thinking about getting into water cooling

[chittnp]

Im building an athlon 64 system, and Im seriously thinking about watercooling it, so I thought Id post my ideas for the system here and see what you guys think. Im not "planning" on OC'ing it, I'm just tired of my computer sounding like a jet, and its something that has interested me for a few years now. First, I have a few questions...what is the most advantagous tubing diameter? right now im considering 1/2", but if 3/8" is better, Id go with that.

heres some links to the stuff I thinking about:

Water Cooling System
Radiator (1) 120.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-rad-14.html
CPU Water Block (1) 52.95
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-blc-91.html
Tubing, a few feet will be necessary (4) 13.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-tub-28.html
Hard Drive cooler (1) 39.99
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/koo-03.html
Video Card Cooler (1) 48.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-blc-37.html
Pump relay (1) 29.99
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-pmp-08.html
Pump (1) 74.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-pmp-19.html
Resevoir (1) 69.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-res-01.html
½ inch to 3/8 reducers (2) $3.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-tub-16.html

let me know what you think, what your suggestions are, etc

also Im planning on using the MSI K8N Neo Platinum, If thats any help

thanks!

[ls7corvete]

No relay needed for a 12v Pump.

Thats a pricey res....

3/8" is easier to route tubbing but 1/2" with coolsleeves has some very impressive results.

[chittnp]

some other questions I have is what order the stuff should go in the system, and should I go with the RBX block which has 3 barbs on it, or stick with the TDX?

[nocturnal714]

my suggestion is to stay with air as long as you can :p

[Bios24]

You do know you've just quoted over $450 worth of water cooling parts?? How much does a basic phase change system cost?? Here's my 2C: Rad is good only if your going for an absolutely silence system. Just buy a heatercore or regular rad with 1-2 120mm fans. Do you really need a $40 hard driver cooler? Unless your running dual raptors, this may not be needed. Do you know what a relay does? You don't need one for a relay for a 12v pump. $70 is a little steep for a resevior, it's a very nice one, don't get me wrong, but you could also buy a $30 resevior and put the $40 twords something else. Generally, bigger is better for water cooling, so 1/2 tubing is used over 3/8 for performance.

Finally, if you don't want to o/c, why watercool? With some knowledge and effort you can have a silent system on air. If your just looking for a quiet/cool system, there are a few nice kits below $200, Danger Den being one of them. Water cooling doesn't have to be expensive.

[chittnp]

Yeah, I do realise that I've dreamt up a really expensive system, and could probably cut the cost down. The main reason I want to go with water cooling is silence, and because its something I have been wanting to try for a long time. I do plan on Oc'ing my 9800 pro (doing the XT Bios MOD), And with the cooling setup in place, Im sure Ill tweak the A64 a little, Im just not planning on it,yet :cool: and I will be running at least 1 raptor in my system for my primary OS drive, and 2 200 GB WD SATA drives for storage. As for the pump relay, alot of people mention that they arent necessary, so Im reconsidering that. as I understand it though, the relay turns the pump on when you turn the computer on without having to turn on the pump separately, so it seemed more like a convenience more than necessity anyway.

as for the radiator, I saw that and thought it was great, but I wonder how well it works, I do realise its about $40 dollars more expensive than a decent fan cooled radiator, but I thought it would be interesting to have no fans at all

thanks for your input!

[ukdan]

that pump will turn on/off with the comp without the relay as its connected to the 12v power supply in your comp.

[SureFoot]

Try to avoid mixing Cu and Al with water.. even with additives it's a recipe for problems.
You can get way cheaper elements that will perform just as well (radiator, reservoir..)
For instance try to get a bay res (no Aluminium), a good copper heater core (less than $50), get 1/2" all around from the start, and drop that HDD cooler (if you really need one, because you have 15K rpm HDDs, get that one -> http://www.alphacool.de/upload//high/12412.jpg or for twin HDDs, that one -> http://www.alphacool.de/upload//high/12410.jpg)

[Senater_Cache]

TDX is easier to mount and plumb than the RBX. Only two barbs and proper cpu-spacer contact + no Y splitter.