Calling all experts!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Azrael47

Azrael47

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2013
1,629
0
20,460
Hello guys,

At Christmas I am planning to do a custom liquid cooling setup. In order to do this I must firstly know what the best loop setup in my case is. Now my case is the Fractal R4 and from looking at other forums and hearing other users it is a fairly good case to custom water cool (probably because it is such a fat case).

bwfb.jpg
[/URL]

nqo3.jpg
[/URL]


So with seeing my actual rig what is the best setup, i.e. where is it best to situate everything such as the radiators, reservoir and the pump? I will also be purchasing the MSI R9 280X 3GB graphics card from Overclockers (See here). My HDD is in the DVD drive! (please take note of this).

My aim is to be able to water cool both my CPU and GPU, and then overclock my CPU from 3.5 to near or over 5.0 GHz, I have wanted to water cool for a long time now but need guidance as to which is the best equipment for the job.
If you kind folks at Toms Hardware could assist me that would be wonderful, I would like to have an understanding as to how much this will cost me, I can see it falling near the £500 region.

So yes to sum it all up, just comment as to which is the best loop setup and what radiator(s), pump, reservoir, water blocks and fittings are worthy of purchasing, I have been looking at Linus’s ultimate water cooling rig and the fittings and the tubing certainly look nice.

Thank you (and sorry for the long paragraph)

Note: the H60 and the bottom fan will be removed from this water cooled rig for more space. what I imagined was a radiator at the front for my GPU, a radiator at the top for my CPU and the rest I cannot determine.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915
What CPU?

Will you also water cool the new graphics or just the overclocked CPU?

Also for a possible 5ghz CPU overclock are your intentions to keep everything inside the case or would you be open to a top mounted rad?

Overclocking a CPU to 4.5ghz range is one thing pushing it to a 5ghz 24/7 stable overclock takes much more radiator cooling field, this is not a one size fits all situation, else you will invest a lot of money and end up disappointed with the end results.

I do not want that to happen to you!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915
This is an excellent CPU water block since you're already looking at XSPC

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-069-XS

Do you want to piece it out or start with a kit?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-143-XS&groupid=962&catid=1532

That 240 rad will fit nicely in the front lower intake area of your case, the pump is rear mounted on the reservoir so it's out of the way, you would probably need an additional 240 rad to fit in the top, if you'll be cooling a CPU and GPU.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Azrael47

Azrael47

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2013
1,629
0
20,460
I was wanting to piece it out as I want the challenge! plus I can tailor it for what suits me, which of course is silence and effectiveness. So can I fit a 240 at the front and the top (Or should I stick with a 120 at the top and 240 at the front?)

I believe my budget will be somewhere near the £350 for water cooling alone, but the cheaper the better, however that does not mean I want to cut corners. Could you find some appropriate equipment for the loop, thanks so much man, probably the most helpful user I have ever come across.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Azrael47

Azrael47

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2013
1,629
0
20,460
I was thinking do you think this setup will work

120mm radiator at the back of the case to cool my CPU
240mm at the front of the case for my GPU
have a radiator/pump in the dvd bay slots

and keep the fans at the top
and remove the fan at the bottom?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915
After investigating your Fractal R4 and seeing what you've already done with it, my dual bay res/pump suggestion will not work as you only have 2, 5 1/2" bays which you have occupied with a optical drive and HDD, so you do not have any place to put a dual bay res with that case.

The case is a serious limiting factor, you cannot install a really good 240 rad up top unless you modify the case itself, you could mount a good 240 at the lower intakes but then you'd need to mount the pump and reservoir, so space wise the Fractal R4 is seriously limiting what you can do.

If you are that space limited going forward with water cooling past what you are already running will be a serious performance disappointment to you.

If you do not have enough radiator cooling area you may have worse performance than you have now running a CPU and GPU on the same loop.

The GPU you're considering with the triple cooling fans really does not need to be water cooled.

Now my case is the Fractal R4 and from looking at other forums and hearing other users it is a fairly good case to custom water cool (probably because it is such a fat case).
Click to expand...

Just because the case is fat is really irrelevant to conveniently run a dual bay res/pump combo with what you already have you need 4 of the 5 1/2" drive bays available to you.

You need more clearance above the motherboard to mount a 240 radiator up there without modifying the case.

IMO the Fractal R4 is not the case I would be trying to put CPU/GPU water cooling into, especially if CPU overclocking headroom is in your thought processes.

You just don't have the room in the case IMO, for the money you will invest for mediocre cooling results.

Especially with only 2 of the 5 1/2" drive bays.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Azrael47

Azrael47

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2013
1,629
0
20,460
no problem, thank you for your help, I am thinking of going from AMD to Intel (and wait until the new Intel CPU's are released), I guess I am not in absolute need of upgrading yet, may as well wait and then invest the £550 on intel goodies.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915


Sorry for the answers you probably weren't looking for but I'm just trying to keep you from making a mistake and learning the hard way.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Azrael47

Azrael47

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2013
1,629
0
20,460
It is not a problem, in fact I thank you for making me see clear, I am going to be focusing more on peripherals such as a gaming mouse and keyboard, I will also be purchasing a new graphics card to play newer games on, do you think the R9 280X I have mentioned is the best buy or would you recommend a different one, I am currently running a 7850 2GB
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
4Ryan6

4Ryan6

Champion
Apr 14, 2002
20,610
6
52,915


As far as a graphics suggestion my suggestion would be bias as I am an Nvidia user period, so someone with a more comparative opinion of AMD Radeon /Nvidia would be best to help you make that decision.

Hopefully someone else will come into the thread and help you further, I'm kinda surprised no one has come in the thread from the beginning.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
toolmaker_03

toolmaker_03

Honorable
Mar 26, 2012
2,674
0
12,960
well when it comes to water cooling limiting myself to the size of the case has never been one of my strong suits, and as a result I do think outside of the box with most of my designs, here have a look.













To answer another the question whether or not Intel is faster than AMD, I have a AMD8350 with Two 580’s video cards and a Intel 3930K with two 580’s video cards and the gaming speed and ability of both systems are almost identical, there is only one to two frames per second difference between the two systems on any game.

Here is my long build log, but you an see for yourself, I recorded every thing or at least i tryed to.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274855-29-experimental-radiator-build/page-12

page 12 is a good place to start.



 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Azrael47

Azrael47

Distinguished
Jun 1, 2013
1,629
0
20,460
Thanks man for sharing the pics and explaining to me, really made me understand you don't see major differences. I am still thinking of getting a new GPU (would like something which would play at a solid 60 FPS no matter what). I don't plan to play games like Crysis 3 or BF4 I am more of an RTS player (I enjoy WoT and games such as that). I was thinking the 280X or should I get the 290X?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom