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Watercooling I fancy diving in

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Dopeyman, 22 Apr 2012.

  1. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Hi all,

    Recently the urge to watercool has taken its toll and i've decided to go for it, not before a lot of research.
    I've decided to do it one step at a time, start with cpu then move on to gpu and eventually sli. So the first question i have is does anyone have any idea about the utgard? id like to start with it while just cooling the cpu? I think i can fit a 240 rad in no problem?
    Second question is just the one rad enough for cpu? and how many/sizes of rads will i need for sli so i can start collecting the right parts.
    Third and final question for now... what are combo pump/res units like? or is it better to go for seperate?

    Many thanks :)
     
  2. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    Have you had a look through my thread (link in sig)? It'll get you started plus has links to watercooling review sites.

    What budget are you working with?
     
  3. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Yes I've had a good read through and found it very usefull thanks. Tbh it is partly to blame for me wanting to water cool ;)
    I'm not to worried about budget but would rather do it bit at a time so I'm not spending one huge lump. That's why if I can I would like to start with my existing case then expand as I go.
     
  4. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    The only issue could be that your cpu produces a ton of heat...
     
  5. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Sorry im not sure what you mean. Because I have a bad CPU? Or trying to do it in my old case?
     
  6. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    Oh no, I mean runnig your whole setup off a 240mm rad. You wouldn't be getting that much extra cooling.
     
  7. Plodder

    Plodder What's a Dremel?

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    Hi dopeyman.
    First of heres a usefull link to help you.

    http://skinneelabs.com/

    Best place to start when designing a water cooling system is to work out how many watts the componants you will be cooling will use.

    You will be able to find most of this information by googling it, there are also calculators you can find for working out wattage figures for overclocking cpu's if you intend to that.

    As a rule of thumb a 120.3 rad will be enough for a cpu and 1 gpu.
    Please note this is a very general rule of thumb. Not only does the amount of heat vary depending on your cpu/gpu but it can vary massively. Hence the need to have some idea of what componants you will be cooling. (Note you can always add more rads anyway, externally if they dont fit in your case)

    A decent 120.3 would probably be good for 95 calories per second, which is about 400 watts. Again different factors affect this, probably the biggest being fan speed, although flow rate, waterblocks, thermal compound and ambient temperature all play a part.
    For example, a 120.2 with faster/better fans could cool as well as a 120.3 with slower or less efficient fans.

    Generally a bigger radiator will allow you to run the fans at a slower speed for a quieter system. Radiators designed for slower speed fan generally have a low fpi (fins per inch) to allow better air flow through them, again check the link above for this.

    Summery:
    Your current cpu will use about 150 watts at stock, your gpu is about 220, so with a total of 370.
    As bloody_pete stated this is pretty much the limit for a 120.2 and would need some hefty/noisy fans to be effective. A 120.3 could do the job well, and add another 120.2 if you go sli.

    With the utguard case you would probably need to mount the the 120.3 outside the case (if you went sli and had the rad sizes mentioned above). Might be better to go for a full tower if these are your intentions. Cant really give any advice there, maybe somebody else can.

    Personally i like sperate pump and res espeically if you are thinking of sli. I wont go into that for now, see what other people think, ive already rambled on to much :naughty:

    Hope this helps a bit.
     
  8. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Thank you very much for the replies :)

    I think you have pretty much answered exactly what I need to know. To get myself started I can just do the CPU using a 120.2 (please correct me where I'm wrong) in my current case, then once I've got a bigger case I can start to include the gpu/s. So am I right in saying that if I add a 120.3 with the 120.2 as well that would cover sli and CPU?

    The list of components I need to buy is quite large, ie bigger case and psu, another gpu and all water cooling bits. This is why I would like to do small steps if I can.

    I have been looking at the Elysium but for my own taste it is a little large so I'll try to keep looking.

    Thanks :)
     
  9. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    Yeh, I went for a massive case, as I wanted lots of space. For good watercooling big cases are needed, although I've seen some great setups in smaller cases.

    Personally I'd aim just for 1 360mm 60mm thick rad like a XSPC RX360 as that'll easily cool your setup. Other cases to look at are:

    CM HAF 932/X
    CM ATCS 840
    Corsair 700/800D
    NZXT Switch 810
    Silverstone TJ07
     
  10. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Ok great cheers I'll have a look through them. I'm not totally against I massive case, I just want to find a happy medium.

    Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys. It's given me a good direction to go in.
     
  11. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Oh sorry, one more question......

    How much power does the pump use? I know that I will have to replace my true power 650w for the sli set up but will it be ok before then?
     
  12. Plodder

    Plodder What's a Dremel?

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    D5 are 23 watts, i dont know of any that use more than that. Some pumps use much less down to as little as 2 watts.

    Yea its fine before you get sli :thumb:
     
  13. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Ah that's good to know then. Thanks for the help.

    I'm sure I'll be back to ask more later ;)
     
  14. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    I'm liking the look of the nzxt switch. Looks exactly what I'm looking for in both style and practicality.

    My only concern is the plastic look on it but reviews don't seem to bad about it so I don't think it will be a problem.
     
  15. Bloody_Pete

    Bloody_Pete Technophile

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    It looks like good plastic rather than bad plastic though. One of the few comapnies to use plastic as a design material rather than because it's cheap...
     
  16. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    That's what I was hoping. I watch a long vid review and they said exactly that ;)

    I think I'm going to buy that first, at least then I know where I am with getting water cooling parts to fit
     
  17. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    One of the lads is selling one on the marketplace. You might be able to do a deal. You need 75 posts to get in there though. Keep chatting!
     
  18. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    That's got to be worth having a look at! Is it in white or black?
     
  19. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    White. He's asking £120 as its brand new, but I'm sure there is some negotiation to be done.
     
  20. Dopeyman

    Dopeyman Minimodder

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    Nice one. Cheers for that :) not many posts to go lol
     

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