Another Beginner Seeking Advice For Watercooling

[tolagarf]

Greetings to you all.

After years of avoiding watercooling I've decided getting into it afterall. I've been using a few of the Antec/Corsair liquid closed loop systems, like the H50 and 620 Kühler, but these really don't interest me all that much anymore. I'm at the point where I've been reading a bit up on it, watched quite a few videos like the ones from TTL and Linus, but I'm still unsure of a few things.

I'm currently using an Intel 2600K running at stock + nvidia GTX 780 Ti, but I'm planning on upgrading to Haswell-E in Q4-2014, hence I want to be prepared. I presume the triple radiator would be plenty for this setup with some headroom for overclocking. Might this even be overkill? This thing is really heavy.

Anyway let me list the major parts that I've decided on:

Case: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2
CPU waterblock: XSPC RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel)
GPU waterblock: XSPC Razor for GTX 780 Ti (when available)
Radiator: Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 360mm
Fans for rad: 3 x Corsair Air Series SP120 PWM Quiet Edition
Pump w/Reservoir: XSPC D5 Photon 170 Reservoir/Pump Combo
Tubing: 16/10 tube with compression fittings.


I think my only problem left to solve, is the installation of the D5 pump into the case. Normally this would either sit at the buttom or the backside. However on the Fractal Arc case, there's the extra backplate (the white one sitting vertical) which complicates it i think. Been looking at some pictures, trying to find videos of this paricular pump being installed in this case, but coming up empty. I'm afraid I might have to mod it. I guess it could sit at the buttom just as well, but I would need some kind of bracket to firmly install it. Anyone got some experience with this particular D5 combo pump?

 

[Devo234]

you could always mount it to the rad by using something like http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Pulse-Modding-Reservoir--Pump-Mounting-Bracket--Black-pid-12502.html

my main concern is that if your goin to be upgrading to haswell-e then i would want a second rad if im honest due to haswell running fairly warm. this also means you can run your fans slower as there are more of them

 

[tolagarf]

I don't think that mount would be optimal considering the case is small and all, but thank you for the suggestion. And regarding Haswell-E. I'm not really too concerned about the temps there. I expect them to be in line with Ivybridge-E, or close to at least.

Best would probably be to mount it on the bottom. I'll just need to find some mounting bracket that would fit. Even though the pump has a mount already, I doubt it would be wise to let the pump lay down on the floor. Well I'm guessing anyway

 

[Surfie]

I'm getting the same pump/res combo for my build.

I was planning on modding the motherboard tray to be able to accept the mounting screws from the bracket.

Your case however is smaller than mine, so i'm not sure if you have the room for that as an option.

The other way I would try it, is in front of the graphics card, under the exhaust fan. Most cases have a grill/mesh here, that would allow easy installation. Again, i'm not too familiar with your case, so YMMV.