Although I understand water cooling in theory I have no true knowledge of good parts or brands. The plan is to internally mount the radiator by modding my current top panel and copying this; That will then be cooled by my aluminium fan plan for the top panel setup like this; Instead of the filter the radiator will be along the length under the meshx. There will be no fan guards so fingers beware! I may add grills at a later date when I order my planned Q9450 and 55nm gtx260. I have 2 fans spare after I do this so may put them onto the rad underneath but not close enough to block the other 5.25" bays Parts Pump:http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=77_74&products_id=387 cpu block: http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_28&products_id=1126 Radiator: http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=37_73&products_id=932 <-- I need it to fit within the top 2 5.25 bays including space for the 25m thickness fans so limitted to 90mm Resevoir:http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=347 Tubing?? coolant: distilled water with some biocide Fan controller: Scythe Kaze Master Ace 5.25inch Fan Controller - Silver Mainly for other case fans not the watercooling loop Meshx: http://www1.acryan.com/_meshx/meshxpanel.shtml Works out to approx £300 p.s. This won't just be to cool the cpu it will eventually include cooling a 55nm 260, Q9450 and possibly a dedicated 8800gts 640mb as physx. Not worth selling my 8800gts pair second hand money would be to low.
I would advise heading over to www.watercoolinguk.co.uk their parts are cheap, the shop is easy to use and their forum has the widest knowledge of watercooling I've seen! You could get a better (looking) pump for cheaper from their and, as I said, the shop is just generally very user friendly.
From what you've put, the Thermochill is one of the best radiators out there but quite large aswell. The pump you put, I don't know much about, the Laing DDC series are great, the Pro for a regular size loop or the Ultra for a large loop. The GTZ is great, there's also XSPC's offerings and D-Tek. The big names with watercooling are Feser, Thermochil, XSPC, D-Tek and Laing pretty much. Thermaltake make the worst watercooling gear ever pretty much, steer clear.
I am quite a big techy on other forums don't really come on here much just realised my sig is ancient lol . Thats about as much as I know about watercooling and zalman should also be avoided or rather any pre setup kits are going to bite you in the ass eventually.
Lol, i'm using the Zalman Reserator, and i'm quite happy with it I think i'll soon replace the blocks though, they look horrible! Performance for me is not THAT much of an issue, as i'm only halfway serious about wanting to get a good overclock. EDIT: oh yeah, EK is also a good brand when it comes to watercooling.
EK, I knew I had forgotten another make. And yes, Zalman aren't much of an enthusiast make, XSPC kits are the best premade kits on the market but it's always best to make you're own really.
just made this on ocuk, this is pretty much using well known reputable brands and contains everything you need as far as i can tell TFC Xchanger - Triple Radiator 360 Laing DDC 1+ Ultra 18W 12V DC Pump EK Supreme i7 Acetal (Socket A,754,939,AM2,478,LGA775 & LGA1366) CPU Water Block Scythe Kaze Master Ace 5.25inch Fan Controller - Silver XSPC Single Bay Reservoir - Black XSPC X2O Universal Delta Chipset Water Block Feser Tube Blue UV 1/2 - 1M Length X2 EK 1/2" Hose fitting X8 XSPC Tubing Clip For 1/2" Hose X10 I cant be bothered to hyperlink it all, just go on ocuk and search for it
Davevader the shop you reccomended is good but my prospective loop has been on there for a couple of hours with no beneficial reply I am sure its just the calm before the storm I know people sometimes just click over people with low post counts as there are to many mistakes to put the effort in lol. revised list (updated original post aswell) Parts Pump:http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=77_74&products_id=387 cpu block: http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_28&products_id=1126 Radiator: http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=37_73&products_id=932 <-- I need it to fit within the top 2 5.25 bays including space for the 25m thickness fans so limitted to 90mm Reservoir:http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=347 Tubing?? coolant: distilled water with some biocide Fan controller: Scythe Kaze Master Ace 5.25inch Fan Controller - Silver Mainly for other case fans not the watercooling loop Meshx: http://www1.acryan.com/_meshx/meshxpanel.shtml Works out to approx £300
They do take their time but give quality advice. I'll give you a list of alternatives to what you have there (to possibly save money) 10 Watt Laing DDC, there are also various tops for this, the res top is highly recommended or you can use the bay res as you suggested. The Aqua Computer Cuplex is very good, as is the XSPC Delta as cheaper alternatives to the GTZ. That rad is excellent with a couple of these fans. That could give you a small help. something-brought-to-my-attention-edit: What is the plus side of having a dedicated Physx card? I don't know much about the technology so was curious. (I know it's not affecting the loop, just wanted to know ) Edit 2: as for tubing, 7/16" ID tubing over 1/2" barbs is always advised. Or you can use compression fittings or just normal barbs and hose clips.
Meh money is there to burn with this loop I want the best as I want it to last me for aslong as I have the case and I am planning to keep this case for life lol. I want it to last a few upgrades and so want plenty of headroom several other forums have said my parts are excessive and thats the kinda setup they would reccomend for a I7 sli or triSLI build. Oddly enough the only reply on watercoolersuk says "struggle to cool all that on one rad" but I sure he misread as its only a cpu and gpu. A friend reccomended the D5 or DDC and said the D5 was a little better so I think its worth the extra cost. I read some good reviews on the GTZ plus the addition of thumbscews I love as I am sick of using air cooling and sprung screws that are at impossible angles to tighten it would seem.
A 360rad on CPU and GPU would be alright, depends on heat output, overclock and what it is used for but a graphics card is a hot component, whichever way you look at it. I would recommend the DDC personally, you can change the tops and thus change the barbs which you cannot do on the D5. Most CPU blocks (if not all) come with some form of thumbscrew system I think.
I am not on excessive overclocker I like cpu when its idling around 40C and goes upto low 50's on testing. I shall look more into both the pumps then. Is there any benefit to having 2 reservoirs?
Ok, I'm going to call you out on that one. I'd like to see the reviews of premade kit tests? Swiftech makes a very good premade kit and I'd like to see how xspc beats it. Don't get me wrong, xspc has some good watercooling gear but I've never seen or heard anything saying they have the best premade kit before.
The only one ive used is the swiftech compact 220 or somthing, put it into one of the several computers i build for friends and people i know and it worked well, but nowere near as good as a custom made kit
