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Watercooling noob. Advice needed.

I

IllegalEagle

Gawd
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
761
I've decided to take the leap into watercooling. This computer is just too insanely loud to deal with and I want the best looking/cooling I can afford. (Which isn't a ton..)

I'm watercooling a Core i7 920 @ 4.0Ghz and an ATI 5970. Nothing else is really planned.

So far my parts list looks like this for the main stuff:


Would this be able to handle the loop or should I opt for a 3x rad (Or even 4) with a separate res? Anything else I should know? This is my first attempt at water and my overall budget is $400. My list above is $316 not counting shipping and tubing/hardware. Any feedback would be appreciated.
 
Also a 120.4 rad would be fine if you have good fans on it. You could split it though if you want to do 2 loops with a 120.3 and a 120.2.
 
Not planning on cooling the mobo. This is just to keep it quiet enough that it doesn't sound like it's going to take off. The EK blocks are nice but a full $60-$70 more expensive. Is it worth it?
 
I personally think you only need a 120.3 and single loop to handle those two things. or even just a 120.2 but I think you have your heart set on a HUGE rad so

the 5970s are not the hottest running cores on the planet... sure there is 2 cores being cooled but I dont think it is still enough to worry about

the 920 on the other is cool and I can't image you would need a loop just for that

I personally think it would be a complete waste of time, effort and most important money trying to setup two loops just to cool those two things... when one loop will do the job and do the job very well

you going to OC the card... just wondering, wouldn't change my thoughts either way

The reason why I say all this is because I am still a fan of 120.2 or even 120.1 if you are just cooling the CPU

My thought is 120 and then the .1 is how ever many cores you are cooling so in your case 120.3

and another note... with the 120.3 you will not have to use as many fans and still get good cooling ;) or maybe even try it fanless

Kenjiwing - COMBINED YOUR POSTS MAN!!!!
 
I'm fully set on one loop. I don't have the cash to do two and think it's stupid for those two things. I don't think I need a four fan rad from what I've read. I'm going to punish the 5970 a bit, and just want something good enough to cool them down. I'm not looking for extreme temps at all, just something to cut back the noise that fan makes on the 5970!

That being said, is the build in rad on the res I posted in the first post good enough for a lite project like this?
 
IllegalEagle said:
I'm fully set on one loop. I don't have the cash to do two and think it's stupid for those two things. I don't think I need a four fan rad from what I've read. I'm going to punish the 5970 a bit, and just want something good enough to cool them down. I'm not looking for extreme temps at all, just something to cut back the noise that fan makes on the 5970!

That being said, is the build in rad on the res I posted in the first post good enough for a lite project like this?
Click to expand...

It all depends on the Delta T and the temps you want.

At a minimum you should use a 120.3.. but if you want your parts to run cool I would get a GTX480.

"The best way to make a rough estimate of whether you have enough rad for your parts that are going to be under water is to look for a review on the rad you are interested in, and get it's C/W value at a certain measured fan speed. Once you have the C/W, go to the OuterVision PSU calculator and select just your parts that will be under water. The watt value it spits out will be your heat dissipated by those parts. Take your watts dissipated value and multiply it by the C/W value of the rad at your planned fan speed and what you will get is your water/air delta T value for the temp of your coolant water. Generally you want to shoot for a delta T of less than 10C to get decent temps on your parts. Obviously the lower the delta T you can achieve the cooler your parts will run."
 
IllegalEagle said:
I'm fully set on one loop. I don't have the cash to do two and think it's stupid for those two things. I don't think I need a four fan rad from what I've read. I'm going to punish the 5970 a bit, and just want something good enough to cool them down. I'm not looking for extreme temps at all, just something to cut back the noise that fan makes on the 5970!

That being said, is the build in rad on the res I posted in the first post good enough for a lite project like this?
Click to expand...

Also the reason I recommended the 2 loop route is because you have murdermod parts in your sig so you clearly like the look of your PC and you could very easily go Charles route and do a 120.4-3 and cool your processor/gpu and a 120.2 to cool your NB/SB/Mos.. the board will look a lot better with a full block on it.
 
Personally if you are cooling the NB on the X58 board, you are wasting your money.... you have the same board as me*.. I run my 920 @ 4.2 and have NO issues with NB cooling (stock), mosfet(Vreg) cooling is another story but I fixed that with one $5 fan and its a done deal

I am not going for looks, I don't have a window so I could care less about it, and I am plan about function, function says your wasting time, effort and money cooling anything more then what you are looking to cool.

oh and you are currently @ 4.0 so you are just doing it for the quiet factor and for that reason alone I can tell you that that RAD in your 1st post will do all you need an out preform the current air cooling you are on currently ;)

I bought a H50, it does GREAT and isn't loud, I sleep 24/7 with my computer on and my head is not more then 3 feet from my computer

I would strongly recommend running that RAD and running it fan less, if it is not what you are looking for add a fan or two.

One thing to remember here is water cooling isn't always about EXTREME temps, I have always used it for extreme silent ;) Bigger the rad, fewer fans
 
Remember---if you're going to overclock the i7 920, it does put out arguably the most of any CPU. At 4+Ghz, I have a hard time cooling it even with water cooling.
 
I have it at 4 rather easily. Cooling right now isn't the main problem, but the sound. I mean my 5970 does fine in games...when the fan's on 80%. Cooling off the parts a little more is just a benefit of watercooling, but not exactly my purpose. It's just like Nick said, to shut them all up. Thanks for the advice on the rad too Nick!
 
Petra's has one of the most competitive prices on the market...however those are sale/clearance prices and they've been in the process of moving for the past 2 months and there has been no ETA on when they will be back and restocked. There's barely any items in stock atm and from buyer's complaints those who wordered stuff before Xmas still have not received their items. For better or comparable prices jab-tech.com is better.

Also tilatech.com has XSPC 360 radiators for 75.
 
mtb2005 said:
Remember---if you're going to overclock the i7 920, it does put out arguably the most of any CPU. At 4+Ghz, I have a hard time cooling it even with water cooling.
Click to expand...

really, did you heat the water before it hit the CPU?

I have a H50 cooling my 920 @ 4.15-4.2ish range and the loads never go above 70*, idle is 42*, which might be hot but not for the standards of this CPU (again 24/7)
 
Nickbaldwin86 said:
really, did you heat the water before it hit the CPU?

I have a H50 cooling my 920 @ 4.15-4.2ish range and the loads never go above 70*, idle is 42*, which might be hot but not for the standards of this CPU (again 24/7)
Click to expand...

And what is the Delta T of the water? A H50 is not a watercooling system.. its just a single rad/loop the water doesn't have to be cycled into other devices.
 
Kenjiwing said:
And what is the Delta T of the water? A H50 is not a watercooling system.. its just a single rad/loop the water doesn't have to be cycled into other devices.
Click to expand...

WHAT THE... Are you talking about? what is it then... I am @ a total lost state if I bought something that isn't really what it said it was :confused:

YOU MEANT TO SAY... it is a traditional water cooling system that all the professional "geeks" waste there money on ;)

It is on the other hand a water cooling system.

I have been there... 3 times now, water cooled in the traditional method but this time around I figured I would waste my money on 3 monitors instead of water cooling

so DON'T be a arrogant jerk and insult me by saying the H50 isn't a water cooling system

by the looks of your sig... have you ever built a "water cooling system" ?

You sure know how to over post a thread though... as well as posting big words like "Delta T", which no one talks about other then people with more time then money

RANT OFF... BACK ON SUBJECT...............................

he has stated many times, he wants to make his PC more silent... SUGGEST something that helps the user reach his goal ;)
 
I would buy a device like that Nick but the main heat/noise culprit is the 5970. It's a shame there isn't a solution like the H50 for those. TBH I'd buy one of them and keep the Dark Knight on it as it's cooling the CPU just fine.

That being said I think I'm going to buy the above tonight. :)
 
Last edited:
IllegalEagle said:
I would buy a device like that Nick but the main heat/noise culprit is the 5970. It's a shame there isn't a solution like the H50 for those. TBH I'd buy one of them and keep the Dark Knight on it as it's cooling the CPU just fine.

That being said I think I'm going to buy the above tonight. :)
Click to expand...

Sorry I didnt mean for you to read into that, I am not in any way trying to convince you to buy a H50, it isn't the cooler for your setup(but is a great cooler nonetheless). I was just merely stating my personal and current setup and trying to show how little it takes to cool a 920... thinking you might try my suggestion of going fanless with your radiator, I do not recommend going complete fanless throughout the case, just the radiator itself.


Good luck with the system, I am sure you will be happy with any system you setup as long as you do take your time and research and only hit he buy button when you are completely confindent with yourself and not what other people have to say.
 
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