New to watercooling!

[OwenB86]

Hi guys, I'm new here and I've recently started ordering parts to replace my old pc. I'd like to go full watercooled this time and I've done a bit of research on it but I'm all ready getting confused.

Anyway here's the parts that I have/have ordered so far:

CPU: i7 2600k
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3-B3
Ram: Crucial Ballistix Elite 1866Mhz 8gb
Gpu: 5770 CF, looking at getting a used 5970
Storage: 3tb various hard drives
Psu: Cm Silent pro 700W (may upgrade this)
Case: NZXT Switch 810

I came up with this list for the watercooling:

Rad 1: XSPC RX360
Rad 2: XSPC RX240
Pump: XSPC Laing D5
Res: ? not really got a clue here
CPU Block: Again not really sure, maybe an XSPC Raystorm?
Gpu block: Going to buy a gpu with one all ready on

As you can see I'm fairly clueless My main questions are:

1. Will this be sufficient to cool my i7 and a 5970 that are both overclocked?

2. Are those rads a good choice?

3. What fans should I use with them? Ideally I'd like to run them both in push/pull but there may not be space to do that with the 360. I'm not bothered about LEDs or anything I'd just like them to be quiet and not too expensive.

3. Should I buy a pump and res combo or buy the res separately? I'd like a 5.25" bay res ideally

4. What coolant should I use? Or should I use distilled water?

5. What would be the easiest way to prevent algae?

6. What diameter tubing should I use?

My budget for the watercooling will be about £400, but lower is better I'd also appreciate it if anyone could have a quick look through my build and see if anything is obviously wrong.

Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance

Owen

 

[Cru]

1) yeah these two thick rads should be completely fine
2) yes, xspc rads are good
3) either corsair sp120 quiets or noctuas
4) you can go with a pump/res combo. xspc has one with a d5 pump
5) i'd go with xspc or alphacool coolant, but there are other good brands out there

not sure about your last two questions tbh

build looks fine, although you won't be able to do push/pull with that 360 rad in a switch 810

well, tried to keep it short and simple. hope it helps a bit
at any more experienced watercooling users, please correct me if i'm wrong on something

 

[jamesriley94]

It would be sufficient rad space easily.
You could get away with just the RX360 tbh.

I would recommend getting something newer than the 5970 however...
Maybe look at a 670 or a 7950/7970

 

[Master&Puppet]

1. Yup plenty of space with two rads. A single 360x60 would be ok.

2. Those rads are good but you might want to consider an Alphacool NexXxos UT60 or Phobya G-Changer instead because they can be noticeably cheaper and perform excellently too.

3. Corsair SP120s, Scythe Gentle Typhoons, Noctua NF-F12s are all great fans. You are better off with more rad space than Push/Pull to be honest. I use Scythe Gentle Typhoons running at around 800RPM through a 360x80 Alphacool Monsta and plenty of air gets through.

3. (again ). If you want to use a optical bay res then generally it is cheaper to get the combo. Optical bay res's are very quiet but not as silent as a sound-matt based free standing setup.

4. The easiest place to start is with a premix - many cooling companies make them (I've used XSPC and Mayhem's X1 most recently). You just pour it in and away you go. Alternatives are to get distilled water and add your own dye/anti corrosive agent and anti-baterial. Take a look at Mayhems since they do all that and explain much of it too:
http://www.mayhems.co.uk/front/index.html

5. Use a premix is the easiest method.

6. Depends on whether you want to use compression fittings or not.
If you use compression fittings then the tubing needs to match the listing ID and OD (inner and outer dimensions).
If you are just going to plug up the tubing directly to the barbs then the best practice is to use smaller tubing than the barb size which makes for a tight fit. I.e. use 7/16" tubing on 1/2" barbs.

I would personally choose to spend that £400 on a better GPU before I went WCing though!

 

[OwenB86]

@ Cru3l
Great, I'll probably get the sp120s as noctuas are a little out of my price range. That pump combo looks good so i'll pick that up along with the coolant you reccomended. Very helpful cheers

@ James
I'd like to be able to add more hardware in the future so I'll probably stick with both rads. I will be buying the gpu used most likely so those newer cards are a lot more expensive, I was looking to spend about £160 ish on a gpu. Thanks for the input!

@ Master&Puppet
1. Great

2. I think I'll switch to one of the other rads you said as they are loads cheaper

3.From what cru3l said I'll only be able to fit the 240mm rad in push/pull anyway, I will have a look at those scythe fans as I've not heard of them before.

3 again (lol). Ok I think I'll go with the combo as it looks easier to set up, it doesn't have to be completely silent but I'd like it to be fairly quiet.

4. That site is really good, the x1 coolant looks decent.

6. Ok, I don't think I'm going to use compression fittings so would 7/16" tubing with 1/2" barbs work well for my setup?

I only have a 1080p monitor atm and don't really have any plans to upgrade it, surely an overclocked 5970 could max most games at that resolution? The only reason I've chosen that gpu is because it seems a really good value used buy and I wanted something a bit different, but I'm always open to suggestions

Again very helpful post cheers

 

[Jason-CL]

Personally I've always had good luck with Gelid and Scythe fans.

 

[OwenB86]

Right I've put together a new list of parts from your suggestions:

Rad 1: Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 240mm

Rad 2: Phobya G-Changer V2 360mm

Pump/res: XSPX D5 Dual bay resevoir

Tubing: http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/XSPC-716-ID---58-OD-11-16mm-High-Flex-Tubing--Clear--UV-Blue-pid-6750.html - Will this be enough or should I get more?

Cpu block: XSPC RayStorm

Fans: Scythe Gentle Typoon 6 pack

Coolant: Mayhems X1 2L - is 2L enough?

Fittings: 10 1/2" fittings with 1/4" thread

Total: £385

Look ok?

 

[jamesriley94]

Looks alright to me.
Get 2 meters of tubing. You may want a different tubing to that though:
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...D---58-OD-11-16mm-Tubing--Clear-pid-5397.html

I don't really know what makes that better - but looking at other threads, people seem not to recommend the cheaper XSPC tubing.

Not that you'd see any difference, but I'd personally go for both rads being either Alphacool or Phobya, just so it doesn't look like a random part list for things that were a little cheaper. But that;s probably being a little snobby from my part haha.

 

[AverageNinja]

1. Yes, those two rads are more than sufficient. Even a single 360mm Radiator would still be amazing for a single GPU and a CPU.
2. The XSPC RX-Series are solid rads. So, yes.
3. I would consider the Corsair SP120 Quiet edition fans. The Scythe Gentle Typhoon are also solid fans. I've also heard good stories about the Xigmatek fans, but I can't confirm them.
4. I would get a bitspower water tank-z with a swiftech/Laing MCP-655 pump. Though a Bayres is fine too. I would get the XSPC d5 Bay-res with the MCP-655 pump.
5. Mayhems coolant all the way!
6. Use Mayhems coolant, they are awesome and will last long!
7. 1/2" (13MM OD) fittings seems like the most common choice.