THESE parts ALL inside a ThermaltakeArmor ok?

[WhiteFireDragon]

i'm finally building a water cooled system and i just wanted to run the parts on here for other opinions first. all these parts are going to be going in a thermaltake armor:


pump- liang ddc2 with petra top
rad- PA120.2
res- EK-RES150
cpu- fuzion
gpu- MCW60
NB- MCW30
tubes- 7/16"
fans- 2x yate loons

i really want to only spend about $300-350, but $400 is the MAX i want to spend for parts and this brings me exactly to $400 (+/- few dollars). if i had to lower the performance just a little, which part should i sacrifice for a cheaper one? i know i would save 60 bucks if i got an MCR220 instead... but the thing is i'm only doing this once and never plan on upgrading this WC, so i want to do it right the first time. i don't want to cheap out on parts, but don't want to empty my wallet either.



a few more qustions:

1) although i won't be doing SLI or crossfire, there's 3 blocks in the loop. do all 3 match in terms of restrictions? i don't want just one of them to be the restriction bottleneck

2) how am i suppose to mount the thermochill radiator? do i need to drill holes or do any other mods or does it fit right in?

3) two 120mm fans will take up 6 bay slots. but having this radiator in will actually take up 7 slots since the area where the tubes enters and exit take up space also right?

4) will 7/16" tubing fit all these parts?

5) i will be using all stock case fans and an additional two yate loons. two will push while two will pull air for the radiator, with the stock fans close to the mesh and the yate loons closer to the inside of the case on the rad. would it really matter that much to have air inside the case going through the rad and out of the case or air from the outside going through the rad into the case?

6) any other tips/suggestions/advice is greatly appreciated!

[disruptfam]

look in the liquid section and look for martin armor thread...



nevamind.. here you go

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=172185

[evil-98]

looks fine, the armor is quite roomy, i have. but mine is quite filled with gtx in sli. question is how are you going to mount the rad? i have a bracket on mine which allows me to mount 3.5 drives and 2X120mm fans which i use to mount my old rad. which can easily mount up to a 480gtx taking that you would only have 1 slot for a ROM. if you mount your PA120.2 in there youll be fine, just need to fab up a mount which is quite easy you can just base the mounts off the 5.25 screw points. i dont suggest using the HD cage on top, i thought it was a good idea, but it just chokes my PSU and made cable managing a little harder. i know my current setup isnt WC but was previously and am ordering new parts to drop in again but this is how my system look with decent wire management

edit:

yea Martins rig is a great example of just how room the armor is lol

id go with a 240gtx, after using it once id never change, the fact that it has a really high FPI has sold me forever. the thing i think you could save on is the RES, the EK res are beautiful and ive always wanted one but its just too darn expensive. i love DD fillports and thats all ive gone with. for 12 bucks and a 1 dollar T you good to go compared to 50 + maintenance and installation

question what kind of hardware are you planning to run? i dont know if a 120.2 would be able to handle CPU + GPU + NB with OC. you might want to go bigger, really depends on your hardware, and i really dont think you need to WC your NB.

your block choose are good, there all generally free flowing, so your fine there. as for your bay question, you could always run your tubes below if you build a mount you could still have all your bays just have your rad externally mounted in front. i had to do that before when i had a push pull on my 360gts xflow what was nice is that everything extrude out the center without touching the wings so i had a nice look to it. but again with a 360 it takes up alot of space which i generally dont care, im thinking off adding a drive but im only using one rom. im going to be taking out the whole 3.5 + power and restart bay tray to clear out some room, ill relocate those to somewhere more convenient

[WhiteFireDragon]

lnevamind.. here you go

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=172185

haha wow i'm not going to be doing something nearly that crazy. my goal is just to get everything inside the case because i want the clean look.

the thing i think you could save on is the RES, the EK res are beautiful and ive always wanted one but its just too darn expensive. i love DD fillports and thats all ive gone with. for 12 bucks and a 1 dollar T you good to go compared to 50 + maintenance and installation

question what kind of hardware are you planning to run? i dont know if a 120.2 would be able to handle CPU + GPU + NB with OC. you might want to go bigger, really depends on your hardware, and i really dont think you need to WC your NB.

your block choose are good, there all generally free flowing, so your fine there. as for your bay question, you could always run your tubes below if you build a mount you could still have all your bays just have your rad externally mounted in front. i had to do that before when i had a push pull on my 360gts xflow what was nice is that everything extrude out the center without touching the wings so i had a nice look to it. but again with a 360 it takes up alot of space which i generally dont care, im thinking off adding a drive but im only using one rom. im going to be taking out the whole 3.5 + power and restart bay tray to clear out some room, ill relocate those to somewhere more convenient

hmm leaving the EK res will be hard because i'm also building this rig for eye candy. except the EK 150mm is so hard to find in stock. i don't really want to get the bigger sizes.

i won't be doing too much OC'ing and also have an AMD (they run a little cooler) so i think one good rad for everything is sufficient. and that's why i also when with a thermochill instead of a swiftech mrc220, but it's just that the PA120.2 costs more than double! and i think having the NB in the loop shouldn't add too much heat.

i don't want anything sticking out or hanging from my case. how many bay drives did your double rad take up? i plan on havin the rad and 4 fans for it to take up 7 bay drives. and PA120.2's are kinda thick. the 60mm and an additional 25mm for each fan will make the whol rad/fan set to be 110mm thick. that's almost the full thickness of the bays so i can't really have anything behind the rad in the bays. that still leaves me 3 free bays (since the power and reset button takes up a whole one) to have for the HD, dvd burner, and 1 extra right?

anyways, all these parts will fit 7/16" tubes right? and should i have intake or exhaust at the front? direction should i have the air flow at the front?

[ante_ante]

Pretty same stuff we have almost except the nb cooler m.m

In my case now im using
Swiftech MCR220 in the front
D-tek Fuzion + Nozzle
Swiftech Micro Res
HD2900 Fullcover block
Laing D5 pump



Now i upgraded some things, got me a thermo PA120.3 with a HD3870 block and will use it in my new Lian Li A71B case.

Buildlogg for that will come later when i recieved all my stuff from aquatuning.de and ekwaterblocks.com

[systemviper]

Love the black paint, i am also using a little metal flake dark blue too. I cut away most of the drive bay metal on the visible side and was able to get a 120.3 while still keeping 2 slots for my cd/dvd and temp/fan controllers

So now i want one more loop a 120.2, i am still trying ot figure that one out without putting it outside, but i just might use a radbox and do a mount, i don't think they are too intrusive, but i have one last one last trick up my sleeve to keep it in the case... But i love the case, so it will be the housing for my sli 8800 GTS 512's

I will post a build thread once i figure out the 120.2 loop.

GO Armour and swiftech...

[WhiteFireDragon]

Now i upgraded some things, got me a thermo PA120.3 with a HD3870 block and will use it in my new Lian Li A71B case.

how did you get your MCR220 to stay on? i dont see any screws from the side to hold it. and that black finish looks great. oh i see some paint drips lol

I cut away most of the drive bay metal on the visible side and was able to get a 120.3 while still keeping 2 slots for my cd/dvd and temp/fan controllers

So now i want one more loop a 120.2, i am still trying ot figure that one out without putting it outside, but i just might use a radbox and do a mount, i don't think they are too intrusive, but i have one last one last trick up my sleeve to keep it in the case...

wait... so you had to cut some of your bay drives to get a thermochill to fit?? and how can you fit a triple rad and still have 2 slots for dvd and fan controller, and one slot for the power button?

if you're going to add another PA120.2 and try to fit it inside, i think you can cut fan holes to mount it on the bottom and raise the case so the rad can breath. or you can put it at the top if you mod that area although it will be a pretty tight fit

[rehpyc]

I'm guessing that by keeping 2 slots you mean you have 1 entirely open slot and 1 that allows you enough room to fit the fan controller since it doesn't fill a whole slot, systemviper? I say that because due to the rad's dimensions, that's how I've measured things to result when I finally purchase all the parts for my loop. I'm thinking of ideas of where to relocate the power/reset switch as floppy drives aren't necessary these days and using an entire drive bay for a simple power switch annoys me. I'm interested to see how you integrate a 120.2 within your case with a 120.3 already in it. That's another thing I'm attempting ideas over with a hopeful attempt to keep everything internal. GL

[septim]

maybe you could fit another 220 rad up top besides the PSU, also standing up?

WFD, you setup is basic(no probs with restriction and flow), and should provide you some nice temps.

mounting in front drive bays, you could try industrial strenght Velcro. some small brackets to hold rad in place, or any creative idea that comes to mind when you have your case and rad lined up in front of you...

[ante_ante]

how did you get your MCR220 to stay on? i dont see any screws from the side to hold it. and that black finish looks great. oh i see some paint drips lol

Some cuttings in a drivecage. Maybe not the nicest but functionally

[Zeus]

Very much alike my system:



This is an old pic, some things have changed.

Coincidently i'm working on a black interior as well.

[NaeKuh]

ignore the second radiator at the rear. Otherwise its almost identical in parts. Oh i have an extra DDC-2 however, to compensate for dual fc gpu blocks, and the rear rad.

[Evil-Fruits|R4z]

Just a couple of pics from ages ago of my fitting of the PA120.2 in the front.

I used a couple of no.6 screws on either side thru the drive bays into the shroud of the PA120.2 to suspend it but, I suspect that some 'L' shaped angle would be better and a safer, more permanent solution.

Anyway it gives you a visual idea of the space that it will take up.

R4z

[rehpyc]

NaeKuh, is that a PA 160 on the back?

[Cupcake]

I would completely reverse the airflow cause all those parts will put a lot of heat in the case so reversing the fans would drop your temps quite alot

[NaeKuh]

NaeKuh, is that a PA 160 on the back?

Parts:

D-tek Fusion
PA120.2 [front mounted with velcro on the side and bottom]
DDC-2 x 2
HWLabs GT Steath 120x1 rear. Back then the MCR120 only came in 3/8ID.
EK FC7900
MCW30 [NB on NF4]
EK 150 res.

My single loop dual radaitor, dual pump layout. Bah.... i dont recomend a setup like this tho unless you really cant fit a 120x3 radiator. The second radiator off the rear helped with GPU temps, but hardly effected my CPU temp.

[Martinm210]

haha wow i'm not going to be doing something nearly that crazy. my goal is just to get everything inside the case because i want the clean look.

I thought I was just trying to fit in with the "Extreme Systems" theme...

Sure you can, better yet, you can also squeeze a triple rad up front if you clear all but the top bay out, mount the HD's up top.

BTW love the black cases above, that really helps ALOT!

Going to have to tear it all back down and get some black in there..

[sbinh]

Very much alike my system:



This is an old pic, some things have changed.

Coincidently i'm working on a black interior as well.

Very nice cable management ......

[rehpyc]

I'm thinking a 120.3 in the front bays and a 120.1 with the back fan. I don't think there's much else you can do w/ this case as far as keeping the rads internal, except maybe a rad on the floor of the case with a rectangle cut out of the bottom for it, heh.

[WhiteFireDragon]

wow i didn't know this setup i planned of positioning the rad, pump, and res so common. Turbodream, i think i will have to hijack you idea of modding the drive cages to hold the rad, thanks for the idea. Zeus, that is one nice display. post pics when you paint it all black, it will look even better

Just a couple of pics from ages ago of my fitting of the PA120.2 in the front. Anyway it gives you a visual idea of the space that it will take up.

R4z

it looks like the rad takes up 6 whole bays and MAYBE partial of the 7th bay slot. but looks like there is still a lot of room on that 7th slot so can you fit anything else there? or does it make that bay unusable?

I would completely reverse the airflow cause all those parts will put a lot of heat in the case so reversing the fans would drop your temps quite alot

i know it will blow warm air into the case, but would that really matter? since i have all the important stuff/chips cooled already, would warm temps really affect all the other stuff? i also have 3 fans to exhaust all that warm air

I'm thinking a 120.3 in the front bays and a 120.1 with the back fan. I don't think there's much else you can do w/ this case as far as keeping the rads internal, except maybe a rad on the floor of the case with a rectangle cut out of the bottom for it, heh.

i think a PA120.3 is too big. there are only 11 bay slots, and it will take up 9 for the rad/fan and an additional one for the part where water enters/leaves. i already planned to use the top slot for power/reset button and fan controller, the next two slots for optical drives, and the 4th for the HD. thermaltake cases are bad to mount rads on the bottom because the case isn't raised enough so the rad can breath right?

[systemviper]

Yea, Actually I am using the on/off with the temp fan controllers, a slight mod, then under that will be the DVD/CD drive. But with the speaker out and the bottom tray out the 120.3 fits. It will be sweet, plus cutting out the visible drive bays up to the brace will make it look cooler.... Tomorrow i am fitting the PS and will be trying the idea above "maybe you could fit another 120.2 rad up top besides the PSU, also standing up?" if that works, it will just be rigging the hard drive, and already think i got the spot for that. If this works out it will be a very sweet build. I will know tomorrow since my PS arrived today...

I will also have some pics once the build gets a little further.

I am using blue and ???? for fluids, i am thinking of sticking with green, but have a urge to use red instead of green, i think with it mostly blue, the red might give it a more erie look to it.... plus the 120.2's fans might be red. not sure till i seee it

Who knows right now, it's all about building the ship in the bottle now, cosmetic's come later.

Also i never thought of the mounting on the bottom idea, has some promise if i can't get it by the PS then i will think hard on that one. Might add wheels to give it the right hight for airflow.

Also with the big 240mm fan on the side it really makes my airflow issues minimal, 120,3 and 120.2 blowing in.
80mm blowing out the top and i reversed the 240 blowing out so the internal temp should always pretty much stay ambient.... I am getting excited as it starts to come together.

All my rads are swiftech - 120.3 and 120.2, 3 blue thermaltake fan lights for front and loons for the pull... not sure on the 120.2 yet, not till the position is in place, might even use red for that one, lol

Lang d5's for the 2 pumps and swiftech MCRES-MICRO for the 2 resi's. LOL i love it. Also 7/16 hose for a tight fit.

Man i would love it to keep it all inside and with that bottom mount idea if the up by the PS idea don't work, i think i can do it.

I have to say i could never have even gotten this far with out being a part of this forum.

wait till i get deeper into my pelt rig, that one will be real Extreme, i am loving it......
Looking at the 480 square heater core, but that for another thread.... lololololololololo

[rehpyc]

systemviper, if I interpreted what you were saying correctly, you used an on/off w/ your temp fan controller for your power switch? heh

I use the the removable drive bay at the top of the case by the psu for my hdds and only need 1 full drive bay for a dvd burner. I wouldn't think it'd be too bad to sit the radiator + fans 1.5" or so from the front's meshing in order to clear the length of the sinks on the fan controller, right? At that point a 120.3 will fit within the case and still be grabbing the cool air from outside the case. Fitting a 120.2 on the bottom is something I'm trying to measure out, and obviously would need to raise the case more. Interested to see how you fit your 120.2 though, heh.

[Evil-Fruits|R4z]

it looks like the rad takes up 6 whole bays and MAYBE partial of the 7th bay slot. but looks like there is still a lot of room on that 7th slot so can you fit anything else there? or does it make that bay unusable?

well I used the shroud as well so it sets the RAD quite far back in the bay area so, you could fit something that occupied half the depth such a fan controller or a bay Res like my Alphacool Repack. Also it will take up that number of bays if it is sat on the bottom of the case but, I suspended mine so it actually uses all of 7 bays and a bit of an 8th bay. If you use some angle or velcro to secure it then you should be able to mount it right from the bottom to maximize space.

R4z