Im a water cooling Virgin

[Navyos7108]

Hey everyone, ive never messed with Water cooling before and im building a brand new pc id like to know what type of watercooling i need to keep my system cool. id like a kit for my CPU and my GPU. the CPU is a Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000, the GPU is a MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16, the mother board is GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard, and my case is Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case. Money isnt to big of deal however im not trying to spend over about $150, if anyone could help me out with what i need what will fit.. how to figure any of that out just basically everything i would need to kno to purchase the kit to cool both the cpu and gpu, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

 

[rubix_1011]

You aren't going to find what you need for under $300, and not in a 'kit'. The best you really could realistically do would be around $270, unless you can find some good used gear that fits your hardware.

 

[Navyos7108]

wow, really. ok could you tell me how i figure out what size stuff i need like how do i figure out what fits my cpu/gpu or will even fit in my case?

 

[Navyos7108]

if i gotta spend 270 i guess thats what i have to do not to much of an issue i just spent 1600 on my new comp so if i need to spend another 270 to protect my investment that's fine with me.

 

[rubix_1011]

Have you read through the sticky and all the links in my signature? There is a ton of stuff in there that will help you get started...there is far too much to just start writing it down every time someone asks 'where do I start and how do I figure this out?'...that's why I made all of those kinds of questions into the watercooling sticky.

XSPC Rasa RX360 or XSPC Raystorm EX360 kit + waterblock for your GPU, whatever it might be. You really need to be aware of the exact specs for this block as they are designed for specific video cards, unless you get a universal block (which those requirement considerations are discussed in the sticky as well).

Give that info a lot of reading...at least a couple days worth. There is a lot out there, but the principles are pretty basic once you understand them. The majority of a watercooling loop pump & flow rate, total TDP to dissipate and aesthetics to suit your tastes and most importantly, BUDGET.

 

[Navyos7108]

ok thank you very much

 

[rubix_1011]

No problem...there is a lot of info out there and we've tried to round it up and get a lot of it in a single location so it's easy to find. Give yourself some time to figure out what you need for your build and budget and then ask us questions when you are ready.

 

[Navyos7108]

Any idea if this Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler, will fit in my computer? motherboard is GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX, Case is Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case, Video card is MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16, and processor is the i7 2600k

 

[Motopsychojdn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Ix9ZrHLlM

DH14 in a 902,
Moto

 

[silent54]

Don't take this the wrong way but if I spent $1600 on a new system, I wouldn't skimp on a water cooling system. I don't even know if $300 would be enough. As rubix said, you need to know your water block types and you may find that available kits may not have what you require. Just from my recent experience; 2 water blocks, a good pump, and a reservoir will push you at or over $300. Then there's the radiators, tubing, fans, and fittings. I my self just completed my first full water cooling system. It's not cheap by no means, especially if you want components that will last and get the job done. Just as an example: I'm cooling a i5 2500k and two GTX460s. Prior my GPUs were air cooled and they were overclocked as far as I could get them without any heat and artifact issues. Most of today's stock coolers tend to be pretty efficient at handling OCs. My i5 was a different story. I had a Corsair H50 which is a closed water cooling system. The H50 is somewhat equivalent to high end air coolers. I could only OC from 3.3 to 4.5 without going over 75c at full load. The cpu can go further just like your i7. The only way is through water cooling. I decided if I'm going to cool one, I might as well do my GPUs. These are decisions you have to make. If you aren't going to OC, then water cooling may be wasted unless it's just a preference. You can definitely air cool real well at or under $150. Me personally, I try and buy components that will go through several builds. This is a guess but I bet I spent upwards of $800-900 on my water cooling. I started my water cooling hunt sometime in Oct 2011 and final put it together just before Christmas. It's something to not hurry through because you may end up wasting money on crappy components or items you may find you don't need. I have about $150 worth of stuff I bought just to find they either wouldn't work as I intended or my build changed during the build. lol Planning is everything.

Read the stickies and ask questions about the components you choose. You will find that user experience more times than not trumps manufacture charts and graphs.