Another noob joins the fray

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Bartacus

New member
Hello from the politically correct over-taxed polite socialist ice cube known as Canada! :beerchug:
Like a lot of people, Tom's excellent videos brought me here. He's a fun guy to watch / listen to, and I figure if he's here the rest of you can't be that bad. :cool:

I'm about to embark on my second water cooled build. I'm 42, been building systems since my first 386, but only recently got into water stuff. Since I'm about to migrate my 1st water loop into a proper case (Case Labs Magnum M8 cube), I thought I'd sign up for semi-noob help / opinions / etc. You know the drill.

Current system is in a Corsair 800D case, gear as follows:

i7 3820 / Asus Rampage IV Gene / 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
120GB ADATA S510 SSD x 2 (RAID0) / 1TB W.D. x 2 (RAID1) / 1TB Seagate x 2 (stand alone)
Sapphire Radeon 7950 3GB
Corsair AX750 power supply
XSPC Raystorm CPU block / AlphaCool 79x0 v2 GPU block
XSPC dual D5 bay reservoir with dual D5 variable pumps
XSPC EX360 / EX140 rads
Mix of XSPC / Bitspower compression fittings (3/8 5/8)
FrozenQ helix reservoir (blood red)
Primochill Advanced LRT tubing

System looks like crap right now (1st time water builder, didn't have a clue, and still don't really). That's why I'm here. :) Well that and because Brits / Europeans are generally awesome people. :cool:

Cheers folks! :beerchug:
 
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heres my 3 cents

1.- welcome and what a great setup LOL i dont think i can afford all of that
2.- you should hit the water cooling section, the introduction i think it is about your self not really introducing your PC, but hey it looks good from here
3.- gift me it ill pay the international shippment xP
 
Thanks! I just assumed this being OC3D, the systems deserved more of an intro than the humans. :D I've been browsing the water cooling section too, trying to figure out how to lay out my upcoming build in the M8 I haven't bought yet. Trying to figure out what options I need is driving me insane!
 
Welcome to :oc3d: Bartacus.

I can only imagine how tiny that mATX mobo looks inside the 800D. The M8 is gonna make it look like an ITX board :lol:. Again, welcome, and I hope you find the advice/help/tips&tricks you're looking for here :)

Cheers! :beerchug:
 
I purposely built a messy water loop just to make sure the board didn't look silly. ;) Yeahhhhh, that's what I did. :p

This is why I'm here, so people can help me clean up this awful mess (my 1st loop):

 
LOL! You'll get there man, don't worry. Leak testing was actually the only thing I planned properly in that build. I bought an external power supply for $20, and I built the loop on my kitchen table, without connecting it to any PC components. Just leak tested the CPU / GPU blocks before installing them, like so:

 
Bartacus said:
I purposely built a messy water loop just to make sure the board didn't look silly. ;) Yeahhhhh, that's what I did. :p

This is why I'm here, so people can help me clean up this awful mess (my 1st loop):
Click to expand...

Tbh, that loop isn't all that bad. There were a few things that struck me right off, though:
  1. Why do you have the tube res AND the 5.25 bay res? One or the other is enough, lol.
  2. Get rid of the single 140 radiator. It does next-to-nothing for temps, and is just more tubing to run and another restriction for the flow. The top 360 is good enough on its own (provided it's a 60mm thick one) for a CPU + single GPU loop. If you had more than one GPU underwater, I'd suggest another rad.
  3. When doing a custom WC loop, always remember to go res > pump. After that, it doesn't really matter all that much, you just want to make it look as tidy as you can. If I were you, I'd get rid of the 5.25 bay res and mount the tube res to the mobo tray (or you can buy a bracket and mount it to the 5.25 bay cage) and buy a Bitspower Dual D5 pump top (since the pumps came mounted in the res and therefore didn't have the stock top on like they usually do), and mount the pumps under the res.

-EDIT-: Just read your sig and noticed you have the EX360 radiator, which is 45mm thick, IIRC. You should look into getting the RX360, which is 60mm thick and should help improve temps/performance.


DISCLAIMER: I'm by no means an expert on this, (I haven't even had a custom WC loop of my own, but I've done a crap ton of research for friends, and myself) so you might want to wait until some of the more experienced people chime in before making any decisions on stuff.
 
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Hi Bartacus and welcome to the OC3D forums,
For your first watercooling loop, it doesn't look too bad to me. I'm sure that others here can give you advice on watercooling.
Looking forward to seeing your Case labs build.
Enjoy your time here on the forums.
 
PCjunkie429: the tube res is what got me interested in water cooling. I saw a pic of it in someones avatar on another forum and thought to myself: "I don't know what the hell that thing is, but I want one". :) 1 month later I was underwater for the 1st time. Plus I figured with 2 reservoirs I'd learn a lot about water cooling just setting it up, and I was right on that one!

The 140 rad was an impulse buy. I knew I didn't need it, but I figured it would fit in nicely at the back. I'm moving to a CaseLabs M8 soon, so that rad will be gone in favor of 2 more 360s, thick ones. Still trying to figure that all out.

EDIT: the bay res was purchased so I didn't have to worry about where to mount the dual pumps. It's a neat solution, so I'm keeping that one. Unless I go crazy and ditch that AND the tube res in favor of a dual D5 Bitspower pump top / res setup.

Excalabur50: thanks man!
 
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Bartacus said:
PCjunkie429: the tube res is what got me interested in water cooling. I saw a pic of it in someones avatar on another forum and thought to myself: "I don't know what the hell that thing is, but I want one". :) 1 month later I was underwater for the 1st time. Plus I figured with 2 reservoirs I'd learn a lot about water cooling just setting it up, and I was right on that one!

The 140 rad was an impulse buy. I knew I didn't need it, but I figured it would fit in nicely at the back. I'm moving to a CaseLabs M8 soon, so that rad will be gone in favor of 2 more 360s, thick ones. Still trying to figure that all out.
Click to expand...

Lol I understand, we've all been there. The M8 should prove to be more than ample for your needs. Can't wait for the build.

Cheers! :beerchug:
 
Mark3Max said:
Hi Bartacus and welcome to the OC3D forums,
For your first watercooling loop, it doesn't look too bad to me. I'm sure that others here can give you advice on watercooling.
Looking forward to seeing your Case labs build.
Enjoy your time here on the forums.
Click to expand...
Thank you sir! :beerchug:
 
Welcome to the oc3d tribe mate.
You cant expect to have pulled off a watercooled masterpiece first time. Sure there are things that erk me with what you have done. It doesnt matter at the end of the day. You did well for watercooling in the first place.
No doubt you wouldve learnt a lot from this build. So next time you know what you can do better, plan out etc.
My very first watercooling loop about 12 years ago had garden hose for tubing and a powerade bottle reservoir . So yeah we all have to start somewhere.

Peace
 
Deejeta said:
Welcome to the oc3d tribe mate.
You cant expect to have pulled off a watercooled masterpiece first time. Sure there are things that erk me with what you have done. It doesnt matter at the end of the day. You did well for watercooling in the first place.
No doubt you wouldve learnt a lot from this build. So next time you know what you can do better, plan out etc.
My very first watercooling loop about 12 years ago had garden hose for tubing and a powerade bottle reservoir . So yeah we all have to start somewhere.

Peace
Click to expand...
They irk me too, that's why I'm here. :D
SPS said:
Welcome dude, great introduction :)
Click to expand...
Thanks. :) Looking forward to learning from you guys!
 
them canucks are taking over the place...idk..... ;)


Welcome Bartacus! (from a citizen of an even more politically correct over-taxed polite socialist ice cube known as Norway..... :unsure:
 
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