building my firts liquid config under 200€

[crespo80]

I have a superb Tuniq air cooler, but I want Liquid Now!
I'm in Europe and I'll buy the components at chilledpc.co.uk
Firstly comes the silence, secondarly the performance.
I want to stay around under 200€ (~310$), so here is my buy list (prices in pounds)

Laing DDC 10W Pump + XSPC ResTOP -- 57,62 £

XSPC X2O Delta CPU Waterblock------- 28,99 £

Swiftech MCW60-R VGA cooler-------- 27,49 £

XSPC RS240 Black Radiator ----------- 23,99 £

Masterkleer 7/16" ID 5/8" OD (10X) ----- 9,80 £

Plastic Tube Clamps Black 10 pack ------ 3,99 £

Petra'sTech "PT_Nuke" C Biocide -------- 3,99 £

YATE LOON D12SL-12 UV Blue (2X)------ 9,98 £

------------------------------------- 162,56 £ (~204€, ~320$)


I edited as suggested, further advices are welcome!

.

[Scarlet Infidel]

Looks reasonably good for the budget. The pump isn't the strongest, but with the X20 block being so nonrestrictive it will be fine (I'm a fan of that pump for its low cost/power/noise). Once you add a graphics block the flow might not be very high, I'm not sure how much this will matter.

Personally I would buy cheaper tubing, buy cheaper distilled water from a local shop and probably swap the fans for Yate Loons. Then spend the extra money on improving the kit, or on something else entirely.

[Soulwind]

For the budget you've listed that's not bad.

Personally, I'd expand my budget just a bit and get a better pump and (if you can find them) the D-Tek Fuzion V2 cpu block instead of the xpsc, but that's just a personal opinion.

Definately avoid buying the Feser "ultra-pure" water. 1) You're going to want more than 1L of fluid 2) That stuff has several conflicting reports on what it really is.

Just go buy regular Distilled Water from the local grocier/chemist at like 1£ for several liters and add the PT Nuke. It's much cheaper (and no shipping costs) and works
at least as good if not better than any of the so called pre-mixed coolants out there. (most are just distilled water plus a few additives anyway).

Oh and you'll probably want more than 5ft of tubing. For a first time loop, I'd recommend you get at least 12-15 feet of tubing. Also if you're going with 1/2" barbs, I'd go
with 7/16" tubing. You'll get a much tighter (and safer) seal.

With only a 2 fan radiator and a GPU + CPU loop, you're temps aren't going to be stellar. A 3 fan rad would dump the heat better, but is a lot more expensive. With the rad listed
I think your temps would be in the 'acceptable' range, but you won't have a lot (if any) of overclocking headroom.

[Scarlet Infidel]

The other thing is, if you just want a cheap water loop then the pre-made swiftech kits probably aren't bad (feel free to correct me). They are listed with thermal resistances so you can estimate your temperatures before you buy. If you really want to build a loop yourself, then ignore that option.

[Giannis86]

the fuzion GFX is quite restrictive..i would go for a mcw60.should be perfect in junction with a low restriction block like the xspc delta

Ps: you might want to check aquapcs too..they have some nice prices too

[oerekum]

the fuzion GFX is quite restrictive..i would go for a mcw60.should be perfect in junction with a low restriction block like the xspc delta

Exactly my thoughts. Also I don't thing a single 2×120mm radiator would be able to withstand that heatload. And a cool option for you might be the XSPC dual bay reservoir/pump combo. As far as I know the pump is about the same as the DB-1 and I think its cheaper than the DB-1 combined with the MCRES micro.

http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=40_101&products_id=421

EDIT: One more thing: your tubing, it's fine but you haven't listed hose clamps. With that tubing on regular 1/2 barbs I would recommend some wormdrive clamps. If you would use 7/16" ID tubing then zipties should suffice.

[crespo80]

Thank a lot for the advices, I edited the configuration as suggested

- Instead of commercial coolants, I'll use Distilled Water from a Local Grocier/Hardware Store.

- I'll do an extra sacrifice changing d-tek db-1 pump and Micro-Reservoir, with the laing DDC 10W and XSPC Res TOP

- I'll use less expensive tubing, Masterkleer 7/16" ID 5/8" OD, in more quantity (10feet instead of 5)

- I changed the Zalman fans with the 28db-47cfm YateLoon D12SL-12

- I added a 10 pack of Plastic HoseClamps



Now I have only two doubts:

-The Laing DDC 10W with the XSPC ResTOP is now enough, is a good increase over the db-1?
Consider I want also extreme silence, so the DDC32 is not an option.

- The dual radiator is enough for the two blocks? I want to integrate in the case and I have just exceeded the budget

- You stated the D-Tek Fuzion GFX isn't high flowrate as the X20, the only alternative on chilledpc (staying away from full blocks) is the Swiftech MCW60-R, is this better or worse?

[Conumdrum]

Take a gander at this, DL the flow rate calculator and plug in your parts.

http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/

[Scarlet Infidel]

I think that dual radiator is good enough.

I get the impression that combined reservoir tops aren't good for flow, but I have no experience to back this up so wait for someone else to comment on this.

From what I hear, the 10w DDC is a little louder and a bit more powerful than the db-1. How much louder is hard to say (I really want to know myself). Looking at things like Martin's flow rate calculator should help highlight any performance differences. Personally, I would stick to the db-1 for it's very low power/noise and cost, but I know most people would disagree (also, I would never put a graphics card in my water loop anyway, so this makes me biased).

[Big_Daddy]

The Laing DDC 10W with the XSPC ResTOP is now enough, is a good increase over the db-1?
Consider I want also extreme silence, so the DDC32 is not an option.

- The dual radiator is enough for the two blocks? I want to integrate in the case and I have just exceeded the budget

- You stated the D-Tek Fuzion GFX isn't high flowrate as the X20, the only alternative on chilledpc (staying away from full blocks) is the Swiftech MCW60-R, is this better or worse?
The DDC 10w with xspc restop will do you well. You can always mod it (1 glob of solder) it to the 18 watt if you need to. (many tutorials on how to do that)

The MCW60 is MUCH better at flow rates than the Fuzion GFX. The Fuzion cools a bit better, but is much more restrictive. You don't want it on multi-block loops. And it's a dollar less. :)

Not to throw a monkey in your wrench.. :) but you do know that with a gpu only block, you still need something to cool your gpu ram.

This (http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=113_39&products_id=224) will work well with your 8800GTX, dunno about your 3870 in the meantime.

[crespo80]

(to Conumdrum)
great advice the link, I had the 2.8 flowrate estimator, but this new 2.9 has all the components I want!!!

(to Scarlet Infide)l
from the flow rate estimator 2.9, there's a 0,5GPM difference between a DD CPX-1 (AFAIK the same of db-1, it is true?) and the DDC-1 9W with Alphacool ResTOP (XSPC not available), in favour of the Laing Pump. But the difference is from 1,7 to 1,2, which is already a good point, so I may stay with the db-1 and save some money to invest in the VGA ram heatsinks.

(to Big_Daddy)
Yeah, I'll choose the MCW-60. And yeah, I forgot to include the heatsink for the VGA ram... So I'll spend theese extra 20£ on that, and maybe save money on the pump.


So, from the flow rate estimator, I have a 1,2GPM with the DD CPX-1, can I stay with it and save the extra money needed for the Laing?
At this point, in the case I want to spend a little extra money, it makes much more difference a more powerful pump or a bigger radiator?

[Scarlet Infidel]

Just to clarify, the 10w DDC you can buy now (DDC 3.1) is less powerful than the original 9w version in the estimator. However, as mentioned you can modify them to run as an 18w DDC 3.2 though for me this is too loud.

Ramsinks aren't very expensive (but are important). These (http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=117&products_id=466) are decent and are £5.49. The ones I use are only about £2 per pack but do the job well.

[crespo80]

Just to clarify, the 10w DDC you can buy now (DDC 3.1) is less powerful than the original 9w version in the estimator. However, as mentioned you can modify them to run as an 18w DDC 3.2 though for me this is too loud.
I'm pretty convinced to go for the db-1, I want max silence and best performance/price, and the flow should be a bit over 1gpm, so I am safe.


Ramsinks aren't very expensive (but are important). These (http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=117&products_id=466) are decent and are £5.49. The ones I use are only about £2 per pack but do the job well.
I see that the original heatsink of the VGA covers also the little mosfets on the PCB, and also the full cover by D-tek covers them, so I have to buy a set of heatsinks for them too? Or I can leave them naked?