Replace Case/Radiator/pump or use existing?

rtho782 · 21 Oct 2014 at 17:09

So, I'm now running an i7 4790k, and 980 SLI, from my previous i7 920 and 7970/7990 trifire, which was watercooled.

I am using the same case - a Lian Li PC-P80. It's an older case but is relatively large.

I have an old Thermochill pa120.3 rad. In fact, I think I have a 2nd one somewhere, along with a load of Gentle Typhoon fans (don't seem to be able to get these anymore).

I also have a Laing D5 and a DDC with an XSPC Restop ( http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/xsacreforlad.html ) and a Swiftech Apogee XT cpu block.

I'm currently cooling the 4790k with a H80i, and the 980s are stock.

I want to go proper watercooling again, and I remember from my initial build plans I can get a pa120.3 in the front of this case in addition to the one I used to run vented out the base (case is on wheels lifting it from the ground).

Thing is, I'm not sure if it's worth just scrapping my old kit and replacing it all?

Are the Thermochills still rated as decent radiators? Are modern pumps/tops much of an improvement? Is the waterblock worth reusing?

I kind of feel a Carbide 540 would be smaller and prettier. Probably allow for neater wiring as well.

However, replacing everything also feels like a bit of a waste. For the cost of some new tubing and two GPU blocks I have everything to make a complete loop....

Thoughts?

P4Clock · 21 Oct 2014 at 20:40

nothing wrong with a ddc and D5, if there working as they should be no point replacing as the only thing you would buy is the same pumps.

And TBF if you have 2 of the pa120.3 rad's, flush them out a few times i cant see a reason why they would not be upto the job of cooling any system

rtho782 · 22 Oct 2014 at 09:18

A big part of me wants a pretty new case and stuff, but you're right and it seems a silly waste.

Previously I used 1/2" ID tubing, so 3/4" OD. I found that this tended to kink after a time though..

Is the 16mm/10mm (thick wall in comparison to tube size) more resistant to this?

To be fair, last time I used nothing but barb fittings as I didn't trust compression fittings, meaning perpendicular to the hole, and had motherboard blocks (on an x58-ud5, so 6 fittings there inc. mosfets) meaning lots of U shaped tubes between motherboard blocks and CPU etc....

P4Clock · 22 Oct 2014 at 18:54

new tubing is more flexible than the old stuff. i use the 10/16 now and i found it to be fantastic but i do also use angled fittings

DataVampire · 23 Oct 2014 at 08:47

I think you will find water cooling has not changed that much since you last did it. it is still the same principles. although manufactures have invested money in research ect, in all honestly I do not think pumps have changed all that much. so your pumps will be fine. as for your case rads ect. it all depends on you, some people change just for change sake or just because they can. while others will hold on to there gear not changing it until something breaks.
Technology for rads has moved on with each new incarnation new performance is there, although from each new incarnation it only shaves off a few degrees. having said that going from a old thermilchill to say a hardware labs nemesis I would have thought there would be massive differences in temps.
You must also remember im pretty sure the older thermochil rads had different mounting spaces so if you upgrade your case if you want to you might have to mod the case to fit the older rads in. again the choice is yours.
I think you will find that for most of the water cooling stuff.

rtho782 · 23 Oct 2014 at 09:12

DataVampire said:
I think you will find water cooling has not changed that much since you last did it. it is still the same principles. although manufactures have invested money in research ect, in all honestly I do not think pumps have changed all that much. so your pumps will be fine. as for your case rads ect. it all depends on you, some people change just for change sake or just because they can. while others will hold on to there gear not changing it until something breaks.
Technology for rads has moved on with each new incarnation new performance is there, although from each new incarnation it only shaves off a few degrees. having said that going from a old thermilchill to say a hardware labs nemesis I would have thought there would be massive differences in temps.
You must also remember im pretty sure the older thermochil rads had different mounting spaces so if you upgrade your case if you want to you might have to mod the case to fit the older rads in. again the choice is yours.
I think you will find that for most of the water cooling stuff.

Thanks for this, really helpful.

The two themochills I have, one is the older wider fan spacing, one is the more recent 15mm spacing. There are holes cut to the base of my PC-P80 to fit the standard 15mm spacing rad. My original plan was to cool the MB/GPU with this loop and use the D5 and 2nd rad in the front to cool the GPUs, but I never got around to the GPU loop.

I have a shopping basket on OcUK coming to just shy of £300 for everything I need, which I think is pretty good considering the 980 blocks make up £180 of that and I've included a new CPU block.

A part of me is tempted to WC the GPUs only and leave the h80i for the CPU.

Edit: I really like the look of these black ice crossflow radiators. Seems like it would have much less flow restriction, I might try one of those...

DataVampire · 23 Oct 2014 at 10:42

I would also advise you to buy some angled fittings, they make life a lot easier when doing your tubing layout, also makes it more aesthetically pleasing to view. although not everyone is bothered in how it looks. they just want raw performance.

You should notice the difference wc your cpu, not perhaps ideal but under stress you should see a big difference, obviously depending on weather you overclock your cpu.

I would also say that you could update your cpu block, in that respect there has been some big changes in designs reaping better cpu temps. I don't know if you was considering upgrading that.

One thing worth considering is this.

Perhaps if money is a bit tight and your worried about wasting money and not gaining any performance is perhaps to just buy new tubing, get some quality fluid, such as mayhems. and just try that, see what temps your getting. then post in here your cooling results and see if it what is expected "then" water cool your graphics cards. your pump will provide enough flow for your loop including the gpus. now what make a difference is not just the rads, ofc the actual fans you strap to the rads, the actual speed you run them, are you after a balls to the wall performance, or do you want/prefer a quite semi quite with adequate cooling performance. reason why I am asking is the cpu block might add more temp to the water because of its age. and as your very well aware its how you actually dissipate the heat. also don't forget the actual case cooling also, which also plays an important part in cooling your system.