Watercooling, last minute advice needed

Over the past week or so i've been battling with myself over whether to use air or water cooling. Water cooling seems to be available for around £140 so price wise it's not too bad considering the benefits (quieter, cooler, better overclock, geek factor :rolleyes:).

Clunk kindly helped advise me on:

D-Tek fuzion cpu block or Swiftech Apogee GTX
Thermochill PA120.3 radiator
D5 or DDC pump

Im going to skip the graphics block (for now!) due to lack of fundage :( but I know of the EK blocks.

What about the NB/SB chipsets however?

Can someone help by giving a definitive list of what else i'd need to get started water cooling?

Also, where in the world can I actually buy all of this stuff? I've seen overclockers.co.uk but is there anywhere else thats cheaper/better?

Case wise im going for an Antec P182 - can all of this fit inside this comfortably? If not are there better cases with a similar build quality/price?

(FYI: The coolings intended for a Q6600, 8800GTX, P5K Deluxe)

Thanks again so much for helping me! I hate to sound annoying, its just that spending over a grand on my new pc, I want to make sure I have as much information as I can beforehand - plus its half of the fun finding out about the new toys :)

I'm getting seriously tempted by water cooling and have been looking at the pretty shiny things on these two sites recently :) ...

http://www.coolercases.co.uk
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk

For that lot, dont skrimp on the cooling, its all hot running stuff..have a quick search for the last watercooling thread (saves me retyping it all :D).

Oh go on clunk, retype it all...saves me searching ;) Hehehe

Knob off :D

Clunk's already helped me out quite a bit...look at the advice he gave me.
Also....check out http://www.froogle.co.uk or click on the Products link from Google and http://www.kelkoo.co.uk for some price comparisons.

noob alert :( ive searched the forum and can't find anything of relevance to my questions...

I just wanted to know what else i need to add to the shopping list to complete my setup and where I can find the pieces. Cheers :)

Here you go mate :)

Interesting read Clunk, thanks for that :) I know roughly how much heat needs shifting now for my proposed set up.

I'm still none the wiser about what I need to complete my kit other than the pump, radiator, block and pump ive listed above though :embarrassed:

Also, fellow member MD is saying that his Nautilus 500 is cooling his Q6600 to a mere 21C!!! :D Is this the way to go do you think?

the temperature of your chip will never be lower than ambient temperatures, as thats the lowest temperature the radiator can reach (the air moving across it)
Matt must have very cold rooms ;)

if you've already chosen the pump, blocks and radiator you'll need to get:
1) This is a potential one, its not necessary, just makes it easier: Resevoir
2) Tubing (duh!) go for 1/2" ID Dangerden clearflex or Tygon stuff
3) Water - Deionised water from halfords/generic car parts shop, i usually get about 5l
4) Vinegar - Let your radiator soak in vinegar for a couple of days to clean up all the gunk
5) Kitchen Towels - Use the towels to check the blocks for leaks. Leak test either a) with no components and the whole loop in the case, or b) with the loop outside the case and the components in. That way, no water on the parts!

Apart from that you're almost done:D
I always find i need some more things when I get all the parts in, just placed an order for some braiding from KustomPC's and realised after it had dispatched that i'd forgotten the heatshrink d'oh!

Steve, am I right in thinking when you refer to testing for leaks in method b) that the loop is outside of the case switched on without in contact to any parts?

precisely. if you use a wire connecting pin 14 (green) to any of the ground pins on the 20/24-pin motherboard connector on the PSU, it will switch on with no bits attached. leave it that way overnight to check your connections for leaks. Also, some barbs come with rubber washers at the neck. These ones dont require PTFE (commonly known as plumbers) tape. If your barbs dont have the rubber washers, i recommend getting some from any good emporium. Wrap it round the barbs prior to screwing them in, and it'll seal those things tight :)

Cheers dude appreciate it :) Where can I order all of this stuff for the best prices? I'll be ordering it on Monday so can't wait to post my results :D

i posted a post (that went well!) on suppliers earlier today, ill dig it out:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Steve B

Places for purchase:
www.chilledpc.co.uk
www.kustompcs.co.uk
www.coolercases.co.uk
www.specialtech.co.uk
those are where i buy my stuff from

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fat Jez

www.over-clock.co.uk

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Is a 500L/h pump sufficient for cooling my cpu only with an apogee/fuzion? Also, does having 1/2" over say 3/8" have any performance benefits?

The reason I ask is that because I may go for a Thermaltake Kandalf LCS and just replace the waterblock which is most probably pants, but keep the radiator (seems decent, uses 3 cooling fans so must have a huge surface area), pump (50l/h) and maybe the radiator cooling fans (3x120mm 54CFM).

Does seem ok?

you have to look at the max lift of the pump as well as the l/h

also one of the best n/sb blocks is the Swiftech MCW30

get an 18W DDC with petras top, or a double DDC acetal top.
I don't think that pump would be sufficient to cool both the CPU and the GPU.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigpun69

Is a 500L/h pump sufficient for cooling my cpu only with an apogee/fuzion? Also, does having 1/2" over say 3/8" have any performance benefits?

The reason I ask is that because I may go for a Thermaltake Kandalf LCS and just replace the waterblock which is most probably pants, but keep the radiator (seems decent, uses 3 cooling fans so must have a huge surface area), pump (50l/h) and maybe the radiator cooling fans (3x120mm 54CFM).

Does seem ok?

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What pump is it that you are refering to?

1/2" is lightly better than 3/8, although the optimal size is apparently 7/16 tubing on 1/2" barbs.

I honestly wouldnt go for anything thermaltake as far as watercooling goes. You may as well just get decent air cooling, itll probably be quieter and cool better.