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Watercooling Help with setup

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Strudul, 18 Apr 2011.

  1. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    I have always wanted to watercool. But always been too scared. After reading every guide I could find several times, I think I am gonna give it a go. Give myself something to do over the summer holidays.

    My rig is in the sig, but will be upgrading the gfx and possibly adding that to the loop.

    This is what I am thinking, but I have no idea how well it will work.

    [​IMG]

    I am not sure about the positioning of the pump and res. And I dont know yet how I am gonna fill/bleed it.

    I don't think I can fit the rads inside, and since I dont want to buy another case, I think I am gonna mount them externally. I dont have a clue about specific parts yet, I am still trying to work out exactly what I need.

    Any help is appreciated

    Thanks
     
  2. .//TuNdRa

    .//TuNdRa Resident Bulldozer Guru

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    You can only go in one direction per rad. So it'll be 120.1, then 120.2, then the CPU, but that should do you fine for most things. Just remember to keep good airflow through the case. Your CPU might be nice and cold at the end of the day, but GPU's don't like static air in a case.

    Might even be able to push your overclock a bit further with a water-cooling setup.
     
  3. WiryRocketeer

    WiryRocketeer Minimodder

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  4. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    Oh yeah, not thinking...

    So I want a tube going from the pump to the 120.1 then the 120.2 then a really long tube going to CPU?

    Would a 120.1 + 120.2 be enough for cooling an X4 955 and a high end gpu (480/580)

    Thanks;)
     
  5. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    I can't use that kit because it is Intel only right?

    But I did take a look at the Koolance Exos and a few other kits. They would make things a bit simpler, but I don't know how the temps compare to a custom watercooling setup. I also wouldn't know which to get.
     
  6. Cerberus90

    Cerberus90 Car Spannerer

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    I wouldn't bother with that 120.1 rad.

    A decent 120.2 should provide plenty of cooling for just a CPU.
     
  7. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    But if i want to include a gpu at a later stage?
     
  8. Apocalypso

    Apocalypso Fully armed and operational.

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    You could hang a 120.3 off the back using a Swiftech Radbox or something similar, that way you can cut out the extra tubing and fittings.

    [​IMG]

    That's not mine btw, I just copied it from the evga forums.
     
  9. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    Problem with that:

    -extra cost to buy mounting rack
    -harder to get to wires in back of PC
    -back of PC is behind TV/monitor , and that area is quite hot

    Tubing isn't very expensive, but I was thinking of compression fittings, so might save quite a bit doing that. Hmmm...
     
  10. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    Remove the front HDD holders and you'd be able to get a 240mm rad there, wont you? Read through my thread (link in sig) :)
     
  11. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    I have read your thread many many times.

    I could probably get a rad in there, but...
    -I need somewhere for HDDs
    -I have a lot of cables running through that area. My cable managment is everywhere. It looks neat from the window, but round the back and in the drive area there are just loads and loads of cables.
     
  12. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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  13. Apocalypso

    Apocalypso Fully armed and operational.

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    Bear in mind you'll exhaust warm air from the components through the rad unless you set the fans to intake in the roof.
     
  14. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    Can I intake through the roof and rear, then exhaust from the side and front ?

    Anyway, would this work better then?

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    Well, what I was thinking was:

    Move the HDD's to your 2 free 5.25" bays.
    Remove HDD holders.
    Install a slim radiator in the front.

    Now, your not cooling massively hot hardware, so the most heat you'll get off it will only be a couple of degrees hotter than ambient. With the roof set to exhaush and the rear and side set as intakes as well, you'll easily have enough cooling for your motherboard.
     
  16. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    But, I need at least 4 bays (1x optical, 1x fan ctrlr, 2x HDD), and I would have to do even more cable re-arrangement
     
  17. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    Ah, I didn't know you had a fan controller...


    Could drop the optical, I'm going to in my next rebuild as I use ut so rarely these days...
     
  18. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    The fan controller (Sentry 2) is in my rig ;P

    I dont think I could drop the optical. Got a few too many games that still need it. I tried transfering them to HDD but I could not get around the security stuff.
     
  19. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    USB optical drive... :p Or you could get a case better suited to water cooling...
     
  20. Strudul

    Strudul ~

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    How much would another case help? And how much is a good case designed for watercooling? I am guessing about £150. And then all the watercooling stuff is gonna be ~£250 I think. Then I need a gfx card which is a min of £200 really. So £600. Which I can afford, but being only 17 (since yesterday ^^), having no job or source of income, and also thinking about driving lessons I would like to keep The spending to a minimum :(

    well sorta ;)
     

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