Spec me my first ever WC kit

J

jonneymendoza

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Sep 11, 2004
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Hi all, I am looking to have a go at setting up a water cooling system to cool down my pc. I have been fascinated with the whole idea but always bailed out as I was very worried about reliability issues and costs.

Costs is fine now as I am more mature and have a decent job And in terms of reliability issues, as long as I do it “right” it wont leak.

Now the purpose of WC is because of my 480gtx. Its loud when fan is at 70-80% and very hot. I feel that WC is a great way to cool it down and to do some OC on. I would also like to do some OC on my cpu. Get up to 4.5ghz at least while keeping temps down.

So with the reasons out of the way, below is my current spec pc:

• ASUS P6T deluxe Socket 1336 Mobo
• 6GB DDR3 Ram
• Nvidia 480GTX card
• Intel i7 920 2.6GHZ Nehalem
• Corsair Moduled 800W PSU
• Lian LI full tower PC-A7010 case
• Thermalright Ultra Extreme aka TRUE

I have done some reading on WC and this is what I have learned so far. What I need is this:

• Radiator
• Reserviour(What is this used for?)
• Pump
• Hoses
• CPU and GPU blocks
• Fittings/clamps

Here are a few questions:

What is the reservoir used for?

Once all hooked up, How do I drain and change the water later down the line and how often do I need to drain and maintain it?

Once all is hooked up, do I do this?
1. Add 1 litre of water in reservoir
2. Turn only the WC kit on and not the pc
3. Put tissues around the Water blocks on my gpu and cpu to test for leaks
4. Leave it on for 10-24 hours on
5. If no leaks after 10-24hours, Turn the pc on and enjoy nice cool temps and high overclocks.

What kind of liquid do I use? Bottled distilled water from supermarket?

I heard I should not mix coil with another material? Do I need to make sure all the pumps, rads, fittings/clamps, reservoir, etc are all one material?

Now my last question is where I can purchase this: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=305&cl_index=2&sc_index=45&ss_index=74 I have literally looked everywhere, even on eBay. Closest I found was a silver one from kustom pc.

Now what’s my budget? my budget is £300-£320 for the full whack.

Are these temps doable on my budget:

4.5ghz at 60c MAX load
Stock 480gtx speed at 40-50c MAX load(Leaving plenty of room to OC it).

Thanks all and looking forward to your thoughts and opinions. I am a complete noob on this so apologize for some questions i have asked.
 
Do not mix aluminum and copper parts. That leads to galvanic corrosion. Since almost all except for extremely cheap watercooling parts (which you should be avoiding anyways) use copper, it's an almost non-existent concern.

Distilled water. And always use a silver killcoil or PT nuke. <--- DO NOT FORGET, MANY PEOPLE FORGET THIS ALL THE TIME.

What you're doing is probably doable with your budget. I'm not sure how expensive things are in the UK, but in US terms, a decent watercooling loop with GPU would cost around $350-400.

A 3x120 radiator should be enough without being overly noisy.

A reservoir serves multiple functions. It gives you an indicator of whether or not you have enough water. It ensures that your pump gets a steady supply of water. It makes it easier to fill up your loop. And it is very useful at getting air out of your loop. Some reservoirs with multiple outlets can be used for draining; all you do is put a bowl under it, and open up one of the outlets.

Filling up the loop is not as easy as you make it seem, but pretty close. You fill up the reservoir, and run the pump until it runs out of water in the reservoir. Then, shut off the pump, fill it up, and repeat.
 
Couple more questions. Can u use a T connector and connect a seperate House at the top of it and have that Hose run out of the case through the back of the PCI bracket opening and attach a valve so i can easily drain the system without opening the case or even tilting it?

The reason why i ask is that it is easier to drain from the lowest point of the loop if im not mistaken and many reservoirs are stored high up teh case like in a dvd drive bay?

Also, In what order do i do the loop? Radiator at the top of teh case at 12 o'clock, followed by reserviour in a drive bay at 3o'clock, Pump at the bottom at 6 o'clock, GPU at 8 o'Clock, CPU at 10 o'Clock, and finally back to the Rad at 12??
 
edit: To test the WC without turning on the pc, i heard u got to insert a pin between the 24pin mobo connector and then u will be able to turn on the PSU with the pump connected? Wouldnt that mess up and even electrocute yourself! Dont want to electrocute myself or damage my top of the range corsair moduled GPU!

Also, once i do go WC, i dont need any case fans anymore innit? Hard drives wouldnt need too much cooling and my pcu and GPU will be pretty much sorted?
 
You want the t-connector at the bottom of your loop for draining. And yes, you can.

Order does not matter, except for pump right after the reservoir. Just route the tubing in whichever way is most convenient.

A 360 radiator will not be able to cool your system passively (no fans) with the temps you're looking for. You'll need at least 1000-1500 RPM fans.

You always want some airflow in your case. Hard drives will last longer with cooling, unless you only have SSD's. Motherboards also need cooling, and they rely on case airflow for that. Unless, of course, you get a fullcover motherboard block.
 
Quick question. could i install and use two rads in one loop containing only one res and one pump? or do i need a res and pump per rad?
 
That highly depends on the pump that you are using. A pump with high head/pressure will do just fine, while one with low head/pressure and low flow rates will need some help or replacing.

For your build, either a MCP655 or MCP355 with a custom top would be sufficient for two radiators. But the XSPC pump/reservoir combo that comes with their kits will not be sufficient.
 
Note that i made that post at Yesterday, 01:05 AM :p on a friday where i was at work all day and away since 6am :)
 
Ouch, well, they should RMA that for you.

What radiator did you get?
 
I personally would avoid EK due to their issues in the past. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up the EK nickel plating problems.

I would look at the XSPC EX radiator series. They look to be fairly solid performers.

Not sure how the prices translate to US terms, so can't really comment on that.
 
EX? not RX?

Anyways what other blocks could i use mate? Should i avoid EX blocks as a whole or is it just Nickel plated ones i should avoid?
 
Yeah, it the EX line was just recently released.

Aquacomputer I think are some of the popular ones. As well as Heatkiller blocks.

The EK blocks are fine now. It's just their handling of the issues in the past has many watercoolers boycotting their products.
 
an reviews of the EX lines? the price is too good to be true IF it performs like the RX range
 
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