Going custom Water, Novice Need,s A Little Advice !!!!

Soldato
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Right have read up a little on water cooling, is this the right sequence for the set up -

RADIATOR >>>>> CPU BLOCK >>>>> GPU BLOCK >>>>> RESERVOIR >>>>> PUMP>>>> RETURN TO RADIATOR

I intend too custom water cool my PC (FTO1 Case / i7 [email protected] / GPU:5870) in the next couple of month's, a couple of question's as follow's -

1:What would you recommend as the minimum Pump-performance / rate of low?
2: Will a 120.3x120mm Triple Radiator(3 fan's low speed) > will this be my best option?, going to fit the radiator on the back of my case(outside)
3: Is it worth using these pre-mixed Coolent's? if so what one?
4:Can l do this with about £150? if so recommendation's on part's needed.

Cheer's, thank you > OLDPHART :)
 
2. a 360 rad should be fine, get either the thermochill, Black Ice GTX or Swiftech MCR

3. No, just use distilled water plus PT nuke or silver coil

4. definitely not, double the budget and then you have a chance of fitting it in.

also put the radiator after the blocks ideally, as this helps increase the life span of the pump although it might increase temps a tiny amount
 
2. A 120.3 will be fine. Using a Thermochill PA120.3 with three Yate Loon 120x38mm fans running at 700rpm and cooling CPU/GPU/NB with no problems.

3. No. As above. Distilled/De-ionised water with some PT Nuke/Primochill Liquid Utopia added. If you want colour then buy coloured or UV reactive tubing.

4. Not a chance. A good rad and pump alone will set you back £120. Decent cpu block £40-60 and then a GPU block £35 for a universal block or £75-85 for a full cover block.
 
1. I am using the 'Laing DDC-1T Pro with EK V2 X-Top' pump with 440 litre per hour of flow and its perfect for my setup (same as yours). I recommend the EK X-Top because it is a little shorter than the XSPC version so fits in my FT01 better.

2. 360mm rad is perfect

3. Don't use any of the coolants on offer as they can react badly and make a mess and or stain your parts. Use deionised water with a silver killcoil in the reservoir which removes bacteria from the water. (PT Nuke is not nice stuff to handle).

4. My watercooling came to just under £400 for everything but of course can be done cheaper. But not with £150. As HW91 said, you need to double that budget :(

Make sure you shop around to get the best prices. I can't say where due to forum rules :/
 
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if you're thinking of getting the 440LPH Laing, get the 600LPH instead because it costs only 3p more

Don't do that :rolleyes: because you don't need the extra flow rate and noise that comes with the 18w version. Plus you can solder 1 little thing on the bottom of the 10w and make it an 18w in 2 minutes for free.

Not to mention OCUK watercooling prices are way higher than the competition. So you don't wanna be buying from here anyway xD
 
Wow, I never knew WC setup would be so expensive!

well the one rule with buying PC components to build a PC or water cooling is don't count your chickens before they hatch, or in this case, don't guess prices before you've finished your basket
 
Cpu only cooling with custom water is'nt that expensive, mine cost me just under £100.

But that being said if i ever wanted to cool gpu/mobo in the future i know i would have to upgrade my pump.

So its all about planning, getting stuff that will do the job u want done. Dos'nt have to cost a fortune, but buying quality stuff, does cost though.
 
Cpu only cooling with custom water is'nt that expensive, mine cost me just under £100.

But that being said if i ever wanted to cool gpu/mobo in the future i know i would have to upgrade my pump.

So its all about planning, getting stuff that will do the job u want done. Dos'nt have to cost a fortune, but buying quality stuff, does cost though.

well even going for good CPU cooling is expensive,

pump £60, CPU block £60, 240 rad £40, reservoir £15

that's already £175 without tubing or fittings
 
well even going for good CPU cooling is expensive,
pump £60, CPU block £60, 240 rad £40, reservoir £15
that's already £175 without tubing or fittings

That is true if u go that high on block and pump.

Mine was:

Bay Pump/res £30
Pa 120.2 £35 (was reduced when OC where doing there offers on watercooling)
Cpu Block £25 (supreme LT, not the best out there true, but does a good job)
And then all the sundrie fittings tubing and coolant. So that fitted my needs.

But as the OP is wanting to cool cpu and gpu, he will have to spend on a decent pump, and non restrictive blocks thats for sure, so ofcourse those cost, so that is where custom water can get pricey.
 
Need to look around. I've just bought a:

Swiftech MCP350 with an XSPC reservoir top
D-Tek Fuzion v2
A 120.2 radiator

all for £50 delivered
 
Need to look around. I've just bought a:

Swiftech MCP350 with an XSPC reservoir top
D-Tek Fuzion v2
A 120.2 radiator

all for £50 delivered

and what make and model is that rad?

also there's no way that's new because D-TEK Fuzion V2's cost £35+ new on their own, pump new is at least £50 and a good new 240 rad is over £35
 
Wow, I never knew WC setup would be so expensive!

Another way to look at it is that if you buy the best components currently available then they will last through many pc upgrades. I originally set up my water cooling 4.5yrs ago on a AMD socket 754 rig. I then went to AMD's 939 and onto Intels 775 which has been upgraded three times (cpu and mobo's). I have also gone through four graphics card upgrades all with the same Aquaextreme MP-1 universal block. Up until November last year i did'nt even have to split the loop to upgrade and had the same de-ionised water in it all of that time. I have now upgraded the rad to a Thermochill PA120.3, cpu block to the EK Supreme HF universal (fit's all current sockets) and the northbridge block to a EK NF4 NB (it fit's most NB chips and only cost me 99p brand new). I am still running the same pump, res and GPU block.
 
I see what you mean yes, with all them upgrades you could buy multiple air coolers and probably spend a lot on them.

It's still more expensive than I first thought for a basic setup though.

Not really, my basic setup (and it really is basic) i posted earlier cost what, £30-£40 more then say the corsair H50, but totally spanks it.

Water cooling gets expensive, when u buy all top stuff, i won't dispute that, but at times you have to ask yourself, do i need all top stuff for what im planning, so have too others don't.

My stuff will be getting used shortly when i move over to I7, and all i will need to do is bolt on the waterblock to the mobo, and job done.
 
Cheer's guy's, will have to be extra nice to The Boss, dam lol.

As you can see in my sig using H50 and the temp's arn't to bad and it's quite a quiet set up. Seeing Sir Hiss :cool: set up, well l got the urge :eek: lol(down boy), to custom cool.

So l think in the long run a custom set up is the way too go, as this rig has to last a few year's as l'm retired. ;)
 
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who said it was new?

well in computers it matters a lot if it's new or not

since even though they may have never used it or even taken it out of the box as soon as it becomes second hand there's no warranty.

and seeing as how we all probably know that components can fail completely randomly, no warranty = bad buy
 
Oh puhleese. A Laing pump failing? Very rare. A block? Please explain how it may fail? Perhaps it needs a new O-ring at most. A radiator? Possibly cracked but unusual.

My first system was a hand-made WhiteWater, a used Chevette heatercore and a used Eheim 1250, all of which are still working and in use.

Only ever bought new? And I thought you were a water-cooler.
 
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