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Newbie WC questions

R

rtierney

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
321
I'm pretty sure I'm going to (fairly soon) purchase an EXOS-AL WC system.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-155-987&depa=0
I do, however, have a few questions so that I get no surprises once it arrives.

With the EXOS system, it comes with all of the parts/accessories needed in order to cool one block, correct? (minus the actual waterblock itself). What I mean by this is, does it have enough tubing, clamps, etc, for connection to one block?
Also, does the tubing it ships with work okay? Or should I buy seperate tubing?
I will want to also cool off my 6800 GT with the EXOS, so am I correct to assume that I'll need to buy additional tubing in order to get to it as well?

I'm planning on using the Koolance CPU-300-H06 as my CPU waterblock.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-155-986&depa=0

I assume that it's barbs will fit the tubing that comes with the EXOS itself.

As I said before, I also want to watercool my 6800 GT, so will I need a Y-splitter in the tubing so that both the CPU and GPU get cool water at the same time (and from there, combine the two exit flows with another Y-splitter and go to the radiator)? Or can I run the cool water right into the CPU and from there, run it into the GPU then to the radiator?

Does Koolance make any 6800 series compatible waterblocks? All I see are ones compatible with the 5900 and 9800 series. If they don't, are there any affordable 6800 compatible GPU waterblocks out there? The DD one seems a little too expensive for just a waterblock.

Is there any type of special distilled water that I need (will any from the store work)? Or any additives that I need to put into the distilled water to prevent bio growth and the like? Where can I buy some?

I think that's all the questions I have for now unless you guys can think of some common mistakes/problems that people run into.

Thanks in advance.
 
Wow, you pack a lot of questions :). That's good, though, it's better than being caught unawares.

First, you should learn to use the search function. A quick search can answer a lot of questions, such as what additives to use, etc. From the top of my head, there's three kinds of additives that you might want to use in your system: corrosion inhibitors, biocide agents, and wetting agents. I'm not really current on the most popular ones, you can just search for "additives". I think you can use most any biocide from a pool/aquarium store, though I'm not 100% on that.

Generally, any type of distilled water is fine, though I think steam distilled is the best. Using a corrosion inhibitor is always a good idea, especially so if you'll be using a copper waterblock, as the copper of the waterblock will react with the aluminum radiator in bad ways (galvanic corrosion). There's a great article at overclockers.com about using water in a watercooling setup. It's a little technical, but it's well worth the read.
http://www.overclockers.com/articles993/ Part I
http://www.overclockers.com/tips1153/ Part II

Usually, if you're cooling both the CPU and the GPU, you'll want to run them on parallel circuits, so that both receive cool water. So, you'll have pump > radiator > y-splitter to CPU and GPU > y-splitter to combine them again > res (if you have one). Since you're gonna use the EXOS, though, you can consider the pump, radiator, and reservoir to be the same thing :)

To know if the barbs of your waterblock will match your tubing, see if the OD (outer diameter) of the barbs is the same as the ID (inner diameter) of your tubing. I'm not sure if the tubing that ships with the EXOS will be enough for both the CPU and the GPU (I doubt it), but the only sure way to know is try, and buy extra tubing if it's lacking.

Good luck! =)
 
Thanks.

A question about additives:
So if I'm understanding all of this properly, I need to get myself a bottle of Hydrx to act as the wetter, oxydation preventer, and biocide in my EXOS-AL system? I'll pick up a gallon of steam distilled water once my EXOS arrives.
Since it seems to take care of everything (corrosion, bio growth, and less surface tension), will I need to buy any other additives?
 
I'm not sure if HydrX also acts as a wetting agent, but you'd probably do fine with just that as an additive. Just try it out, and good luck :)
 
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