Help/Advice needed

Associate
Joined
13 Nov 2013
Posts
59
I hope to build a new watercooled gaming/work PC in the next few months. I have only limited experience and am not up to date on all the latest parts etc. My main aim is to build a very quiet PC which will be able to hold it's own for the next few years at least. I intend to use my old hard drives and DVD drives in the short term to keep initial costs down. The parts I'm thinking of are as follows:

Intel 4930K 3.40Ghz Processor http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-501-IN
OcUK Tech Labs Asus Rampage IV Extreme Intel X79 Watercooled motherboard http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-501-IN
Sapphire Radeon R9 290X 4096MB GDDR5 Graphics Card http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-336-SP
EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-460-EK
OcUK Tech Labs Watercooled Memory Kit - Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-051-TL
Another 8GB Watercooled Ram http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-052-TL
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850M Power Supply http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-054-CS
OcUK Tech Labs Cooler Master Cosmos II Ultra Tower Case - Watercooled http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-038-TL

I'm not sure about the case as I was wondering should I buy the basic case and then pick my own watercooling kit? Am I missing any components? :confused: Any advice/help on the overall build would be much appreciated.:)
 
The watercooled case you have is going to really struggle to watercool everything you're putting under water. 240mm isn't enough for your CPU, the R9 290X + mobo + RAM. I'd be looking at 360mm at least, especially as that 290X can output a fair bit of heat.

The Eisberg pump/block is also going to have difficulty pushing coolant around all those blocks. I would be looking at an 18W DDC at minimum.

As an idea - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-368-OE
OCUK have 720mm of radiator in this thing for a 7990 + Haswell
 
You wont gain any practical benefits at normal overclocks by WCing your RAM and motherboard. I have two loops with RAM and Mobo blocks and they are mostly aesthetic. Witht his in mind, you can save yourself a small fortune on blocks and pumps if this is all your after.

For a CPU + 290x, i would be looking at 360mm of radiator minimum. Though you can run the loop on less, wouldn't be much point if the radiator fans are on full blast.
 
If I bought the basic version of the case what watercooling pump & radiator etc would you recommend?

I don't intend doing any overclocking so is watercooling the RAM & board a waste of time? I'm really aiming for a quiet PC which doesn't have fans going full speed trying to keep the case cool.
 
Last edited:
Really is a waste of time to watercool the RAM + mobo especially if you're not overclocking. They don't need fans to keep cool enough to operate ... else they would have been sold with fans!

Are you quite adamant on getting the Cosmos? There are better cases for watercooling out there
 
Really is a waste of time to watercool the RAM + mobo especially if you're not overclocking. They don't need fans to keep cool enough to operate ... else they would have been sold with fans!

Are you quite adamant on getting the Cosmos? There are better cases for watercooling out there

+ 1 he's definitely right about the cosmos.
 
No I'm not adamant on the Cosmos. I just thought it was a nice case and my old case is a Coolermaster and I found it really good. I want a case that has plenty of room to work at and is easy to swap out drives etc. I'm open to suggestions.
 
There's the all new singing and dancing Phanteks Enthoo Primo, Corsair 750,800, and 900D. Nzxt phantom 820,630, 810 Switch. Look at Daveip and a few of the other build logs on the Build log, and water cooled case threads. Case is up to you and your budget
 
The Corsair Obsidian 900D seems pretty decent. I'll take a look at a few of the build logs.

By the sound of it I can buy the standard versions of the motherboard and RAM which should save a few pounds. What's the best RAM (16GB) to buy? And which is the best Intel X79 2011 board to buy?
 
Last edited:
900D is way overkill ... it's huge and you'll hate yourself for buying something you can't move without a crane.

if you're really looking for quiet and I was in your shoes, I would be doing this ...

Nanoxia DS2 with a slim 240mm top and a monster 240mm in the front. Block off the extra fan holes to get perfect CFM in and out balance and using Gentle Typhoo AP15s controlled by mobo fan headers.

You don't need a massive case and unless you're tricking it out with lights etc for a LAN or epeen, don't need the window or anything else either.

As for RAM, OCUK only stock reputable brands so you'll be find picking anything with at least PC1600 and tighter timings the better. Word is, IvyBridge-E likes tight timings.

Best mobo? Asus Rampage IV Black - although again ... do you need to go that far, especially if you're not overclocking? I'd probably save a bit of money and pick out the Asus Formula IV for the onboard sound - unless you're picking up a separate sound card, like the Xonar D2X? Then I'd probably not bother with the ROG line from Asus and just go with their Pro series. Can't comment on Gigabyte/MSI/ASRock lines as I'm not really familiar with them
 
I like a good big case as there's plenty of room to work. My current case is a Coolermaster (Superstacker I think) which is 22.5in x 21in x 9in. Sorry for being a pain daveip, I really appreciate all the help. Could you suggest a couple of good radiators, pump and reservoir with links? It's been six years since I did my last build and there wasn't nearly as much choice then.
 
Last edited:
The 900D is overkill for your loop but by all means get it if you like it! I love the 900D but couldn't justify such a large case which will remain mostly empty. I have changed from a 650D (240mm + 200mm) to a Air 540 (240mm + 360mm) to contain my loop of CPU, 290x, RAM and VRM/NB blocks. The case may be double width but it is quite small apart from that and was incredibly easy to neaten up and make a dual pump loop with!

There are plenty of 540 build logs in the projects forum if you are interested in the case. My own project log doesn't focus too much on the 540 case but it gives you an idea of the finished product if you go for a 360 + 240mm radiator setup.
 
Back
Top Bottom