plus any fans you need for your radiator, so £350 - £360 all in.
I use the SR-1 rad but at £30 over the EK does push the price up but performance will be similar, I can run my sig fans at 800rpm all day and temps don't exceed high 40's. Posted a pic in the case thread if you want to look at my layout.
Edit: Will also add depending on how many drive bays you use, you could at a squeeze fit a 360 in the roof, 120 on the rear (top rad blocks a 140 being used) and 120 in the spare drive bays. For a cpu and single gpu loop though a 360 should be enough but nice to know the option is there.
EK HF Supreme CPU BLock - £60
GPU Block - Probably ~£65
D5 Pump - £90
EK Res - £27
Tubing - £14
Fittings - £40
Rad EK XT 360 - £40
Total : £336 if my mental calc is right. Plus any fans you need for your radiator, so £350 - £360 all in.
I use the SR-1 rad but at £30 over the EK does push the price up but performance will be similar, I can run my sig fans at 800rpm all day and temps don't exceed high 40's. Posted a pic in the case thread if you want to look at my layout.
Edit: Will also add depending on how many drive bays you use, you could at a squeeze fit a 360 in the roof, 120 on the rear (top rad blocks a 140 being used) and 120 in the spare drive bays. For a cpu and single gpu loop though a 360 should be enough but nice to know the option is there.
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Thanks for that! It is certainly something I will consider, I plan to do it when my review site picks up a bit and I can start drawing some real money from it. In Q1 2011 I will be getting a Crucial C400 and a Gigabyte 6970 which should mean that other companies will be willing to send more expensive products.
How about coolant? I would just use distilled water but electrical conductivity would be a concern as swapping components a lot would mean that some of the fittings will come loose. What would you recommend? Also, what is the procedure when fitting a loop? Like the flushing, filling etc?
Great to see I can get EK stuff for that price and am looking forward to getting it all, will probably end up buying over a long amount of time. The MM will be my friend I think! If I go for a 360 and a 240 would it be a good idea to set the CPU to the 360 and the GPU to the 240 or the other way around? Then again wouldn't that mean I would need 2 pumps?
So many questions! Complete novice at this!
How about coolant? I would just use distilled water but electrical conductivity would be a concern as swapping components a lot would mean that some of the fittings will come loose. What would you recommend? Also, what is the procedure when fitting a loop? Like the flushing, filling etc?
Great to see I can get EK stuff for that price and am looking forward to getting it all, will probably end up buying over a long amount of time. The MM will be my friend I think! If I go for a 360 and a 240 would it be a good idea to set the CPU to the 360 and the GPU to the 240 or the other way around? Then again wouldn't that mean I would need 2 pumps?
So many questions! Complete novice at this!
There seems to be so much contradictory information in regards to coolants. Especially when it comes to coloured liquid. I don't know the reasons why but from reading around before building mine, it seemed fesser can break down and clog up your blocks (note I said can not will, some people do seem to be able to use without problems.) Again from reading around Mayhems dye seems to be no problem though some people say it fades. Personally, it was my first loop so to remove all hassle I stuck to some distilled water and just used coloured tubing.
Never had experience with swapping out watercooled components constantly but would expect the the tubing to stretch as it goes over the barbs/compression fittings. Thinking about it you might be able to get away with barbs if they have a lip on the end as a hose clamp would keep it in place. Even then I don't know if its possible, hopefully someone else could answer that who has more experience.
I notice you are modding your 932 case but even then I don't know how easy it would be to fit a 360 and 240 in the case. As I said you could more than likely squeeze a 360, a 120 and another 120 in, though I don't know the route the tubing would take for that. What little I did work out for this set up, the 360 rad fittings would need to be in the drive bay end to give enough room for rad and fan at the rear otherwise it would foul and the 120 in the drive bays the fitting would be at the bottom to avoid the 360. The obvious problem with this would be the amount of tubing and fittings to get together in the small amount of room. All this is, shall I say, conjecture as a triple rad should cool cpu and single gpu loop with no problem. As reference, the super computer built in the other thread is 2 cpus and 2 gpus on a 360 and a 120.
Never had experience with swapping out watercooled components constantly but would expect the the tubing to stretch as it goes over the barbs/compression fittings. Thinking about it you might be able to get away with barbs if they have a lip on the end as a hose clamp would keep it in place. Even then I don't know if its possible, hopefully someone else could answer that who has more experience.
I notice you are modding your 932 case but even then I don't know how easy it would be to fit a 360 and 240 in the case. As I said you could more than likely squeeze a 360, a 120 and another 120 in, though I don't know the route the tubing would take for that. What little I did work out for this set up, the 360 rad fittings would need to be in the drive bay end to give enough room for rad and fan at the rear otherwise it would foul and the 120 in the drive bays the fitting would be at the bottom to avoid the 360. The obvious problem with this would be the amount of tubing and fittings to get together in the small amount of room. All this is, shall I say, conjecture as a triple rad should cool cpu and single gpu loop with no problem. As reference, the super computer built in the other thread is 2 cpus and 2 gpus on a 360 and a 120.