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Overwhelmed

2

2uantuM

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 17, 2005
Messages
441
I've been looking to put together a water cooling system for quite some time, and to be honest I'm not sure where to start. I'm looking to spend about $350-$400 for this setup, which I think should be able to get me something reasonable.

AFAIK, the Apogee is the best CPU block on the market, so I would like everything centered around that I suppose. I'd also like to cool my 6800GT and northbridge with the setup, but I'm not sure what is the best blocks to use at this time. I have a MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI, and the noise from the northbridge kills me.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what this should look like?

Thanks.
 
If you ask me I think the Apogee is being way the hell over hyped. I havent even seen any bench marks aside from swiftech's readings, and all i've heard about them is that they're not accurate. I think you should just stick with somthing simple like the Apex kit, or build an Apex-like system.
 
i am very troubled by the issues noted in this thread: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=982532

i don't think that a new user should get the apogee block at this time. i also think that anyone who DOES decide to get the apogee should make it a point to return an many blocks as it takes through swiftech warrenty until they are able to get one that is free from metal cuttings. the quality of their rads lately have been distinctly lackluster as well, with many dented tanks and one leaker making it to customers on [H] forums. when you buy a product it is supposed to be free from defects of material and manufacture. these blocks quite plainly are not. i don't think that swiftech should be encouraged to continue their current shoddy manufacturing practices by continued user support.

the swiftech storm is well made, and is the CPU block that i think will likely perform best, in the absense of independant testing comparing it to the apogee.

at present, i don't think that you can put in a chipset waterblock that will play nice with a high flowing system onto your board. in your position, i would probably try to mod a passive heatsink so that it has a slot in the fins that your video card can pass through.

as for a components list: swiftech storm CPU block, swiftech MCW 55 or dangerden maze 4 acetyl top GPU block, swiftech micro res, swiftech MCP 655 or dangerden D5 pump, thermochill PA 120.2 or black ice pro 2 rad, about 10 feet of 5/8" or 1/2" ID thin wall tubing, 10 metal worm clamps from the hardware store, a jug of distilled water from the auto parts store, a jug of antifreeze of your preferred colour from the auto parts store, a pair of yate loon 120 mm fans and i think that you would have just about everything that you need.

every time that i note "this or that" the two parts are so close to being equal that it really doesn't matter which one you pick up.

if you get the MCW 55, you will also need the optional 1/2" barb attachments.

edit: need more hose clamps
 
Thanks for the info :), very informative.

Does anyone have anything to add to Daishi's list?

Thanks :)
 
might want to add a swiftech radbox to the list, if you don't feel confident about your ability to cut holes to mount the rad in your case.

i mounted my rad into the top surface of my PC 6077 case, just in front of the PSU, sacrificing a few 5.25" bays.

probably should add some 120mm fan grills as well.
 
I'm gonna end up modding my LiLi PC-60 so it fits the water cooling nicely, so I don't have any issues with modding the case to make this work. There isnt much room to work with, but I have a few tricks planned ;). I have about 2" of clearance below the case (modded some casters on), so I'm probably gonna be mounting the rad in the bottom of the case.

I got a question about resevoirs, specifically this:

http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-res-73.html?id=KgIUfR78

It says it has 1/4" openings, so I would assume I couldn't use it in this setup since I plan on using 1/2" ID tubing? It would be nice to mod the top exhaust on my pc-60 to put that res as it would fit perfectly and look pretty nice.
 
1/4" thread is fine for use with 1/2" barbs. the actually ID of the threaded connection is about the same as the ID of a 1/2" barb anyway.
 
add to the list some ramsinks for your video card, unless you have the reference design of the 6800 series with that heatpipe thing and feel it is adequate. I would suggest the new swiftech mc14 forged copper ramsinks or the ocz copper ramsinks. I second the notion of passive cooling for the northbridge, getting water onto it won't help, its like water cooling video ram, just adds restriction and heats the rest of the loop up.
 
I would stay with your original apogee block selection in view of its lower resistance and better performance (i have no reason to doubt swiftechs veracity). Especially the former which will benefit a multi block setup as you are contemplating.

With that res you would have to buy threaded barb connectors for your specfic tubing size. You can ask them which ones are compatible.
 
I wouldn't be so biased towards Swiftech if I were you. The Storm is VERY proven, and will yield the highest results, I'm running the Apex kit with an MCW55 in the loop and it is perfectly satisfactory (aside from getting a dented Rad from swiftech). The apogee is the noob on the block, and isnt proven, and so far if you ask me thinks are looking very grim with the metal shavings. That alone should prevent someone from buying that block.
 
Swiftech have an excellent reputation and have developed some great products over the years. The Apogee looks to be another. So one block had a QA issue big deal. I remember when the storm first came out and the reports/pics of warped bases and nozzle defects. Didnt prevent me from buying one LOL.
 
calvin_q said:
Swiftech have an excellent reputation and have developed some great products over the years. The Apogee looks to be another. So one block had a QA issue big deal. I remember when the storm first came out and the reports/pics of warped bases and nozzle defects. Didnt prevent me from buying one LOL.
Click to expand...
if it is only one bad block that slipped past QC, then the apogee is going to be a great product for most users.

thing is, the reason that swiftech is pushing the apogee so hard is that it is dirt cheap and very simple to produce. in fact, it's so simple to produce that they have farmed out production to a third world sweat shop.

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/storm.asp
http://www.swiftnets.com/products/APOGEE.asp

note where the storm, and all of the blocks that have won swiftech their great reputation for top quality are made.

note where the apogee ISN'T made.

swiftech really loves the apogee because the profit margin on it is killer. do they really want to cut into their profit margins by tightening up QC at a forign plant that might or might not be able to correct the root cause of these cuttings being left on the finished block? if the only way to deal with this problem is to add another step to the process, increasing expenses, is swiftech going to do it? if the plant's current tooling can't consistently produce blocks that are free of cuttings, is swiftech going to regect and/or fix those blocks that come out badly, or are they going to just keep on shipping them?

i hope that swiftech DOES fix the problems that the apogee seems to have at the moment, however i can see plenty of reasons why they wouldn't.

one of the reasons that i doubt swiftech's numbers is quite simply that they have a vested interest in making the more profitable block look appealing, and their posted numbers do exactly that. if outside reviews show the same results, then i'll have to come around on that point.
 
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