total n00b to water. what's the deal

[emericanchaos]

i understand why i should goto water. i understand the much improved cooling and much more potential.

what i want to know is what is a good quality kit and what would work well given my case. i have a crampy mid tower that can barely get out of it's own way on air (bad case flow) i would like to step to water. any hints on a good kit that can fit into a smaller case? if that's not possible what is a good case to mod to stuff a kit into?

i would like to keep everything internal so i don't have plumbing laying all over the place

[Liss]

check out http://swiftnets.com/ they quality stuff. :)

[Big_Baller]

If you like things your way, I recomend you build your own. It really isnt that hard after reading a lot about it. But for ease then you would want to go with a premade kit. Although they are more expensive then most DIY "kits" :D

[Sniperboy]

Take a few measurements of your case, like the width, etc...
Take a look at my case:
http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/1102/mywcsystem.jpg
Notice that my heatercore is caddycorner in order to fit in the case. I have a Maxijet 1200 pump that is under my expansion cards. Also, I had to cut out all of my hard drive bays for the heatercore.

[Liss]

damn that is a really poor quality picture...

yo.. wut you think of the maxijet?

[NeoMoses]

I would recommend that you not go with a "kit." You will not get as good of performance as if you hand picked each part, and you will also pay more. You might check out the classifieds as well. There have been lots of good deals on heatercores and blocks lately.

[EluSiOn]

DIY is not cheap.

I spend like $590 already and I think I am better off just to get a promedia in the beginning

ATX Aluminium Case w/ 430w ps: $110
WaterBlocks (CPU, NB, GPU) + Resevior + Pump + Tubing : $230
Heater Core+ Shroud+ 120mm Fan: $70
Digital Therm Management: $55
Light kit + 80mm LED Fan: $45
UV Dye: $13
Hose Clamp x 16: $8
T-Fittings x 3 : $5
Y-Fittings x 4 : $10
Drills & Drill bits : $40
Water Wetter: $4
1Gallon Distill Water: $0.50

Yeah... there are definately alot of parts you can go without it, but I see it hard to go below $200 unless you are using cheap component which may fail to work after sometime or wasn't that efficient.

[FleshEating Bob]

If you have acces to a drill press, buying a block of copper and making your own waterblocks would cut costs considerably.

[Frodo Baggins]

haha, that is a poor quality pic, what webcam are you using?

[JFettig]

I say go figure out what the heck your doing before you even spend the money, and by then you will know what to go with..

[emericanchaos]

Originally posted by JFettig
I say go figure out what the heck your doing before you even spend the money, and by then you will know what to go with..

that's what i'm doing here. when i posted this i didn't see any posts that related to what i was asking. everything was a little to in depth in comparrison to what i know. so i created something new.

not sure if i have access to a drill press. it'd be nice if i did though. i just modded my case a bit more and stuffed an 80mm fan on my side panel. this is making way to much noise so i plan on going with a 120mm low RPM fan. so when the time comes for water i'll have a decent fan for the job.

what is a shroud? something to hold the heater core in place or hold the fan onto the core?

would i need a waterblock for the motherboard (i'm assuming this would be referring to the chipset) i understand the CPU and possibly the GPU but not the chipset. wouldn't a small fan with AS3 on the plate be good enough?

[mfpmax]

Originally posted by EluSiOn
DIY is not cheap.

I spend like $590 already and I think I am better off just to get a promedia in the beginning

ATX Aluminium Case w/ 430w ps: $110
WaterBlocks (CPU, NB, GPU) + Resevior + Pump + Tubing : $230
Heater Core+ Shroud+ 120mm Fan: $70
Digital Therm Management: $55
Light kit + 80mm LED Fan: $45
UV Dye: $13
Hose Clamp x 16: $8
T-Fittings x 3 : $5
Y-Fittings x 4 : $10
Drills & Drill bits : $40
Water Wetter: $4
1Gallon Distill Water: $0.50

Yeah... there are definately alot of parts you can go without it, but I see it hard to go below $200 unless you are using cheap component which may fail to work after sometime or wasn't that efficient.

wow...thats a lot of money...

How much of that was really required purchase.

Cause my setup goes as follows
D-Tek Sprial - $60.30
MaxiJet 1200 Pump - $31
1988 Ranger HeaterCore(Fedco 2-447) - $21

Then proably $10-15 extra on little crap.

Total, around $130.

Could've gone cheaper but I didn't feel like going to the junkyard, and I paided to much for my water pump.

I did happen to upgrade my computer...and got a $99 case...but that wasn't part of the watercooling setup. I could've put it into the old case if I wanted to.

[Frodo Baggins]

Originally posted by emericanchaos


that's what i'm doing here. when i posted this i didn't see any posts that related to what i was asking. everything was a little to in depth in comparrison to what i know. so i created something new.

not sure if i have access to a drill press. it'd be nice if i did though. i just modded my case a bit more and stuffed an 80mm fan on my side panel. this is making way to much noise so i plan on going with a 120mm low RPM fan. so when the time comes for water i'll have a decent fan for the job.

what is a shroud? something to hold the heater core in place or hold the fan onto the core?

would i need a waterblock for the motherboard (i'm assuming this would be referring to the chipset) i understand the CPU and possibly the GPU but not the chipset. wouldn't a small fan with AS3 on the plate be good enough?

go check outtthe watercooling section on overclockers.com, tehre's some good articles

[Liss]

Originally posted by EluSiOn


but I see it hard to go below $200 unless you are using cheap component which may fail to work after sometime or wasn't that efficient.

fail to go below 200?
wut are you craZy?

i have to total disagree with you..

200us= 300cad

black edge= 30cad
1048= 75cad
core= 50

thats like 155cad

like 100us

half of wut you said..
wut is component is gonna fail?

[Lumen]

Originally posted by EluSiOn

Yeah... there are definately alot of parts you can go without it, but I see it hard to go below $200 unless you are using cheap component which may fail to work after sometime or wasn't that efficient.

not true at all... (This is my setup, its not under 200, but its real close, and this is a very nice water system.) If you went a little less overboard than i did you could get a system for about 180-190 that was still more that sufficient for most users.

My Water Rig
-----------------
D-TEK TC-4...........................................47.00
Pro Core.............................................. ..37.00
Ehiem 1250............................................66 .50
Clearflex 60 10"......................................15.00
Clamps............................................ .......5.00
Shrouds........................................... .....40.00 (or DIY)
Delta mid CFM fans (2)............................25.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total:............................................ .......235.50

[gone_fishin]

DIY can be less costly and more adaptable to future changes. A lot of kits come with small hose connections. A heatercore will set you back about $20. http://www.rockauto.com/applet.html Go to this site and find one that is of the dimensions you need to fit in your case and then go to a local autoparts store and tell them exactly which one you want, this way you may save a few bucks on shipping the heatercore if they have it in stock. It will take some searching at that site.
Get a block for around $50. Get some Tygon or silicone tubing. Get some hoseclamps. get a inline tee connector for filling the system. Get a 120mm fan and attach it to the heatercore with some breadties. You can fashion your own shroud later out of aluminum sheeting or cardboard and bondo. Get a pump for around $50 to $100.
In the end you will be set up to upgrade individual components later on if you get a bigger case or decide on a new block or something and the connectors will be no problem (pump barbs are adaptable and most heatercores are 1/2" ID to begin with). On the heatercore a lot of people adapt barbs in place of the copper tubing but that is unecessary, just cut them to a shorter length and stretch the tubing over them.

[JFettig]

Oh so very true!
-----------------
D-TEK TC-4...........................................47.00
Chevette Core.............................................. ..16.00
Maxii-Jet 1200 (http://www.marinedepot.com/a_ph_mj.asp?CartId=) ............................................24.00 <--shipped
Clearflex 60 10'......................................15.00
Clamps............................................ .......5.00
Shrouds........................................... .....10.00 DIY
]Delta Mid CFM fans (2) (http://sales.goldmine-elec.com/prodinfo.asp?prodid=5277) ............................10.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total:............................................ .......127.00

[BabyEater]

Water cooling can be very cheap.
maxijet 1200 €30
motorbike rad €30
tubing + connectors + clamps €15
fans €24
made me own block and shroud for nout
these are Irish prices which are far dearer than America or just about anywhere else.