Questions, Questions, Questions.....

[JJU357]

Well after a 2 year hiatus from watercooling, I have come into an i7 980x that I don't even want to install until I get some decent watercooling pieces for it.

Last time I was watercooling was when the Athlong 64 Dual-Cores were the king of the hill in performance...haha...

Anyways, I'll only be cooling my CPU for now with water (although that might change down the road)

After some research I came up with a list of possible components:
1) Laing DDC w/ EK V2 top and X-100 Res
2) HWLabs GTX 260 Rad or XSPC360 Rad (Anyone have a preference?)
3) EK Supreme HF or KL360 (Which of these I choose will depend on how someone answers my questions below)

Questions:
1) I read on here that some people don't like bayreses because they are hard to fill/bleed. I really think a bay res would be much easier to install that the DDC with EK top, but can anyone tell me how easy it was for them to mount the DDC pump/EK res in their case? I modded the hell out of the last WC setup I did, trying to stay away from that this time (also because I'm inpatient.

2) I've also read that the EK HF block cannot use compression fittings. What are most people using instead? I assume regular barbs, and if they are, what size barbs are you using? I wanted to use 1/2" ID 3/4" OS tubing, but I'd like some feedback on what would go well with the above components. I like the slightly better performance of the EK block, but I think I'd like compression fittings all around (any confirmation that the KL360 can use these?)

3) Who can point me to some good fans? I'll be putting the rad in top of my ACTS 840 so I'll be replacing some rather large fans that are up there now. Not overly concerned about noise, but I want the best performance with a noise level at or below my current fans in the system.

[Church]

2) standart plexi HF version can use comp fittings just fine. it's full nickel/full copper versions of it, that have inlet/outlet placed a bit clother, so that biggest 1/2" ID compressions don't fit side by side. People work arround that by using barbs, or using one of those two fittings 45deg rotary, or you can wait for next HF revision with inlet/outlet wider appart.
3) Scythe Gentle Typhoons 1850rpm (downvolted to 1000-1100rpm)
I'd prefer XSPC rad over GTX one. GTX because of being high-finned needs fast(noisy) fans to work really effective, and sucks with slow airflow(silent).

[Widowmker]

Here's Skinnee's review on tthe Koolance 360, it looks like a good block especially if Koolance were to make new mounting plates for it for next gen cpu's then it would be fure-proof as well. I've got the Swiftech Apogee XT it's a good cpu block and 1/2" comp fittings will fit.
Be careful with the mounting screws they strip easy.
http://skinneelabs.com/koolance-cpu-360.html
http://skinneelabs.com/i7-blocks-2.html

The HWLabs GTX is a high FPI rad and performs best with high speed fans which will make it noisy. Personally I like low FPI rads cause they perform better with lower speed fans and are quieter (XSPC, Thermochill, Feser, SR-1).
http://www.skinneelabs.com/hwlabs-gtx360.html
http://www.skinneelabs.com/triplesv2.html

Read through Skinnee's website he has alot of good info, reviews and comparisons on WC hardware.

Yate Loons are a good, inexpensive fan.
http://jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-...d-pr-3770.html

Although I replaced my Yates with these. They perform almost as good and are quieter. They're 70cfm not 90cfm in the description.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0312369


@Churchy - I measured the NB chipset screw spacing today on the Asus P6X58D, it's 62mm. SB is 53mm. I think I made a typo in the other thread.

[Red Maw]

2) standart plexi HF version can use comp fittings just fine. it's full nickel/full copper versions of it, that have inlet/outlet placed a bit clother, so that biggest 1/2" ID compressions don't fit side by side. People work arround that by using barbs, or using one of those two fittings 45deg rotary, or you can wait for next HF revision with inlet/outlet wider appart.

Wonderful, looks like I'm in for some fun getting those compression fittings to work

[Bolas]

I have a bay res in my build, it was very easy to fill. Check the linked build log for pics of filling the bay res.

I'm also using a EK cpu block (plexi-top) with compression fittings (3/8" ID 5/8" OD). No problems there either.

[JJU357]

Ok great. I've got all my stuff ordered.

Now another question or two:

1) With the XSPC360 Rad and the Ek Supreme HF and Laing DDC 3.25 pump, I read in a sticky that it is no longer necessary to flush the pieces with vinegar. Is this correct? If so, just use hot tap water to flush them or distilled water?

2) Any other cleaning/prep I need to do before hooking it all up for leak testing?

[Widowmker]

Wonderful, looks like I'm in for some fun getting those compression fittings to work

Install the 45 fitting first and you'll be fine

[Widowmker]

Ok great. I've got all my stuff ordered.

Now another question or two:

1) With the XSPC360 Rad and the Ek Supreme HF and Laing DDC 3.25 pump, I read in a sticky that it is no longer necessary to flush the pieces with vinegar. Is this correct? If so, just use hot tap water to flush them or distilled water?

2) Any other cleaning/prep I need to do before hooking it all up for leak testing?

As long as you do your final flush with distilled, you'll be fine. It's important to flush the rad really good to get out any little bits of stuff left in them after they build them. Here's the method I use: Fill rad up ~1/2 - 3/4 way with hot tap or distilled
(I use distilled because of hard water at my house), shake it real good for a few minutes then empty it into a clear container to see what comes out. Do this a few times until you're confident that the rad is clean then do your
final flush with hot distilled. I take apart the waterblocks to make sure there's nothing lodged in the micropins and take apart the pump head to check for any foreign matter then flush with hot distilled. Everything else I
flush a couple times with hot distilled.

Other Prep:

-If you're using comp. fittings snug them down then tighten them another 1/4 - 1/2 turn, they don't need to be super tight.
-Fold paper towels into 1"-2" strips and wrap around each fitting to help check for leaks.
-Don't let the pump run dry when bumping it.

I Can't think of anything else off the top of my head.