Newbie needs some WCing advice

Baldwonder

Baldwonder

New member
Hi all, I am a long time reader but first time poster on these forums and was hoping that some of you kind souls would be able to assist me a little with my choices for water cooling.

I have never water cooled before but spent many hours reading up before posting but still being a first timer I wanted to get some clarification before spending the money and getting something wrong, so I thank you in advance for any help or advice.

My proposed build: (not absolutely finalised but near enough there)

CPU: i7 3770k
Mobo: Maximus V Forumla Z77
Ram: G.Skill 8GB 1600 RipjawsX
SSD: 128GB Samsung 830
HDD's: 3 x Various size Mechanical storage drives (from current rig)
PSU: OCZ 750w Fatal1ty
Case: CM Storm Stryker
GPU: Asus 1.28GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448-cores. (from current rig)
Monitors: Dual 1920x1080 24" BenQ (already purchased)

Water cooling so far: (this is where i need the most help)
CPU Block: XSPC Raystorm
Rad 1: XSPC EX series 240mm - for roof of case
Rad 2: Alpha cool nexXxos XT45 240mm - for floor of case
Pump: Swiftech mcp35x pwm
Res: Koolance TNK-501
Fans: BitFenix Spectre Pro

I would rather not have to modify the case, although small modifications might be worth thinking about if its of large benefit. I will look to cool the mobo and cpu at first then once the budget allows I will be upgrading the GPU as well, this one is nice and quiet and relatively cool so for now it will be fine air cooled. After the upgrade, probably to a 670 or possibly a 7 series card when they appear, I will most likely want to add that to the loop so I would like to make sure I have sufficient cooling now for when this happens if possible.

The system is for a mixture of work and gaming, I do a lot of Photoshop work and a fair bit of video editing also. If iv missed anything out then let me know and ill get the info in the thread as soon as I can.

Thank you again in advance for any help.
 
First off - dont buy the OCZ psu... They're unreliable.

Secondly what's the rig for? Can we advise on the part list before we go into watercooling? Cause I'm sure a few people here would change a few things
 
I'd use a 60mm rad in the roof maybe also a 360 instead of the 240, like Tom did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJK0TCGBiHM&feature=relmfu, if you want to do this.
Take a look a the Corsair SP120 fans they seem to be really good from what Tom and the guys here say.

@jamesriley94, he wrote what the rig is for: The system is for a mixture of work and gaming, I do a lot of Photoshop work and a fair bit of video editing also
 
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@ jamesriley94 By all means advise on the parts list too, as i said there a couple of pieces I already have so they cant really be changed but other than that go ahead I am more than willing to take advise of any part of the build. - except I would really like to keep the Stryker as I fell in love with the case to be honest. (if there's a strong enough reason against it then ill listen though)

To elaborate on the gaming side of things, at present the main things are Battlefeild/ other mainstream FPS games. Guild wars 2 when it releases, and a few other less demanding titles.

As for work, Premiere, after effects and Photoshop are the most demanding of the application I run regularly.

@MadMarc Can a full width rad fit in the top of the case, I was under the impression that there is only about 52mm of room total in the roof above the mother board. Please correct me if I am wrong as I would rather full width rads if I can fit them.

EDIT: Forgot to mention - will be aiming for a modest overclock on the CPU around 4.4 ish I would guess at this stage. nothing excessive but worth mentioning. Sorry about missing that out.
 
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Have checked the video again, Tom says that it's very tight. So maybe you're better off with a 45mm, just remembered that he put a 60mm rad in, not how well it went in.
Check this out too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cseLyQzK_7I, maybe you can look and guess if your mb will fit.
 
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Oh, sorry, missed that

Was thinking it was a gaming rig so would have suggested an i5, but nevermind :)

Regarding the motherboard watercooling, there's seriously no need at all. The newer motherboard components dont get hot enough to warrant watercooling, and for that, it's pointless to be spending so much on your motherboard. Drop that down to an MSI Z77a-GD55. There wont really be any performance difference whatsoever between the 2, and it will save a fair bit of money.

As mentioned - the Bitfenix fans arent very good for rads, you need to be looking at the Noctua NF-F12s, Scythe GTs or the Silverstone Air Penetrators really as the Bitfenix fans lack a fair bit of static pressure compared to the others and so wont perform as well.
Change the PSU to a corsair unit - probably an AX650 if you can fit that into your budget, you dont need any more power than 650w so dont worry
 
have you seen TTL video on the CM storm trooper and the installation of a 360mm
rad and the XSPC review using the Trooper as a test bench?
those would be the first to watch and study.
Tom shows how to really make this case a cooling case, with minimal modding and general
sense for installation and looks.

airdeano
 
@ jamesriley94, The cos of the build so far is around £900 + water cooling just so you've got an idea of where the budget is atm. I hadn't realised the OCZ power supply was that unreliable, I knew they used to be but was unaware that was still an issue with OCZ PSU's.

@ airdeano, I had missed the xspc vid somehow, i have watched the 360 in the roof. part of the reason I started thinking water cooling was a serious option for the case. I have a watch of it now.

Just a note, I would like to acheive an aesthetically pleasing build too so as long as parts come within budget (and a good performers obviously) I would rather not have too many mixed colours throughout the rig just to make it look less messy. hence all the red white and black in the original build, however Im not fixed on red just don't want to mix it up to much.
 
Baldwonder said:
Just a note, I would like to acheive an aesthetically pleasing build too so as long as parts come within budget (and a good performers obviously) I would rather not have too many mixed colours throughout the rig just to make it look less messy. hence all the red white and black in the original build, however Im not fixed on red just don't want to mix it up to much.
Click to expand...

Then you should decide first which mb you want to use, (stick with the asus or get the msi). I've only heard good things from the MSI boards and I never had a problem with my Asus board, but the Z77 MSI mbs are a fair bit cheaper than the Asus.
From that on you can choose matching ram and fans...
 
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Generally on this forum, we never recommend certain brands, and advise to avoid them at all costs. And then favour others.
We avoid OCZ psus and SSDs at all costs. Every build that contains an OCZ SSD, we convince them to change it to a Crucial M4 as they've actually proved their reliability in having the lowest return rates out of all the SSD manufacturers.
We also avoid everything Thermaltake as it's tacky :)

We tend to favour Corsair products the highest. So go for the AX650.

And we completely get the colour matching so dont worry. I'd recommend going for the MSI board, and the colour match the board, get either the KFA2 670, or the Gigabyte Windforce 670 as they're 2 of the best, and quietest coolers around. I'd probably favour the gigabyte if you're hell spent on watercooling the card, as no blocks fit the KFA2 card.
 
To be honest I think ill stick with the Asus ROG board, I do appreciate the suggestion and saving money has definitely made me think twice but I had pans on hooking it up to my denon sound system and with the superior on board sound card I think ill get a lot out of the Asus. Plus my current rig is blue based so maybe a change is in order.

Sorry to be pain, hope I am not starting to put people off helping me already. :(

EDIT:Ok was a bit slow to post let me have a look at the new stuff you've suggested then ill re-post.
 
If your heart is set on the ROG board, fair enough...
But if the only reason to get it is because of the on board sound card - again, go with the MSI and even if you got a £100 sound card, it'd still work out cheaper than the ASUS, and the sound would be better.
You wont put people off helping you for getting the ASUS dont worry. Maybe if you were still insisting on getting the OCZ psu then yes haha
 
If you really want a red board the there's nothing better that the Asus ROG mb, but when you get the MSI you save so much money that you can buy an awesome PSI-E soundcard that will give you even better sound quality.

We enjoy it to help you, or at least I do.

Sorry, I posted the same a jamesriley94, I had to check the prices for a soundcard and didn't refresh before I finished writing
 
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I dont have alot of experience with discrete sound cards can you recommend any in that sort of price bracket that would be an improvement on the Asus board just so I can take a look?

I currently doing some homework on the MSI board too (which can only mean Im tempted to stray from the path of red and black!!!!

And iv already "lost" the link to the OCZ PSU so don't worry! :p
 
You say over kill but my editing greatly benefits from high quality sound as does gaming obviously.

What are you thoughts on the ASRock Extreme Boards, namely the 4 and 6. Iv heard good things an they would look rather nice with that sound card and the corsair PSU. (but only if they perform)

I just cant escape how blue the MSI board is, think that is the main thing putting me off. I think I may be ruling out blue rather quickly.

Jut a shame that asus, msi and gigabtye all go blue for pretty much everything!
 
I don't knw anything about Asrock board but they look quite nice, the extreme 4 seems to be a bit narrower than a normal ATX board for what ever reason, imo it looks a bit weird and I think you have to be careful when you plug in the 24pin since the board is not supported there.

What do you think of the Asus Sabertooth? I thinks it's too expensive but the black cover looks kinda cool, the brown not so much though
 
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I get the impression with that board you are literally just paying for aesthetics, I havn't seen one in person only images on the web and it does look pretty cool, I would worry that it would look kinda tacky once I had it in my hands though, just a bit too much "armour" for me I think.

But who knows I could be very wrong on that one as I have not actually seen one.

EDIT: think i will go for the 750 I like to have a little head room for upgrades if I am honest, it may be a little over kill for the system but id rather be a little over for £3 extra.

AX-750

I also really like this one too - NZXT Hale90 750W PSU
 
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Baldwonder said:
I get the impression with that board you are literally just paying for aesthetics, I havn't seen one in person only images on the web and it does look pretty cool, I would worry that it would look kinda tacky once I had it in my hands though, just a bit too much "armour" for me I think.

But who knows I could be very wrong on that one as I have not actually seen one.

EDIT: think i will go for the 750 I like to have a little head room for upgrades if I am honest, it may be a little over kill for the system but id rather be a little over for £3 extra.

AX-750

I also really like this one too - NZXT Hale90 750W PSU
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the mb, the thermal armour or however it's called seems to me only to be there for aestetics.
If the AX750 is only £3 more, that's a good deal, but unless you add second gpu there is absolutely no need for the extra Watts.
Since your case is white the Hale series is also a good choice
 
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