New System - Need Help on Custom Cooling

Bounti · Sep 1, 2013

Hey guys, I've been putting together this system for my next build and I've decided to go full custom watercooling. However, I have no idea where to start. I'm going with a gtx 780 hydrocopper and an i7-4770k. I need recommendations on the absolute best way to cool these components (gpu, cpu, chipset, memory?) and what I'll need.

Here is the build:

cpu - i7-4770k

graphics - gtx 780 hydrocopper

motherboard - maximus vi formula

ram - dominator plat 1600mhz 16gb

hard drive - western digital 1tb black

ssd - samsung 840 pro 256gb

optical drive - asus 24b1st

power supply - corsair ax860

case - corsair 800d or 900d?

Any feedback is welcome! Thanks

manofchalk · Sep 2, 2013

Well, this is where you start

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

From there, pull together a loop you think will work and post it here for feedback. We will give advice and make suggestions until you end up with a good loop. You will find the water-coolers here wont just give you a loop like we would a system build, our job here is to make sure you don't stuff up, not do it for you.

I wouldnt bother putting any dedicated cooling on the chipset and memory, as long as you have decent case airflow they should be fine.

800D vs 900D, depends on your budget and your upgrade plans for this loop.

Bounti · Sep 5, 2013

After reading through the sticky and doing a hefty amount of research on parts I think I've made some progress. However, I'm now torn between a few decisions and parts. I've chosen the Noctua NF-F12s for my fans.

1. I'm not sure which radiator to use with them, perhaps XSPC AX480?
2. Is a 480mm radiator enough for a gtx 780 and i7-4770k, both possibly over clocked? Would an extra rad and pump be better?
3. Any recommendations for the best pump for this setup? Money is no issue. Swiftech's mcp line sounds good, which is best? And for reservoir?
4. Is a 900d a good choice for this setup or is it too large?
5. Where you would place the radiator and fans in the case for optimal cooling?

Cheers, thanks once again.

manofchalk · Sep 5, 2013

1. If your ponying up for NF-F12's, you will definitely want to be using a thicker rad. The AX series is a good option, so is the RX. May even want to look into the Monsta rads which can get up to 80mm thick I believe.

2. A thick one would suffice I think, though having extra rad space is never a bad thing.

3. A D5 pump would be enough I think, Swiftech's variants are common choices though in reality their all roughly the same. Get whatever you want for the reservoir, they dont impact performance.

4. Theres no such thing as too large

If your looking at thick 480mm rads, you might just need that space. The 800D is a good water-cooling case, but not to that level I think.

5. Radiator, start with the top of the case exhausting air. If you have the 900D, then a rad in the basement blowing air through.
Case fans, stock standard config. Front and side intake, rear and top exhaust.

Bounti · Sep 5, 2013

Thanks for clearing that up!

1. Would you recommend any other fans? I chose Noctua just because of the amazing praise you find all over. I'm planning on getting perhaps 10 or so. I heard the typhoons are good, as are the corsair sp 120s. Also, I'm trying to have a good balance between cooling and noise.

2. Which rad do you think performs better overall? The RX series sounds pretty good if I should go for thickness and low dpi, will it perform better than the ax?

3. Would two 480s, one at the bottom or one at the top be overkill? I was thinking the air flow would be more cool if I just had fans blowing in air at the bottom, rather than another rad.

4. Will the fans that I'm using to cool the radiators do just fine in bringing in and exhausting air? Or will I need a different line of fans for that?

5. Is any d5 pump fine? I was looking for a reliable one that can last me a while. Is the mcp655 or the mcp35x good in this regard? Are there better?

Sorry for all the questions, I appreciate your time man. Thank you

manofchalk · Sep 6, 2013

1. Noctua NF-F12's, Scythe Gentle Typhoons 1850's, Silverstone Air Penetrators and Corsair SP120's are all the typically recommended water-cooling fans. Any of them are a good choice, though I would say the Noctua's are the best.

2. Depends on your fans. Besides, look up reviews and I bet you will find your answer.
http://martinsliquidlab.org/

3. For a CPU and 780, a single thick 480mm could handle it I think.

4. Radiator fans you are looking for a high Static Pressure value (in laymans terms, how hard it pushes air). While with case fans you want a high CFM (volume of air moved per minute). I reckon the stock fans that come with the case would be adequate for airflow.

5. Just about any D5 will be fine, though Swiftechs models are particularly popular. I would avoid the MCP35X as its a DDC pump and they are known to have temperature issues.
The only other major pump design thats easily available would be a Jingway pump, EK make a couple. Though I wouldnt recommend them as I can not find a review on it, so dont know how it performs. If you can find an Iwaki pump, they are about as good as they get but are rare and expensive.
Their is also the custom designed Koolance PMP-500 which I use, in terms of head pressure it is quite strong (almost double that of a D5) though it is loud.

Bounti · Sep 6, 2013

All right, I'll stick with Noctua.

1. Will having a radiator and 4 pull fans sucking in air at the bottom impede airflow that would be coming in with 4 fans and no radiator instead?

2. After searching a bit I think I'm going with the mcp655 pump, however I'll need a pump top and reservoir for this, any recommendations?

3. Will the ax860 be enough for all these cooling components? I think in total I'll have over 10 custom fans.

4. Should I take advantage of the asus rog board's water cooling potential and go ahead and cool the chipset?

5. Are there any go to cpu blocks for the 3770 or 4770k processors?

6. Finally, any ideas on what type of color scheme I should go for? I wanted to go white, silver, or beige, but the rog board mucks that up...

Thanks again mate.

manofchalk · Sep 6, 2013

1. Well, it is a giant hunk of metal in front of your fans. Airflow will be impeded. Though remember you still have airflow from the front of the case.

2. The stock pump top is sufficient IMO, but if you really want to change it I would go for a Bitspower one. Reservoir get whatever you want, they dont impact performance in any way.

3. Thinking thats a PSU and not the XSPC AX series of rads?
860W will be plenty I think, fans consume something like 3W at peak and a D5 pump is typically ~25W. In terms of power consumption, a water-cooling loop is pretty small.

4. You can if you want, but don't expect much benefit from doing so.

5. Not particularly. The XSPC Raystorm is a popular choice given its price-point, the Koolance 380i is held up as one of the better performing blocks.

6. Beige :lol:
http://www.corsair.com/us/900d-seb
Red and Black is a common colour scheme and would obviously fit the board. You could go blue, as blue light would make the board appear black.

Bounti · Sep 7, 2013

Wow! That's a nice finish for the 900d.. Too bad the rog board will look terrible with the color scheme. Are there any other motherboards on that level that have a different color scheme? Cooling, sound

Should I stick to one 480 at the top in pull and get some noctua case fans for the bottom? If I ever want to go SLI I think I might need a bigger psu.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12199/ Is this a good top for the mcp655?

I'll look into those cpu blocks, thanks.

manofchalk · Sep 7, 2013

Look at other Gigabyte, ASUS or AsRock boards at a similar price-point. You will really find there isn't a great deal of difference between boards among similar price-points.

IMO, for airflow the stock fans will have you covered. Not much reason IMO to replace the case fans with Noctua's, but if you want go ahead.
860W is plenty for dual SLI.

Its not a good top, just like any other D5 top. Its just a matter of whether it has ports where you want it and if you like the way it looks.

Bounti · Sep 8, 2013

I'll be using the 3 120mm fans the case comes with for bringing in air in the front, and the 1 140mm as exhaust in the back.

I'm going to need 10 fans on top of that, 4 for the top, 4 for the bottom, and 2 for the side. 4 NF-F12s for the radiator, 6 NF-S12A FLX for bringing in air at the bottom and the side. Should I get 4 f-12s for the bottom instead? Just in case I want to add a radiator later I already have the fans for it..

I'll stick to the ax860 for psu.

At this point I'm not sure how all those noctua fans will look with the black case or how the corsair fans will look if I decide to go for the beige 900d... Makes me want to go full corsair sp120 fans or all noctua nf-f12 fans.

Are you saying no d5 top is good? I should just stick to the default?

manofchalk · Sep 9, 2013

If you want.

I think the Beige 900D was an April Fools joke...

II made a typo there, get rid of "not".

Bounti · Oct 27, 2013

If I'm planning on getting 4 NF-F12 fans for my radiator and 6 NF-S12A fans for case cooling, will I need a fan controller of some sort? Or can I just connect them to the maximus vi formula motherboard and controller them with some software? Thanks.

manofchalk · Oct 27, 2013

With that many fans, I would get a dedicated controller. I dont think any motherboard supports 10 fans, and plugging them into the PSU isn't a good option.

Bounti · Oct 28, 2013

Which high-end fan controller would you recommend to control around 13+ pwm fans?

Can I control the fans with software through the controller?

Will I have to manually change the fan speed when running applications?

manofchalk · Oct 28, 2013

None, as a general rule fan controllers dont support PWM.
If the controller comes with some kind of software portion you could.
Nope, but you could if you wanted. I have a manual fan controller (sliders and knobs) and I just have them set to a speed and never touch it again.

Bounti · Oct 28, 2013

Ahh thanks. So in my case, with the Noctua NF-F12 PWM fans, what would the best option?

I'm willing to change the fans if that's necessary, perhaps some gentle typhoons would be an option. I'm guessing these would work better with a fan controller, although I'm doubting how silent they would be in comparison to noctuas.

manofchalk · Oct 28, 2013

PWM is just a method of controlling fan speed in addition to the standard voltage control which most fan controllers use. Any fan controller will work with the NF-F12's, just they wouldn't be able to use the PWM functionality.

I use an NZXT Sentry Mix (original 50W per channel version) and think its a good option. The newer version is only 30W per channel, but really that doesnt matter much.

Bounti · Nov 10, 2013

Instead of a fan controller, could I control the fans by using 2 pwm splitters, one connecting the 6 case fans to a pwm header on my motherboard and the other connecting the 4 rad fans to another header?

Like this: http://www.overclock.net/t/1378578/fan-configuration-for-900d-am-i-an-idiot

For the pump, should I get the PWM version or the Variable Speed version of the MCP655?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14767/ex-pmp-172/Bitspower_D5_MCP655_Pump_Mod_Kit_Mod_Top_V2_w_Swiftech_PWM_Pump_Installed.html

If I'm planning to PWM my fans through the motherboard would it be easier to do the same for the pump?

Thank you.

New System - Need Help on Custom Cooling

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