Final recommendations before buying WC setup...?

[A_N_D_Y]

My setup as it arrived today:

Lian Li PC-75b
ENERMAX Noisetaker 600W SLI Power Supply

DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 Dual Channel Platinum OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM SATA
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB 7200 RPM SATA
BFG Tech Geforce 7800GTX

For just a hair over 2200$ shipped I think this system will serve me well for 3 years...(Maybe I'll buy another 7800 next summer or what not)

SO onto the cooling...how is this?

- ALL 1/2" Tygon
- D5 pump
- Black Ice Xtreme III Radiator
+ 3 x Panaflo M1A - 86.5 CFM (pull air across and out of case)
+ 3 switch 0v/7v/12v fan control
- Swiftech Storm CPU
- Hopefully DD nv-78 block (if they come out soon?)
- **Chipset block? Do I need it?**
- Bay-Res Clear
- Colant + UV Blue + Wetter
- 6 x Vantech Stealth casefans. (4 in, 2 out)


Is it overkill? Maybe I can use stealth 120s on the radiator to make it silent or maybe the panaflo at 7v is just as quiet anyway?

Its going to run me around 600$ I am going for looks as well as performance, but what do you all think.

I plan to run my 4400+ as close to 2.8ghz as possible...I may even remove the IHS to help things out abit..so it IS going to run quite hot.

 

[Scroatdog]

I think Black Ice Extreme is a bit overkill, IMHO. Also, I don't think you'd need northbridge cooling. I'd recommend a 77 Bonneville heatercore and a nice shroud, instead of that overpriced rad. That III fan beast would affect your flow rate too.

 

[SpoogeMonkey]

I could've sworn someone with some experience, mentioned not to use uv dyes with the storm block..but i'll be damned if I can find the reference.

If your going in $600 for water cooling, why not throw in another buck fifty and get a Vapochill? Just sell/return that LL case and get your 2 bones back....now it's cheaper than water cooling

 

[Top Nurse]

If you use UV dyes you may take the risk of clogging the jets. You will definitely want to consider watercooling your NB if you decide to do SLI as the NF4-SLI chipsets get hot!

 

[Erasmus354]

I could've sworn someone with some experience, mentioned not to use uv dyes with the storm block..but i'll be damned if I can find the reference.

If your going in $600 for water cooling, why not throw in another buck fifty and get a Vapochill? Just sell/return that LL case and get your 2 bones back....now it's cheaper than water cooling

Because there are a lot of other hassles with phase change cooling, the least of which is increased power costs making it cost more over time than water cooling.

Also how do you figure 600$ for that watercooling setup?

storm - 75$
nv-68 - 100$
D5 - 75$
Radiator - 75$
Fans - 3x20 = 60$ (I figure the 6 case fans you have listed dont really count since you would need case fans no matter what cooling you go, besides submersion)
Tubing = 20$
Res = 20$
Misc = 20$
Fan Controller = 20$

That works out to under 500$ on my calculator.


My recommendation is why in the world do you think you need all those fans? If you are watercooling you are removing the major heat sources from the case, you dont need that many case fans. 2 case fans + the radiator fans MAX is what I would use. Hell I am currently running completely air cooled with only one 120mm fan on low as an exhaust and my temps are just fine at 35C idle 48C load on a 3200+ oced to 2.4ghz.

 

[CCUABIDExORxDIE]

i would change the 1/2in tygon, to 7/16in masterkleer tubing from www.mcmastercarr.com its on page 82 and is 37 cents a foot. id probably go wiht a weapon heatercore before id go with a BIX III, mainly because with a weapon core, everything is done perfectly, and will cost less and you can get a nice shroud or 2 and set up a push pull or just a push and get 1 less fan and have equal performance. for water, id get a gallon of distilled water, some pentosin blue antifreeze from pepboys/autozone/VW dealer and a few drops of algecide. and youll be good to go. 7/16in imo looks just as good as 1/2in and has much better bending radii.

 

[SpoogeMonkey]

Its going to run me around 600$ I am going for looks as well as performance, but what do you all think.

Sounds kinda high, but it was a point of reference.

 

[theseeker]

You will not be able to cool the NB on a DFI SLI, it will not fit.

 

[Top Nurse]

You will not be able to cool the NB on a DFI SLI, it will not fit.

This Zern cooler from MIPS Computer will work to cool your NB off.

 

[fore1337]

This Zern cooler from MIPS Computer will work to cool your NB off.

That's definately good to know TN.

are there any 1/2" I.D. tubing solutions out there?

AC solution. Just noticed that board is the DFI NF4 SLI-D, not the DR. It shouldn't matter though.

 

[A_N_D_Y]

This chipset block from MIPS...how can I get this in the US? Any distributors ?

I Really want to WC my chipset if possible...

Also I assumed $600 back when i was going for the 2x6800 option that would need dual gpu blocks, sorry. I may still splurge for an iwaki pump since a store down the road carries the wmd-20rzt for only 120$...With the 20rzt's pressure I think the BIXIII should be ok...I wish weapon had a website or something though...Maybe I'd consider one if I could read up on them.



Also with the coolant, the UV dye I'll be using is fine the storm...SOME dyes are much more particulate in nature (don't know Which though) but I emailed the guys @ frozencpu about their dye and they said it was not of this nature. I might not use antifreeze...it only hurts performace. Instead I'll use 1oz of hy-per lube that will actually work better [along with something to kill the aglae...anyone know where to order a small bottle of this stuff? I can only find stuff that will treat hundreds of gallons]

Hum...what else...OH the tubing. I already HAVE some tygon from my last WC a year or so ago so I'm going to use it again. My case has lots of room and I have no worries about kinks.


OH also...I DO need the case fans...This computer will be housing my older 1TB RAID1 array that generates ALOT of heat. (This computer will be used for gaming, but also also an active off-site archive dump)