New to Watercooling, few Q's

Ghosteh

Ghosteh

Ghosteh

Soldato
Joined
18 Mar 2006
Posts
4,148
Location
Liverpool
Hey guys,

I've recently ended up building a new rig consisting of the following;
i7 920 D0 @ 4Ghz
Asus P6T SE
3x2GB Patriot DDR3 @800MHz
2x XFX 5870 Crossfire
Corsair H50-1
1kW Zalman PSU
Assortment of HDDs lol.
Plus just placed an order for an Obsidian 800D

Anyway, due to the motherboard layout, the 2 cards are right next to each other, causing the cards to get rather warm. I've setup a fan profile using MSI Afterburner to increase the fan speed and keep the temps down a bit more, but this has obviously increased noise some what.

Now I've got a bit more money in my back pocket(£4K/Year Pay rise as of last month :D), and due to the fact I share my room with 3 other guys, I'd really like to go the water-cooling route, and I'm looking at getting the following parts;

EK Supreme LT Acetal CPU Water Block
2x EK HD 5870 Acetal Full Cover Block
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario
XSPC RX360 120mm Radiator
EK Multioption Reservoir 250
1/2" Tubing, possibly thick walled
Assortment of G1/4 1/2" ID Fittings
Fluids etc



Now I'm a TOTAL n00b at watercooling, I've never seen a WC'ed rig in my life, so got a few questions.
Am I missing anything?? lol.
Would you guys who are experienced in this go for compression fittings or normal ones with hose ties?
Also how much tubing would I be looking at getting for the above loop?
And finally(for now) What sorta setup arrangment would I be looking at? Is it best to go for Pump>Res>CPU>GPU>Rad>Pump or Pump>Res>GPU>CPU>Rad>Pump or something completly different?

Cheers for any help fellas :D.
 
Sorry yeah, I did mean to say Res>Pump as I don't expect the pump to push water directly up to the top of my case lol.

As for the fittings, why are compression fittings so much more difficult to fit? Trying to get a watertight seal on them or what?
 
Cheers for the input guys. I'm probably going to look at getting 7/16 ID Tubing and heat them over 1/2 barbs, then put on some zipties for extra safety. Is it as bulky as 1/2 ID tubing? I quite like the chunky look. I know it's only 1/16th of an inch, just dunno how that ends up looking in person lol.
As for the barbs, I'll probably end up going for Bitspower Matt Black barbs rather than the compression fittings, think they'll look ok with the Acetal covers.

For the loop, would a single 480 Rad be OK to keep things cool? Or would it be better with a dual rad setup? I'm just wondering about space in the case(Which should be coming tomorrow so I'll measure up then)

Also, would you think the EK Supreme i7 will be better than the EK Supreme LT? Guessing it's a newer design.
 
From what I've seen, you can't fit a quad without modding, seen people that have extended the grills at the top of the case from triple to quad and looks quite tidy, I just don't fancy cutting a new case I've just spent far too much money on lol. So What I'll probably end up doing is using a triple at the top of the case, and depending on space I'll probably add another in-line rad, either a 120 internal, or 240 external.
 
The case has fitting for a 360 rad at the top, and also has a 120mm fan at the rear of the case, the usual extractor fan position near the CPU, so I'll probably end up using that to mount a 120 rad. I wasn't too sure about the performance of multi-rad set-ups so thanks for clearing that up for me, I'll more than likely go with the 360+120 option rather than modding anything.

I can't quite understand how you've described to set-up the dual rads though? Will probably make a bit more sense once I have parts in front of me and I'm coming up with the layout/tube lengths/leak testing etc. I'll still have a think about where I could place a fill port on the case with a slight mod, or if I can't decide I'll just zip tie one inside somewhere.

As for tubing, I'm still trying to decide on what to get. Whether or not I fancy clear tubing and coloured liquid, or coloured tubing and clear liquid, and if I should bother looking at Anti Kink coils for their benefit, or even aesthetics.
 
Ah I see what you mean about the stacked now, and how you talked about the tubes in from one etc.

How would this work as a set up? (excuse the crappy photoshopness :p)

BasicWC-2.jpg


Basically the one going from Pump to Rad at the top will most likely be routed though the cable management holes behind the motherboard.
From the PSU I've got it going into a 120 to reduce the temperature slightly before entering the XFired cooling blocks.. Is that worth it? Or would it be better to try and drop the temperature as much as possible by going from Rad to Rad then to the CPU and straight into the XFire?
 
Yeah, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of options to place an additional 120, but I can't confirm it until I see the case in person.

I'm not totally sure how many 5 1/4" bays I'll be using, but I'll more than likely end up getting a fan controller installed in one of them, as well as my DVD drive.

I've seen a mod to remove the internal 3.5" Bays, the ones at the base of the case, as I'll probably only use the 4 hot swappable bays which are behind that 120mm fan, and get either a 120 or possibly even a 240 rad installed there. But the less modding the better personally, not that I'm not capable, I just don't fancy cutting up the case if there's other solutions out there lol.
 
When it was first mentioned on another forum, I didn't realise the difference between the multi loop system and multi rad, but now I do realise lol. I'm not overly concerned about having a separate loop at the moment for the XFire GPUs if I can get away with good temps on the 360+120 rads. Maybe I'll end up looking at a multi loop system in the future, but for now, the single loop should be fine.

Regarding the pumps, what are the pros of the DDC's? I can see they're cheaper, and also smaller, but how is their performance? I know you said I don't NEED a D5, but money isn't a mahoosive deal at the moment, now that Christmas is out the way at least, the girlfriend got everything she wanted so should be off my back at least for a while lol.
 
Cheers for knocking that up. Hmm yeah, hadn't thought about a 3rd 120, which could make sense seen as the case has a 120mm fan hole built into the bottom.

What is the advantage of the flow rates going up in the graphics cards as a result of the parallel connectors?

Also, with the drain pipe/fill pipe, would you connect them to the same point on the res using a Y or T connector? Or place them on two separate points? Just looking at the EK Res and it has 4 holes?
 
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I see how you mean now, I'll get 2 connectors then for that :p.

As for the res, you've cleared that up a bit now. I take it you can use either one of the pairs, i.e. Top and Bottom, and 2 sides, for either fill/drain & in & out flow.
Think the route I'd go for would be in/out on the side, fill connected to the top, and drain connected lower close to the pump, keep it out the way. Also for the drain, would you just go for a plug, or some type of valve which you can open/close easier? I dunno how often I'd end up draining it, so don't know if I necessarily need the convenience of a valve heh.
 
matt100 said:
I don't think thats really what he was getting at, you're still effectively pushing water to one block and then the other, the way I read what he said was like having a y splitter feeding each block equally.
Click to expand...

I don't think that would work as if you had a Y splitter directly below and fed both holes you wouldn't create any flow though the block as they'd simply flow though the fittings and out the other side? Unless how you mean is have a Y splitter, then feed each card individually?
With the one entry point, it should split naturally to create equal pressure and run though the cards? Correct me if I'm wrong, still trying to understand, obviously lol.

Either way I'll most likely end up going the parallel route heh.
 
Ah suppose using two makes sense, better to be safe than sorry! hah.

I take it you mean this one too for the DCC+XSPC? May think about that actually. Depends on the look I suppose, I'll take a look at some WC threads around the internet, see what I fancy :).
 
No need to worry about long replies mate, I prefer them, better than a single line trying to explain stuff lol.

I take it M20 are metric measurements of screw threads?
And how come a completely full res is better performance? Just the amount of available water to be cooled, or the overall pressure in the loop?

Sorry for all the bone questions, want to understand more of the concept behind water cooling, rather than simply getting a system working heh.

EDIT:

Also a quick question about fans, what's the best thing to go for? Higher Static Pressure, or Higher Airflow? I'm guessing higher static pressure for high density rads? Only because I've not long bought myself a pair of Noctua NF-S12B fans, and I really like them, quiet with good airflow(100.6 m3/h and 1.31 mm H2O @ 1200RPM), will this be suitable? Or should I look for anything else more specifically?
 
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Thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.. piece of cake mate ;) lol.

But yeah, I understand about the turbulence thinking about it, I suppose not having a steady flow would affect performance. Didn't realise the pumps would be so powerful they'd drag air in mind you! So yeah, having a fill tube 1/2 filled would make sense.

Just received and put together my 800D too, and good christ to god it's big, and heavy, especially walking around 1KM with it across base, wasn't the most fun experience lol. The extractor fan and intake fan on the base of the case are actually 140mm fans, so I'd have no issue in putting two extra 120 rads in there what so ever. Also think I could move into the case if ever the need arise haha.

Just asking this again, as you were most likely typing out your response when I did my edit. Just a quick question about fans, what's the best thing to go for? Higher Static Pressure, or Higher Airflow? I'm guessing higher static pressure for high density rads? Only because I've not long bought myself a pair of Noctua NF-S12B fans, and I really like them, quiet with good airflow(100.6 m3/h and 1.31 mm H2O @ 1200RPM), will this be suitable? Or should I look for anything else more specifically?

And no problem bifday2k, glad my thread has been able to help others :).
 
Yeah, had seen them, had actually wondered how it would work exactly, but I think I've got it figured out. I think I'm going to go with the single loop option using the EK Multioption Reservoir 250 Rev 2, just something about it I like, think it'll look quite tidy :D.

Unfortunately, after looking at my credit card statement, and my payday, and after a bit of calculation, I won't be getting this in about 3 months as planned :(.
Totally going to end up getting it at the end of this month, or very beginning of February, my calculations came out better than expected haha, can't wait :D.
 
Just had a quick scour around the internet, and I see what you mean about the San Ace being hard to find! hah, I think I'll look at getting the Scythe Gentle Typhoons, found them on-line for around £11, which doesn't seem to bad if they're as good as you say. I'll most likely end up using some sort of fan controller to alternate speed on the radiators so I can slow them down when needed.

No worries about the NF-S12B either, once I get my kit, I'll be flogging my H50-1, and I'll sell them with them fans most likely, or at least one, as they well out performed what Corsair provided with it.

Regarding the 140 rads too, I actually had a quick look around but couldn't see anything, and I'm sure the 120s will do me fine. But it could be an interesting option in the future when I end up upgrading components in the system, as I'm planning on keeping this case for quite some time. And I can't wait to see how heavy it'll be once all the kits in there, and filled up with water haha :D.
 
Put together what I think will be my final purchase list, can you just check it over and see what you think? Anything I've forgotten, or anything you'd change? Cheers dudes :D.

EK-Supreme HighFlow CPU Block - Acetal - £53.12
2 x EK-FC5870 5870 CF - Acetal - £155.28

XSPC RX360 Black - £71.09
2 x XSPC RX120 Black - Barb Size None - £71.06
5 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM Cooling Fan - £54.95

12V Laing D5 Vario Pump - £71.51

EK Multioption RES 250 - £35.76

12 x Bitspower 1/4" BSPP - 1/2" ID Hose Tail - Matte Black - £34.20
6 x Bitspower 1/4" BSPP 45 Degree Rotary Fitting - Matte Black - £55.14
3 x Bitspower 1/4" BSPP Blank Fitting - Matte Black - £7.65
2 x 1/4" BSPP Variable SLI VID Connector 1/2/3 Slot Pack £16.34
1/2" - 1/2" Highflow Y Splitter - Nickel Plated - £2.23
1/4" BSPP Ball Valve - £2.49

7/16" ID - 5/8" OD Clear Hose (XSPC) - Hose Length 5 Meters - £9.93
PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils 5/8"- Clear - £5.50
Black PVC Hose Clip 5/8" OD (10 Pack) - £4.29
4 x Black PVC Hose Clip 5/8" OD - £1.96
Thermochill EC6 Non Conductive Coolant - Clear/UV Blue - £18.38

Hose Cutter (10-40mm) - £8.99

12" Quad CCFL UV Light Kit - Sharkoon - £12.25

PTFE Tape - £0.99

Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus - Black £27.58


Total - £720.69
 
When you say the HK, I take it you mean HeatKiller? Or is it some block from EK?
Had actually forgot to add the XTop, I'd seen it the other day but forgot to add it to my list.
Got the Y so I can add a drain line at the base near the pump.
As for tube length, I had no idea tbh, just added loads so I could have plenty in case I made too many screw ups and end up with not enough left lol.
Is it OK to use dyes in distilled water? I'm ideally looking for it to be either clear or UV blue you see. How much does a loop usually take too? The ones I listed are actually 2x1Litre bottles of coolant.
Regarding the cutter, I don't have any shops scissors, or knives or anything lol.
 
Regarding the cost, Yeah I know it's quite steep, but I suppose that's more because it's an initial set-up cost, where I'm getting everything in one go, where as I'm sure most people do it in stages over years, upgrading this or that, getting new blocks for new chips and what not.

As for phase, I don't think it looks quite a cool, even though it's 'cooler' lol :p, I won't lie, this is partially for aesthetics as well as performance.
 
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