First time watercooling - good kit choice?

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LstBrunnenG

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Jun 3, 2003
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I'd like to put the system in my signature under water. Though the GTX 480 is quite long in the tooth, so at this point I think it'd be best to upgrade to a 7970 and get a block for that, rather than purchase a block for such an old and power-hungry GPU.

I've chosen a kit with the RX360 radiator - it will fit nicely in the top of my 700D. Drive bays should not be a problem for the res. As far as I can tell everything will fit without problems.

Here are the components I plan to purchase:
Frozen CPU's RX360 kit - includes CPU block, tubing, fittings, radiator, pump, and reservoir.
EK 7970 block
Fittings for the GPU block (same as in the kit)
Distilled water (locally)

Is there anything else I need? Any predicted problems with the configuration? Thanks in advance for all advice and insight you see fit to provide.
 
As long as you don't plan to expand to crossfire, I don't see any problems.

Make sure to get a silver killcoil. I think FrozenCPU usually includes one automatically when you buy one of the XSPC kits.
 
You'll need to add more rads in my opinion especially if you're planning on upgrading to a 7970. Make sure you put your loop in the correct order too.
 
bmoney9 said:
You'll need to add more rads in my opinion especially if you're planning on upgrading to a 7970. Make sure you put your loop in the correct order too.
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He does not need more radiators, nor does he need to worry about loop order.
 
bmoney9 said:
You'll need to add more rads in my opinion especially if you're planning on upgrading to a 7970. Make sure you put your loop in the correct order too.
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From what I've read, one should be sufficient for a single CPU and GPU. I'm doing it more for noise savings (especially on the GPU end) than for temp savings, but I'd be surprised if this setup was outperformed by my current setup of a TRUE and a single low speed fan.

As for order, is CPU->GPU->Res->Rad a bad setup?
 
Route whichever way is easiest. There is no need to worry about loop order.

It will outperform your current setup with less noise.
 
Good setup just make sure reservoir feeds the pump. Other than that, everything else look good.
 
Parts are ordered - taking the plunge. Will update with results when that stuff comes and I have a chance to build it.
 
Skripka said:
What your temps are. Also by the slight vibration of the pump and its noise
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Well I was just freaked out by how quiet it was once the air bubbles were out. The pump was a loud sucker before that.

Temps have me convinced it's all working. Never seen a CPU temp like that on one of my machines (21C at the BIOS). And I haven't felt a GPU that cool ever!

Slufa111 said:
pictures would be nice
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Forthcoming.
 
21c in BIOS... what's your room temp? Unless it's 18c or lower, I can't see how that's possible, unless that's after your computer was off for hours.

My AMD system reports CPU temps 10c lower than what they really are.
 
bacon11 said:
21c in BIOS... what's your room temp? Unless it's 18c or lower, I can't see how that's possible, unless that's after your computer was off for hours.
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It takes the water awhile to heat up to equilibrium temperature, usually a few degrees above room temp. While idling in the BIOS, power use is minimal, so the temp seems appropriate.

Additionally, the temp provided by the BIOS is (generally) the temperature of the heat shield, not necessarily of the cores, which are often much hotter. As a side note, the shield temperature can be used to approximate the water temp when considering whether or not to expand the loop.

My AMD system reports CPU temps 10c lower than what they really are.
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Off-topic but, motherboard/CPU sensors are thermistors which are calibrated to be most accurate near the critical temperature (100C for OP's chip). Temperatures below Tc are generally irrelevant to successful operation. AMD/Intel aren't going to spend the time (read: money) to perform multiple calibrations for each sensor to eliminate this irrelevant 10% error, especially since this would have to be done individually on each CPU shipped.

@OP We need pics! :D
 
LstOfTheBrunnenG said:
Well I was just freaked out by how quiet it was once the air bubbles were out. The pump was a loud sucker before that.
Click to expand...

Haha, I thought the same thing after my loop was bled of bubbles. I just finished my first WC build a couple weeks ago and asked the same thing in my thread. I ended up ordering a flow meter that I have to install still, but yes, temps is a good sign. I also have the tach sensor from the pump hooked up to a mobo fan header for the RPMs.
 
Would like to see some pics because I am thinking about ordering the same thing with my tax return :p

Edit: Also a question. Is there a benfit of going for nickle plated over just copper?
 
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I used the XPSC RS360 kit for my system with a 2600k and 6950. The single loop works great. I will add a second loop if I go crossfire.
 
I'm working on my first real WC loop too.

Is frozenCPU the best place to get parts?
 
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