Watercooling

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Right, before I start a little background:

I have done the watercooling thing before. Hooking up my cpu, chipset and 2 7800gtx's at the time with abmismal results.

I'd like to try again, this time trying to cool my QX6700, and my 8800gtx (going to leave out the chipset for now.)

would the Zalman Reserator 2 be up to this ? Or should I do a custom build ?
 
Olly said:
Right, before I start a little background:

I have done the watercooling thing before. Hooking up my cpu, chipset and 2 7800gtx's at the time with abmismal results.

I'd like to try again, this time trying to cool my QX6700, and my 8800gtx (going to leave out the chipset for now.)

would the Zalman Reserator 2 be up to this ? Or should I do a custom build ?

I want to know more about the abysmal part.. why was it so bad?

A reserator will struggle with an 8800gtx and a quad regardless of what their bumpf might protest.
 
OK well if you must know, it was a real hotch-potch of a setup. I had 3 radiators which could have 2 120mm fans on each and a water pump submerged in a resovoir. Can't remember all of the exact models of components but I got everything from a germany company (won't post competitor link here !)

The main problem I had was keeping everything cool, it seem to heat up. I'm not joking what I did next:
I put it in a mini fridge ! but that didnt seem to work either ! Later people told me i was using the small 1/8 ? tubing and a crap pump which A) wasnt pumping the water around fast enough and removing heat and B) the radiators weren't getting rid of the heat quickly enough.

I change my hardware as often as my underpants so I'm also worried about having to buy waterblocks for say the latest gfx card etc etc but I know thats just part and parcel of watercooling !

Instead of going the whole hog again, I'd like to start with just the CPU, and build it up over time, so can anyone recommend me some a good basic setup of tubing, pump/ressy etc and see how it goes ?
 
I would just be looking at a 120:3 radiator, a high flow pump and a cpu cooler, everything with native 1/2" tubing. You shouldn't go wrong oh and a reservoir.

XSPC RS360 Black
XSPC 500mm Passive Aluminium Reservoir (or the 250mm depending what size you want. The fins will help to cool the water down. especially if you get some pvc piping (like a drain pipe, and put a fan on the end. It all depends how far you want to go.
Laing 12V D5 Vario Pump 1/2"
Then witch ever is the right danger den cpu block.


Add 3 quite fans on the radiator with a fan controller so you can optimize cooling whilst keeping noise to a minimum.
 
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The Reserator won't be an improvement from your current air cooling... the only real difference you will notice is the noise will be less...

If you want to watercool... you should get a custom kit... feel free to message me on MSN when your online. :)

The following is what I was planning to get:

YATE LOON 120mm - D12SL-12 (x2)
Swiftech RadBox MCB-120 Revision 2 - Black
Swiftech MCP655-B™ 12 VDC Pump (No speed controller)
Swiftech Apogee GTX Extreme Performance CPU Waterblock (LGA775)
Masterkleer 7/16" ID (5/8" OD) PVC Tubing (x8)
12mm Hoseclips Pack of 10
Feser One - F1 - Cooling Fluid - UV RED 1ltr
Thermochill PA120.2 - Barb Size 1/2"
XSPC Bay Reservoir (Clear) - Barb Size 1/2"
 
cool i've added you, hopefully we'll speak soon !

thanks for your replies guys,that swiftech kit looks cool.

Only other obstacle I might have is my case. I want to build the watercooling stuff in its own (probably a desktop Media center case) case and sit it on top of my main PC, as I have this :

all_together.jpg
 
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Pump - Laing DDC Ultra
CPU Block - D-Tek Fuzion
Rad - Thermochill 120.2 or 120.3 if you got room
Res - Ek Mulioption 150

Above parts are generally considered to be amongst the best you can currently buy and is what id buy if i was buying watercooling now :)
 
The Swiftech watercooler from ocuk got my quad from 3.4 on air with tunique tower (with 3 fans) up to 3.55 woo hoo, not : I expected more with water tho prob at my chip ceiling.

I tried a reserator years ago on a PentiumD + 2x 7800GTX & omg, the thing heated up faster than a turkey on xmas eve... the stock was even a no show :p
 
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surely you have space inside a Lian Li 343??????

Those things are like MM UFO size!

Anyway, I would steer well clear of XSPC components, especially the alu res as if there is any water touching the alu and copper in a block you will get corrosion. I've also seen no evidence that they add cooling.

Personally if I wanted ease I would probably go with the swiftech kit but given the choice I would go custom with something like...

Swiftech Apogee GTX cpu block
EK 8800GTX block
DDC 12V pump with alphacool top
thermochill PA 120.3 rad
EK multi option res if you're mounting in the case or maybe a 5.25" bay res if you have a spare slot.

in fact I'd probably add a chipset block like the EK wave or swiftech mcw30 too just to get it all done, I imagine the NB gets super hot with quads.
 
The thing you have to realise about the reserator is, that it isn't designed with super-cool temperatures in mind, it's designed for quitness, so i would definately not go down this road.

To be honest, you are trying to cool 2 of the hottest componants on the market at the moment, so you will want some pretty decent cooling, and, for this reason, i would not go for a kt, i would definately recommend getting a custom solution.

D-tek fuzion is regarded to be the best cpu block on the market for multi-stage cooling (ie more than just the cpu in the loop), but the swiftec apogee GTX is pretty much on a par, and even better in single stage loops. As for the GTX, you have to options really, the EK 88gtx full cover clock, or the danger den gtx full cover block. Reading around, there isn't much between these 2 blocks, other than price, the DD block is almost double the price of the EK block... a no brainer there really :D (i opted for the EK, but the silly so and so's sent me a danger den block, i wont complain ;))

If going for a single loop, then a thermochill PA 120.3 rad is an absolute must. As for the resevoir, then the bigger the better really i guess, as the more liquid that's in the loop, the longer it takes to heat up.

I would use a pretty decent pump, something along the lines of the D5 or a DDC, the faster you can pump the water around, the better, which brings me to tubing.. the thicker the better (although recent studies have stated that there is very little difference) but the fact that you will be dumping a whole lot of heat into the loop would make me choose the thicker tubing (better flow)

Alternatively you could opt for 2 loops, the pumps wouldn't need to be as powerful, the resevoirs not so big, and you should be able to get away with 2 smaller rads, But ultimately, this would cost a fair bit more, as you will be purchasing pretty much double of everything.

I myself have just decided to migrate to watercooling, i am going to be cooling my NB/CPU/GFX (680i/e6400/88gtx) in one loop using a 120.2 rad. I am probably going to be dumping too much heat into the loop for 1 120.2 rad, but im hoping that the faster pump, high flow barbs, and larger tubing will help me overcome this. I would like to upgrade to quad core soon, but i think that i may have to get a 120.3 rad to replace the current one before i even start to think of that :D

As for wanting a radbox... may i ask why? the case you have is huge, and should be able to accomodate water cooling rather easily...

EDIT: mostly beaten by matt there.. listen to him, he know's his stuff :D
 
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V|per said:
EDIT: mostly beaten by matt there.. listen to him, he know's his stuff :D

:D cheers

Actually whilst I'm at it I'd make a point for both of you that more liquid makes absolutely sod all difference to your ending temp, I don't really get the phsyics (mike timbers does if he's passing) all it means is it take slightly longer to reach your operating temperature but you're talking almost no difference between a big res and a small res or no res.. I've done all 3 and never noticed a difference.

As for rads.. a PA120.2 can shift a lot more heat than you would think, I would never consider a PA120.3 a must in any loop, great if you can fit it but they're very inconvenient in terms of the sheer size. I've never built a system with a 120.3 (about to make up for it with 2 :)) but I've had 2 7800GTXs in a loop with a black ice pro (much thinner) 120.2 and temps were fine, I have an 8800GTX on a 120.1 currently (on its own) and temps are fine with the fans basically off.

A THERMOCHILL pa120.2 (stress thermochill, not xspc or dangerden etc etc) will cope with nb/sb/gpu and a quad I'm absolutely sure, you'd just have to choose your fans wisely.

So.. to summarise, tubing size makes NO difference to temps (well proven now but real men use 1/2" ;)) neither does res size and a 120.2 will do but a 120.3 will be marginally better if only because it'll be quieter.
 
matt100 said:
A THERMOCHILL pa120.2 (stress thermochill, not xspc or dangerden etc etc) will cope with nb/sb/gpu and a quad I'm absolutely sure, you'd just have to choose your fans wisely.

That's promising for me then :)

I have opted for sharkoon SE 1000's, i know there are better performing fans out there, but i am a bit of a snob, and thus like it to look the part too. How would you rate these fans on your quoted system? (i'm guessing you'll tell me yate loons are better ;))
 
Have you bought the passive rad yet?

That'd made of aluminium which many advise that even when anodised should not be put in a loop with copper. You can use and top up anti-corrosives to slow the corrosion right down but I'm aiming to avoid any aluminium in my loop when I go water.
 
very nice replies guys, will have a proper read when I get home. With regards to my case, i have my 10 hdds on the right side and my 900w psu too, so i really didnt want to put the pump/res there !

anyone have any links to the following :

Swiftech Apogee GTX cpu block - found link
EK 8800GTX block kinda found link
DDC 12V pump with alphacool top
thermochill PA 120.3 rad - found link
EK multi option res

mail me at [email protected] if they're competitors :)

Also the Swiftech Kit says 7/16" ID Tubing , will 1/2" tubing be ok ?
 
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omg replying to my own posts now, found a site which has things in stock, and all parts recommended. Still just gonna start with the cpu 1st though !
 
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