Water cooling advice

merlin2k6

merlin2k6

merlin2k6

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18 Jan 2006
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I'm thinking of water cooling my rig, but have never setup a decent water cooling system before so dont really know what i'm looking for. Can anyone advise me on this please. It will be used on the rig in my sig, i am also waiting for the r600, so possibility for cooling that in the future would be a bonus.
 
need a decentish sized case, probably a 240 radiator, BIX or BIS or PA120.2 for best performance, cpu block either apogee gt or a fuzion seem to be favorites, nothing yet for the ati card since it's not released :) a second 240 rad when you install the gfx card, you could always run two loops, one dedicated for the cpu, the other for gfx/chipset. a t-line is the easiest way of doing it, so a danger den fillport with mebbe a fillport res. when the ati cards come out look for a water block coming from danger den and a little while later one coming from EK, EK's perform just as well as DD but are cheaper
 
Can you list me all the things i would need now to get a good watercooled setup just for my CPU then? I have no clue on what to get lol.Brands/Models would be good if you have the time. Muchos :)
 
If you have no idea what to buy, you aren't ready for watercooling.

Read reviews, user reports, look at other peoples systems.

Try the search and stickies in this forum and also google for ideas.
 
also check this one out, Corsair Nautilus500, it's abit fiddly to fit onto the cpu itself, but the rest of the unit is a lot easier to work, it's an all in one type unit so it's not even slightly upgradable, but it's cheap and tidy.
i can't link to the review but googleing for "Corsair Nautilus500" gives you plenty
 
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Thanks for the replys m8 :) After googling i did find the Swiftech H20 APEX "Ultra" CPU Liquid Cooling Kit, and thought it looked ok. If its not too much chew, could you spec me a custom setup as well. Nice to see both options..

Also what sort of temps can i expect with the H20 Apex kit with my c2d @ 3.6?
 
merlin2k6 said:
Thanks for the replys m8 :) After googling i did find the Swiftech H20 APEX "Ultra" CPU Liquid Cooling Kit, and thought it looked ok. If its not too much chew, could you spec me a custom setup as well. Nice to see both options..

Also what sort of temps can i expect with the H20 Apex kit with my c2d @ 3.6?
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couldn't tell you temps tbh mate,don't even think C2D was out when the apex ultra came out (btw make sure you get the ultra not the normal)

a rough guide,
a 240 rad (black ice extreme are the norm, thermochill PA120.2 is slightly larger than normal 240 rads and slightly better performance, black ice stealth is a very thin radiator, performs just as good as the extreme at low to mid airflow rates, slightly worse at high airflow rates)

cpu block (swiftech apogee GT, d-tek fuzion no real difference, you'll see everybody choosing one or the other but tbh you're talking 1/2 degrees diff)

pump(this is the expensive bit, ddc-1T, D5 vario, swiftech, laing, danger den all do their own rebranded versions of these, all exaclty the same except i think the swiftech is called mcp355 or mcp665 respectivly, make sure if you get the ddc-1t/mcp355 you get the petra top or plexi top)

fans(choose your own, 2x120mm, you'll see lots of opinions all over the place about what's good and what's not. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/custompc/labs/36/fans/products.html)

tubing, (tygon 3603 or danger den clear flex 60, you'll buy it in metres or feet, not sure how much you'll need)

coolant(fluid xp+, mct -5/-40, fesser one smoothy water. fluid xp and fesser one are pretty ones that are in diff colours and uv)

res(you can have one of these or a t-line, reservoirs are where the fluid enters the water cooling loop, you can get ones that fit into your drive bays, ones where you hve to cut a hole in the top of your case for them, lots of different ones. a t-line is, normally, a tube coming from the top of the comp wich is branched off so both ends of the cooling loop attach there, like this http://www.wc101.com/guides/t-line/t-line circled.jpg)

that's about it, i think, any more advice just ask :)

edit: is this your case? http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Chassis/midtower/matrixvx/vd3000bwa.asp
 
merlin2k6 said:
Cheers mate, time to do some reading up on said parts before i place an order me thinks :D

Yeah thats me case :)
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you might have a bit of trouble fitting the dual rad into that case, might want to concider 2 single rads, one at the front fan spot, one at the back fan

edit: looking at it i'd suggest a stealth rad for the front
 
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Depending on what spec the next gen gfx cards are and what heat they are going to put out, your o/c cpu and gfx is not going to be easy to cool with just a 120x2 rad.

That case is not going to be easy to get even a 120x2 in there.

A PA120.3 mounted external would be better (uglier though)

I seriously think that a 120.2 would give you temps that you would not be happy with unless you strapped noisy fans to them. 35+ dbA fans will be required to maintain a 10 degree coolant/air temp difference for heat output of around 300W. Quieter fans will only manage around 200W for the same deltaT air water. (see thermochill for details)

Top end air would give similar results tbh.

I would hate for you to spend the money, go the effort of installing it all and not be happy.

Big cases, 120.3 rads and/or dual loops are the norm for the current power outputs of overclocked cpu's and gpu's.
 
you would have room to fit a dual rad at the top/front of your case, but you'd have to mod the case so the air could get out the top, dremel would be the usual idea
 
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