What would I need to watercool a GTX480 (Reference) & My CPU (i7 3770K)?

Ideally yes as it will make priming the pump loads easier

edit; I should say, the whole res doesn't need to be higher, just the top of the waterline - so level with or below, if that makes sense
 
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For the compression, anything will do just stay away from the ocuk 'high flow' compression unless you fancy loosing lumps of skin from your hands ;)

The standard ocuk compression are good, as are ek, koolance, alphacool and bitspower.
 
I think this is what I want, is it all ok? any problems? The rad is either going to be the magicool 3x180mm or 2x180mm, would this be enough for the CPU & GPU?


YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo £119.99
1 x Aqua Computer AquagraFX Waterblock for GTX 480 (GF100) £79.98
1 x Aqua Computer Cuplex Kryos HF for Socket 1366/1156/775 - G1/4" £64.99
1 x OcUK Tube Cutter Aluminum 3-14mm £8.5
2 x Mayhems X1 UV Oil Black Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99 (15.98)
1 x Mayhems Biocide 10ml With PH Testing Kit £5.99
4 x EK-PSC Adapter Rotary 45° G1/4 Nickel £3.59 (14.36)
4 x EK-PSC Adapter Rotary 90° G1/4 Nickel £3.59 (14.36)
8 x EK PSC Compression Fitting 7/16 [16/11mm] - G1/4 - Nickel £3.29 (26.32)
3 x XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear £2.99 (8.97)
1 x OcUK Value PSU Bridging Connector (24 Pin) £1.3
Total : £360.70 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Tattysnuc said:
They might be 2 gens old, but they sure do work well. There's no NVidia 6 series card that offers comparable performance for the price point. The 670, 680 and 690 are considerably faster, and significantly more NEW than a second hand GTX480 + the cost of a new waterblock.

I do agree that you'd be best served picking up a second hand waterblock, but if you do, make sure you buy NEW thermal pads that you need for that block.
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I was on about the block not the card. I have a 480 and bought a second hand block for it for £30 delivered. I just don't see how the companies and retailers can justify the stupidly high prices for a block that fits a card that's two generations old.
 
a magicool 180x3 will be plenty - also take a look at the phobya 200x2
the best / quietest 180mm fans I could find were Silverstone FN181's
the AP181 go up to 1200RPM so they are better / faster, but only 0.5C better than the FN181's on the same rad @ 700RPM

if you want silent the FN's are good, if you want best performance the AP's are better :D
 
You also don't need biocide with pre mix fluid, you already have the Ap121's so I'd stick with those on a controller rather than spend £50 on new fans.
 
pgi947 said:
You also don't need biocide with pre mix fluid, you already have the Ap121's so I'd stick with those on a controller rather than spend £50 on new fans.
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I'd missed that - oh yeah if you've got the FT02 with AP's then use those doh! You'll need to keep them at 1000+ to stay level with FN's @ 700 though
 
pgi947 said:
You also don't need biocide with pre mix fluid, you already have the Ap121's so I'd stick with those on a controller rather than spend £50 on new fans.
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Thanks for the tip on the Biocide, now removed :)

Not sure how it'd work with the AP181s as they have a 3 pin connector, and another lead with 'High' & 'Low' setting to change the RPM, so not sure? Would I just set it to 'High' and then use the controller to alter the RPM anywhere inbetween?

andybird123 said:
I'd missed that - oh yeah if you've got the FT02 with AP's then use those doh! You'll need to keep them at 1000+ to stay level with FN's @ 700 though
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Yeah, got 3 AP181s here, which is a nice bonus to save on buying fans!

If I could get the same cooling from the FN's as the AP's but at a lower RPM then that would be great, but its almost another £60 (mind you, could sell the AP's) but I'm looking for a black and blue build, so the clear plastic would look out of place?? though the blue LEDs would be ace, I really hate decisions! :confused::p:D
 
I'd recommend a fan controller with a WC setup anyhow :) IF you have the money go for one of the aquacomputer controllers, once programmed are near enough automatic, failing that go Lamptron :D

Phobya also do a range of 180mm fans (G-Silent 800rpm) that I have on my 1080, dead silent but the build quality isn't as good as the silverstone fans, I went with phobya purely to save cash. One of them is already missing the 3pin connector head (no idea where that went :o).

Ninja Edit: the RPM controllers you have are probably integrated to the case? Would suspect the fans are direct 3pin connectors, if they have in-line controls, set to 12v and plug into a fan controller and let that do the work :D
 
pgi947 said:
I'd recommend a fan controller with a WC setup anyhow :) IF you have the money go for one of the aquacomputer controllers, once programmed are near enough automatic, failing that go Lamptron :D

Ninja Edit: the RPM controllers you have are probably integrated to the case? Would suspect the fans are direct 3pin connectors, if they have in-line controls, set to 12v and plug into a fan controller and let that do the work :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've quickly realised to that a fan controller is very useful with a water cooled build. Can't stretch to the Aqua Computer controller, would if I could though :D

Yeah, AP181s have 2 leads coming out of the fan, one is a 3 pin connector, the other terminates with a High Low switch, which is just screwed into the case, so its removable thankfully, so as you say, I'll switch it to high, and tuck the wire somewhere out of the way, and just connect to the controller :D
 
Space Monkey said:
This controller any good do you think?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BB-000-LP&tool=3
Click to expand...

Yup, the FC2 can handle an incredible amount of wattage/channel, get a 3>1 fan cable and have all the rad fans on a single channel :)

Space Monkey said:
Do you think that the 2x180mm would be good for CPU & GPU (GTX480).

The reason I ask is, I have to butcher, sorry I mean mod :p my case for the 3x180mm but the 2x180 would slot right in without penalty?
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It would yeah, personally I'd butcher the case to get the 3x180 in, the modding would be light, remove a few rivets to get the hard drive cage out, problem solved.
 
Absolutely not, the D5 is pretty much the best pump available atm and I've only read good things about the res :)

Haha, Southampton, if I start walking now I might make it some time before xmas :o
 
Ordered, so I've now ordered the D5 Pump/Res combo & the GTX480 water block.

When some of my other bits sell, I'll order some more items in the list, hopefully won't be too long now, woot! Never ever thought I'd go water cooling, so I'm really hoping I don't stuff it up so to speak! :eek::D
 
Just take it slow, double check everything and keep a close eye on everything while filling/bleeding the loop. If you're not sure on something come here to double check, usually someone on hand to point you in the right direction :)
 
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