Watercooling Guide
Us guys have done the WC thing, there are basics you gotta know. Maybe this long rewritten and modified thing will help. Most say OMG TY, some don’t, they usually just don’t ever reply.
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CPU HS $65
GPU HS and air HS for vram and mosfets $95, full cover block, $100-$200
Radiator $60 min, up to $130
Pump $65 +
Resiviour $25
Hose, some barbs and clamps etc (min $25, more like $35)
Fans $15-30
I went top notch and spent close to $600 to cool my CPU and GPU. You can do it for less, but a CPU only loop is $250 or so, add a GPU, add $100. If your looking at an i7 and a BIG GPU, start thinking about a big rad, possibly two rads, or even TWO loops.
First you gotta learn about WC. It's not like walking into Best Buy.
Spend a while reading this info, get a feel for what your getting into and learn.
It’s not 'Roket Science', but you need to know the basics and the lingo as a beginner.
You should spend a few hours on the listed sites reading threads, guides and more. It's how YOU learn. I can recommend the best stuff, but there are things only reading and participating on forums will ya learn anything. You don’t have to join all the forums. But reading ALL the WC stickies and many threads that interest you is important. A thread might be 50 replies long, and 15 of those replies might be what you needed to ‘PASS THE TEST’. Remember, once the $500 of goodies show up on your doorstep you’re on your own.
For your benefit please spend a few days reading a LOT. It took me a while; I was big into Air over clocking and started to read about water-cooling. I made my decision to water-cool. THREE months later I made my first purchase of parts. Yes it took me that long and I have built a few systems and always just fine.
Don't expect miracles or SUPER DOOPER over clocks. Your temps with a good WC rig will be better than you could of got on air, guaranteed. What you will get is a quiet system that can handle OC to the max of your hardware IF you buy quality and buy smart. And minor maintenance too, a bonus for the water cooler.
Also while there please read on case mods etc. The radiators do NOT fit in many cases. Reading up on pumps and hose routing, wire management and other things are important. Google your planned case and the word water-cooled in one line. You might get lucky. Look here too….
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=223835
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2009/2010 Heat thoughts:
With the advent of the HOT i7 and bigger dual chip GPU's, it has changed. A 220 size MIN rad for an i7, you want big over clocks, better go 320 sized rad.
Expect a i7 at 4.1 to be putting out close to 250 watts. Using the radiator testing charts, a PA 120.3 with medium fans on high you’ll get a Delta T of 5C, very good. Some have suggested a GTX295 puts out about 250 watts of heat, possibly more like 280 under load. You try and put both of those on a 120x3 radiator the CPU will not over clock at all, it will be very very unhappy. You want to learn more about heat load and the all important measurement, Delta T, read up in the stickies I provided.
2007/2008 Old stuff heat thoughts:
For the old Q6600 CPUs and the old 4870 and GTX280 cards.
IF you just cool your CPU and your NB if you want, you can get by with a 120.2 sized radiator (RAD). And MAYBE fit in inside depending on your mod skillz. You want to cool your GPU too, you'll need a 120.3 sized rad, and it probably won't fit inside. The rear external rad really works great. No matter what your adding 10lbs to your PC.
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Just general info what you should do once a year to keep your WC at 100%:
Cleaning a loop, not a new loop: I do this once a year, I drain and refill at 6 months, the next time I do this……
Wash hands very well, getting rid of hand oils.
For pumps and blocks, fittings, clamps, acrylic res/block parts.... not hose, tear it to smallest pieces, put in a bowl, heat water up not to boiling add 10% vinegar, when hot, pour over parts. Rinse in 10 min or so. Put aside.
The blocks will probably have some black oxidation. Take the copper parts out of the pile of parts you took out of the water. Dry well and pour ketchup on them, and set aside. Only the copper parts need this.
Rad cleaning: fill with very almost boiling hot water. Let sit 10 minutes, drain half out and shake for 5 min. Repeat till liquid is clean. You can pour it in a clean bowl and inspect the water if you like.
All the pump, block, fittings, and clamps, inspect, get in the tiniest corners with a tooth brush. Kind of meditative, time consuming, you learn a lot about o-ring size, how it all feels. It’s very relaxing with some mellow jazz in the background. Run a rag using a coat hanger and dish soap through the tubing, rinse well. I always consider replacing my hose every year. Plasticizers leach out, the tubing isn’t as flexible. Consider it a ‘Hobby Cost’.
Rinse all the parts and hose with distilled, dry then really dry with an air compressor (nice extra step to get rid of water spots). Don’t need to dry the inside of the hose.
Now on to the copper parts, they should have been soaking an hour or two. A toothbrush and ketchup should clean much of the oxidation. It probably won’t be like new, but pretty darn good. Rinse, dry, and blow the parts.
That’s it.
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Benching software and such is very varied. I use these for each purpose:
These are pretty standard and used by many.
Monitoring the PC temps overall: HW monitor aka hardware monitor
CPUZ for CPU info
GPUZ for GPU info
CPU only: Real Temp
GPU only: ATI Tool, I have a Nivida GTX280, so it works on Nvidia
Loading/benching tools:
CPU loaders: Prime95 and OCCT
GPU Loaders: ATI Tool and the best one is Furmark, nothing pushes the GPU harder right now.
Benching for overall graphics/gaming performance is 3DMark06
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Other Guides:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking. [...] p?t=282232 Pretty up to date info and buying guide
http://gilgameshreviews.com/index. [...] s&catid=40 Another good guide
http://forums.extremeoverclocking. [...] p?t=312743 What to do once all the stuff is in the door
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=223835 Many build logs on MANY cases, great learning tool.
My latest rig:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=604016
Forums:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php? Not a noob site, but great stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/ My fav, good peeps, know their stuff, less hardcore
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/inde [...] opic=20277 A GREAT Europe site
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/ Decent site
Tests on equipment, not reviews, truly scientific tests:
http://translate.google.com/transl [...] n&ie=UTF-8 Info on rad testing
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=220593 More rad testing
http://skinneelabs.com/ Host for Martins lab and some newer tests
http://www.skinneelabs.com/MartinsLiquidLab/ Test results, very technical
Stores:
http://www.dangerden.com
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.performance-pcs.com
http://www.frozencpu.com/
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