Watercooling Setup

Joseph

Hi all,

Going to be building a new rig and want to watercool it, it'll be my first time ever building a rig with watercooling so have absolutely no experience in it whatsoever.

After doing some research on it, I think I have grasped the basics but still really don't know what I'm doing in terms of what to get to satisfy what I want cooled.

i7 930 CPU 2.8 GHz -> OC to 4 GHz
2x EVGA 480 GTX Hydro Edition
and possibly cool the MB aswell - X58

I've put a provisional list of gear together, but I reckon alot of it needs to be changed / reconsidered so adviced welcomed:

Black Ice GT Xtreme 420 Radiator
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump
EK Supreme i7 High FlowClear Top
EK Multioption Reservoir 250
Fluid XP
Bitspower Premium G1/4" High Flow 1/2" Compression Fitting
Tygon 5/16" Tubing Clear - 1m

Serephucus

Deaddude wrote: »

Hi all,

Going to be building a new rig and want to watercool it, it'll be my first time ever building a rig with watercooling so have absolutely no experience in it whatsoever.

After doing some research on it, I think I have grasped the basics but still really don't know what I'm doing in terms of what to get to satisfy what I want cooled.

i7 930 CPU 2.8 GHz -> OC to 4 GHz
2x EVGA 480 GTX Hydro Edition
and possibly cool the MB aswell - X58

I've put a provisional list of gear together, but I reckon alot of it needs to be changed / reconsidered so adviced welcomed:

Black Ice GT Xtreme 420 Radiator
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump
EK Supreme i7 High FlowClear Top
EK Multioption Reservoir 250
Fluid XP
Bitspower Premium G1/4" High Flow 1/2" Compression Fitting
Tygon 5/16" Tubing Clear - 1m

Change the rad. If you can fit them, have a look at either the PA120.3 or the Fesser X-changer. They're thicker, but much better with lower RPM fans.

Get rid of that coolant. Plain, distilled water is the best stuff you can use. You add anything to water, and it lowers its thermal conductivity and also increases the risk of ionisation. Oh, and Deionised and distilled water are not the same thing! I've had people make that mistake before.

Also, are you sure you have a case that'll fit a 420 rad?

Joseph

Im working with the antec 1200 so I should be alright in terms of size

Thanks for the advice RE coolant, will use plain distilled instead (might get coloured tubing)

On the RAD you recommended will it be enough to cool those 3 things effectively?

Then just generally do I have every necessary component in that list?

Serephucus

Deaddude wrote: »

Im working with the antec 1200 so I should be alright in terms of size

Thanks for the advice RE coolant, will use plain distilled instead (might get coloured tubing)

On the RAD you recommended will it be enough to cool those 3 things effectively?

Then just generally do I have every necessary component in that list?

I couldn't say. If you get good fans, then probably. I was originally going to go with a PA120.3 - I've just realised, I meant a PA120.4 in your case - to cool a QX9650 @ 4.0GHz and two 480s, but I'll instead be going with a H50 for my CPU, and PA120.3 for two 480s. The H50 isnt' as good as a custom loop, but it is when you factor in the fact that there won't be the added heat of two really freakin' hot cards in there too. :P

You might want to ditch the res and use a t-line instead. Tends to keep your flow rate up. I'm not sure what size that tubing is, as OCUK doesn't give ID/OD sizes. You seem to have everything though, barring hose clamps. (And of course, GPU blocks, but you knew that. )

You might want to have a look at www.watercoolinguk.co.uk also. They will ship to Ireland if you email them about it, and they're pretty cheap. There's a lot of good people on their forums too, they can help you out.

Solitaire

Where's the rad going? Precious few cases can take a 420 without mods, and most cases that can take a 420 with dremelling are units with dual 140mm top fan support. The 1200 has a 360*120 array up front and IIRC just one 200mm unit up top - I don't even think it supports any 140mm fans, so good luck finding somewhere to mount that thing!

Joseph

The GTX 480s im going for have build in GPU blocks.

Thats exactly what Im worried about though I know these cards give off mad heat so I was wondering would it be best to have a secondary loop? i.e.:
Res -> CPU -> Res -> GFX1 -> GFX2 -> Rad

Serephucus

Deaddude wrote: »

The GTX 480s im going for have build in GPU blocks.

I knew that... blonde moment...

Deaddude wrote: »

Thats exactly what Im worried about though I know these cards give off mad heat so I was wondering would it be best to have a secondary loop? i.e.:
Res -> CPU -> Res -> GFX1 -> GFX2 -> Rad

If you want two loops, you're going to want a second pump and rad too. The idea is to have both completely seperate, so there's no heat crossover.

Pump -> rad -> CPU
PUmp -> rad -> GPU1 -> GPU2

If you wanted, you could go:

Pump -> rad -> CPU -> rad -> GPU1 -> GPU2

But that's messy, and not as good as the first one either.

Are you still going to be using a resevoir too?

Unfortunately, a H50 or something similar won't get a 920 to 4.0. If it does, it'll be loud. To be honest, you're probably better off using a high-end air cooler for your CPU, and watercooling only your GPUs. The only reason I can get away with WCing my CPU is because it runs a good bit cooler than the i7 chips.

Joseph

Going to do a turnaround on my mind and go with the 800D from Corsair for the case, its just phenomenal. And like you were saying Solitare, it can easily support the watercooling setup

Solitaire

800D is awesome, but dead expensive and doesn't support any 140-based rads at all AFAIK. It certainly won't support a 420; few cases do. At least without going Dremel Time!