Good Watercooling Setup for less than 400?

GaleForce

GaleForce

Gawd
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
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761
Title basically says it all. I had originally decided I wanted the reserator 1 but I'm not so sure anymore. Some of the setups I'm seeing here look pretty sweet. Are there any good watercooling setups I should look into that are less than 400, perform relatively well, and aren't too loud?

Thanks :)
 
I'm really overwhelmed by the whole world of watercooling. Do I need to put addatives into the water I use? Are there alternatives to water completely? What do I need to buy to keep tubes from leaking? What is the maintaince like? Do I need to run the system outside of the computer first?

Just so many questions, and of course my first in my first post. Any help to a 100% noob would be appreciated.
 
First suggestion: Read alot
Read posts here, on other cooling forums, overclockers.com has a bunch of good info on watercooling too. People will be much more willing to help you here if you first take the initiative to help yourself.

To get you started... you can get a very good system together for WAY less than $400. Most people use additives in distilled water to keep parts from corroding and bacteria/mold from growing. Hose clamps are typically used to keep them from leaking.
 
Yeah I just read the FAQ here, very informative. Thanks for your help as well.

I had another question based on when I read, and that being do pumps, reses, and heatcores need to be in any particular part of the case? For example, can the pump be on the bottom of the case? Also, what should the flow direction be? I'm thinking System > Res > Pump > Heatcore > System but I'm not really sure. Thanks again :)
 
Placement doesn't really matter, although it helps for bleeding purposes to have the res in the highest part of the loop. Order is not too big of a deal, just order them in the way that minimizes tubing length and tight bends. Many people will argue that you need the block directly after the radiator to get the "coolest water" to the CPU, but there is really a miniscule difference in water temps between any two parts of the loop.
 
Been looking around and I decided I want a nice system, no cheap parts or anything. So far I'm linking Danger Den and Aqua Computer. Any others I should look at?
 
danger den has most of the parts you would want.. and makes a nice "package" setup.. there are pumps you need to look into.. and also consider if you want to just water cool the cpu or go full bore and water cool the graphics card and north bridge as well.. in the case of the later.. you need to worrie about size and placement of the rad.. the more stuff you have on the loop.. the bigger your rad _should_ be, and the size of you case comeing to play here as well.. how big of a rad can you fit... if you looking at getting a 120mm rad, and your trying to stuff it into a mini atx case... im gonna laugh. (not that it cant be done.. but why put your self throught it... )

the DD maze 4 is a good block(from what i read i dont have one so i dont know form exp. ) as is the tdx(ditto) but.. if you ask me.. the tdx looks like a pain in the ass to setup.. (i really just dont like the look of 2 lines comeing off the block and haveing to go to a ugly Y fitting) both are proven blocks..

most of these people will have you thinking that you have to go with the best to get the best temps.. but.. im sitting here useing a 3 year old maze 2 and i still get good temps on a oc'd barton core amd... well below stock heatsink levels, witch is all that really maters.. im not saying that what you should do.. as a maze 2 will run you about the same as a maze 4... and the maze 4 will get you better temps.(but its not yet enought for me to justify buying a whole new block for 5°)

then we delve into pumps... the bigger the pump the better.. well not allways.. there is such thing as tublence cavatation.. but.. none of the pumps you can buy for this type of project move enought water to really show this kinda effect.. but.. then again... you dont want the biggest pump eather.. as bigger pumps will add more heat to the water line ( i notic my loop stays warm just from the pump heat when the pc is off..(the pump runs 24/7 the pc dosent) ) also bigger pumps cost mrore, and use more electticity, and _may_ make more moise.. my ehime is dead silent.. have never heard it.. if i put my ear to the case.. i can feel a slight buzz.. but i cant hear it.. and to top it off.. i find that you dont need that larg of a pump if you have no flow restrictions.. so the more restrictions you have the bigger the pump you need..

so get down to it.. what do you want to cool.. witch block is right for you.. once you have thowse.. consider that a 120mm rad will cool just the cpu quite nicely.. but you will see a bump in temps with a vid card on the loop.. and maybe even more if you go to a north bridge as well.. and at that point if you want to cool even more.. (psu, hd's or even go the TEC route) you should go to a larger rad like a dual 120mm and the consider how much you have in the loop and figure in what you need for a pump to push the water throught...

and yes.. leak test the system outside on the pc for at least 4 hours.. (most will say over night.. but i have never had trouble with a 4 hour... 24 if your paranoied)

most of all have fun

thore
 
Wow thanks for the great response. I'll post some more stuff this afternoon. :)
 
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