Custom Loop - $1000 budget

C

Calis

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
407
Hey all,

I'm just in the process of building a new workstation and I've become unhealthily obsessed with watercooling, both for temperatures and noise, and epeen factor...

Currently I'm running:

i7 2600k
Quadro Fermi 4000
16gb Corsair Dom
Asus p8p67 Deluxe

Now, I'm looking to cool all of these, but I'm not particularly experienced with cooling.

Could anyone throw a few suggestions my way regarding setup? I've been looking at Swiftech pumps, the EK-Supreme HF cpu waterblock, and some Koolance RAM-33s for the memory.

Should I be looking at a 3x120mm rad setup? What about reservoirs, do higher quality ones effect performance?

I'm not very familiar with the nuances of watercooling so if anyone could point me in the direction of a guide or provide a good starting point I'd be very appreciative :)
 
howdy

have you got a case?

personally the type of case you use factors significantly, especially where radiators are concerned.

do you want all the WC gear internal or are you happy to mount the rads outside the case?

if you are looking at cooling everything (cpu, video, chipset, mosfets, ram etc) you'll be looking 3x120mm rad at minimum. 2x 240mm or 2x 360mm radiators would be better.
for quite operation, you'll need to look at rads with lower fins per square cm/inch and are thinner in depth. high fin count + thick radiator, you need high CFM flow fans (2000rpm + with high static pressure -120mm x 38mm fans) for them to work properly. this type of setup(s) are loud...

perhaps consider 2 loops (1 for cpu, mb ram & 1 for video).

with lots of water blocks the best tubing would be 7/16 ID as they tend to bend better. if you have a massive case, 1/2 ID tubing will be better. over all there's not a lot of difference flow/restriction wise between to two.

the standard pump to use, as you mentioned is the Laing D5/Swiftech 655 (same pump rebaged). they are generally considered to be the best.

also important (mentioned in guides linked below) DO NOT MIX COPPER and ALUMINMUM parts in WC loop.

i personally love big cube cases as they allow you install a ridiculous amount of gear. working in such cases are a joy. nothing worse than having scuffed and cramped hands after working on a case. kills some of the fun too.

thermaltake used to make a cube case (like mine, in sig). mountain mods make fantastic cubes. been drooling over those for some time now.

starter guides (some of the parts are old, good basic info though)
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54331
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=596949
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/739413-water-cooling-components-guide.html

cpu water blocks
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1524206

radiators
http://www.skinneelabs.com/radiators.html

tubing
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1200495

a good place to start when building a loop is with some of the kits swiftech offers.
http://www.swiftnets.com/

ultimately you'll end up with a mix of parts from different manufactures but the pump, water blocks and rads are considered to be of high quality.
 
Most of what aphasia said is accurate, however, there are a few things I disagree with.

If you go for low FPI radiator, you should go for a thick one. Thickness doesn't interfere that much with airflow, and it'll provide better temps. Thicker radiators also generally have less restriction on the water loop.

You are perfectly fine using 3/8, 7/16, or 1/2 ID tubing. Most testing show that 1/2 nets at most a 1-2 C improvement over 3/8, and most of the time there is absolutely no difference.

I would not worry about watercooling the RAM, in general, they do not get hot enough to warrant active cooling. If you are worried about it, just get some fans that can be placed on top of it (I know Corsair makes some). If you do want to watercool the RAM, then get RAM that does not have heatsinks on them (I know a bunch of Kingston ones don't). You'll need to remove the stock heatsink in order to get the RAM waterblocks to fit on them, and removing the stock heatsink voids the warranty with all RAM that I've seen.

Multiple loops really aren't worth it (unless you're going for extreme cooling with 3 or more 3x120 radiators). In general, even the second card in my GTX 275 SLI system ran within 1 degree of the first card under furmark. The temperature of the water simply does not change much between blocks.

Different reservoirs from what I've seen generally do not affect performance (unless the reservoir is an attachment to a pump). What is more important is the pump top that you put on. Aftermarket pump tops, and even reservoir pump tops, usually add more flow rate and pressure than the stock pump top. Reservoir is more about looks and what you prefer, and with your budget, you can get some really nice ones. My favorite is the FrozenQ Liquid Fusion ones.

Are you cooling the GPU also? If so, what GPU(s) are you using? Are you cooling the motherboard? The motherboard generally does not need liquid cooling, unless youre' going for high overclocks.

Man, I wish I had your budget for a water cooling system. I would just build one totally awesome system that would last me forever, while looking good doing it. Good luck and have fun, watercooling really is about having fun, you have to enjoy it to really get into it.
 
Tsumi said:
If you go for low FPI radiator, you should go for a thick one. Thickness doesn't interfere that much with airflow, and it'll provide better temps. Thicker radiators also generally have less restriction on the water loop.
Click to expand...

Ah, good insight. "How much" is thick? A lot of people like Swiftech radiators, which I believe are low FPI. Do you consider them "thick?"

You are perfectly fine using 3/8, 7/16, or 1/2 ID tubing. Most testing show that 1/2 nets at most a 1-2 C improvement over 3/8, and most of the time there is absolutely no difference.
Click to expand...

This is really important, because it's obviously eaisere to work with say 3/8 instead of 1/2 ID tubing.

Man, I wish I had your budget for a water cooling system. I would just build one totally awesome system that would last me forever, while looking good doing it. Good luck and have fun, watercooling really is about having fun, you have to enjoy it to really get into it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too. My budget is probably "only" $500.
 
x509;
"How much" is thick? A lot of people like Swiftech radiators, which I believe are low FPI. Do you consider them "thick?"
Click to expand...
No i wouldn't consider the swiftech models thick.

x509;
This is really important, because it's obviously eaisere to work with say 3/8 instead of 1/2 ID tubing.
Click to expand...
Just use 1/2 inch barbs with 7/16 inch ID tubing. has almost the same flow rate of 1/2 ID while remaining just as 'bendy' as 3/8 ID. it's a little more difficult to fit on 1/2 barbs (use hot water) but has the benefit of a snug fit. potentially you could forgo clamps. someone else mentioned this in the forum (EricFX1984 i think, and i agree), you'd need big brass balls to do so.

$500 is a very decent budget for a rocking WC system.
 
I don't have clamps on mine, but that's because I forgot to buy zip ties. Also you should boil distilled water not tap water if you're going to use the hot water method to stretch the tubing on the fitting.
 
Do they even make waterblocks for the quadro line?

I just watercooled an i7 930 and 3 480's on 8x120mm worth of swiftech rads. Took some doing to fit it all in a HAF 932, except a fan outside on the back 120mm port. So you really should look at it from the standpoint of your case. Also make sure you have a beefy PSU so the fan doesn't ramp up, because my PSU fan is the loudest part of my system now because I'm pumping out so much power. I was going to buy a fan controller to lower the speeds on my 1900rpm S-Flex fans, but I see no point now with my PSU sucking so much air.

While more expensive radiators will get you better cooling, it really depends on fan speeds and cost. I just couldn't justify the added cost for rads better than the swiftechs, as I think swiftech has the price/performance crown right now. If you are stuck with space for only 3x120, definitely get a better rad as a Fermi and an i7 would be a lot for a single 3x120 if you OC at all. But for the same price you can get 6x120 of swiftech rads for around the cost of a good 3x120 rad, and that will net you better cooling.

Also I'm running 7/16 on 1/2 barbs which like they said keeps it flexible but snug. I went with a single loop with dual pumps, because I wanted to spread the heat to all of the rads as best I could to ensure maximum dissipation. I got a pair of ek 4.0 dcp pumps used on the for sale thread for only $60 after only a month on a test bench, so look around for deals if price is any concern. My loop is quite restrictive but with 2 pumps its fine, and its nice in case one dies unexpected my computer won't overheat thanks to the redundancy.

If I were you, I would get a pump/res combo like I did with my ek 4.0, a decent cpu water block like the Apogee or EK Supreme, the gpu block of course, and at least 5x120 worth of Swiftech or one really really good 3x120 rad. Also take your time thinking about how you will route your tubing, and what pieces you will need. 45's are better than 90's for flow rate. I had to go with 90's myself because I was cramming so much into my HAF, but with 2 pumps I don't have to worry as much. Don't forget a drain plug at the bottom and easy access to your reservoir for filling. Some vibration dampeners wouldn't hurt you, as if mine wasn't on carpet it would be making noise.

I got all my stuff other than the pumps at Sidewinder and Performance PC's, who seem to have pretty good pricing. If you can find a gpu waterblock you could probably cool your system for $500 or less. If you can't find a waterblock, I guess you would use a universal block like the mcw-80 on the gpu and buy heatsinks for the rest of the card and custom fit them. Not something I'd want to do on my first watercooling build.

I'll let others chime in on the best pump/res combo and radiator choices, as this is the only WC build I've ever done, and I bought the lowest priced parts I could.
 
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For thicker rads i really like the XSPC RX series. Easily the best overall rad in my opinion considering price, restriction, cooling ability, and FPI/fan noise. Swiftech MCR after that.

For pumps as everyone has said...the D5. I also recommend this res/pump top to go along with it:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._Blue_LED_Light_-_Acrylic.html?tl=g30c107s152

I use that and i am happy with it.

Waterblocks are personal preference for the most part and how much you want to spend. If your considering compression fittings make sure the block is compatible. I have an Apogee XT which i really like for a few reasons, primarily mounting and looks, though its not the top cooler.

Dont bother with RAM or Chipset cooling for performance or longevity, nor do they even require active cooling. It would be strictly for looks and to add restriction to your loop.
 
I've had ddcs and D5s and the ddc feel like toys next to the D5. Im not commenting on their performance, simply their asthetic and that is simply a matter of oppinion.
 
In the case of tubing, I used 1/2" barbs and 3/8 ID x 5/8ID. Like stated above, you have to get hot to get it on but you will haveto cut it to get it off. It looks great when finished.

DSC01841-1.jpg


In the case of the pump I use the D5 with an EK top and I highly recommend it.
 
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