New and Improved Watercooling Sticky - Post Your Systems Here

[SonDa5]

Soji I like the simplicity of your loop. Looks great. How does it cool? Is that Radiator enough?

 

[Patriot]

Can you guys offer some assistance? How do you justify the cost of watercooling? I figure upgrades for water blocks is cheaper after the intial setup, but water blocks seem to be just as expensive or half the cost of the card. That and I can't seem to find water blocks now that Danger Den is gone for my old 6970. I gotta convince my finacial advisor with just reasons and 500$ is rough to say better temps, better fps, and quieter room.

Card longevity, higher performance and quiet.
Blocks are generally $100-150 its not our fault you are waiting till the card has been replaced to look at alternative cooling. The initial loop is expensive... especially if you don't want to replace parts later.

But don't worry $500 is nothing...

Soji I like the simplicity of your loop. Looks great. How does it cool? Is that Radiator enough?

I think it is... I have done dual single thickness swiftech rads cooling an amd hex at 4ghz a 5970 and 5870. I bet his D5 pushes enough to keep it cool...I love those pumps.

now to make this post relevant... I will post my latest rig rebuild.

before :

After:

 

[soji]

Soji I like the simplicity of your loop. Looks great. How does it cool? Is that Radiator enough?

Thanks, I haven't OC'd the CPU or GPU yet but stock temps under load 40 - 45 for cpu and 32 - 37, which is good for me I'm using a push/pull rad system which you can't really see.

 

[Retaliation87]

It's been a long time since I posted but couple months ago, I started trolling an after doing some research, I just finished my new rig:

System Specs:
Fractal Define R4 Case
Asus Sabertooth Z77
Intel 3770k CPU
Corsair 16gb 1866
Samsung 830 SSD
Nvidia 680 GTX 4gb
Corsair TX650 PSU
NXZT Fan Controller

Water Cooling Specs:
EK Geforce 680 GTX Block
Koolance CPU-380I Block
Coolgate 240 Radiator
Aquacool VP655
Bitspower 150 Upgrade kit
Bitspower Pump Top
Bitspower Red Pump Mod Kit
Dangerden Dreamflex 1/2ID - 3/4OD
Phobya Compression Fittings
Yate Loon 140mm High

Any particular reason you decided to go res>pump>cpu>gpu>rad?

Would have looked much cleaner to go res>pump>gpu>cpu>rad I reckon.
Doesn't have a noticeable impact on temps either in my experience.

Other than that, very nice.

 

[soji]

I guess I did it that way, I because I want the coolest water to goto the CPU first


Posted from Hardforum.com App for Android

 

[verylostindeed]

I guess I did it that way, I because I want the coolest water to goto the CPU first


Posted from Hardforum.com App for Android

This doesn't matter at all -- the temperature equalizes throughout the loop. Just an FYI for future builds.

 

[Retaliation87]

Exactly, what you want to do is plan your loop to be as short and clean as possible. The only order that matters is having your reservoir right before the pump, and fed by gravity usually.

 

[soji]

ok, probably just going to keep it this way

 

[bundymania]

Fractal Design Arc Mini Case
ASRock Z77E-ITX
Kingston HyperX DIMM Kit 16GB PC3L-17066U CL11 (DDR3-2133) (KHX21C11T1BK2/16X)
Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 240GB
Intel Core i5-3450, @ 4x 3.7 GHz
Cougar GX G600 600W PSU ATX 2.3
Swiftech Apogee Drive II
Swiftech ⅜” x ⅝” Lok-Seal™ Compression Fitting
Swiftech Helix 120 Fans
Aquacomputer Airplex Pro 240 Radiator
Alphacool Cape Corp AGB2 Black Rev. 2 Reservoir
XSPC ⅜” x ⅝” (16/10mm) Tubing

 

[K1tty]

Nice! Is there any benefit to using the fittings to make angles etc around the cpu and gpu blocks (as opposed to just the tubing)? Or is it just for aesthetics? Looks amazing!

 

[USMCGrunt]

Nice! Is there any benefit to using the fittings to make angles etc around the cpu and gpu blocks (as opposed to just the tubing)? Or is it just for aesthetics? Looks amazing!

Angles CAN reduce flow rates but depending on the loop configuration it could be minimal. It looks like space was part of the reason for using angles here aside from the aesthetics. I highly doubt they are having a noticeable impact on cooling performance. Beautiful setup for sure though.

 

[Ironhand]

Alot of clean watercooled machines in this thread. It has inspired me to do my own watercooled setup. Just waiting for the packages to show up and I wish I had bought a different case now.

 

[D-EJ915]

Excuse the awful picture but here's my new rig:

 

[nightwalker]

Just a quick little teaser while im finishing it up and adding lighting etc

Caselabs STH10
Asus Maximus V Extreme
i7 3770K
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer Ram
Onboard Crucial M4 SSD
3 x 7970 Tri-fire
AX1200

Cooling:
MCP35x Pump
FrozenQ Helix Res
2x 480mm Monsta 80mm thick rads
Apogee HD CPU Block
3x Komodo 7970 GPU Blocks
Bitspower Compression Fittings
Swiftech Helix Fans controlled by Bitfenix Recon

 

[Wingless92]

Excuse the awful picture but here's my new rig:

I'm wondering why you didn't put the radiator in the case? I have that same case and mine fit, just wondering that's all.

3 480's are CRAZY, lol. I like it.

 

[Wingless92]

Just a quick little teaser while im finishing it up and adding lighting etc

Caselabs STH10
Asus Maximus V Extreme
i7 3770K
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer Ram
Onboard Crucial M4 SSD
3 x 7970 Tri-fire
AX1200

Cooling:
MCP35x Pump
FrozenQ Helix Res
2x 480mm Monsta 80mm thick rads
Apogee HD CPU Block
3x Komodo 7970 GPU Blocks
Bitspower Compression Fittings
Swiftech Helix Fans controlled by Bitfenix Recon

That is a really nice case. I have the M10 from CaseLabs and love it. Kinda weird that my case is bigger but your's was more $$$. Then again, if you don't want a double wide, lol, that seems like the case to go with.

I like it!

 

[Tzvia]

Back in the day, before cases had fans bigger than 80mm 10 years ago, I had loaded up my gamer Asus/AMD OC'd PC with 6 of those "Tornado" fans (55db) and quickly grew tired of the 747 taking off next to my face. Yea I did the modded case, cutting holes and using 92mm and 120mm fans, but the front and back still had those 80s. Ended up throwing the case away and keeping the tray, which I am still using today. Mounted it to a Lowe's metal shelving unit, suspended some 240mm fans I found online with ziptie and was done. Eventually the cases caught up with me and most have bigger fans now but it's too late; I will never go back to cases. I now have my gamer, shown here, (and my server mounted next to it), spread on two shelves. Currently OC'd to 4.6 but will soon be going a little higher.

I must admit your cases are beautifully modded works of art, while i struggle to keep all the wires tidy because there is no place to hide them. But I had no issues mounting my new (and first serious, had an H100 briefly) water kit on my new gaming build. Ran a metal sheet on the shelf above, drilled some holes on it and mounted the RAD using the XSPC stand. Made some changes though, It now has 4 Corsair Performance fans (one in pull) instead of the fans it came with. Been lurking a bit, thought I would post a photo of the insanity I call 'Caseless Madness'. And yes I am nuts.

EDIT: I can see a red and black theme emerging and I have some stuff I can change to add to that, so I swapped some fans and cleaned up a bit more. Think I need another red light at the back... I just wish the store had those thin long zip ties in black. The red ones were fugly. I'll change them out later or maybe just wrap them black split tubing.

Intel 3770K
2 EVGA 580 3gig cards
CL XFI Extreme
Asus Maximus V Extreme
32gigs G.Skill Trident X 2400
240 Muskin MSATA on board
2 3TB 7200rpm Segate
1 TB WD Black (data backups)
2 LG BD burners.
Corsair 1200i PSU
Samsung 46" LED 3D 240hz tv.

Water kit- XSPC Raystorm Extreme RX360 v.2 with 1/2" ID Primochil, D5pump-res and copper block.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Just a quick little teaser while im finishing it up and adding lighting etc

Caselabs STH10
Asus Maximus V Extreme
i7 3770K
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer Ram
Onboard Crucial M4 SSD
3 x 7970 Tri-fire
AX1200

Cooling:
MCP35x Pump
FrozenQ Helix Res
2x 480mm Monsta 80mm thick rads
Apogee HD CPU Block
3x Komodo 7970 GPU Blocks
Bitspower Compression Fittings
Swiftech Helix Fans controlled by Bitfenix Recon

I would love to see more pics of your rig. That case looks awesome.

 

[D-EJ915]

I'm wondering why you didn't put the radiator in the case? I have that same case and mine fit, just wondering that's all.

3 480's are CRAZY, lol. I like it.

I attempted...it didn't fit. I've got a 240 rad sitting around and that one barely fits. No way the 280 fits.

 

[Wingless92]

Ah, I didn't know that it was the 280, gotcha.

 

[AjFreimuth]

Just got my XSPC RayStorm 750 RS240 kit in today.
Will be swapping out the fans on the Rad and the Rear 140mm once my new ones come in this week.
Before

After

 

[joejoe69]

My last shots before I move everything out of this case. Bye-bye 500R ...

I'll be "Switch"ing over to an 810 with a different color scheme and a similar, but more improved loop.

 

[K1tty]

Looks amazing!

I'm still not really pleased with the 500R and it's h20 capabilities. I finally got around to putting in my video card block.

I'd really like to ditch the bay res and get some fittings to route more direct tubing. However, if I'm going to do that, I might as well get a better case (have been eyeing the 810 myself).

 

[joejoe69]

Or the 900D!!

 

[4ctwin]

Old Case Revival

[Before]

[After]

Thanks for watching!

 

[DogsofJune]

Very nice. I have one of those cases in storage. I forgot about how much room they have, and how heavy they are. I should go un-retire it from storage.

Like the copper.

 

[Nomad]

Agreed -- fantastic bending skills. No stress on the components?

Looks great.

 

[x509]

Agreed -- fantastic bending skills. No stress on the components?

Looks great.

+1 on the copper tubing. No, +2.

Couple questions:

What block is it that connects to the top of the reservoir?

Which pump are you using? Is that apump mount below the pump?

 

[King4x4]

Wicked systems in this thread! Here's my first WCed system... went a bit overboard I would say!

Code Name: Hydra (The Red and Green Theme)

Not much for aesthetics but performance wise it's banging:

 

[4ctwin]

Very nice. I have one of those cases in storage. I forgot about how much room they have, and how heavy they are. I should go un-retire it from storage.

Like the copper.

Many thanks!

Oh, I see Indeed, this case(HX08) is heavy, but stronger and less expensive.
it was 300 yen

Agreed -- fantastic bending skills. No stress on the components?

Looks great.

Many thanks!

Yes, no stress! My efforts were well rewarded

+1 on the copper tubing. No, +2.

Couple questions:

What block is it that connects to the top of the reservoir?

Which pump are you using? Is that apump mount below the pump?

Many thanks!

The vga is NVIDIA Quadro 600. and this block is a EK-VGA Supreme HF - Nickel but require a modified mount.

The pump is a DDC 3.25 (single). and placed on the bottom stage

 

[f51]

My last shots before I move everything out of this case. Bye-bye 500R ...

* Pictures removed *

I'll be "Switch"ing over to an 810 with a different color scheme and a similar, but more improved loop.

Really eager to seeing your next loop. I was really impressed by this 500R loop you had. I prefered it without the lightning, but it's still a really nice job.

 

[SticKx911]

^as I will be. I really want to do an 810 with a lambo yellow paint job. not sure why, but seeing an awesome loop in one may make me want it more.

 

[joejoe69]

Really eager to seeing your next loop. I was really impressed by this 500R loop you had. I prefered it without the lightning, but it's still a really nice job.

Thanks. The new loop will have straighter lines using improved angle fittings and will also include a drainage system. I definitely agree that the blue lights washed out most of the build. However in the Switch, I'll be using white lights to neutralize the colors. I'm just waiting on a few more fittings so I hope to get it started this weekend.

^as I will be. I really want to do an 810 with a lambo yellow paint job. not sure why, but seeing an awesome loop in one may make me want it more.

Yellow themes are hard to come by. There's always the typical white/blue and black/red builds. Kind of a Jedi vs Sith battle going on, lol. I seem to like the black/blue theme but in my new loop, the new black/blue will have a better contrast and match the mb and ram better.

 

[xtnt5x]

First time going to water and this is my setup.
Started with the Thermaltake Level 10 LCS because I like the case and it included all I need for initial water cooling for the combined cost.
Everything was fine and after about a year, I decided to upgrade the setup.

Brought a new Reserator XT unit for about $200 with upgraded pump to do most of the cooling.
Modified the back panel to fit Koolance VL3N quick connectors for minimal reduced flow.
XSPC Raystorm waterblock for CPU.
Crossfire Powercolor LCS (EK Waterblock) ATI HD6970.
And Dual XSPC internal reservoir with dual DDC pumps to main flow in loop.
Even without the DDC pumps, the Reserator XT with upgraded pump can keep the flow strong enough for high performance with CPU and 2 GPU Cards (the flow stay constant between 1.5 and 2.0 l/m). But with the dual DDC pumps in the loop, the flow is crazy.

So my loop goes like this:
Reserator XT -> CPU Waterblock -> Internal 240mm Radiator -> DDC Pump -> 1st HD6970 -> DDC Pump -> 2nd HD6970 -> Reserator XT

The temp performance is great: at 25' C amb., the GPU (OCed 960/1450 @ 1250mV) temps are ~30' C idle and ~42' C load. CPU (i5 2500k OCed to 4.5 Ghz, constant) temps are ~35' C idle and ~60' C load.

Yes, there are aluminum and copper in the loop. I continue to use Thermaltake Coolant because it contain corrosion inhibitor. Plus the coolant is UV sensitive.
UV internal lighting looks very nice without being too flashy.

Had to put some Koolance steel springs on the tube feeding in the system right before the 1st DDC Pump due to the vacuum effect. Since the DDC pump is stronger than the pump from the Reserator XT, it suck up the tube pretty thin. The vacuum effect gets scary the longer the system stay on. The steel spring reduced that dramatically.

Also modified the Reserator XT's pump to run at full power on boot to reduce the initial vacuum created by the first DDC Pump because it didn't get enough coolant at boot.
If I didn't modify the Reserator XT's pump, at every boot 1/5 amount of coolant gets drained out of the XSPC reservoir, which means I will have to keep maintain the balance reservoir constant.
Thinking of removing the internal reservoir and just get pump top instead.

The reason I got the dual reservoir is because it was cheap since it comes with dual DDC pumps for only a total of $90.

 

[Hanoverfist1969]

Transforming Antec DF 85 in Progress

 

[SticKx911]

awesome paint work.

 

[Hanoverfist1969]

Thanks

 

[joejoe69]

Remember me?

This is me now...

Build log in work here:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1355177/build-log-project-shift-nzxt-switch-810

 

[K1tty]

Very nice! Cleaning mine up a bit... still waiting on my new side panel.

 

[joejoe69]

GPU in the loop, nice!! I see you've also got individually sleeved cables as well. Are you planning on doing a clear window mod?