Building a watercooled computer

[Dave-Mastor]

Okay, so I'm building a water cooled rig to replace my old one. The problem is, I've never built a water cooled system and I'm looking for some suggestions.

I'm building it in the mega 'Cooler Master Stacker 830' case, so space shouldn't be much of an issue.

For the components that I have/will get:

EVGA E760 Classified Motherboard
Intel Core i7 960
HEATKILLERŽ CPU Rev3.0 1366 CPU Water Block


And I'll probably be getting either a single or dual nVidia GTX 300 series when it arrives.

As you can see, I've gotten as far as the CPU Water block, and that's it. I want to keep it cool, with a little headroom for upgrades/additions. Budget isn't much of an issue as long as it isn't uber expensive.

I don't really know what radiators, reservoir, or pumps to get; or even what kind of tubing or how much.

Do you think you can help me out, please?

 

[Erasmus354]

Tubing : 7-12 feet depending upon the size of the loop is a good average. Really doesn't matter what you get here. Tygon - $$$ but good, Masterkleer - Cheap and average, Feser - Colors, yay?!, Primochill - Colors, yay?!

Pump: I would either go with a D5 vario pump or a DDC3.2 or DDC3.25 with an aftermarket top.

Radiator: I would get at least a 3x120 (360) radiator. Most major brands are good enough here. Swiftech is cheap and ok, Black Ice GTS is ok and slightly more expensive than Swiftech for slightly less performance but has better features (G1/4 fitting threads and M3 screw holes) the GTX is high performing with strong fans and bad with weak fans. XSPC makes some good radiators for a nice price. Thermochill is still near the top but can be hard to find and expensive.

 

[King Icewind]

Black Ice GTS work best with 38mm fans. My two work just fine with 25mm, I'm just not utilizing it to the fullest. I can't honestly say they are worth the extra money if you aren't going to be using 38mm fans. But hey I have, 2 rads just for the cpu lol.

I would get 1/2 OD size tubing, and if you want colors just get colored tubing. It's more expensive then the clear stuff, but the colored coolant is expensive and equals out to be the same. Distilled water and cleaners like PT Nuke and other's is the best and cheapest.

I got this pump, http://www.dangerden.com/store/dd-cpx_pro-12v_pump.html. It's the 3.2 and it works great.

GL man.

 

[Dave-Mastor]

Okay, so I have one of these: http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=893

to go with my motherboard. Including that, along with my HK waterblock, and most importantly, my CMStacker 830 case.

I'll also get this pump: http://www.dangerden.com/store/dd-cpx_pro-12v_pump.html reccomended to me by King Icewind.

What else should I get? Preferably links... because when you recommend something with just a general name, not that there's much of a problem with that, but there's so many options that I really don't know what to get.

I'm mostly talking about fittings, tubing... perhaps radiators and reservoirs that are compatible with my case. I'd also like to have clear tubing, if possible, because I want to be able to see if there's any bubbles or anything... but the color doesn't really matter.

 

[deadlift1]

IMO best bang for the buck is the swiftech mcr320 with some medium speed yate loons on it. You can get the whole setup from petra's for about $70: http://www.petrastechshop.com/ptsulracomce.html I've got two of these rads with these fans. One cools my cpu and the other my 285's. Works great.

Like someone already posted the Thermochills are awesome but very hard to find. The Feser's are supposed to offer really good performance as well but I have never used them personally.