Build Advice Watercooling my rig, and i need help badly!

So, let me begin by saying: I know squat about watercooling. No idea whatsoever about which brands supply quality items, dont have anything resembling intimate knowledge of what is needed for a complete, working watercooling rig, and so on and so forth.

So, I'll begin by stating what i want out of my rig. Since I do a lot of 3d renders, i need every last Hz squeezed out of my CPU, and I wanna overclock it. So CPU cooling is primary. My rig has an i7 920.
Secondary, I wanna make my computer more silent. I have two ATI Radeon HD 4870, and they are really good imo, but makes helluva racket once they are running under heavy load. Another problem with air-cooling those two is that my motherboard forces me to put them quite tightly together in the slots, which makes heat dissipation on the lower card quite low, as the top card blows all its heat straight down onto the lower one.

So, that said, I need a CPU and a dual GPU cooling rig. The first question that reaches my mind is - One serial liquid loop, or two parallel loops? Which one is the better? Are there radiators/pumps which can run two loops simultaneously?

Are there cooling blocks for my graphics cards? I've had a small look-around, and so far I've only found air-cooling devices for them.

What parts, generally, do I need to make a complete system? Other than the radiator, a pump and a t-junction for liquid refill or a reservoir, I have no idea what I need to get.

Which brands should I look for/prefer, and which ones should I stay away from?

Whats medium's the best to run in my liquid cooling system? Is there a largely recognised secondary medium, next to water, which is actually better?

Since I have very limited knowledge on this subject, i havent put a price roof on this project yet, so tip away. Construction-ready packages, parts etc, just hit me and i'll try to get my head around what kinda cost i can expect for a complete watercooling system.

If you know of any Stockholm-, or even Sweden-based shops/firms who do custom watercooling rigs for customers, I'd be much obliged if you gave me a heads up. International ones are cool as well, as long as they deliver internationally without adding an insane freight to the stuff.


Thanks in advance for any answer I'm hoping that I'm gonna get!

 

Corsair H50 is relatively easy to setup and use. It's had great reviews and costs around 60 quid.

 

Yeah, I've seen that one as well. The thing is, i wanna build something custom. And i want one cooling system for everything, rather than having to aircool everything but my CPU

 

It wont be cheap you understand.

I would go for Ek blocks for the build, there well done and honestly priced.

4870 waterclock that is crossfire compatible

CPU waterblock

Big radiator , as there is alot of heat to remove.

Pump, but you'll need two and this top

tubing

That is what i would pick, dual pumps that combine to become one pump to generate good flow rates, the tubing is the cheapest 1.2in they do, but its good stuff.

 

you don't need two pumps for that setup no way just buy one with this top as it includes a res as well http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product...-reservoir-complete-incl--decoupling-kit.html
and you need some fittings i recomend compression fittings http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product...tting-straight-G1-4--black-nickel-plated.html you will need 8 of these
and some collant http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product_info.php/info/p8047_Thermochill-EC-6-UV-Blue-1000ml.html
and a funnel is always usefull and finally 3 good fans http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product...0x120x25mm-3-Fach-Bundle--3xL-fterpaket-.html

you don't have to go with blue fans and blue coolant you can choose a different colour just make sure the coolant manufacture is the same fluidxp is no good

 

Are all those things possible to mount on the computer? Cause I'd prefer to have all my stuff in one package, not let the radiator and pump stand on the desk.

Wont I need to buy special couplings as well? I read some starter guide on water cooling, and they recommended... some kind of coupling that wasnt the barbed type (since there's a risk of the tubing cracking and leaking at the edges from the barbed kind of coupling), not sure what they were called. The guide said they were more expensive, but also more reliable (and that it would take a complete idiot to fail at securing them, which sounded like something that'd fit me). I'd rather go for the more expensive, less risky way of putting it together, as you can imagine

Also, I seem to remember reading something about testrunning it for 24+ hours before actually installing it. How do it do that? Color the water with some proper dye, put it all together, let it run and see that there's no leakage?

Then there was something about a... I'm not sure how to translate it into english... an anode (a piece of wire) in the reservoir to soak up any ionizing particles, to prevent corrosion on the metal parts. How does that work, or rather, how do i make it work? I know the chemistry behind, the question is - What type of wire should i use, and where is it preferential to put it?

 

So you're saying i should serial-couple the whole thing? Or do a t-junction just before and after the radiator and pump, to get two separate cooling loops? Cause from what I've heard, 2 separate loops are better than one

 

if you go 2 loops that will be more expensive and is going dwn the real enthuast route no need to do that and you won't need to do a t-junction as you have a res and yes it should just be one big loop

pump/res->cpu->gpu->rad->and back to the pump/res again i say pump/res as the top for the pump i recomended you gives you a res so you don't have to find a space for it

and what case are you using by the way this will determine if you can fit it all in or not?

and as you are buying from aqua tuning i should probably mention that they are having a 10% sale at the moment so at the check out type in ''Phobya''

 

I think the wire you are talking about is probably a coil of silver which will kill the bacteria, or something similar.

If you are using an actual coolant such as the thermochill (which by the way is highly recommended) then the silver coil isn't really necessary.

The dual loops are rarely worth the extra cost, they look very cool but there is a lot of debate on whether it is better than one loop with a good radiator in terms of price/performance.

You would be fine with a normal 360, or a "fat" 240 radiator.

As for leak testing, you hook up the entire loop, fill it up with coolant and run just the pump without the rest of the system running. A good way of doing this is either unplugging everything from the power supply, connecting up just the pump and shorting together the green wire and any other black wire with a paper clip to start up the power supply. Alternatively you can find an old power supply and do the same thing, I recommended using an old power supply which is out of the case, therefore not likely to get dripped on if you have a leak.

 

Aight, it starts feeling like i have the knowledge needed to put a decent watercooling system together, thanks everyone! Now its just a matter of picking what to buy

 

i just relised i counted wrong you will need 10 compression fittings not 8 sorry

and when you are testing for leaks plug all the powerconnectors in apart from the 24 pin plug and get a piece of wire (paper clip will do) and put one end of it into the green wire and the other end in any one of black wires this tricks the psu of thinking is being turned on but it is not

and don't worry about spilling fluid on pc components as long as it was not on at the time it will be fine just wipe it clean and sort out the leak

and always have some toilet paper spare to clean up any spilages also you will need to wrap up all the copression fittings just to make sure they don't leak so the paper soaks it up instantly

and what case do you have?

 

My case is an Antec 900 Two. So where exactly do i mount the rad and the pump/reservoir combo?

 

I need a compression fitting for each hose/module connection, right? So its two for the rad, two for the pump, two each for the cooling blocks... 10 sounds right, yeah. No need for one on the reservoir? Since i havent had a chance to examine the thing physically, i cant really tell if its needed or not myself

Edit: Another question: How do i power the whole thing? Will it be done through the PSU, or through som external cable i just hook up to a wallsocket?

 

the only thing you need to power is the pump and fans the pump will need a molex conector that is it and the fans will need 3x3pin conector i recomend you buy a fan controler and i am afrraid to say that you are going to have to mount the rad out side of the case as a 120.3 rad won't be able to fit in side that case not sure if you want to buy a new case?

the fan controller i recomend is the Zalman ZM-MFC1 http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product...-Fan-Speed-Controller-ZM-MFC1-Plus-black.html

to mount the rad out side of the case you will need this http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product_info.php/info/p7216_Koolance-Radiator-Montage-Halterung.html

 

As long as its all safely screwed together I don't mind having it on the outside. Its mainly about logistics, as i need to move the computer around quite a lot at times.

What about the pump and reservoir? Is there a way of securing it inside the case?

 

http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/shopping_cart.php/bkey/a858d762f6998a5df976028f803227df this is my shopping list so far, is that everything i need for a complete cooling setup?

 

I've got the 1200 setup like this


I went for a big single loop.

But layout would have 2 rads.
Pump>gpu>front rad>GPU>rear rad>pump/res


As for mounting the kit.

2x120 front rad mounted on one of the 3-1 fan blocks like my 360 linked above.

and the second rad mounted outside.

I'd mount the second rad externally on the 120mm fanmount using stad-off and use a pair of 90 degree rotating connectors, putting the pipes through the 2 grommeted wholes in the back of the 902.

 

You have a full tower though, don't you? Cause mine is a medium tower, and from what i can tell from a purely optical point of view, not having measured it, the way you have your heatsinks arranged... just doesn't quite fit in my case :/ The back radiator can't be squeezed in between the roof of the case and the graphics cards, and both my HDD cabinets are in use so i cant really fit one in there either. Guess i'll be going with a single radiator externally mounted on the back of the case.

 

that koolance back bracket is very clever and will help you when transporting the case as you can take it off and put it back on with it seems if you look at the pictures

 

So i will need to empty my system each time i transport it? That certainly wasn't convenient. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do... What's the easiest way to handle this?