Hi all, So, I'm putting together a build for a friend of mine, and have come up with the below spec. Thought it best to ask first, how does this build stack up for the budget, could I improve in any way? Budget: up to £2000 Main uses of intended build: Only gaming, laptop used for everything else Parts required: Have tried to choose below, more of a sense check post! Monitor resolution: 1920x1080 Storage requirements: 1TB storage and 256gig SSD for games/windows Will you be overclocking: Yes Any motherboard requirements: Overclocking motherboard Extra information about desired system: I've listed below what I think would be best Asus Rampage III Extreme ROG Intel Core i7 950 Bloomfield 45nm 2GB XFX HD 5970 Black 256GB Crucial RealSSD C300 1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 850W Corsair HX Series CMPSU-850HXUK Also, the final objective with this is to have cpu/gpu water cooling but its a bit out of my league (I use a corsair H50) to choose components for water cooling! Any advice anyone has for decent water cooling of cpu/gpu, the components/maufacturers that make decent parts etc please could you let me know.
The H50 isn't even real watercooling so this can get quite complicated as I try to explain. I guess first we should go over the list of parts you need for full water cooling. I don't know where you shop so im just going to type in the parts name and you can google them yourself. 1. Pump (MCP-655) 2. Waterblocks, 1 for GPU, 1 for CPU (Swiftech Apogee XT for CPU, and EK full cover block for GPU) 3. Radiator (At least a Thermochill PA120.3 , Feser is releasing their Admiral line of radiators at the end of this month, I would wait a bit) 4. Reservior (This is not a performing part so something cheap or something that looks nice) 5. Tubing (Get anything, I recommend 3/8" internal diameter as they are easier to route) 6. Fittings (Just make sure you get them the same size as your tubing.) 7. Distilled water (don't use pre-mixed coolant) 8. Fans (Scythe Gentle Typhoons, fan controller is also recommended) After you get all the parts together, all is left is putting it together. This task can be vary daunting. You would probably get something wrong and waste some tubing so make sure you get some extra tubing. Actually im sure you can find youtube videos of putting everything together. Note the price for watercooling far exceeds air coolers. You might not have enough budget for this.
I just finished buying bits for a CPU/GPU loop and it came to over £300, but this was all secondhand stuff so very much reduced price. If you bought all the bits in my build new it'd come to close to £600... It's also not something you'll be wanting to play with without lots of research first, I spent 6 months reading up about it before I selected my parts... Look out for my build log, I should be putting it up sometime next week
Im sorry I can't give you an exact qoute since im in Canada. Similar parts would run me about $400 CAD.
Same build as me, 950 aside. I can vouch for the parts you've listed above. Watercooling though, not my strong point so I'll leave that to others. Oh and, you'll need a fairly sizeable case for the 5970. Might be worth waiting for the high end 69xx cards too... but then a further wait for waterblocks, I guess?
After some research the MCP 355 + custom top would have better performance than a MCP 655. However the custom top would make it more expensive but allow G1/4 threading. Once again I don't know how much that would go for in the UK. The order of the components doesn't matter. It seems that the temperature of water going out of a block isn't that much hotter than it was going in (less than 1C difference). Unless you have 3-4 blocks and more than 1 radiator, that little difference won't add up to much. Otherwise connect everything using the shortest amount of tubing. Once again, don't use pre-mixed coolant. Just go distilled water because it doesn't gunk up your blocks. If you want UV reactivity. Go for UV reactive tubing, that means you need a black light for that too. I got some sexy UV orange tubing. Compression fittings are good. But the little koolance clamps I find work just as good but much cheaper. I do recommend extra security with fittings since PVC tubing is only good for about 50C before it expands enough to let go of a fitting. This can happen unnoticed if a couple fans fail, or a fan controller, maybe a water pump fails. What did it for me was a fan controller. My tubing fell off the pump and water was pumping all over the place but luckily my pump was in my drive bay and didn't do anything. I was using compression fittings since then. One time my pump's power connector got loose. I checked the hardware when my CPU overheated, I found the CPU block practically on fire and the tubing was soft as candy, but I was already using compression fittings so I was saved.
This is going to be a long reply. One thing you have not stated which is critical when choosing water cooling equipment is which case your friend is going to be using? "After some research the MCP 355 + custom top would have better performance than a MCP 655" Yes with a custom top it will, but that's an apples to oranges comparison. The MCP 655 will allow you to run big 1/4 ID tubing without needing to add a custom top. Adding a custom top to the MCP 655 will not only further improve performance but will also expand the inlet/outlet choices, which in turn increases the mounting options. I have had both so here is my opinion: MCP 355 is small, quiet and there is an incredible selection of aftermarket tops which all aim to improve it's already great performance: http://martin.skinneelabs.com/DDC32PumpTopTesting.html The MCP 355 can also be installed directly on a number of aftermarket reservoirs which may simplify installation, which for a beginner is not a bad option to consider. I have read a significantly higher number of posts from people who have had their MCP 355 break down than those owning the MCP 655. MCP 655 is considerably larger, but is arguably the best pump for multiple block's (+3) and radiators (+2). If you decide to buy this pump then make sure you choose the model branded "vario", this will give you a pump which enables you to control the flow rate (also read this as noise level). The faster it flows the noisier it gets, at it's highesrt it's a nightmare, if you dont get the vario model then your friend will kill you, especially since water cooling is as much about lower noise levels as it is about lower temps and performance. I have the MCP 655 (vario) in my computer at the moment, with an EK-D5 X-TOP, I have the pump on it's lowest setting and all I can hear are my hard drives. AFter installing the pump I stress tested my computer, whilst alternating the flow speed and can conclude that there was no difference in temperature from either my CPU or CrossFire GPU's. There are also after market tops which further increase the performance, and again there are reservoiurs which enable you to mount the pump directly onto it. When it comes to (CPU) water blocks you will get a lot of different advice, but you cant really go wrong with any of the top brands like alphacool, swiftech or EK. When it comes to (GPU) water blocks then EK seems to dominate the market, especially when it come to full cover blocks. I would recommend both EK for both CPU & GPU, they are super high quality, easy to install and are easily sourced. ( EK - Supreme HF & EK - FC5870) As for tubing I think this is more or less dependant on size of the case your using and personal preference. A famous modder called Gnome did a comparison a number of years ago (Cant find the link), which concluded that the difference was minimal. I have tried primochill, masterkleer, clearflex and Tygon. My personal preference is MasterKleer because its well priced, looks great and allows tight radius bends without collapse. Perhaps the best thing about it is that you get a super tight fitting when using G1/4 barbs. You need to dip the tubing in hot water, then squeeze it over the barb, when it's there it's not coming off! This means I dont need to use clamps which look like poop, and I personally think water cooling has an enormous aesthetic factor. In terms of coolant I have used Fluid XP (avoid like the plague), self mixed (ok), primochill (avoid like the plague) and Feser. I can only recommend Feser since it's by far the easiest since there is so little maintenance involved. This again will come down to personal preference and experience, since it differs for most. However I think that Feser pretty much dominate this market. Radiators are again an area where opinions differ greatly, but then again as long as your buying one from the top manufacturers like Thermochill, Feser, or HW Labs then you can go wrong. The temperature difference will not be any greater than 5c at the most so any of them will serve you well. Because your going to be overclocking then you'll want a tripple radiator, a quad would be overkill and will not increase your OC. Reservoir choices can basically be split into 3 categories, drive bay reservoirs, cylinder reservoirs and dual pump/reservoirs which as I stated before may simplify this for you since it's your first time. You dont need to buy the massive cylindrical ones, as even the smallest will give you the same performance as the large. As soon as the water has circulated around the system a few times then the coolant will be the same temperature. In terms of fittings I can only recommend bit power, but then it's a personal choice based on by choice of tubing. Look around the project and modding forums and you will see most using bit power without the need for clamps. At the end of the day when it comes to water cooling it's a lot more expensive than air cooling, more complex to setup, takes a lot more effort to make it look good, and requires a lot of patience and fore thought. Since this is your first time, and your friend is giving you a lot of money to spend then you really need to take your time. Again the choice of case is very important, and will either simplify or complicate your build, and make it a love or hate experience. You cannot however go wrong with the TJ07 from Silverstone which has achieved cult status. When it comes to watercooling you need to buy from the top manufacturers, and the saying that "you get what you pay for" rings true. There are so many horror stories from those who have bought cheap components. You will receive many different recommendations depending on which forum you post in but the performance difference will be minimal provided you buy from the top manufacturers. Simply do your research and you cannot go wrong. Setting up a water cooling loop is a very tedious job, which I personally dont think get's much easier through repetition. I have been doing it for about 10 years, have had a few leaks but have thankfully not lost any hardware yet. The leaks normally come during leak testing where you hook it all up to the hardware, route the tubing etc etc, remove the hardware, fill the system with coolant, bleed the system for air, run it for a few hours. Then when your positive that the system is sealed tight you put the hardware in again and get ready to oc. Hopefully my suggestions can help you. Like I said during the start you need to say which case your using, the choices will likely be the same but it will just enable us to give you the best possible advice. Good luck The good thing about the radiators, pump
I wouldn't get too hung up on the initail set up mate as the system evolves over time. All recomendations here are spot on
Just a couple of things, Silver Kill coil to stop nasty gunk - They work Fans - you need at least 3 or 4 depending on RAD size, factor in the cost for those also. As for price, have a look around then email the site/shop and ask for a deal - you will be spending a lot of money !! PS it's BitSpower not Bit power they have an S in middle. Then compression or Barbs, Compression is easier to refit and fiddle with, do you need a drain port & fill port? Have a look at some old CPC magazine builds for examples. PS how about Powder coating the inside for an nice look ?
avr cost of water cooling ranges from £300 bottem end ( will handle cpu overclock or gpu overclock usauly not both) £600+ for high end (duel gpu and high end cpu with overclock on both ) and you should research this heavily before entering into it. case choice is also critical for water cooling. corsiar obsid 800d is one of the better cases for it
