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How does this setup sound?

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Mike89

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2001
Location
West Coast USA
I think I'm going to go the external route and build my own water cooling system. This is what I've come up with.

Black Ice Xtreme 2 radiator (big sucker that uses 2 120's to blow air through it). $102.00, Fans $25.00
Danger Den dual bay size reservoir. $32.00
Eheim 1250 pump (120 volt). $60.00
Maze4 CPU water block. $35.00
Maze4 vid card water block. $40.00
Maze4 Northbridge water block. $40.00
1/2 tubing.

Thinking about using a 1 inch thick piece of painted plywood about the size of the top of my case and anchor the reservoir, radiator/fans (with speed controls), and pump on it, then run the hoses inside. I think this will be a nice setup with some good overclocking potential.

I know there will always be a debate of external vs internal but having the pump, reservoir, radiator/fans outside of the case sounds good to me and I think it will look rather cool.

What do you guys think? Any improvements I need to consider for the parts I have listed?

I figure with this setup I can use the 2 120 radiator fans at a low speed, change out my rear 90mm case exhaust fan for one that is a lower rpm (thus quieter). Run my 120 case intake fan at a lower rpm (quieter), lose the cpu (80mm), northbridge, vid card fans (quieter) and end up with a much cooler running system, better overclocking potential and with much less noise than what I have now (my system is pretty noisy right now which is one reason why I want to do this).

Now I'm wondering if the vid card water block is going to fit on the X800XT-PE.
 
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With external it is really a good idea to go with a heater core, cheaper and better performance.

The res is fine, some bay reservoirs have been known to leak but DD is a good company so i have faith in their product. Again with external you can find something cheap to work just as well. Like a res on the intake of the pump **wink**.

http://gallery.pimprig.com/showphoto.php?photo=3751&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

I would leave the NB out until you get some experience with WCing. The advantage of the NB waterblock is highly debated, you may want to wait and see if its something you want to do.

Good luck, Looks like it will be a killer system.
 
Thanks for the input, this will be my first attempt at watercooling and I appreciate as much help as I can get.

Yeah I have been wondering if I need the northbridge water block myself. I just may skip it. I don't really know how much noise that northbridge fan makes since I have so many other fans in there. I guess I will have to listen closely to see if I think getting rid of it and using the waterblock is worth it.

So you think the heater core would be better than the black ice? I do see one on Danger Den that is about the same size (using 2 120s).

On the reservoir thing. What would you suggest instead of that double bay reservoir? I chose that one just because it was the biggest one I saw (most capacity). I figured if it held more water, it would be better. Am I right on that?

My chosen route would be:

Reservoir to pump.
Pump to case to cpu.
Cpu to northbridge (if I use the northbridge waterblock).
Northbridge to vid card.
Vid card back out of the case to radiator.
Radiator to reservoir.

That seemed to me to be best being the hottest water would enter the radiator, get cooled and go into the reservoir (which seems like the best place to have the coolest water).
 
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I would simply wait on the NB. There are passive air cooled heat sinks that work well.

A double 120 HC is definetly better than the black ice. If you get a single pass HC it will also have very low resistance.

More water doesnt really help anything. The water will heat slower but it will end up at the same temperature as no res. If you can get one, get a reservoir that goes on the intake of the pump, Pumps love to have low restriction on the intake and will allow them to have a greater flow rate.

A T-like works fine but it does take some patience.

Browse around and dont be afraid to ask questions and your project will be fine.
 
When going external and using a rad (preferably Heatercore) It is advisable to get a more powerful pump.
I find the 1250 to be just enough for an in-system setup. When considering the extra foot or two of tubing required to get from external box to blocks, a more powerful pump is recommended. I would get an iwaki or blueline for best performance. However for the budget minded, get a Danner Mag3. Decent GPH rating at head a bit higher than the MCP600. I may leak and will add more heat, but with that large rad the extra heat should be minimal to not noticable. With the external system the leakage is less of a concern as you can run it submerged (best for the intake, and no leakage). or you can just place it in a sort of enclosure (small bucket) As a matter of fact it shouldnt even leak as long as youre careful.
 
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