Hi all Ive decided to incorporate water cooling for my new build,my rig consists of rampage 3 motherboard,intel 980x cpu,6 gig Corsair Dominator GT CMT6GX3M3A2000C8,Enermax revolution 85+ 1250w psu all housed in a coolermaster HAF X CASE. As yet I have no plans to watercool my gpu's (I have 2 x 8800 gtx xxx in sli) as I plan to upgrade in the near future, my question is what will I need and what are the best performing products for my build
This should do the trick: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-hydro-series-h70-high-performance-cpu-cooler-lga1156-1155-1366-775-am2-am3 Heres the temps while using it with a 980X: http://www.maxishine.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=12781&start=0 If you want to cool GPU and chipset e.t.c as well or you want lower temps you will have to go for the whole kit e.g. waterblocks, a pump, a res, and a rad as big as you can fit in the case, or multiple smaller ones to get temps as low as possible.
thats what i was thinking full water cooling I already have the thermal take frio which gives much the same temps as the corsair cooler
These kits are a good starting point. I was going to use one of these as the basis for my build but went fully custom in the end. One of those will give you everything you need aside from the blocks for the chipset and the RAM if you're looking to cool those as well. They're a good saving as well, you just need the coolant/distilled water.
I would avoid using watercooling kits as there is usually a compromise in their equipment somewhere in order to keep the price down. If you want mega watercooling with trouble-free operation then I suggest you put your own equipment together, however, be prepared to spend big $$$. There are plenty of reviews at http://skinneelabs.com for watercooling gear with pictures and comparisons between brands for you to make your choice. Choose the biggest rads that you can fit and don't skimp on quality components or fittings as it's not worth the trouble of a leak. You have paid $1K+ for your 980X, about $400 for your mobo and decent $$ for that dominator RAM so it doesn't make sense to spend cheap on watercooling it. The Corsair H70 is a quality cooler and works well but there is still no substitute for a custom watercooling setup with a triple rad in the loop. There is not much point in watercooling your RAM as is doesn't get hot enough to warrant a waterblock. A RAM block will add considerable restriction to your loop especially if your are also going to cool your mobo. Use the Dominator fan and that will be enough. Essentially you need: 1) A waterblock 2) A pump 3) A radiator with some fans 4) A reservoir (optional, as it doesn't add any functionality to the loop, it is mainly aesthetic) 5) Tubing to connect it all together 6) Fittings, such as barbs or compression fittings to connect all the tubing to 7) A lot of space inside your case 8) Lots of money, as it will cost you almost as much as the hardware you are trying to cool. Use distilled water without any additives or dyes in combination with a silver coil and all will be fine ...
