Tell Me the Best Way to Water Cool My Rig

[ErnieDaNoobie]

Oh great and wise men and women of Tom's Hardware Forums - you have always answered my queries in the past, so please help me once again:

Here is my current Rig:

AMD X2 4400+@2.475Ghz (OC'd);
Zalman 9500 cpu air cooler;
Asus A8N-SLI Premium BIOS Rev. 1009;
2x 1GB OCZ Platinum 184-Pin DDR400 RAM@2.5-3-2-5-1T-2.8V;
SLI 2 x eVGA 7800 gtx@470/1200Ghz(stock);
1 x 400GB Western Digital HD@7200 rpm;
OCZ Powerstream 600W psu;
Plextor PX716A DVD/RW;
100% Aluminum Thermaltake Armor w/3 stock case fans, air cooled.

CPU temp = 30-38C idle/ 40-48C load*
GPU temps = 40-50C idle/ 65-71C load*

*Ambient room temperature affects this system A LOT. It's not even summer yet, and with Global Warming, things are a gonna get hotter and hotter, so I need a new way to cool this puppy down!

I want make the move to water cooling, but I am a bigtime n00bz3rz. So I R needsing yous help.

(1) I am thinking about Thermaltake BigWater 745. I have Thermaltake Armor case, and this kit seems to be made for my case. And it is about $160.00, which is cheaper than other water cooling kits. Is this a good idea? Does TT BigWater 745 have any problems/ concerns/ hiccups/ bugaboos/ gadflies/ whatnots/ humperdinks that I should be aware of?

(2) Otherwise I have been reading forums about buying premium components and assembling a kit myself. If this is the best way to go, please tell what to get for the following:

Radiator - Should I get 3 x 120 mm fans?

Pump - I should get > 10 feet head pressure, right?

CPU block - what is best block for AMD X2 socket 939 chips?

GPU block - Does anybody know if water block will go onto an eVGA 7800 gtx (256MB) video card? This card has weird black metal frame around it, can I get this thing off w/out damaging video card?

Chipset block - I have read this is a waste of time, and to skip it. T or F?

Tubing - what size? some say 1/2 inch, others say 7/16? what is best size?

Coolant - I have seen green coolant, does anybody make blue? I have blue LED lights in case, & wanna keep it color co-ordinated.

Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[waylander]

The TT Bigwater I hear is fine for just the CPU but you may tax it if you also add 2 gpu blocks and a chipset block. I would suggest either putting one together yourself or buying a kit like swiftech has, check out www.swiftnets.com or www.dangerden.com. If you go to www.water-cooling.com you can see some reviews on water cooling components and systems.

I think the 3 x 120mm rad is overkill and it would definitely have to go outside the case. 2 X 120mm should be fine.

There are tons of CPU and GPU blocks but Danger Den has a dual GPU cooler that can cool both your cards in SLI with only one intake and one outtake, less tubing and connections to screw up.

The chipset for your board (same as mine) is coolpipe technology therefore there is no fan on it, I would suggest going without to test and add one later if you want.

Blue additive is available but I would suggest going with blue UV activated tubing if you want the color, additives can increase your chances of corrosion and algae growth (except for anti corrosion / algae growth inhibitors which you need to add).

Don't forget a reservoir as it will make filling and refilling your water cooling system easier and will help remove air bubbles from it as well.

As to what is best, most water blocks will improve your performance over air regardless of maker but do the research and just choose one.

You can also add HD and Ram coolers in the future if you want.

 

[ErnieDaNoobie]

Thanks Waylander for the response. I think I will go with the 2x 120mm radiator, and then make my own kit out of assembled premium parts.

Also - I did not post this before, but the whole reason I want to overclock is to boost online gaming performance in BF2, COD2, and FEAR. Just keep this in mind for any future posts.

So Final water cooling question: do you have any favorite brands for parts, like pump, radiator, reservoir, tubing, and cpu block?

Now I have a new question - I saw you are using DDR500 ram, why did you choose that? Did this give you performance boost over DDR400? I thought tighter timings is what gives more performance, rather than overclocked operating speed, what do you think?

Also what are your RAM timings and voltage? My OCZ Platinum ram is set manually to 2.5-3-2-5-1T@2.8V. I tried to get Cas latency to = 2.0, but machine will not boot at Cas = 2.0. I even returned ram DIMMs to OCZ, and got a second set, and they also are Cas = 2.5, as lowest bootable setting. Does DDR500 allow you to get 2-3-2-5? or even 2-2-2-5? [If you don't know how to find these timings, tell me, and I will show you how to find them.]

Final RAM question: What yields better gaming perfomance, tight RAM timings and slower RAM speed, or looser RAM timings and higher RAM speed (if you know)? [I have been trying to get an answer to this question for 4 months now.]

Thanks again.

 

[waylander]

I've got a mix of Danger Den, Swiftech and Thermaltake.

Danger Den
TDX CPU water block
NV-78 DD7800 SLI GPU water block kit

Swiftech
MP655 12V pump
MCR220 radiator

Thermaltake
5-1/4" drive bay reservoir (purely for looks as any reservoir will work)

Assorted 1/2" tubing and spliters

You are right that tighter timings give better performance than higher speed ram but since I have my processor OC'd and when you change the FSB this also changes the speed of your ram DDR400 ram can get unstable. Not saying they all do and you could always OC by changing FSB down and increasing your multiplier instead but I like the ability to OC how i want to.

I actually have a set of Corsair XMS LL (2-2-2-5) ram but they are in my other computer as they are DDR400 and were getting unstable in my current OC'd rig.