Just Getting Into This, Various Questions....Please Help!

Hello,
I very badly want to make the jump from air to water cooling. As of now, I have what is supposedly the "best" air cooling around, yet it is just not cool enough or quiet enough for me. I'm looking for 100% stable operation with temps not going over the mid 40's, the only catch is, at 3.5ghz. So, I have a couple of questions. Sorry if they're stupid, but I've done many hours of research, so please humor me if they are . I need to stay on a $300 budget. I'm going for over the top here, short of TEC.

1. I plan on getting the D-Tek Customs FlowmasterXT kit with the options for the Ehiem 1250 and LRWW block. I also will get the DangerDen Maze4 GPU block. I know that kit's parts all have the same tubing diameter, but i'm not sure if the D-Tek kits are 1/2 ID or OD (as the DangerDen is 1/2 ID). Basically, will everything work with the tubing included in the kit? Could someone please clarify this for me?

2. Is the Ehiem 1250 a good enough pump for this setup? It seems to have decent head and good GPH, but nothing compared to the Iwaki's.

3. The radiator included with the FlowmasterXT kit is a heatercore, right? From what I have gathered, this is the best performing radiator/heatercore on the market, is this true?

4. Will the Bay-Rez included with the FlowmasterXT kit bleed the bubbles from the loop or should I go with something such as the Innovatek Tank-O-Matic?

5. Also, space wise, will my case work (personal URL, not advertising or stealing bandwith...http://members.cox.net/jmdandrow/my pc.htm)?
Where should I mount the heatercore? I'm thinking for the pump to mount it to the bottom in fromt of the HD cage. I can remove that if needed. So please give me some tips on how to work in this constained area.

Specs of my system are:
Intel p4 2.4c @ 3.40ghz "costa rica" Thermalright sp-94/smartfan 2 cooled
ABIT IC7
512mb Corsair XMS pc3500 @ 456mhz 2.8v 2-3-3-7
ATI Radeon 9700 PRO @385/350 Zalman zm80c-hp cooled
Antec 430 watt TruePower
72x Kenwood CD-ROM
48x24x50x CenDyne Burner

Thanks in advance, I really want to do this and have it done by Christmas. Tried numerous other forums, but this looks to be the best yet. Sorry for the length, and thanks for taking the time to read this.

First off: welcome to the forums!

That should be just fine for what you want. The Eheim will be good for it and the radiator they sell is basically a heatercore with removable barbs. I have used one of those and it worked great so thats a good part also. Nothing needs to be said about the WW as its pretty much the best under $80.00 block.

The Bayres will work fine just make sure to tip the case back when filling so you can get more fluid into the Bayres to help bleed bubbles out and keep air out of the lines. I use one and it takes the multiple stop and refill parts out of bleeding and makes it all of about 30 seconds.

As to the sizes of the tubing. for both those dealers if they say 1/2" then it is the ID. The same goes for 3/8". I use 3/8" tubing with 1/2" barbs and it works fine but thats up to you because the 1/2" tubing wont hurt thats for sure.

I would expect a little more o/c out of that cpu to if your board and ram can handle it from the new cooling. You might be able to squeeze a couple more mhz out of it. Most important don't forget to leak test for 12 hours or so. It would be a waste to see your parts drown. Good luck!

I suggest you stay away from kits and buy your own setup... Most people here will recommend the same thing.

CPU: Whitewater will do awesome if you lap it. D-Tek is notorious for giving you $h!tty blocks... It comes with various ridges, dents and what nots. So if you are willing to spend 2 hours lapping go ahead and buy it otherwise I recommend Swiftech MCW5002

GPU: Maze 4 or Swifty MCW50 w/ 1/2ID adapter will do. They both perform very well. It all depends on how much you like the look of the block

Pump. Ehiem 1250 will do but can I sugges Hydor L30? Almost equivalent dependability and similar specs and 10$ less and smaller

Rad: The one that you wanted to get is basically a modified heater core. Just get a regular Chevy Chevette hearecore for less than 20 dollars.

Tubing: Clearflex 60 1/2 ID with 1/8 thick wall. www.mcmaster.com sells them for 60 cents per foor under the name "Chemical PVC tubing"

Id recommend a t-lin cuz its alot smaller but its up to you really as they dont make much difference in performance

Usually I would agree ILikeMy240sx but when it comes to a dtek kit they are the same thing we build. Thats why it would be ok, jsut a little bit more money.

wannaoc said:

Usually I would agree ILikeMy240sx but when it comes to a dtek kit they are the same thing we build. Thats why it would be ok, jsut a little bit more money.

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well actually now i come to think about it... It might be a possibility that the kits that we build might cost more cuz of shippin from various companies... With a kit you order from the same company. I dunno maybe maybe not. If the kit with same spec is cheaper then go ahead and order a kit. I just realized he wasnt talking about like Koolance kit or something like that...

yea.... from what i have gathered, the d-tek kit is top notch....the same componets that I would order seperatly, just in a kit to save on shipping. Now about the WW bases not being finished properly, what are the odds or me getting a bad one? And if they are high, should I splurge on one made by the master hisself, Cathar, and save on the radiator by getting one from an auto store? Thanks