first water cooling kit

[RenaatVH82]

Hello all,

This is my first post over here and I'm trying to find out something.

I've just started putting together a new system (LGA 2011) and I wanne get into water cooling.

The thing is ... I'd gladly receive some help on putting together a kit.

the build so far is:

Cooler master cosmos II

Asus sabertooth X79

i7 3820

32Gb G.Skill ddr 3 1600Mhz ram.

Sapphire ATI Radeon 6950 2Gb ram (Dirt 3 edition)

So I would like to get a 360 rad and a cpu cooling block ... and I do prefer the look of (black) compression fittings.

I was looking into EK water blocks and swiftech ...

Any suggestions are welcome, I am from Belgium and would spend a maximum of about 550 €.

Thanks in advance,

Renaat

 

[SieB]

You can only fit a slim 360 rad in the roof up to 50mm thick so you will have to look around for a decent one, I don't know of any off by hand because I only look at the full 60mm thick ones to be honest. You can however fit a thick 60mm thick 240mm rad (the RX240 would do the job) in the bottom or even two, but seen as it's your first time I would stick with just the one in the bottom and a 360 in the roof, it will be enough for the hardware you have anyway to be honest.

For CPU block the XSPC Raystorm or the Swiftech 370 are the best ones at the moment.

The Cosmos II build that Tom is doing for Specialtech at the moment would be good for you to keep an eye on as he is fully watercooling it so you can use that as a visual reference and also see how the rads he is using perform.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf7CyxNO2Bs[/media]

 

[airdeano]

welcome to the forum!

really, tom's intor video is pretty much the tell all.. but, won't know till he gets it all juggled into the case.

airdeano

 

[Stevo]

SieB got to it first, was just about to suggest following that build log video's it sounds like it would be very useful to you. !

 

[S_I_N]

a slim 40-50mm thibk 360 rad in roof will be more than enough for a cpu only loop. Compressions are up to the user i feel they are a waste of money but I do like their looks as well. If i had the $$ I'd use them

 

[RenaatVH82]

Thanks for your swift reply.

I have no idea how I missed this video .. tend to watch them all on youtube.

I am aware that a 360 rad will be sufficient and a 24à (or even 2) would be an option as well.

Though I must say .. I prefer to put in the 360 first, to keep things clean inside.

After swapping out the graphics card, I'll see if I'm up to the task of adding some other rad's as well.

For now, I'll look into the hw tom is using in this video .. should you have any more tips on tubing and fittings, ... do tell

Thanks,

Renaat

 

[S_I_N]

tubing I like 7/16 id tubing put over 1/2od barbs makes for a nice tight fit that doesnt need clamps. for fittings I like barbs (well I like compressions as well but to much $$$) best to visualize everything in and determine if you need 90's or 45's as well as straight barbs.

 

[RenaatVH82]

ok.

So far I'm ready to order the following parts (most likely):

Koolance CPU-370 Not only because it looks great, but because of the good reviews I've found so far.

Koolance MB-ASSRX79 Maybe this is going too far, yet it would go nice along with the cpu block and I tend to build out this loop even further in the future, so I might just as well get it now.

I've started looking for fittings to go along, though upon looking on Koolance's website, they say 'any' barb is suitable.

So this would mean I'm mistaken about the fact that the fittings (bard) OD is not important and equal on all blocks. (??)

I would like to choose black fittings as this would create a contrast and not make the chrome pop out to much when looking at the board.

Still ... all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Renaat

 

[SieB]

Any fittings will fit as long as they have a 1/4" (G14) thread size as that is the thread size for all components to screw into.

If you use barbs it's best to go with 7/16" ID and 5/8" OD fittings and use 1/2" ID and 3/4" OD tubing. it will be a tight fit to get the tubing on the barbs but if you use warm water to soften the tubing they should slide on easy.

If you go with compression fittings then you just have to match the fittings ID and OD with the tubings ID and OD.

Doesn't really matter what fittings you use, just go with the ones you like best.

 

[magicc8ball]

I just bought all my stuff for my loop and I really did like the way the Danger Den Monsoon free center compression fittings. I think they just looked really cool.

 

[RenaatVH82]

magicc8ball,

the matte black 6 pack in particular is really nice.

those do look nice, I must say.

Yet as this is my first build ... closed fittings would make me feel a bit less worried I think

And at a first look, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to find these all to easy, locally.

Koolance is much more common around here.

 

[magicc8ball]

magicc8ball,

the matte black 6 pack in particular is really nice.

those do look nice, I must say.

Yet as this is my first build ... closed fittings would make me feel a bit less worried I think

And at a first look, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to find these all to easy, locally.

Koolance is much more common around here.

They are hard to find and they still do compress the hose a ton. So I would not worry about it leaking one bit I would just worry about finding them lol

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyPdUpkQFWQ[/media]