Which is the best kit.

[Hatman]

Right, water cooling for Q6600, 680i LT northbridge, optional graphics stuff if its there but I wont be using it, memory, and optional hard drive stuff.

Up to £150/$300, but that doesnt mean that it HAS to be that high, just need a good reccomended kit that I dont have to buy anything extra for.

What do you guys reccomend?



PS. Im am a complete noob with water cooling. but pls dont talk to me like im stupid.

 

[phreejak]

So just what, exactly, do you think you want to cool with liquid cooling? Possibly CPU, GPU, Memory and Hdd? I can tell you that meory and Hdd is meerly a novelty and really isn't worth the investment because convection (air) cooling will do just fine for them. The kinds of water blocks you would use are flowrate killers anyway.

Now if it is CPU and GPU then we an either suggest kits or go the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) route and suggest parts from different companies that would make a good kit, ultimately.

 

[Hatman]

Ok, I realize I was wrong in the wya to go about this.

Im guessing the waterblocks for CPU, GPU etc might not be too expesnive, right?

If I wanted a desent pump that could cool cpu, northbridge, gpu and possibly memory, which one should I be looking at.

Yes, im really that much of a noob.

 

[phreejak]

It's all good and don't worry about it if you don't have much experience with water cooling yet - we all have to start somewhere - and you're going about it the right way by comng to the forums and picking peoples brains...

Well, it's called buyer beware - you get what you pay for. For the CPU, you can go cheap but you won't get as good performance. I'd say that the best out there is going to be either the Fuzion or the Apogee GTX for your CPU. You'll pay between $50 - $70 for either depending where you go.

For the GPU, stay away from the fullbody waterblocks like those made by DangerDen, EK, Koolance, etc. They kill flowrates in a cooling loop because of the many bends and tight turns. They are, also, the more expensive blocks. Stick with the GPU core exclusive models like the DangerDen maze4, Fuzion, MCW60 and the Stealth. They'll run you anywhere from about $45 - $110 (as opposed to $100 - $140 for the full body blocks).

memory and northbridge cooling are novelties and don't really need to be watercooled as a decent hsf or a good airflow in your case would suffice. The only instance I would cool a northbridge is if I did some way serious o'clocking. The northbridge handles communication between the various PCI lanes (PCIe, PCI, etc) and the CPU as well as all memory communications between the CPU, your CPU cache and your system memory on Intel configurations (and only system memory on AMD machines as they have their meory controller directly on the CPU). So, you see, if you don't really do serious o'clocking then just stick to a decent hsf for the NB.

There you have it, a half decent argument why you only need worry about the CPU and GPU - that should cut down on some expenses.

 

[Hatman]

Well teh main thing that I wanted it for is 1. To reduce noise, 2. to obviously keep it cooler, but also 3. which is so it takes up alot less space.

I was looking at this

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=492032

I think I could alwyas add a graphics block to it or a notherbdridge block, although you said that was pretty pointless

I looked at water blocks for the 7950GX2, while im going to be keeping it for a while, msot fo them cost the crazy amoutn of £100, thats very nearly what I paid for the actual card, so im not intersted in getting one for that unless I can find it for atleast under £40.

 

[phreejak]

That kit will function about as well as a top of the line HSF - the pump is adequate at best. Since you don't do any major o'clocking don't worry about the NB. As for the what block to use on your 7950GX2 - that's a tough one. Normally, I would never advocate using a full body block due tot he drag it puts on a cooling loops flowrate. However, the 7950GX2 was a radically built card for which only full boddy blocks will work.

eBay....

Always keep an eye on eBay... heh

Sometimes, you will find a bargain on there.

 

[Hatman]

Indeed, saw one before, went for £30.. I rushed home buy missed the auction by about 3mins... maybe one day another will come on.

 

[ouch1]

Hatman,

As phreeejack siad you get what you pay for.

Here is a kit that will work well for you for just a little more than you listed previously.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-021-SW& groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=193
Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940) for £171.99

-ouch1

 

[Hatman]

lil more? Thats over twice the price!!

Also the block would have been by Koolance.Its pretty expensive, in the £90 zone retail..


Just starting to realize a custom kit will likely cost me over £200

 

[Hatman]

Can the tube sizes on certani compartements be different, and you can buy tubes that change the size? Different things seem to use completly different sized tubes..

 

[ouch1]

lil more? Thats over twice the price!!

Also the block would have been by Koolance.Its pretty expensive, in the £90 zone retail..


Just starting to realize a custom kit will likely cost me over £200

Well you did say up to £150. So £171.99 is only £21.99 more than you original budget. Just remember that the kit I linked is setup for cpu, chipset, and vga cooling. The only thing extra you will need to buy is the correct block for your 7950GX2. And those are expensive.

-ouch1

 

[Hatman]

See what you meant, my fault!

Indeed, they are very expensie.. cheapest I found was £90..

I was looking at these things, probably wont use this site for most but its got an absolute ton of water cooling stuff on it.

Koolance CPU-330 CPU Waterblock £52
http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_54/products_id/2555

AquaComputer aquagraFX for 7950GX2 £96
http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_198/products_id/232 0

Alphacool NexXxoS Xtreme III Rev2 - Radiator - £35
http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_55/products_id/2619

Laing D5-Pump 12V D5-Vario £66
http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_57/products_id/2291

Thermaltake AquaBay M3 5.25" Reservoir
http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_61/products_i d/2162

Kinda looks like nice stuff. Case it'll be hopefully going with is CM Stacker 830/832 whichever is available.

Is all that stuff compatible? Or, if it isnt, is there any guidelines for picking parts eg. same companies etc.

Thanks.

 

[phreejak]

Ok, forgive me if I misread what these European prices mean but, there seems to be two more highly rated CPU waterblocks at the Coolingshop site that are cheaper than that Koolance 330 :

D-Tek Fuzion
Swiftech Apogee GTX

There is one troublesome possiblity here. The AquagraFX waterblock uses G1/8 threads which will allow you to use 1/4 ID or 3/8ID material. That pump you are considering, The D5 (the same thing as the MCP655) is ideally made for 1/2ID tubing. I did notice that it has screwthreads so a compromise to a 3/8ID cooling loop is possible if 3/8ID fittings can be found for the D5. This would allow the pump and GPU waterblock to coexist.

Before I say anything about anything else I'd like to know if you plan on doing any o'clocking?

 

[ouch1]

All you need to do to modify that kist for your video card and system is buy these 2 items:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5268/ex-blc-327/Swiftech_GX2_Spacer_Kit.html?tl=g30c87 Swiftech GX2 Spacer Kit
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...ter_Block_w_MC14_BGA_Ramsinks_.html?tl=g30c87 Swiftech MCW60 VGA Water Block w/ MC14 BGA Ramsinks

I am unable to find them on any UK sites but I know they are sold over there. So search around and you will find them. And it will be cheaper than paying 90pounds for a specialized block.

-ouch1

 

[Hatman]

Yes, want to overclock both the GPU and CPU (Q6600) a fair bit. Q6600 to 3.6ghz if I possibly can, and the graphics to w/e I can get it to still stable in anything. Both ofcoarse need to be 100% stable. I know how to overclock and everything etc. Just a water cooling noob

ouch1, thats a clever idea, unfortunatly there is one slight problem.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/244202-33-weird-question

If that works, it may cause a problem, Ill look into it though, may still work. If it does ill definatly be looking into it

 

[phreejak]

Here's something else to consider....

If you overclock BOTH the CPU and GPU then it is advisable that you employ two radiators - positioned after each waterblock section. The reason for this is that if you run one radiator then one of the components (either the CPU or GPU) will be made to suffer by having to deal with both it's own heat and the heat from the other source. Snce you intend on o'clocking then that additional heat will be quite alot. Having a radiator after the CPU AND one after your GPU section will allow alot of the heat from each to be dealt with BEFORE it reaches the other component.

 

[Hatman]

Ok I get ya. If I made 2 sperate loops with a poweruful pump, would that mean it would be better to have 1 big one before it gets into the "resevoir".

 

[phreejak]

Not 2 seperate loops but something more akin to this kind of setup:

Reservoir - pump - CPU Waterblock - Rad - GPU Waterblock - Rad - Back to Reservoir

This setup allows for the coolant (after each major component) to be cooled by a rad before it hits the next part. This way, neither need suffer having to deal with the heat from a major source (in addition to its own heat of course).

 

[Hatman]

Ok, after what you said I looked around a bit, came up with these int eh order you suggested.

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid =1541&cat=548&page=1
Resevoir

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/cu stomer/product.php?productid=3497&cat=537&page=1
Pump

http://www.spe cialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=3604&cat=666&page=1
CPU Waterblock

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid =3974&cat=669&page=1
Radiator

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/cu stomer/product.php?productid=3447&cat=0&page=1
GPU Water Block

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=3974 &cat=669&page=1
Radiator


Should be in a nice order, hoping to use a completly internal cooling solution.. IDK if the rads are meant to be internal or external generally, Ill be using a CM Stacker 830 fully kitted out with fans, so theres absolutly no problem removing hot air from the case at all. Didn't really want to mod it but can do so if needed for external stuff.

Any advice is appreciated

 

[phreejak]

I couldn't get to the reservoir or the rads but the other equiptment is straght top of the line - excellent. You seem to be grasping things better now.

Looking forward to how you do with this. Drop a line if you need any more advice or help.