Spec me a water cooling loop

Bryan Kortez

Bryan Kortez

Bryan Kortez

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I am currently in the process of a new build with a Bitfenix Prodigy ITX. I have some basic knowledge about water cooling loops but the only experience I have with using them is my H100i.

I am looking to have a CPU and GPU block. The CPU will most likely be my existing i5 4670K @4.2 GHz, not 100% sure on the card yet, but i'm thinking something along the lines of a GeForce GTX 970, unless somebody recommends something better (not sure on their running temps).

The prodigy has been gutted of all hard drive trays and 5.25" bays.

Here are my questions:

1 - Can you fit 2 x 240mm rads in a prodigy?
2 - Could I get away with just 1 x 240mm top mounted rad to cool both CPU and GPU?
3 - Would I be best just to have a water cooled loop for the CPU and leave the GPU air cooled, and use a card with a rear exhausting air cooler?
4 - I prefer the look of rigid tubing rather than hoses. Is it fairly straight forward using rigid tubing, or am I better off going with the hoses to begin with?


Any suggestions and ideas for this build is appreciated.
 
1) no
2) you can. i've ran a 240mm rad cooling both a 3770k and a 7990 in a prodigy...temps were 52-53c at load, and that's about 550-600w power draw. if you're running a 4690k + 970, your draw will be 350w-ish? hence gonna be lower temps than what i got
3) possibly, but i wouldn't. go all out or go home ;p
4) acrylic tubing is harder for a beginner. stick with flexi tubing
 
tamzzy said:
1) no
2) you can. i've ran a 240mm rad cooling both a 3770k and a 7990 in a prodigy...temps were 52-53c at load, and that's about 550-600w power draw. if you're running a 4690k + 970, your draw will be 350w-ish? hence gonna be lower temps than what i got
3) possibly, but i wouldn't. go all out or go home ;p
4) acrylic tubing is harder for a beginner. stick with flexi tubing
Click to expand...


Thanks :p

I'll have a read into which pumps, rads, and res to use :D
 
The main thing about rads is that some are optimised for high-speed fans, and others low. The radiators that are optimised for high-speed fans have more dense fins on them to help dissipate heat, but optimally need more air to push through them. A rad designed for low-speed fans have a lower fin per inch count and require less air to pass over them to dissipate heat, however they won't benefit as much as the denser rads will from a high speed fan. To surmise:

Low density rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate to good cooling.
Low density rad + high speed fan: noisy and good cooling.
High density rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate cooling.
High density rad + high speed fan: noisy and good to excellent cooling.

Thin rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate cooling.
Thin rad + high speed fan: noisy and moderate to good cooling.
Thick rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate to good cooling.
Thick rad + high speed fan: noisy and good to excellent cooling.

120 / 140mm rad: stock-clocked CPU.
240 / 280mm rad: overclocked CPU and a single low-TDP stock-clocked GPU.
120 / 140mm + 240 / 280mm rad: overclocked CPU and a single high-TDP stock-clocked GPU. Overclock the GPU if 140 + 280mm rads.
240 / 280mm rad + 240 / 280mm rad: overclocked CPU and dual low-TDP overclocked GPUs.
360 / 420 mm rad: overclocked CPU and a single high-TDP stock-clocked GPU. Overclock the GPU if 420mm rad.
120 / 140mm + 360 / 420mm rad: overclocked CPU and single overclocked high-TDP GPU or dual low-TDP stock-clocked GPUs. Overclock the GPUs if 140 + 420mm rads.
240 / 280mm rad + 360 / 420mm rad: overclocked CPU and dual high-TDP stock-clocked GPUs or dual low-TDP overclocked GPUs. Triple low-TDP GPUs if 280 + 420mm rads.
360 / 420mm rad + 360 / 420mm rad: overclocked CPU and dual overclocked high-TDP GPUs. Triple high-TDP GPUs if 420 + 420mm rads.
 
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Undesirable said:
The main thing about rads is that some are optimised for high-speed fans, and others low. The radiators that are optimised for high-speed fans have more dense fins on them to help dissipate heat, but optimally need more air to push through them. A rad designed for low-speed fans have a lower fin per inch count and require less air to pass over them to dissipate heat, however they won't benefit as much as the denser rads will from a high speed fan. To surmise:

Low density rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate to good cooling.
Low density rad + high speed fan: noisy and good cooling.
High density rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate cooling.
High density rad + high speed fan: noisy and good to excellent cooling.

Thin rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate cooling.
Thin rad + high speed fan: noisy and moderate to good cooling.
Thick rad + low speed fan: quiet and moderate to good cooling.
Thick rad + high speed fan: noisy and good to excellent cooling.

120 / 140mm rad: stock-clocked CPU.
240 / 280mm rad: overclocked CPU and a single low-TDP stock-clocked GPU.
120 / 140mm + 240 / 280mm rad: overclocked CPU and a single high-TDP overclocked GPU.
240 / 280mm rad + 240 / 280mm rad: overclocked CPU and dual low-TDP overclocked GPUs.
360 / 420 mm rad: overclocked CPU and high-TDP stock-clocked GPU
120 / 140mm + 360 / 420mm rad: overclocked CPU and single overclocked high-TDP GPU or dual low-TDP stock-clocked GPUs. Overclock the GPUs if 140 + 420mm rads.
240 / 280mm rad + 360 / 420mm rad: overclocked CPU and dual high-TDP stock-clocked GPUs or dual low-TDP overclocked GPUs. Triple low-TDP GPUs if 280 + 420mm rads.
360 / 420mm rad + 360 / 420mm rad: overclocked CPU and dual overclocked high-TDP GPUs. Triple high-TDP GPUs if 420 + 420mm rads.
Click to expand...



Thank you for taking the time to post this. It has answered a lot of my questions I had, and I will be able to make a decision from here.
 
I think I am going to go along the lines of having a 240mm rad on the front intake and a 120mm top mounted rad exhausting. I'm then going to have a tube reservoir and pump attached to the back of the 240mm rad.

I can't seem to find any brackets on overclockers that allow you to fit your res to the back of rads, do they sell them?

This is the pump/res I am looking at - See here

Also, with this pump, how is it fed? Do you connect a pipe to the top of the res, then it goes into the pump, and out the side of the pump?
 
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I've found a bracket, but they don't seem to stock it in the UK so I may just make one myself.

Something I am trying to get my head round is using soft tubes in a small case. I think the bends are going to be to harsh on the tubes with the layout I want to go for. I've looked at acrylic tubing but I would have about 13 x 90 degree bends, and that's going to be costing me around £200 in connectors alone. My other option is to learn the art of bending the acrylic tube, which should help cut the cost of the fittings.
 
Just looking at two different Radiators both made by XSPC.

EX240
AX240

Is the AX worth paying twice the price of the EX for the thicker core?


Also, the pump/res combo I have been looking at is the EK-DDC 3.2 PWM

What are these pumps like for noise? I usually leave my PC on 24/7 and at idle I would like it to run silent. Would I be better off getting a separate pump and res, or just stick to a combo?
 
Water pumps are noisy unless you have some form of dampening such as rubber or foam between the mount and your case. The manual for the pump and res combo you have chosen doesn't seem to show any mounting mechanism for attaching to the case at all, so you may need to buy a separate mounting kit.

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109842874.pdf

The AX is probably not worth double the price for the increased thickness alone, but the build quality improvements may make it worth the price.
 
i'd recommend either the ek xtx or the alphacool ut60 for the prodigy.
then take out the front 3.5 inch cages and use a d5 vario + res.
alternatively, instead of the d5, you could get a dcp 4.0

i've used a dcp 2.2 in my prodigy build, its sufficient, but the dcp 4.0 would probably be a safer bet.
and i've got a ddc in my current build. noisy buggers. gotta use the pwm to control the speeds else its too loud (for my ears. ymmv.)

fan-wise, scythe gentle typhoons (if you still can get those), else the new ek vardar fans look to be a decent alternative that's just as good
 
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I was thinking about holding the res/pump, with clips around the res and attaching to the back of 2 x 120mm fans using a bracket i'm going to make.

Capture.jpg


Say if I end up mounting it to the bottom of the case with a rubber/foam dampener, is there going to be much noise from it then?
 
I have just been having a search around reading up on different rads and came across this..

Nemesis 240GTX
240_GTX.jpg


Nemesis 240GTS
240_GTS.jpg



Should I take these capacity readings with a massive pinch of salt? They also state "Now optimized for sub-800 rpm ultra-stealth fans"
 
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