Planned loop - opinions needed

Ali_Carns · 21 May 2012 at 23:06

Hi All

Planning a new setup this summer, I already have an idea of what kit I want but please do suggest any hardware that you know to be awesome.
I am a little unsure on my loop so please let me know what you guys think, I'm using the Obsidian 800D so there is plenty of room for everything.

Cheers

PS. This is my first post so please be nice

Edit: I've amended the diagram to show water flow direction and air flow.

Avathar77 · 21 May 2012 at 23:12

Hi
Welcome to the forums

First of all tell us a bit about your hardware, what case, CPU, RAM & GPUs do you have?
Also what is your budget?

May I suggest you do some reading first and then get to the watercooling part?
Have a read through the watercooling guids in the forums here and also in
http://martinsliquidlab.org/
http://skinneelabs.com/

P.S
I do not know of a 340mm RAD? is it 360mm?

Ali_Carns · 21 May 2012 at 23:39

thanks for replying

My bad, it was meant to be 360mm, I'm having a look through some of the guides on here now and also on the two you provided.

I have done a CPU loop before but this will be my first full loop system.

I'll be using the following;
Case - Obsidian 800D
CPU - i7 3770k
GPU - Evga GTX 570 Classified x 2
RAM - 16GB Corsair dominator 1866mhz (4x4GB)

lrlcr · 22 May 2012 at 00:19

Are you cooling the ram because you can?

Also, how is your airflow going to go???

Ali_Carns · 22 May 2012 at 01:04

yeah only looking to do it as I think it looks good.

I would set the fans on the 240mm rad to pull and thinking of having fans on both sides of 360mm rad to push/pull but thinking that might be overkill.

Avathar77 · 22 May 2012 at 09:47

Most of the new waterblocks are within just couple of Cs difference to each other temp wise.
So I find it to be a thing of personnel taste(selecting a waterblock).
For example, some might say "DT 5Noz" is the best CPU block so far, but I don't like the looks of it!
I like EK Supreme HF Nickel blocks, but their "Nickel incident" put me off! That is why I went with Koolance CPU 370. But I loved my EK Full Nickel supreme block during the time I had it.

So it is best for you to read and have a look at the different blocks available and then ask if it is good or not.

Ali_Carns · 22 May 2012 at 18:40

Yeah I did read up about that but it's meant to be all good now.

I was looking at having an EK setup;
EK Water Blocks EK-FC580/570 GTX DirectGPU - Acetal
EK Water Blocks EK-FC580/570 GTX Backplate - Black
EK-FC Bridge DUAL Parallel
EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Full Nickel
EK Water Blocks EK-RAM Dominator X4 - Acetal
Swiftech MCR320 360mm
Swiftech MCR220 240mm
Xilence Red Wing 120mm Quiet Fan x6
MCP655 Laing D5 Vario Pump 12v 1/2
EK Dual Bay Spin Reservoir - Acetal

I'm still checking out the reviews for some of the kit but so far they've been good, budget isn't really an issue so I'm more than happy to spend on good products.

Avathar77 · 22 May 2012 at 19:14

As for fans look for Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP14(1450RPM) or Ap15(1850RPM) with a good fan controller(AQ5LT maybe?)

and for the RADs EK CoolStream XT or XTX range!

also get a pump top like "EK-D5 X-Top V2 Acetal"

You will ofc need barbs/compression fittings and tubing

If you don't know how to jump start a PSU invest in a PSU bridging connector.

Kyzou · 23 May 2012 at 15:16

Have you already modded the case, or looked into it? I did it about 2 weeks ago, bit of a beast of a job.

Also can anyone comment on flow direction, I would have thought you would want the CPU to be one of the first things in the loop?

Avathar77 · 23 May 2012 at 15:23

Kyzou said:
Have you already modded the case, or looked into it? I did it about 2 weeks ago, bit of a beast of a job.

Also can anyone comment on flow direction, I would have thought you would want the CPU to be one of the first things in the loop?

Go with the easiest/neatest loop.
It doesn't matter/matters very little if CPU is first or not, eventually the whole loop will come to its equilibrium(as long as heat transfer is active)
Pump needs a constant flow of liquid so RES before PUMP is advised, other than that CPU does not have to be the first!

spixelspixel · 23 May 2012 at 17:39

stay away from the nickel stuff. there is way too many problems with them (corrosion), don't understand why people keep recommending them.

Cleeecooo · 23 May 2012 at 17:40

spixelspixel said:
stay away from the nickel stuff. there is way too many problems with them (corrosion), don't understand why people keep recommending them.

not all nickel products corrode.

That's like saying stay away from AMD, there are too many problems wit their drivers!

spixelspixel · 23 May 2012 at 17:48

Cleeecooo said:
not all nickel products corrode.

That's like saying stay away from AMD, there are too many problems wit their drivers!

But why take the risk and buy something that is potentially going to corrode when there is plenty of other options.

Cleeecooo · 23 May 2012 at 17:51

spixelspixel said:
But why take the risk and buy something that is potentially going to corrode when there is plenty of other options.

If you like the looks?

Ali_Carns · 24 May 2012 at 00:45

@Avathar77 - Yeah I think I will get a pump top, then I'll mount the pump in the bay just below the res, fan wise I'm looking to have black/red but then I could always spray paint. fan controller wise I was looking at Lamptron FC5 V2.

@Kyzou -I thought the 800D was watercool friendly, did you really have to do that much modding?? Can you add a pic and go through what you did.

@spixelspixel - Yeah I'm aware of the corrosion/staining issues with the nickel blocks, I was just reading another thread by rjkoneill which is pretty useful, I’ll be doing more research before I decide on my final kit.

Avathar77 · 24 May 2012 at 00:48

EK is not the only one who has nickel blocks! but EK is the only one who has problems with plating and blames end users!