i7-3820 and CF 7970 - First build with water cooling, any suggestions?

[ClichedBluefish]

Hello! This is my third time building a computer and my first time water cooling, I've done some research into water cooling, but I still would appreciate some advice on my build, specifically the water cooling parts and other small things like if I have too few hose clamps or compression fittings (someone also mentioned a crossfire bridge for the water on another forum?). Either way I'm really excited to build this new computer and I'm hoping that it will last me quite a few years!


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($249.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($399.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($399.99 @ Microcenter)

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 900D ATX Full Tower Case (~$300 @ ?)

Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($191.82 @ Newegg)

Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans ($9.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Dell U3011 60Hz 30.0" Monitor ($1108.98 @ Newegg)


Water Cooling Parts:

Other: XSPC Raystorm CPU Waterblock ($52.99)
Other: FrozenQ Liquid Fusion V Series 250 ml Reservoir - UV Blue (POM) ($89.99)
Other: Swiftech ?” x ½” Lok-Seal™ Compression Fitting - Black x10 ($79.50)
Other: XSPC High Flex Hose 1/2? ID, 3/4? OD (19/12.7mm) - Blue / UV Blue ($10.00)
Other: Nanoxia Coolant - HyperZero - Performance Coolant - UV Blue - 1000 ml ($17.95)
Other: Über 655 Fully Modded (D5) 12 VDC Water Pump - Blue w/ Blue Compression Fittings 1/2" x 3/4" MCP-655-B Pump ($193.95)
Other: Swiftech MCR420-QP (Quiet Power™) 4 x 120mm Radiator ($82.95)
Other: XSPC Razor 7970 - Full Cover VGA Water-Block for ATI 7970 x2 ($189.98)

Total: ~$3925 (not sure of 900D price)

Please keep in mind that I'm going for as quiet as possible

 

[rubix_1011]

Other: FrozenQ Liquid Fusion V Series 250 ml Reservoir - UV Blue (POM) ($89.99)

-overkill res size, but if it's your preference, no biggie.

Other: Nanoxia Coolant - HyperZero - Performance Coolant - UV Blue - 1000 ml ($17.95)

- save yourself some money and your blocks some gunk and just use distilled water, biocide and a killcoil. Cooling performance won't beat plain water anyway.

Other: Über 655 Fully Modded (D5) 12 VDC Water Pump - Blue w/ Blue Compression Fittings 1/2" x 3/4" MCP-655-B Pump ($193.95)

- going all out on a super expensive pump? You could get your own D5 and top and do it for less.

Other: Swiftech MCR420-QP (Quiet Power™) 4 x 120mm Radiator ($82.95)

- Swiftech MCR rads aren't that fantastic...they are OK, but easily out performed by other models. Plus, a single 420 isn't going to cut it with an i7-3820 and 2x 7970's.

Why are you getting 32GB of RAM? I don't see a hard drive and/or SSD on the list unless you already have them? Optical drive?

 

[ClichedBluefish]

Other: FrozenQ Liquid Fusion V Series 250 ml Reservoir - UV Blue (POM) ($89.99)

-overkill res size, but if it's your preference, no biggie.

Other: Nanoxia Coolant - HyperZero - Performance Coolant - UV Blue - 1000 ml ($17.95)

- save yourself some money and your blocks some gunk and just use distilled water, biocide and a killcoil. Cooling performance won't beat plain water anyway.

Other: Über 655 Fully Modded (D5) 12 VDC Water Pump - Blue w/ Blue Compression Fittings 1/2" x 3/4" MCP-655-B Pump ($193.95)

- going all out on a super expensive pump? You could get your own D5 and top and do it for less.

Other: Swiftech MCR420-QP (Quiet Power™) 4 x 120mm Radiator ($82.95)

- Swiftech MCR rads aren't that fantastic...they are OK, but easily out performed by other models. Plus, a single 420 isn't going to cut it with an i7-3820 and 2x 7970's.

Why are you getting 32GB of RAM? I don't see a hard drive and/or SSD on the list unless you already have them? Optical drive?

Already own a 1TB HDD and a 128GB Samsung 830 SSD, 32GB of RAM because I'd like to try out RAMDISKS and I want all slots to be filled. What would you recommend for a quiet pump that looks good and what would you recommend for a black quiet quad radiator? Do I need to add another radiator or is there a single quad one that will work well?

 

[giltyler]

You can put a 480 up top and a 480 in the bottom and should be good. The MRC from swiftech works well with low rpm fans to keep everything quiet.

 

[sam80jr]

get a proper RAM kit first of all. LGA2011 is quad channel, you can get a 32gig (8x4) for like 120 bucks. Buying it in 4 seperate kits is a waste of money and RAM slots

 

[manofchalk]

Radiators themselves are just lumps of metal, they don't make noise. The fans attached to them do though, thats where the noise comes from.
And pumps, you will want to decouple it fairly well for a silence rig.

With the kind of money you have, go overkill on radiator space. Radiators are cheap compared to the rest of the loop, and more of them will allow you to have slower fans so its quieter.

Also the 900D has an estimated price of $350.

 

[toolmaker_03]

avoid the gigabyte boards for 2011 CPU the intel or asus boards will be a better buy i have been looking into this for awhile now jist thought you would like to know

and if you would please wright about that monitor i have been eyeing it for some time now and would like a full review

 

[ClichedBluefish]

avoid the gigabyte boards for 2011 CPU the intel or asus boards will be a better buy i have been looking into this for awhile now jist thought you would like to know

and if you would please wright about that monitor i have been eyeing it for some time now and would like a full review

Why exactly should I avoid Gigabyte boards? You can barely write correctly and you have not provided any source.

 

[ClichedBluefish]

Radiators themselves are just lumps of metal, they don't make noise. The fans attached to them do though, thats where the noise comes from.
And pumps, you will want to decouple it fairly well for a silence rig.

With the kind of money you have, go overkill on radiator space. Radiators are cheap compared to the rest of the loop, and more of them will allow you to have slower fans so its quieter.

Also the 900D has an estimated price of $350.

What would you recommend for silent fans? I'm thinking that I should put a triple on top of the case for the CPU and a quad down at the bottom side for the 7970s. So maybe this rad for the 7970s at the bottom and this rad for the CPU at the top?

 

[ClichedBluefish]

You can put a 480 up top and a 480 in the bottom and should be good. The MRC from swiftech works well with low rpm fans to keep everything quiet.

You mean the MCR480 Rad from Switftech? What fans would you recommend for quiet fans? I'm probably going to put a 360 up top for the CPU and a 480 at the bottom for the 7970s, would that work? I'm trying to decide between the MCR Rads and the Alphacool Nexxxos UT60 Full Copper rads at the moment.

 

[giltyler]

I like the Aerocool shark fans they are fairly quiet push good air flow and come with a
Voltage reduction cable if you want even quieter. The sleeving is also the best I have seen.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835129056
Also I use a Gigabyte board and it is very solid The Editors here at TOM'S agree
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4288#ov

 

[manofchalk]

Have enough radiator space and you can run fans quite slow (1000RPM or less), at that speed all fans will be equally quiet. I personally use XSPC Xinrullian 1650's, their good quality, cheap and work well on slim radiators, very quiet at the speeds I run them at (roughly 900RPM).
Commonly recommended rad fans are the Noctua NF-F12, Silverstone Air Penetrators and Scythe Gentle Typhoons.
If your getting a thick, high FPI radiator, than I suggest you get the fans I just recommended than the XSPC ones. Once youv got that much resistance to airflow, the performance of the fan makes a difference, while with the slim low FPI rads I use, not so much.

Unless your running dual loops, the amount of radiator space you have has to correlate with the total loop TDP, not the TDP of particular components. I imagine a 360 and 480mm rad would deal with what your after just fine, though you will want to make sure by doing the necessary TDP calculations.
If you don't know how, check the water-cooling sticky (and read the rest of it while your at it).

 

[ClichedBluefish]

Have enough radiator space and you can run fans quite slow (1000RPM or less), at that speed all fans will be equally quiet. I personally use XSPC Xinrullian 1650's, their good quality, cheap and work well on slim radiators, very quiet at the speeds I run them at (roughly 900RPM).
Commonly recommended rad fans are the Noctua NF-F12, Silverstone Air Penetrators and Scythe Gentle Typhoons.
If your getting a thick, high FPI radiator, than I suggest you get the fans I just recommended than the XSPC ones. Once youv got that much resistance to airflow, the performance of the fan makes a difference, while with the slim low FPI rads I use, not so much.

Unless your running dual loops, the amount of radiator space you have has to correlate with the total loop TDP, not the TDP of particular components. I imagine a 360 and 480mm rad would deal with what your after just fine, though you will want to make sure by doing the necessary TDP calculations.
If you don't know how, check the water-cooling sticky (and read the rest of it while your at it).

Quiet is really important, one of the main reasons I'm doing a custom loop. Currently the loudest things in my computer are the case fans, except for when I'm playing Crysis 3 or benchmarking (video card heats up and the fan spins up higher)