beginner to water cooling, need suggestion

Hey guys, this is my first post on this board (obvious) and I hear you're the experts at this stuff. I'm looking to convert my air-cooled setup to a much more quiter water cooled setup.

I am currently running a P4 3.0 O/C'ed to a 3.4 on an ABIT IC7-MAX3 board. I am currently using a panaflo fan on a swiftech mcx-4000 heatsink and am getting very cool temperatures. Usually idle around 38 and never see it go over 54

I am looking for a watercooled setup that will give me similar temperatures at a much better sound level. My case is extremely loud and the overall setup is rediculously loud. I cannot leave it on at night and sleep.

I know at the same time I cannot expect a water cooled system to be as silent as a pin drop because of the radiator and fan on the radiator, but I'm hoping I can get a little quieter of a system out of it.

I have NEVER done any research in watercooling before, I did browse over the website to the watercooling section but I was blown away by the number of waterblocks and pumps and tubing that I didn't know where to start.

So i'm looking for a little guidance. I'm completely getting rid of my case, so i'll need a new case also.

So basically i'm looking for some suggestions on watercooling products (does not have to be a full kit, i don't mind mixing and matching to get the overall best performance and quietness) and a suggestion on a case to place it in.

I'd appreciate any suggestions and help, thanks alot guys

George

Well Im pretty much a beginner in the watercooling world too, but it sounds like you are exactly where I was about 2 weeks ago. So I'll just let ya know the research path I took and where I ended up:

Months ago I was close to buying a Koolance case that had a watercooling system built into it. Apparently not top-notch performance.

Then I found this forum and read discussions on watercooling kits and was about to just run out and buy a Swiftech kit.

Then I read more and it seemed most people suggested picking your own parts. Choose a component in a watercooling system - for instance, cpu waterblock - then research the hell out of it here on the forums and make a decision. Rinse and repeat for each needed part in a wc system.

Well I researched and researched, ironically enough i came full circle to a watercooling kit - the Dtekcustoms kit. Mostly because, after i chose all the components i wanted, the Dtek kit included all of them.

So I would have to end with: buying components seperately can net you a higher performing, possibly quieter setup and possibly cheaper (although if you through multiple shipping charges from different places in the mix, it wont necessarily be cheaper). But as a newcomer, I highly recommend the Dtekcustoms kit with a Whitewater cpu block and Eheim 1250 pump.

But Im sure the veterans here have much more experienced advice for ya. Just in case though, I'll throw out my "advice-from-a-noob" reply

Here is a link to the kit I spoke of:
http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=102&HS=1

-Glumy

I would build your own kit if I were you it is a much more rewarding experience and you learn about everything as you do it. As far as a water block goes there is a wide range of blocks you can choose from and I believe they all have similar results. The pumps that are pretty popular are the eheim 1250, Hydor L30 and Mag3. For a heatercore you should go to your local autoparts store and get a chevette heater core (86 model). You can then make shrouds for it out of Ziploc reusable containers. Then you just gotta add some tubing, and 2 120mm fans and you are done . As for a case any of the Antec 1080 models or lookalikes seem to be popular case to WC with. Really just do some more searching and you should be able to find everything you need to know.

hey, I really appreciate the response, i will definately look in to that cooling kit and do some research on it.

I'm also going to need a new case for it since i'm ditching this case i currently have.

More suggestions on kits or standalone parts definately welcome, also maybe a very quiet case to place the system into?

Ad Rock said:

I would build your own kit if I were you it is a much more rewarding experience and you learn about everything as you do it. As far as a water block goes there is a wide range of blocks you can choose from and I believe they all have similar results. The pumps that are pretty popular are the eheim 1250, Hydor L30 and Mag3. For a heatercore you should go to your local autoparts store and get a chevette heater core (86 model). You can then make shrouds for it out of Ziploc reusable containers. Then you just gotta add some tubing, and 2 120mm fans and you are done . As for a case any of the Antec 1080 models or lookalikes seem to be popular case to WC with. Really just do some more searching and you should be able to find everything you need to know.

Click to expand...

keep in mind again i know nothing about water cooling. What is the heatercore used for and the shrouds?

and i was already going to order the antec 1080, so...sounds good to me

Thanks!

the heatercore is used to cool the water that will get heated from your cpu and/or any other components that you add to your system. Heat radiates from the heatercore and is blown away from the fans.
A shroud is used to eliminate the dead spot that all computer fans have. It isnt necessary but will increase performance.

i see, the heatercore = radiator?

and where can i check pricing and buy most of these waterblocks and pumps?

i don't see any on newegg, few on xoxide, and some on frozencpu, is there a better source?

Hey I love my Koolance! See sig.

Bleed Posted these pictures of his Chevette HC and CoolingWorks shroud setup in another thread.

I laid out and sourced a highend water-cooling system for a member in this thread.

awesome post uber, i'm going to follow it

whose system is this?



that's one of the most beautiful and clean setups i've seen

what case is that? and what kind of parts are in there? (water cooling wise, i see the max3 in the background)

For starters read the stickies... I'll summarize the basics for you though (the parts you need to have and know about)


Pump :: this is the part of the water-cooled (WC) loop that moves the water. The key things to pay attention to is the pump head (how hight up the pump can push the water) and the GPM (gallons per minute). Eheim is the best quality name in general WC pumps; Iwaki is 'the' best but they are also pricey. Hydor has been very good to me but it is not the quietest of all. Finally you'll hear about Danner Mag, another great pump maker; be warned though, of the pumps I've mentioned only Eheim and Hydor are 'built' for watercooling (requier no modifications). Oh, Swiftech makes a segzy pump too, it's made for watercooling and is the only one that plugs into a 4pin molex connector instead of an external power outlet.

Radiator :: Another highly important part of a watercooling system. The radiator (or Rad) is what removes heat from the water. Black Ice (extreme, pro, micro) and Thermochill (120.1, 120.2, 120.3) are great radiators made for watercooling. They feature an integrated shroud (where the fan gets attached to and it focuses the air through the rad) and are generally WC friendly. Another option is a car heater core; they are in general cheaper and they work better. There is a catch though; they requier a lot of modification to work with a WC loop and you need to make or buy a shroud for them; they are also a little larger. If you go this route get a Chevette heatercore; if you don't want to go through the messy process of welding (not as bad as it sounds) new barbs onto a heatercore Dangerden and D-Tek Customs sell Chevette heatercores for $30 and $35 respectively. Both also sell shrouds for the heatercore.

Waterblock :: The waterblock are the part of the WC Loop that touch your CPU, Graphics card, and Northbridge chipset. They are the most debated over, and most crucial (well, potentially) part of a WC loop. The general purpose of these blocks is to move the heat from the component to the water. A few good blocks to look at are; Dangerden's Maze 4 and RBX, D-Tek's Whitewater and TC-4, Swiftechs MCW-5002 and PolarFLO's PolarFLO.

Tubing and clamps :: Tubing is not to be overlooked but it doesn't have as much need to know info behind it either. In general all places that sell WC stuff sell both Tygon and Clearflex60 (PVC); both are good, Tygon is 'the' best, it has thinner walls and is the hardest to kink, Cleaflex60 is cheaper. YOU NEED SOME SORT OF CLAMP TO HOLD THE TUBE TO THE BLOCKS, All palces that sell tube and WC parts sell nylon hose clamps, they work great. So do the worm-drive clamps from the hardware store.

Resivoir :: the Resivoir or T-Line is where you put water into your system and get the air out of it. Let me be short and sweet. Resivoirs look cool and are easier to use (fill and bleed the air out of). T-lines give better performance and are far less prone to leak than resivoirs, they are also far cheaper (t-fitting = $1, res = $20 to 60)


Hope that helps...

Ben, that case is a Coolermaster case with the following parts;

BLack Ice Extreme CHrome Radiator
Eheim 1250 (1048?)
Swiftech MCW-5000 waterblock
T-Line fitting

I don't remember who's system that is. It certainly is a clean setup. I used the pic to illustrate the concept of a "T" line.

As far as components, it looks to be an Ehiem pump (model unknown, likely a 1250), A BIX type rad, and either a Swiftech MCW-5000 or 5002 (difference is internal).

Case? No idea.

thanks for all the help guys, theres just so many parts and everything its overwhelming, thanks for being patient and letting me know about everything

I just noticed, in that picture, it doesn't seem like he's water cooling his gpu? I would think the GPU would benefit greatly from water cooling considering how small the heatsink and fans are on video cards

Benzie500E said:

awesome post uber, i'm going to follow it

whose system is this?


that's one of the most beautiful and clean setups i've seen

what case is that? and what kind of parts are in there? (water cooling wise, i see the max3 in the background)

Click to expand...

I personally like the Swiftec blocks like the one in the case you posted. They are very clean looking easy to setup and well made. Overall the pic you posted is very nice...I think it is a good model to work from for an initial setup. You may want to go with a fill and bleed kit instead of the fill tube. Personally I think the fill tubes are a real pain and source of frustration.

You may want to look at SVC for parts they have good deals and a pretty good selection

This Sticky is also a great source of water cooling parts

Not all people OC their GPU's and really a high end air solution will be just under the performance of WC'ing the GPU... hell, I only gained 20mhz on my core by adding a Maze4 GPU over the stock HSF, case temps went down a bit though (hard to say as I added a CPU block at the same time) and the lower ambients helped to up my mem OC (GPU mem)...

I see, i thought a GPU would benefit alot from it, i'm don't plan on OC'ing my all in wonder 9800 pro, i'm afraid of frying it. was way to expensive to mess with

I plan on keeping the cpu overclocked, so maybe i'll leave my card alone and not watercool it.

I'm having a really hard time picking a case with an appropriate psu

I like the antec 1080 but i wish it had a window on it. The 1000 plusview is nice but for $90 it doesn't have a psu, the 1080 has a psu for only $35 for more (after shipping).

What kind of PSU do i need to run this setup? It seems like the bigger PSU's get, the more watts people insist on buying. Is a 430watt psu really necessary? I don't want to go cheap on this setup though.

Benzie500E said:

I see, i thought a GPU would benefit alot from it, i'm don't plan on OC'ing my all in wonder 9800 pro, i'm afraid of frying it. was way to expensive to mess with

I plan on keeping the cpu overclocked, so maybe i'll leave my card alone and not watercool it.

I'm having a really hard time picking a case with an appropriate psu

I like the antec 1080 but i wish it had a window on it. The 1000 plusview is nice but for $90 it doesn't have a psu, the 1080 has a psu for only $35 for more (after shipping).

What kind of PSU do i need to run this setup? It seems like the bigger PSU's get, the more watts people insist on buying. Is a 430watt psu really necessary? I don't want to go cheap on this setup though.

Click to expand...

I would go with a 430watt psu and you want to make sure that it is very stable. Antec make good PSUs.

PS the 1080 case is a very good case for water cooling

another beginners question...

how much quieter is a water cooling setup really? For example, the setup that I really liked that i posted the picture of. How quiet would that setup be? I want a computer I can sleep with it turned on.

With a setup like that, since the radiator fan's intake is at the top of the case, are the rest of the case fans necessary?

I want to kill as much sound as I can....

thanks guys