Noob wanting to get his feet wet

[P§I]

Hi all, been seriously thinking about going the water cooling route. After reading the FAQ thread, i have a few questions.
I dont mind modding my case and i have the tools to do so, so that isnt a problem.

Buying brand name kits , like i.e thermaltake,etc i see is not the way to go.

For a starter kit, would Petra'sTech CoolKit Lite kite be a good start for me to learn with and provide some good cooling?
Or is piecing a kit the way to go? Or is that what Petras done?

What kit is good to start out?

Also from ther FAQ's

Futhermore if you use the coolant I suggest (Distilled water with a small amount of zerex or biocide), even if there is a leak the system will most likely not be permanently dammaged by the leak. I have personal experience with this, where my 939 Opterons Socket was soaked in water while running for atleast 30minutes.

That was worring me, cause water and electronic dont go well together heh.
But i guess that the risk you take?

[Kimjor]

Well i can only speak for myself, and since im also pretty new at WC take my advice with a grain of salt :-)

First you need to find out what you want to cool. only cpu, cpu+gpu, sli, mobo etc. Then build a kit from that. I wouldnt choose the petratech lite kit. (I'm sure its quite ok), but i can almost guarantee you that you want to upgrade the kit really soon. So if i had to choose a precompiled kit it would be Petra'sTech CoolKit GPU Elite - Rev.2

Making a move into watercooling is an expensive move! What seems manageble and not so pricey has a way of getting more and more expensive. First you buy the cpu+gpu kit, then you want a reservoir for "bling" and easy drain/filling, then you want to cool your mobo, then you want better tubing, then you want UV fluid and UV cathodes, then you want a new case cause you want it internally, then you want another radiator cause the one you have now is too little to cool cpu, mobo, gpu etc etc etc.

Dont get me wrong i am absolutely thrilled that i got into WC its a hobby, so for me buying new things often is ok :-)

^^ sorry for rambling, i hope i make a little sense. Bottom line WC is a project, an expensive one. Get the best from the start or you will probably find youreself replacing items alot.

/Kim

[HiJon89]

I would suggest picking out each piece of the watercooling loop yourself rather than going with Petra's precompiled kit. And don't worry about leaks, there's no way the tubing is going to split open so you just have to make sure the fittings are on securely and that the tubing is secured so it doesn't slip off of the fitting. And in the very unlikely case that some water does manage to spill, as long as you notice it fairly quickly and turn the computer off there's a good chance nothing will be damaged.

So post up your rig specs and what you want to cool and we'll have you watercooled in no time

[Jedda]

IMHO, Petra's elite kit makes a very good starting point.

The whole water n electrics thing is a furphy. Dud fans have cost computer users much more money than leaking WC has.
Seized 40mm fans on vid cards have cost me many times the outlay for descent WC too.
If you're reall paranoid about leaks get an inverted mobo type case. Lian-Li make some great ones.

[septim]

like they said, specify and think about which parts you wanna watercool
and start out with something like one of Petra's kits, then go from there.

[MaxxxRacer]

Petras kits are essentially just some good hand picked components that can be purchased seperately, put together into one kit with a lower price. As others have said, they are a great way to start.

[P§I]

Well guys, the system i am building is a e6600 system, with a 8800GTs with a ds3 board. The case i have right now is a theramltake xaserIII.

Only part i want to cool now is the cpu. I don't care about bling or UV stuff I just want good performance.

[denmason]

The Petras kit will probably be just fine for your needs and is a decent price. It'll give you a chance to check out and see if you really like water cooling without spending an arm and a leg. Once your convinced and comfy with it, then you can really go all out on a much more elaborate system. Just take your time and check everything well, make sure your connections are good before you start your computer.

[septim]

watercooling parts: (current preference here by majority)
cpu block: dtek fuzion or apogee gtx
pump: d5 or ddc with petra's top
res: mcres-micro or ek multioption(if you can find one) or TLine& fill port
rad: a mcr220 or 320 or go thermochill PA120.2/.3...

are you sure you want stock fans for 8800? others claim it gets loud soon enough...

xaser3 same as mine, soon to be gutted to fit PA120.2 in front. previously gutted all 80mms fans to fit 120mm fans...

[Petra]

For a starter kit, would Petra'sTech CoolKit Lite kite be a good start for me to learn with and provide some good cooling?

Well, I know that the 'ole Lite kit could handle an E6400 @ 3.4GHz without much issue (though, I was using a 9W DDC-1 with one of my prototype tops, rather than the Mag II LE, at the time)... that was with a D12SM-12 on the radiator instead of a D12SL-12, BTW.

Anyway, the Lite kit's pump is going to change from the Mag II LE to the D-Tek dB-1, once it's marked back in stock (which will happen whenever Danger Den decides to send us more BIP radiators).

As a side note, however, if you really know that water is what you want and you think that you may want to add your video card to the loop, that poor little BIP isn't going to be too happy about it...

[P§I]

thanks guys

Well i would like to add the gpu, but its the money factor at this time. Guess i could just get me a good HS like the 120 X for now until i can afford a better kit?

septim you got any pictures of your set up? I am gutting mine now to change out the fans also. I just need to decide what i want to do before i order from petras, darn panaflos out of stock!
What temp difference is their between air vs water

Whats BIP btw?

[serialk11r]

BIP is black ice pro. Its pretty much the most compact radiator you can get, being only 1 inch thick. However there are some drawbacks, as its performance is subpar compared to Coolingworks, Swiftech, or Thermochill (the king of radiators period). But its on the "decent" side of rads I guess you could say, because under some circumstances its actually worth buying. Its the cheapest line of semi-decent to decent rads, and is the smallest, like I mentioned above.

[ranker]

Get Petra's kit. I make almost all of my purchases from them and only fill out the rest from performance-pcs.com.

If you have any questions, Quoc will be more than welcome to help you out.

[septim]

nice hole for 2 in front and 1 at back (jigsaw, filed and put some edge trims)

removed Tt X in front, and dremeled and sandwiched that expanded wire.


Current Picture before moving rad internally...


planned changes:
put PA120.2 in front and pull cool air in
put 2x120 fans in top panel with grills for exhaust
put 1 120 fan side panel for exhaust, bottom left part
basically get rid of 80mm Tt fans

[P§I]

thanks for the pics , thats exactly what i plan on doing

In the rear were the 2 80's are, is it possible to do 2 120's?
You running them at .5 speed?
What type of fans are these PA120?

[septim]

PA120.2 is the thermochill radiator, the king of radiators...
fans are scythes Sflex-F undervolted to 8-10volts on stock Tt HardCano that came with the case.
Back panel would probably be remodeled, PSU mounted higher 2 accomodate 2 120mm fans there.

[jabski]

nice pics septim. I am planing the same sort of mod

[septim]

fan controller soon to be rheobus.
some rewiring to do, and some alum plates to model.

for inspiration have a look at themodnation.com

[serialk11r]

fan controller soon to be rheobus.
some rewiring to do, and some alum plates to model.

for inspiration have a look at themodnation.com

After my burning rheobus incident, I am quite freaked out about using voltage regulation controllers... I'd say, find some other way.

[P§I]

thansk for the link

I was thinking about going yate loon fans, i guess i cant go wrong with them can i?

[septim]

yate loons heck no, buy all 3 variants if you will. slow SL, med SM and high SH
but the SM should be enough cfm for you.

serial, i would think that the sunbeam rheobus would be better that Stock Thermaltake Hardcano... just must have been a bad rheobus you got...

[P§I]

yate loons heck no, buy all 3 variants if you will. slow SL, med SM and high SH
but the SM should be enough cfm for you.

.

Well i was figuring on getting high speed and cutting them down with my fan controller. So if i need the extra cfm's they are there.

[Sparky]

After my burning rheobus incident, I am quite freaked out about using voltage regulation controllers... I'd say, find some other way.

What else is there though besides PWM controllers (which make some fans make nasty noises)?

[serialk11r]

What else is there though besides PWM controllers (which make some fans make nasty noises)?

Homemade power supply? Quite easy to do really...

[septim]

maybe you could share your ideas and drawings and design serial...