Novice Watercooler - Taking The Next Step

[sn8kedr]

Hiya all.

About 3 months ago I made the jump to watercooling and installed an XSPC RASA 750 RX360 into my build. All I can say is I absolutely love it and have to give a big thanks to all those that helped with advice and suggestions and gave me the confidence to give it a shot!

But, as always happens, I have caught the watercooling bug and want to expand!!

As I was previously still on 1366 socket I have decided to go with a completely new build to coincide with the watercooling upgrade. The core hardware components I will be looking to cool are:
i7 2700K and 2 7970's (wanted to include mobo into it too but as far as I am aware the Sniper3 doesn't have any WC blocks) in the Switch 810 case.

My thoughts on watercooling components will be a combination of some of the XPSC kit from my first build and some new bits and pieces and this is where I will need your help. I need some feedback as to your thoughts on the loop. Here we go:

RX360 Rad in the roof (from the XSPC kit)
RX240 Rad in the front (new)
Koolance PMP-450 12v variable speed (new)
EK D5 X-RES TOP 140 Black Acetal (new)
XSPC Rasa Black Acetal CPU Waterblock (from the XSPC kit)
Koolance VID-AR797 7970 GPU Block (new)
Bitspower G1/4 Silver Shining fittings - multiple (new)

Now - my questions may be a bit noobish but that's why I'm here I guess:

Will this loop be sufficient to cool both GPU's and the CPU?
Will the combination of blocks, Res and Rad's be ok? (I'm pretty sure their all copper so I can't see any issues)
What are your suggestions for replacements/additions?
Would it be possible to swap the RX240 with an EX240?

As always any help with this is much appreciated!

 

[jamesriley94]

Forget about the motherboard, it doesnt really need watercooling as it never gets hot enough to require it.

The EX240 will be enough with the RX360 in the roof, but if you have the money you may want to play it safe with the RX240.

The D5 would be enough yes and you dont exactly need a huge res so that will be fine

 

[sn8kedr]

awesome - thanks mate! I was leaning towards the RX240 anyway so mite stay safe and run with that

 

[jamesriley94]

Gunna be an expensive little project anyway!
Have you already bought the hardware?

 

[| raVen |]

I have 360 on the roof and 240 on the bottom(both full size rads), and temps of my CPU and GPU are coooooool

 

[sn8kedr]

Gunna be an expensive little project anyway!
Have you already bought the hardware?

Yeah - it's just gotten bigger and bigger along the way too. The only components I have so far are the old parts from the XSPC kit (rad and CPU block) and the Switch 810.

I currently have a 580 which I wish I could use but since it's the GB SOC edition I can't get a block for it, so either looking for a second hand reference 580 or the 7970 listed in the specs. Hopefully offset some of the costs.

 

[CPMFW]

have fun building your rig

 

[airdeano]

welcome to the hospital of water-cooling addicts,
stay on course with the rx240 in the floor.. the headroom and insurance of cooler temps
will be comforting. no sense in bottlenecking temperatures of the system through the
thinner radiator. heck the big parts are done, just a pair of GPU coolers and a radiator
and your off again! great news.. another one has been bitten.

airdeano

 

[sn8kedr]

Right then - slight update. If I throw a GTX590 instead of the dual 7970's into the loop whats your opinions on cooling with just the RX360 and EX240?

I'm assuming in this case the RX240 would defo be the way to go? I have now been gifted an EX240 and I have found a very affordable GTX590 for sale locally so curious to see if it would mean I'd need to up the EX to and RX.

 

[S_I_N]

it should handle the 590 easily as there underclocked 580's I myself would opt for the RX240 but the EX is supposed to be decent

 

[sn8kedr]

cool - I would feel more comfortable with the RX also but since I now have the EX it would be silly to not at least try it out. I guess if temps aren't up to scratch with the EX I'll swap it out for an RX a bit later.

 

[Master&Puppet]

I think that will be fine. The EX is roughly the equivalent to a 45mm thickness so you won't be losing much at all I expect.

 

[sn8kedr]

Yeah - I've heard good things about the EX rad's. I guess I will be finding out soon enough though. Hopefully have all the components in about 2-3 weeks

 

[sn8kedr]

Hey guys - I'll be looking at getting my new loop up and running over the next week or so and just wanted to get your opinions on my tubing and rad layout so far. The loop will run RES/PUMP -> GPU -> RAD ->CPU -> RAD -> RES/PUMP (NOTE: I have only gone GPU to Rad to CPU bewcause I think it uses the least amount of hosing, otherwise I would have gone GPU to CPU to RAD).

This is just the first run through so just slapped the lot together last night, so this gives me a rough idea on how it'll come together but wanted any feedback on other ways to run the loop.
And before you say it no that tubing is NOT going in the build, it's just spare stuff I had from before. Plus I still gotta get the GPU and CPU blocks fitted.

 

[jamesriley94]

I'd spin the top rad round and have:
rad > rad> cpu > gpu > pump

 

[S_I_N]

looks ok to me I dont see any real differences going as jamesriley94 suggest other than maybe a tad cleaner tubing run but wont be by alot

 

[sn8kedr]

I'd spin the top rad round and have:
rad > rad> cpu > gpu > pump

yeah - I had contemplated mounting the rad with the barbs at the front but as I am going to be using the drive bay at the front for the fan controller it won't fit round that way.

looks ok to me I dont see any real differences going as jamesriley94 suggest other than maybe a tad cleaner tubing run but wont be by alot

I agree, either way there is gonna to be a bit of tubing running from the back to the front of the case, the only way I could see around that would be to use a cross flow rad or something. But, as I already have the standard RX360 I kinda had to go with that.

I should hopefully have the everything finished and tested by the end of the coming weekend and I'll post the pics of the finished product

Thanks for the advice and suggestions

 

[B NEGATIVE]

Hey guys - I'll be looking at getting my new loop up and running over the next week or so and just wanted to get your opinions on my tubing and rad layout so far. The loop will run RES/PUMP -> GPU -> RAD ->CPU -> RAD -> RES/PUMP (NOTE: I have only gone GPU to Rad to CPU bewcause I think it uses the least amount of hosing, otherwise I would have gone GPU to CPU to RAD).

This is just the first run through so just slapped the lot together last night, so this gives me a rough idea on how it'll come together but wanted any feedback on other ways to run the loop.
And before you say it no that tubing is NOT going in the build, it's just spare stuff I had from before. Plus I still gotta get the GPU and CPU blocks fitted.

I would change only a couple of small details..
Spin the pump thru 90 so you can run to the bottom GPU without that 90 on the pump outlet and i would consider raising the pump and top up so the inlet/outlets are inline with the inlet of the block and outlet from the rad.

Less tube=Better temps.
Less 90s=Better flow=better temps

Also consider reversing the top fans to get positive pressure in the case,it will cut the dust down considerably.

 

[sn8kedr]

Fair points indeed mate. I'll have a look at moving some things around in there. I'll be adding a 200mm tube to the res top instead of the 100mm so may not have much more room to move it up but we'll see how I go.

Totally get that the 90s will reduce the flow rate which will impact the temps somewhat, but what about the 45s? They seem to be minimal enough to not cause a major disturbance to the flow. The reason I ask is that I am using quite a few in the final build.