Help needed for WC newbie...

[deFiniLoGy]

I am trying to set up my first WC for my current rig..

Here's the spec:
Asus M5E
i7-3770K
Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866M 4x4G
MSI 7970 Lightning x 2
Seasonic X1250
Phantom 410

So I'm quite a newbie so wanted to ask a few questions:
1. Is Koolance 370 a decent block for me? Or Koolance 370i is enough for my spec already.
2. Due to budget constraint , is it inappropriate to leave the bridges on my motherboard on air, so that I can go on and only buy blocks for my CPU and Display card only?
3. Are there any thin 240mm radiation recommended for Phantom 410? Because it seems like a thick radiator would not fit at the top of the case
4. What kind of pump will I be looking at if I am only cooling the CPU and 2xGPUs?

Many thanks!!

 

[DaleTheWhale]

Are you only have a single 240mm in the roof? A CPU & 2xGPU's might need a bit more raddidge to dump the heat. The motherboard wouldn't need to be cooled, you can leave that on air.

 

[deFiniLoGy]

Are you only have a single 240mm in the roof? A CPU & 2xGPU's might need a bit more raddidge to dump the heat. The motherboard wouldn't need to be cooled, you can leave that on air.

I will have two rads.
One at front and one on top.
But I'm just trying to look for a top thin top rad because my case wont fit in a thick one.

 

[paulstung]

If your looking for a thin rad the Alphacool ST30 360mm will fit in the roof, of the 410. And to make up for how thin it is you could go with a Monsta 240/360 up front.

 

[deFiniLoGy]

If your looking for a thin rad the Alphacool ST30 360mm will fit in the roof, of the 410. And to make up for how thin it is you could go with a Monsta 240/360 up front.

Thanks for the advice.
Can a 360mm rad on top of phantom 410?
I currently own an H100i and i think that is a 240mm rad?

Also, any idea what kind of pump should I be looking at?

 

[snedie]

Why not keep the HW100i on your CPU and mount the rad in the front of the case, and have a second GPU loop? This is how I ran my first loop:

As for pumps, it depends on your budget. If you're looking to get into water cooling for a long time over a few builds and have the cash get a D5, if not an EK 4.0 will run a low restriction dual gpu + cpu loop + 1 rad.

 

[deFiniLoGy]

Why not keep the HW100i on your CPU and mount the rad in the front of the case, and have a second GPU loop? This is how I ran my first loop:

As for pumps, it depends on your budget. If you're looking to get into water cooling for a long time over a few builds and have the cash get a D5, if not an EK 4.0 will run a low restriction dual gpu + cpu loop + 1 rad.

Mainly because of appearance really.
Can I ask why didn't you put the rad outside of the case?

 

[snedie]

Which one? The EKWB rad is to large to fit under the top hood with or without fans and having a rad fully exposed out of the case is a great way to puncture it and have coolant leak into the system. As for the CoolIT E.C.O rad that is a sealed unit and it cannot be detached.

 

[deFiniLoGy]

Which one? The EKWB rad is to large to fit under the top hood with or without fans and having a rad fully exposed out of the case is a great way to puncture it and have coolant leak into the system. As for the CoolIT E.C.O rad that is a sealed unit and it cannot be detached.

Thanks for your advice!
As I am running a CF and one CPU in one loop, is Koolance PMP-500 good enough??

 

[deFiniLoGy]

Also, which reservoir are you using?

 

[snedie]

That's even better than an EK 4.0 and will run a pretty large or restrictive loop. If you do external mount a rad be sure to put the fans on top of it (with guards) just for that bit of protection. External rad's do look nice, I'm putting three outside my case next week but when on top they are a risk.

That's an EK 250ml res.

This is how I am mounting my external radiators, any damage to these and I will just get a wet desk: