Need a sanity check on this

Mitzy

Mitzy

Mitzy

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Joined
1 May 2012
Posts
734
Location
London
Hey,

I'm flying blind her, but I think I've got the basics and they match, can you have a look and see what you think?

  • Would you recommend any changes?
  • What is a pump top?
  • I'm aiming for small here, can you shrink the overall size anymore?


YOUR BASKET
2 x EK DCP 4.0 Pump (12v) £39.98 (£79.96)
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (120) £39.98
1 x EK Supreme LTX CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi £32.99
1 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 19/13mm (1/2ID) Clear 3.3m £12.70
4 x EK 12mm (1/2") G1/4 High-Flow Barb Fitting £2.96 (£11.84)
Total : £188.89 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
Do you need 2 pumps?? 1 is fine.

you will need 2 more barbs though .......... 2 for the rad, 2 for pump and 2 for block. so 6 in total.

A top goes on a pump to improve flow rate and usually provides extra options for fitting of different barbs/connectors.
 
I honestly couldn't tell you what performance would be like on that, 1x120mm rad sounds bad to me, but depends what you are cooling.

Considering the cost, and the lack of real cooling power, would one of the premade Antec/Corsair kits probably not work better. I wouldn't imagine they'd cool better, but I wouldn't imagine they would be much worse either.

The difference is for £50-60 you can have a antec all in one solution and probably 80% of the performance, or £190 for not much better cooling.

However take that £150 to £180, you suddenly have a 2x120mm or 3x120mm cooling setup and much better cooling(lower temps and way lower noise).

For small as well an all in one won't be easy to beat unless Swiftech do a 120mm rad with pump included(not checked lately but they started doing them in bigger size rads last time I was really looking into it).

I'm as a stop gap using a Antex 920 before moving to a silly watercooling system(9x120mm rad external/rad box/hopefully all but silent). Heavily overclocked it can heat up and get a bit noisy but still with very good cpu temps, at stock it really is silent even under full load with very good temps.
 
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Do some more research first, the pump you have picked is not one most would go for, noise and unreliable from what I have heard, compression fittings are better and look better and can be had for 50p more each fitting, personally I would go for a bigger radiator, also don't forget fan/s and water.

As above as well, if you are trying to shrink it for cost cutting purpose I would recommend an all in one solution.
 
drunkenmaster said:
Considering the cost, and the lack of real cooling power, would one of the premade Antec/Corsair kits probably not work better. I wouldn't imagine they'd cool better, but I wouldn't imagine they would be much worse either.

The difference is for £50-60 you can have a antec all in one solution and probably 80% of the performance, or £190 for not much better cooling.
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Thanks for your reply :)

I had looked at the all in one solutions and while the would appear to be ideal for me as I only want to cool an i5 IB at the moment none of the kits seem to have enough length on the tubing to allow me to place the locate the radiator and fan.

I figured the next logical step would be to investigate a DIY job which would allow me more freedom. The case I'll be using is a Lian Li C50, space is a real economy with this one.

Do you think it's doable, would the single rad cool an i5 with a moderate overclock?
 
hyperst said:
Do some more research first, the pump you have picked is not one most would go for, noise and unreliable from what I have heard, compression fittings are better and look better and can be had for 50p more each fitting, personally I would go for a bigger radiator, also don't forget fan/s and water.

As above as well, if you are trying to shrink it for cost cutting purpose I would recommend an all in one solution.
Click to expand...

I've just been hitting YouTube looking at tutorials videos and seen lots of positives on the compression fittings.

The thing that cause me the most confusion are all the various fitting specs, I think it's going to take a lot more research before I'm more knowledgeable.

What pump would you recommend?
 
hyperst said:
Do some more research first, the pump you have picked is not one most would go for, noise and unreliable from what I have heard.
Click to expand...

Where have you read that the EK 4.0 pump is noisy and unreliable?

Theres a thread complaining of noise here but several posters responded saying it runs silently. Xtremesystems also contains info holding it in high regard.
 
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1 x EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi £56.99
1 x EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (120) £39.98
1x EK DCP 4.0 Pump (12v) £39.98
1 x EK Multioption Reservoir X2 150 Basic £28.98
1 x Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 19/13mm (1/2ID) Clear 3.3m £12.70
8 x EK 12mm (1/2") G1/4 High-Flow Barb Fitting £23.68(for all 8)
8 x PrimoChill Black Steel Spring Clips - 1/2" £5.60 (for all 8)


£220 inc shipping


what case do u have ? would recommend a bigger radiator tbh something like

1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator SR1 360 £68.98 if u have the room for it ( forgot u'll also need fans depending on wot rad u finally decide to get u'll need some of these
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM - 3 Pin)

main thing I can recommend before u buy is research


also a cheaper route would be to look at the kits , for very basic kit u could choose

EK-KIT H3O 120 LTX Performance Watercooling Kit £128

but if u got room for a 360 rad EK-KIT H3O 360 HFX High Performance Watercooling Kit £215 is a option
 
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Phobya g changer rads are probably the best value for money, so I'd go for those.

As you're looking for small, you may want to consider EX rads aswell.

Also, why not just go for 7/16 tubing and forgo the clips?
 
A laing ddc pump with an after market top is pretty much what I would recommend, on the plus side it is pretty small, along with 7/16 tubing and EK 7/16 comp fittings
 
true cleeec 7/16 would be better on the 1/2 inch barb , nice tight fit ,

I find the ek comp fittings not to be that good specialy with mask tubing getting em to fasten so the 1/2 inc barbs would be much better imo
 
Richard2012 said:
true cleeec 7/16 would be better on the 1/2 inch barb , nice tight fit ,

I find the ek comp fittings not to be that good specialy with mask tubing getting em to fasten so the 1/2 inc barbs would be much better imo
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I also found on masterkleer tubing they are a little tight, they are much easier with xspc tubing though.
 
yer I tried mast tubing with ek comps and could only get half a turn before they locked so didn't give me much confidance with so much thread showing so stuck with barbs
 
Thanks

I'm not really thinking about adding a gfx to the loop but I am thinking about a new case in the future and I'd want to size up for more OC potential.
 
Mitzy said:
Thanks

I'm not really thinking about adding a gfx to the loop but I am thinking about a new case in the future and I'd want to size up for more OC potential.
Click to expand...

My recommendation would be to wait (presuming you already have a half decent cooler?) and do the whole job properly once you've decided what you're going to do.

no point planning to do something, and actually doing something else :)
 
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