New To Water Cooling

[bobogib]

sorry to ask this as it probably comes up quite often but being new to water cooling I am after some advise. I've been doing some research, including on this forum and so far I have come up with the following list..

XSPC RS240 & RS120 rads

Swiftech Apogee GTZ CPU Block

XSPC Single 200 Bay Reservoir Pump

Swiftech Universal VGA Water Block & Swiftech SMC Cooling Kit

Was going to plumb this all in using 3/8 id tubing.

From reading on this forum, I gather that res/pump combos are not the best so would the xspc one be good or would it be better buying a separate res and pump.

Also I curently have an Antec 900, absolute rubbish for water cooling so thinking of changing to an Akasa Omega, not the newest of designs but looks ok for ease af build.

What does everyone think, any suggestions/changes you feel would benefit.

Priced everything up at around the £400 mark so ideally wanting to keep it around there.

Thanks

Bobo

 

[daniSAUR]

Hey Bobo, welcome aboard!

I take it you want to water cool your CPU and GPU? For cooling the GPU I'd recommend a full cover block (although expensive, it cools the GPU a lot better!). Look at the EK branded ones.

The Antec could have the system in/on it, depending on if you'd like to mod the case yourself! Which could save you a bit of cash in buying a new case.

Hope this helps!

Dani

 

[bobogib]

Hi Dani,

Thanks for the reply, yes I would also like to cool the GPU as its this that is running particularly hot in my case.

My CPU, acording to nTune and Speed Fan is running 29 degC on idle and 33 on load so I can't see that improving all that much, although I don't know the accuracy of these programs. While the GPU, (checking with the same stuff) is runing 60 at idle, although this is at 60% fan speed.

I just would like my PC to be quieter. It sounds like I have a wind tunnel under my desk.

As for the full cover blocks, I did look at these but hae managed to pick up a second GFX card cheap so will be running SLi and buying 2 full cover blocks becomes an added expense.

I have only ever seen external rads on the 900 and being cramped inside the case tube and cable management becomes a problem, it why I was looking at the Akasa, lots of room to keep it all inside the case.

 

[daniSAUR]

Fair enough for the pricing - was only a mere suggestion.

If you're not going to overclock the VGA coolers should be fine, although I don't think you'll get the temperatures that much lower than what you have already seeing as those cards run hot regardless.

If you want it really quiet as well, I'd suggest getting yourself some really good fans, e.g. Scythe's or Noctua brands are ones to look out for. And get a fan controller if your motherboard can't hold more than 3 fans. Also they're a nice way to monitor temps in the case/on items as well.

Again, t'was a small suggestion with the case. I didn't really have a look at it until now and I can see what you mean! Nice choice btw. Good luck with the build!

 

[tinytomlogan]

Right for starters you can just chuck a core only on the GTX's the fets and the extra chip on the side all have to be cooled aswell, by the time youve done this you would have been better off with full covers. (core only also needs better case airflow)

Only pump/res combos that are any good tbh are the ddc ones with restops, any other ones are for budget builds and not all that great. The XSPC RS series is also the lowest performing rad they make but its not produced any more.

For ease of build you want a cosmos or a HAF 932 matey, I can provide all this for you and send built if needs be. Take a look around my forum section

 

[bobogib]

Tom,

Thanks for the informative reply, this is the kind of info I need. I've looked at the core only and the ram sinks for it, Swiftech SMC Cooling Kit. I've just managed to get a second 8800 for the rig and it works out to be out of my price range to buy 2 full cover blocks. Would the ramsink kit be enough to keep all the fets etc cool with a fan blowing cold air straight over the card while having the core w/c??

As for the Res/pump, In your opinion i'd be better buying separate pumps and res?

If the RS rads are xspc lowest performing, what rads would you suggest putting in?

As for the case its still very much open for change, looked at the HAF932 and i'm not overly struck on the look of it, the Cosmos is nice and has been added to the shortlist.

Sorry for all the question but I am new to this and all advice is welcome.

Also would this flow pattern work?

Res>Pump>240Rad>CPU Block>GPU>120Rad>GPU>Res

or would I be better putting the GPU's on a separate loop?

And Tom, thanks for the offer Via PM, would reply but being a noob i can't. I would like to have a go at this myself. Never done it so it should be fun. Just please excuse all the daft questions.

 

[tinytomlogan]

The ammount on a gtx that needs cooling is quite nuts tbh dude, so ram sinks would also be a nightmare, also if they dont have enough contact on something then when warm they just fall off.

Flow patter - res-pump-rad-anything else-res

doesnt matter what order the rest goes in tbh but you either need a monster 360mm rad or 2 loops matey. I swear by Thermochill rads, at the end of the month the 15mm spacing rads are released which is more case friendly.

The 2 silver parts in this pic is what needs cooling on a GTX

thanks to one eye for the pic

 

[bobogib]

OK, back to the drawing board methinks, Thanks for all the info, i'm sure i'll be back on later with more questions.

 

[tinytomlogan]

No problem dudio if you cant afford water on the GPU's look at the AC Accelero coolers for them. But tbh ebay is a good thing to watch for GTX coolers.

I might even have so waterblocks for sale soon, just need to find out whats happening with my bench rig.

 

[bobogib]

so if I were to do a CPU only loop for now, with the option to add in GPU blocks on either the same or a second loop, would the Swiftech Apogee GTZ CPU Block be the best option to go for?

 

[tinytomlogan]

GTZ is restrictive dude, the best one imho is the XSPC Delta 3, it has good flow and cools really well too.

tbh mate I would just wait and do it all when you have the parts, case airflow will sort all your problems anyways.