Water Cooling in the Cosmos S

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 11:52

I am completely new to water cooling but I want to give it a try, I have been pondering a few different options

First one being purchasing a complete kit like this one Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultima Plus Watercooling Kit, However I don’t know how good that kit will be, my case is quiet large so I was thinking I could use a dual or Triple 120mm Radiator but I don’t really know what’s good.

Is there anyone who has setup water cooling in the cosmos S that could tell me what they used?

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 12:15

I've got 2 loops in my Cosmos S. The first is made up of the EK Multi-option 250 res, XSPC RX360, D-tek Fuzion, Laing DDC. The second loop uses an XSPC dual bay pump/res and an XSPC RS120.

There's pictures showing the layout of it all here

Watercooled Cosmos S

Edit: Just remember to check that the rad you choose will fit the Cosmos S. The most popular rad is generally the Thermochill PA120.3 although this will not fit in the case due to the fan spacing. Technically you could mod the case although it may be more trouble than it's worth.

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 14:02

I don’t think ill be hacking the case apart for now, this is going to sound very noob like but I how on earth would you about doing what you did there, it looks like you have 2 pumps and 2 reservoirs.

Do you have different parts connected to different reservoirs?

Edit: I just looking up the parts you used, if im right you haven’t linked the 2 systems together you got 2 separate ones, I am guessing 1 is just for your graphics or cpu alone ?

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 14:31

the D-Tek Fuzion your refer to is a cpu block if im right, but unless im miss reading you have 1 pump, thats the XSPC dual bay pump/res.

is there anything missing or wrong in this basket, im basically trying to get everything i need to setup cooling on the cpu, vga and NB.

PS. I missed the vga block out there because i already have one.

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 14:35

Jasonp said:
I don’t think ill be hacking the case apart for now, this is going to sound very noob like but I how on earth would you about doing what you did there, it looks like you have 2 pumps and 2 reservoirs.

Do you have different parts connected to different reservoirs?

Edit: I just looking up the parts you used, if im right you haven’t linked the 2 systems together you got 2 separate ones, I am guessing 1 is just for your graphics or cpu alone ?

The main loop is for the cpu and the graphics card. The second loop is just for the Northbridge. I only did that as I had a spare pump and the northbridge on my mb already had a waterblock attached. Ended up only costing £10 for small rad so it was worth doing. It is a bit unnecessary though.

The EK res was very easy to fit in the case. There are holes already at that point in the case so no drilling was necessary. The bay res/pump on the other hand was a nightmare to install. You'd need to bend or cut the metal lip at the front and back of one of the bays. The pump itself isn't amazing although it is extremely quiet. The loudest thing in my case is the DDC.

For ease of installation I'd recommend a DDC with res of your choice as opposed to a bay/res pump. Filling and draining the loop (without cutting any tubing) is much easier compared to the bay reservoir.

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 14:41

ah yes, i see what you mean, ill change that.

What kind of Fittings and Connectors should i stock up on for this or do some of these parts come with some ?

EDIT: Are you using the 10 or 18w DDC btw ?

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 14:45

Jasonp said:
is there anything missing or wrong in this basket, im basically trying to get everything i need to setup cooling on the cpu, vga and NB.

PS. I missed the vga block out there because i already have one.

You'd really need a more powerful pump and better rad if you're wanting to cool the cpu, gpu and nb in one loop. The RX series rads from XSPC fit in the Cosmos S although I'm not sure if there are still issues with it. I had quite a problem getting one of the fans on it due to the holes not being a precise as they could have been.

What's your budget for everything?

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 14:52

Jasonp said:
ah yes, i see what you mean, ill change that.

What kind of Fittings and Connectors should i stock up on for this or do some of these parts come with some ?

EDIT: Are you using the 10 or 18w DDC btw ?

You're aswell buying 1/2 barbs for everything, just in case. I had to get a couple of angled compression fitting due to the orientation of the in/out on my block although I'd rather have just used normal ones for peace of mind.

If you're going to use 7/16 tubing then you won't need any clips. There would be no harm although they're not essential unless you're using 1/2 tubing. Which size you choose is more down to personal preference anyway.

I'm using the 10w DDC although I'll be modding that soon to the 18w version as I really should have bought that one to begin with. I'd definitely recommend you get the 18w version though

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 15:04

DJ_Switch said:
What's your budget for everything?

I dont really want to spend more then 400 quid.

So what would you recommend given that I am not to keen on hacking the case up?

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 15:12

I am starting to think now that using 2 loop without modding is going to be impossible.

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 15:28

Jasonp said:
I dont really want to spend more then 400 quid.

So what would you recommend given that I am not to keen on hacking the case up?

It might be worth you having a look at the Black Ice GTX 360 as a rad or the TFC 360. I believe both of these will fit although I'd double check the TFC 360.

For the pump I'd go with the 18w DDC. The res is really down to personal preference. A lot of people seem to like the XSPC res top for the pump although I opted for the EK multi option res simply because I preferred the look of it.

The cpu block you've chosen is good. You've got the pump, rad and blocks covered so everything from there is down to what you prefer.

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 15:32

Jasonp said:
I am starting to think now that using 2 loop without modding is going to be impossible.

You could still do a dual loop if you wanted. Because my second loop is only cooling the nb then I didn't need a big rad. You could still do it without modding the case though. A Swiftech radbox would allow you to hang a second rad on the back. It is also very easy to fit 2 single rads to the rear fan mount and also the intake on the bottom of the case. It wouldn't be too much of a problem to fit a dual at the front. For ease though I'd go with the Swiftech radbox for the second rad.

Jasonp · 3 May 2009 at 15:41

Thanks man, this has been very helpfull, i think for my first atempt im going to try just 1 loop with a large rad, theres plenty of time to play with it a bit later on when i upgrade to i7 anyway.

DJ_Switch · 3 May 2009 at 15:59

Jasonp said:
Thanks man, this has been very helpfull, i think for my first atempt im going to try just 1 loop with a large rad, theres plenty of time to play with it a bit later on when i upgrade to i7 anyway.

No worries.

Yeah. You're probably best going with the one loop. It is much easier.