Water Cooling Options

Looking to build a new water cooled system using Phanteks Enthoo Primo Ultimate Chassis. Will likely be using twin radiators, thinking a 420 for the GFX and a 280 for the CPU. Acoustics (low noise is a primary consideration so will be using 10 fans for the radiators in push-pull configuration. Enthoo's PWM hub will enable PWM function to all 3-pin fans.

Limitations are:
Top Rad = 3 x 140 < 70mm Thick
Bottom Rad = 2 x 140 < 145mm wide

Phanteks PH-F140SP
Speed (RPM) - 1200 ± 250 rpm
Max Airflow - 82.1 CFM
Acoustical Noise - 19 dB (A)
Static Pressure - 1.33mm H2O
Fan Dimensions - 140 x 140 x 25mm

Would appreciate any recommendations for selection regarding radiators for this application. Spent hours searching the web but little data on newer design / 140mm radiators and just about all the links on selection are 2007 vintage or links 404'ing.

 
OK, spent the day researching ..... here's a 1st draft of CPU loop

Updates in Italics

Reservoir - Bitspower Dual / Single D5 Top Upgrade Kit 150 - Black (BP-D5TOPUK150P-BKBKCL)
Pump Mod Top - Bitspower Dual D5 Mod Top Extreme - Acrylic / UV Red Version (BP-2D5TOPAC-UVRD)
Pumps - with 2 x Swiftech MCP655q x 12v Water Pump w/ Variable Speed Control and 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH)
Reservoir Pipe Bitspower G 1/4 Matte Black Aqua-Pipe II (BP-MBWP-C18)

Radiator (2) @ Case Bottom - XSPC EX280 Dual 140mm Low Profile Split Fin Radiator 143 x 36 x 320 mm (WxDxH)
Radiator Gasket - XSPC 2 x 140mm Radiator Gasket - 3mm
Radiator Fans (3) - Phanteks PH-F140SP (140 x 140 x 25mm) 1200 ± 250 rpm, 82.1 CFM, 19 dB (A), Static Pressure - 1.33mm H2O
Water Block - XSPC RayStorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Black Edition (Intel) (Sockets LGA 115x / 1366 / 2011)
Face Plate - XSPC Aluminum Red Edition Mounting Face Plate - Intel Raystorm CPU Block
Fill Port - Bitspower G1/4" Female / Female Pass-Through Fitting - (Fillport) - Matte Black (BP-MBWP-C04)
Fill Port Plug Bitspower G1/4" Low Profile Matte Black Stop Plug w/ O-Ring (BP-MBWP-C09)

G1/4" x 3/8" ID Rotary Comp. Fittings - Bitspower Matte Black Ultimate G 1/4 Thread 3/8" ID x 1/2" OD Rotary Compression Fitting (BP-MBRCPF-CC2)
Tubing - Tygon 2475 Ultra Chemical Resistant Plasticizer Free Tubing - 3/8" ID (1/2" OD) - Clear (ACG00027)
Rigid Tubing - PrimoChilll 1/2" OD Rigid Acrylic Tube - 4x 24" Pack - Clear
Coolant Concentrate - Mayhems - Pastel Red Coolant Concentrate


(1) Dual pumps for Redundancy, questioning whether to go Variable Speed
(2) Recommendations on anything better / thicker
(3) Anybody seen these yet

Oh....BTW, here's the build

Case - Phanteks Enthoo Primo Ultimate Chassis
Radiator Fans (3) - Phanteks PH-F140SP (140 x 140 x 25mm) 1200 ± 250 rpm, 82.1 CFM, 19 dB (A), Static Pressure - 1.33mm H2O
PSU - Corsair AXi AX860i or AX1200i
Sleeved Cable Set - Single Braid Maxcord Cable Set
MoBo - Asus Maximus VI Formula
RAM - (2 x 8GB) Muskin CAS 9 DDR3-1866
GFX - 2 x Asus GTX 770 4GB
TIM - 3 x Mascool G751 Shin-Etsu Thermal Interface Material
Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB
SSD - Samsung 840 Pro MZ-7PD512BW 2.5" 512GB
Optical - Asus Blue Ray Burner
Monitor - 3x ASUS VG248QE Black 23" 144 Hz Monitor
Keyboard - Undecided
Mouse - Undecided
Headset - Undecided
Speakers - Logitech Z5500 (Existing)
OS - Windows 7 64 Bit Professional OEM

Suggestions ?
Alternates ?
Missing Items ?
 
If you havent already, I suggest you read the water-cooling sticky.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

There are relatively few reviews on 140mm rads, as you said there pretty new and water-cooling as a niche subject doesnt have that large a review culture around it. Most of the reviews out there are made by particularly technical enthusiasts, like Martin or Skinee.

I recommend you dont bother with a coolant, plain Distilled Water + Killcoil/Biocide will do fine. Also dont fall into the trap of buying "Premium" distilled, its all the same except for the price and packaging. Whatever Distilled/De-ionized/Demineralized your local supermarket or auto shop has will do fine.
If you want colour in the loop, do it through your tubing and lighting effects.

Are you making dual loops? Basically one whole loop for the CPU and another for the GPU?
This way will get you the best performance, but at a much higher cost as your buying everything twice and increase in complexity. If your goal isnt too get every last bit of cooling performance, your probably better off having it all in the one loop.

1. Makes sense. Might as well, theres no downside to giving yourself options.
I recommend that you reconsider the bay mounted pump/reservoir. Its nearly impossible to decouple a bay mounted unit, so you will get a lot of vibration induced noise (especially since you have two pumps on there). I suggest two standalone pumps and seperate reservoir.

2. A fan is typically 25mm thick, so with push/pull you'v lost 50mm of your 70mm of space. You will need to drop a fan to get anything thicker than 20mm. Have a look into the RX and AX series of rads.

3. Never heard of them.

Otherwise the loop looks fine. Add in the GPU's, put them in parallel and you'l be set to go.
 
Yes..... read that sticky and about 20 others.... :) But most are outta date and the links dead (i.e. Skinee).

As for the coolant and design, two of the things that kept me away from water cooling in the past have been:

a) The look .... all that bent tubing just look so haphazard and "not neat" that it bothered me. Wanna see perty ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVPehMaHgM8&feature=player_embedded
b) Cost .... and this one still gnawing at me .... the cost is hard to justify given the performance gains ($773 for
the basics.... another $211 for "fittings" if I go with "straight tubes") so that puts more emphasis on a)

So with "aesthetics" being a primary design component, straight lines and colors are important to the build..... I wouldn't use that fusion stuff but the Mayhem pastel coolant has biocide and corrosion inhibiters, the latter of which ..... which if ya read the design of the Maximus VI Formula has coated aluminum and while they say the coating is inert and safe from galvanic action, always wanna be on the safe side. BTW, this is the "look" I am aiming for

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_FORMULA
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?33364-Maximus-VI-Formula-Show-Casemod-MbK

Damned if I can figure out the purpose of the "2nd story" reservoir in that MDK build.

As for the multiple loops, yes. I am planning the 1st loop for the CPU at this time and will do the SLI loop later on. I'm anxious to see how the Poseidons do actual in testing ..... the hybrid design look nice, and allow for convenient upgrades "down the road" but will they perform close to a straight block ???? I don't know ... Dat is de question :)
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Asus-ROG-GTX-770-Poseidon,22899.html

1.a Yes, the reservoir issue is one that bothered me .... but it sure is convenient :). There appears to be plenty of space for separate pump and reservoir. Howz this look ..... only $55 more for peace and quiet :) ?

Bitspower Dual / Single D5 Top Upgrade Kit 150 - Black (BP-D5TOPUK150P-BKBKCL)
Bitspower Dual D5 Mod Top Extreme - Acrylic / UV Red Version (BP-2D5TOPAC-UVRD)
with 2 x Swiftech MCP655q x 12v Water Pumps pre-asembled w/ Variable Speed Control and 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH)


1.b Seems to be a lot of contradiction on pumps in the various stickies ..... some push the 35x pumps for flow rate but then lotta stickies saying rate and tubing size matter, it's very little difference when actually measured. And with two pumps in series .... I gotta imagine two of the 655's is more than enough ?

2. The RX and AX are not made in 280 / 420 as far as I know. Maybe 240 or 360 (CPU) / (480) GPUs is the way to go but then would have to toss the case's supplied fans..... no biggie.... plenty of roon for them at other mounting points. As for dimensions, I kinda took it that the radiator limits referred to the radiator ONLY. It sure looks like FAT radiators fit in push pull. See the H2O video here:

http://phanteks.com/#&panel1-1&panel2-1

3. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ph-f140sp-ph-f140xp-fan-phanteks-Cooling,23792.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Phanteks-Enthoo-Primo-Case-Enclosure,23778.html

4. Seems to me I don't want the reservoir return splashing. Would this be the doo dad that eliminates that ?
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11866/ex-tub-716/Bitspower_G_14_Matte_Black_Aqua-Pipe_II_BP-MBWP-C18.html

5. The Pump Top / Reservoir thing has what appears to be an inlet and outlet on the Pump Top / Reservoir Bottom and a fill port on the top. Since one bottom port will be the pump discharge, I'm thinking of using the other bottom port as a drain with a quick-disconnect "no spill" fitting to make life easier
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16077/ex-res-370/Bitspower_Dual_Single_D5_Top_Upgrade_Kit_150_-_Black_BP-D5TOPUK150P-BKBKCL.html#blank

Thanks for your T & E (time and effort)