Few questions from a 1st time w/c'er

Alright I'm planning my new build which will include watercooling. As it's my first time I'm having a dilemma choosing which kit to purchase.

2 kits in question are:

XSPC Raystorm kit w/ RX360 Radiator $299.99
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_202_972&products_id=33549
or
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15140/ex-wat-203/XSPC_Raystorm_RX360_Extreme_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_w_RX360_Radiator_and_Free_Kill_Coil_Hot_item.html?tl=g30c321s1310

or
XSPC Raystorm kit w/ EX360 Radiator $259.99
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_202_972&products_id=33590

Also there's a few fan choices:
Stock Fans that come with the kit
XSPC 120mm 1200RPM Fan
XSPC 120mm 1650RPM Fan
XSPC 120mm 2000RPM Fan
Yate Loon 120mm 1300 RPM Fan
Yate Loon 120mm 1650 RPM Fan
Yate Loon 120mm 2250 RPM Fan

Pump choices:
Alphacool VPP655
Swiftech MCP655-B
Swiftech MCP655 ($15.00) <-- equivilent to the Alphacool? Variable pump speeds?

The EX is a slimmer rad which means I would have to go with faster/louder fans but I'm not sure if that's worth the $40 savings? What do you guys think? My case is the Corsair 600t so do you think it's best to save the $40 and get the faster/louder fans and hook them up to the fan controller or spend the extra cash for the RX rad and get that extra room for cooling?

I will be adding in a full coverage video card block as well into the loop.

Last question is 7/16" ID or 1/2" ID tubing? I've read that there's not much performance gain if any between the two and that it's only a visual thing?

Thanks guys

Depends on your noise tolerance. Personally, the quieter the better, so I'd go with the RX and low RPM YL fans. As for the pumps, yes I believe the VPP655 and MCP655 are the same. However, the MCP655 should come with a complete pump unit - pump itself and stand - whereas the VPP655 is only the actual pump. If that makes sense... For tubing, if you get 7/16" you can get away with no clamps, but I couldn't trust that. So I went with 1/2" ID and worm clamps. A lot of this stuff is personal preference, to be honest!

EDIT: Just saw that the fittings are compression. In that case it makes absolutely no difference what size you get. Just make sure the ID AND OD matches for the tubing and fittings.

Thinner radiators (with the same FPI) can use slower less powerful fans due to less restriction. you had it backwards.

go with stock tubing and fittings so you know you'll have the correct sizing. 7/16" cools just as well as 1/2".

I've never used any of the fans listed but I've heard good things about yate loons.

2250 rpm is going to be fairly loud. I'd personally use the 1200 or 1300 rpm with those radiators.

Sorry what's FPI?

If I am using the same fans, which rad would perform better? RX360 or EX360.

XSPC fan 1650rpm @ 65.2CFM/29dB vs. YL fan 1650rpm @ 70.5CFM/33dB. Which would you go with? I'll be hooking it up to a fan controller.

FPI = fins per inch. Fins being the zig-zags on the radiator. At 1650 RPM, the RX would probably perform a little better.

With a low FPI radiator, you want it to be thick. Thickness does not add much to overall airflow restriction, but does add a lot to cooling capacity. For example, the XSPC RX and RS radiators are the same FPI, but different thickness, yet the RX radiator outperforms the RS at all fan speeds.

The RX outperforms the EX in general until you get to the ~2000 RPM range. If you do push/pull, the EX radiator might outperform the RX at your target fan speeds, but I would still get the RX, since it will do better at the low end.

robble said:

Thinner radiators (with the same FPI) can use slower less powerful fans due to less restriction. you had it backwards.

go with stock tubing and fittings so you know you'll have the correct sizing. 7/16" cools just as well as 1/2".

I've never used any of the fans listed but I've heard good things about yate loons.

2250 rpm is going to be fairly loud. I'd personally use the 1200 or 1300 rpm with those radiators.

Click to expand...

I don't know if you've bought your set yet but I picked up this just yesterday.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...Kill_Coil_Hot_item.html?id=B6tAGpMF&mv_pc=154

To add to what was already said,
A THICK radiator with a LOW number of fins per inch allows for slow fans. The RX360 is that radiator. Actually, the RX360 is one of the thickest radiators and lowest fin count per inch radiators on the market. Thus it allows for pretty much the slowest spinning fans.

The EX360 is a Thin radiator with more fins per inch and thus requires more airflow to push through the radiator because of the fin count. XSPC touts that the EX360 should be similar to the RX360 in terms of performance even though its thinner but you'll take a hit in terms of noise.

EDIT: Pick up some gentle typhoon AP-13 1150rpm fans with the RX360 radiator and you'll have a near silent computer. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._-_1150_RPM_D1225C12B3AP-13.html?tl=c15s60b14 They have a high static pressure which is what you want for radiators. Static pressure > airflow in this case. They're so good, my WD 10k raptor ends up louder than those fans.

If you feel 1150rpm is too low or have fan controllers, you can opt for the gentle typhoon AP-14 or AP-15 which are 1450 and 1850rpm respectively.


EDIT2:


Pump choices:
Alphacool VPP655
Swiftech MCP655-B
Swiftech MCP655 ($15.00) <-- equivilent to the Alphacool? Variable pump speeds?


the Aphacool VPP655 is probably what you would want to get as it is a variable pump without the plastic housing. The Swiftech MCP655 is a pump with the plastic housing and is designed to be mounted outside of the reservoir. As you'll be using the XSPC res. you'll have to take it out anyway. They're essentially the same thing. The Swiftech MCP655-B is a high pressure head pump that is NOT variable. I'd just stick to the alphacool vpp655 tbh. Though, I've heard its pretty much not adjustable after you stick it into the res.

Syan48306 said:

I don't know if you've bought your set yet but I picked up this just yesterday.

Click to expand...

I already have a fully custom setup with a lot of high end gear but thanks =)

I'd go with the lower FPI rad, I like running slower speed fans and the that kit seems a bit cheaper too.

In other news, holy new delrin pump/res combo batman! Finally a cheap all delrin res. I'd been waiting for monsoon to bring their new ones out but I think they just lost my purchase as this is only 55 bucks.

Not sure how you plan on mounting it, but you should check out my build thread in the worklog section. The EX360 was a pretty tight squeeze and I had to cut out the spring latch for the top mesh cover. The RX is longer and will require some heavy modding.