How much did you/would you spend?

[Beriphent]

$300-400 sounds reasonable for a beautiful CPU + 1x GPU loop. If it's getting over $500, I would personally start to reassess things! Of course, in situations where you have behemoth cases like the Case Labs and Mountain Mods with dozens upon dozens of places for fans and rads, I can easily see how easy it is to spend $1000 and still not be halfway finished with filling the case.

[jomama22]

at this point about $900. but im about to start watercooling my 3 lightnings in an ascension extended case so that will be anoth $1200 or so. its insane how quickly it gets out of hand, haha. the most expensive part you dont think about are quick disconnects, once you use them you will want them on every piece of tubing and those suckers add up

[musicfan]

About $800 so far but that included a full-cover gtx285 H20 (the "late" BFG Tech brand with Danger Den full-cover) off another water-cooler at e-bay for $250. An extra 120.3 rad is for silence so I don't hear any fans even under load, which is a luxury. An extra 655 is for redundancy, which is a luxury.

Barbs were cheap. But now that I am gradually introducing compression fittings, those definitely add up. For me, the fittings (specialty, compressions, or QDC) are my latest money sink. And I haven't bought a big case...yet. Just drape it inside and outside my HAF 932.

[Lanek]

I dont remember exactly the price for each pieces but should not be far.

EK GPU waterblocks x2 = ~ 100 x2
EK SUpremeHF = ~ 100$
Radiator = ~ 100$ + 3x gentle typhoon ( i have 6 gentle typhoon in rest and 2 other rads who are not installed )
Pump+top = ~ 120-140$
reservoir = ~ 50$

Coolant + tubes + compression fittings... let say all in one 100$ minimum .. need add shipping and frontier Tax.

All in one i should be in the 800$ range .. but as i have change some pieces over time, the bill is way higher. That is just what is installed right now...

[WangChung]

Well after all the feedback, for what I'm looking to do it looks like my estimate is spot on. Time for a 3rd job!

[zanzabar]

Well after all the feedback, for what I'm looking to do it looks like my estimate is spot on. Time for a 3rd job!

what parts are you looking to cool, and i would guess that people waste about $60+ on compression fittings, you can get a gpu only block and swiftech unisink on the gpu, you can run a t-line instead of an inline rez for another $50+ in savings, you can go with a cpx pro instead of a ddc with top or d5.

there are plenty of ways to cut costs and still get high quality parts, some cheaper parts are even better than the more costly ones.

[Whatts]

This will be my first loop and all parts still on order but here goes:

pump: €109,94 - Swiftech MCP35X
rad: €79,94 - Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 360mm
CPU block: €84,99 - Koolance CPU-370
res: €99,98 - Koolance Single 5.25 bay Reservoir RP-401X2
tubing: €38,45 - DangerDen DD-TFC Tubing 3/8 ID - 5/8 OD
fans: €41,85 - Scythe 120MM Gentle Typhoon AP-15 (x3)
fan controller: 39,95 - Lamptron FC-5
fittings: €42,97 & €21,80 - Monsoon FCC compression fittins black chrome (x8) & Bitspower G1/4 Black Sparkle Rotary 45 Degree Adapter (x2)
misc:
€12,95 - XSPC 120mm Universal Radstand
€9,98 - IandH Silver KillCoil
€9,90 - Prolimatech PK-1
€11,50 - AC Ryan Backy 3x Molex Black ACR-BX3978
€5,99 - Arctic Silver ArctiClean kit
€30,00 - various tools and bits and bobs

TOTAL: €640,19

So that's in euro but most prices are 1:1 from dollar to euro unfortunately.

[Vinas]

You can get into water for much less than $400 as some other have stated. Some people have mega loops and I'm guilty of that too. My 5 radiator dual pump, dual GPU fullcover block, complete with res, fill port, and drain system runs about 3K. Without all of the compressions the cost is substantially lower, however.

[safan80]

For most loops you can just use regular fittings with zip ties and you can reduce costs big time. You spend a lot more if you are going multi gpu. You figure a good pump is $100 radiator $130 (if you want a thermochill 120.3) cpu block $60 good tubing $2x 12ft (round up to $25) zip ties $10. fan controller $40, I used Scythe ULTRA KAZE (they under volt well) which are $12 @the egg x3 ($36), full cover gpu wb $125, a good Reservoir because Ts suck $80 lets say you had to buy the fitting for all the parts at $5 pair $5x5 ($25) and last pt nuke (if you want that) at $3.25. The only thing people don't always factor is shipping so let's say $40. Rounded up to the nearest dollar $675. If you want to cool the chipset/mosfets add $150.


So really it will cost you around $700 ($850 with MB block) to put together your first water cooling loop with quality parts... but all the parts minus the cpu, chipset, and gpu blocks tend to be reusable when you upgrade your machine. The reason I add the cpu block to the list is every new socket has a newer and improved block that can offer better performance vs the older models. A new loop if you keep the reusable parts is fairly cheap about the cost of air coolers. A good water loop can give you a nice quiet machine which is something big air can do if you like to overclock. A full cover gpu water block tends to help with the resale value of a good gpu and can increase the life of a gpu vs the crappy stock coolers.

When you go water think of it as an investment in your current and future computer.


All my parts are for new parts at current prices 6/2012 they are as always rounded up.

[Flip_Lx]

As shown here again and again you can go over kill with fittings, rads and fans which is what some people tend to do. My entire water cooling setups and upgrades has been $500 for two loops including fans and fittings

The areas people tend to go overkill are massive amounts of fittings - look through some buildlogs you'll see all solid fitting connections from block to block or rad to block/pump. Looks nice but add a little section of tubing instead of all the fittings and you just saved close to $50 minimum

Excessive radiators count and sizes (remember all the MCR vs Thermochill debates 3 120.3 vs 1 etc etc) and even today XSPC RX series is ~$90 i think for the 120.3

Fans - people spend $15-20 on single GT/Noctua fans when you can honestly get by in more than 90% of case with cheap yate loon or some zalman fans for ~$5 a pop. This goes hand and hand with excessive rads though and to a minor part excessive push pull....

Even@safan80 $80 for a res is pretty excessive when you can run them from $35 for something like an XSPC res-top to ~$40/50 for various tube style or bay res

Honestly with the way some kits are setup today (swiftech, xspc, ek) $400 gets you a great starting point and an additional rad or universal gpu block to cover your single GPU setup

[safan80]

As shown here again and again you can go over kill with fittings, rads and fans which is what some people tend to do. My entire water cooling setups and upgrades has been $500 for two loops including fans and fittings

The areas people tend to go overkill are massive amounts of fittings - look through some buildlogs you'll see all solid fitting connections from block to block or rad to block/pump. Looks nice but add a little section of tubing instead of all the fittings and you just saved close to $50 minimum

Excessive radiators count and sizes (remember all the MCR vs Thermochill debates 3 120.3 vs 1 etc etc) and even today XSPC RX series is ~$90 i think for the 120.3

Fans - people spend $15-20 on single GT/Noctua fans when you can honestly get by in more than 90% of case with cheap yate loon or some zalman fans for ~$5 a pop. This goes hand and hand with excessive rads though and to a minor part excessive push pull....

Even@safan80 $80 for a res is pretty excessive when you can run them from $35 for something like an XSPC res-top to ~$40/50 for various tube style or bay res

Honestly with the way some kits are setup today (swiftech, xspc, ek) $400 gets you a great starting point and an additional rad or universal gpu block to cover your single GPU setup

The craziness over fans and fittings your spot on. When I chose the $80 price for the reservoir I was thinking those the do not require a funnel or a syringe to fill them and also at that price point you could pick any reservoir available.

[naokaji]

I've spent around 350$ on the currently used Cpu only loop.
Second loop is currently out of order awaiting arrival of the MIPS Blocks for the Maximus V Gene, counting that as well the second loop is around 400$, so total for two loops without trying to save too much (for example I'm using Scythe Gentle Typhoons only as well as compression fittings throughout) I'm looking at 750$ in Wc parts to cool the Cpu, Mainboard and Ram, although to be honest, the GTX 360 rad in the Cpu loop could easily handle a Gpu as well, so in theory I could just buy a Gpu block and that wouldn't push the cost much higher.

[Acesi7]

I've just spent around $700 for mine. While expensive, it's something you only have to do once and then change a block here and then as required down the line. So after the initial investment it's not too bad.

That's for 1 cpu and 1 gpu.

Dang Australian prices...

[Lanek]

And lets not forget if money is a problem, there's allways the possibility to start with less blocks, and upgrade then... start with the cpu and add the gpu later ( or the invert )...

[WangChung]

The way my setup is it would probably be best to just do the install all at once. The GPUs are the biggest source of heat (dur), and cutting out the CPU block would "only" cut out ~$80.

Eh, it's just money. Right?

[Manicdan]

The way my setup is it would probably be best to just do the install all at once. The GPUs are the biggest source of heat (dur), and cutting out the CPU block would "only" cut out ~$80.

Eh, it's just money. Right?

when your paycheck to paycheck it might be tougher to get it all at once. but it would be better i think since you only have to pay for shipping once and that can save alot right there.

[CrazyNutz]

I typically try to keep my WC under $300. I also lean towards parts that can be reused mainly avoiding full cover GPU, chipset, and mosfet blocks.
But hey to each their own.

[Ultrasonic2]

im at 1762 to cool my cpu and motherbaord(though the MB is basically free)

[WangChung]

im at 1762 to cool my cpu and motherbaord(though the MB is basically free)

Holy jebus... maybe if this wasn't my "LAN Party" PC but I have other things that get money like that dedicated to them. Like a house haha.

[Levish]

And lets not forget if money is a problem, there's allways the possibility to start with less blocks, and upgrade then... start with the cpu and add the gpu later ( or the invert )...

If money is a problem you shouldn't be looking at liquid cooling to begin with IMO.

When I got into the hobby like a few of the older posters, 200-300$ got you a fully functional top of the line loop with new parts. One can still build a loop for 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of a system (with 90% of the cooling performance) built around top shelf parts with some creativity especially when forgoing fancy pumps that have no impact on a low restriction loop and nylon / plastic fittings and so on.

Costs for parts have spiraled out of control mostly due to the hobby / community being refocused around bling.

[WangChung]

I calculated just the fittings alone, $200. That's for a minimal amount of fittings for basically the bare essentials and no fancy hard connections. Another large but probably completely unnecessary expenditure (really, ALL of it could be considered unnecessary :P) is the flow meter @ $50. I looked at the layout and in some places there's just no other option than the compression fittings. The price for the fittings does seem ridiculous but I guess I can see justification as they're all machined parts.

[zanzabar]

I calculated just the fittings alone, $200. That's for a minimal amount of fittings for basically the bare essentials and no fancy hard connections. Another large but probably completely unnecessary expenditure (really, ALL of it could be considered unnecessary :P) is the flow meter @ $50. I looked at the layout and in some places there's just no other option than the compression fittings. The price for the fittings does seem ridiculous but I guess I can see justification as they're all machined parts.

why do you want a flow meeter. they inhibit flow and tend to break (i do not know about the newer ones but a couple years back it was going to break in a couple months.)

and when would you even need a compression fitting over a barb, they do nothign over a barb with a worm drive or zip tie and take up more room.

[WangChung]

The flow meter was more of a "maybe" thing, and the one I was looking at has had great reviews. Guess it had better for $50

Most of the compression fittings that I need that are irreplaceable with plastic fittings are (sadly) 90 degree. The 90 degree metal barbs I was able to find take up more space and cost just as much as the compression fittings.

[Levish]

angled plastic barbs are always a option:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g30/...ngs-Barbs.html

bling is not cheap :p

[theseeker]

With three loops, six pumps, numerous blocks, filters, rads, temp sensors and so on.....even I don't want to know.