Suggestions for gathering WC components...

[JDawggS316]

I am new to water cooling, but am looking to build an extremely cool rig(figuretively and literally).

I have heard that purchasing WC Kits is like buying a box of tinker toys. So, with that in mind (and please correct me if I'm wrong), what is the best setup of WC components you use (or can think of) for the best cooling for my CPU (and possibly VGA etc.).

Thanks so much

 

[AdamBomb42]

This is what I have in my system.

Swiftech Apogee GT
DD Maze5
DD Mag II-LE
2x BI X-Flow Stealth 120 GTS one in front and one in back.
Res
MCT-5 non-conductive liquid
Their is much debate over what type of liquid to use. I recommend that you unbiasly research this and make up your own mind.

These parts are what I have in my system, not that it will work good for you but it's a start of something for you to look at.

 

[Pepca]

I'm also thinking of that Swiftech waterblock or is there better one? will have 1/2" tubes.

 

[AdamBomb42]

The Apogee GT was the best I could find and I stand by it.

 

[chuckshissle]

Here's my suggestions:

Pump: Swiftech MCP655


CPU water block: Swiftech Storm (revision 2)


Radiator: DangerDen BlackIce Extreme III


Swiftech Rad Box. To secure the radiator in place. Pick a color.


Tubing: PrimoFlex 1/2" inch inner diameter, 3/4" outer diameter tubing. At least order 20 feet of this tubing to make sure you have enough and for future upgrades.


As for your reservoir, I suggest you use the T-split since it's simple cheap and easy to implement. Here's what you need.

T-splitter 1/2" inner diameter tubing from Frozencpu.com.


Fill port: Danger Den 1/2" inner diameter fill port and cap.


And to secure the tubings you can use zip ties/ cable ties. You can use some 3/4" inner diameter reusable tubing clamps but they are pain to take off. I recommend ties for easy installation and removal with clippers.


Coolant. I suggest you use them non-electrical conductive coolants to protect your system in case of leaks and accidents. It's thermal properties is not as good as the car coolant/distilled water mixture and the difference is about 1-2 degrees celcius but it's worth it with it's non-electrical conductive properties.

Non-electrical conductive coolants:

Fluid XP+ High Performance Non-Conductive 32 oz. Liquid Cooling Fluid


Innovatek Protect 1 Liter Non-Conductive Water Cooling Fluid


PrimoChill ICE Non-Conductive Liquid Cooling Fluid (32 oz.)


If you don't want to spend the extra money on there coolants then here's the Anti-Freeze coolant and Distilled Water concoction.

Car antifreeze is needed to inhibit the growth of microbs and or fungi in the water. You can get this at your local car shop like Autorzone or PepBoys or the one in your garage or trunk. Choose your color.


And lastly water. Distilled is recommended since it's pure and does not contain other contaminants. Used good quality water like Dasani and Aquafina and not the one in a regular 1 gallon container you find in your local 7/11 store.


There you go, that's what I would recommend to you. Feel free to ask me if you need to. Also check out my video below for my water cooling setup.

 

[JDawggS316]

I want to thank u all very much for helping a n00b out this far; it's truly awesome.

The suggestions so far are awesome as well. My main area of interest is maintainence and longetivity; so keeping my PC components cooled over OCing potential (which is nearly tied with cooling on my proities list however ).

In your opinon, do the suggestions given provide cool CPU temp's? Which systems out there would best fit this need? Case and water cooling?

Loaded information request I know, but I'll take what I can get.

Thanks again all

 

[chuckshissle]

With the components I recommended above, it should be able to keep the cpu down really well. I have similar setup myself and running an 840 @ 4Ghz w/ 1.55vore. My cpu idles at 30c-32c. and don't get over 40c at full load during gaming.

With a Core 2 Duo cpu the temps should be lower since that chip runs much cooler than my 840. So you can do some heavy overclocking on the cpu without worrying overheating. With medium overclocking you can even include two graphics card at stock settings, on that loop and still would have decent temps.

As for my system I only water cooled the cpu and my two 7800GTX is air cooled with medium overclocking.

 

[chuckshissle]

As for maintenance and cleaning you need to flush and refill the coolant every year as well as cleaning the radiator fins with a can of air duster.

 

[JDawggS316]

Awesome! I think I'm leaning towards the setup you've provided.

On the subject of VGA's/SLi, does having two, let's 512MB cards mean u can utilize 1 GB's worth of graphics memory?

A side question apart from cooling I know...

Thanks again

 

[chuckshissle]

The answer is no. Having two cards for SLI or Crossfire does not add each ram quantity. So if the cards are 512Mb each then the total graphics will be 512Mb and not 1Gb. But as for gaming it's not that of a big deal as long as you have 2Gb of ram in your system then you can play games at higher resolution and quality settings. I have 2 7800GTX with 256Mb of memory on each card and I can play all games at 1280x1024 with high quality settings.

What kind of setup do you have now? and are you planning to used that water cooling on that setup or are you building a new system?

 

[JDawggS316]

It's a system from the ground up; completely new. I'm still in the planning and research phase.

 

[AdamBomb42]

I think you should take a look at this before buying a water block. Not only does the Apogee GT outperform the Storm, it's $25 cheaper.