Planned watercooling

[Lorem-Ipsum]

I am getting the NZXT phantom soon. Yes I know its not ideal for watercooling but as I am not an extreme overclocker I think it will suit my needs just fine.

I currently only have an nvidia gt220 but that's because I don't game. However I will be using a 2x 1080p 22" dual display quite soon so may get a 460/450.

I have an AMD Phenom 955 on stock and would like to watercool it and give it a bit of an overclock.

I was thinking of getting specialtech's XSPC's RASA 120.2 kit with two of those ultra thin slipstream fans so I can have dual 200mm's and 2 120mm fans on the rad.

THIS and two of THESE

I could then possibly get a 120mm rad in the future if and when I add my GPU to the loop and I would have thought that a 120.1 and a 120.2 would be good enough to handle my 955 and GPU. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

Would the pump in the 240 RASA kit be good enough to handle an added 120mm rad and GPU block in the future?

 

[tinytomlogan]

The pump would be ok but its aimed at a single block loop tbh, I wouldnt sugest another rad and a block. Plus I would worry about the temps of it all then. Also youll onle be able to have the rad and 120mms OR the 200mm fans in the top. Wouldnt even bother trying both.

 

[Lorem-Ipsum]

So I would be better building the loop from scratch with a better pump like a Laing?

A guy managed to use 200mm's and 120mm's but it was a tight fit:

 

[Jackster]

Is that the look you want though?

Might not be worth it if it's kinda takky?

ps, LOL my Linux teacher is here

 

[Lorem-Ipsum]

Is that the look you want though?

Might not be worth it if it's kinda takky?

ps, LOL my Linux teacher is here

Oh no, I thought I'd escaped from you!

Yes its the kinda look I want. I want a black and blue themed rig with clear hose and blue water with possible black and blue braiding in the future.

 

[Lorem-Ipsum]

I've been looking at water-cooling in more depth and have decided to forget about watercooling a GPU. I'm not an extreme gamer and I really don't need to OC my GPU.

I still want to WC my CPU and get an OK OC on it. Its currently only a 955 but I may get one of the 95W 6-core's in the future.

What do you guys think about these components for a 3.8 GHz OC on a 955:

Res:



Pump:



Rad:



with XSPC 3/8" ID - 5/8" OD tube.

I don't know much about blocks so am looking for advice on that. Maybe an XPSC Rasa?

Also I'm not sure how thick a rad I can get in the phantom so I'm going to measure up when I get it on Christmas.

 

[Lorem-Ipsum]

Bumpity bump....

nobody got any advice on this?

 

[Diablo]

With modern processors, you may well be better off getting a double rad (240) and make sure its a thick one. A thin 120 will not be able to cool a modern processor particularly well (for the money and time, it would be far better to go for a noctua). Pump wise, most people will recommend a Laing DDC Pro or ultra (12 or 18W). You could also go for the much larger and more powerful G5.

I've used a couple of ultras for the last year or so, and couldn't be happier. An integrated res/pump top can help save space, so its up to you as to the look you want.

Tom generally recommends 5/8ID tubing, with 3/4" barbs and using hot water to get them to fit. I use 3/4" tubing, with wormdrives on the barbs. Compression fittings look better, and tubing is personal preference, 3/4" has a better flow rate, but won't bend as tight, so again up to you. If you are getting a 460, they are pretty quiet, so I wouldn't worry about WCing it. The CPU will definitely appreciate WCing, but make sure you have a big enough radiator. Whilst I run a hot i7 chip, I would really struggle with anything under 240mm, and 240mm means a decent upgrade path.

The Apogee block is one of the best for cooling, but has a very high flow impedence, so check around with google for reviews before you buy.

 

[cl0ck_ed]

Mate I have some words of wisdom.

To justify watercooling yoy will need a 240 rad or larger. Also you will NOT achieve a much better overclock with a watercooling over a good aircooler!

IMO I would get a decent aircooler, stick with your chip. Or if you really want more power sell it and get a 1055T.

I have had lots of experience with air and watercooling and with high end watercooling you reduce temps by about 10-15c. This will not yield much of an overclock increase from what is acheiveable with a NH-D14 for example.

 

[cl0ck_ed]

The CPU will definitely appreciate WCing, but make sure you have a big enough radiator.

No the cpu, will be fine with a good aircooler, watercooling is a waste of money IMO.

150-200GBP spent on watercooling parts will be much better spent on a hex-core or that gtx460 that you want.

I am trying to save the OP time, money and effort!

 

[C3mods]

I have two of the phantom cases and I love them. The Black one is holding my current AMD system (which is for the wifey). I thought I would use the Rasa 450 kit in it, well now I wish I would have spent the extra on the Rasa 740 kit. But hind sight is 20/20. Which I will get better rad and pump when I have the funds. For the 2nd one, I am going for close to the same look as you. White/Black/Blue color scheme of my next build.

Going to be a intel rig, but not sure what cpu I am going to go with yet.

I will be the first to admit I am not a w/c guru or air cooled guru. I am more of a fan of w/c rigs.

I personally like the pic of the phantom with the slim fans in it. And will probably go with that in my white case.

If ppl don't like w/c that is their opinion. But a lot of ppl do like to use a w/c computer. So don't come on here telling ppl they are wasting money to w/c.

Yes the D-14 is a great air cooler.

But that doesn't mean push it upon ppl. I understand the point of getting a better processor and vid card with a air cooler, for the money. But if he wants to w/c his rig, how about give him some advice, not say people waste money on w/c.

Water cooling is more expensive, and has more headaches for some, but it does give better overclocks if done right, and has more appealing look and wow factor for others.

The last reviews by TTL and OC3D on the 740 kit is great with the 360 rad, and it performs well for a single loop. And surpasses any air cool rig out there for OCing. I am waiting to see what he does for the video cooling he said that was coming up.

But for a single loop, AMD processor you should be ok with a 240 rad in the top.

As far as the 240 mounting in the top of the Phantom case, it will fit using the nzxt fans in place. In the hardware pack that comes with the phantom is a bracket set that let you mount the rad with the 200mm fans in place.

 

[Blackwhite]

XSPC 750 pump easily can manage with 2 blocks, I had 450 from XSPC and it was used with CPU and GPU - worked just fine.

They are very quiet also.

Of course that DDC350 will be much better and you will get better flow, but IMO for AMD CPU and GTX460 Water block is XSPC will be fine.

 

[C3mods]

XSPC 750 pump easily can manage with 2 blocks, I had 450 from XSPC and it was used with CPU and GPU - worked just fine.

They are very quiet also.

Of course that DDC350 will be much better and you will get better flow, but IMO for AMD CPU and GTX460 Water block is XSPC will be fine.

I like the 450, it was easy to set up. Runs quietly. Added a flow indicator to it just to make sure it was still running.

Just wish I had the 240 rad instead of the 120. I thought the 750 pump would be enough to add a gpu cooler to, but don't know if the 240 rad can handle it.

 

[Blackwhite]

I had 120 and 240 Rads along with XSPC 450 pump mate, plus CPU Delta block ,plus EK FC GTX280 Block

Temps was great , kept my E8600@4GHz at 32 (ish) idle / 43 (ish) Load and my GTX280 55 C in full load.



Any way - 240 is not enough for both 360 or like I had 120+240.

 

[C3mods]

I had 120 and 240 Rads along with XSPC 450 pump mate, plus CPU Delta block ,plus EK FC GTX280 Block

Temps was great , kept my E8600@4GHz at 32 (ish) idle / 43 (ish) Load and my GTX280 55 C in full load.



Any way - 240 is not enough for both 360 or like I had 120+240.

Neat setup you have there. I just don't like the noctua fans, its the whole color thing.

So you have a 450 pump in the round res? Mine is the square one that came with the kit. So I should be able to add a 240 rad to my setup without to much issue.