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First time w/ water cooling

E

endorphins

n00b
Joined
Aug 19, 2006
Messages
10
Ok, so I've made a post earlier about looking for a good water cooling system. I've finally got my paycheck have a little over $300 all together to spend on a water cooling system, and I want to make something that will really lower the temp on my computer. I play Counter Strike Source, WoW, and Lineage 2 on my days off anywhere from 4-8hrs at a time. What exactly will I need? What should I look for? Where should I look for it? Will my pc be completely fanless? And my last question, Is it hard to install a water cooling system when you or nobody else you know has ever done it before?


My system specs are:
Raidmax RX-9 Case
P5N32-SLI Delxue Mobo
Intel Extreme Edition 3.46ghz Pent4
2GB of RAM
Nvidia 7900GTX 512MB gfx card
Sound Blaster Audigy SE

I am a little hesitant to actually install a water cooling system, only because I've never done this before. From what I have read though, if I do get the right set up it may drastically change my temps and everything. Anyway, thanks for all help in advance.
 
its not really hard at all. I was the first person I know to do it, and it wasn't hard at all. As long is you can figure out how to hook the stuff up and leak test you will be fine. Mainly start reading and researching on here while you await your parts. I bought all my stuff in the forums used for under 200 bucks. It runs flawlessly. Yes you will want fans still to get the heat out of your case. All you need is the following.

Waterblock(for the CPU, Northbridge, and Vid Cards) I just WC'd my CPU
Radiator(the more parts you watercool the bigger you need)
Pump
resevoir(optional)
Distilled Water or Non Conductive fluid

check out these places for NEW pricing and then search the forums for the parts you need

www.dangerden.com
www.frozencpu.com


good luck, and remember most answer you are looking for can be found in the forums just read alot. Better you read about it alot anyway to make sure you know what your doin


J
 
Yeah, as the above poster said, I watercooled the very first PC I ever built... On the day I built it. Not only did I have to learn how to put a computer together, but I also had to learn how to put a watercooling loop together. They both turned out FINE.


Now, 300$ is a good budget for a WC system. Any of the cheaper setups are... well... Cheap. You really get what you pay for, and yes, this WILL drastically decrease the temperature of your major operating components, and reduce your fan noise (how many fans do you have in your computer now? I bet you can get away with 3 at 7v on water)

Now, as for what parts to choose, here are my recommendations. Jab-Tech stocks most of them, but you will PROBABLY be able to get used components for alot cheaper than buying new, nontheless here I go.




CPU block: TDX by Danger Den Make sure you get the one for the 775 socket :p (the Storm is a good option too, but it's alot more expensive for a 1-2'c drop in temps)

Pump: Swiftech MCP655 or Danger Den D5 (they're both the same pump, different company brands)

GPU block: Maze 4 with Ramsinks or Swiftech MCW60 with Ramsinks (MCW60 is my personal favorite) You're a gamer, this will reduce the NOISE in your system substantially, and drop your GPU temps by 20c or more. This is also the hardest component to install, more on that later.

Radiator: HWlabs GT Stealth 240 or 360 (if you can fit it) Hands Down the best performance radiator for it's price. A cheaper alternitive (that I use, and it performs Wonderfully) is the Blace Ice Pro 240. The GT stealth radiator requires you to get specific screws from the hardware store, whereas the BIP can use any length of 6-32 screws (too long of a screw in the GTs will break it).

Res: You don't NEED a reservoir. They're nice to have as they can be a visual indication of water level and flow. A Tline is cheaper and will work equally well.

Tubing: Hands down, the Masterkleer 7/16" stuff is the best today. Get it from lots of different stores online. At about 50'c a foot (compared to the 2-5$ a foot for Tygon) you can get 20ft of it for the same price as 5ft of tygon. It's very VERY nice to work with and... as a Bonus, it's just a LITTLE bit too small to fit onto 1/2" barbs, but if you boil it, and shove it on you get a seal that WONT give up. I repeat, you can AVOID ugly hose clamps by boiling the tubing, putting it on and letting it cool.



As for the difficulty of install, well its really not that bad. I mean, you put all the BLOCKS on first and find the optimal tubing length for connectingthe blocks (which will probably be done out of your case). Then, take the blocks off, cut the tubing and attach everything (don't attach the 7/16" tubing while the blocks are on, especially the GPU as you will risk CRACKING YOUR CORE) Attach all the tubing while the blocks are off, then put them back on. If they dont fit properly, big deal, you have 20ft of masterkleer :D.

Put it in your case, and now find out the lengths of tubing needed to attach your radiator, and your pump. Put everything on, fill it with something and turn the pump on by shorting your PSU. That's really it. Leak test it for awhile, bleed it, and you're good to go.

Feel free to PM me or post questions here I'll be watching this thread.
 
Arcygenical said:
Put everything on, fill it with something and turn the pump on by shorting your PSU.

Feel free to PM me or post questions here I'll be watching this thread.
Click to expand...


I didnt feel comfortable doing this so i j ust pulled a spare pc up next to mine and ran a molex to my pump and started it. Just a FYI
 
I've been reading stuff on here since the beginning of the year, once I was ready to start asking questions I signed up. I understand a lot of what to do, but I feel I need to know everything about everything, so I'm still reading. There is plenty of great info here.

I'm very mechanically inclined, and I think this will be a breeze to do, I just like to do things overkill, so the more knowledge the better.

This isn't rocket science, it's very straight forward. If you are picky about components, I would say research them here on different rigs. You'll be fine!
 
Arcygenical said:
As for the difficulty of install, well its really not that bad. I mean, you put all the BLOCKS on first and find the optimal tubing length for connectingthe blocks (which will probably be done out of your case). Then, take the blocks off, cut the tubing and attach everything (don't attach the 7/16" tubing while the blocks are on, especially the GPU as you will risk CRACKING YOUR CORE) Attach all the tubing while the blocks are off, then put them back on. If they dont fit properly, big deal, you have 20ft of masterkleer :D.

Put it in your case, and now find out the lengths of tubing needed to attach your radiator, and your pump. Put everything on, fill it with something and turn the pump on by shorting your PSU. That's really it. Leak test it for awhile, bleed it, and you're good to go.

Feel free to PM me or post questions here I'll be watching this thread.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised it took me this long to see that advice posted. I had my GPU and CPU blocks installed while trying to jam the 7/16" tubing over the 1/2" and it was not pleasant. Nothing was damaged but I guess next time I redo the loop I will dry mount the blocks for tube measuring then unmount the blocks.

I guess I was more of a WC noob than I thought last time :eek:
 
I destroyed the NB on my first ASrock board doing what you said. It was a good one, it clocked up to 273FSB before needing more voltage through the NB (it only got it 274 with the voltage heh). I got a new one and it wouldn't clock over 240fsb (wtf?).

Long story short, yeah, tubing on THEN attach the block hehe.
 
the maze4 will fit your 7900GTX

T-line, Fillport or are you going to use a res? also, HOSE CLAMPS and coolent.
 
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