My first go at a watercooling kit, seeing some semi-high temps still

Minion187

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Ok, so apparently my old account on here got deleted for inactivity and I had to use my work email to sign up since gmail is banned! Interesting.

Anyway, this my first go at a watercooling kit. I've had 2 Coolermaster pre-assembled gimmicky setups that were really not adequate, but this is the first build-it-yourself kit i've ever done. I snagged the Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima. Installation wasn't too hard once I figured out I could get the tubing on the barbs a lot easier by dipping it in hot water. Came with the Apogee GTZ waterblock which I've read is 2nd only to the Heatkiller

Specs: Core i7 920, 6gb OCZ DDR3-1600, MSI X58 Pro, GTX285 vid card, velociraptor 300gb, 1tb WD, thermaltake 850w PSU

Here's a low res pic of my setup while i was leak testing (used an old P2 400mhz to power it instead of jumping my PSU):

http://i43.tinypic.com/sd1qap.jpg

I can upload a higher-res pic if need be.

So, problem is, Im still seeing 55c load at stock speeds and around 34-35c idle. I'm a big overclocker (last rig was a e8400 wolfdale at 4.5ghz in a evga 650i mobo) but I don't see myself getting too far when i'm pushing 55c at stock speeds. Are these i7's just more tolerant of heat than I'm used to?

Anyone see any problems with my setup? Loop runs Pump>Radiator>CPU>Reservoir>Pump. Spilled a little of the water when I was setting it all up so I had to add more distilled water to the HydrX mix but I can't imagine that causing much of a problem. I might try reseating the waterblock and seeing if that helps, I'm just lazy and don't feel like draining the system right now. Don't feel too confident in doing it with the water still in lol
 
Can you flip the rad down so you can reduce the tubing length? Also make sure the hydrx is diluted enough. Also if your going with that rad for an i7, I suggest some faster fans. i7 dumps a TON of heat with HT.
 
no problems just lots of hose! haha

but it looks good other than that.

as for specific applicaitons, im not sure. make sure your hose clamps are snug! :)
 
1. As mentioned above cut down the tubing.
2. Try running this loop setup.
Radiator -> Res -> Pump -> CPU -> BACK to Radiator.
3. What kind of fans are mounted on your radiator? (whats the output) if they're low speed then I would suggest getting some Yate Loons that are higher cfm for that rad.
 
Also If you are afraid of noise level, you can use SilenX fans which offer over 70CFM while being extremely silent. It blows a lot of air and at the same time keeps quiet. The problem is that SilenX fans are a bit more pricey. ~$25

Also, if you are worried about your tubing Kinking from the above posts about people telling you to shorten the tubes, use the Blue or Clear Tubing coil that came with your Swiftech starter kit. That way you'd be able to shorten the tubing and allowing a faster flow.
 
Do not use SilenX fans... do a search on them... bad, very bad. I use zalman zm-f3 fans, cheap and effective.
 
Do not use SilenX fans... do a search on them... bad, very bad. I use zalman zm-f3 fans, cheap and effective.

Well, I use 3 of them in my Rig and 6 of them in my brothers Stacker. They are extremely quiet and perform a lot better than most other fans i've used. So I don't think they are "very bad" I don't know where you came up with this idea. Some places review certain products poorly and some places review them the opposite. However, nothing beats personal experience.
 
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/199637-29-silenx-fans-work#t1247252

Their fans may work, but they lie about db stats and have shady marketing.

Also,

from spcr:

"A SilenX at last. A "proper" SilenX, not an obscure 80mm model. Those of you who aren't regular readers are probably wondering what the big deal is. To summarize a very long story:

1. A SilenX spokesman was caught shilling his product by carrying on a conversation with himself on SPCR's forums, reregistering himself several times after his fraudulent activities were exposed by SPCR staff.
2. SilenX' specifications are notoriously exaggerated, especially where noise is concerned.
3. Thanks to widespread distribution and aggressive marketing (see point 2.), SilenX fans have a reputation for being quiet — but not on SPCR
4. For a very long time, in part because of point 1., SPCR had never "officially" reviewed a SilenX product."
 
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/199637-29-silenx-fans-work#t1247252

Their fans may work, but they lie about db stats and have shady marketing.

Also,

from spcr:

"A SilenX at last. A "proper" SilenX, not an obscure 80mm model. Those of you who aren't regular readers are probably wondering what the big deal is. To summarize a very long story:

1. A SilenX spokesman was caught shilling his product by carrying on a conversation with himself on SPCR's forums, reregistering himself several times after his fraudulent activities were exposed by SPCR staff.
2. SilenX' specifications are notoriously exaggerated, especially where noise is concerned.
3. Thanks to widespread distribution and aggressive marketing (see point 2.), SilenX fans have a reputation for being quiet — but not on SPCR
4. For a very long time, in part because of point 1., SPCR had never "officially" reviewed a SilenX product."

That is quite some arguing going on in there lol... But in the end Fans are still Fans, and as long as I can feel lots of air coming out of them and are quieter than my waterpump while still getting the job done, I'm satisfied.

PS: yea so I'm still going to continue to use these fans, but in the future if I need new fans, ill look into it more.
 
id say your major problem is that you are using way to much tubing.....the shorter you can keep the tubing the better
 
I would try reseating the CPU block and also shortening your loop by running res->pump->cpu->rad->res, but that shouldn't affect temps too much. What fans are you using?
 
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