Looks like i need some help!

deusexlumina · 31 Jul 2011 at 20:37

Beware, wall of text, skip to last paragraph for the juicy bit.

About 6 months ago i embarked upon modding my fractal R3 to house watercooling for my setup. Its a single loop cooling a 6950 and a 1055t, both at stock. The pump is a swiftech 10W pump res combo and he rad is a black ice 240 (very thin rad). Two alpenfohn fans are above the case pulling air through them. (I've attached some pictures at the bottom to give a better idea of what's going on.)

The performance was ok, it was silent, but things were warm. I ignored it though as uni work pressed on and the system was still working fine, albeit gaming for long periods would cause it to overheat.

Yesterday the system began to lockup at the desktop, and shut itself down. I opened her up to find that the level in the res had dropped dramatically (greater than half), and that the tubing to the cpu had contracted so much that no water was moving. Upon further inspection the i've found the pump has died (as a side-note, there's an oily fluid at the bottom of my case now).

So, im going to need a new pump, meaning the whole system has to be drained. I thought i'd use this opportunity to try and improve the performance of the system as a whole, if other components need changing then so be it. I want a silent system for desktop duties, which can then be cranked up for gaming. As long as it doesn't sound like a hoover i'll be happy. So, any recommendations for changes and components will be greatly appreciated

Cleeecooo · 31 Jul 2011 at 20:44

BAH! I typed a really long response and got a BSOD :mad:

Anyway. Le me sum it up.

D5 = lots of power and silence
Enermax apollishes - great, silent fans
Black ice SR1 series rads are really good for running fans at low RPM's or eve passively.

Have you got a fan controller?

deusexlumina · 31 Jul 2011 at 20:55

I've heard lots of good things about the d5. This may be a silly question but is there a way to have the d5 as a res-pump combo? as that's my key issue. The fractal is quite small, and getting a separate res in there may be tricky.

I'll have a look at the black ice SR1's. Initially i wanted the whole system to be self contained in the case, but its pretty much impossible as i've found out. Would a triple rad outside the case be worth it? or would just replacing what i have with another dual rad do the job equally as well?

I haven't got a fan controller

hence all the cables everywhere, thinking of the sentry touch screen one for convenience. I cant really use a bay one as due to the modding of the case i have no room unless i remove the blu-ray drive.

Cleeecooo · 31 Jul 2011 at 20:58

I fancy boys said:
I've heard lots of good things about the d5. This may be a silly question but is there a way to have the d5 as a res-pump combo? as that's my key issue. The fractal is quite small, and getting a separate res in there may be tricky.

EK make a 100ml top and res? You also get koolance ones but they're nearly £100

I'll have a look at the black ice SR1's. Initially i wanted the whole system to be self contained in the case, but its pretty much impossible as i've found out. Would a triple rad outside the case be worth it? or would just replacing what i have with another dual rad do the job equally as well?

What are you cooling?

I haven't got a fan controller hence all the cables everywhere, thinking of the sentry touch screen one for convenience. I cant really use a bay one as due to the modding of the case i have no room unless i remove the blu-ray drive.

The sentry's crap as it only has 2 w per channel meaning that you can only have 3 fans max (something like that) I would highly recommend you having a look at some bigger cases

My personal favourite for a fan controller is the Lamptron FC5 V2

Cleeecooo · 31 Jul 2011 at 22:05

D5 pump for sale - £55
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18301335

Biffa · 1 Aug 2011 at 09:22

Another option is a swiftech radiator, they have about 90% of the performance or the black ice at the same fan speeds but about half the thickness. The other thing is to definitely change your fans, that can make a huge difference, look at the akasa apachd range for affordable or for best performance some scythe gt's. Pump wise i'd look at getting the laing replaced under warranty or get a new 18w mcp355 type. Thenyou canreuse the res you have.

Cleeecooo · 1 Aug 2011 at 09:25

Biffa said:
Another option is a swiftech radiator, they have about 90% of the performance or the black ice at the same fan speeds but about half the thickness. The other thing is to definitely change your fans, that can make a huge difference, look at the akasa apachd range for affordable or for best performance some scythe gt's. Pump wise i'd look at getting the laing replaced under warranty or get a new 18w mcp355 type. Thenyou canreuse the res you have.

With the black ice rads, seeing as they are quite effective already, most fans will have similar performance as you will most likely be running on low

Biffa · 1 Aug 2011 at 09:34

Just an option if space is an issue the swifty can go inside the case and replace whats there, also price as BI tends to twice the price in comparison.

Remember it could just be a few tweaks to improve the overall temps, a replacemnt pump and some better fans, and, as you said, a fan controller so you can crank it up during games when needed.

deusexlumina · 2 Aug 2011 at 12:30

Thanks very much for the advice guys. Ive managed to get hold of a new swiftech 18W from the thread you suggested cleeecooo. Biffa i'm going with your idea of using the existing top on the pump, as then im pretty sure all will fit ok.

Thanks for the rad suggestions. I think the fans and rad will need to be changed as well, but i'll see how the new pump fares to see how much cooler i need to get the system

A fan controller seems a must now, but the touch screen sentry seems naff - as you correctly pointed out cleeecooo. My problem is the standard bay controllers may not fit in my fractal, as it has a "door" that closes on the drive bays. Anyone used one with a fractal and can tell me whether it fits ok? My fear is the nobs may protrude

p) so much that the door wont shut.

Thanks

edit: also, looking at the pictures, are there any other suggestions people have about improving the performance? re-arrangement/shortening of tubing or anything?

Greboth · 2 Aug 2011 at 12:59

Your general loop set up looks fine in the pictures as far as I can see.

On the subject of rads, as Cleeecooo pointed out Black Ice Sr-1 rads are the king of low fpi performace. Their downside is they are thick rads and they do cost more than other rads. Other possible options is XSPC RX series, low FPI like the black ice, slightly less performance than the black ice and it's a thick rad too but cheaper than Black Ice generally. The other option is as Biffa said the swiftech rads.

The sentry fan controller must be more than 2W per channel surely, 1 fan on its own at full speed can draw more than that. It really all depends on what fans you want to run as how much you will need on each channel but if you can have one with knobs on the front because of the door, how about the Lamptron Touch. Costs more than the Sentry but provides 30 W per channel which should be more than enough.

Fan choice is a personal thing but i they are going on rads, even low fpi rads then try to get something with a high static pressure. Scythe Gentle Typhoons are considered the best for 25mm fans and if you get the 1450rpm or 1850 rpm fans they should be quiet under normal use but give you head room for them to be turned up for heavy gaming sessions. Other possibilities are Akasa vipers or akasa apache's. If you want led fans I don't have any advice as never used the apolish fans but they seem well received.

JeffyB · 2 Aug 2011 at 13:08

It's definitely the rad that's underperforming, the bi gts rads are well known to be poor performers especially if you try to run low speed fans on them. If you want a rad made for low rpm fans the king is the hw labs sr1 but others like the xspc rx and thermochill pa series also come pretty close and scale better with higher rpm should you want to crank it up. How much space do you have left in the rad area as it looks pretty tight there already to fit a thicker rad.

If it were me i would seriously consider a different case that's better suited to watercooling unless you are happy to do a fair amount of modding as i'd usually recommend a 120.3 rad for a cpu+gpu loop.

deusexlumina · 2 Aug 2011 at 13:30

yeah to be honest i got the thin rad because of the space issues, with the idea of attaching the fans and fitting it all inside. Unfortunately, although it "technically" fit, i forgot about the ram! and the ram means the fans in fact don't fit, which is why they are outside now.

I can probably get a bigger rad in there now if the fans are outside, but to be honest i may as well just move everything outside anyway as my desk accommodates this nicely (will post some pictures later).

Trust me i've thought about a new case, but my desk wont accommodate a larger one (once again, will post pics to show you what i mean). Plus i spent ages modding this one, so it'd feel like a wasted effort.

Will report back with some pics and measurements to get a better idea of what rad to get in there

Cleeecooo · 2 Aug 2011 at 15:31

I fancy boys said:
yeah to be honest i got the thin rad because of the space issues, with the idea of attaching the fans and fitting it all inside. Unfortunately, although it "technically" fit, i forgot about the ram! and the ram means the fans in fact don't fit, which is why they are outside now.

I can probably get a bigger rad in there now if the fans are outside, but to be honest i may as well just move everything outside anyway as my desk accommodates this nicely (will post some pictures later).

Trust me i've thought about a new case, but my desk wont accommodate a larger one (once again, will post pics to show you what i mean). Plus i spent ages modding this one, so it'd feel like a wasted effort.

Will report back with some pics and measurements to get a better idea of what rad to get in there

You could have the fans at the top, on the roof of the case which is possible with a fairly simple mod.

You may not need a bigger case - just one which has more space for liquid cooling - if you know what I mean.