• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Help with first time water cool

B

Bigbacon

Fully [H]
2FA
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
22,551
After years and years of saying 'I will never water cool' I am finally having the itch to actually do it if only for the joy and learning that comes with it. (maybe some higher OC as well :) )

Problem is I have no idea where to start. I read the through the FAQ but that doesn't help me much in terms of what to buy.

I am looking to cool the CPU and my 2 GPUs and thats it. I'll probably need to do some more case modding which is fun.

I know I need some SLI ready coolers so the tubing can just go from one card to the next. I know I want to minimize how much tubing there is in the case which is why I would rather it work this way.

what is the best place to start in terms of looking for parts? Do someone sell entire kits (and I don't mean those 100 dollars things you see on newegg)
 
I really like Sidewindercomputers.com

Great prices and superb service.

I,d just call Gary.....the owner.....and talk with him. He,ll set you up right and not oversell you.

I'd buy parts rather than a kit. Depends on how much you want to spend. There are crazy expensive parts out there........

Basics.....probably......triple rad with fans (6 for push-pull),CPU block(I have a HeatKiller 3.0),pump(mcp 655 or mcp 355+revised top)reservoir(swiftech micro 2.0)GPU blocks,tube,fittings(go crazy and use Bitspower compression fittings.....they're pretty)......have fun.
 
I suggest Petra's tech shop, I order all my water cooling parts from there and their service is spectacular. You can choose from premade kits in this link http://www.petrastechshop.com/wacoki.html

If you are going to cool the cpu and an SLI setup you will need at least a triple radiator setup. I suggest 7/16" masterkleer tubing over 1/2" barbs they fit like a glove and water tight so you'll only need a zip tie to hold the tube.
 
If you want to watercool your i7 @ 3.6GHz AND 2 GTX280s, I'd recommend running dual loops. For parts, the ones magoo listed are good, however, I'd recommend getting 2 triple radiators and 2 pumps/reservoirs to deal with that heatload. You could probably get by with a single triple radiator if you weren't overclocking, but the temperatures would be far from ideal.
 
dealmaster said:
If you want to watercool your i7 @ 3.6GHz AND 2 GTX280s, I'd recommend running dual loops. For parts, the ones magoo listed are good, however, I'd recommend getting 2 triple radiators and 2 pumps/reservoirs to deal with that heatload. You could probably get by with a single triple radiator if you weren't overclocking, but the temperatures would be far from ideal.
Click to expand...

Then there is no point. The machine doesn't overheat as it is and is stable. I don't have that kind of case real estate.

I can fit a 3 fan radiator + pump + res in my current case (depending on how big of a res you need)

Wonder if it would be more worth it just to cool the video card and not the CPU?
 
silly question but I'm sure answer is no, but do 285 water blocks work on 280s?
 
I'm almost positive that they don't.

In my experience, video cards put out a lot more noise and heat than CPUs do, my 4870X2's fan was a monster sucking down 1A and made tons of noise. Now that it's watercooled, I don't have to hear annoying fan sounds while gaming, so I'd recommend watercooling the video cards since you'd get the most heat/noise benefit there.
 
So here is what I am thinking. I am thinking of just doing the video cards to start because far as I am concerned they are the heat producing monsters in my case. The CPU, even though it gets hot I am not concerned so much with it to start.

I looked at petrashop and Im looking mainly at the swifttech stuff.

Here is the version 1 of my list

swifttech MCW60-r2 gpu water block 46.95 X2 (93.90) http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcgpuwawg81.html
Swifttech full cover heatsink 28.95 X2 (57.90) http://www.petrastechshop.com/swgtfuhefmc.html
Swifttech gtx200 mounting hardware 5.99 X2 (11.98) http://www.petrastechshop.com/swgtx200moha.html
Swifttech MCR-320 Rad 53.99 http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcqposerab1.html
Swifttecg MCRES-MICRO Rev2 25.95 http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcmirere.html
Fan speed?? Yate Loon Mediums 6.99 X3 (20.97)

things Im not sure on:
Tubing?
Fittings?? Type/kind/material??
PUMP????

has anyone set up their video cards this way with the block and the other part? My case has a fan that blows right over the video cards so I suspect that could cover the non water cooled parts of the video cards.

Also, what about the rads that also have the Res attached?

What does the 6 fan push/pull method do for me? so more air is pulled though the rad?
 
I have to second the petrastechshop website.
I buy from them all the time.
As far as dual loops... Why not just run multiple rads and one strong pump. Rad after the cpu/chipset and a rad after the graphic card(s). Dont need a reservoir either, just a fill tube with a T fitting inline before the pump.
I dunno, just a suggestion. :)
 
Cool your CPU, not your GPUs, if you're only willing to do one or the other / don't have the space. The increase in performance on GPU OCs just is not worthwhile. Period. I ran 8800 GTX SLI on water.. and OCed it gave the exact same experience as not OCed, every time. OCing my CPU on the other hand (also at one point on water) obviously gave worthwhile results.

Unless your GPUs are over-heating, leave them alone.
 
silent-circuit said:
Cool your CPU, not your GPUs, if you're only willing to do one or the other / don't have the space. The increase in performance on GPU OCs just is not worthwhile. Period. I ran 8800 GTX SLI on water.. and OCed it gave the exact same experience as not OCed, every time. OCing my CPU on the other hand (also at one point on water) obviously gave worthwhile results.
Click to expand...

I'm not worried about GPU OC, I am worried about GPU temps. The 280s pancaked together are a brick of heat.
 
Sidewinders is cheaper, man.......
just take a look:Radiator:http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcqupo3xbl.html $49.95
Micro-Res:http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcmire2re.html $22.95

You save a few bucks on each item, the guy ships USPS or UPS and he doesn't inflate the shipping, he ships out the same day,is located in Indianapolis so he's pretty much in the middle of the US, and if you call with a question, he'll talk to you like a human being.....plus he knows his stuff.

I used to order all my cooling stuff from either Frozen or Performance......now I only use Sidewinder unless there is something I need they don't sell.
 
So is this a good start? Sidewinder doesn't have any coolers that work with the 280s

did I miss anything? I think.. I got everything to fit with 1/2 ID tubing.

watercool.jpg
 
Last edited:
magoo said:
You'll need anadditive for your distilled water. The additive kills algae and reduces corrosion in the metal.

I use this, it looks like car antifreeze:http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/hyexduco.html

Dont forget TIM unless you have some.

I like this waterblock:http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/heatkiller1366.html
It kicks some serious ass. I had the GTZ, it's a very good block as well.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the tip on the distilled water thing. Thats what I was planning to use. Do they have that stuff without the UV reactive stuff? I really don't care for it and I don't have lights in my case (I can't stand lights!!)

I still have a bunch of MX-2 laying around.

I am going to go with this for the video cards because no one else has all these parts in one place.

http://www.crazypc.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PX9363R

I updated my pic above as I updated a bunch of stuff.

Now.... If I can get the wife to realize that 450-500 dollars is not a lot of money to do this. She will certainly think I am crazy for this.

Going to add a pic at some point to get some help on an overall layout cause I'm not exactly sure I know how to do it yet...
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't get Slipstream fans for the radiator, I'd stick with Yate Loons, they tend to have better static pressure and thus better radiator performance.
 
Paint job. It's poor but you, hopefully, get the idea. I tried to get fancy but gave up.

If I got it right it pretty much goes from the radiator --> reservoir --> pump --> blocks --> radiator.

For some reason I can't see this working though. I have a pretty tall case (almost 2 feet tall) and how is the water going to get from the bottom to the top without back flowing and or the pump needing to work REALLY hard? I must not be understanding something. (this is why I am asking for help :) )

case3wc.jpg
 
It is not intuitive. Think of it this way, the weight of the water coming down from the upper parts into the pump will balance the weight of the water the pump has to pump up to the upper parts. So as far as the pump is concerned the parts are all on a level plain with the pump.

Put another way, the pump "head" in a closed loop is zero.


Wait till you put a res at the bottom of a case like that and unscrew the top and the water just sits there. One would bet money water would drain and flow out of that res top all over the place. It does not. ( a different thing is going on but I am just giving examples of the "strange but true" nature of a WC loop. )
 
Ok, so I am ordering everything listed here
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034071748&postcount=15
minus the fans

I am getting the CPU coolers and fans from Crazy PC.

I can't believe I am finally going to do this...... I still fear the water at the moment. I really hope everything can fit in the case how I want it to other wise end up with some external stuff.

I also hope 10feet of tube is enough (should be)

So one last time, everything I listed will work together and be ok? I am using 1/2" ID tubing, is that the best option? Will the pump be good enough for my tall beast of a case? Is there ANYTHING else I need to consider before doing this? Are my clamps good enough for this? (Size E)

Do the fans need special screws to attach to the radiator?

EDIT:

I updated my pic above with flow arrows. and I marked the use of the single right angle fitting. I think it will be easier to get the tubing around from the CPU to the RAD by using it (I think)
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034076256&postcount=21
 
Last edited:
Don't use a right angle fitting, it is unnecessary and will restrict flow. The tube will bend no problem.
 
Well.....never occured to me that the raditors were so long...

I'm not sure the radiator will fit in the case now that I look. 41cm in length and my case is like 42-43cm in depth...
it iwll just fit which means getting tubing around will be MUCH harder.

hmm.. I dont think this will work in the case now that I look at it more.. Sign... stupid me got all excited and kind of missed this detail. As big as my case is, it's not very wide or deep.

EDIT:

I shut the machine off and did some measuring. Stuff will fit.....but, I think I will end up with some tight bends in the tubing. Specially from the pump to the video card nad obviously from video card to video card. Wonder if I need to use stubby fittings?
 
Last edited:
You'll want to space the cards out farther than they are currently if possible because that will reduce the tightness of the bends for the short run between them. If that's not possible a couple 90 degree fittings on the cards may make life much easier (outlet on first card and inlet on the second).
 
silent-circuit said:
You'll want to space the cards out farther than they are currently if possible because that will reduce the tightness of the bends for the short run between them. If that's not possible a couple 90 degree fittings on the cards may make life much easier (outlet on first card and inlet on the second).
Click to expand...


what do I need to do that? Im using these card coolers

http://www.crazypc.com/products/PX9363R.html

I guess elbow connectors? not sure if there is enough space to do that, i do see where I wil need something
 
Last edited:
One last question before I do all this.

Since there will be at least one tight bend (video card to video card) will using 1/2ID by 5/8OD tubing be a problem? Will it be able to bend well enough to connect the cards in such a small space? I am reading like the minimum radius is like 2.5in?
 
Last edited:
I second the SS worm clamps just nicely snug or they are so powerful you can crack the plastic barbs.

Somewhere you can buy pre-bent (formed) tubing in the U shape you need, Looking.
 
I went to home depot today just to look at the tubing and get an idea using some measurements and what not.

I don't think 1/2ID will work, how much kink can you get in a bend before it really becomes a problem? 3/8ID seems better suited, at least for getting the tubing around in the case.

Which also messing some other items up, not sure what pump to use now since the swifttech only has those built in 1/2 fittings.

how good is this? http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/dtdbco12vdcp.html

I really need a pump that is set up this way,with a fitting on the top.

Anyway.... this is my final setup

wc1final.jpg

wc2final.jpg


EDIT:
Updated some stuff and changed water blocks.
 
Last edited:
Well, I ordered everything. I swapped back to the Swifty CPU block (ignore the one in the pic)

I hope everything works. I think I got it figured out so that it will all fit in my case. I hope the 3/8ID isn't too restrictive but like I said, 1/2in stuff just would not work in my case.

Either way this will be interesting. Lots of work to do when I get everything and this time I will remember to take pictures of everything and anything I do.

I will have TONs of question once I get everything. I hope I have this stuff by the thursday or friday. Would be awesome to have all weekend to work on it.
 
This is what you want to get around the MC-655 coming with a stock 1/2" barb:http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=439&products_id=24934

I use 3/8 ID-1/2" OD tubing and was bummed when I realized the 655 was only 1/2".

The adapter took about 30 seconds to install. I could then use any 3/8 metal bard I wanted.

I just recently converted to all compression fittings...........they were worth the price......and simple to use.

For tight bends with 3/8" ID tubing, just buy some Swiftech Coolsleeves, work like a charm.
 
magoo said:
This is what you want to get around the MC-655 coming with a stock 1/2" barb:http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=439&products_id=24934

I use 3/8 ID-1/2" OD tubing and was bummed when I realized the 655 was only 1/2".

The adapter took about 30 seconds to install. I could then use any 3/8 metal bard I wanted.

I just recently converted to all compression fittings...........they were worth the price......and simple to use.

For tight bends with 3/8" ID tubing, just buy some Swiftech Coolsleeves, work like a charm.
Click to expand...


I did get some of that sleeving just in case. I looked at that cover for the swifty but it wasn't in stock and it realy pushed me over my budget.
 
Just curious if anyone knows how long Sidewinder normally takes to process an order or at least update your order with a tracking number.

Have a feeling I don't be getting my stuff by this weekend, I'll have some fans and GPU water blocks though tomrrow
 
usually one day turn around is all.
I don't remember if I ever saw a tracking number if it was sent out USPS, UPS for sure.
Monday generally goes out Tuesday.

I would imagine you'll see that you order was sent out by this afternoon.
The guy always answers the phone, so you can call him. He's a really nice and knowlegable guy.
 
Thanks for all your help everybody, I start receiving parts today and the rest tomorrow. I am starting a log in the modding section.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top