Guide a beginner to setup a silent Water Cooling system

Hello, I want to setup a quiet water cooling system to overclock a PC whose main specifications are:

• Gigabyte P31-DS3L MB
• Intel E2140 CPU
• Nvidia 8800GT GPU

My idea yet is to buy water blocks with good compatibility so they would be useable for future upgrades. The hardware would be put into a Silverstone LC17 case:

• EK Supreme HF Full Nickel CPU block based on this chart
• Swiftech MCW80 GPU block for its «universality»
• Swiftech MCP 350 / Laing DDC 3.1 pump seems silent according to most users
• Thermochill PA140.3 or Thermochill PA120.3 radiator depending on case's room
• XSPC Acrylic Reservoir for Laing DDC or XSPC Laing DDC Acetal Top (no reservoir) based on this review

This being the first water cooling system I setup, I would like to know:

• What do you think about the hardware I considered so far?
• Do you think the Swiftech MCP 350 / Laing DDC 3.1 is the most silent pump?
• What about the radiator? Would it be better to use two at different points in the loop or just one? With how many fans for one loop? 1, 2, 3, 4?
• Would it be useful to cool some other components of the motherboard for overclocking purposes or the power supply unit for silence considering I don't want to afford more than one loop?
• What are the pros & cons of a system with no reservoir?
• What about the tubes, the fittings and their sizes? What tool should be used to cut a tube? How many fittings are needed? Should 90° fittings be used to shorten the overall tubing length?
• What should the coolant be composed of?
• What do you think about connecting the pump directly to the radiator? Where should the radiator go for an integrated system?
• Would it be possible to «refrigerate» the case in order to improve the transfer of heat?
• What precautions should be taken before and after the system has been set regarding cleaning & maintenance?

Thanks for reading and hopefully guiding me.

you may be able to run completely passive with those components.

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Originally Posted by Abel

• What do you think about the hardware I considered so far?
• Do you think the Swiftech MCP 350 / Laing DDC 3.1 is the most silent pump?
• What about the radiator? Would it be better to use two at different points in the loop or just one? With how many fans for one loop? 1, 2, 3, 4?

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OK selection.
Maybe not the most silent, but good overall compromise in performance/silence.
Doesn't matter how they are/are not divided/where are placed in loop. Choose rads however they are simplier to mount in your case. As your hardware is rather cool as it is, no need for something more then 120x3. Maybe even 120x2 will suffice. For fans i advise scythe gentle typhoons.

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• Would it be useful to cool some other components of the motherboard for overclocking purposes or the power supply unit for silence considering I don't want to afford more than one loop?
• What are the pros & cons of a system with no reservoir?
• What about the tubes, the fittings and their sizes? What tool should be used to cut a tube? How many fittings are needed? Should 90° fittings be used to shorten the overall tubing length?

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No need to. Mostly thrown out money for bling purposes.
Cheaper, more compact. Harder/longer to fill/bleed.
Not much difference in flow/temps, so take smaller size, eg. 3/8"ID / 5/8"OD, will be easier to route tubing in your rather compact case. Pair or so of 90° fittings won't restrict flow too much. Just don't build using only such fittings.

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• What should the coolant be composed of?
• What do you think about connecting the pump directly to the radiator? Where should the radiator go for an integrated system?
• Would it be possible to «refrigerate» the case in order to improve the transfer of heat?
• What precautions should be taken before and after the system has been set regarding cleaning & maintenance?

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Best/simpliest/cheapest would be distilled water. Put somewhere in loop some silver kill coil or add pair of drops of some biocide to prevent algae growth and you should be fine.
Order of components in loop mostly doesn't matter, temps everywhere soon enough reach equilibrium differing in tenhs of degree. Route tubing however you find easier/shorter/simplier to. Except one rule - put reservoir before pump, as common liquid pumps are not self-priming (they don't suck, they pull water, and water from res should go to them by gravitation/self flow)
Of course extra fans/good airflow won't hurt, to not accumulate heat within.
Do not skip proper leak testing after assembling/filling loop before any powering on. You shouldn't have much issues with cleaning if you use plain distilled water instead of some dye premixes that can cause problems with residue/gunking. Check once few months for water level in res, and maybe add a bit if needed (water can veeery slowly evaporate a bit through walls of tubing).
Good luck.

I've the MCP350. Runs pretty much silent if you cushion it properly. Mine sits on acoustic foam. :rofl:

Phil

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Originally Posted by TRICHEESE

you may be able to run completely passive with those components.

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I guess I could!

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Originally Posted by churchy

OK selection.
Maybe not the most silent, but good overall compromise in performance/silence.

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What do you think would be quieter?

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Originally Posted by churchy

Doesn't matter how they are/are not divided/where are placed in loop. Choose rads however they are simplier to mount in your case. As your hardware is rather cool as it is, no need for something more then 120x3. Maybe even 120x2 will suffice. For fans i advise scythe gentle typhoons.

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I see. The most important is to do what you can with the case you have.

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Originally Posted by churchy

No need to. Mostly thrown out money for bling purposes.

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So, basically CPU and GPU are the only relevant component to water cool.

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Originally Posted by churchy

Cheaper, more compact. Harder/longer to fill/bleed.
Not much difference in flow/temps, so take smaller size, eg. 3/8"ID / 5/8"OD, will be easier to route tubing in your rather compact case. Pair or so of 90° fittings won't restrict flow too much. Just don't build using only such fittings.

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I read somewhere it's a good idea to fit tubes into smaller fittings. Do you know something about it? I guess I'll go with 3/8;5/8.

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Originally Posted by churchy

Best/simpliest/cheapest would be distilled water. Put somewhere in loop some silver kill coil or add pair of drops of some biocide to prevent algae growth and you should be fine.

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I see. Distilled water & additive. What do you think about complete coolants like Feser One?

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Originally Posted by Philwong

I've the MCP350. Runs pretty much silent if you cushion it properly. Mine sits on acoustic foam.

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Did you try this product to reduce noise/vibration?

Thanks all.

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Originally Posted by Abel

This being the first water cooling system I setup, I would like to know:

• What do you think about the hardware I considered so far?
  
  Good, the radiator is overkill for basically your gpu. You cpu doesn't produce hardly any heat, I've heard you can run one without any heatsink at all(straight from the creator of Real Temp).
  
  
• Do you think the Swiftech MCP 350 / Laing DDC 3.1 is the most silent pump?
  
  Yup, quiet indeed.
  
  
• What about the radiator? Would it be better to use two at different points in the loop or just one? With how many fans for one loop? 1, 2, 3, 4?
  
  The 120.3 is a great rad, a bit much for your loop but great for universality. I would put 3 near silent fans on it. Or maybe some 1800rpm GTs on a fan controller.
  
• Would it be useful to cool some other components of the motherboard for overclocking purposes or the power supply unit for silence considering I don't want to afford more than one loop?
  
  No, once you invest into cooling the board your fairly tied down to it. Your board isn't extremely stressed with the North Bridge handling just the 8800. The return on investment just isn't there.
  
• What are the pros & cons of a system with no reservoir?
  
  Dunno, ressys allow for a place to monitor levels and check pressure. Also come in handy during bleeding the loop.
  
  
• What about the tubes, the fittings and their sizes? What tool should be used to cut a tube? How many fittings are needed? Should 90° fittings be used to shorten the overall tubing length?
  
  I would suggest using 1/2" fittings and tubing. It's less flexible but fairly uniform in water cooling world. Also your MCW80's will come with 2 fittings. You can use scissors to cut tubing. 90 fittings will reduce your flow, use'm only if you have to.
  
• What should the coolant be composed of?
  
  Distilled water. Maybe some PT Nuke, but dyes and additives are crap.
  
• What do you think about connecting the pump directly to the radiator? Where should the radiator go for an integrated system?
  
  The pump can be connected directly to the radiator, no problem there. Most radiators can go outside the case or inside the case if you have the space. You may want to look into a Rad Box if you mount outside the case.
  
• Would it be possible to «refrigerate» the case in order to improve the transfer of heat?
  
  Sure would, but then condensation may appear. Better idea is to keep ambient temps as low as possible.
  
  
• What precautions should be taken before and after the system has been set regarding cleaning & maintenance?
  
  Bleed the loop before using. That means filling the loop and running the system independent to make sure there are no leaks. Check for leaks well prior to applying power to your board/gpu. Check water levels frequently, and tear down the entire setup every 6mo and clean thoroughly.
  

Thanks for reading and hopefully guiding me.

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Hope that helps!

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Originally Posted by TRICHEESE

you may be able to run completely passive with those components.

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Damn close, some 800rpm fans just to keep air movement but yeah it could be near silent for sure.

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Originally Posted by mlee49

Hope that helps!

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That helps much, thanks!

Laing D5 (MCP655) is actually quieter than the DDCs.

For coolant, I would suggest distilled water with a little bit of Propylene Glycol (i think you can buy it at some wc part shops, but if not, just get the green antifreeze)

loop order doesn't matter a whole lot. I personally prefer pump -> rad -> cpu -> gpu -> res -> return to pump, but you should just try to minimize tubing distance rather than stick to any particular order. As long as the res is feeding the pump, you're fine.

Although you don't even really need a res. If you want to save money, just do a T-line. Takes a bit longer to bleed all the air out but w/e.

D5 is quieter then DDC 3.25, roughly same as DDC 3.1 though. And needs some vibration isolation.

Both have their own distinct sound. Some prefer the D5, and some the DDC. From what I've read the D5 has a lower pitched noise than the DDC.

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Originally Posted by Abel

I see. Distilled water & additive. What do you think about complete coolants like Feser One?

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You get colored coolant, that's it. Pay more and enjoy all those additions to leave residue on your tubing/components, gunk up micropins/microchannels of waterblocks. Those premix coolants containing antifreeze also work less effectively as coolant (as water is most effective, and those etilenglykol/propilenglykol antifreeze additives are less effective), and almost no-one needs anti-freezable property. Antifreeze type coolants might be needed if you mix normal copper/brass components with crappy aluminium ones (but no-one sane will do, given choice), but yet again you don't need that. Loop with quality brass/copper components doesn't have corrosion issues like ones you get when you use aluminium components alongside them.
Most veteran LC people usually go back to distilled. If you need colors, buy colored tubing.

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Originally Posted by TRICHEESE

you may be able to run completely passive with those components.

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radiators are not great unless u have some air going though them.

Thanks all!

@iddqd, churchy & Alexandr0s I'll think about the MCP655, though I understand the MCP350 is more compact!
I'm also seriously considering the T-line option. I understand the T must be put before the pump to act as a reservoir.
What about a T-line for draining? Could one line be enough for filling and draining the loop? What bout the tube length after the T? Is it important? By the way, is a Fill-port needed? A Drain-valve?

@churchy I understand I should stick with Distilled water and an additive.

@NaeKuh Yes, there are some passive radiators, but I think I'll use the radiator with good fans at low rpm.

For rads to be completely passive they need to be enormous. I recall somewhere noticing mention that active cooling even with very slow fans was 4-10 times more effective then passive one. Not seeing arround much people buying multiple MoRa rads for single build with passive cooling though :)

My D5 is loud even at 4, but near silent at 1

Might not EK's DCP 2,2 be a pretty solid quiet choice? It is very quiet and enough power for a smaller loop.

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Originally Posted by churchy

For rads to be completely passive they need to be enormous. I recall somewhere noticing mention that active cooling even with very slow fans was 4-10 times more effective then passive one. Not seeing arround much people buying multiple MoRa rads for single build with passive cooling though :)

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YEAH MORA3, no i dont have any :shakes:

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Originally Posted by Quad-Damage

My D5 is loud even at 4, but near silent at 1

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Mine's pretty quiet even at full blast. Maybe yours is producing sympathetic vibrations? I've had that problem with an Eheim 1250 a while back. Awful noise! And the pump wasn't quiet to begin with.

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Originally Posted by churchy

For rads to be completely passive they need to be enormous. I recall somewhere noticing mention that active cooling even with very slow fans was 4-10 times more effective then passive one. Not seeing arround much people buying multiple MoRa rads for single build with passive cooling though :)

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I know of one guy on Bit-Tech that's currently working on a passive build with custom rad, but his entire case is a radiator (literally).

And I remember reading that too (I believe by WL). Even at 400RPM, you'll get much better performance than with no fans at all.

Alexandr0s: IIRC i might have read about that ratio of active vs passive 4-10x not exactly about liquid cooling rads, but rather in article about calculations what radiator area is needed for those minirads/heatspreaders that are attached to some electronic parts. Very probably it's aplicable to LC aswell though.

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Originally Posted by TRICHEESE

YEAH MORA3, no i dont have any :shakes:

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Face Palm...

The MORA2 is so much better then the 3.
And the MORA3 is step backwards not forward..

They went round tubes instead of flat.
WTF where they thinking.

http://212.227.231.249/watercool/cms...pics/22010.jpg

Wait i thought the MORA2 was flat tubes.. now im seeing it isnt?
Am i getting these guys confused with the magicool 1080?

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...i360sx3_01.jpg

You want the magicool and run that on VERY VERY SILENT fans.
Even 400rpm's will make a world of a difference.

yep magicool is the bottom and mora is top, here is a link to some from everyones favourite shop

MORA 2 vs MORA 3

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

...SNIP...

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MO-RA's are pathetic (despite what some of the shills say) and those Magicool's aren't much better.

http://a.imageshack.us/img4/4465/magicoolxtreme1080.jpg

Rows 1-9(10?) take in the "hot" water and then channel it to the next 5 rows that take it back in the other direction which then feeds it to the next 5 rows for yet another pass and then finally to last 9(10?) rows to be put back into the rest of the system. I'm not sure if there's another row of tubes under the fan mounts but I'd be willing to bet there are.

So wait, that's quad pass? That should be quite restrictive I guess :eek:.

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Originally Posted by Alexandr0s

So wait, that's quad pass? That should be quite restrictive I guess :eek:.

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Yep, quad pass. That's not the only thing that makes it restrictive though. I really don't know what they were thinking when they came up with the idea of reducing the tube count for 2 of the 4 passes?

Personally, with those components, I honestly don't see the sense in spending the money on a watercooling setup to begin with. Even my daughter's computer has an E6400 which is soon going to be an E8400 when I get my latest project finished. I think your money would be far better spent on more hardware and a good air setup. Air can be very quiet, and with those components, you could probably be as quiet or quieter on air than water. It just doesn't make sense to spend $250 on a watercooling setup to overclock, when you could spend that money and get more current hardware that would give you 4x the performance of your setup overclocked.

That being said, the way you get a quiet watercooling setup is to use a quiet pump, and lots of rad surface with slow spinning fans. About the quietest you are going to get in pumps is an Aquastream XT, which are not easy to come by stateside and are higher priced, or an undervolted MCP350. The MCP350 can be put on a rheostat to do so. And as was mentioned, you need to completely isolate the pump from the case. Petrastechshop sells a gel pad that is fantastic for this and only about 1/4" thick.

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Originally Posted by voigts

Personally, with those components, I honestly don't see the sense in spending the money on a watercooling setup to begin with. Even my daughter's computer has an E6400 which is soon going to be an E8400 when I get my latest project finished. I think your money would be far better spent on more hardware and a good air setup. Air can be very quiet, and with those components, you could probably be as quiet or quieter on air than water. It just doesn't make sense to spend $250 on a watercooling setup to overclock, when you could spend that money and get more current hardware that would give you 4x the performance of your setup overclocked.

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+1

My backup computer is a Q6600 @ 3.2GHz with a 8800GTS 640. The fastest fan is at 700rpm. The GPU is passively cooled from the intake fan. Temperatures are well within safe limits, even at full CPU/GPU burn, and this is a much higher heat output than what your rig will put out. Not saying you shouldn't put everything on water anyway :D, but it's not going to get you any extra silence over a decent air setup.

Pump-wise, my vote goes for either the MCP655 on setting 1, or the DB-1 pump. I've found both to be noticeably quieter than the MCP350.

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Originally Posted by voigts

Personally, with those components, I honestly don't see the sense in spending the money on a watercooling setup to begin with. Even my daughter's computer has an E6400 which is soon going to be an E8400 when I get my latest project finished. I think your money would be far better spent on more hardware and a good air setup. Air can be very quiet, and with those components, you could probably be as quiet or quieter on air than water. It just doesn't make sense to spend $250 on a watercooling setup to overclock, when you could spend that money and get more current hardware that would give you 4x the performance of your setup overclocked.

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I think you're right. I think exactly as you after having been aware of the total price of such a system (about 350€ at least ~380$). The most important is to understand it: cost/benefits/needs.
I'm upgrading to E5500, and I will mostly use the computer to encode & play videos, a bit for gaming (though it doesn't amuse me as much as it used to). I know I can achieve very good temperatures with water cooling, but I think I won't upgrade now (at least, not until my bank account gets greener). However I know that when I do it, it will be for a fair amount of years, or so I hope.

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Originally Posted by voigts

That being said, the way you get a quiet watercooling setup is to use a quiet pump, and lots of rad surface with slow spinning fans. About the quietest you are going to get in pumps is an Aquastream XT, which are not easy to come by stateside and are higher priced, or an undervolted MCP350. The MCP350 can be put on a rheostat to do so. And as was mentioned, you need to completely isolate the pump from the case. Petrastechshop sells a gel pad that is fantastic for this and only about 1/4" thick.

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I'll remember about the Aquastream XT!

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Originally Posted by MpG

My backup computer is a Q6600 @ 3.2GHz with a 8800GTS 640. The fastest fan is at 700rpm. The GPU is passively cooled from the intake fan. Temperatures are well within safe limits, even at full CPU/GPU burn, and this is a much higher heat output than what your rig will put out. Not saying you shouldn't put everything on water anyway :D, but it's not going to get you any extra silence over a decent air setup.

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Well I didn't say I wanted something more silent than what you can get with air cooling ;) ! It's always a compromise between performance/noise/price.

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Originally Posted by MpG

Pump-wise, my vote goes for either the MCP655 on setting 1, or the DB-1 pump. I've found both to be noticeably quieter than the MCP350.

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The only drawback about the MCP655 over the 350 is its size, though I'll keep that model in mind. I didn't hear much about the DB-1...

Thanks, you all (everybody) ;) !