Hey guys and girls!
I'm in need of a little help here regarding watercooling my PC. I'm a complete noob to liquid cooling, so go easy on me; though I've been building all my machines from scratch for the last 15 years - I'm pretty handy with a screwdriver and I'm pretty technical.
My goal: complete silence (or the closest I can get). I'm utterly sick of the sound of fans now, and just want my computer to shut up. Oh, and please please please: no-one tell me to turn up the volume on my games - that won't make things quieter, it'll just make them noisier.
My current setup:
Antec P182 case
All panels inside (top/bottom/side/front/back) covered with acoustic mat
All case fans removed and replaced with ultra quiet 120mm or 140mm ones with voltage reduced to reduce noise even further
Antec CP850 PSU with the stock fan (which is remarkably quiet as it is)
Asus Rampage Formula (x48)
Q9650 @3.6GHz
8GB DDR2 RAM @1066
Thermalright Silver Arrow (not the SB-E version). Has 2xTY-140s running PWM off the motherboard at the lowest speed.
2x GTX 580 in SLI (stock speeds)
2x SSD
2x 2TB HDD
2x Grow Up Japan HDD Silencer
TIM on the GPUs, NB, SB, CPU has been replaced with Phobya HeGrease
Even though the machine is running overclocked, I have actually undervolted the CPU, NB, SB and RAM to generate less heat - 100% stable for the last year or two.
OK, so my use-case is like this:
I make music in a home studio and basically need almost 100% silence from my computer as I record vocals in the same room. Because a lot of my synths are now soft synths, so it can be pretty CPU intensive, hence why I run the quad core with a mild overclock all of the time. As I'm also a bit of a gamer, I've also got 2 GTX580's in SLI; and games of course benefit from the CPU overclock too.
I dual-boot the machine - one SSD for music production (with a 2TB drive storage), one SSD for games (with a 2TB drive storage). Of course there are large times when the computer is mostly idle and doing very basic tasks (sitting at the desktop, surfing internet, playing music, etc), so it's not all pegged at 100% CPU all the time ;-)
At idle, my CPU runs at about 25 degrees, NB at about 45 degrees, GPUs are low (not sure of exact temps). When taxed to the max, the GPUs are hitting 85 degrees and the NB around 90 (yuck)!!! The CPU still plods along at about 45 degrees when it's being absolutely smashed, but I put that down to the mild overclock and the efficiency of the Silver Arrow heatsink. Ignoring the CPU for the moment, everything runs way too hot for my liking - even at idle, the noise from the GPUs alone is overwhelming to my delicate ears and the NB is just a big frying pan that heats up the whole case.
So then, my evil plan:
As the case is quite small and cramped, I imagine that I'll need to mount the radiator and resevoir externally. I want to run it mostly passive if possible (ie. get a fan controller to turn off most of the fans when the temps are low and only switch them on when needed).
When the fans are actually running, I want them to be really slow and quiet, so large spacing in between the fins would be necessary. I've found that Thermalright TY-140s are pretty quiet when running slow but they don't push a huge amount of air at that speed. When they are ramped up to full speed, they actually do a pretty good job of pushing quite a bit, but I think that's simply down to the 140mm size more than anything. Obviously, the slower the better - even one fan at full speed is like a drill in my ear.
So, my shopping list looks like this:
1xMO-RA3 9x140 Pro - mounted to the side of the case, or sat on the floor next to it
3xThermalright TY-140s attached to the rad (no need for 9 surely???)
1xresevoir of some form or another... I'm guessing I'll need to get an external one due to space concerns and mount it on the top of the case (suggestions please?). Also, I'd guess I want one with a sealable fill-port to keep the loop completely closed? Really I don't know enough about it, so any help here would be good.
2xGPU full coverage blocks (EK-FC580 GTX+, Aquacomputer AquagraFX, Watercool Heatkiller GPU-X3 GTX 570/580, Koolance VID-NX580, EGVA Hydro Copper, Alphacool NexXxoS NVXP NV 580/570 Serie). Choices, choices...HELP!!
1xCPU block (Swiftech Apogee Drive II which includes a pump). Not yet available in the UK, but will be in the next 2 weeks or so.
1xNB (Koolance CHC-125 or Alphacool HF 14)
1xlow profile southbridge heatsink (Enzotech CNB-S1L) to replace the heatpipe design currently on the motherboard - also the fact that it's low profile will keep it out of the way of the graphics cards
some 1/2"ID hose (3/4"OD)
quick release non-drip plugs to link things together
coolant
Fan controller (Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 LT - do I need the XT or Pro?)
inline temp sensors (suggestions? maybe the aquaero one?)
inline flow sensors (suggestions? maybe the aquaero one?)
other things?? (drain tube at the bottom?)
Other radiator option I considered:
Aquacomputer AMS 480mm rad (I assume these have a lower capacity for heat exchange than a single MO-RA3, unless I pick up multiple?)
So then, here is where I open it to the floor! What are your suggestions?
Is my shopping list all wrong?
Have I missed something obvious?
Do you think that one MO-RA3 would be enough to dissipate the heat from the four components (NB/CPU/GPU1/GPU2)?
Do I REALLLLY need 9 fans, or can I get away with using 3 or 4 and rely on simple convection to do the work for me?
Would I need the extra features of the Aquaero XT, or will the LT do it all for me?
How would I route the loop(s)? Is there any issue if I rig it up in a single loop like this:
CPU block (pump included) -> NB -> GPU1 -> GPU2 -> MO-RA3 -> Res -> back to the CPU/pump
Wrap-up
Something which I really want to stress: Money is *NOT* an issue. Frankly, I'd much prefer to have the best equipment so that the fans have an easier job (and therefore run quieter).
Also, ease is something I want to stress too. If it's a pain in the ar$e to set up and maintain, then I don't want it. If it's cluttered, then I don't want it. It's gotta be clean, simple, powerful and quiet. I've got money to spend and don't mind getting the best.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts please - be gentle, this is my first loop.
Oh, and sorry for the post being massive - that was rather a lot of information...
Thank you
Breame