First Time Liquid Cooling

umliso25

Honorable
Jun 18, 2012
50
0
10,630
Hi TH,

I've been following a few liquid cooling threads and checking out what people are doing and it has inspired me to do my own liquid cooling system. I've been building my own PC's for about 6 years, and I am very comfortable modifying hardware to get stuff to fit.

So I am getting rid of my core components of my old build;

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200, Asus P5P43TD, Apevia X-Jupiter Full Tower

And getting:

Intel Core i5-3550
Asrock Extreme 4 Z77
Case - Corsair 400R

Corsair vengeance 8GB (4x2GB) 1600 MHz RAM
Intel 320 80GB SSD
2x 500GB WD Caviar Blue in RAID 1
Gigabyte AMD HD 6850 (possibly picking up a second).

First off, I need a case. I was looking at a corsair carbide series: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139009 or the
NZXT Switch 810: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146089

Any other recommendations? I like a sturdy and roomy case, the inside has to be painted black and I'd like a window, but it's not a necessity.

For water cooling, to begin I'd be likely to start with a simple XPSC Raystorm EX240 or 360 kit to cool just the CPU to begin with, but slowly moving forward to the GPU(s). I've heard good reviews about the Corsair H kits, but I like to learn new stuff and build it myself.

The CPU only loop would probably be something like pump>rad>CPU>res.

My question is, do you guys have any other recommendations for the water cooling system?
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
a few questions :) first off, welcome to the forums newcomer!

now:

case wise:
there are alot of options really. Could look into the D series of cases, 800D is the king of the hill for corsair for a watercooling installment. but there alot more like mountainmods and caselabs. depends all on your budget and overal build plan, i.e: external or internal raddage mount.

watercooling wise:
have you taken a look at the watercooling sticky - its packed full of info and will help you jumpstart yourself into what to go for...while assembling a kit or maybe look for components for a custom loop.

list of kits:but for your instance, you should look out for the last 4 kits on that list.

these are the simplest kits money can buy you while being robust, easy to assemble, aesthetically pleasing and being of great value down the road should you want to add more stuff like blocks and rads.

Tip: stick with the EX's they are on par with the RX rads but are slimmer :) good for space constrained cases or a person conscious of bulky rads :p

hope these help out!
 

umliso25

Honorable
Jun 18, 2012
50
0
10,630
Thanks for the response lutfij.

I was taking a look at the D series from corsair and they are a little pricey compared to the R series. A friend of mine has the 400R and he said its a very roomy case, and has a lot of room to route cables behind the mobo tray. Also, today I just saw that there is a $10 off promo code on newegg, so why not?

I have taken a look at the watercooling sticky and perused through some of the information, and to start it seems like the EX kits are a really great starting kit, while also giving you lots of options to upgrade as well.

I'm a huge fan of in case aesthetics, so I'm always looking for ways to make my computer look good and have it be a display of my work. Building your own computer is something you should be proud of, not an eyesore (like my apevia case :heink: )

edit: Forgot to mention my budget, but it's ever changing. I'm not looking for it to be a money pit but I'm not going cheap either. I've already dropped about $400 into a mobo and CPU, and probably another $200 or so into a case and PSU. I'm using components from my old build as well (RAM, GPU, HDD/ODD/SSD). Then probably budget myself $300 for water cooling. So all in all, around $1000 - $1100 for this build.
 

umliso25

Honorable
Jun 18, 2012
50
0
10,630
I looked and saw that a thicker rad will only fit on top if you remove the top cage, but i was thinking if you could pull the rad to the top from the inside of the case with a longer screw and mount the fans on the out side of the case underneath the mesh top. Just a thought. I'm gonna have to put together a build log for this thing.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
wow, we've been seeing a recent bump in build logs :) if this keeps going rubix mate - we'll need a sub section for build logs :D

+5000 for seeing a build log from ya! $300 for a cpu only loop is awesome, just in the right spot :) but for a GPU loop into the mix will need some more dough.
 

umliso25

Honorable
Jun 18, 2012
50
0
10,630
I have a Gigabyte 6850, but I can't seem to find waterblocks for it anywhere. I found one from Koolance and they are $110 a piece and I can't really justify that cost right now, plus the cost of another rad and fans.

But I will definitely start to throw together a build log soon as the parts start to trickle in. My CPU and mobo came in monday and tuesday. I ordered my 400R this morning, so that is here Friday (I hope). After that I have to wait for my next paycheck to start putting together my cooling system.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
seems to me like its a reference model...still unsure, even looks like non reference to me. might want to drop an email at the support desk when you can choose a block for your GPU. at least they won't have the issues like nvidia have regarding their IHS.