Water cooling.. Really worth it? :S

[FunkyMonkey90]

Hey guys I'm just pondering weather or not to get water cooling for my next rig.. It will be running a 970 with a GTX580 and wanted to know if you guys think it is really worth it? I would probs get custom parts for £200-£250.

I'm always paranoid and I don't think that having water in my rig would make me feel any better lol.. Although I do like silence so my question is:

Is water cooling really worth it?

 

[sheroo]

What placement of rads did you have in mind for the Phantom? Or are you going for another case?

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

either a 240 or 360 up top depending on what will fit, a 140 on the back and a 120 on the side using a rad mount.

This will be for the CPU and a GFX card with the possibility of an extra later on

 

[tinytomlogan]

Loads of small rads looks horrible. If you want to keep the phantom stay on air matey.

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

Well this is the setup I was thinking of doing:

this is the res i was looking at http://watercooled-pcs.co.uk/en/xspc-250mm-passive-reservoir.html

But also thinking a a drive bay one.. Whats the best type?

 

[Grizzly]

Well this is the setup I was thinking of doing:

this is the res i was looking at http://watercooled-p...-reservoir.html

But also thinking a a drive bay one.. Whats the best type?

Dude that's gonna be very messy, most you can do in a phantom sensibly is a 240+120, then it's still nice and neat.

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

I could always get a pump/res combo to save on a bit of space and tubing and then tie down the tubing going from pump - bottom rad then the only tubing you'd really see would be from back rad-CPU-GFX-Res

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

Ok heres V2 of the possible water cooling system

do you guys still think it would be to "cluttered"? or will 1 240 and 1 140 be enough for a CPU and GFX (poss 2 GFX) or am i dreaming?

 

[ruthless_villain]

take a look at this possibly the best water cooled phantom i have ever seen, dudes on this forum aswell:

http://forum.overclock3d.net/index.php?/topic/33999-xsesive/

 

[Grizzly]

So long as he's happy to mod a little bit, then we're on to a winner. It's gonna be messy having that 120 at the bottom away from everything else.

 

[sheroo]

take a look at this possibly the best water cooled phantom i have ever seen, dudes on this forum aswell:

http://forum.overclock3d.net/index.php?/topic/33999-xsesive/

That's an amazing rig. I'd love to water cool but I just can't justify the cost...

 

[ruthless_villain]

That's an amazing rig. I'd love to water cool but I just can't justify the cost...

is only £140 (only)

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

That guy does have a pretty sweet set up there.. what would I have to mod to fit a 360 up top?

 

[ruthless_villain]

yeah just two holes or you could risk it and only mount with 4 screws i wouldnt recommend it though

 

[stevebarnes15]

This is what the reservoir in question looks like installed,did mine today in phantom.

If i were you i'd go with the xspc drive bay pump and res combo,much easier to install,and organise your loop.Although the cylindrical res does look nice i have to admit.

 

[ShortAlieN]

That guy does have a pretty sweet set up there.. what would I have to mod to fit a 360 up top?

Not much modding is required to mount the 360 rad up top. there are four holes in the top of the case that are made for a 240 rad. used those for main support, only mod i really did was drill one more hole under the power button/other connections fixture for support.

Part of the radiator is blocked in the front. You can cut away some of this metal to provide better airflow, but I chose not to. It is not possible to mount a fan in that location, and it does not completely block the airflow there, so I left it intact.

There is also plenty of room for cable routing event with the radiator in place, so no worries there. If you are going to mount a rad on the rear inside of the case you will have to use a 120, the one i used is actually a bit large and ended up having to drill new holes to mount it.

With the 360 and 120 radiators cooling an i7 920, NB, Vreg, and GTX 480 it is absolutely fun. video card is cooler under full load than it was at idle with the stock cooler. everything is overclocked, and surprisingly well. with a 970 a 580, and probably a better motherboard than i have you would run much much cooler than I, even with higher overclocks. If you only have water blocks on your CPU & GPU I see no reason to have more radiators.

To answer your question about if it is worth it.... How much do you like working on your computer? the more you enjoy it, the happier you will be. It takes a load of time to set it all up. Liquid cooling is great fun for me. not for the pocket book though

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

Hmm I guess I'd be willing to drill an extra hole in the roof I defiantly wouldn't be willing to cut a hole in it though + since my girlfriend bought it for me I don't think shed be to happy with me ripping it apart lol. Do you guys think that a 360 + a 120 would be enough to cool possibly 2 GFX with CPU?.

 

[ShortAlieN]

what do you plan on doing with it?

 

[wotevajjjj]

As everyones says, it'll be messy..

I think i've got a better idea, how about this:

Mod the sidepanel so it hinges instead of slides .

Use 2 hinges one on top on on the bottom.

Make 2 sets of tubes that slide in eachother, and connect the waterlook to those middle hinges, letting the fluid go trough.

Then on the other sidepanel you do some cutting andplumbing.

Put 2 240 or 280 or 360 rads in the side, add fans (over the cpu and ram area) (you might have to put your 580 a bit lower on the board.

Do some leak checking and you got a great watercooled rig without any visible rads, and you can still open the door and change parts if necessairy.

Oh btw, i never did this, nor did anyone else i know off, but with a bit of work, this could work well.

 

[FunkyMonkey90]

I plan on gaming and some 3D modelling. As for the rad on the side panel I don't plan on putting a rad on the side panel but I would put it on a rad stand nearer the back of the case so it would still get air but wouldn't be "as" visible. But if all I need to do is drill 1 or 2 holes to fir a 360 ill just do that instead. =]