Component Suggestions

[xeks]

M&P,

Mad props for you educating me, I really appreciate the time you've taken to help me make the right choices. I'm not really sure of what vendors are available in the USofA but I've been browsing via FrozenCPU. They're prices seem okay if not a little high. If you have any other vendors, lemme know!

I've already decided to get the XSPC Raystorm CPU block (I'm still deciding if I wanna replace the TIM with MX-4 on my CPU >.< haha). Not sure if the +$30 is worth it for the Chrome or Copper variations. The regular one is ~$60 and I guess is acetal?.

I don't have the front drive space bays available for a reservoir since I'm going to use a Aerocool Touch 2000 to control my fans except for one if I decide not to use a DVD drive and get an external one, but you've recommended to get a larger reservoir so a single slot res is too small. Not sure if there is a res that would fit in the drive cage so I'll have to Google around. But if I could I was looking at an Alphacool single bay res or something similar. If not I'll get a tube res like this and mount it in between the drive bays and the motherboard (then I'd just have to figure the biggest size that would fit). Both reservoir options also come with a pump combo here (single bay) and here (there's two bitspower versions) respectively.

For pumps only, I've only managed to sort of browse these ones, but I don't know how well they would mount in my case (variable speed pumps seem cool b/c I can set them at mid-range for the silence but also be able to crank them up if i ever needed to):
EK D5 X-Top Acetal Pump Top CSQ w/ Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump Installed
Swiftech MCP350™ 12v Water Pump (Native 3/8") (92.4 GPH)
Swiftech MCP35X 12v PWM Controlled Water Pump - White
Swiftech MCP655 Variable Speed 12v Water Pump w/ G1/4 Thread Ports (Perfectly Tapped)

As for my fans, right now I want to have 3x140mm fans mounted under the plastic grill which is on top of my rig. Would it be that detrimental to have it mounted there rather than have it actually mounted to my radiator then mounted internally? Is there a huge difference in performance between a 360x60mm (like the Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360x60mm) vs a 420x60mm radiator? I'm assuming it cools better so my next question would be what is the difference between the Phobya G-Changer 420x60mm and the Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 420x60mm Copper raditaor? Their prices are about equivalent @ ~$105-110.

Not sure what size tubing I should get? I think I want to use compression fittings for the ease and clean look they give. Also not sure if I want to dye my water or get a colored tubing. I think a clear tubing with color will allow me to see bubbles and whatnot. What other accessories and fittings should I get like barbs or adapters? Something about a kill coil?

I thought I read somewhere I should mix Acetal parts of any kind with other certain parts/fluid?

Random thought, I want to mod the bottom of the front intake grill, I noticed that it's not covered with a filter. Any suggestions or am I just being a dust worrywart?

That's all I've got for now. Will hopefully get a GTX 670 upgrade (still deciding on GPU) which I will want to XFire/SLi and watercool (for the silence and looks) in the future. Thanks again!

Parts, is what I wanted to say. You missunderstood me there, you said that you have only 140mm fans atm, then I said that should work even though the rad is 120mm but I'd replace the 140s with 120s asap.

Ah, I see. Haha. Would it really make that much of a difference if say the fans were identical in cfm and dbs? The only upgrade from a 140 down to a 120 was if i got something more high performance/quiet, right?

 

[Master&Puppet]

Raystorm is great and I'd defintely put some MX-4 in there if you are still using the stock intel stuff! As for the block itself - it's a looks thing really. The faceplate on both will be copper and that's the important bit. Making the block itself out of copper isn't going to make a difference to temps (if it would then it would have fins and fans on it like a radiator).

I'd just go for the free standing pump with a tube res. It will be quieter and can be made to look very stylish. Having a fan controller and a bay reservoir with not much optical space is a pain in the arse. There are always lots of cables coming out from the FC which you'll want to hide and it will also be a pain to fill the reservoir because you'll have to take something out.

You don't need a big reservoir. You really only need one at all to use as a fill port and check the coolant level. Having a big reservoir makes no difference to temps.

Getting a variable pump is a neat way of giving you the control you need (but I guarantee you'll never run it on full speed more than twice!). Of those pumps you linked:

This is the basic design with no aftermarket pump top. It's the reference design, if you like. It's fine but I don't think it looks particularly sexy. This looks nice and sexy so out of the two I'd pick that (the pump itself look like this). As for attaching it to your case - just glue/screw the base of them onto one of those damping mats.

Again this is the reference DDC and this has an aftermarket pumptop from Swiftech.

If it were me I'd have the pump mounted on the mat with the tube res mounted nearby onto the case with a bit of tubing in between. It is up to you though - you can get reservoirs which attach directly onto the pumptop as you've already seen.

Putting the fans above the grill will make very little, if any, difference. In fact it looks ideal to me. You can screw the fans down through the grill straight into the radiator. The effect on the airflow from that plate will be minimal.

As for the radiators. Well the G-changer has a slightly lower FPI (fins per inch). That means that it won't cool quite as good as the UT60 - however to get the extra cooling out from the Alphacool you will need a higher fan speed which means noise. In truth both radiators are exceptional performers and the FPI is very close so it will make very little difference. Whichever way you sell it a bigger radiator is better than a small one (and bigger fans push the same amount of air with a lower RPM) so I think the 140mm is the best bet for your configuration, G-changer or UT60.

If you go with compression fittings then you need to match the tubing size with the fittings. If you look at this page then you can see that each compression fitting lists two different sizes - the ID (internal diameter) and OD (outside diameter). This is because tubing comes in different sizes with different thicknesses of wall. If you get the wrong size then it won't fit. Clear or coloured tubing with clear or coloured coolant is a personal choice. I wouldn't worry about seeing bubbles. They will escape in time. Go for looks.

Corrosion used to be a big issue when the market still used aluminium because it reacted with copper/brass/nickel. But a little while ago there was a purge and using aluminium disappeared. These days everything is made of brass, copper, nickel or some form of plastic. The metals are very close to each other in the metallurgic table so they don't react much at all with each other - and a decent coolant with a little anti-corrosive agent in it will deal with any small reactions. Maintenance wise you just need to chance the coolant every few months (I recommend three to be super safe). Occasionally you do get issues - EK had a few batches of GPU blocks on which the nickel plating had been poorly done - the result was a flaking block and cloudy coolant. As far as I know that was fixed (and I have two EK nickel plated blocks which have been working fine for me for a few months but that is still fairly early days). For total safety try and get everything in copper and a plastic derivative like acetal and acrylic but that is really hard to do. Copper and brass is a good way to go. This is a good read on the topic.

You can mix your own coolant - you need to get some biocide (or silver coil) and an anti-corrosive agent but it's a lot easier to buy premix for the $10 or so it will cost you 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[xeks]

M&P,

You're saying I should go ahead and replace the internal IHS TIM on my 3770K before I slap it underwater, right? Like in this post?

So far my parts list looks like this:

CPU Block: XSPC Raystorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block.
Pump: EK D5 X-Top Acetal Pump top CSQ w/Alphacool VPP655 Variable Speed Pump.
Radiator: Still undecided between the Alphacool and the Phobya Triple 140MM.
Reservoir: Alphacool Cape Corp Coolplex Pro 10 LT - 100mm (when it's in stock).
Fittings: 1/4 ID 3/8 OD Compression Fitting for the pump, CPU block, and reservoir with the same size tubing. That or just use clamps to save 3x $18 per fitting.
Tubing: Does it matter the kind of tubing I get? Here's a list of 1/4 x 3/8 tubing, I was eyeballing the Ultra Chemical Resistant one. Also is 5 feet long enough to cut to fit, or should I get more, like 7-10 feet?
Coolant: Not sure what to get between Distilled Water and Non Conductive and if I can/should include additives such as biocides, kill coils, or a "silver bullet."

Any other components missing? I think that's the whole system there. Thanks again! Hope these are compatible with one another.

Edit: Compression fittings are so nice but super pricey (~$18) per set, I might just go with barbs and clamps.

Total is ~$375 - $420 (with or without the compression fittings)

 

[Master&Puppet]

I wouldn't bother doing the IHS TIM change if I were you. I misunderstood what your said. It might make a difference doing it but it is very risky!

I'd pick the G-changer out of those rad options. To explain FPI a little more:
Higher FPI = more fins = more heat transfer & therefore cooling.
However
Higher FPI = more air resistance = louder fans to get the extra cooling benefit. Also at lower fan speeds the extra FPI resistance actually makes the radiator underperform because the air can't get through.

Having a 420x60 rad is plenty for what you want to do and since the G-changer has better performance at lower RPMs I'd go for that. However the Alphacool is also a great radiator (I have the 360x80mm version - the "monsta" and love it to pieces).

Pump and res look good. you just need to plan how you will mount them.

If you don't use compression fittings (these are a little marmite - some people love them some people don't like them) then you need to up the barb size. I.e. get 1/2" barbs and 7/16" ID tubing. That way the tubing pushes on really tight and there is no need to use clamps at all.

I'd also recommend that you go no lower than 3/8" ID tubing. If you go lower than this then narrow diameter increases the resistance in the system which will impact pump workload (read: you will need to turn up the pump speed which makes it louder) or temps if you do nothing about it.

Not sure why there are so many choices of tubing on that site! I've got this stuff in my rig currently and not had an issue. I've also gone down the my local gardening center and just bought some standard aquarium PVC tubing off a reel which worked fine. 5 feet of tubing is usually fine for a CPU loop but I'd go with 6 because you've got a big case. Best way to be sure is get out a tape measure and run it around the planned loop, then add a foot to be sure.

Making your own coolant is fine. You just need a kill coil, distilled water and and anti-corrosive agent (the last of which I can't find on Frozen PC). Then just follow the instructions. You might also want a dye. None of them should really react with one another but neither I nor the manufacturer's can guarantee that won't happen unless you get the additives from the same company (silver kill coil and DI water excepted)!

 

[xeks]

Alright, that is a great deal of useful information! I'm not sure how I would feel about not using clamps yet but it doesn't make sense. How would you go about adding in a way to drain the whole system when time is needed to clean? Should I add a Y-split somewhere with a quick disconnect thing? You were mentioning about draining the loop every so often, so I want to be able to do it the easiest and safest way. Been busy lately, but I'll try to get my shopping cart screen up with the new items and hopefully a crude diagram of how I'll mount everything. Thanks again!

Also would it be best to mount all my hardware in my case then mount the loop, or is it like with the regular fan heatsinks where you mount everything to the mobo then mount the mobo into the case?

As for coolant, would this work? Then just add a kill coil or what?

 

[xeks]

Can't seem to devise a way to set up the parts for a tidy hose, there's gunna be a long hose from the pump to the radiator. From what I've watched from TTL, it should run reservoir -> pump -> radiator -> CPU block -> reservoir (I think).

Also how much coolant would I need to start with? 1 Liter should be enough, right?

Legend:
Black = Fans
Orange = Radiator
Pink = CPU Block
Blue = Pump
Green = Reservoir

 

[Master&Puppet]

Well when you drain and refill the loop you don't have to get all of the coolant out - just replace half of it every 3 months. The bottom of that reservoir has got three barb holes so I'd make use of one of those to turn into a drain/fill port rather than using a y-splitter (although that works too). I'd make sure that the tube for this fill port is long enough to bend up and just above the top of the reservoir so that the coolant doesn't come back out the tube as you try to fill it. You'll need a plug rather than a QD.

You won't be able to drain it all without taken the whole thing apart so just focus on the reservoir and radiator which will be 90% of it. 1lt of coolant is enough but I'd get two in case you spill some or you can use it for your first couple of drains/fills (1/2 a lt at a time roughly). That EC6 coolant is a premix so it already has anti-corrosive and anti-growth additives. It's ready to be used on it's own.

Make sure you get or make one of these. It allows you to start the pump from the PSU without having any other power cables plugged in to you pc at all. Obviously you want to test the integrity of the loop before turning the whole thing on and have it chuck water all over your pc!

Your loop order looks good - just make sure that you don't make the tubing too short - particularly the pump-radiator length which you can route around other components rather than going in a straight line across the rig (maybe under the back of the GPU for example).

In terms of build order put in the radiator, res and pump into the case first. Looks like you'll have to fit the optical bay bits in before the res. Then fit the cpu block to the mobo and fit to the case. Then do the tubing. Once you've tested the integrity of the loop and are happy then fit the RAM, GPU, HDD/SSDs and plug in the power to everything!

 

[xeks]

I should be able to order the parts in a week or so after payday. If I use the reservoir (probably gunna get this one, since the alphacool is still not in stock but maybe once I'm ready to buy) as a fillport and drainport, would that mean I have it intake from the top, then have two tubes leading out of the bottom (need to buy another set of barbs); one being to my pump and one would be to drain? My next question is that I assume I leave the drainport connected all the time and plugged until I need to drain but what is the reason for having the drainport tubing longer so it's above the reservoir besides it being long enough to drain without it dripping/leaking in my case (seems like the drainport tubing will just dangle away anyways when not being used)?

As for the ATX Bridge tool, is it really needed or can I just get a paperclip with some electrical tape? Also if I get the EC06 coolant, should I still get the kill coil?

Thanks for keeping up with me on my questions! I'll be OCing after I get all this put together so I'm sure you'll be hearing from me a lot. Haha.