Watercooling newbie questions

[Evil-I]

Hi All,

I think I might finally take take the splash and go proper water cooling.

Splash... gettit

I currently have an i7 920 with an Asus P6tSE mboard using a corsair H50 to cool the cpu.

I've just purchased a gigabyte GA EX58 motherboard that has built in watercooling for the chipset and seeing as my overclock (4.0Ghz) is pretty much temperature limited (I've had it at 4.2 but temps were too high) I thought maybe I should just watercool the cpu and motherboard properly.

So my component shortlist currently is:

XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Black) V4 £59.98
(£49.98) £59.98
(£49.98)
EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy Clean CSQ £51.95
(£43.29) £51.95
(£43.29)
EK CoolStream Radiator XT 360 (120.3) £48.98
(£40.82) £48.98
(£40.82)

I guess what I need to confirm is what type and number of fittings I'll need and what would be the best tubing type/ size etc.

Recommendations on fan type for this rad.

I'll be fitting all of this into a Slilverstone TJ10, so will be modding the top of the case to take the rad etc.

Any help much appreciated!

E-I

 

[Bluntwrapped]

Do you not fancy putting your GPU in there too?

You'll need 2 fittings (barbed or compression) per component.

Tubing size is up to you, might be worth deciding what colour of tubing you want first then see what's available. The XSPC tubing here is reliable stuff.

Fan/s - Scythe GT1850, Corsair SP120 or the Enermax range of fans would see you well.

 

[Evil-I]

Thanks Blunt,

Looking at the motherboard it doesn't appear that the fittings are very large for this or is this standard size for inlet/ outlet? I obviously want best performance but if larger diameter tube has better performance, what happens when it is converted down to smaller gauge for the components?

Also what is standard thread for the component side/ is it all the same thread/ diameter, or will the cpu block and motherboard block require different fittings.

I did consider cooling the gfx, but I have a pair of 660Ti's and apart from not quicky being able to find a block that would work on them, I also wondered if the 360 rad would be good enough to run the i7 920, motherboard block and 2 x gpu's?

I guess potentially I could fit maybe an extra 120 mm rad in the back where my h50 is currently situated, or even mod the top to accept a 480 rad, but with 2 x gpu waterblocks suddenly the cost is ramping up VERY rapidly.

Thanks for the advice

E-I

 

[Bluntwrapped]

After having a quick look I'm pretty sure the fittings on the motherboard use 3/8" ID x 1/2" OD or 3/8" ID x 5/8" OD tube. You'll need to double check this in your manual.

If the above is correct you'd be best to use 3/8 fittings for the rest of the loop:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=962&catid=1529&subid=2229

Larger tubing won't make any difference to cooling performance.

The thread on each of these fittings is G1/4. This is pretty much a standard size now, and the items you've listed above use this.

You'd definitely want the extra 120mm rad if you're planning on adding both GPU's to the loop. As you said it'll add quite a bit to the cost, it might not be worth it if you're happy with the stock coolers.