Considering WC for comp.

Corban227

Corban227

Gawd
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
950
Hey guys ive read the common questions forum but i still had a couple of questions (parts wise) and some maintenance questions..

to start, my case is the NZXT Tempest Evo:
Case
Interior
Web site information

The case has some nice water cooling features build in which intrigued me to look into it. specs are in my sig but to make somethings simpler i have a i5-750 and a hd5870 which i will be putting into the loop.

Budget:
Im trying to keep the budget cheap. don't want to go overboard. probably 200-300 max

Parts:
1. i have no idea what to even begin looking which is why im posting here first. i figure i have the option of getting a 140mm rad or one that goes over 2 140mm slots (not sure what that size would be..280?). the best place for this would be at the top of hte case considering there are holes pre-drilled for a rad.
2. the pump im amusing would go at the bottom of hte case next to the psu
3. im not sure where the res would go.. outside the case? suggestions appreciated.
4. The QA thread above recommends using distiled water, but i noticed that a lot of people who post use coolant or antifreeze. does it really work better than water?
5.also what parts should i get, and what brands should i be looking for? because i know nothing, i'm open to any suggestions. i have 0 preference
6. What would good 140mm fans be to purchase. the NZXT fans are fine for normal use but not for WC. Also id prefer to keep the system as quiet as possible.

(side note. owning an h50 kinda got me interested in water cooling. i don't really do any hard core over clocking but modding comps and building is a new hobby of mine. plus i love low temps lol)

Also i have a Lamptron FC5 fan controller.

Maintenance/Miscellaneous questions

1. How often do you have to flush the system? could i go 6 months without touching it once its set up or will it be a monthly task? im a college student in an apartment so major cpu maintenance is not an easy task.
2. if done properly how quickly do deposit buildups occur in the loop?
3. in getting a watter cooling system, is it recommended i keep all my fans?
4. also is it better to have fans puling the air through the rad or pushing if you had to pick one?


If any current pics are needed of my rig or location please let me know.
thanks in advance for the advice
 
Hey there, ans in bold

Corban227 said:
4. The QA thread above recommends using distiled water, but i noticed that a lot of people who post use coolant or antifreeze. does it really work better than water?

No. Folks don't believe that cheap water is better than expensive coolant.

5.also what parts should i get, and what brands should i be looking for? because i know nothing, i'm open to any suggestions. i have 0 preference

Swiftech is great value for money for rads, they also have the best pumps, ie mcp655 and mcp355s. Feser is over priced. EK has the best CPU block. iandh have the best tube reservoirs. HWLABs have great rads ie GTX & SR1 series. Primochill have great tubes.

6. What would good 140mm fans be to purchase. the NZXT fans are fine for normal use but not for WC. Also id prefer to keep the system as quiet as possible.

Yates are great for value and performance.

(side note. owning an h50 kinda got me interested in water cooling. i don't really do any hard core over clocking but modding comps and building is a new hobby of mine. plus i love low temps lol)

I was driven to WC coz of the GTX295 fan. Drove me nuts. :D

1. How often do you have to flush the system? could i go 6 months without touching it once its set up or will it be a monthly task? im a college student in an apartment so major cpu maintenance is not an easy task.

You can go up to a year (or maybe 2) with distitlled + killcoil/PTnuke

2. if done properly how quickly do deposit buildups occur in the loop?

This is what it looks like after a year: http://www.overclockers.com/annual-water-cooling-cleaning-rebuild-journal/

3. in getting a watter cooling system, is it recommended i keep all my fans?

Depends. Your HDDs, Northbridge/Southbridge needs air cooling.

4. also is it better to have fans puling the air through the rad or pushing if you had to pick one?


Check this out.

http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Radiator-Fan-Orientation-And-Shroud-Testing-Review.html

Martin's a god in WC testing.


If any current pics are needed of my rig or location please let me know.
thanks in advance for the advice

Try OCN for more input. http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
Click to expand...
 
That setup will require 10 fittings:
res 2x
pump 2x
rad 2x
cpu block 2x
gpu block 2x

I like to go with Bitspower for comp fittings, they look real nice and professional. However that's going to be at least $6 per fitting, for an additional $60 cost. If you go with barbs you can get nice fatboy barbs for $2.50 apiece for a cost of $25. Oh and don't forget to add 10x worm clamps, that will probably be like $5. If you go stainless steel worm clamps, those can cost up to $1.50 each for an additional $15. If you choose to put a T or angled fittings in your setup, that will raise costs as well. I'd advise you get them all at once, because the shipping only adds up the costs for these items. And of course you need tubing. About 10-12 feet should be enough. In case you make some mistakes with the initial cuts.
 
what size fittings and tubbing should i get?

and are those parts i listed above good? rough estimated cost would be 420 after fittings and tubing etc is included. where could i save money in this build.

also later tonight i will post a pic of my case with a rough diagram of where im putting everything. unsure of where to place res.
 
Suggestions:

Rad: excellent. Case comes with fans, correct?
Pump: excellent, if you have the room, buy one of these....excellent and fits right on top of the pump......I have one, NIB, I can sell you if you wish.....http://www.jab-tech.com/XSPC-Acrylic-Reservoir-for-Laing-DDC-pr-4123.html You need about 8" of vertical room and 3" of room to set the pump.
My alternative choice would be this :http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcmire2re.html can be placed in the optical bay, it's very small.
CPU block is fine, I prefer Heatkillers though.
Tubing is a choice, and of course the inside diameter and outside diameter determine your size of fittings. Both ID and OD are important for compression fittings, the ID is only needed for barbs. Check your blocks, but most fittings are standard G1/4, but some radiators are G3/8 now. I like 3/8 ID - 1/2"OD tubing myself, some use larger.
I prefer compression fittings. They look finished and professional and last pretty much forever. BitsPower makes some sweet fittings. Buy them from Sidewinders.

As for coolant, I use distilled water and silver coils. If you want color, buy colored tubing.
.
 
i havent measured the space yet but i think its enough. i like that res better cause i wont have to find a place to put it. i wanna take measurements first but could you pm me how much you want to sell it for.

The case has two fans up top but i will want to get after market fans to move the air better. the quieter the better. i will basically be taking everything out of my case when im setting this up so i can test run it for a couple of hours. how would i power the system without using the computer?

does the pump have the option to use compression fittings? i cant find if its standard g1/4 in the description.

what would the best placement of everything be?
rad goes on top of the case with the two 140mm fans pulling air through.
pump and res go on bottom of case next to psu or hdd rack?

what do you mean silver coils? do they sit in the res and where can i get them from?

also i may want to get a modular psu to keep the case looking cleaner.
 
Sent you PM.

You can do two things to turn on the PSU without activating the MB.....first, if you have an older or spare computer, turn it on and access a molex from there.
Second is to remove the 24 pin connector from the MB and "jump" the power on wire. You can google that trick. Once you set up your watercooling, you should always run the loop about 2 to 12 hours without the motherboard being active to rule out any leaks.

best placement is determined by space, but generally the rad is highest and the res-pump are lowest. The reservoir should always feed the pump, anything else is just your choice.
My preference is to run the coolant from the rad to the block then to the reservoir then pump then back to radiator.

I answered the coils in the PM.

I prefer modular PSUs.....if you have the bucks, the new AX series by Corsair is fully modular, while the HX series has the 24 pin, the 12V auxillary CPU and two PCIe lines permanent to the PSU.
 
will that rad i selected be able to cool the i5-750 and hd5870? and how would it preform if i went cross fire and added another 5870 in the loop.
 
Running the i5+5870 would be cutting it close and if you're overclocking you'll probably want a second radiator especially if you go crossfire.
 
Corban227 said:
will that rad i selected be able to cool the i5-750 and hd5870? and how would it preform if i went cross fire and added another 5870 in the loop.
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CPU + single GPU would be no problem.
I can't give you the exact math............ but the OC 750 reaches about 70C at 4 GHz and the 5870s run quite cool.

Adding in a second GPU might overwhelm the dual 140 radiator......you might ask that question over at realredraider and see what those guys have to say.:cool:
 
how is the quality of these water blocks:
cpu
gpu

also is it a good idea to get backplates for both? i would probably get the backplate for the 5870 but not sure about the cpu
gpu backplate
 
For the heatkiller DEFINATELY get a backplate. The installation method on the heatkiller really cranks the block tight and will actually bend the PCB unless you use a backplate.

Buy your watercooling stuff here:http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/waterblocks.html
It's cheaper, the people are super and it will ship cheaper than Performance. Look I have purchased a ton from performance, their inventory is huge...but they are expensive and their shipping is way out of line. I always look at Sidewinder first due to price and they have always done right by me.

The backplate for the GPU block will help and looks cool too.:D
 
I can see that you're going to run easily into the $500 range. Watercooling costs add up fast! I'd say take a look at the Rasa, the backplate and everything should be included. I think Heatkiller is ripping you off by charging 9 bucks for a backplate that should come by default with the heatsink install kit!
 
Also check out jab-tech.com their prices are around and sometimes cheaper then Sidewinders.
 
vjcsmoke said:
I can see that you're going to run easily into the $500 range. Watercooling costs add up fast! I'd say take a look at the Rasa, the backplate and everything should be included. I think Heatkiller is ripping you off by charging 9 bucks for a backplate that should come by default with the heatsink install kit!
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Some boards may not need a backplate......so it's optional. And it's 7.95 not a deal breaker.:D The quality of the block outweighs that cost.

soulesschild said:
Also check out jab-tech.com their prices are around and sometimes cheaper then Sidewinders.
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Jab-tech is good but has a limited inventory, sometimes really sparse.....even more-so than Sidewinder.
 
Subscribing man, interesting to see where your going to take this. I've just started looking into WC, the price on this stuff is crazy but the return is huge. I might just settle for a H70 and call it a night. :)
 
lol i know what you mean. im making the move from an h50 to full loop. ill keep this thread updated as i buys stuff and build.

I checked out the Rasa block and its pretty sweet for roughly 30 dollars less. overclockers.net said it preformed well against the heat killer. anyone have any opinions on rasa vs heatkiller?

also as far as prices go, im finding frozen pcu is actually fairly cheap and has a lot of the parts im looking for.

what compresion fittings brand should i order? bitspower?
 
Corban227 said:
i found these but they seem faily pricy.. did i shot more towards the higher end?

res
pump
rad
cpu block
gpu block

not sure about tubing, barbs or fittings though
Click to expand...

pump - great.. make sure you get an aftermarket top.. I think the EK or XSPC is best I forget.
res- iandh makes a great res.. im using it myself
radiator - id look for a better radiator then the black ice series
cpu block - I recommend the EK Supreme HF block
gpu block - EK's GPU blocks are much better then koolance.

compressions - BP are industry standard.. im using EK's new compressions and they're great also.. really go with whichever brand you like more.
 
also as far as prices go, im finding frozen pcu is actually fairly cheap and has a lot of the parts im looking for.

what compresion fittings brand should i order? bitspower?
Click to expand...

I'm surprised Frozen has better prices, I like them fine and have ordered alot from there, but basically because they are very close to me and I get everything the next day.
Their shipping is costly and I find the prices are usually across the board more than Sidewinders, but they DO have a bigger inventory........:D

I have always used BitsPower compressions, the variety of choice is anazing and the quality is without comparison......plus you even have choice of shades.....shiny, slightly dark, and full-on black matte.:eek:
 
Kenjiwing said:
pump - great.. make sure you get an aftermarket top.. I think the EK or XSPC is best I forget.
res- iandh makes a great res.. im using it myself.
Click to expand...

i was planning on getting the xspc res top for the pump. would it be a good idea to also get another res? i would think that would decrease the flow rate making it not worth it to have the second res, or is it implied that im going to have a dedicated res along with the xspc top for the pump?
 
Corban227 said:
i was planning on getting the xspc res top for the pump. would it be a good idea to also get another res? i would think that would decrease the flow rate making it not worth it to have the second res, or is it implied that im going to have a dedicated res along with the xspc top for the pump?
Click to expand...

Depends on the complexity of your loop. I think one pump is sufficient for most single loops. I'm not really a fan of the double loop. More pumps = more noise.

magoo said:
I have always used BitsPower compressions, the variety of choice is anazing and the quality is without comparison......plus you even have choice of shades.....shiny, slightly dark, and full-on black matte.:eek:
Click to expand...

Ditto. I love the look of Bitspower comp fittings. That's why I used them extensively in my build.
The elbow fittings are on the very pricey side but in hindsight, I could not have made my loop connect to my external rad without them so it was well worth it.
103_6601.jpg
 
vjcsmoke said:
Depends on the complexity of your loop. I think one pump is sufficient for most single loops. I'm not really a fan of the double loop. More pumps = more noise.



Ditto. I love the look of Bitspower comp fittings. That's why I used them extensively in my build.
The elbow fittings are on the very pricey side but in hindsight, I could not have made my loop connect to my external rad without them so it was well worth it.
103_6601.jpg
Click to expand...

o sorry for the confusion i was referring to two res, not 2 pumps (yet.. lol when i cross fire 5870 then 2 pumps and rads ^.^)
 
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