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Thinking about water cooling... need help.

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Metallistar

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2003
Location
Birmingham, OH
I am thinking about water cooling but I dont think I have enough experience to build my own water cooling system, so I was gonna buy a "kit". I found this one : link : that a good deal? I'm probably gonna go with just the cpu cooler for now, and add the GPU cooler later.

Will this be good for me, keep in mind that I'm a complete n00b when it comes to water cooling a system. Should i knotice signifigant performance increases over my air cooling listed in my sig(ie overclockability)? Another attractive point about this kit is I dont have to mod my Cooler Master case to get it to fit. The last thing I want to do is mod this, b/c she is my baby :D
 
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I think that you will be better off to go ahead and piece a watercooling setup together yourself. Even if you are a complete n00b to this area, some research will get you on the right track to doing it right. Most kits aren't all that great, and the same temperatures can be achieved with high quality air cooling. The most difficult part of watercooling is probably getting your heatercore all set up, but from there it is smooth sailing.

All that you need is:

Pump: Eheim 1048 or 1250, Danner Mag 3 or 5, Hydor L20 or L30, or a VIA Aqua Pump. They all have a pretty good name around here, but you will find that there can be some problems with the VIA Aqua pumps.

Heatercore: '86 or '87 Chevy Chevette heatercores are the most popular because of their size and performance.

Shrouds: You can make some custom shrouds out of metal, cardboard, or Tupperware containers. The tupperware seems to be the cheapest, and easiest to do though. Here is a guide: http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=189327&highlight=Tupperware. D-tek also sells Shrouds but they are a bit of a rip off.

Waterblock: The D-tek White Water, or the Cascade block made by Cathar are the best options at the moment.

Tubing: You can get some cheap tubing at the local plumbing store, or you can get the good stuff: Tygon Chemical tubing or Clareflex60.

You will also need a T fitting (If you dont want to use a resovior) and some hose clamps. You may also need some 1/2" or 3/8" OD barbs (depending on the size tubing you use) to put onto the heatercore.

Water Additives: You will probably need some Water Wetter, Zerex Super Coolant, or Purple Ice to prevent corrosion in the system.

Here are a bunch of links to places that have good prices on watercooling equipment, and a good selection:

D-Tek Customs: http://www.dtekcustoms.com
Danger Den: http://www.dangerden.com
Cooltechnica: http://www.cooltechnica.com

Hope that helps.
 
Tubing: You can get some cheap tubing at the local plumbing store, or you can get the good stuff: Tygon Chemical tubing or Clareflex60
just make sure you dont mess up and get clearflex70 by mistake, i accidently orderd both and didnt realize it, the tubing made from formula 60 is crystal clear however the tubing from formula 70 is a milky white now.

You will also need a T fitting (If you dont want to use a resovior) and some hose clamps.
As for hose clamps i reccomend getting the metal clamps from home depot as opposed to the plastic ones sold at dtek or dangerden, they can be tightened down much more and cover a larger surface area.

Water Additives: You will probably need some Water Wetter, Zerex Super Coolant, or Purple Ice to prevent corrosion in the system.
you can also use ground up anti algae tablets from the aquarium section of your local pet store to prevent corrosion
 
The Swiftech is a very good kit. Alot of poeple are using Swiftech products no adays including myslef and I'm very happy with my block. If you want get the swifty block a 86 chevette HC with shroud and a Eheim 1250 or the Hydor L30 pump.
 
Thanks for all the help guys!

This is what I have picked out so far:

Danger Den Maze 4
Eheim 1250 Pump
Tubing from local hardware
Chevette H/C from autozone
Water Wetter
Danger Den Reservoir
 
most watercooling kits require the same amount of work as a custom pieced one. this is because all a kit is, is an all inclusive unit that you still have to cut tubing, mod your case, and bleed your system. there are some things i'd change a/b your kit though. i've havent heard too many good things a/b the Maze4. i'd go w/ either the MCW5000A or the SlitEdge from BeCooling. top commercial blocks according to BillA's test. if you want best then the DTeK WhiteWater. although its about $25 more then the others. and i've seen many DangerDen resevoirs crack. i heard they got a new revision around but i still wouldnt go w/ it. plus the red cap looks funny. i'd go w/ the Criticool Waterplant.
 
Au contraire: I have heard a lot of good things about the maze4, and a lot of people seems to be enjoying theirs very much. I would agree with sn_85 about the resovior though. Look into a better res, or just go with a T line. The T line will make the bleeding process so much shorter, it reduces the ammount of tubing in the case which will increase the flowrate, and it is just as easy to fill. You may also want to look into some good high quality tubing. The cheap stuff you get at hardware stores will get flaky and clouded a lot faster than the Clearflex60 or the Tygon, and it doesnt offer as good of a turn radius, which will prevent kinks. Other than that it looks like a good setup.
 
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