Corsair 900d Water Cooling

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jdevers

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Jun 2, 2013
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So I just got my Corsair Obsidian 900D in the mail yesterday. I knew it was going to be big, but not until I saw it did I realize how big it was. I was planning on doing a simple water cooled loop in it, but now I'm thinking about making a nice big project out of it with two seperate loops since I wont be spending a ton of money on a new Haswell build.

I need to cool an i7-970 and an ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard on one loop. And two (eventually three) GTX 780s on the second. I run my 970 at 4.0 GHz on air now with a HAF 932 and V8 air cooler. I've gotten the CPU to 4.5 with a big voltage bump, but the temps wouldn't allow me to run it stable. My goal is to run 4.5 GHz all the time. I've never overclocked a vidja card before, but I'm planning on having some fun with the GTX 780s.

I want a radiator mounted on the top and in the front, and then possibly one on the bottom side mounted opposite the PSU. If you aren't familiar with the 900D this is hard to explain.

My last water cooling build I did was for an FX55 and a pair of GTX 7800s. I've spent probably 12 hours on FrozenCPU and YouTube and various websites researching parts. Basically I've looked and Koolance radiators, Koolance fittings, HeatKiller GPU blocks, and EK CPU blocks. Those cylinder reservoirs seem to be the cool kid thing to do now so I've been looking at those also, however I think I prefer a bay reservoir.

As for budget, whatever it takes really. I don't want to go extravagant. I don't care about 1-2 degrees difference if the cost is high. Are the EK blocks worth the price difference than say the HeatKiller for the LGA1366?

Basically the questions I have are:

1. Would it be possible to cool everything and run 2 - 3 quad or triple radiators with a single loop? Or should I stick with the dual loop?


2. What parts do you guys recommend? What parts have you actually used? Fittings?

3. Any other insight you guys might have. How to arrange the components in the loop. Good mounting points for pumps and reseviors. Fan position. (I would prefer a pull system on all the fans with a main exhaust fan in the back and on the back side of the case next to the PSU - I live in Arizona and its easier to clean dust off radiators in pull configurations).

Thanks for your help guys.
 
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Buzz247

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Mar 18, 2013
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Might I suggest, before going too much further, hitting the links for Skinee and Martinlabs in the watercooling sticky. You can get a ton of "fan boy" opinions, but nothing beats real performance data and comparison reviews.

Yes single loop is fine, and especially with regards to tubing jungles, is preferred. Sticky covers that no significant gains come from dual loop. You probably will want 2 pumps in series. And since your wanting a bay res, look at the Alphacool Dual Repack. Designed for 2 pumps series or parallel, kick ass lighting options, and a great fill port design. Frozen carries the res only so any D5 pump can be installed, or pre installed with Alphacool D5 655 variant.

Why not use fan filters/grill filters?
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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May 11, 2012
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1. Yup, get a strong enough pump/s, set up the loop right (cards in parallel) and have enough rad space and you can do it in a single loop.

2. Thats for you to figure out ;)
One thing I will say (and in complete opposite to Buzz's recommendation), dont get a 5.25" bay mounted pump. Vibration induced noise, just urgh.

3. If its a serial loop, doesn't matter unless you care about 1-2°C differences. Res before pump and physically above is all that really matters.
Though in your case, parallel cards will be an important factor, but its fairly easy to do.
 
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Buzz247

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I only recommended that res cuz that's what the OP said he wanted. Normally I'd agree with you. But nothing a 2-4mm flat of neoprene sound absorbing mat can't fix. If OP wants, OP gets lol

Pumps are supposed to be mounted with neoprene mats on case floor, why would you not do it with a bay mount?
 
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jdevers

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Thanks for the input guys. I liked the idea of that bay res, but I didn't really like the look of it too much. Also, the 900D only has 4 front drive bays and if I want to fit a fan controller in there it might get crowded with all the bays filled up. I've decided on the Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 250. I think. I'm just trying to find a way to mount two side-by-side without too much modding. But then again, I don't think I would see any performance increase with two. Or do I need to have a res before the second pump?

The other parts I'm considering are the Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 480mm for my top and side radiator. The Swiftech MCP655 with speed controller. And the EK Supremacy Water Block. I chose the Acetal and Nickel. Not only is it cheaper, but I like the look. Not using the full Nickel block wont effect performance will it? The only think I'm concerned about are the fittings for the CPU block. So far I've chosen Bitspower 1/2" ID 5/8' OD compression fittings. But I'm not sure those will fit together on the block.

Speaking of Bitspower fittings. I'd love to do the whole build using there fittings and the least amount of tubing possible, but trying to figure out which parts actually fit together is a nightmare. I'm sure another 4 hours of research and I'll be able to figure it out.

Any input on those parts? From what I understand, the D5 variants seem to be the best pumps to use together. I know some of the pumps from Swiftech come with the modded tops, but do these effect performance much or are they just cosmetic? And the radiator seems to be pretty cheap, which makes me hesitate, but I did read some good reviews saying it has good performance in push/pull configuration with low to mid RPM fans. I'm planning on using the Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition fans.

So far, I have my loop planned as res - pump - top 480 rad - cpu - motherboard - bottom 480 rad - gpu 1 - gpu 2 - front 360 rad. My question is, where should the second pump go, and does it need a res before it?

And then I completely second guess myself and just say heck, do two loops.

Again, thanks for the input guys.


 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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May 11, 2012
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As long as the pump is flooded before your turn it on, your all good. A res before the 2nd pump would guarantee that, but if you have the pumps right next to each other than you should be fine.
The volume of water only impacts performance for a few minutes after you turn it on, unless your talking literal buckets of water.

The baseplate that makes contact with the CPU is most likely going to be Copper anyway, Nickel is largely used for plating and and making blocks look all shiny. The reason is the Acetal is cheaper is because its basically plastic, and its cheaper to make the face of the block with that rather than something like Nickel plated Brass.

More than likely your components and fittings are using G1/4 threads, if so then they are fine to work together.
Though some combinations of blocks and certain size (OD) compression fittings can cause issues, make sure your good there.

Again G1/4" threads on all your components, and with compression fittings make sure your tubing ID and OD are the same as the fitting.

D5's are a pretty common and a good choice. Pump heads can alter performance (especially on DDC pumps), but mainly are cosmetic or convenience pieces.
Radiators are pretty cheap, they are basically just heatsinks, nothing too complex to manufacture or design. Though some of the uber-thick 60+mm rads can get expensive.

You could put the pumps next to each other in the flow order, that will make it easy to keep both flooded. Or you can put them at opposite ends of the loop, you would want a 2nd reservoir for this usage.
 
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Buzz247

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If, for example, your res is mounted higher than your pumps (pumps on case floor, res on hdd cage) gravity would ensure flooding. If filling loop, simply do not power second pump right away if it is further down the loop. Both pumps don't need to run for deaeration. Purpose of a second pump In most setups is to increase head pressure and insure high flow rates through out the loop
 
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