New Water Cooling Setup Questions

Schtask

Schtask

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
436
Hi [H] readers,

I am a long time forum lurker first time poster. I recently got the bug / funds to start upgrading my rig again and I wanted to go with a water cooling setup before I do anything else. Just wanted to run what I ordered today by you H20 cooling wizards out there to see if I need to make any changes with my supplier before it gets shipped. I appreciate any input offered. This is my first foray into water cooling a pc.

First off, my system as it stands right now:
x58 EVGA LE Mobo (Replaced by a Z68 Mobo when more are available)
Intel 920 @ 3.8ghz (Replaced by a socket 2011 cpu soon)
Corsair Dominator DDR 3 (6gb)
Radeon 5970 HD (Will be replaced by the next gen of cards after ati 6 and nvidia 5 series)
SIlverstone 1000w PSU
Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 Case (I plan on making this an Obsidian 800D very soon)

At any rate, I figured the Water Cooling setup would be one of the few things that would go into my next system so I went ahead and ordered it today.

This is what I ordered:
XSPC EX360 Triple 120mm Radiator
Swiftech MCP655-B 12v DC Watercooling Pump w/Tach Sensor
XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25in. Reservoir for Two Laing DDC's
Tygon R3400 1/2in. ID 3/4in. OD Laboratory Tubing # AAE00038
Bitspower G 1/4 Matte Black 1/2in. ID Barb - BP-MBWP-C01
Swiftech Apogee HD CPU Waterblock - Black
All for the low low price of 294.

I'm thinking of swapping out the Apogee for a Raystorm if the order hasn't been shipped yet. Other than that, did I make good choices? Eventually I will be including a second loop for my video cards, but for now it will just be the cpu that gets cooling.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Do you mean X79 motherboard? Because you need a x79 board in order to use a 2011 CPU.

I love the Cosmos 1000 case, but you can't natively fit a 3x120 radiator inside it. WIth a bit of modding though, you can fit a 3x140 radiator fairly easily (look at my sig).

I would get the 655 Vario rather than the B. That way you can control the pump speed (not really necessary).

You cannot use that XSPC reservoir. That reservoir requires that you buy two MCP355/Laing DDC in order to use it.

You forgot the silver killcoil/PT Nuke. And you also forgot fans. You also need clamps. I recommend using worm-gear clamps because they're very secure, and easy to loosen.

I prefer Primochill LRT tubing, simply because they're cheap and are UV reactive. Although I hear they aren't quite as good in terms of kink prevention as Tygon or Feser.

The Raystorm doesn't have quite the functionality that the HD has, but it's quite a bit cheaper, and a lot less restrictive. Which doesn't matter in a simple loop that yours has.

Are you planning on adding the GPU later? The EX radiator is a bit on the low end, but it might be enough for your needs.
 
Yeah, I meant X79.

I'll have to check into that res..The guy who was selling that to me said he had that pump / res combo in his computer.

Yup, I need to get a kill coil for sure. Thanks for the advice on the clamps.

I will eventually be adding gpu's to the loop or starting a second loop, do I need to go with a different rad?

I have 3 Scythe 140mm fans ready to go on the rad.
 
140s will not fit on that radiator. Unless you meant 120s? And what model Scythe fans are they?

How many GPUs do you plan on getting, and at what level? Mid-range, or top-end?
 
Ive got 3 Scythe SY1425SL12H 140mm Case Fans on the cosmos now. I was intending on using those on the rad. Those fans have the screw holes of a 120mm fan. I've also got 3 Scythe "KAZE MARU 2" 140mm Case Fans in another case that I could use. I have 120mm fans in abundance at home but they are cheap thermaltake / coolermaster fans along with 2 silenx 120mm fans.

I always say "Ugh...stupid drivers! I'm tired of SLI and X -Fire, Single GPU all the way!!" but somehow, I always end up with two...or three. lol. GPU's will be top end, I run eyefinity @ 5760 x 1200 resolution.
 
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140mm fans will not fit because there physically is not enough room on the radiator for them. Doesn't matter whether they use 120mm mounting holes or not. The distance from screw hole to screw hole is 15mm in most 120mm radiators. 140mm fans are 20mm wider overall, so 10mm wider in radius. That's a minimum of 20mm distance that you need, not including the area between the edge and the screw hole, well over the 15mm screw hole to screw hole distance.

With 2 top-end GPUs, you will be at the limits of that radiator. You would need either more radiators, or at bare minimum a better 3x120 radiator. RX360 or SR-1 360 at minimum, but I would recommend the Black Ice GTX 360. Why cheap out on your cooling components when you're going to keep them for a long time?
 
I totally agree. I was picking components solely off of what the guy at sidewinder was telling me, as I didn't have a computer available to do some research on what to buy. I should have just waited, instead of jumping the gun, lol.

So...basically, I should look at getting a black ice GTX 360, keep the apogee, get some 120mm fans (any recommendations?), get some clamps, get a kill coil and find out if that variable pump will fit that res. Thank you so much Tsumi
 
That variable pump will not fit that reservoir. I am 100% certain of this fact. You need a reservoir designed for the 655 or D5, not the DDC, otherwise known as the 355.

If you aren't averse to case modding, I would say keep the Cosmos 1000 and put a 3x140 radiator in there. Then you can use the 140 fans you already have.

As for 120mm fans, the most highly recommended fan is the Gentle Typhoons for regular 25mm thick fans. After that comes Noiseblockers and Yate Loons. As for 35mm thick fans, Deltas are the favorites.
 
Alright..I sent an email to sidewinder. Hopefully the parts didn't get shipped today so I can make changes in the morning. I'm definitely cutting up the cosmos to install a 360 rad. Mwahahaha.
 
I can take pictures of my setup and post them here for you. Just look at my signature. The nice thing is most 420 radiators will match right up with the Cosmos 1000 140mm fan mounts.

You need to cut more than the top though, you would need to cut a bit into the drive bays, and you will lose the top drive bays, depending on how thick the radiator you get is.

If you don't want to cut, a 280 radiator will fit perfectly, but won't quite have the cooling performance of a 360, it has slightly less radiator area. The 420 is between an equivalent 480 and 360, closer to the 480.

Just throwing some suggestions out there, but cutting the case will be hard if you don't have the proper tools. You need a drill to take out the pop-rivets, and you will need to take off all of the trimming to get the bare metal case. If you don't have a tool designed to cut through metal, it will be virtually impossible to cut the Cosmos case, as it is fairly thick steel.
 
Alright, here's the new parts list.

Still going with the EX360 Rad (will be moved over to the GPU loop when new GPU's get installed)
Going with the MCP655 Variable Pump
XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25” Reservoir for one Laing D5 / MCP655
Tygon R3400 1/2in. ID 3/4in. OD Laboratory Tubing # AAE00038
Bitspower G 1/4 Matte Black 1/2in. ID Barb - BP-MBWP-C01
Breeze Miniature Hose Clamp 7/16 in. to 25/32 in.
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120 mm Fan D1225C12B9AP-29 - 83 CFM x3
Silver Kill Coil from Petra's

I'm gonna chop up the case tonight....I may find a use for that dremel other than cutting up Saiga 12's after all. If you wouldn't mind posting a pic of your cases top side I would be grateful sir.
 
Oh, very nice. I love the diamond grill, goes with the case well....gives me some ideas.

Parts should be here on Saturday, I'm sure I will have questions. I'll post pictures as I go! Thanks Tsumi!
 
Thanks. That was actually a grill for barbecues that I picked up in Home Depot and cut to fit my needs :D And it's held in there by krazy glue. It holds fairly well actually, I'm not worried about it falling off unless someone tried to punch through it or something like that. I think the plastic would break before the grill falls off. I'm actually surprised it came out the way it did. I know some other people have a black painted grill, but I think the silver look matches the case better.

And yeah, I cut it because the stock top severely cuts into airflow with 3 140 fans. My temps quite literally dropped 5-10 C because I cut the top.
 
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