virgin watercooler

krafty · 21 May 2009 at 17:00

JonJ678 · 21 May 2009 at 18:07

Hey. Passing the water through the cpu and the gpu isn't a terrible thing. You don't get parts of the loop being hot and others cold, the entire thing sits at the same temperature. Don't got for y fittings unless you know (have calculated or tested) that it'll work, theres a good chance you'll starve one block of water. Go for the simpler option of just running one loop through all of it.

When people refer to two loops, they don't mean one pump driving two blocks in parallel. They mean two pumps, two reservoirs, lots of tubing.

What budget are you working with? That pump/res combination is not a good call for two blocks, one of which is rather restrictive, and a 360 radiator. I strongly recommend the 18W laing ddc with xspc reservoir top if overclocking, or the 10W version if you're aiming for quiet. Either is far superior.

What cpu is it? A 4870x2 is hot, and the radiator you've chosen is one of the budget ones. Again though, what are you watercooling for. I'm using feser radiators, which are overpriced but are beautifully contructed and cool very well. In order to avoid cutting my case too much I'm using two 120mm ones, and in the future a 240 in addition.

So it's not so much you've missed anything, more that the Y splitters are a bad call, and for overclocking the pump and radiator are underspeced. Hope that helps, if you can tell me anything more about the set up it would help greatly. Most of the above is pretty generic advice.

edit: ek blocks are lovely, Ive got the supreme on my cpu and a full cover one on my graphics cards. Don't clean them with alcohol.

krafty · 21 May 2009 at 18:31

hi Jon thanks for the reply
system spec below

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory:Hyperx 1066mhz 8190MB RAM
Hard Drive: seagate barrcuda 500 GB/ 350GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Monitor: samsung T200HD
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium - Fatal1ty Champion Series 7.1
Speakers/Headphones: speedlink medusa 5.1
Keyboard: logitech G15
Mouse: Copperhead
Mouse Surface: Exact matt
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.090302-1506)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Intel P45
Computer Case: xcilo windtunel v2

ok the second atempt
EK 4870 X2 Acrylic Full Cover VGA Water Block £83.94
(£72.99) £83.94
(£72.99)
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump £68.99
(£59.99) £68.99
(£59.99)
Swiftech MCR320-QP Triple 120mm Radiator £47.14
(£40.99) £47.14
(£40.99)
EK Supreme i7 Acetal (Socket A,754,939,AM2,478,LGA775 & LGA1366) CPU Water Block £40.24
(£34.99) £40.24
(£34.99)
XSPC Single Bay Reservoir - Clear £22.99
(£19.99) £22.99
(£19.99)
AcoustiFan DustProof Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin £18.39
(£15.99) £55.17
(£47.97)
XSPC 1/2" High Flexibility PVC Tubing - 1m £3.44
(£2.99) £3.44
(£2.99)
Sub Total : £279.91

Sayso · 21 May 2009 at 20:15

mmmm i would get cheaper fans and a fan controller that way you can dial up the CFM when needed.
i would also go for a TFC, thermochill or XSPC RX (i think thats the good one!!), i recommend the laing DDC pumps.
might need 2M of tubing as well don't want to leave yourself short

JonJ678 · 21 May 2009 at 20:29

I still think the DDC rather than the D5. They are both great pumps, the former does better with high resistance loops while the second achieves higher flow rates with low resistance loops. Yours is the former, either this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-028-XS&groupid=701&catid=193&subcat=1042 or ideally the 18W version will do you better. Neither use a bay reservoir, which saves space and the design leads to higher performance.
If a bay res is a must have then things can change

Looking good beyond that. Those are some seriously expensive fans, a TFC or thermochill radiator with yate loons or scythe s-flex will come out around the same price and cool better.

Tubing raises a question, which size are you going with? The most common choice is 7/16" over 1/2" barbs. I use 11/8mm with compression fittings. It doesn't make much difference as long as you use the same throughout. I bought 6m of tubing, and I'm thinking of getting more. Surprising how fast it runs out when you change your mind about where things should be.

Looking good though

The current spec would do you fine