Watercooling advice

[GoNz0]

restriction is the problem you face when cooling more stuff, a ram fan set to its lowest speed is more than enough for my corsair ddr3 running near 1700mhz, at the mo i am running the nb/sb and both gtx's through the 140.3 rad and get about 3.3lt per min full speed, the cpu pump also cools the mofsets and runs at 4.6lt full speed. fortunately i do not need a high flow rate over the video cards as its such a large surface area thats being cooled but the nb/sb combi block is a big flow restriction.

i am not after max cooling all the time tough, i want a quiet pc when im working so its all running minimum fan and pump speeds at idle and is very quiet, the ram fans have a rattle to them now so they only kick in when the rams working hard and more often than not cut out 30 seconds later when it drops 5 degrees, the corsair ram cooler is crap imho, to bloody noisy full speed!, i will be looking to swap out the fans in it soon with something that will work at a low speed. (they only spin up at 50% load on the koolance tms card)

[matty-hodgson]

I've got one simple question: How easy is it to add in more parts in a wc loop?

[GoNz0]

drain, cut, insert, clamp, refill, bleed.

[Bugbait]

Why shouldn't I cool the RAM? Are the gains noticeable on watercooled RAM?

Would it be better to have 2 separate loops or to have 1 bigger loop with more rads and pumps?

They are no noticeable gains in watercooling RAM unless you’re running a lot of volts into them and then you’re much more likely to kill your i7 first. DDR3 runs fine on passive cooling unless the case has low air flow. If you want to cool the RAM for fun then sure. At the end of the day, RAM pulls very little energy with a decent surface area to dissipate it so there’s really no need.

I prefer separate loops (if you’re talking CPU + GPU + more) since you can maximise pressure and flow with better restriction control.

[matty-hodgson]

drain, cut, insert, clamp, refill, bleed.

That sounds like a total PITA. Maybe a low running fan would be better for the RAM then .

Gonna be ordering all this watercooling gear tomorrow, so this thread may get busy with all my questions tonight, need to get myself a nice little list to order tomorrow. I'll spend the next few hours researching parts and stuff, then I'll come here and check if everything's ok .

I've got 'til Tuesday next week before I start my new job (definitely this time!), so plenty of time to get it all exactly how I want it . Exciting stuff this!

[Hicks12]

Really easy tbh to install new blocks etc, if your lucky you dont even need to drain it. When changing my cpu block between my old polarflo and the new ek supreme hf (when i was confused by the incorrect temps being read by the cpu... still no fix but oh well). All i did was undo the compression rings and pull on tube off, block off with an AA battery and then did the other one, the other i would just put straight onto the new block and then attach the last tube to it.

Just if you do this remember to take it OUTSIDE of the case and with a towel because theres always some water that will come out in the few seconds when your attaching tubing and plugging up the holes. Very easy though .

Well since your getting the corsair case then you can have a triple rad along with a dual rad. Id recommend fitting the cpu and motherboard blocks to the dual and the 2 sli cards to the triple. To me that sounds like the best idea but someone else should give a second opinion .

Dont forget to get some distilled water (de-ionised, battery top up water)! Halfords do some for like £3 for 5L. And i believe anti freeze or just get some PT nuke and an anti corrosive liquid (anti freeze, cant remember the equivalent in normal watercooling shops.)

edit: Looks like the thermochill PA 120.3 are out of stock everywhere.... did i miss something? Discontinued i presume?. XSPC RX 360's still here though, scan cheapest at £70 i believe, for the dual rad just stick to a TC PA 120.2 or XSPC RX 240 as they still perform amazingly well.

[Bugbait]

Just if you do this remember to take it OUTSIDE of the case and with a towel because theres always some water that will come out in the few seconds when your attaching tubing and plugging up the holes. Very easy though .

I rarely fully drain my system when adding blocks or changing the configuration. I just drain enough to minimise spillage. However, I wouldn’t recommend it if you can’t afford to replace the components if severe spillage occurs.

Well since your getting the corsair case then you can have a triple rad along with a dual rad. Id recommend fitting the cpu and motherboard blocks to the dual and the 2 sli cards to the triple. To me that sounds like the best idea but someone else should give a second opinion .

I concur, or maybe put the motherboard blocks in the GPU loop. That’s the layout I use in my 800D based dual loop system (minus motherboard blocks).

edit: Looks like the thermochill PA 120.3 are out of stock everywhere.... did i miss something? Discontinued i presume?. XSPC RX 360's still here though, scan cheapest at £70 i believe, for the dual rad just stick to a TC PA 120.2 or XSPC RX 240 as they still perform amazingly well.

The new model with improved performance and ¼ threads is about to be released. I always wanted to try Thermochill but was too lazy to change all my barbs and/or use converters. No excuse now (or soon) I guess.

[GoNz0]

i split mt mobo, mofsets on the cpu loop and combi nb/sb (all in 1 block) on the gpu loop

[matty-hodgson]

Right, I'm currently building up a list of items I'm gonna purchase on Monday, I'm in no rush to get this done so I'll spend the weekend making sure I get the best value/performance possible.

Can I ask you watercooling gurus for a few suggestions?

Basically, my overall plan is to have the CPU cooled, motherboard cooled and have 2 GPUs both cooled under water. I wanna have 2 pumps, a 360mm rad and 2x 120mm rads, all in the same loop, unless it'd be better to have them separate for some reason?

Also, you suggested ChilledPC but their stock levels on most things are awful, so I'll be needing some more suggestions of good watercooling stores?

Blocks:
Which brand of blocks are best?
CPU blocks, which block is best? Is there a massive difference between blocks?
GPU blocks, same again, which block is best? And I want a full card block for my GTX275 but I can't find one to fit. The AMD cards seem to be well catered for though .

Pumps:
Which brand of pumps are best?
Will I need 9w or 18w? I'm planning on having 2 so maybe 2x 9w would be best?

Radiators:
2x 120mm + 360mm
Want the best brands, would like to have it all included in the case so I can just stick the side on and it'll all be encased inside, buzzing along .

Reservoirs:
Is this somewhere I should really be bothered about? All they is allow air to escape the loop and allow you to fill, don't they?
Any recommendations for this? I've got a Corsair 700D, if that helps with recommendations.

Tubing:
I don't really know what I need here tbh, this is something I'm really confused with, are all the "connections" the same size? How do I know what I should buy? I'm wanting to go with blue and black in my rig, so blue tubing would be best .

Fittings:
Do I need to buy any of these? Do all the blocks and rads and everything come with the connections?

Water:
Just go to Halfords and get some from there?

Fans:
Recommendations for fans would be nice, but they will be being connected to a fan controller, all of them. I'll ramp them up to maximum when gaming or anything like that, and turn them right down when just browsing/MSNing.

Additives:
What's all this stuff about kill coils and stuff like that? Are they better than Biocides? Don't wanna add any colours cos they only clog up your system..

And anything else I've missed. Complicated business this .

[nibbler]

I think 3/4" OD (outer diameter) is what you will want. Not certain though. Also, the standard barbs are, AFAICT, 1/4".

/Waits for gonzo to correct him

[Hicks12]

Probs not the best person to respond but ill give you my advice.

Right, I'm currently building up a list of items I'm gonna purchase on Monday, I'm in no rush to get this done so I'll spend the weekend making sure I get the best value/performance possible.

Can I ask you watercooling gurus for a few suggestions?

Basically, my overall plan is to have the CPU cooled, motherboard cooled and have 2 GPUs both cooled under water. I wanna have 2 pumps, a 360mm rad and 2x 120mm rads, all in the same loop, unless it'd be better to have them separate for some reason?

Also, you suggested ChilledPC but their stock levels on most things are awful, so I'll be needing some more suggestions of good watercooling stores? Check out Specialtech/scan and watercoolinguk as they are all legit resellers.

Blocks:
Which brand of blocks are best? EK/XSPC/ Koolance are the bigger brands iirc, they tend to offer the best
CPU blocks, which block is best? Is there a massive difference between blocks? Depending on what you want, performance (cooling) or low restriction. Generall the EK Supreme HF is the top dog at the minute with a good flow rate and top end cooling and then you have the XSPC RASA which is pretty much the same in terms of performance but doesnt support all the motherboard sockets (additional back plate sorts that which makes it similar price to the EK so pick what ever you want!).

GPU blocks, same again, which block is best? And I want a full card block for my GTX275 but I can't find one to fit. The AMD cards seem to be well catered for though . Cant give a good suggestion but EK are superb blocks, might be good to see if they do a Light version (LT) as they are a lot cheaper and still perform damn good.

Pumps:
Which brand of pumps are best? Laing and something beginning with I (i think lol) are the best consumer pumps and then there's some commercial ones costing £200+ which are the dogs balls . Laing pumps DDC and D5 are re branded by a few companies mainly swiftech as the MCP 355 and MCP 655(something like this).

Will I need 9w or 18w? I'm planning on having 2 so maybe 2x 9w would be best? Going for cooling performance or noise? I must admit my 18w ddc makes hardly any noise, only vibrations which im sorting.... recommend you get a noise reducing block for the pumps though. 10w DDC pumps can be hard moded to 18w if your ok with a soldering iron as all it is just one cable that needs to be soldered to the pcb, only difference between that and the 18w . Cheaper to !

Radiators:
2x 120mm + 360mm
Want the best brands, would like to have it all included in the case so I can just stick the side on and it'll all be encased inside, buzzing along . Like I said before, XSPC or thermalright radiators are the best at the minute, get either the XSPC RX 360 or the Thermalright PA 120.3 and then for the 120mm rads get the RX120 or PA120.1, surely a dual rad is better though? I don't have the case on hand so sorry if there aint enough room for a dual .

Reservoirs:
Is this somewhere I should really be bothered about? All they is allow air to escape the loop and allow you to fill, don't they?
Any recommendations for this? I've got a Corsair 700D, if that helps with recommendations.

Hmm, well they do give a nice storage for coolant as well which can help temps slightly as theres more of it to transfer the heat to but id assume its minimal if even noticeable. For the amount of time it will reduce in terms of getting rid of air bubbles and just making it easy to refill and stuff then you should consider it loads!. Id recommend the XSPC Res top for ddc pumps, however they also do a dual pump res which takes up one or 2 drive bays and will give you 2 mounts for the pumps, it also has a brushed aluminium look so will fit right in with your case .

Tubing:
I don't really know what I need here tbh, this is something I'm really confused with, are all the "connections" the same size? How do I know what I should buy? I'm wanting to go with blue and black in my rig, so blue tubing would be best .

Right basically, the ID stands for the inner diameter (how much room the water has i guess) and the OD is outer diameter which is the shell/wall including the ID, so 1/2" ID is the biggest you can get with a 3/4" OD which is also the biggest. If your going to have two pumps then pressure is going to be great so id say the bigger tubing is best (if you can fit it in your case, you should with a 700d as ive got mine in a tiny chieftech!). XSPC are good tubing make, get their blue coloured version and youll be fine.


Fittings:
Do I need to buy any of these? Do all the blocks and rads and everything come with the connections?

Fittings, yes you do need to buy these as most items wont include them unfortunately. Id recommend you first decide a tubing size then get the correct fitting. Theres barbs and compression fittings, the former is the cheapest and is basically just a pipe you shove the tubing on and use some cable ties or hose clips(better) on to keep it secure. The compression fittings are more expensive but have a built in clamp system, all it is a threaded ring that you put on tube first then put the tube on the barb part of the fitting and screw it down. They hold it very well (ive had barbs leak from over tightening and not doing it enough, to much hassle really imo), worth paying for compressions as its more reliable and better in the long run!.

Oh, and barbs you only need one size which is the ID of the tubing. So a 1/2" barb will fit 1/2" ID tubing only, a compression fitting requires the correct ID and OD like 1/2" ID and 3/4" OD compression fittings fit just 1/2ID 3/4OD tubing.



Water:
Just go to Halfords and get some from there? Yes just go to halfords and get "battery topup water" or deionised water, its both the same thing and is suitable for a watercooling loop and cost effective. You will need something to stop corrosion between different metals, someone correct me if im wrong but adding some anti freeze can reduce this to levels which are acceptable i.e takes 10 years to start effecting components instead of <1 year. Just dont add to much, cant remember the amount you add though so do a google if you can!. Add biocide, PT nuke is regarded as the best.



Fans:
Recommendations for fans would be nice, but they will be being connected to a fan controller, all of them. I'll ramp them up to maximum when gaming or anything like that, and turn them right down when just browsing/MSNing.

Id recommend Yate loons DS12L fans as they are great. However if you can afford it then i believe the "gentle typhoon" fans are rated as one of the best for radiators but they are like £10-£15 each compared to yate loons <£5 price tag.

Additives:
What's all this stuff about kill coils and stuff like that? Are they better than Biocides? Don't wanna add any colours cos they only clog up your system..

Read the water section , didnt see this part before haha.

And anything else I've missed. Complicated business this .

[GoNz0]

Right, I'm currently building up a list of items I'm gonna purchase on Monday, I'm in no rush to get this done so I'll spend the weekend making sure I get the best value/performance possible.

Can I ask you watercooling gurus for a few suggestions?

Basically, my overall plan is to have the CPU cooled, motherboard cooled and have 2 GPUs both cooled under water. I wanna have 2 pumps, a 360mm rad and 2x 120mm rads, all in the same loop, unless it'd be better to have them separate for some reason?

ek high flow blocks and full cover GPU blocks
Also, you suggested ChilledPC but their stock levels on most things are awful, so I'll be needing some more suggestions of good watercooling stores?

if they are in stock and you put them in your basket they are yours, he is a one man band in a small unit so stock is always low !


Blocks:
Which brand of blocks are best?
CPU blocks, which block is best? Is there a massive difference between blocks?
GPU blocks, same again, which block is best? And I want a full card block for my GTX275 but I can't find one to fit. The AMD cards seem to be well catered for though .



Pumps:
Which brand of pumps are best?
Will I need 9w or 18w? I'm planning on having 2 so maybe 2x 9w would be best?

if you can afford Laing DDC 18w Revision 3.25 or http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/prod...roducts_id=181

Radiators:
2x 120mm + 360mm
Want the best brands, would like to have it all included in the case so I can just stick the side on and it'll all be encased inside, buzzing along . ek xt series should d you fine due to the lack of thermochill

Reservoirs:
Is this somewhere I should really be bothered about? All they is allow air to escape the loop and allow you to fill, don't they?
Any recommendations for this? I've got a Corsair 700D, if that helps with recommendations.

no glue to break down and leak http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/prod...roducts_id=432

Tubing:
I don't really know what I need here tbh, this is something I'm really confused with, are all the "connections" the same size? How do I know what I should buy? I'm wanting to go with blue and black in my rig, so blue tubing would be best .

XPSC 3/4 od 1/2 int

Fittings:
Do I need to buy any of these? Do all the blocks and rads and everything come with the connections?
buy them all, nothing has barbs, if you can afford it buy compression fittings, looks better and easier to assemble, no slipping wiht your screwdriver or clamps ! cilled pc do some cheap ones, there great unless you want to empty your wallet on bitspower bling, they dont work better but they look nice
Water:
Just go to Halfords and get some from there?

and a kill coil

Fans:
Recommendations for fans would be nice, but they will be being connected to a fan controller, all of them. I'll ramp them up to maximum when gaming or anything like that, and turn them right down when just browsing/MSNing.

depends on your budget but i use the koolance controller card and add on board, 6 fans, 2 pumps, 2 flow meters and 10 temp sensors, all automated via software! (pumps need small 3 pin and the ones i linked to 1st are the ones made for the card, alternative is the rather outdated t-balancer kit, have to buy lots of addons tho'

whatever floats your boat but some are designed for high pressure such as the noctua i use with the vortex notch thingys to keep the racket down

Additives:
What's all this stuff about kill coils and stuff like that? Are they better than Biocides? Don't wanna add any colours cos they only clog up your system..
add kill coil and bioside if you can
And anything else I've missed. Complicated business this .

lots of kitchen roll, plasters for your cuts, something to kick


fill port

i will add more when i remember