Thinking of a watercooled build soon.

1uke

1uke

1uke

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west sussex
I was thinking of doing a watercooled build soon and need a little advice. I have never done a watercooled build so not sure whats compatible, good value for money and reliable? It would need enough performance to cool a heavily overclocked cpu most likely a 2500k sanybridge but might even use it to cool my current rig until I upgrade it (see signature). And cool crossfire cards. This is what I have come up with so far. I'm not sure what connections are best to go for and tubing size etc? Plus can this be made cheaper but similar performance/reliabilty?


YOUR BASKET
1 x Xigmatek Elysium Full Tower Windowed Case - Black £149.99
1 x XSPC RX360 120mm Radiator - Black £89.75
1 x OcUK D5 Vario Pump & EK D5 X-Top V2 Value Combo £81.98
1 x XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel) **2011 Compatible** £49.98
1 x XSPC RS240 120mm Radiator - Black £38.57
1 x EK Multioption Reservoir X2 250 Advanced £37.20
1 x EK-EKoolants UV Blue £5.99
Total : £471.16 (includes shipping : £14.75).

 
All looks good to me and you have picked good blocks and rads so you can make it cheaper but it would be worse.

As for fittings and tubing, it is a lot of personal preference to be honest. The diamter of the tube make very little difference to the flow and temps you get it depends if you want thin tubing or fat tubing. Personally I like the thicker 1/2" ID 3/4" OD tubing but depends what you like. It is also slightly dependant on the route you will be taking as a general rule of thumb the thicker the tubing the harder it is to get round tight bends.

I would say though best tubing options would be
7/16" ID tubing over 1/2" barbs for really tight fit
7/16" ID tubing with corresponding compression fittings
1/2" ID tubing over corresponding compression fittings.

As for brands, I have used masterkleer and xspc tubing and would recommend them. Though Tygon and primochill tubing seems to be highly recommended also.
 
I didn't realize it was so down to personal preference hmmn guess it makes customizing easy.

Is there much reliabily difference with the compression fittings and barbed?
 
I assume the radiators and blocks don't come with hose connections? Sorry probably stupid question.
 
1uke said:
I didn't realize it was so down to personal preference hmmn guess it makes customizing easy.

Is there much reliabily difference with the compression fittings and barbed?
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I think it's down to looks. Personally I prefer the look of compression fittings.

1uke said:
I assume the radiators and blocks don't come with hose connections? Sorry probably stupid question.
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I believe you have to purchase your own, dependent upon size of tubing you use.
I agree with Greboth, and personally would go with "1/2" ID tubing over corresponding compression fittings".
 
scottmuir424 said:
good choice of parts should be good once all built up
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Might be a month until I have put enough funds aside to build this rig unfortunately, But that gives me time to do lots of research and try get some good deals. Could also do with finding a couple of cheap 2nd hand waterblocks for my 5850's until the 7 series come out.
 
I looked elsewhere and noticed for the same money I could swap the radiators for phobya 1x420 and 2x140 and should still fit nicely in this case. But not sure regarding performance comparisons against these XSPC thick radiators?
 
1uke said:
I looked elsewhere and noticed for the same money I could swap the radiators for phobya 1x420 and 2x140 and should still fit nicely in this case. But not sure regarding performance comparisons against these XSPC thick radiators?
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I think the XSPC ones are still better. in general, thicker is better :)

Also, i'd get an extra bottle of coolant ;)
 
Cleeecooo said:
I think the XSPC ones are still better. in general, thicker is better :)

Also, i'd get an extra bottle of coolant ;)
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I get a better feeling about the XSPC radiators so thats cool.

I was wondering how much coolant the setup would need, would 2 bottles be enough?

Thanks.
 
Phobya rads perform very well and are priced competetively


http://skinneelabs.com/phobya_gc360/
"To sum it up, the G-Changer is a solid radiator at a good price."

gchanger.jpg
 
But what about compared to the XSPC Rx radiators which are like double the thickness to normal radiators? I have read good things about both to be honest.
 
The RX series are 58.5mm thick, the phobya 420 is 60mm. It's the RS and GTS rads that are thin and catch people out. Also the 140mm rads are not to everyones liking (i love them and have an sr1-420 and a pa140.3) but as a general rule a 420 rad is equivalent to a 480 in terms of heat dispersal, the surface area is near identical.
 
So going by that the Phobya radiators should cool better?

How come the 140mm radiators aren't to some ppl's liking's? I heard 140mm fans are generally quieter than 120mm. So I assumed would be popular.

I'm not sure about fitment of the 2 140mm raditors on this case as I was thinking 1 radiator/fan could go on the back outlet beside the motherboard if it doesn't obstruct anything. and the other on the bottom next to psu and then the 420 on ceiling of the case.
 
Rad choice along with fan choice is really down to what your cooling and why you are watercooling. If you go for the xspc rx rads (or any with low fans per inch (FPI) of around 10 FPI) with fans around 800-1000rpm then it will be a really quiet system. If you want out and out performance then could go for some of the high fpi rads and some 38mm fans at full rpm which would be crazy noisey but would cool so much.

Edit: Rad size above, I don't know if this is what jeffyB is alluding to but I have seen other people say it, as I have thought it too, 140.X rads are better as they are bigger but there isn't such a selection of fans as 120mm though the selection is growing. I guess also not too many people have room for 140.X rads when cases have mounts for only 120.X rads. If you can fit 140 rads in your case (which I vaguely remember from reviews you can) and can find a recommendation or decide on some fans then go for it, they are better purely for the bigger surface area.

Edit 2: Haha go me! Also I need to work on my typing speed.
 
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140mm rads are harder to fit in cases as most cases are geared to 120mm form rads. Also fan choice is not as good but it's much better than it used to be. I opted for the 420's as they were more efficient with the space in my case and i found the fans quieter and able to shift more air at the same rpm as a 120mm fan. Sorry if it's put a spanner in the works and given you more to think about :)
 
Thanks for your great replys!

To be honest I was originally looking at the 420 and 2x140mm radiators setup as this case accepts them plus ppl have said the 140mm fans are quieter which is the main reason I'm going watercooled plus I like a good project. My current rig has over 12x 120mm fans and I hoped with all them on around low to medium I might be able to keep things cool. But the graphics cards have beat me and I have top whack some fans up to high which is to loud for my lounge while shes watching tv. My Q9550 at 4ghz on a H50 is brilliant though and never have to turn the fans up high for that.

If I go the 420 route I won't be able to use any of my fans I currently have so can you recommend any good 140mm fans? Plus If I'm not buying this unfortunalty from overclockers is there any other pumps ppl can recommend from elsewhere? (not giving shop name obviously)
 
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