Thinking of Watercooling possible new build, advice please

95thrifles

95thrifles

95thrifles

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In a month or so I may have some spare cash, if I do I'm looking at a new build and would like to water cool, my case is a Lian Li PC-A71F

The parts I'm thinking of are these, its full build but just after feedback on the watercooling side of it please


YOUR BASKET
2 x OcUK Extreme H2O GeForce GTX 580 1536MB GDDR5 [EVGA Superclocked] £499.99 (£999.98)
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £299.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX1200 High Performance 1200W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply (CMPSU-1200AXUK) £249.98
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £124.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9) £89.99
1 x OcUK D5 Vario Pump & EK D5 X-Top V2 Value Combo £81.98
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP 12x BluRay ROM DVDRW DL & RAM Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (Retail) £59.99
1 x EK Supreme HF CPU Waterblock - Nickel Plexi **2011 Compatible** £55.79
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE GT Stealth 280 Radiator £49.99
1 x Hardware Labs Black ICE GT Stealth 360 Radiator £47.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £41.99
1 x XSPC Single 5.25” Bay Reservoir - Multi Fascia £24.98
2 x Akasa AK-FN062 Apache Black Super Silent 140mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM £14.99 (£29.98)
3 x Akasa AK-FN058 Apache Black Super Silent 120mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM £11.99 (£35.97)
3 x Mayhems X1 UV Oil Black Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99 (£23.97)
1 x Phobya Variable SLI/Crossfire Connector 3 Slot - Black Nickel £5.34
3 x XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear £2.99 (£8.97)
10 x OcUK 1/2" Barbed Fitting - FatBoy Style - Black Nickel Finish £1.68 (£16.80)
Total : £2,432.84 (includes shipping : £13.50).




So, if I go for it

a) Are all the parts compatible? particularly no metal mixing? I couldn't tell re the OcUK watercooled cards what metal they use

b) Do I have everything I need?

c) This has come to more than I thought, as it often does, lol, and as I say I'm not 100% sure if I'll have the money or if I do how much, if I had less and went for a single 580 set up, would the 280 rad be sufficient for GPU & CPU on its own, or would this be too much? As it would save me having to mod case if it were

d) Any further advice appreciated
 
If you have the space for thick rads i would ditch the GTS' as they are not very good performers and need pretty noisy fans to get decent performance from, expecially if your going to cool sli 580's. I'd also get some hose clips/clamps if you are using barbs.
 
Noted, thanks
In which case would the Phobya G Changer 280 be a better bet?
Also re the not mixing metals, all rads seem to be copper/brass yet most blocks Nickel, does this matter? Or is it just the blocks that need to be the same?
 
Personally id get Sycthe GT fans instead (they are on weekly deal atm) They are awesome fans. I have a couple in my system they blow an insane amount of air and are pretty damm quiet.

I bought a couple more a few days ago since they are 12quid atm.
 
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Yeah I've seen they're the most popular, but I quite like the all black look of the Vipers, I'll prob get the inside of my case powder coated/anodised depending on whats available locally

The more I think about it the more I'm tempted to just go single 580 (seen as how I generally advocate single card anyway), with the 280 rad (having researched it, its more or less same as a 360 in terms of cooling) which would allow me to drop the PSU back quite a bit and maybe mobo too, unless I end up with more money than I think, that way I wouldn't need to mod my case

My main concerns are though

- The not mixing metals thing, does this apply to rads too or is it just blocks?

- And the use of hose clips/clamps as suggested by Jeffy, I thought by using 7/16 tubing over 1/2 inch barbs it wouldn't be necessary? If it is, I'd prob be better with compression fittings for that clean look?
 
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95thrifles said:
My main concerns are though

- And the use of hose clips/clamps as suggested by Jeffy, I thought by using 7/16 tubing over 1/2 inch barbs it wouldn't be necessary? If it is, I'd prob be better with compression fittings for that clean look?
Click to expand...

I have found it is very difficult to put 7/16 hose over the end of a 1/2 inch barb and most the time to remove it i have to cut it off.

In regards to leaking and using hose clamps i very much dout you will need them.

If you do decide to get hose clamps i would probs just get compressions as you say it would look clean.
 
frozennova said:
Theres more peace of mind with barbs. Mine never leaked, the feser compressions I was using did leak however.
Click to expand...

lol, something wrong there! Compressions, in theory, are leak proof

I suggest, to save money, you could buy a 580 and fit the block yourself :)

Also, Corsair PSU's are overpriced. Have a look at Silverstone ones and OCZ

spend a little more for THIS mobo
 
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There's not that much of a saving between buying an EVGA 580 and separate block versus the OcUK pre fitted
Re PSU not a fan of OCZ, n OcUK don't do Silverstone, again I don't mind the small premium for peace of mind
Might have a look at the mobo, on phone ATM so difficult to see if the slot spacing would suit
Whilst I appreciate the feed back it's more the water cooling element I'm after feedback on
Particularly the metals thing??? Anyone confirm this query for me
 
If you're spending that much in total I'd seriously consider twin loops to keep CPU and VGA heat away from each other. The two 580s could result in a water temperature that will raise the CPU temp. There are some dual loop reservoirs but it will require two pumps.

Andi.
 
andicole0 said:
If you're spending that much in total I'd seriously consider twin loops to keep CPU and VGA heat away from each other. The two 580s could result in a water temperature that will raise the CPU temp. There are some dual loop reservoirs but it will require two pumps.

Andi.
Click to expand...

I thought in tests it shows a very minor increase if any due to delta.

I believe there is an article about it on skineelabs I'll have a look tomorrow.

I could be very wrong but it was the reason I went one loop not two.
 
95thrifles said:
There's not that much of a saving between buying an EVGA 580 and separate block versus the OcUK pre fitted
£30 a card :eek:

Re PSU not a fan of OCZ, n OcUK don't do Silverstone
buy from competitor ;), also OCZ are one of the best brands out there :)

, again I don't mind the small premium for peace of mind
Might have a look at the mobo, on phone ATM so difficult to see if the slot spacing would suit
there's extra spacing between slots :)

Whilst I appreciate the feed back it's more the water cooling element I'm after feedback on
Particularly the metals thing??? Anyone confirm this query for me
Click to expand...

Metals are fine together :)
Everything plays nice together unless you have aluminium in there

andicole0 said:
If you're spending that much in total I'd seriously consider twin loops to keep CPU and VGA heat away from each other. The two 580s could result in a water temperature that will raise the CPU temp. There are some dual loop reservoirs but it will require two pumps.

Andi.
Click to expand...

I completely disagree. one loop is good enough. might raise temps by 4-5 degrees, but seriously - who gives a ****!

The 580's are fine with the CPU. If you want you can have two rads which will also solve the problem - the D5 is easily capable.

res - pump - GPU's - rad- CPU - rad

Problem solved.
 
alex2k10 said:
I thought in tests it shows a very minor increase if any due to delta.

I believe there is an article about it on skineelabs I'll have a look tomorrow.

I could be very wrong but it was the reason I went one loop not two.
Click to expand...

correct :)

I'm going 2 loops, only for aesthetics though ;)
 
I might be wrong but I thought the Rads you have there needed some SERIOUS RPM fans to blast air through ??

not been to Skinnee's for a while to look ... but high RPM fannage = lotsa noise !
 
Yeah thanks
I've ammended in my head, but not on here, think initially I'm going to look at a Phobya G Changer 280 rad in front with a single 580 gfx card, I'll have to source from elsewhere as the only 280 rad OcUK do is the one in initial spec, it'll save me any serious case modding initially too
From what I can gather this should be enough for single card plus CPU, then if I do add a 2nd 580 down the line I can add in a 2nd rad too for the extra cooling
Ill ammend OP at weekend, working away from home ATM n only have phone to post on
 
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