Water Cooling Kits

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 14:37

I am thinking about water cooling my pc and was wondering what the best starter kits are ? Or if it is better to buy the pump rads etc individualy ?

ConTRo13R · 21 May 2009 at 14:38

Defo better to buy individuals, that way you can get exactly what you need and your kit is tailored to what your rig needs to cool itslef

95thrifles · 21 May 2009 at 14:40

It depends on what you want to WC first of all, just CPU? then yeah a kit is fine to start with, if youe also wanting to cool GPU(s) then youre best doing a custom build. This is quite a decent starter kit to begin with, though obviously budget is also an issue, you can do WC on the cheap but imo its not worth it, only WC if youre prepared to pay the expense, else you may as well stick with high end air cooling

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 14:46

What exactly will i need GPU block, cpu block, pump, resevoir, radiator and tubes ? Anything else ?

.:SAmSuNG:. · 21 May 2009 at 14:49

barbs, coolant.

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 14:55

Is it better to get all the parts from 1 manufacturer or can you mix and match like GPU block from 1 rad from another etc etc

95thrifles · 21 May 2009 at 15:01

you can mix and match, most people do, just make sure all the connectors are same size

.:SAmSuNG:. · 21 May 2009 at 15:02

Yah not a single company makes the best of everything. You have to pick and choose bit that suit you best for all the companies.

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 15:04

Anything else i should know before i start buying ?

paulh · 21 May 2009 at 15:08

i think i'm right in saying you need to make sure its all made of the same metal. eg you cant mix copper and alu! it causes all sorts of problems.

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 15:22

thanks ill bear that in mind

.:SAmSuNG:. · 21 May 2009 at 15:24

Most of it will be copper or brass now adays. Expect to pay atleast £150 for just a CPU set up.

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 15:28

Is copper the best conductor ?

ConTRo13R · 21 May 2009 at 15:28

Thermal paste, hose clamps unless you go for 1/2 bards with 7/16 tubing which i would highly reccomend

Ducky Spud · 21 May 2009 at 15:29

Most decent coolants such as Feser 1 includes an anti corrosion chemical thingy

means mixing metals isnt as much of a problem now, just make sure your coolant has it!

Monkey Puzzle · 21 May 2009 at 15:35

brenkehoe said:
Is copper the best conductor ?

It has a thermal conductivity just under twice that of aluminium, and just under that of silver (380 compared to 410). So not the best metal, but for practical purposes, yes.

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 15:41

Copper blocks it is then

brenkehoe · 21 May 2009 at 19:25

Will i need 2 separate loops (Rads and pump and resevoir) if i want to put a block in my geforce 9800 gx2 and cool my cpu or will 1 be ok ?

Ducky Spud · 21 May 2009 at 19:45

Providing you get a good quality pump and rad, you should be fine with them in one loop. Or maybe get 2 rads, depends what you can fit in your case really.

2 loops would probably give better temps, but only by a few degrees, not really worth the extra money really.

Sayso · 21 May 2009 at 20:08

i found one loop gave me better temps but i was under using the cooling potential of one of my RADS.
there are some good kits if you search around, cant post to a competitor but google watercooling should give you some ideas.
one thing to remember is buy the best you can afford, a decent pump will last you through a few setups and allow for expansion, ive found the RADs ive used (Xspc, Feser, thermochill and HWlabs) all to be very similar in temps (about 5C) but you will have to use different fan speeds to get the same temp so if your looking for quiet operation its defiantly worth going for the bigger and better RAD