Picking out Water Cooling Components

[DAVIDMCDIARMID]

Greetings everyone. So I've been trying to pick out watercooling components for my Hitman Tribute PC and I've come up with a tentative list that I want to check with the more experienced watercoolers (i.e. you).

Here's a brief synopsis of what I'm aiming for:

I intend for this case to be almost entirely vertically cooled. Two 120mm fans on the bottom of the case will intake air and an exterior 92mm fan on the back along with a 120mm fan on top will exhaust it (the power supply will exhaust as well). There's a mistake in the picture of the bottom, the case will be watercooled so there should be a dual 120mm rad between the case and the fans. To me, looks are as important as cooling. I plan to use black coolant and mount the res and pump underneath the drive bays. My tenative plan for the loop is: res→ pump→ bottom dual rad→ gpu→ 92m rad on back→ northbridge→ 120 rad under top fan→ cpu→ res.

EDIT: The system will (most likely) include:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
ASUS P5E-VM Mobo
4GB Corsair PC-6400 Ram
MSI 8800GT OC
Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB
Lite-On SATA DVD Burner
OCZ GameXstream 700W PSU

Here's my tentative shopping cart from Performance PC's. My budget for the cooling is right around $500. Any comments, tips, or criticisms would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[neocortex]

i donno why you're using all those rads...no matter how many rads you mount, it wont drop the temp below ambient temp, let alone running all of them with the blocks and the tubes on one pump...if you want my advice try Koolance exos-2, im using one myself and its one of the best things i ever bought...its an external unit with dual-fan rad and dual pumps...means you will have much more space inside the case or you could just use fans inside and let the external unit do the cooling...the unit with cpu, NB, SB, vidcard, HDD blocks is about $500.
im using it with E8500 and 3 blocks...cpu idle 21c load 31c...OC to 4500mhz idle 28 load 44c...which is excellent.

 

[TonyL222]

A MCP655 should be able to handle those components. Plug them in to Martin's Flow Rate Estimator - http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/MartinsFlowRateEstimator.html.

You want Flow Rate between 1-1.5 GPM. Less is not enough flow. More doesn't give you any greater cooling performance. If you need a little more flow, look at this pump:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4505

 

[WestWarrior]

First of all congratulations on deciding to go custom instead of an all-in-one kit. This is a great first step. Now looking at your list, I see a few things that I would change, so pay attention...

Danger Den Maze 5- If you are looking for a die-only block, the best overall performer is the Swiftech MCW60 at the moment. Make sure to pick up some ramsinks. Another option is a full cover block. EK is the most recommended, but a Swiftech stealth may possibly outperform it by a degree or 2, however, I am not sure about the lifespan of the Stealth, as it has an Aluminum top. Aluminum+Copper+Time=Disaster.

Fluid XP CPU Block- Just switch this over to a D-Tek Fuzion. The Vortex XP is simply a relabeled, more expensive Fuzion, that is more prone to failure.

Radiators- If possible, I would try to keep the number to a minimal. Drop the 92mm rad, as they are restrictive, and don't remove enough heat. If your build permits it, a single 120x3 rad is optimal, although there is no major performance drop between single and parallel rads. I would use Swiftech rads, for price/performance ratio.

Tubing and Coolant- As a general rule "performance" coolants (with the exception of maybe one or two that are not affordable) are a huge ripoff. They really aren't non conductive, and their cooling properties are good, but not great. If you want a black coolant, i recommend an alternative of using black tubing running just plain distilled water. Try 7/16" Tygon Black R3400 tubing. This way you don't have to have any extra additives other than distilled. The 7/16" tubing will give you a better seal over your barbs as well. Overall, this will save you about $40.

Fans- For the rads you selected, i would go with a medium or high Yate Loons. Also those prices sound outrageous. You could easily do all of those extra things yourself for a lot cheaper.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions.

 

[WestWarrior]

Also, the upgrade from a MCP-655B to the variable speed version wouldn't be a bad idea.