New to watercooling. Will this setup work?

Dr_Doom

Dr_Doom

Dr_Doom

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30 Sep 2007
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Stoke-on-Trent
Hi,

I was going to go with a Corsair H100 to fit in the top of my 500R case, but having read some poor reviews & people having problems I’ve decided to try my first watercooled set up instead!

I only want to cool the CPU and hopefully use the top slot of the 500R case to put the radiator. As I’m going to the trouble of water cooling, i want it to look good & have a visible bay at the front of the PC. I’ve got a couple of UV cathode tubes to put inside and I’m wondering if white UV coolant with Blue UV tubes would look ok?

I've already ordered a Black ice stealth 240 radiator which should fit the top of the case and i've got 2x Scythe Gentle Typhoon's to cool it.

This is what i had planned for the rest of the kit, but being completely new to this I’d appreciate any advice / input on what to get. It could be that it's all incompatible for all i know! :)



EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Copper Plexi

XSPCX2O 750 Dual 5.25” Bay Reservoir Pump

Masterkleer Hose Pack PVC 19/13mm (1/2ID) UV-Reactive Blue 3.3m

6x EK 12mm (1/2") G1/4 High-Flow Barb Fitting

Mayhems Pastel - Ice White Coolant 1L



Would this work? Are there any other parts i need? Will 1L of coolant be enough?

Thanks for all your help ;)
 
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I would change the CPU block for the nickle HF plexi!

That pump and res is a total waste of time, as a lot of users have problems of the pump giving up on them. I would suggest getting a D5 pump with a top and then a EK single bay res. However, this might be hard if you have a tight budget, what is your budget btw :)?

Also, I would go for 7/16" tubing with OcUk's fat boy style 1/2" barbs as you won't need any clips then. Personally, I would get clear tubing then get a choice of your coolant!

If the pump and res I have speced you is too much or not be enough space in the case, this and this

Any of the pumps I have speced you is good enough to add GPU(s) in there in the future!

Also, 1L of coolant will be plenty!
 
Thanks for the reply ;)

I've updated my list, does this look better? Budget is flexible but i don't want to go too crazy (Approx £200) I'm not sure i'll end up water cooling the gfx card as i've only recently bought this and it doesnt look like there's a water block for it :(

OcUK Tech Lab - D5 Vario Pump & Alphacool Clear HF D5 Top Value Combo

EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi

EK Single Bay Reservoir - Acetal

Mayhems Pastel - Ice White Coolant 1L

XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear

8 x OcUK 1/2" G1/4 - FatBoy Style - Shiny Silver - Barb Fitting [63250]

This comes to about £210. The 500R case has removal drive bays if i cant fit the pump anywhere else. Am i right thinking i'll need 8 of the barbed connectors? Also, how much tubing do you think i'll need as the clear stuff is priced per meter? Does the HF waterblock come with a fitting kit as i noticed there was one for sale separately, and will i need to buy a mounting kit for the pump?

Sorry for all the questions, really appreciate your help ;)
 
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you'll need a rad, with the 400r you may not have enough room in the roof for a rad in the top though
 
KiiYzOo said:
you'll need a rad, with the 400r you may not have enough room in the roof for a rad in the top though
Click to expand...

I've already ordered a Black ice stealth 240 radiator which will hopefully fit in the top of the case and i've got 2x Scythe Gentle Typhoon's to cool it. If it doesn't fit i could probably fit it on the inside with the fans on top pulling instead of pushing.
 
I would suggest returning the Black ice Stealth if you havent used it already and getting maybe an XSPC RX/RS series radiator instead. The Black Ice Stealth Radiators are notoriously bad performers if I remember correctly, and your awesome GT's would be wasted on them :(
 
Your shopping list is looking a lot better now! :)

From what people say on here, you will see a lot of people will spec you the "masterkleer" as overall, its better quality tubing. It can also withstand a high temperature compared to the XSPC 73c > 60c. And also has a thicker wall on the tubing which will mean having a less chance of kinking occuring!

2 barbs per component.

2 meters of tubing would suffice but I would go with 3 meters for the extra £3 as the spare can come in handy if you want to add more blocks/rads in the future. Or if you make mistakes.

The CPU block comes with the fittings to install onto the CPU so your fine there, and it also comes with some MX 4 paste which is good!

I forgot to mention, I would also get this, it's used to fill and bleed the loop and its a must have! A pair of hose cutters may be required also, but I'm sure a sharp stanley blade or a nice pair of sharp sissors will do the job!

For mounting the pump, you can pump it to the case with bolts or get something like this.

A few tips though:

You want the loop order something like this: Res|Pump|CPU|Rad then back to res. You want the Res to be before the pump to make it a lot easier to fill.

When you are filling/bleeding the loop, make sure you have that PSU adapter connected to the 24 pin PSU cable and make sure the pump is connected via molex. Also, you can connect the fans! Make sure NOTHING else is connected other than 24pin, pump. Connecting things such as: 8 pin CPU and hard drives can cause serious damage and data loss.

You may find getting the 7/16" tubing onto the 1/2" barbs a challange, so best thing to do is get a hot boiling cup or water, set the end of the tube in there for about 10 seconds, and fit it to the barb. It makes it easy to fit it to the barb but also moulds it self to the barb.

A few 45 and 90 degree angle fittings may be required for any tight spots or for any kinking that occurs.
 
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Dr_Doom said:
Thanks for the reply ;)

I've updated my list, does this look better? Budget is flexible but i don't want to go too crazy (Approx £200) I'm not sure i'll end up water cooling the gfx card as i've only recently bought this and it doesnt look like there's a water block for it :(

OcUK Tech Lab - D5 Vario Pump & Alphacool Clear HF D5 Top Value Combo

EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi

EK Single Bay Reservoir - Acetal

Mayhems Pastel - Ice White Coolant 1L

XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear

8 x OcUK 1/2" G1/4 - FatBoy Style - Shiny Silver - Barb Fitting [63250]

This comes to about £210. The 400R case has removal drive bays if i cant fit the pump anywhere else. Am i right thinking i'll need 8 of the barbed connectors? Also, how much tubing do you think i'll need as the clear stuff is priced per meter? Does the HF waterblock come with a fitting kit as i noticed there was one for sale separately, and will i need to buy a mounting kit for the pump?

Sorry for all the questions, really appreciate your help ;)
Click to expand...

HF block comes with fitting kit.

3m is enough tubing, i'd get masterkleer stuff as it's much better

you need two barbs per component :)

Dr_Doom said:
I've already ordered a Black ice stealth 240 radiator which will hopefully fit in the top of the case and i've got 2x Scythe Gentle Typhoon's to cool it. If it doesn't fit i could probably fit it on the inside with the fans on top pulling instead of pushing.
Click to expand...

EX rad would be bette than the GTS. If you can i'd return i under DSR
 
cleeecooo, the ex rad is too thick as the black ice stealth may only just fit, as the case was designed to fit the h100 which uses a 25mm rad! also my black ice stealth gts lite was good, although it was a 360mm rad :p
 
KiiYzOo said:
Cleeecooo, the ex rad is too thick as the black ice stealth may only just fit, as the case was designed to fit the h100 which uses a 25mm rad! also my black ice stealth gts lite was good, although it was a 360mm rad :p
Click to expand...

it's not a bad rad, just not the best, fair enouh about thickness though
 
Ben-Irvine93 said:
Your shopping list is looking a lot better now! :)

From what people say on here, you will see a lot of people will spec you the "masterkleer" as overall, its better quality tubing. It can also withstand a high temperature compared to the XSPC 73c > 60c. And also has a thicker wall on the tubing which will mean having a less chance of kinking occuring!
Click to expand...

I've noticed people recommend the masterkleer tubing but it's out of stock at the moment and i'm local to OcUK so was hoping to just call in for the stuff. They might have some in soon though. Good call on the bridging connector. I knew i needed one from reading the guide on here but i'd forgotten all about it!

As for the pumps you recommended, would you say the D5 pump is better than the Laing one? I’m wondering which will look better inside the case as the Laing one would have the reservoir on top of it. Any ideas which would be the quietest? Thanks for all the great advice. Glad i asked now ;)
 
Dr_Doom said:
I've noticed people recommend the masterkleer tubing but it's out of stock at the moment and i'm local to OcUK so was hoping to just call in for the stuff. They might have some in soon though. Good call on the bridging connector. I knew i needed one from reading the guide on here but i'd forgotten all about it!

As for the pumps you recommended, would you say the D5 pump is better than the Laing one? I’m wondering which will look better inside the case as the Laing one would have the reservoir on top of it. Any ideas which would be the quietest? Thanks for all the great advice. Glad i asked now ;)
Click to expand...

D5 is silent on lower settings and is possibly the best pump on the market
 
Cheers for the radiator advice. I think the max thickness for the top of the 500R case is 30mm. Hopefully the GTS 240 will be ok for just cooling the CPU. I can always add another rad somwhere else later on if i expand.
 
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Dr_Doom said:
I've noticed people recommend the masterkleer tubing but it's out of stock at the moment and i'm local to OcUK so was hoping to just call in for the stuff. They might have some in soon though. Good call on the bridging connector. I knew i needed one from reading the guide on here but i'd forgotten all about it!

As for the pumps you recommended, would you say the D5 pump is better than the Laing one? I’m wondering which will look better inside the case as the Laing one would have the reservoir on top of it. Any ideas which would be the quietest? Thanks for all the great advice. Glad i asked now ;)
Click to expand...

You could send them a webnote or just call in and ask when they will get them in. If not, try else where.

The D5 pump is overall the best, but it is huge with the top (about size of your palm). The DDC 18W is a very good pump aswel, but like I said, maybe the DDC with the top res may be better for you if the D5 is to big for the case. They are both great pumps, but the D5 OVERALL is the best.
 
Dr_Doom said:
D5 it is then! ;) Sorry to sound like a noob but do the pump tops make much difference as it's a toss up between the Alphacool Clear HF or the EK D5 X-Top V2.
Click to expand...

They add more performance to the pump (not sure how) but they do. Go with the Alphacool as its plexi, its cheaper and offers the same performance to the EK.
 
Dr_Doom said:
D5 it is then! ;) Sorry to sound like a noob but do the pump tops make much difference as it's a toss up between the Alphacool Clear HF or the EK D5 X-Top V2.
Click to expand...

Top makes a difference, but different tops are about the same

Ben-Irvine93 said:
They add more performance to the pump (not sure how) but they do. Go with the Alphacool as its plexi, its cheaper and offers the same performance to the EK.
Click to expand...

+1 :D:D
 
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