HAF X: first watercooled project

shanomacadaemia · 7 Feb 2013 at 14:29

Hi Guys,

I have just pulled the trigger on an i5 3570k + Asus P8Z77-V Pro (plus 2 x 4GB 1600 LP Vengeance DIMMs), and I already own a HAF X.

I was hoping to aggressively OC the i5 (while still maintaining tolerable noise levels), which has led me to consider watercooling for the first time. It's always been a "some day, maybe" thing for me, so the idea of actually doing it has me somewhat excited.

So, my question is this: what should I buy? Does anyone have any experience with a HAF X?

I'm considering getting something like the V12 OCUK kit, are they any good? I'm looking to cool the CPU for now, but I want to include the GPU when I replace that some time this year (currently a GTX 580), so expansion/upgrade-ability is a concern.

Thanks.

Hyburnate · 7 Feb 2013 at 14:35

I'm not into watercooling really so I'm not too sure on all the best parts, however you will only need one rad for your CPU however if you're going to add your GPU you'll need to purchase something a little bigger.

I'm not too sure on what the cooling options are but the best thing to do would be to get the guys here to put you together a bit of a spec and then get a side view of your case and use an image editing program and map out what you're doing.

shanomacadaemia · 8 Feb 2013 at 09:27

Yes, I think a 240 to 360 rad would be appropriate. But I still need to know: custom or kit?

Rab · 8 Feb 2013 at 09:58

360 rad will fit, u will loose 1 drive slot thou. 140mm rad also in mine. 240 should be ok as well.
if just cooling the cpu the now, a 360 rad would be ample. maybe get another rad if want l8r on.
V12 OCUK seems a good kit.

shanomacadaemia · 8 Feb 2013 at 11:00

Thanks Rab, I might just go with the V12 kit then, and buy the extra fittings and block when I upgrade the GPU (hopefully the 360 will suffice). If I go SLI, I'll fit a 240 in (I imagine down by the front fan would be a good spot), and probably cool the GPUs with the 360 and the CPU with the 240.

I don't mind losing the drive bay, as I don't really use optical drives any more. I suppose the XSPC res will take up two slots as well, and I may need a fan controller in one slot too. Watercooling is expensive, eh?

ibpalle · 12 Feb 2013 at 13:22

When I was planning my first build I went with a kit too initially - however, after brooding over the bits for a while it slowly changed to a custom parts list. I would suggest you look at watercooling builds on youtube and forums for the HAF-X first. That should gicve some good ideas on what is possible and you can borrow whatever ideas you find in there and slowly build up the parts list.

I managed to amend my list about 10 times before pushing the buy button - then of course I had to buy extras as there was always that little thing that was missing to get the perfect tube routing or connections

And yes, WC is not a cheap hobby. A month after I bought my XSPC 750 the revised one came ouot. Seriously considering buying that one and moving the old one to my file server and installing WC in that box too - it's just too much fun to build these things.