New to water cooling. I have a few questions.

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robothunter

Limp Gawd
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Jan 19, 2008
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I have been doing a lot of research on this topic. I am building a new Core i7 920 system and I want to water cool it. I already bought a Swiftech MCP-655 pump. I have decided to go with the Apogee XT CPU block. I also bought 3 Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM fans for the radiator. Here are my questions.

1) Should the fans be mounted on the radiator in a push or pull configuration or does it matter?

2) I wanted to use non-conductive coolant but from what I have been reading it seems like they just gum up your system and if you spring a leak they will fry your system anyway. So I should just use distilled water. The only thing I need to add is an antimicrobial silver strip and I will be good to go. Is that all correct? Does anyone know anything about Feser View Active UV Dye? http://www.jab-tech.com/Feser-View-Active-UV-Dye-50-ml-UV-Black-pr-4281.html I would like to add a little color to my water if I can but not if it is going to gum up the works. Is this stuff safe to use?

3) Reservoir vs. T-Line. Which is better? I guess that is a subjective question. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? I am trying to stay away from plastic fittings so a proper T-Line with a fill port is only about $5 less than a Swiftech MCRES. Also, if the reservoir is suppose to be the highest thing in you loop does that mean just the top of the T-Line fill tube has to be the highest thing in your loop?

4) I am thinking about the XSPC RS360 http://www.jab-tech.com/XSPC-RS360-BLACK-High-Performance-Copper-Fin-Radiator-pr-4204.html for my radiator. I haven't seen any reviews on it but the double wide version (XSPC RX360) seems to be rated very well. I seems to be very similar to the Swiftech MCR-320 QP except it has 19mm fin spacing vs. the Swiftech's 15mm spacing. The XSPC is $2 cheaper which is nothing so I just want to get the best one. Does anyone know anything about the RS360?
 
a properly sealed system should leak at an extremely slow rate. as such I suspect dedicated reservoirs are not necessary. as such I prefer a T junction, but I have not yet built my first setup yet (I'm still doing my homework).
 
1. You want the fans pushing air through the radiator.

2. Pre-mixed colored solutions and dye will all gunk up your system. If you want colors, buy colored tubing.

3. I've always used a reservoir as it makes it easy to add coolant and bleed the air out. Performance wise I don't think either offers much of an advantage over the other. The reservoir only needs to be higher than the pump it is feeding, it doesn't need to be the highest point in the system.

4. Here is a good review that has both radiators you are looking at: http://www.skinneelabs.com/triplesv2.html?page=1. Basically they are near identical performance wise.
 
Thanks. That was one of the reviews that turned me onto the XSPC and opened my eyes on how the double wides are not twice as good as the singles. But that review has the XSPC RX360. I'm trying to find out about the XSPC RS360.

If I went with black tubing would that make it harder to bleed the air out of the system? I can't tap out an air bubble if I cant see it right?
 
I am trying to understand Martin's reviews here.
The XSPC RS360: http://martinsliquidlab.i4memory.com/XSPC-RS360-Radiator-Review.html
The Swifteck MCR320: http://martinsliquidlab.i4memory.com/SwiftechMCR320-Review.html

So the XSPC has less pressure drop and a better flow rate then the Swiftech. But it looks like the Swiftech dissipates more heat than the XSPC. Am I reading that correctly? So would that mean if I am going to have multiple radiators in my loop I should go with the XSPC but if I am only going to have one radiator I should get the Swiftech?
 
weuntouchable said:
1. You want the fans pushing air through the radiator.
Click to expand...

Absolutely not. Although it doesn't matter from a performance standpoint, because you're still passing air through the rad... but if you push air through the radiator, the dust is going to build up in between the fan and radiator, forcing you to take off your fans from the radiator to clean off the dust build up. If you pull air through the rad the dust will build up on the open side of the radiator making it very simple to clean off without taking off your fans. Example below.

<---[FAN][RAD][DUST]<---Airflow = GOOD

<---[RAD][DUST][FAN]<---Airflow = BAD
 
So if I decide to go with a push/pull configuration will I still have the dust problem or will it suck the dust straight through?
 
I've got push/pull on my mcr320 that's on my cosmos s case - mounted on the roof of the case. Initially, I had the 250mm side fan pushing air in and 3 120x38mm ultra kazes pushing air up while 3 normal 120mm fans pulled from the top of the rad. I was pushing hot air through the rad. I reversed the flow, so the fat fans are pulling down cooler outside air and the normal 120s are pushing down, and the side 250mm fan is pushing air out the side of the case.

Either way, dust gets in there so you can't completely escape that. But for maintenance purposes, Gutbuster is right - in push config, dust does get trapped between the fan and the rad.
 
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