New 650D double rad loop Questions

[decripple]

Here's What I have in possession:
Corsair 650D case
Phobya 200mm radiator
Hardware Labs Black Ice GT Stealth 280 Radiator

And all the money I need to buy these parts and a little wiggle room:

- ASUS Rampage IV Extreme
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131803

- Intel Core i7-3930K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

- Antec High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371043

- SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256D/AM 2.5" 256GB SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147135

- G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model F3-19200CL11Q-16GBZHD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231505

- 2 X Western Digital Caviar Black WD1502FAEX 1.5TB HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136793

- 2 X COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AR-GP 200mm Red LED Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103072

- 2 X EK Radeon HD 5850 VGA Liquid Cooling Block (I already Have 2 HD 5850s)
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...cts_id=31503:1c7abefd872f069df064374bf72d2c87

- 2 X Prolimatech Aluminum Vortex Series 140mm x 25mm CPU Fan - Red LED
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._LED_1600RPM_127CFM.html?tl=g36c331s877#blank

- EK Supreme HF Universal CPU Liquid Cooling Block w/ LGA 2011 Hardware - Rev 3 - Full Copper
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...reme_HF_-_Full_EN_Nickel.html?tl=g30c325s1572

- 2+ X Phobya ZuperZero UV Red Fluid 1000ml
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...dable_Coolant_-_UV_Red_1000mL.html?tl=g30c337

- Bitspower Matte Black Ultimate G 1/4 7/16" Thread compression fittings
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...t_info&cPath=59_346_393_614&products_id=26556

- FrozenQ Liquid Fusion Dual Bay Reservoir - UV Red Helix
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._Reservoir_-_UV_Red_Helix.html?tl=g30c107s152

- Dell UltraSharp IPS-panel U2410
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-8277

What I am trying to figure out right now:
1) What mods I need to make sure the rads are actually secure in the case and the tube routing won't get ugly -***Pretty sure I have most of this covered for now at least on the top rad***
2) What fittings I will need angle wise

3) Being my first H2O build I am going to be looking for help with the loop arrangement or should I do 2 separate loops vs 1 big loop? ***my #1 Issue***

4) Questions about tubing to use to achieve a certain look but that will come later as a detail I will start with the idea of clear Tygon with red fluid listed above
5) One or two Pumps and which pumps? I was thinking Swiftech MCP655s or aftermarket variations of them partly because I can get a mounting kit for them for that reservoir for at least one of them
6) I am looking for optimum total temps that includes HDDs, chipset, and others so I am interested in which way people think my front rad should go : intake or exhaust?
What changes to the cases stock fan arrangement including adding side mesh panel would give biggest improvement vs having front rad fill case with heat from 2 GPUs?

Radiator mounting concerns starting at the top:

The radiator mounts great with the spacing on the top vent, and switching it the other way around would mean no use of hot swap bay on the top of the case and that was one of the reasons for buying it over others. The problem is seen at the lip there getting in the way of fittings. Here is my idea:
1) - Drill out rivets and remove top panel.
- Cut off the lip and possibly remove the rear fan unless 45 degree or other angled fitting will work to clear the rear fan.
- Once that edge is basically made flush to the rear panel of the case and the angled fittings hopefully work, replace the top panel using black pop rivets (pretty sure they are 1/8" 3mm depth but we will see when we get there.

What do you guys think?
Also keep in mind that I am not going for a benchmarking machine here. IF I overclock it will be whatever I can do WITHOUT raising voltages...too much.

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Ok, so I Macgyver'd together some pieces into the case to get some dimensions to make sure all the parts should fit as I am envisioning it. Here is the first mock-up:

Upper rad fan spacing issue #2:
About 12mm of space between top of rear 120mm fan and where top 140mm fan should end (I lined up the corner hole of the 120mm in the picture with that of the radiator's fan screw hole)

Bottom rad Area shows no spacing issues there is about 3/4" or 20mm of space beneath rad fittings and bottom of case:

All measurements are within 2mm or 1/16"

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Here is a paint modified version of one of the full mock-up picture that shows many details pertaining to spacing and placement of parts:

Here are the 2 HD5850s I have. I am thinking that a reference will not fit the PowerColor one because I want to go full coverage VS universal blocks. I think it looks and works better. For reference: the top board is the PowerColor the bottom board is the reference design.

 

[decripple]

Any body have any Ideas on if I will need two pumps or not and what should be the arrangement of the loops considering 7/16" ID tubing?

 

[Tsumi]

A reference block will most definitely NOT work on a non-reference PCB. Especially that powercolor, the differences are way too great compared to the reference.

Why are you getting the HCP1200? You only need a 650 watt power supply. 1200 watts is for quad-GPU setups. 750 will handle almost all dual-GPU setups.

One MCP655 or similar pump will be more than sufficient. Arrangement of tubing should be done in a way to minimize clutter, the only important part being the reservoir before the pump. Anything after that does not matter.

 

[LigTasm]

If you put the top fans above the radiator you should be able to flip the radiator the other way and still use the hot swap bay. Thats how I have mine set up. Is the 280 too wide to do this?

 

[cj3waker]

power supply is complete overkill.
and I would never spend more on a block than the card is worth

 

[decripple]

Why are you getting the HCP1200? You only need a 650 watt power supply. 1200 watts is for quad-GPU setups. 750 will handle almost all dual-GPU setups.

One MCP655 or similar pump will be more than sufficient. Arrangement of tubing should be done in a way to minimize clutter, the only important part being the reservoir before the pump. Anything after that does not matter.

So I can't buy a power supply with future proofing in mind (more and beefier GPUs)?

Also wouldn't the choice of going from graphics cards to CPU in a line rather than to a different radiator to dissipate heat vs having the water get super heated by all the hot components in a row:
res -> pump -> CPU -> front rad -> GPU 1 -> GPU 2 -> top rad -> res?
VS
res -> pump -> CPU -> GPU 1 -> GPU 2 -> top rad -> front rad -> res?

I would my 1st arrangement would be better than the second because the water gets all heated then all cooled rather than more mildly heated then cooled then heated then cooled

power supply is complete overkill.
and I would never spend more on a block than the card is worth

Also an HD5850 has equivalent performance about to an HD6870 so it is worth plenty more than the block since an equivalent card or would cost $160+ let alone buying a better card than 2 HD 5850 = $450+ and the block for that card = $300+ more expensive than what I am doing

 

[Tsumi]

The 5850 does have poorer or equal DX11 performance to the 6870, especially when heavy tessellation is involved (from what I remember).

Are you ever going to upgrade to a quad-GPU setup, or is that just a fantasy? If fantasy, then save your money for a better graphics card and get a good 750 watt or 850 watt power supply. Even two 7970s with an overclocked Sandy Bridge-E will be sufficient with a 850 watt. Seeing as how you're still on the 58xx series, I highly doubt that you will ever go quad-GPU. In fact, I seriously doubt you will even go top-end dual GPU.

Although... getting a 3930k with two 5850s does make me question as for the purpose of this build. If it's a gaming build, you're completely spending your money in the wrong areas. If it's a productivity build (CPU intensive applications), then okay.

Water temperature will not vary enough to make a significant difference. Route your tubing in a way that minimizes the amount of tubing used, or makes it easiest to run the tubing. You say "superheated," but going with the second arrangement, with all the components one after the other, the most it will vary is 2-3 C, and most likely less than that. The important thing is to keep your flow rates up, which the 655 will do just fine.

Given the arrangement of your components, the best routing (I think) is reservoir -> pump -> top radiator -> CPU -> front radiator -> bottom GPU -> top GPU -> reservoir. This uses the minimal amount of tubing with the minimal amount of bends IMO. You really have to mount your components and experiment with routing your tubing to figure out what is easiest.

 

[decripple]

People need to remember that I don't have a 30" monitor or an Eyefinity setup right now so for a mix of gaming at 1900X1200 and in college I will be using a lot of CPU/RAM heavy software for my engineering classes, this setup is relatively ideal especially for the available upgrade paths given to me by the mother board and its chipsets (multi GPU, Ivy Bridge double ram capacity)

As for the comment on the loop arrangement I think you are correct about the best way to do it reservoir -> pump -> top radiator -> CPU -> front radiator -> bottom GPU -> top GPU -> reservoir.

Also, I think I will be upgrading my GPUs to something newer, but I don't know If I wanna go 2 X 6970 or single HD 7970 (issue being availability of a matching EK water block for it)

 

[Tsumi]

You didn't tell us what the computer was going to be used for, so the natural assumption is that it will be used for gaming

A good 750 or 850 watt will be able to handle any of those upgrades. At 1900x1200, a single 6970 would be more than sufficient.