My budget is around £300. I am willing to mod the case however not able if it requires heavy precision/metal working, I should be ok though. I do not have or need any of the 5.25" bays.
OK, there are a few things I can think of. If you're willing to get rid of the 5.25" bays
you should be able to mount a 360 radiator into the front of the R4, that should not
be too difficult to do and you wouldn't need to be extremely precise with your metal
work since it will all be hidden behind the front panel anyway.
One 360 (thickness ~60 mm or more) should be able to cool one GPU and a CPU.
It's not extremely generous IMO, but if you're not intending to run ultra-low rpm's
on your fans it should be feasible. If you are going to cool a second GPU I would
however recommend you to get a second radiator, either a 240 or a 280, in the roof.
If you are willing to do a bit of metal cutting in the roof you could mount the radiator
off-set from the center. This would enable you to avoid clearance issues with the
M/B and RAM, thus enabling you to run a thick radiator in the roof as well. This might
make things a bit cramped, but it should be possible and give you plenty of cooling
power.
Regarding the front radiator: If you have the space, get an Alphacool Monsta and
6 fans for it, running it in push/pull. The Monstas significantly benefit from push/pull,
such a setup should give pretty decent cooling capacity.
Here's a few starting points:
- CPU Block: There is very little when it comes to performance differences between
blocks these days, Raystorm, EK Supremacy etc., they're all pretty similar in that
regard. You can check out this list and pick one you like. Let's put down ~50 GBP for that one.
- Pump: I would recommend a D5 Vario. They are sold by several manufacturers under
different designations, but they're all made by the same company. In addition, I
highly recommend a pump top from any brand but Koolance (their tops have had
a few problems from what I've heard). You can get the pumps and tops preassembled
or buy them separately. Let's say another ~80 GBP
- Radiator: An Alphacool Monsta 360 will run you about 80 GBP, or you can get an
EK XTX. If you need a thinner one, a UT60 is ~70 GBP. So let's call it 80 GBP and
move on.
- Reservoir: If you get a thick radiator in push/pull, you might have to get a bit creative
on reservoir placement. Just keep in mind that the res should be above the pump
so that you can fill coolant into the res, have that flow to the pump and then get
moved around the loop when you are filling it up. Since the 5.25" bays would be
taken up by the radiator if you get a 360, you'll probably need a tube res.
- Coolant: I've been using Aquacomputer's DP Ultra for the past few years (in clear),
without problems. I've also seen XSPC's coolant recommended. But I must admit
I'm no guru on that one since I'm not a fan of coloured coolants, so if you with to
go for something a bit more exotic/extravagant, somebody else should advise you
on that one.
- Fittings: Bitspower is king, but also expensive. In the end though, it doesn't matter
that much which brand you pick IME. As for diameter: Personally I've been using
16/10 mm tubing for the past few years and I quite like it. It offers decent kink resistance
without being overly bulky (such as 19/13 mm). You can use either compression
fittings, or barbs, both will work fine, it's mostly in aesthetics how they differ. I have
also seen 1/2" barbs and 7/16" ID tubing recommended for use without clamps or
zip ties on the barbs, and indeed that gives you a very sleek look.
- Tubing: I recommend Primochill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT. Be careful, there is
also something called PrimoFlex Pro LRT, make sure to get the advanced stuff,
not that. Alternatively, you coud also pick Norprene. It's phenomenal, but doesn't
come in any other colour besides matte black. I'd order around 2 m, that should
give you some reserves.
- GPU Block: Same as with CPU blocks, doesn't really matter all that much, pick
the one you like best. You may or may not want a backplate, depending on
budget. They're not required though, primarily a matter of aesthetics. They seem
to be going for ~80 GBP these days.
- Fans: The venerable Scythe Gentle Typhoon is still an excellent choice for radiator fans,
but they're not the only option of course. You could also pick eLoops (they are marketed
under several brands, but it's the same basic fan, just slight differences in rpm,
colours and accessory bundles), Noctuas, Cougar or Gelid fans. I'm sure there are
other good alternatives, but those are the ones I've seen repeatedly used and
recommended. If you go with GT's, I would get the 1850 rpm model and undervolt
it if they're too loud, either with a fan controller or with a bit of cable modding
(no worries though, that's really simple). Gentle Typhoons are phenomenal undervolters,
so there isn't really much reason to buy the lower rpm versions IMO, at least in most
cases. Getting six GT's will run you about 15 GBP a pop, making a subtotal of 90 GBP.
As you can see, the 50 for the CPU block, 80 for the radiator, 80 for the pump + top, 80
for the GPU block and 90 for the fans is already close to 400 GBP, and that's not counting
fittings, coolant, tubing, the reservoir and maybe the occasional accessory or something
I've forgotten.
If you really need to stick close to those 300, you can save a bit of money by getting
a cheaper CPU block (for example, the EK Supreme LTX will run you a bit more than
30 GBP), leaving out the pump top for now and just stick 1/2" tubing directly onto the
stock D5 top, and of course either switching to a thinner radiator
(though I wouldn't go for anything thinner than ~60-ish TBH), or leaving out push/pull
for now and just buying three fans. Maybe there are other ways to shave off a few
bucks here and there that I haven't thought of yet (leaving out either the CPU or
GPU for now and integrating that into the loop at a later date, for example?).
Whatever you do, I do not recommend switching out the D5 for something cheaper.
If you ever decide to get a second GPU + block, you'll need a pump with some decent
power, and the D5 fits that bill. It's a very long term investment and will last you for
years if you treat it right.
Seeing as you're new to all this, I also recommend doing some reading up,
Martin's
Liquid Lab is IMO the most reliable W/C review site, I highly recommend having a look
around his articles, there's quite a bit of valuable knowledge in there.
And one final thing: You could of course also go for a 360 in the roof and optionally
a 240/280 in the front. However, that would require more cutting in the roof section,
and as you are certainly aware from your R4, the front structure of the case is actually
pretty open, so in my personal opinion, modding a 360 into the front is the easier
choice of the two. Maybe you could even fit a 420 into the roof, not sure on that one,
but that would be a proper modding job, if it fits.
In the end, W/C is not that complicated, but there are lots of opinions and all kinds of
different personal preferences floating about, which in combination with the plethora
of parts available can make the whole experience a bit overwhelming for a newcomer.
Cheers,
-aw
