What to buy - pls any advice

[ZeluR]

Hi,
I'm in the progress to buy water cooling for my rig. So I appreciate some advice what parts and brand I should buy. First I thought to buy a Koolance Exos kit, but since it's a kit there will be restrictions for upgrades in the future and so on. So I've decide to build a internal one but I need some advice from you guys that know much more than I do about water cooling.

I want to build one that can cool CPU (Intel 478 socket),GPU (ATI Radeon 9700 pro) and 3 HDD, and have good cooling and low noice.


TIA

[MaxxxRacer]

www.dangerden.com

DD TDX
DD Maze4GPU (brass top)
Weapon Heatercore and Shroud (PM weapon to buy it from him, 65 for both shroud and heatercore) (heatercore is a radiator)
Tygon tubing 1/2inch ID
Resivour of your choice as long as it has 1/2inch fittings and is not made from alluminum.
Papst fans for super silence, or Sanyo Denkis fans for perforamance and a little more noise. My opninion would be the Denkis, but use a fan controller to turn them down. They are super quiet when turned down and still perform very well.

As far as hdd cooling, dont bother. your drives dont get that hot. Lookign at your drives you dont have any 15kscsi drives which means you dont need to activly cool them. I suggest getting some of those zalman hd coolers if you want silence and cooling for your hds. Watercooling them is a waste of time and money.

[Craig]

Hi ZeluR,

First, Welcome to the Xtreme! !

For a low noise set up I'd suggest you drop the hard drive blocks for now. Mount them with foam, silicone gaskets or rubber. Then add a low noise fan in front of them.

Reason I suggest this is to water cool 5 blocks in one loop takes a really strong pump, and those tend to be louder. Other way is to break things up into 2 loops, but that's very expensive.

But for the CPU & GPU water is the way to go to be rid of those small loud fans.

pump => Swiftech's new MCP350 pump, very very quiet
CPU block => Swiftech 6000 or Danger DEn TDX with brass top & #4jet
GPU block => Silverprop Fusion HL
RAD => Black Ice Pro 2 for 2 X 120mm fans
Fans => Nexus 120mm low noise fans
tube => 3/8" Tygon, easier to route & plenty for this flow level.

This water loop will do a LOT to cut noise to a minimum for you. You'll like the change frome air. Better cooling & lots lower noise.

With the hard drives decoupled as noted above you can then decide if you really wish to spend enough more to have a second loop to cool them with water as well. If you do you can perhaps have a single Black Ice Pro + 120mm fan to cool them as drives don't produce nearly the heat of the CPU or GPU chips.

Hope this is what you're looking for. :toast:

[Craig]

For a low noise rig, (performance not a concern), you'll find the Nexus 120's are about the best at the moment (Globe would be a good second choice). That's why I suggested the BIP for a rad. Heatercores need more pressure than the really low noise fans have. But if you wish to maintain some higher preformance with your set up then the heater core & higher pressure fans MaxxxRacer suggests would be a very good way to go & lower in cost.

Just depends on how much silence vs how much performance you are looking for.

For a rig like MaxxxRacer suggested I'd say the 50Z from Cooltechnia would be the pump I'd go with then (I see Max forgot to add a pump......:stick: ). A modest sound level increase that would offer a fair improvement in performance when combined with the Weapon heater core set up.

For more info on low noise: www.silentpcreview.com

They're about the best on the web for low noise info. They might be able to suggest even better fan choices.

[ZeluR]

Thanks for your suggestions guys :toast: (more are welcomed).

As I've short of space in my rig, I was thinking to put the radiator on the outside - eather on the top or back, which would be the best?

I can take a picture of my rig if someone want to see and suggest where to put radiator/tank/pump - please let me know.

Consirning noice vs performance, it would be awesome to have both but that's impossible, but for now I would go for less noise than performance since I've not o/c so much (limit to my cpu), but then when I buy new parts in the future it would be nice to be able to just change some part for the cooling to make it more powerfull.

What I understand is if I get a good radiator with 2 silence fans that are controlled I can change the fans in the futere to get better preformance.
What about the pump - do they make alot of noice?

Then the tubing - I really want to buy part that I can use in the future so should I go for 3/8 id or 1/2 id? Let's say that my next rig I only have to buy new cpu and gpu block and then maybe more powerfull fans (if I'm more succesfull in o/c the cpu than now).

About to cool the HDD - today they run at 38 to 40C, so I guess I skipp that as you all suggested. Don't know how much cooler they would be running with an second loop, maybe in the future and if it's possible to have a second loop with 1/4 id and the Koolance HDD kit.


TIA

[Craig]

All blocks suggested above would work in a O/Cer's rig.

Would suggest the 50Z pump as better for O/Cing than the MCP350 for overclocking. But the MCP350 is perhaps the lowest noise pump on the market, very, very quiet. Both are 12v so can run off the PSU, which is a nice plus when setting things up. The 50Z should be mounted on some foam rubber for lowest nosie, that way it transmits no vibrations to the case & the nosie resonace that brings.

The heater core would be better for overclocking than the BIP, it can handle & dissipate more heat that the Black Ice Pro can.

40c for a drive is no big deal, water cooling could drop that by 10c, but is that worth the cost?

You might wish to consider a exterior case made just to hold pump, fans & rad. Can be made of wood pretty easy. If mounting to the outside of the case top or rear both work, just depends which is the better and easier to arrange for your set up. Go with which will allow you the shortest lines & most ease of set up.

For lines, the MCP350 can only be had set up for 3/8", the 50z can be ordered for both 3/8 & 1/2". 1/2" lines are a bit better for a O/C rig, but also a bit harder to route as they are stiffer which makes it harder to make turns in routing them, as well as being thicker. In a tight case the 3/8' are much easier to route.

Best of luck. :toast:

[MaxxxRacer]

I suggest hte 50Z as craig as said. If mounted properly it will be quiet

And the heatercore as you can use the weak fans for now and it will get good enough flow to keep things cool, but you can use the more powerful fans later on. Cheaper too.

As for tubing size its really a matter of how you want to deal with it. If you want to get the weapon heatercore you will have issues using 3/8inch tubing as he uses very large hose barbs that only 1/2inch and 5/8inch tubing will fit. Given that, I would probably go wit hteh 1/2inch. As craig said its a pain to manouver around the case becuase its big and thick, but it will give you a bit more flow and make it possible to use the heatercore.

As for the block the mcw6002 and TDX are excelent choices. With the 50Z pump, (get it at www.cooltechnica.com) you will get a bit more performance from the TDX compared to the mcw6002.

As for the gpu, its a toss up between the silverprop and the maze4. We kind of made a prediction (not test data) and said the silverprop performs better based on its design, but no real test data as i mentioned. but the thing is that its hard to get in that it has to be sent over from austrialia. If you dont mind the long wait to get the block then go for it. The maze4 is available from DD, the same place that makes the TDX. so it would be alot easier to get.

[ZeluR]

Thanks again for the reply :toast:

I just wonder how big tank/res to use? I saw Maxxx has dual 5 1/2".
And where is the best to have a tank/res?

I was thinking to build a external case/box in acrylic or wood later - any links to good pictures of "home built" cases?

Otherwise I guess I've enough information for the moment to start ordering the parts.

I've not checked the stores yet, but if you guys know where to get the parts in Sweden or Europe it would be best but I guess I've to order them from US..... not big deal to order the parts from US but anyway.


Cheers M8s

[Ricarus]

I little question in between... Can you put 3/8 ID hosing on the Silverprop HL?

[MaxxxRacer]

yes you can but you have to stretch the heck out of the tubing. Just put the tubing in boiling water for a few seconds to soften it up and it will work.

Zelur: The res isnt that important. Just make sure the res is the highest component in the loop (to get bubles out). I like the big one as it slows down temperature changes. So i can turn my fans off for longer due to the larger amount of water. Its helpful sometimes. It saved me when some moron friend of mine turned off my fans.

[ZeluR]

:)

Where do I get info how to route the setup (flow goes from pump->heatercore->cpu->gpu->tank->pump) or am I to quick now :)

Maxxx and Graig could you post some pictures of your rigs?


:toast:

I think I'll go fore the Maze4 instead of the Silverprop :( Austrialia is 2 far away.

I guess I've track down all the parts and where to get them... some from Sweden and some from US...

[MaxxxRacer]

if you want US suppliers I know lots of them.

you got ur pump order correct btw.

here is my systme. I dont have the a64 in right now due to me killing it, but thats it besides the new ocz520watt and the 3200el plat.

http://images5.theimagehosting.com/MSI_Setup.jpg

[ZeluR]

Cool Maxxx :toast:

Yes pls, I appreciate if you could give links to US suppliers :)

Is that 2 120mm fans on your heatercore?


Thanks M8

[MaxxxRacer]

well actually i have 4 on it, but yes there are two right there.

www.dangerden.com

www.frozencpu.com ( a bit overpiced compared to other sites, but they have EVERYTHING for case modding and cooling)

www.crazypc.com