So...I'm About To Build My First Watercooling System!

Prof. Cheese

Prof. Cheese

Prof. Cheese

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After weeks of collecting bits and piece of watercooling stuff, I'm close to being ready to make the build! :)

Need some advice before I get to that stage first though. To make things simple, here is what I'm looking to achieve

  • EVERYTHING must be contained within the PC case
    [*]Silence/very quiet operation at all times
    [*]Cooling of 2 GTX 280s and my i7
    [*]Minimum of 4Ghz on the i7 (matching what I achieve comfortably on air)
    [*]Some OCing of the GTX 280s but really this is just a bonus

Here are the parts I have acquired thusfar:

  • Mountain Mods U2-UFO Case
    [*]XSPC Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump
    [*]HW Black Ice GTX240 Radiator
    [*]EK FC 280GTX Waterblock
    [*]XSPC Razor GTX280 Watrblock
    [*]EK-Supreme LT i7 Acetal Waterblock
    [*]Countless fans of all shapes and sizes
    [*]Halfords Car Battery Water (5 litres)
    [*]Tygon 3603 Tubing
    [*]Various barbs, elbows etc.

Will need to get some more tubing and elbows etc. but I'll probably leave that until last.

I'm aware that I need some kind of anti-bacterial element to go in the reservoir. Any recommendations?

Would quite like the liquid to be bright and colourful. What's the best way to achieve this on a shoestring budget? Really not fussed about this, so if it incurs any real cost then I won't bother.

Now, the main thing I need assistance with is the capability of the components I have so far. I have been told already that the XSPC Dual Bay Reservoir will not be enough to cool 2 GTX 280s and my i7. Is this correct? If so, some recommendations on the sort of thing I should be getting please.

Finally, if there's anything in my setup that should be altered please let me know. And have I missed anything?!

Really keen to get this project underway now. :)
 
Not sure on the pump, but the radiator certainly isn't up to maintaining a 4GHz o/c on the CPU with two 280s. I think realistically you'd be looking at a minimum of a triple rad on top of that - you can just about get away with a single rad on CPU if you suffer loud fans and high temperatures, and a dual rad is a sensible size for CPU alone.
Each 280 produces more heat than your overclocked CPU (unless you use silly voltages) so you'll need at least a triple to cool both of them, although you'd do better with a triple and a single/two duals on top of your current dual radiator.


Dye is to be avoided - coloured tubing is best for colour.
 
As above with the dye and rad, you can fit a 360 rad in that case, just need the right fan spacing.

Dont think you'll fit a 240 in there without putting a vent in the side panel, you can however fit a 120 in there although id imagine this would be on the limit for cooling.

If you haven't already then look on Mountain Mods site, they've got a user gallery there with people that have put watercooling in the U2-UFO.

Looking forward to the build though, could be really good

:)

edit; the bay res and pump are capable of CPU only loops i think, there is a lot of restriction in 3 waterblocks so i dont think it will be man enough
 
Definetly two loops, both with 360s I reckon, if your gonna do it do it properly first time out. you could get away with the 240 for the GPU's if you really wanted to.
If it was me loop 1 would be 18w pump, CPU, Northbridge and maybe mosfets, not sure on the chips on these boards as I havn't had the need to go to X58 yet.
Loop two can be both the GPU's with your pump/rez.
Good idea to have res's for both loops.
This will be a lot more efficient than what your suggesting.
Another good idea is a fan controller.
Can get expensive can watercooling when you start getting the decent stuff.
 
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Im very close to building my first water cooling rig and it will be interesting to follow the developements of this one.

/subscribed
 
miniyazz said:
Not sure on the pump, but the radiator certainly isn't up to maintaining a 4GHz o/c on the CPU with two 280s. I think realistically you'd be looking at a minimum of a triple rad on top of that - you can just about get away with a single rad on CPU if you suffer loud fans and high temperatures, and a dual rad is a sensible size for CPU alone.
Each 280 produces more heat than your overclocked CPU (unless you use silly voltages) so you'll need at least a triple to cool both of them, although you'd do better with a triple and a single/two duals on top of your current dual radiator.


Dye is to be avoided - coloured tubing is best for colour.
Click to expand...

So I need another 2 dual rads?! :eek:

And maybe another pump/reservoir too?! :eek::eek:

Dang, this is gonna end up costing a fortune! :mad: :rolleyes: :D

Would I at least be able to cool the motherboard with all these extra bits thrown in?
 
Banny said:
Definetly two loops, both with 360s I reckon, if your gonna do it do it properly first time out. you could get away with the 240 for the GPU's if you really wanted to.
If it was me loop 1 would be 18w pump, CPU, Northbridge and maybe mosfets, not sure on the chips on these boards as I havn't had the need to go to X58 yet.
Loop two can be both the GPU's with your pump/rez.
Good idea to have res's for both loops.
This will be a lot more efficient than what your suggesting.
Another good idea is a fan controller.
Can get expensive can watercooling when you start getting the decent stuff.
Click to expand...

So you're disagreeing with miniyazz and saying that my radiator is OK for both GTX 280s (in a seperate loop)? I'm not looking for massive overclocks, just reasonable ones coupled with very low volume.

And my pump/res will be fine for this loop also, but I need a better one for the CPU/motherboard?

Already have one fan controller but I've realised it isn't really sufficient. Am going to get 2 5.25" bay controllers that both control 6 fans individually.
 
Prof. Cheese said:
That would be great if I can get away with that Jokester. But would that mean replacing my current radiator and res/pump or would you say they are sufficient?
Click to expand...
It'll work, but you won't get great temps which means you will likely need to run the fans at a higher rpm.
 
Jokester said:
It'll work, but you won't get great temps which means you will likely need to run the fans at a higher rpm.
Click to expand...

Interesting. As I already have it all I may as well give it a go then! :)

What kind of equipment would you recommend to achieve what I'm looking for then Jokester? Really don't want to have a noisy system, it's my main reason for going to water. Currently whilst gaming, it sounds like the strike at British Airways is over! :o
 
Prof. Cheese said:
Interesting. As I already have it all I may as well give it a go then! :)

What kind of equipment would you recommend to achieve what I'm looking for then Jokester? Really don't want to have a noisy system, it's my main reason for going to water. Currently whilst gaming, it sounds like the strike at British Airways is over! :o
Click to expand...
Actually seing that you have a UFO already, it would be rude not to equip it with some extra rads.

If I was cooling CPU + 2 GPUs internally I would look at using a single loop, a 3x120 (Thermochill or equivalent), a DDC3.2, 10/8 tubing and some medium speed fans on a fan controller. It's only worth going with extra rads if you're looking at getting the absolute most out of your overclock.
 
Prof. Cheese said:
And I thought the stuff I bought off you second hand was expensive, dread to think what it all cost brand new! :eek:
Click to expand...

Too much to think about.

Im no expert at watercooling but i dont think the 240 rad will keep your temps that low, with being able to fit a 360 in the case i think it'd be a much better option.

And im still unsure on the res and pump, as you've got it its worth a try but the XSPC single bay res and pump on OC is rated at 200lph and 1.2 metre head, with 3 waterblocks i think it'll struggle.

I realise there are contradicting views here but if you set everything up and it doesn't keep your system cool then its a lot of work putting stock heatsinks back on, or you'll be without a computer while you source other bits, either way isn't ideal.
 
Having just set up a triple rad with the 920 @ ~220W, I feel slightly more informed and will backtrack a little on my previous suggestion.
Certainly with a single rad on CPU you'll have high temps and noise, as per my post and Jokester's. If you only want to reach 4GHz, a dual rad for the CPU would be easily enough to run your CPU quietly, with headroom.
Worst case scenario is you running both GTX280s at max, as well as the CPU at max. According to wikipedia's stats, each GTX280 uses ~236W at max, which is roughly what I'm producing at the moment (both CPU+NB on same loop). I have a triple rad, with only one fan plugged in on low rpm (waiting on shrouds for the other two), and on IBT my temperatures are hitting 76ºC. Therefore, I suspect your temperatures would not be unmanageable with both GPUs and CPU at full load on a triple rad, as long as you had fans running at decent rpm - and probably not quiet. But an additional single rad would probably help a lot - if you're going to be running at or near max capacity most of the time. If not, and you don't mind it being a bit noisy when you're maxing it all out, a triple should suit.

Bottom line: you certainly don't need two double rads and a triple rad - a single triple should be sufficient if you don't mind the noise when maxing things out, else a triple and a single or two double rads should be sufficient. If you want to o/c your CPU more than 4GHz, a triple and a double would probably be recommended.
 
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