Watercooling first timer need advice

frednec

frednec

frednec

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Joined
4 Aug 2005
Posts
10
Hello I am looking to cool my existing i5 setup so I thought I would splash out on a new cash and necessary watercooling setup. As a complete novice I am a little unsure about the tubing/compression fixing sizes. Below is my badly linked basket.

Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £263.99
(£219.99) £263.99
(£219.99)
Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2) £164.99
(£137.49) £164.99
(£137.49)
Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942) £129.95
(£108.29) £129.95
(£108.29)
EK Water Blocks EK-FC7970 CSQ £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy £51.95
(£43.29) £51.95
(£43.29)
EK CoolStream Radiator XT 360 (120.3) £48.98
(£40.82) £48.98
(£40.82)
EK-RES X3 150 Reservoir £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
EK DCP 4.0 Pump (12v) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
XSPC HighFlex Hose 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD, 16/10mm, 2m, Clear £6.49
(£5.41) £6.49
(£5.41)
EK-EKoolants Blood Red £5.99
(£4.99) £5.99
(£4.99)
EK-Supremacy PreciseMount Add-on Naked Ivy £3.95
(£3.29) £3.95
(£3.29)
EK Water Blocks EK-CSQ Fitting 10/13mm G1/4 - Nickel £2.99
(£2.49) £29.90
(£24.90)
Sub Total : £717.60

Any advice would be greatfully accepted. One complete novice question how do you fill the radiator when you mount it at the top of the case as I hear you can't run the pump dry?

Also getting mixed messages from google as to whether that rad will fit in the top of the coolermaster haf x case.
 
You don't fill the radiator you fill the reservoir, then the pump pumps liquid into the radiator.

Looking at the list the tube appears a bit thick for those compression fittings (16mm tube vs 13mm rings) but might work with force, also "EK-Supremacy PreciseMount Add-on Naked Ivy £3.95" is an extra thing for hardcore types who want to slice the lid off their CPU (voiding the warranty) and mount the block right onto the exposed core for extra performance, its not something a "complete novice" should be remotely considering.
 
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As you fill the res then the tubes and the pump should naturally fill up too. When you attach the pump to the power in a stand alone leak test (i.e. so only the pump works) switch the pump on for a few seconds then turn it off.. fill and repeat.. Once there's no air pockets, then the system is full including your roof mounted rad :)

Make sure you test the loop for at least 24 hours before attaching any of your components to the PSU.

Read here on how to hotwire your PSU
http://www.huddysworld.co.uk/index....rdware/91-hoe-to-check-if-your-psu-is-working
 
being a complete novice to watercooling doesn't neccessarily mean he's a complete novice to cooling in general :)

op, as uber says, you need to match both dimensions of the tubing with the compressions

and yes, you put fluid in the res, run the pump to get the fluid moving and keep topping it up so that you don't run the pump dry

if you want to mount the res in the bottom of the case, you need to turn the case on it's side and have enough flex in the tubing to raise the res above everything else while you do this
 
Thanks for the tips on filling the radiator very helpful. Can i just ask ubersonic what tubing/compression fittings would you recommend for that set up please?
 
Ok great thanks its the one thing i have found the most confusing the tubing/compression fixings.

One last question i forgot to ask on the EKWB website they state you need a back plate for the GPU waterblock but I can't find one here do i have to go direct to EKWB for that?

Also how do people link their baskets so neatly in other threads!
 
Not sure to be honest mate, personally I prefer barbs as one of the advantages is that you don't have to care about tube/ring thickness (I would recommend compressions for a first build though).

Ii I were you I would stick with EK fittings and get tubing that fitted properly however thats not really an option as OcUK only seem to sell XSPC tubing in that size now which isn't that great, they used to stock a brand of tubing called Masterkleer which was far superiour, EK are selling their own tubing now which works perfectly with their fittings (as you would expect) but its matt black not clear.

My experience with XSPC 10mm/16mm hose and EK 10mm/13mm compression fittings was basically that the hose was very tight over the barb bit and that getting the 13mm compression ring around the 16m hose was a job for He-Man.

It is a bit odd that OcUK sell BP/EK/Koolance/OcUK 10mm/13mm fittings yet no tubing that works properly with them :confused:
 
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