First Time Water Cooling - Impressions

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Tigershard

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Mar 9, 2011
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This weekend I installed my first water cooling system. I did it the hard way, having a system I had already been using for a bit and adding water cooling to it. I purchased a XSPC Rasa 750 RX360 and the XSPC Watercooling block for my video card. My CPU is an intel i5-2500K and I'm still using my trusty Geforce GTX 480. I had an awesome case, the SuperMicro SC747, but I couldn't fit the XSPC watercooling kit in there, so I purchased a Coolermaster HF932 instead.

I don't remember how long the install took me. I cleaned the radiator out with boiling distilled water many times, and washed the CPU and GPU blocks with vinegar. Either way, by the time I was done I was tired and cranky, but the results made all the work worth it.

Before watercooling, my i5-2500K was idling at 29C with the stock cooler. Running BF3, I believe I got the CPU up to 50C+. My Geforce 480 was idling at 51C, and would reach temps of up to 91C when running Furmark.

Now that I have everything setup, when I looked at my temps idle I was already super impressed. My CPU was idling at 21C and my GPU at 30C, and this was with the radiator fans running at 50% to keep the noise down. Loaded up Furmark and later BF3, and my GPU never got above 51C, and the CPU never went above 40C. When I turned the fans all the way up, both CPU and GPU dropped by 2-4C.

I haven't done any burn-in or stress tests yet (other than Furmark), but I plan to before I start overclocking. I can't believe how horrible the stock Geforce 480 cooler was. A 40C difference in Furmark? Scary. I'm wondering if I should overlock the GPU as well as the CPU.
 
Nice! Congrats.

I've never done a custom watercooling loop before myself so I am particularly curious to ask you - a first timer - about your level of confidence when installing the thing.

I'd be absolutely scared shitless about getting water on my components. Could you speak to how easy you felt it was as a first timer to attach all the tubing and fill the reservoir without leaks?
 
Zarathustra[H];1038048140 said:
Nice! Congrats.

I've never done a custom watercooling loop before myself so I am particularly curious to ask you - a first timer - about your level of confidence when installing the thing.

I'd be absolutely scared shitless about getting water on my components. Could you speak to how easy you felt it was as a first timer to attach all the tubing and fill the reservoir without leaks?
Click to expand...

I was scared as well, but I figured that if so many people here were doing it successfully, it is most likely a safe thing to do. That said, the instructions that come with the watercooling kit was not enough to do it right. I read many posts on here and the watercooling FAQ and it helped round out my knowledge nicely.

Putting on the tubing was interesting. To get the tube all the way down on the fitting required a little bit of pressure and twisting, and I always freak out when I see my motherboard flex a bit. In the beginning, I was being way too cautious and cutting my tubing much too long. When I finally had all the tubing in place (before running any liquid), it was pushing really hard against my video card, causing it to lean. I couldn't yank off the tubing because it was on so tight (that is a good sign that it won't leak). I had to use a razor blade to carefully cut the tubing off and then cut new tubing 2 inches shorter, and it was much better. I think you just need to make sure you cut your tubing cleanly and at the proper length. and you won't have to worry about leaks if you get it as far down on the fitting as you can.

I also did the "leak test" where I tied cloth around all of the fittings the first time I ran water through the system. The XSPC kit comes with an attachment so you can power the watercooling kit with the power supply without running your motherboard, so if anything does leak, you don't fry your system. I used a small funnel to fill the reservoir and turned the the power supply on for a moment, shut it off to add more water, and repeated that a few times. Once it was full, I put the cap back on the reservoir, ran the pump and titled and leaned the system a bunch to get all of the air bubbles out that were stuck in the tubes and the radiator. In the end, I had zero leaks.

Hope this helps alleviate some of your fears.
 
i have an i7 and a 480gtx and my 480gtx max temp is 48c on kombuster but my cpu max at 61c on intel burn test for some reason. on stock as well.
 
Heating the tubing in boiling to near boiling water then pushing it on right away makes it much easier to put on.
With the often recommended undersized tubing it is required.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038048241 said:
It does thank you.


I need to find something that can help tame the space heater that is my overclocked 3930K :p
Click to expand...

You could always start with a closed loop system like the Corsair H100. Intel also has their closed loop system for the new Sandy Bridge CPUs that is made by Asetek and is a modified H70.
 
This makes me very happy. I am just about to undergo my first WC build and was wondering what temps were going to be like.

Thank you very much.
 
stormy1 said:
Heating the tubing in boiling to near boiling water then pushing it on right away makes it much easier to put on.
With the often recommended undersized tubing it is required.
Click to expand...

I actually used a hair dryer rather than boiling it in water, just have to be careful not to melt the tubing. I also had a friend use the oven. Really any type of heating. I don't like boiling simply because it can allow more contaminants in the tubing if you don't use distilled water. And I don't like to get distilled water just to boil the tubing. I guess I am finnicky about that.
 
+1 to hair dryer trick, Ive used it many times.

I had the XSPC kit myself and liked it, However I went for a 2x 360 rad setup with a custom block from EK.

I am loving it, but the XSPC kit is a great for a first timer! COngrats!
 
Tigershard said:
Putting on the tubing was interesting. To get the tube all the way down on the fitting required a little bit of pressure and twisting, and I always freak out when I see my motherboard flex a bit.
Click to expand...

This is why I attach the tubing to the blocks first, then I slide the blocks onto the board.

Tigershard said:
I also did the "leak test" where I tied cloth around all of the fittings the first time I ran water through the system. The XSPC kit comes with an attachment so you can power the watercooling kit with the power supply without running your motherboard, so if anything does leak, you don't fry your system.
Click to expand...

You can loop the connector on your PSU with a quick jimmy job to get it to power on without the MB. I usually connect all the tubing to my fittings and blocks first outside of the system and run it to do my leak test. After the successful leak test, I then attach the blocks inside the case to their components. Then you don't have to worry about spilling on your components. I also like to use UV dyes and blacklights in my cases so I can spot leaks pretty quickly, this is helpful if you move your case around every now and then as some things may come loose in transit.

Tigershard said:
I used a small funnel to fill the reservoir and turned the the power supply on for a moment, shut it off to add more water, and repeated that a few times. Once it was full, I put the cap back on the reservoir, ran the pump and titled and leaned the system a bunch to get all of the air bubbles out that were stuck in the tubes and the radiator. In the end, I had zero leaks.
Click to expand...

Hmm, why did you have to shut it off to add more water? Was your resevoir not large enough? I usually just leave mine running and pour my water in the resevoir as needed. If you get a large enough resevoir, you can usually keep pouring enough fluid that you don't suck in any air. Although after letting it run for awhile, any air you suck in should be moved out of the system.

All in all some pretty good notes there and nice temps. Now you need to start doing some OCing and see how much you can squeeze out of your system ;) Most important thing though, was it fun?
 
NoOther said:
You could always start with a closed loop system like the Corsair H100. Intel also has their closed loop system for the new Sandy Bridge CPUs that is made by Asetek and is a modified H70.
Click to expand...

I already have one of those. It's a CoolIT manufactured system just like the Corsair H100 (CoolIT makes all of Corsairs current closed loop water coolers), but this one is licensed to MainGear instead.

Instead of a dual 120mm radiator, it has a single 180mm radiator. Believe it or not, this makes for a 12.5% larger radiator than the H100.

Essentially its the best current closed loop system. Unfortunately I seem to be the only one they ever sold it to , as they were planning on offering it retail, and sold it to me early as I promised to test it, but they haven't gotten around to releasing it like they said they would. Currently they only sell it in their own branded systems.

If curious, here's what it looks like: (next to a corsair H50)


Corsair H50, meet MainGear EPIC 180 by mattlach, on Flickr


And installed:


EPIC 180 Case Mod by mattlach, on Flickr

If you are interested in my experiences with it, see this thread.
 
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NoOther said:
Hmm, why did you have to shut it off to add more water? Was your resevoir not large enough? I usually just leave mine running and pour my water in the resevoir as needed. If you get a large enough resevoir, you can usually keep pouring enough fluid that you don't suck in any air. Although after letting it run for awhile, any air you suck in should be moved out of the system.
Click to expand...

I was just being very careful. I wanted to make sure the pump was submerged at all times.

NoOther said:
All in all some pretty good notes there and nice temps. Now you need to start doing some OCing and see how much you can squeeze out of your system ;) Most important thing though, was it fun?
Click to expand...

OCing will happen soon, once I finish Saints Row 2 (the game runs too fast over 3.2ghz). It was fun, and I am enjoying not hearing my GTX 480 try to take off.

To all the other commenters, thank you for your advice as well! My partner wants to do watercooling now, so I'll be putting your advice to use very soon.
 
I dont think that case looks that liquid cooling friendly. I mean a custom loop that is..

Looks good on air though!
 
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