New pc - first time liquid cooling - suggestions?

[inspectorgadjet]

Hi,

I've just started putting together a new pc and decided to make it a big one.

Here is the list of all the components I have purchased:
Thermaltake Tai-Chi case with Watercooling
Thermaltake ToughPower 1200W PSU
Asus Striker Extreme motherboard
Intel QX6850 3.0Ghz CPU (coming soon)
Kingston RAM - 4GB (for now)
XFX 8800 Ultra XXX
2X Hitachi 1TB drives (possibly a third for Raid-5)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Hauppauge WinTV HVR4000
Liteon 20X SATA DVD Writer
Thermaltake AquaBay M1, M2, M3 & M5
2X Thermaltake AquaBay M4 (possibly a third for extra hard drive)

Obviously, I'm taking my time building the system as I still don't have the CPU, but I'm trying to get everything else ready in the meantime. Having never built a liquid cooled system before, I'm a little bit nervous and want to make sure I get everything right.
1. I've just discovered that my graphics card and my case don't work well together. The fans on the door of the Tai-Chi hit the fan on the graphics card when I try to close it. I have tried placing the graphics card in the bottom PCI-E slot as well, but it is still just a bit to high up to miss the fans. I'm looking into replacing the fan on the graphics card with a D-Tek Fuzion GFX and Unisink. Will this be compatible with all the rest of the the Thermaltake stuff?
2. Is there a specific order that I should hook up all of the Thermaltake Aquabays? There is also an extra pump that came with the M5 Aquabay. I've tried emailing Thermaltake but didn't get a response. I just want to make sure I get it all hooked up for the best cooling possible.

Thanks for any help!

[Clunk]

Are you able to return all the thermalright watercooling stuff?

It just isnt up to scratch for doing what you want to do.

You need a CPU block that is designed to be used with a quad core CPU, or it just wont dissipate enough heat, especially if you start overclocking, which I'm guessing you will be doing, looking at the list of parts.

You might also want to check if the XFX Ultra card actually works before you go sticking another cooler on it, there are a lot of failures with those at the moment.

Good luck.

[inspectorgadjet]

Thanks for the reply. I've already put most of the stuff into the case.
Can I not just buy a quad core water block and use it instead of the Thermaltake block for now? I know I'll probably end up changing loads of bits as I go along, but I just want to get a system up and running so that I know I can do it. As for overclocking, that's something else I haven't even started looking at yet, but will possibly have a go when I have time. What type of block would you recommend for the CPU?
I have actually just read that there were failures so I will probably just try running the computer with the case door slightly open for a bit before I change the cooling on the graphics card anyway.

[Clunk]

OK, the problem is, it will work, but you could end up with temps that are as high, or higher than with good air cooling.

I'm not sure how many, or what radiators you are using, but even on the quad cores with a lower heat output like yours, you will still need watercooling that is efficient.

There are 2 CPU blocks at the moment, both are excellent, the Swiftech Apogee GTX, and the D-Tek Fuzion.

I think that thermaltake use an odd size of barbs and tubing on their watercooling, so unless you can get the right size barbs/tubing, you cant use either of the above blocks.

Whatever barbs you get, they would have to have a G1/4 thread, and then whatever size the thermaltake barbs are.

[inspectorgadjet]

Hi. I will look into getting the D-Tek Fuzion CPU block. I'm intending to go with the Fuzion GFX block as well. I'm thinking that the Thermaltake pumps and radiators, etc. should hopefully still be ok for now. I'll be using whatever the default radiator is that is in the Tai-Chi case plus the M2 Aquabay which is a radiator. I can probably look at better radiators later.
From what I can read online it seems that Thermaltake use 3/8" barbs. I've been looking at the D-Tek products at Cooler Cases and they sell them with either 1/2 or 3/8 barbs so they should be ok to use.
How bad of an idea would it be to set up my system with the default Thermaltake stuff for about a month until I can spend the money on the D-Tek stuff? As you might be able to tell from the specs of what I've bought, my bank balance is looking rather bleak suddenly.

[Clunk]

If the thermaltake stuff uses 3/8 barbs, then youll be ok.

You may be ok for a month. You will just have to keep an eye on the temps, but it should be ok at stock speeds.

[cotswoldcs]

I have been using a water cooled setup for a couple of years now and when I replace my current sytem I want to go with liquid cooling again.

I don't know much about Thermaltake products but personally I am an advocate of the Zalman Reserator series. The New Reserator XT is out soon and would be my choice. I don't think this would be a problem with any C2Q CPU seeing that the older Reserator 2 can handle a Pentium 4 3.46Ghz EE (link). The TDP of C2Q 6850 is (only) 130W so I can't think it would produce that much heat (?). Mind you the P4 3.46 EE has a TDP of 130W as well so I might be talking nonsence - any comments?

[Clunk]

As good as the reserator might be, its isnt good enough to dissipate the heat from an overclocked quad, an 8800 series card, and whatever else he plans on cooling (NB and SB maybe?).

At a rough guess, there would be around 500w of heatload there (200w for the CPU, 200w for the GPU + the Vram if he uses a full cover block, plus whatever the NB and SB on the 680i board are, and they run hot).

[inspectorgadjet]

To be honest, I haven't even thought of the NB or SB yet. Being a first delve into water cooling, I figured CPU would definitely need it and noticed the M4 Aquabays for keeping the hard drives cooler so I got those too. Then I thought it would like quite nice to have the other Aquabays too so splashed out on those. When I found out the graphics card was going to stop the door from closing I started looking into that and having read quite a bit today have since found out I can get some bits to cool the memory and also now the NB and SB.
This is what I get for being spontaneous. Usually I do my research and buy the best, but I just figured for once that I would go with my first choice and it turns out it wasn't a good one. The reason I went for the Thermaltake cooling is because I've used their cases and power supplies in the past and not had any problems with them. I quite like the cases.
Right now I'm going to have to live with most of the Thermaltake stuff. I will definitely buy the D-Tek Fuzion CPU and GPU blocks and the unisink thing for the graphics card in the next month. I will also look into the NB and SB cooling soon too and possibly the memory as well. My case is going to be a mass of tubes by the time I'm done.

[inspectorgadjet]

I've been snooping around for some chipset waterblocks and I think I may have to go with danger den blocks for my motherboard. Are there better options out there? Will I need to buy two blocks - one for NB and one for SB? I believe the ones I have to get are the A8N Chipset blocks.
The last thing I'm worried about is how they are going to fit on the motherboard. Obviously the motherboard already has the copper pipes and heat sink. I'm worried about having to start dismantling pieces of the motherboard. Again, as I'm not going to be ready to do any serious overclocking for a while, is it that important to do the watercooling on the chipset at this point?

[aidanjt]

If you're not going to do any heavy overclocking then not really. Zalmans Reservoir will do the job nicey and the motherboard should be alright with the airflow the case creates, although I can't say whether the Tai-Chi would do that effectively or not, never been big on Thermaltake gear.

[Psychotic Emu]

I certainly wouldn't bother watercooling the chipsets. They don't need better than aircooling on anything less than a huge OC. The only other reason I might watercool them is if you have next to no airflow through the case.

I would also be well aware that the loop you are suggesting will be very restrictive, firstly because of the sheer number of components and secondly the type of components. I have heard, for example, that the fuzion GFX is particularly restrictive (perhaps a swiftech or EK block would be better).
You could end up with a very low flowrate. Not good for cooling.

If you plan on having lots of restrictive blocks possible solutions are multiple pumps in series or multiple complete loops.

The best solution is to avoid high restriction blocks.

Also a Quad and 8800U will put out A LOT of heat so plenty of rad real estate is necessary (~120.3 rad, ie more than a reserator - imagine a reserator then imagine 400W+ of heat coming from it)

Sorry if theres a lot of babble in the

EDIT: perhaps reseating the chipset blocks with some better TIM would help? I've also heard that they are very hot
O and I'd definitely recommend the fuzion (cpu)

[Steve B]

an 18W DDC with petras top should be enough to push a Q6600 and an 8800GTX

[Psychotic Emu]

an 18W DDC with petras top should be enough to push a Q6600 and an 8800GTX

Ye, that would be absolutely perfect for 2 blocks. Infact I'm sure a pump like that would be fine for twice that amount of restriction. They are excellent.
BUT inspectorgadget is suggesting 2/3 hdd blocks, a restrictive rad (that m2 is by the way nowhere near enough), 3 reservoirs? (M1, M3 and M5) and a flow indicator (M1). Not fogetting the fuzion GFX.
1 DDC2 will struggle to make the water move with all that!

[Steve B]

ahh didn't realise he was cooling that much

1) Take out the flow indicator, its restrictive and not worth it.
2) Remove the resevoirs, you only need 1.
3) Get a thermochill PA120.3 or 2x120.2's
4) Take away the HDD blocks, its pointless and a waste of money. Get a good fan on there and they'll be cool as cucumbers

[aidanjt]

Also a Quad and 8800U will put out A LOT of heat so plenty of rad real estate is necessary (~120.3 rad, ie more than a reserator - imagine a reserator then imagine 400W+ of heat coming from it)

120W + 200W = 400W+ how?