Spec me my first ever WC kit

jonneymendoza

jonneymendoza

jonneymendoza

Caporegime
Joined
7 Apr 2008
Posts
26,477
Location
Lorville - Hurston
Hi all, I am looking to have a go at setting up a water cooling system to cool down my pc. I have been fascinated with the whole idea but always bailed out as I was very worried about reliability issues and costs.

Costs is fine now as I am more mature and have a decent job And in terms of reliability issues, as long as I do it “right” it wont leak.

Now the purpose of WC is because of my 480gtx. Its loud when fan is at 70-80% and very hot. I feel that WC is a great way to cool it down and to do some OC on. I would also like to do some OC on my cpu. Get up to 4.5ghz at least while keeping temps down.

So with the reasons out of the way, below is my current spec pc:

• ASUS P6T deluxe Socket 1336 Mobo
• 6GB DDR3 Ram
• Nvidia 480GTX card
• Intel i7 920 2.6GHZ Nehalem
• Corsair Moduled 800W PSU
• Lian LI full tower PC-A7010 case
• Thermalright Ultra Extreme aka TRUE

I have done some reading on WC and this is what I have learned so far. What I need is this:

• Radiator
• Reserviour(What is this used for?)
• Pump
• Hoses
• CPU and GPU blocks
• Fittings/clamps

Here are a few questions:

What is the reservoir used for?

Once all hooked up, How do I drain and change the water later down the line and how often do I need to drain and maintain it?

Once all is hooked up, do I do this?
1. Add 1 litre of water in reservoir
2. Turn only the WC kit on and not the pc
3. Put tissues around the Water blocks on my gpu and cpu to test for leaks
4. Leave it on for 10-24 hours on
5. If no leaks after 10-24hours, Turn the pc on and enjoy nice cool temps and high overclocks.

What kind of liquid do I use? Bottled distilled water from supermarket?

I heard I should not mix coil with another material? Do I need to make sure all the pumps, rads, fittings/clamps, reservoir, etc are all one material?

Now my last question is where I can purchase this: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=305&cl_index=2&sc_index=45&ss_index=74 I have literally looked everywhere, even on eBay. Closest I found was a silver one from k*** pc.

Now what’s my budget? my budget is £300-£320 for the full whack.

Are these temps doable on my budget:

4.5ghz at 60c MAX load
Stock 480gtx speed at 40-50c MAX load(Leaving plenty of room to OC it).

Thanks all and looking forward to your thoughts and opinions. I am a complete noob on this so apologize for some questions i have asked.

edit: has to be upgradeable so i can easy remove my 480gtx and slap on a new card when i buy one next year
 
I'll try and answer all your questions...

A reservoir is used as a reservoir for exta fluid to supply the pump with fluid at all times.

Draining, take it to a bath tub and cut one of the tubes do it all spills into the bath(my preferred method)

Fluid, distilled is fine. You can add colours if you want.

Temps are a little optimistic, but you'll get near enough.

Spend as much as you can now to save you upgrading later

Material wise, mix anything you like. However, aluminium must not be mixed with anything. As long as you stick to te newer blocks and bits, there shouldn't be any aluminium. *obviously, check first, don't depend on that.

The easiest way to change graphics cards is to use a QDC.

There's an excellent quite written by shayper stickies in this forum and a good one on clunk.org aswell
 
QDC = quick disconnects?

Also, is it better to have both a reservour and a T line witha valve at teh bottom of my case so i can easily drain the water out of the system?

Could i have a hose connected to a T line and closed with a valve and have that hose dangling out of one of my PCI bracket located at the back of my case so i do not even have to open up my case to drain the water?
 
jonneymendoza said:
QDC = quick disconnects?
yep

Also, is it better to have both a reservour and a T line witha valve at teh bottom of my case so i can easily drain the water out of the system?

Could i have a hose connected to a T line and closed with a valve and have that hose dangling out of one of my PCI bracket located at the back of my case so i do not even have to open up my case to drain the water?
Click to expand...

T line is easier ;)
 
I thought one rule is the res has to be above the pump too? You can buy a Res/Pump mix if you're only using Distilled Water, some mixes don't work (like the Mayhem Aurora) but the combs are a little expensive.
 
Hyburnate said:
I thought one rule is the res has to be above the pump too? You can buy a Res/Pump mix if you're only using Distilled Water, some mixes don't work (like the Mayhem Aurora) but the combs are a little expensive.
Click to expand...

not strictly necessary, but it makes it soooo much easier when filling if it is. also safer for the pump ;)

the reason the res/pump combos don't work with the aurora is because the pump isn't powerful enough. I'm sure mlwood/someone else will back me up on this (if i'm correct that is :p)
 
I thought it was to do with the positioning of the ports meaning there's a bit of a dead area and so the pearlescent bits fall out of suspension. Which is why you can use some of the pump-top reservoirs. Also on some of the d5 ones the bits get stuck in the pump or something
 
cool thanks all.

In what order do i do the loop? Radiator at the top of the case at 12 o'clock, followed by reserviour in a drive bay at 3o'clock, Pump at the bottom at 6 o'clock, GPU at 8 o'Clock, CPU at 10 o'Clock, and finally back to the Rad at 12??

edit: To test the WC without turning on the pc, i heard u got to insert a pin between the 24pin mobo connector and then u will be able to turn on the PSU with the pump connected? Wouldnt that mess up and even electrocute yourself! Dont want to electrocute myself or damage my top of the range corsair moduled PSU!

Also, once i do go WC, i dont need any case fans anymore innit? Hard drives wouldnt need too much cooling and my cpu and GPU will be pretty much sorted?
 
Flow looks OK to me.

Yes you do insert a pin into the motherboard connector but not while it is attached to the motherboard!;)
Most suppliers who sell w/c stuff sell a plug that will do the job. Overclockers sell one - HERE
I use a power supply off an external sata usb kit and that works well.

You will still need some airflow around the case, so don't do away will all your case fans, use a fan controller if they are too loud and reduce the speed down so you cannot hear them, buit they will still provide some cooling to your drives and motherboard/ram etc.
 
get a bay reservoir (i have an xspc jobby). Use a spare piece of hose connected to a barb and screw on to the reservoir fill port. Flip upside down, drain and repeat, job done my friend. Save the uglyness of a t piece and hose.

You could also just use a small pipe into the res and syphon out.
 
Cheers. i read some of those already :) Think i am ready for a spec!

Anyone care to spec me a WC system with a T line and valve at the end with at least a 120.3mm Radiator?

£300 is the budget.

Worth doing two loops? one for gpu and the other for CPU? doable on my budget?
 
closest i could get with good stuff. worth spending the extra to do it properly


YOUR BASKET
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE SR-1 360 Radiator £83.98
1 x EK FC580 GTX+ Full Cover Waterblock - Nickel Plexi **EN Nickel Plating** £78.00
1 x Laing 18W DDC-Pump 12V DDC-1T Plus £57.59
1 x EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi **2011 Compatible** £49.99
1 x XSPC Acrylic Tank Reservoir for Laing DDC £22.79
2 x Mayhems Aurora - Supernova Clear Coolant 1L £14.99 (£29.98)
1 x OcUK Tube Cutter Aluminum 3-14mm £8.50
1 x Silver Anti Algae Kill Coil - Pulse £3.98
4 x Bitspower Matt Black 1/2" High Flow Barb (G1/4") WAAD-193 £3.25 (£13.00)
4 x XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear £2.99 (£11.96)
2 x EK PSC Compression Fitting 7/16 [16/11mm] - G1/4 - Nickel [3831109845011] £2.99 (£5.98)
1 x OcUK Value PSU Bridging Connector (24 Pin) £1.30
Total : £379.03 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
I would agree with Cleeecooo, it's worth spending the extra now and getting great components as you'll keep them for years if you keep watercooling.
 
This basket is even better;


YOUR BASKET
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE SR-1 360 Radiator £83.98
1 x OcUK D5 Vario Pump & EK D5 X-Top V2 Value Combo £81.98
1 x EK FC580 GTX+ Full Cover Waterblock - Nickel Plexi **EN Nickel Plating** £78.00
1 x EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi **2011 Compatible** £49.99
1 x EK Multioption Reservoir X2 150 Advanced £33.98
2 x Mayhems Aurora - Supernova Clear Coolant 1L £14.99 (£29.98)
1 x OcUK Tube Cutter Aluminum 3-14mm £8.50
4 x Bitspower Matt Black 1/2" High Flow Barb (G1/4") WAAD-193 £3.25 (£13.00)
4 x XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear £2.99 (£11.96)
2 x EK PSC Compression Fitting 7/16 [16/11mm] - G1/4 - Nickel [3831109845011] £2.99 (£5.98)
1 x OcUK Value PSU Bridging Connector (24 Pin) £1.30
Total : £410.64 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
You could mod it yourself?
If £400 is your max, the. Go for my second spec :)
Comes to £400.64 as its free delivery.

I put a 580 block in just to give an indication of price. Obviously, get a 480 block when you order :p

You could also mount the rad externally ?
 
I have the A71f and have had similar difficulties finding a place to source the tops from, though I did find somewhere with a good selection last week, if I can find it again today on my phone I'll message you, otherwise it'll be weekend when I get home I'll message you
Make sure your trust is enabled if it isn't already
 
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