Watercooling Advice

[magebro]

I am new to water cooling and would like any advice to help me put together a high performance system for my rig that would be close to silent but would allow me to overclock my CPU to at least 4GHz.

I have done lots of research and I think I have chosen a good system but I would like some advice from some more experienced people before I take the plunge.


CPU water block: Swiftech GTZ or Swiftech XT

GPU water block: EK-FC 4890 CF Acetal

Rad1: TFC Xchanger 360

Rad2: Black Ice GTX Xtreme 240 or swiftech MCR220-QP

Pump / Resovoir: Koolance PMP-450S with Koolance COV-RP450 base to connect to Koolance 200mm V2 reservoir and look like this:
http://www.koolance.com/water-coolin...product_id=934

Tubing: Tygon 1/2” ID

Coolant: Distilled water with some kind of red dye

Fans: Enermax Magma


The loop will be in this order:
CPU > Rad2 > GPU1 > GPU2> Pump > Reservoir > Rad1

I am going to mount Rad2 on the HDD cage which will get cool air from the 230mm fan at the front of my case and RAD1 at the top. I will be using the fans on Rad1 in take air into the case and use the fan on the back as an exhaust. Will that single fan be enough to be the only exhaust or shall I use the top rad to exhaust air and the the fan on the back as an intake to give it cool air?

Thanks a lot! What do you think?

[Salamndar]

I would go with the swiftech 220 Rad over the black Ice if I want low noise, as the swiftech are more optimized for low/Mid speed fans.

Why the Feser X Change, for less price you can get a better rad. like thermochill PA120.3 or maybe get the swiftech 420 for still less price than the feser X change rad.

For the CPU water block the XT has not been reviewed yet but seems so promising, I ordered one for my first water cooling system too.

what about the fans?

are you planing a high speed fans and control them with a fan controller?

If not then I would get an s-flex F or a G. Typhoon.

For coolant, I would say loose the red dye and use some PT_Nuke with the D. water or a silver kill coil with D.water.

[Utnorris]

The Enermax Magma's are nice, but for the price the Gentle Typhoons will probably perform better, even the 1450RPM ones. Instead of the Feser take a look at the XSPC RX series and save some money. If you want colored fluid, get the pre-mixed, like the Primochill Blood Red, it seems to hold up better, otherwise go with colored tubing and use straight distilled water with some anti-algae drops from the pet store. If you are planning on doing one loop, keep in mind that you will be hurting your CPU temps by having the GPU in the same loop, nt much, but if you are trying to squeeze every little bit of performance out of the CPU keep that in mind. Also, one fan pulling the air out will probably not be enough for an exhaust, I would just loose the fan and allow the air free movement out the back not hindered by the fan trying to exhaust it.

[Hsusy]

I would personally switch order of your pump and reservoir around.... I am not sure why you want to have two rads though.... unless you have more than one video card, a single tripple rad would be enough... or get a single quad

[magebro]

Thanks for all your help; I will try to answer each question separately. I don’t know how to quote parts of posts so ill do each one by itself.

Originally Posted by Salamndar

I would go with the swiftech 220 Rad over the black Ice if I want low noise, as the swiftech are more optimized for low/Mid speed fans. Why the Feser X Change, for less price you can get a better rad. like thermochill PA120.3 or maybe get the swiftech 420 for still less price than the feser X change rad. For the CPU water block the XT has not been reviewed yet but seems so promising, I ordered one for my first water cooling system too. what about the fans? are you planing a high speed fans and control them with a fan controller? If not then I would get an s-flex F or a G. Typhoon. For coolant, I would say loose the red dye and use some PT_Nuke with the D. water or a silver kill coil with D.water.

Yea I thought the swiftech rad would be better for quiet performance but the black ice is much thicker so I thought that would help as well. Has any one had any experience with the XSPC RX240? Would that out perform the swiftech?

I chose the Feser Xchanger because I read somewhere that it was the best performing triple rad you can buy and beats the thermochill PA120.3 by a nice amount. I don’t mind spending a bit more on a rad because it will last a lot longer then the actual components it will be cooling! What about the XSPC RX360? Does anyone know where I can find some comparisons? I can’t get a swiftech 420 simply because it won’t fit at the top of my case.

I won’t buy the swiftech XT until reviews come out but first results show it beating the GTZ by about 3 degrees which is pretty nice. My only worry is the backplate because of the stupid chip behind the socket on the Rampage Extreme. I can use the xigmatek crossbow with the GTZ but not the heatkiller so I hope the XT has the same screws.

I was going to use enermax magma fans because I was going to go for a red and black theme. I was thinking of using s-flex fans with a fan controller if the performance will be much better but it would have to be a lot better to be worth it.

I haven’t really decided on coolant yet. Every time I talk to someone they say something different. Is PT_Nuke the best biocide you can get?

Originally Posted by Utnorris

The Enermax Magma's are nice, but for the price the Gentle Typhoons will probably perform better, even the 1450RPM ones. Instead of the Feser take a look at the XSPC RX series and save some money. If you want colored fluid, get the pre-mixed, like the Primochill Blood Red, it seems to hold up better, otherwise go with colored tubing and use straight distilled water with some anti-algae drops from the pet store. If you are planning on doing one loop, keep in mind that you will be hurting your CPU temps by having the GPU in the same loop, nt much, but if you are trying to squeeze every little bit of performance out of the CPU keep that in mind. Also, one fan pulling the air out will probably not be enough for an exhaust, I would just loose the fan and allow the air free movement out the back not hindered by the fan trying to exhaust it.

I like the enermax fans and I want a red and black theme so they fit that perfectly. Thanks for the suggestion, ill have a look at them.

I have just been looking at the XSPC RX rads and they seem pretty good. How much better do you think the Feser one will be though? I don’t want to save a bit of money if I lose a lot of performance.

Is pre mixed coolant better then adding dye to distilled water? I did have a look at coloured tubing but I thought it would look strange when it got to the res and decided on coloured coolant instead.

Yea I understand the GPUs will hurt the CPU temps, that’s why I put the second rad in. this is the first watercooling system I have made so I don’t want to overcomplicate things straight away with two loops. If everything goes well and I think I can get some extra performance out of it, I don’t think it would be too difficult to separate them into two different loops, especially if I already have two rads.

Thanks for the advice regarding ventilation. I think when everything arrives I will try a few things to see what works best for my specific setup. Thanks for the no fan idea though, I would never have thought of trying that.

Originally Posted by Hsusy

I would personally switch order of your pump and reservoir around.... I am not sure why you want to have two rads though.... unless you have more than one video card, a single tripple rad would be enough... or get a single quad

The pump I want is attached to the res so I can’t do much about the order. Isn’t it better to have the pump after the res anyway? so it has a constant supply of coolant? I think I read that in the guide on this forum.

I have two overclocked 4890s so I thought it would be worth it to put an extra rad before the cards so the coolant isn’t too hot before it reaches them. I would love a quad rad but it won’t fit at the top of my case.

[millertime359]

Originally Posted by magebro

The pump I want is attached to the res so I can’t do much about the order. Isn’t it better to have the pump after the res anyway? so it has a constant supply of coolant? I think I read that in the guide on this forum.

You had the order reversed in the OP. You are correct there though, res before pump.

I would just get the Swiftech XT as it should be better than a GTZ. I personally like my Siwftech rads. They are a great bang for buck rad. The XSPC rads do perform slightly better, but not twice as much better.

Premixes can lead to issues with blocks getting clogged up. If you decide to use it, just be aware it is a possibility and monitor your system accordingly.

You can also light your res up with LEDs to help add color to it. There are photos of distilled water in res' with LEDs floating around and it does look cool.

[alacheesu]

Originally Posted by Utnorris

Also, one fan pulling the air out will probably not be enough for an exhaust, I would just loose the fan and allow the air free movement out the back not hindered by the fan trying to exhaust it.

I ran 360+240 rads w/fans as intake and a single 120mm fan as exhaust for quite a while because I was hesitant to make cuts in my brand new Lian Li. It worked quite well. I later added another 120mm and a 140mm to exhaust, and was surprised at how little difference it made. While I didn't do any testing with precision, I saw exactly the same temps as I had before. I'm sure there was a difference, but it certainly wasn't several degrees.

[NaeKuh]

Originally Posted by magebro

The loop will be in this order:
CPU > Rad2 > GPU1 > GPU2> Pump > Reservoir > Rad1

Thanks a lot! What do you think?

i think your better off getting a T3 instead.

And putting it in paralell.

so on 1 side cpu-> rad1
And the other gpu - gpu rad 2

[magebro]

Originally Posted by millertime359

You had the order reversed in the OP. You are correct there though, res before pump. I would just get the Swiftech XT as it should be better than a GTZ. I personally like my Siwftech rads. They are a great bang for buck rad. The XSPC rads do perform slightly better, but not twice as much better. Premixes can lead to issues with blocks getting clogged up. If you decide to use it, just be aware it is a possibility and monitor your system accordingly. You can also light your res up with LEDs to help add color to it. There are photos of distilled water in res' with LEDs floating around and it does look cool.

Yea I just saw that, sorry about that.

I’m pretty sure I will go for the XT, I’m just hoping the screws have the same size threads as the GTZ.

So don’t you think the Feser Xchanger is worth it over the XSPC rads?

I think I’ve decided to go for clear coolant now as it’s a bit silly to choose looks over performance, especially since additives can cause blockages. Would I ever get blocks if I just used distilled water and a biocide? Would I need to add anything else?

Originally Posted by alacheesu

I ran 360+240 rads w/fans as intake and a single 120mm fan as exhaust for quite a while because I was hesitant to make cuts in my brand new Lian Li. It worked quite well. I later added another 120mm and a 140mm to exhaust, and was surprised at how little difference it made. While I didn't do any testing with precision, I saw exactly the same temps as I had before. I'm sure there was a difference, but it certainly wasn't several degrees.

That’s for that. It’s good to know I shouldn’t have too many problems. Ill do some testing though as our systems might be a bit different, not thing too involved but just to see if there are any noticeable differences. Which Lian Li do you have?

Originally Posted by NaeKuh

i think your better off getting a T3 instead. And putting it in paralell. so on 1 side cpu-> rad1 And the other gpu - gpu rad 2

What is a T3? Do you mean have the main tube split into two separate ones and come back together before the rads? I’m guessing I would have to have smaller tubing when it splits off to compensate for the loss in pressure. Would there still be enough liquid for adequate cooling?


Does anyone know how much of a different push/pull makes opposed to just push or just pull?. I am planning on having all the fans on a fan controller and I don’t have enough bays to put two controllers in.

[Delemon]

Originally Posted by magebro

So don’t you think the Feser Xchanger is worth it over the XSPC rads?

You're the only one that can answer that question. For me, I'm not trying to squeeze every single Hz out of my system, so the extra degree or few afforded by the Feser or XSPC aren't worth the significant increase in price. If you want the absolute best, then get the Feser or XSPC (I don't remember which is "better" as price/performance was more important to me than straight performance). I chose the Swiftech myself, and I'm sure I'll be plenty happy with it in the long run. I wholeheartedly agree with millertime359 in his assessment of the rads.

[CodeNinja]

Originally Posted by magebro

What is a T3? Do you mean have the main tube split into two separate ones and come back together before the rads? I’m guessing I would have to have smaller tubing when it splits off to compensate for the loss in pressure. Would there still be enough liquid for adequate cooling?

T3: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=26048

Very interesting product, you basically plumb it like it's two seperate loops, but they share 1 pump and a common reservoir. Interesting piece that's getting rave reviews do to it's high flow rate and unique design.