Newbie - Need some advice on setup to cool 980x

[GMaxx]

Hi, I looking for advice and opinions on setting up a single loop to cool my 980x. I've never ventured into serious water cooling because of my work schedule. However, I finally want to give water cooling a shot.

Currently, I've chosen the lazy man way of cooling it with an H70. It's stable at 4.51 with 1.38v. It is running about 79 degrees under stress testing and about 33 degrees with normal everyday use. I really didn't play too much with this chip because of my work schedule. I got lucky because according to its batch number it's a better OCing one.

I have a Lian Li PC-Z70 case with an Asus Rampage III Extreme mobo. I'm thinking of using a Black Ice GT Stealth 280 radiator mounted at the top of my case where the dual 140mm fans are located. I would use a XSPC Dual 5.25 Bay reservoir.

What do you guys think?

I need some suggestions for the pump, fans, connectors, water block, and tubing. No real restriction on the budget because I want the most bulletproof, maintenance free and powerful setup to cool my 980x. I know I'll have to do routine maint. but other than that I just want to do it once for now and do it right without having to worry about it once it is setup.

Any advice is definitely welcome!

Thanks in advance for your time!

[Kenjiwing]

For just cooling a CPU you shouldnt need more than a 120x2 or a 120x3.. mcp 35x or whatever it is would be the pump I would get.

Check Martins to see what the current best CPU block is.. I used to buy EK but dont anymore.

Someone else can recommend a rad.. tubing and fittings are purely preference but anything primochill lrt is great.

fans gentle typhoon 1850s

Make sure your water is distilled and a silver coil.

[GMaxx]

For just cooling a CPU you shouldnt need more than a 120x2 or a 120x3.. mcp 35x or whatever it is would be the pump I would get.

Check Martins to see what the current best CPU block is.. I used to buy EK but dont anymore.

Someone else can recommend a rad.. tubing and fittings are purely preference but anything primochill lrt is great.

fans gentle typhoon 1850s

Make sure your water is distilled and a silver coil.

Yeah.. I was going to go distilled and Nuke or silver coil. Those seem to be the best combo.

I saw the problems EK was having recently.

I'm being lazy and just want to bolt my radiator to the top of my case. The initial parts I choose were because I jsut want to be able to use parts without modding my case.

Thanks a lot for your advice!

[Conumdrum]

Here Gmax, have some links to guide you. Lots of guides and info........

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/s...96&postcount=3

[Waterlogged]

Avoid Gen Two Stealth rads, they aren't very stealthy to start out with, as they need high rpm fans to get into their "performance zone", and the tubes are the most restrictive of any copper/brass rad. If you need a thin 140mm rad, I'd suggest the Magicool rads. In fact, until Swiftech gets off their arse and releases their 140mm line, Magicools are the only 140's I'll recommend.

[GMaxx]

Avoid Gen Two Stealth rads, they aren't very stealthy to start out with, as they need high rpm fans to get into their "performance zone", and the tubes are the most restrictive of any copper/brass rad. If you need a thin 140mm rad, I'd suggest the Magicool rads. In fact, until Swiftech gets off their arse and releases their 140mm line, Magicools are the only 140's I'll recommend.

Hey, thanks for the info on the GTS stealth rads. I didn't know.

Is this the magicool rad you mentioned:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12...C-RADI280.html


I'm still looking to stick with the dual bay radiator as it loks the easiest for my z70 case. I'm also def. going to go with the quick disconnects from Koolance.

I'm leaning towards the Koolance 370 water block, but the XPSC block also seems pretty good.

Which D5 pump is the one most people considered the most reliable and best performance?

Also, I've been researching tubing and am not too sure which one is the most maintenance free. It seems people are divided over this issue.

Any thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

THANKS AGAIN!

[QuadSLI]

You can always choose the copper HF from EK...

For tubing, tygon were the best.. 3/8--1/2 should be the usual size http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/tubing.html

[Waterlogged]

Hey, thanks for the info on the GTS stealth rads. I didn't know.

Is this the magicool rad you mentioned:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12...C-RADI280.html


I'm still looking to stick with the dual bay radiator as it loks the easiest for my z70 case. I'm also def. going to go with the quick disconnects from Koolance.

I'm leaning towards the Koolance 370 water block, but the XPSC block also seems pretty good.

Which D5 pump is the one most people considered the most reliable and best performance?

Also, I've been researching tubing and am not too sure which one is the most maintenance free. It seems people are divided over this issue.

Any thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.

THANKS AGAIN!

that's the one...but it's a bit cheaper here. (Link)

[GMaxx]

that's the one...but it's a bit cheaper here. (Link)

Thanks for that link. I've been giving Hank a lot of my business recently.

I'm looking at the primochill tubing now. However, divided on whether I should go with the Koolance 370 or XSPC block.

Also, is there a benefit to getting the 655 D5 variable speed pump over the regular one. I don't care about noise really and just want the best performing pump.

THANKS AGAIN!

[Conumdrum]

The D5 vario runs at a higher speed than the D5 basic without speed control. The vario has a speed control adjustment, it's better.

[Waterlogged]

Thanks for that link. I've been giving Hank a lot of my business recently.

I'm looking at the primochill tubing now. However, divided on whether I should go with the Koolance 370 or XSPC block.

Also, is there a benefit to getting the 655 D5 variable speed pump over the regular one. I don't care about noise really and just want the best performing pump.

THANKS AGAIN!

For best performing pump, go with MCP35X @ 100%.

As for CPU block, I don't like current gen CPU blocks for various reasons but if I had to choose between those two, I'd take the Koolance.

[Waterlogged]

Thanks for that link. I've been giving Hank a lot of my business recently.

I'm looking at the primochill tubing now. However, divided on whether I should go with the Koolance 370 or XSPC block.

Also, is there a benefit to getting the 655 D5 variable speed pump over the regular one. I don't care about noise really and just want the best performing pump.

THANKS AGAIN!

For best performing pump, go with MCP35X @ 100%.

As for CPU block, I don't like current gen CPU blocks for various reasons but if I had to choose between those two, I'd take the Koolance.

[GMaxx]

For best performing pump, go with MCP35X @ 100%.

As for CPU block, I don't like current gen CPU blocks for various reasons but if I had to choose between those two, I'd take the Koolance.

Going with a different block. I've decide to go with the MCP35x, XSPC dual bay for single DDC, Magicool 280mm radiator, EK supreme HF copper block, and some kill coil.

Is 3/8 ID x 1/2 OD a good size tubing for this? How much tubing is generally necessary for a single CPU only loop in Lian Li PC-Z70 case. I'm thinking about getting 10 ft.

Also, going to go with some Koolance quick disconnects unless it would just be better to go with some compression fittings. I think the Koolance disconnects seem worht it esp. since I have very little freetime due to work.

Thoughts?

THANKS AGAIN for your help!

[Conumdrum]

10' is standard. having extra is better than not eough.....

Geeze, you build the loop, and only every 6 months you do a drain/refill and once a year you take two days for a total rebuild/cleaning. Why do you need the massive long/expensive QDs? You testing stuff or upgrading all the time? Waste of money.

Better time and value with a good thought out drain plug location...

And even why compressions? No better than barbs with clamps. They look prettier, thats all.

3/8 1/2 hose is fine. Did you read in the stickies the flow rate diff and why it matters little? In your loop it won't. 3/8 1/2 is great for you.

[GMaxx]

10' is standard. having extra is better than not eough.....

Geeze, you build the loop, and only every 6 months you do a drain/refill and once a year you take two days for a total rebuild/cleaning. Why do you need the massive long/expensive QDs? You testing stuff or upgrading all the time? Waste of money.

Better time and value with a good thought out drain plug location...

And even why compressions? No better than barbs with clamps. They look prettier, thats all.

3/8 1/2 hose is fine. Did you read in the stickies the flow rate diff and why it matters little? In your loop it won't. 3/8 1/2 is great for you.

Yeah, I did read the stickies on flow rate and thought that 3/8 1/2 would be good for me but just wanted confirmation.

I do appreciate your voice of reason and pratical advice. I started out at Fat Boy barbs and then convinced myself that the nice shiny compressions or Disconnects would be cool. I have few hobbies this and RCs so when I get things I do like to splurge a little bit since I do work a lot, but in reality what you suggested does make a lot of sense.

Thanks again.

[Andrea deluxe]

http://www.corsair.com/cooling/hydro...pu-cooler.html

[Conumdrum]

Hmm, not an Xtreme product. Should be mentioned in the air cooling forms. Nice try...............

Corsair watercooling! Almost as good as real watercooling!

[Andrea deluxe]

for a newbie......

[Waterlogged]

Going with a different block. I've decide to go with the MCP35x, XSPC dual bay for single DDC, Magicool 280mm radiator, EK supreme HF copper block, and some kill coil.

Is 3/8 ID x 1/2 OD a good size tubing for this? How much tubing is generally necessary for a single CPU only loop in Lian Li PC-Z70 case. I'm thinking about getting 10 ft.

Also, going to go with some Koolance quick disconnects unless it would just be better to go with some compression fittings. I think the Koolance disconnects seem worht it esp. since I have very little freetime due to work.

Thoughts?

THANKS AGAIN for your help!

I would find a different res if I were you. Any XSPC res that is also a top for the DDC is a pump killer. There's no hard scientific data around here to back me up (I tried one time but very few took the topic seriously) but, just poke through the "My DDC died" topics and you'll see the thing most of them have in common is they just about all had some kind of XSPC res top. If you want to go with just a XSPC (or some other) bay res and the stock top on the MCP35X, that would be fine.

3/8" x 1/2" is fine but some ppl complain that it kinks easier, and like Conumdrum said, 10' is a fairly standard purchase.

1½ set of the Koolance QD will make life a little easier draining the loop if you place it right.

[GMaxx]

I would find a different res if I were you. Any XSPC res that is also a top for the DDC is a pump killer. There's no hard scientific data around here to back me up (I tried one time but very few took the topic seriously) but, just poke through the "My DDC died" topics and you'll see the thing most of them have in common is they just about all had some kind of XSPC res top. If you want to go with just a XSPC (or some other) bay res and the stock top on the MCP35X, that would be fine.

3/8" x 1/2" is fine but some ppl complain that it kinks easier, and like Conumdrum said, 10' is a fairly standard purchase.

1½ set of the Koolance QD will make life a little easier draining the loop if you place it right.

It's funny that you mentioned that about this reservoir because it seems that I saw some people did complain about it killing pumps and I've been recommended to go with this instead:

http://www.xs-pc.com/products/reserv...bay-reservoir/

Where would you put the 1½ set of the Koolance QD in the loop? Though these guys are a splurge, anything that makes my life easier is worth it to me.

Thanks again for your help!

[Waterlogged]

That res should be OK.

I would get 1 female and 2 male and place the female on the longest section of tubing in the loop that connected to something that's low in the loop. The other male would be for draining only. If you have a image or drawing of the way your system will be set up, I'd be able to pinpoint location much better.

[Buckeye]

Your running a 980x with a H70 and getting 4.51ghz ?

Yeah temps get a little high on max load but so what. 4.5ghz is more then powerful enough to run just about anything.
Why mess around with something that is running pretty sweet now.

You normal temps are fine, what program are you using for stress testing ?

[GMaxx]

Your running a 980x with a H70 and getting 4.51ghz ?

Yeah temps get a little high on max load but so what. 4.5ghz is more then powerful enough to run just about anything.
Why mess around with something that is running pretty sweet now.

You normal temps are fine, what program are you using for stress testing ?

Yeah, i know why mess with a good thing. I stress test with Intel Burn Test of 500 runs and prime 64 for 12 hours.

I just thought I would finally make the jump to liquid cooling. Also, I wanted to see if I could go a little higher in my 3031a242 980x by upping to 1.4v or maybe a tad over.

[GMaxx]

That res should be OK.

I would get 1 female and 2 male and place the female on the longest section of tubing in the loop that connected to something that's low in the loop. The other male would be for draining only. If you have a image or drawing of the way your system will be set up, I'd be able to pinpoint location much better.

Ok, that sounds good. I've got a Lian Li PC-z70 case. I thought I would have my reservoir/pump in the second bay, the radiator mounted inside at the top of the case where my dual 140mm fans are right now. I'm not sure of that gives you a clearer picture of what I'm doing, but I'll try what you suggest. Thanks again for you help!