Water Cooling build

Nic Miller · 26 Oct 2011 at 12:06

Keep changing my mind on watercooling....want to do it, but just don't know anything!!

Could someone please spec me all the bits I need? Let's say a budget of under £400 - pref less!. Need it to perform significantly better than an H100 to make it worth my while. Or might just go down the H100 route to start with....

Equipment:

Xigmatek Elysium case
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 gen 3
G skill ripjaws 8Gb ram
i5 2500k - to be overclocked to c4.5ghz initially
GPU - gainward phantom gtx580 3gb

Many thanks

Nic

95thrifles · 27 Oct 2011 at 09:25

Hi
I suspect the phantom uses a non reference pcb as such you're not going to be able to watercool your gpu, you can check with gainward though
As for CPU cooling, the EK nickel en blocks are good, add a 360 res such as an SR1 along with 3 120mm fans, gentle typhoons are good, a pump such as the OcUK D5 with EK top, then a res of your choice, whether bay or tube, then you can look at 7/16 tubing with either compression fittings or 1/2" barbs. Add your coolant and you're about good to go

Cleeecooo · 27 Oct 2011 at 11:21

want to do it, but just don't know anything!!

Before considering anything, do your research.

There's a good guide on these forums (stickied) and there is another excellent one on clunk.org.

JeffyB · 27 Oct 2011 at 11:58

Here is how i got started

I read the ocuk advanced overclocking sticky
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17803239
Trawled the xs forums
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=70
and the stickies there
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202394
and then discovered skinnee and martin, two of the best reviewers of watercooling gear. This is where delta temps and watercooling clicked in my head, the graphs and tables didn't mean much to me at the start now i go straight to them to see how many watts can be disapated at XXXrpm fan speed
http://www.skinneelabs.com/
http://martinsliquidlab.org/
Be clear on what your goal is. Silence, performance and aesthetics and match your hardware to your needs. Think about your future cooling needs as it will probably save you money in the long run and most of all be patient.

Pumps - ddc, d5, mcp35x
Rads - xspc rx/ex, hwlabs sr1, thermochill pa/ta
Blocks - Aquacomputer, koolance, EK (en if your going for nickel)
Tubing - Primochill primoflex lrt is the best i have tried, masterkleer is decent if you want to save some money but kinks easier
Fittings - Bitspower are the best but pricey

EK make a full cover block for the 3gb cards

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist?gpu_gpus=402

Cleeecooo · 27 Oct 2011 at 12:47

Also, have a look at the build logs for your case.

Rich's build log was like a bible to me. Except, a bible I liked reading

eggcup · 27 Oct 2011 at 16:01

95thrifles said:
Hi
I suspect the phantom uses a non reference pcb as such you're not going to be able to watercool your gpu, you can check with gainward though
As for CPU cooling, the EK nickel en blocks are good, add a 360 res such as an SR1 along with 3 120mm fans, gentle typhoons are good, a pump such as the OcUK D5 with EK top, then a res of your choice, whether bay or tube, then you can look at 7/16 tubing with either compression fittings or 1/2" barbs. Add your coolant and you're about good to go

You can watercool a phantom, i have done my 570gtx phantom . Ek do a block for it

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/blocks/vga-blocks/fc-geforce/5x0-gtx-series/ek-fc5x0-gtx-gw.html

edit: not sure about the 3gb model though! doh!

lrlcr · 27 Oct 2011 at 16:40

Ek do four full cover blocks for the board.