Need some help on choosing a water cooling loop

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Sesameopen

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So I am in a bit of a jam, as I want the parts of the XSPC raystorm kit, but the 5.25" resovoir looks of the thermaltake 760 pro. Is there any way to combine those two, or buy a seperate resovoir with the fan controller and built in pump?


Many thanks,
Sesameopen


I am using an nzxt phantom 410 case.
 
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CPU only:
You'll need 2 for the combo and 2 for the CPU block

CPU/2GPU:
2 for combo, 2 for extra radiator, 2 for CPU block and 2 for both GPU blocks (because the distance between the two is so small its nearly impossible to fit 2 fittings (especially on matx) there are sli/xfire connectors). Unsure how you got to 12 or I missed smth :D

The swiftech 350 (or ddc pumps in general) are quite strong and should be able to handle your loop with no issue. If you see other watercooling builds with multiple pumps, they are either just for redundancy or because of the extreme amount of blocks (ram, vrm, SB etc.) and radiators.

I didn't find a single watercooled n600 build, so I have no idea if its fit for a loop with CPU/2GPU. I think it would...
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mlcaouette

mlcaouette

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You could always buy all the parts individually, just make sure you do your research to ensure that you are buying the correct parts and everything that you need.

Also be mindful of what you purchase to make sure it will all fit in your case.

Read through the water cooling sticky for more info on buying/picking parts.
 
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hypergon

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You could use a single bay res (haven't seen one with integrated pump) and LCD fan controller or LCD temperature sensor to get the looks

Single bay res:
http://www.xs-pc.com/reservoirs/single-525-bay-reservoir-alu-front

LCD temperature sensors and mounting bracket:
http://www.xs-pc.com/temperature-sensors/

(Just used the xspc side because I know that they have such things, use google to find alternatives)


Especially with small cases like your phantom 410 I would do a real size mockup with something like sketchup so you can find out how much space for radiators etc. you have
 
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Sesameopen

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Alright I think I might do that. So you suggest that I buy the parts individually? If so, I will probably stick with mostly xspc parts, but with a single resovoir 5.25, where would I put my pump?
 
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hypergon

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Just buy them at the cheapest online store :D

No idea where you can put your pump, I don't know your setup and the space availability.
You can place it at the bottom of the case or mount it to fan mounts. You could probably fit it right behind the res in the 5.25 bays with g1/4-g1/4 adapter... Check the internet for watercooling builds in your case and compare the pump placement. Just plan your build... I built my PC with sketchup so I could see the options I got without actually having the pump, rads, etc.
 
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Sesameopen

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What if I get a new case? Since I am upgrading most of the parts, I can put the old parts in my nzxt phantom 410 and get a new one. I was thinking of the NZXT Source 530, since it looks pretty plain and is also decent in cost I also looked at the coolermaster n600. I think a full tower would be much easier for a watercooling loop.
 
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hypergon

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A bigger case would make it easier to fit (more) watercooling gear inside. If you think its necessary go for it. You could also go for a dual bay reservoir with integrated pump(s) to save space.

I actually just posted the single bay res and the temp sensor because i think they will look similar to the Tt 760.

If you don't like the radiator/pump/res layouts used in other builds and you're willing to buy a new case I would definitely go for a bigger one :D

The nzxt source 530 (didn't find a 510) can fit at least a 360 and a 240 rad, should even be enough for 1cpu+2gpu loop
 
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Sesameopen

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Oh so something like this http://www.frozencpu.com/products/20843/ex-rad-625/Swiftech_MCR220_Drive_Rev3_Series_Heat_Exchangers_w_Integrated_Pump_and_Reservoir_-_MCR220-DRIVE-R3.html?tl=g30c107s1076 I like it. It should save a lot of space, but i do have some questions about it

1. What type of fittings and tubings should I get?

2. would it be harder to put water in/get water out?

 
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hypergon

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There is all kind of tubing from various brands: transparent, colored/semi-transparent or acrylic/rigid. I would go with the 3/8" x 5/8" tubing as its similar to the g1/4 threads and therefore doesn't restrict the flow and also doesn't kink as fast as 3/8" x 1/2". I have no idea which tubing is the best, PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT is said to be good but expensive, same goes for Tygon tubing. Masterkleer also makes solid products. You should just beware of plasticizers, they will gunk up your loop... Check on the internet which tubing has lots of it. FrozenCPU pretty much only got 3 brands, just visit other online stores.

Tubing:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g30/c99/s1615/list/p1/Liquid_Cooling-Tubing-38_x_58_Tubing-Page1.html
Compression Fittings: http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g30/c409/s1608/list/p1/Liquid_Cooling-Fittings-Compression-38_x_58_Compression-Page1.html

For my own build I used 3/8" x 5/8" tygon norprene tubing because I wanted solid black tubing (both for looks and because of algae, they need light to grow), its plasicizer free and it was on sale.
This stuff: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/10486/ex-tub-646/Tygon_A-60-G_Norprene_38_ID_58_OD_-_Industrial_Grade_Thermoplastic_Elastomer_Tubing.html?tl=g30c99s1615

Concerning the rad/pump/res combo, it does save a lot of space... The question is what are you going to cool? Its enough for a CPU but not for a GPU/CPU loop. Also what fans are you using/going to use?

 
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Sesameopen

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Ok thanks, I will only cool a CPU for now, but when I do get my GPU, if I get two of those radiator/resovoir/pump combo's, will it be enough to reliably cool an overclocked fx 8320 and 2x R9 280x's?
 
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hypergon

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In my build I'm using 4x Gentle Typhoon AP-15 and I mounted the fan that came with my Corsair 350D behind the PCI slots to pull out the heat my R9 280x DCU2 generates. It's still on air, but in 9 days I'm gonna fly home and make it wet :D

I bought my fittings for 5.50€ each, that's about 7.60$ from aquatuning.de (I'm from Germany, but living in Asia). They are made by aquatuning (kinda house brand) and therefore one of the cheapest fittings available. I'm also using lots of 45° and 90° adapters, all my tubing will go straight. They do have a impact on flow, but I'm using a single d5 for a tiny loop so I don't care :D
->compression fittings are pretty expensive, you can also have a look at barbs (I would secure them with zipties) they should be cheaper. I paid 50$ for my 7 fittings :D

When you expand your loop, I wouldn't use a 2nd res/pump/rad combo, I would go with a standalone radiator as you won't need another pump. The combo is also 72mm thick, that's nearly as thick as a monsta (80mm) radiator, but the radiator itself is rather slim, check again if you can even fit 1 of them. I would use smth like this http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14917/ex-rad-335/Alphacool_NexXxoS_XT45_Full_Copper_Dual_120mm_Radiator.html or if it fits the thicker ut60. It still might not be enough to get great temps with 2gpu/1cpu though... You could mount another 240 to the back of your case, will probably look strange but it would give you 720mm of radspace, which is more than enough.

Some say 120mm per block + 120mm more are enough, but this doesn't incorporate the thickness. If your spending so much money on water cooling, I wouldn't be happy to get bad temps because I got not enough radiators
 
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Sesameopen

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Oh so my pump is good enough for 1 cpu, 2 GPU, and 4x 120mm rads? I was thinking I didn't have enough power for that. I think I might go for the cooler master n600 as its on sale and has space for 2x 240mm rads.


So I'm gonna need 12 compression fittings?
 
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hypergon

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CPU only:
You'll need 2 for the combo and 2 for the CPU block

CPU/2GPU:
2 for combo, 2 for extra radiator, 2 for CPU block and 2 for both GPU blocks (because the distance between the two is so small its nearly impossible to fit 2 fittings (especially on matx) there are sli/xfire connectors). Unsure how you got to 12 or I missed smth :D

The swiftech 350 (or ddc pumps in general) are quite strong and should be able to handle your loop with no issue. If you see other watercooling builds with multiple pumps, they are either just for redundancy or because of the extreme amount of blocks (ram, vrm, SB etc.) and radiators.

I didn't find a single watercooled n600 build, so I have no idea if its fit for a loop with CPU/2GPU. I think it would be easier to go with an external solution...
 
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