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Need help...planning

H

headala

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
432
Okay, folks, it's finally time for me to plan out my new wc setup. First off, the equipment:
Gigabyte GA-I955X Royal
Pentium D 820
512x2 OcZ 5400
Random ATI Radeon x300 gpu -passively cooled; may get a new one sometime soon
SATA 7200RPM Hdd
Thermaltake Tsunami case
460W psu

Planning on cooling the cpu, nb, and Gigabyte's DPS power module (thinking about using Zalman's ZM-GWB1 (linky ) and saving the 2nd block to use if I get a new vid card).

Rig is used for Photoshop and video encoding; no games whatsoever (well except maybe solitaire ) :D

My priorities are:
1) Silence (or near silence)
2) performance & looks
3) price & upgradability

Budget is about $300-350; timetable is 2 months (European orders okay).

Partial to small bore stuff; don't really want any 1/2" monster tubing if I can keep from it. So, I'm looking hard at the AC, et. al Euro stuff.

I can go for the apex group buy but don't think it's what I want unless it's an incredible deal.

Notes:
I plan on putting the rad out the back of my case, since I won't be moving it much at all. I'm open to a large passive rad if anyone knows where to get one for a reasonable price.

My case has a 92mm fan in the window; I'd like your thoughts on what to do with that...resevoir?

Please, please, please, I would like an intelligent, helpful discussion about this setup. I'd like to avoid a bunch of folks coming in and telling me how stupid I am for liking the small tubing systems or knocking what I do.
 
do you even overclock that thing?

if not, then you can use pretty much whatever "blah" performing equipment that you want, in the name of silence and looks.

if you are overclocking than in terms of domestic stuff that is good in terms of silence, reasonable performance, and not very pretty, there is always something like the swiftech MCW6000 block, MCP 350 pump (with or without res and bay mount), PA 160.1 rad and quiet fan(i hope that 22 dB is not too loud in your book). add something like the MCW55 VGA block, whatever chipset block you like (fitted with 3/8" fittings), and a second MCP350 to make it cool the all the stuff you want to cool, well. you could stick the storm block in there, instead, but that would only be beneficial if you were willing to use the two MCP 350 pumps.

3/8" thin walled tubing isn't exactly big, even if it isn't QUITE as small as 8mm euro-tubing.

i know that you said you like euro stuff, however i just wanted to lay something out with domestic(ish) gear that should meet most of your requirements.
 
Thank you so much for the advice on the domestic gear!

I forgot to mention it in the original post, but I do plan to OC a little. I care more about rock-solid stability than it being a few milliseconds quicker converting a RAW file in Photoshop.

I've gotten a lot of recommendations on the Swiftech gear; it seems like it hits a pretty nice price/performance point. The look of their blocks just don't do it for me, really. Any ideas on how to mod them to make them look a little less...plain?
 
Well, Voyeurmods makes a new mounting bracket for the Storm out ot Plexiglas. That is one option to "spiff up" one of their blocks. Their new blocks are all black and chrome, which I kind of like.

As for going 3/8", I was pondering that for a while. Instead, I went 7/16", which is great compromise between 3/8" and 1/2". It has all the performance of 3/8", but with better routing ability, as well as not being nearly as "huge" in your case.

-Ghent
 
Thanks for the tip; I'll keep that in mind. I think that the group buy was with 1/2" barbs, so would the smaller tubing fit over those?

I checked out those plates; they are nice indeed and I like em.

Anyone from the small bore camp want to give me some opinions?
 
7/16 tubing fits just fine over 1/2 barbs, you might have to warm them in warm water a little to make it easier (I didn't have to) but it works just fine.
All the parts in the kit can also be switched to 3/8 barbs except the pump if you want to go that route. You'd have to use a adapter to step the pump down to 3/8 tubling. Warming the tubing in hot water might get 3/8 tubing over 1/2 barbs, I haven't tried that, so I'm not 100% sure.
 
headala:top nurse might be able to help you with small bore tubing equipment etc.
personally i think that you are a perfect candidate for a 3/8 system
 
One of the smaller Swiftech kits (3/8 tubing) with the MCP-350 pump, that would work very well in his case maybe.
 
Bio-Hazard:man i wouldnt change my 350 pump for anything right now, its the best pump i have own so far...
my best friend cools his rig (cpu/video card)with one of those kits, and a single 120 rad....and they are great....
 
to be clear, you not only dislike the copper and blue look, however you also don't like this http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcw6000.asp either?

i suspect that you could pretty up the 6000 series with paint and/or etching, however i don't see that as changing the overall looks all that much.

i think that the storm is sleaker to start with, however i can't think of much other than those plexi mount brackets for it. it probably doesn't help that i'm partial to black and chrome to start with. maybe some spiffy silver model/RC decals? i'm reaching here........
 
7/16" will go over 1/2" barbs just fine. The only place where it really becomes an issue is slipping it around the pump barbs on the MCW655. Other than that, it just slides on with a wee bit of force (ok...maybe more than a wee bit, but certainly no heating needed).

As for getting 7/16 on the pump, just heat the tubing and work at it. It takes time, but you'll get it on.

-Ghent
 
I got all the tubing on my review kit with no heating on any of it, but the pump, like you said was a bit harder, but not what I would call a problem. I do perfer 1/2 tubing mainly because I have a ton of room in my UFO case, but the 7/16 works just fine as well.
 
Well, that helps that the smaller tubing will work with that kit.

As far as my tastes go, I really like the clear top plates and don't go so much for the all-solid look of the swiftech blocks. However, the storm is pretty sharp, especially with one of those plexi plates from voyeurmods.

My only other problem is the black rad/pump/radbox in the apex kit. Maybe the pumps something that can't be changed, but do you guys think I could try to switch out the black rad and radbox for the blue style?

My color scheme will be all blue, red, and chrome. That's what I've sleeved with so far. Whatever system I go with, I'll try to get some red uv tubing for it.
 
headala said:
Well, that helps that the smaller tubing will work with that kit.

As far as my tastes go, I really like the clear top plates and don't go so much for the all-solid look of the swiftech blocks. However, the storm is pretty sharp, especially with one of those plexi plates from voyeurmods.

My only other problem is the black rad/pump/radbox in the apex kit. Maybe the pumps something that can't be changed, but do you guys think I could try to switch out the black rad and radbox for the blue style?

My color scheme will be all blue, red, and chrome. That's what I've sleeved with so far. Whatever system I go with, I'll try to get some red uv tubing for it.
Click to expand...
You can always just get the components seperate from Swiftech, might be $10 or so more. The retail radiator is blue only last time I checked with black coming in the near future. Same with the radbox if I remember right.

MCRad-220-B.GIF


http://www.swiftnets.com/store/product_details.asp?ProdID=343

MCB-120-H-BL.GIF


http://www.swiftnets.com/store/product_details.asp?ProdID=301
 
yeah, my main concern was getting in on the group deal. Maybe I can get the black and try to trade it to someone for a blue. Or, I guess I could paint the sides and top whatever I want.

Anyone know if I can paint the black part of the storm (the part that the barbs go into? Red or blue with the chrome mounting plate would be fly. :D

I'm still interested in small-bore stuff, if anyone has any suggestions :confused:
 
i accidently ordered 3/8 UV green tubing from VM when i wanted 1/2... after some really warm water.. i was able to get the 3/8 over the 1/2 fittings with some coaxing.. just wanted to see if I could.. it can be done.
 
headala said:
yeah, my main concern was getting in on the group deal. Maybe I can get the black and try to trade it to someone for a blue. Or, I guess I could paint the sides and top whatever I want.

Anyone know if I can paint the black part of the storm (the part that the barbs go into? Red or blue with the chrome mounting plate would be fly. :D

I'm still interested in small-bore stuff, if anyone has any suggestions :confused:
Click to expand...
I don't see any reason why you wouldn't beable to paint it, it's only a type of plastic.

As for small bore system with good performance, you already said that you don't mind over seas sites, so I would go with Alphacool. They offer top performance and great looks to go along with it. Their prices seem to be a bit lower than the AC parts and class for class beats the pants off them performance wise. I tested their 12v extreme 240 kit last year and it really rocked, not really a low flow system though as the pump is rated at 1500 LPH at 24v and 900 LPH at 12v. Alphacools water blocks have been the top performers over in Europe for what seems like 2 years now.


This kit totally rules the small bore kits with equal sized radiators.

http://www.alphacool.de/xt/product_info.php?products_id=187&cPath=5_302_169

10306_1.jpg


1x Black Ice Xtreme radiator 240mm
1x CPU Alphacool NexXxoS XP cooler
1x Alphacool AP1500 1500l/h 12Volt, bridging plug inclusive
1x reservoir Cape Coolplex 25
4 meters hose PUR 10/8mm transparent
2x fan 120x120x25mm Papst 4412 F2/GL
1x water additive Tec-Protect-Clear 500ml
8x connections Plugin with G1/4"-external screw thread on 10mm (external diameter) hoses
1x Velcro 13cm long and 10cm broad for pump attachment in the case
1x thermal compound Silmore 2g
1x directions for use
 
Bio-hazard, I like their stuff but don't know a lot about it. Do you have links to any reviews of the alphacool stuff?

Also, how good is the AC aquastream compared to other pumps (besides the price :eek: )?
 
The pumps are pretty good and very reliable from what I've seen. The flow is just a little to low for my liking, even when I run the Alphacool I used their higher flow pump, which is a big plus if you plan on pushing multiple blocks............. :D
I'll have to dig up some reviews as the last I've seen much German stuff reviewed here in the states was late last year. At that time there were a ton of reviews out though, seems like every half way large site had a review up.
You can just Google "Alphacool Xtreme Pro Set 240" and you should come up with most of them.
 
I've decided to go with the swifty apex setup, and add a nb block now and maybe an aquatube later.

What nb cooler would have good performance and would go with the Storm aesthetically? The 955 chipset on my rig gets scary-hot.
 
If your going with the Storm block then get a Fass-O-Matic reservoir from Innovatek as they come with 1/4 BSPP threads so you can easily adapt to the size tubing you will be using.
 
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