New to water cooling, would this be OK?

stang8118 · Aug 12, 2004

Hey guys, i have decided to get a water cooling kit for my computer. I have been browsing over Ebay for a decent starter kit. This is what i found to be a good deal, but since i am such a noob at this i figured i would ask the pros lol... here is the link to ebay i was looking at...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3673&item=6701033961&rd=1

If this one sucks, could u guys hook me up with some links to a pretty good kit that'll include everything, but is easy enough for a noob to install lol

I want atleast a VGA/CPU cooler.

Bios24 · Aug 12, 2004

That kit probably wouldn't cool an better than an SP-94 with a quiet fan. Do some research on parts, kits are nothing special, and often looked down upon in the modding/ocing community. Break it down into basic components: pump, blocks, rad, and acc. (acc. being hoses, clamps, resivior/t-line) Just search the forum, and you'll find what you need. I currently suggest the following parts:

cpu block: Swifty 6000/6002 series. It's cheap and works great
gpu block: haven't researched that much, maybe DD Maze4 or Swifty block?
pump: Depends on budget, D-tek $35 isn't bad, but swifttech and Danger Den also have good pumps out. You could spend as much as $80 on a good pump. Ehiem also makes good pumps, they are known to be very quiet pumps.
rad: heatercores are super cheap and work great, Black Ice also makes a good (but kinda pricey) line of 80/120mm rad's.

That'll give you something to start with. I would budget $125-200 for everything.

BigAl2 · Aug 12, 2004

For your first system, I'd recommend a kit from someplace like dangerden or even DTEK. But stay away from kits that are from anywhere but those two places, because most of those systems like the one your looking at; the evercool, the aquarius, etc... usually perform worse than good air cooling. The only reason I say to go with a kit for your first time is I remember setting up my first kit, and my stuff was so mismatched, it performed like crap. There is a lot more to setting up a watercooling sytem than just grabbing a bunch of parts and throwing them together. If you don't want to go with a kit, then here is what I would suggest, after having gone through 4 radiators, 5 pumps, 3 cpu blocks, 2 gpu blocks, and 3 reservoirs, trying to get things just right.

First off, go 1/2" ID on everything, or you'll be kicking yourself later like I was.

Pump: Danner Mag3 - very good pumps and very reasonably priced $50
CPU Block: DD RBX $50 or DTEK WhiteWater( I like the swifty 6000, but they need a monster pump to be effective. Not good if you are planning on putting in a GPU Block as well, cause it will KILL your flow rate and head pressure).
GPU Block: DangerDen Maze 4 $45
Reservoir: Bayres $25
Tubing: 10ft 1/2" Tygon or Clearflex(I personally like clearflex better and it's cheaper) $15.00
Radiator: DTEK Pro-Core (you can get a heatercore for cheaper, but by the time you paint it, cut off the old fittings and put new one's on, it's worth it to spend the extra $20) $35
Fan: Panaflo M1A 120mm $15.00
Radiator shrouds are NOT optional, make sure you get one from DTEK if you order the pro-core. $10.00
Clamps, fittings, misc: $15.00

That will be an awsome setup, I should know, I've tried them all

However, I would budget in about $300 for a good setup. All that stuff I just quoted you comes to $260 without shipping.

Aphex_Tom_9 · Aug 12, 2004

the reviews on that kit are pretty bad, when i was first looking in to watercooling i saw that very kit first, then looked for reviews and it's really not good at all.

greenman100 · Aug 12, 2004

BigAl2 said:
For your first system, I'd recommend a kit from someplace like dangerden or even DTEK. But stay away from kits that are from anywhere but those two places, because most of those systems like the one your looking at; the evercool, the aquarius, etc... usually perform worse than good air cooling. The only reason I say to go with a kit for your first time is I remember setting up my first kit, and my stuff was so mismatched, it performed like crap. There is a lot more to setting up a watercooling sytem than just grabbing a bunch of parts and throwing them together. If you don't want to go with a kit, then here is what I would suggest, after having gone through 4 radiators, 5 pumps, 3 cpu blocks, 2 gpu blocks, and 3 reservoirs, trying to get things just right.

First off, go 1/2" ID on everything, or you'll be kicking yourself later like I was.

Pump: Danner Mag3 - very good pumps and very reasonably priced $50
CPU Block: DD RBX $50 or DTEK WhiteWater( I like the swifty 6000, but they need a monster pump to be effective. Not good if you are planning on putting in a GPU Block as well, cause it will KILL your flow rate and head pressure).
GPU Block: DangerDen Maze 4 $45
Reservoir: Bayres $25
Tubing: 10ft 1/2" Tygon or Clearflex(I personally like clearflex better and it's cheaper) $15.00
Radiator: DTEK Pro-Core (you can get a heatercore for cheaper, but by the time you paint it, cut off the old fittings and put new one's on, it's worth it to spend the extra $20) $35
Fan: Panaflo M1A 120mm $15.00
Radiator shrouds are NOT optional, make sure you get one from DTEK if you order the pro-core. $10.00
Clamps, fittings, misc: $15.00

That will be an awsome setup, I should know, I've tried them all

However, I would budget in about $300 for a good setup. All that stuff I just quoted you comes to $260 without shipping.

Save some money, use a t-line instead, resivoirs crack and leak
If you use a Mag3, you may want a relay, like this one.

good list otherwise, though those prices pretty much include shipping

BigAl2 · Aug 13, 2004

Save some money, use a t-line instead, resivoirs crack and leak

Yes, but it makes it so much easier to bleed when you use a res, especially this being his first watercooling endeavor. Plus, my bayres look hella cool with the UV red water in it.

The link you posted to the relay won't let me view it, but I'm using a Criticool powerplant v2. Knew I'd forget to factor in something. So stang8118, factor that in too, they run about $30. They aren't absolutely necessary, but I HIGHLY recommend you get one, or you'll do like dumb@$$ did one time and forget to turn on the pump when you turn on your computer. Thank god for cpu overtemp shutdown, or my box would've been a crispy critter.

I do have to disagree on those prices including shipping though, DD's shipping is outrageous($8 shipping for my new NV-68 waterblock!) and so is DTEK's. It's best if you can try to find everything in one place, like www.cooltechnica.com, they carry DTEK, Dangerden, Swiftech, etc.. , except they are almost ALWAYS out of stock on EVERYTHING

. But that way you only pay shipping once.

Speaking of T-Lines, check this out http://www.dangerden.com/welcome.htm

Scroll down about half a page. I think that's a pretty cool idea...might just have to take your advice and dump the res...hmmm.

nartac · Aug 13, 2004

just think about it. A mag3 with problem with leaks cost $50 plus a commercial relay costing additional at least $20. Why not just get a swiftech mcp650 or DangerDen D4?

BigAl2 · Aug 13, 2004

What's the head and flow rating on those pumps? The Mag3 has 10ft of head pressure and flows 300gph, when I bought mine about a year ago, the only other pumps that had those kind of ratings were the Iwaki's at 3 times the price. Plus the Mag pumps are very quiet, and they don't add hardly any heat to the water. The only reason people have problems with the Mag's is because they try to screw brass fittings into the plastic housing, and crack the inlet. I personally don't like the D4 because it runs off of your PC's power supply, and I don't need any extra strain on my PSU. Besides, the D4 is $75, but I've been hearing good things about it. Don't know much about the new swifty pumps, how are they?

lithker · Aug 13, 2004

the new swiftech pump mcp650 looks exactly like the DangerDen D4 kinda funny how last pump mcp600 looks exactly like the aquaextreme

New to water cooling, would this be OK?

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