Migrating to watercooling?

[paradigm]

I'm thinking of moving to a watercooled setup on my main rig (Intel DX38BT, Q6600, 2x Radeon HD5770, 1x Geforce 9800GT), but am unsure of my options regarding the motherboard (as far as I can tell there are no compatible kits for the Intel board), and am also unsure of the setup I should be looking at (multiple loops, single loop, multiple rads, what pump(s) etc).

I'm not a total novice to watercooling, I used to use a Swiftech H20-120, but the pump failed and I switched back to air (Tuniq Tower 120), but this would be my first custom watercooling setup. I'm also not a novice to extreme cooling as I've owned three phase change units over the years, but I'm now in the pursuit of silence whilst maintaining the performance of my setup.

So, with the above in mind (specifically the quietness), what kind of kit should I be looking for (don't limit yourselves to what OcUK has in their product lineup, but I will be ordering from OcUK if they do have compatible and worthwhile products). The bit that really confuses me is the intricacies, connectors, barbs, what tubing size, etc etc. Pretty sure I want EK blocks, but again this is only going off a slight bit of reading, and aesthetics (I want to stick to a black/silver theme for the blocks if possible).

I shouldn't have a problem with space in my case, but I do want to keep the minimalistic look currently going on, so the ability to hide the res, pump and rad is a priority, I only really want the tubing to be visible, nothing else. This is how my machine looks at present:

Cheers in advance for the help guys.

 

[JonJ678]

I'm also fond of EK blocks. Their main competitor is MIPS who make basically the same things, my preference for EK is based on buying a few of their blocks second hand and some email exchanges with them.

You're correct, there won't be a motherboard block for your particular board. However there are a variety of universal northbridge blocks which will fit, and you can probably find an ek chipset block designed for a different board which happens to have the same hole spacing as your board requires.

The benefit to multiple loops is thermally isolating components. Traditionally separating graphics cards from cpu, as graphics cards don't really care about running at 80 degrees but overclocked processors do. The power dissipated by a radiator is proportional to the temperature difference between the air and the water running through it, so if a 240mm radiator keeps the water at 10 degrees over ambient, expect a 120mm one to keep the water at 20 over ambient. Hence multiple loops lets you use fewer radiators, as you can run loads of graphics cards off a small radiator if you let it run hot.

Block selection is trivial if budget isn't much of a concern and aesthetics is, you just get the ek supreme cpu block and the acetal full cover blocks for whatever cards you want to water cool. These will be black and silver, through luck as much as anything else. Core only gpu blocks with heatsinks on the cards tend to be cheaper and higher performance (less heat dumped into the water) as long as there is still airflow over the cards.

Probably black tubing with compression fittings, I'd suggest 11/8mm tygon with compression fittings as this is what I use and tubing diameter doesn't affect flow measurably. 1/2" ID is the other popular option, which is much chunkier and doesn't bend so well. Or there's any mix of tubing over barbs, not as tidy as compression fittings but arguably easier to install.

Ideal pump is either an 18W or 10W laing ddc. The former will get better performance in a loop with multiple blocks, but the latter is quieter. I'd use the former. The laing D5 is a poor choice here a the low head pressure won't cope with an ek supreme and three graphics blocks.

That much is easy enough, the hard part is radiators. The more the better, and they're big. You're not going to be able to hide them in your case. How do you feel about the radiator(s) being somewhere else, only joined to the case by tubing?

 

[Phunky Phish]

1 loop for ease, 2 loops for better performance.
A 120.4 would do everything easy and looks like you have space in the roof to mod the case to fit one
What would be neat is to move or lose some of those hard drives and mount a DDC in there! Tubes coming out/going in through the left.
OR you could use an XPC res which you fit the DDC's under. Then easy to have dual loop, 10w DDC for CPU and 18w for the cards and fit 2xPA120.2 rads in the roof? But this would mean moving the optical drives and that then loses the bay res option!
Maybe move the PSU to the top and free space in the bottom to mount a/some rads?
OR lose some HDD's, use a 5 1/4 drive mount to get 3xHDD's in the 2 spare optical spaces, then you might be able to mount a 120.2 rad on the fans on the front!

Your biggest problem will be cost of GPU blocks and where to mount the rad.
I personally dont do GPU's as they are the most frequently upgraded component and the blocks add a lot to any upgrade costs! But you might want to do the 9800GT as I assume thats just for physix processing or folding?

By the way, super neat set up there mate.

 

[robgti]

Can i just ask what case is that? Looks very tidy.

 

[paradigm]

I think I'll take some measurements and see if I can get two 120.2 rads in the top of the case, if so then its a dual-loop setup for me. And yes, the nVidia card is just for Physx calculations.

Can i just ask what case is that? Looks very tidy.

Lian Li PC-A71F, and cheers

 

[Biffa]

I've got a PC-A70B which is pretty much the same inside.

You could get a 120.3 in the top and if you are game a 120.1 at the back or a 120.2 behind the drive rack at the bottom.

Lian-Li make a 120.3 top for mine, which is rare as hens teeth, or you could customise it yourself. Problem is the utility ports at the top, but thats not a biggie if you are modding yourself you just need to find somewhere else for them or not use them at all

 

[setter]

Unsure if Lian Li make a triple panel for the top of the a70f's, but its possible to move the power, reset and usb etc into a 5.25 bay with this.

Cant link to it though as its from a competitor.