Advice on my First New System w/ Watercooling

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LiquidEnforcer

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Aug 17, 2004
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So I currently have this setup going: NewEgg Wishlist

If anyone has any ideas on things I could change to get more performance for a little more money or slight downgrades that would save me a good amount of money id appreciate hearing them, or any other suggestions for that matter. My main concerns are that I want a really nice case and motherboard that will last me a long time. I'm also planning on OCing the processor as close to 3.4 or so as I can get, as Ive seen a reviewer do it to 3.7 on air cooling.

I'm mainly posting to get input on a water cooling setup. I was thinking one of the following two setups, with the hope in mind that I could make everything internal. I mainly want a good setup that will have no problem cooling my CPU and GPU (and a second GPU in the future) and have decent upgrade potential.

I don't know a lot on water cooling setups so I don't know about the good products and the cheap ones. I want something known for quality. Also recommended tube sizes would be nice, I was thinking 3/8'.

Idea 1:
Koolance KIT-500 with RP-1000BK Res&Pump
I was thinking the radiator would attach to the back fan on the P190 pretty easily, and I could stick the included fan on the other side of the radiator for extra airflow. I really like the drive bay mounted reservoir and temp stuff. I like this setup and I'm confident itll all fit inside, but I'm a little worried about its capacity and cooling ability. It says 400w of cooling I think, and the GPU only needs 150w, so it leaves 250w for the cpu.

Idea 2:
Swiftech H20-220 Apex™ Ultra
This one should have all the capacity I'll need and may be a little more complicated setup which is all good. I'm just a little sad It doesn't have any cool electronics or easily viewable reservoir. Theres also the issue of where to put it, I was thinking of getting some of these to attach it to the top fans/fan ports. I'm just not sure if thats a viable idea, since I want to refrain from altering the external look as much as possible.

Any advice on my setup would be very much appreciated. I'm brand new to the water cooling scene. And I haven't really built a new system from the ground up as I've mostly had laptops. Only computers I've built were back in HS tech class with old decrepit parts and replacing parts for friends/family that needed comp help. I'm also a few years into my Software Engineering degree, just so you have an idea of my experience with computers. Thanks!
 
First off let me say I have no experiance in water cooling, but I've been stalking people on the WC boards for a while now since I have the dream of watercooling the rig in sig.

Koolance is generally not a brand thats recomended to often. I think their new blocks look awsome and would probibly perform decently, but Koolance is often on the but-end of many WC jokes.

and from what I can tell you cant go wrong with a prebuilt swiftech kit.

But the first response is probibly going to be: build your own.
 
Ok, thanks for the info. I would like to make my own kit, I just posted the prebuilt kit because it seems to contain everything I'd need and I would need some direction to make one on my own.
 
LiquidEnforcer said:
Thanks, Ill look into that section more. I still wouldn't mind comments on my system components though :)
Click to expand...

Where to start.

#1: The 190 and its 2 powersupplies seems like a ridiculous waste of money. Do you really need 1200 watts of total power? Because the parts you ave listed sure don't need anywhere near that much. Plus I wouldn't trust those PSU's. You would be better served by dropping to a P180 or 182 and a good six or seven hundred watt PSU. See Jonny's list for recomendations.

#2: Why the Striker? Do you need SLI? Please don't say that you want it to future proof, since by the time you decide to buy another GTS there will be better single card solutions out there. So if you don't need SLI now drop down to a good P35 based board.

#3: The GTS refresh is coming soon. Now seems like the wrong time to be getting an older version. The new GTS should be a big step up in performance.

#4: Get a G0 Q6600. You should easily be able to get at or past 3.4 with water cooling.

#5: Any reason you went with the Kingston when you can have Ballistix for cheaper?

Thats about it for now. I think.
 
I agree with crash. Don't bother with the Q6700. Get the Q6600 from clubIT.com since they guarantee a G0 stepping. The G0 stepping runs cooler and requires less voltage, meaning it will OC better.

If you need SLI, go with either the eVGA NF68-A1/T1 or NF67-A1/T1. Actually, the NF69-A1 has water blocks already installed for the chipset/mosfets, IIRC... so go for that instead!

You only need SLI if you have a 1920x1080 screen or larger, and want to game at native resolution. If you don't need SLI, go with a P35 board instead, like the Abit IP35 Pro, Gigabyte P35-DS4, or Asus P5K-E.

Why not the eVGA 8800GT instead of the BFG 8800GTS? then step up to the refreshed GTS when it comes out, or the refreshed GTX/Ultra if it comes out within 3 months. Just wait for the GT's to get in stock again.
 
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