I need water cooling advice! :O

I have been thinking about switching to water cooling for a while now, and I have finally decided to take a good look at how much it would cost me. I want to go with a lot of water cooling bang for the buck. I have been looking at the gear on some of the sites in the stickies section, and I have a lot of questions.

I'm not sure what I need for a complete water cooling system. So far I have looked at pumps, heatercores, waterblocks, and reservoirs. I want my video card to be water cooled also, what is the best for that?

Pumps: I found this one and this one. The site with the Swiftech pump claims that it is better than the Eheim pump even though the Eheim pump moves a little more than twice as much water. Are they lying, or am I missing something?

Heatercores: I found these two and this one. Which one is reasonable? I don't want to spend a lot of money.

Waterblocks: On the same sites, I saw these and these. Are the Swiftech ones worth the extra money? Should I get a cheap one for my video card?

Reservoirs: Are these necessary? Why can't the water just stay in the tubes? Are reservoirs just for showing off? This is the only reservoir I found. I didn't bother looking for more because it didn't seem like there could be any better reservoirs.

I basically just want cheap, but worth the upgrade from air. Also, are kits the way to go for a newbie?

Thanks in advance

well u need waterblocks,radiater/heatercore,pump, either a res or a t-line, and ttubes and clamps etc.Res and t-lines are necessary to rid of bubbles in the line.Goto dangerden.com and dtekcustoms.com to see good water cooling stuff.I think you should make your own.You can get hc's at local autozone.Just bout what they tell everyone.Not sure bout the pump but i think so

in my opinion, if you going to wc, then do it right the first time or else you will spend more money to upgrade if you go with kits. Some kits are decent but if put good components together, they will run well together.

I think swiftech is good in a closed system since it has higher head pressure, I believe. But for the same amount of money, I would get the newer model of swiftech mcp650 or DangerDen D4. They are the same pump. One thing about these pumps is that they run directly from your psu so no need for relay. If you buy a/c pumps, you will need a relay (additional money) if you want to pumps to turn on/off when computer power button is pressed.

Heater cores, the second link looks like a Dtek 120Pro. You might as well go to Dtekcustoms.com and buy it there since it's cheaper. If you want to really do it yourself, head toward your local autozone and pick up a '77 pontiac bonneville with a/c hc for $17.99 for dual 120mm fan setup or a 86 chevette hc for a single fan setup. They require little or no mods at all. Only thing is you will either make or buy a shroud for them. Otherwise, Dtek hc is decent and so are the hc at DangerDen.

Waterblock: I love swiftech. I think they are best bang for the buck

reservoir: it's not necessary. You can setup a T line which cost you only $1.50 at home depot.

you might try reading the stickies because ALL of your questions are answered there in 1 post

For the pump question, yes the eheim will move more water than the swiftech BUT in a zero restriction condition. In a watercooling loop it's MUCH different, because the swiftech have a greater pressure than the eheim, that's why the Swiftech will be better.

Thanks for the replies Here's what I have decided on so far.

74.99 Pump: Danger Den D4 , http://www.dangerden.com/mall/Pumps/dd12vd4.asp
17.99 Heater Core: 1977 Pontiac Bonneville , http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/Ui...iredQuestion&Parameters=|~WITH+A/C&PageSync=6
25.98 120mm Fan x2 , http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3639235
29.99 Zalman ZM-GWB1 VGA Cooler , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_49_54&products_id=829
40.00 Zalman ZM-WB2 Waterblock , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_49_54&products_id=239
01.50 T-line at Home Depot
15.00 Tubing , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_49_52&products_id=224

~220 with tax

This isn't looking very cheap at all lol.. How much cooler is my CPU going to get?

Also, what exactly do I have to do for housing if I go with the Bonneville heatercore. Also, is a 1/2 inch tube going to fit on the Bonneville heatercore just fine?

not bad setup but there are a lot of options on blocks you may want to consider other than the zalmans

better selections of components but I think you get better performance with the same prices if you do the following:

get panaflo fans with higher cfm but slightly noisier at only $6. here

forget about those Zalman, get swiftech mcw6002 for $40. Same with your gpu block, you can get an mcw50 for about equal or slightly higher price.

tubing is fine. You may save couple of bucks by buying at McMaster.com page 85 on the left at $0.65 a foot but shipping is round $4.50 or so. Not bad. 10 feet should be plenty.

regarding housing. Depends on your case. Look in stickies of ppl's setup to get ideas. Be warned that the bonneville hc is huge and 1/2" tubing fits it nicely with only minor modding which took me less than 5 minutes.

Yeah, WC is never cheap. Good components cost you about $150-$200 or higher. You may go cheap on the pump and get the Aqua Via 1300 for around $20 but there is a problem with noise (but there is a mod for it) and also it runs on a/c. If you want the pump to turn on or off when your computer is on or off, you would need a relay for it which you can purchase for as low as $20. On the other hand, if you want good performance, then you have to sacrifice some cash and get a pump like a swiftech or DD D4.

I did a lot more searching and pretty much changed everything Here's the new list:

58.99 Eheim 1250 Pump , http://store.yahoo.com/directron/e1250s.html
17.99 1977 Pontiac Bonneville , http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/Ui...iredQuestion&Parameters=|~WITH+A/C&PageSync=6
13.98 Tailed JMC 120mm x2 , http://store.yahoo.com/directron/120mmfans.html
36.99 Swiftech MCW50 , http://store.yahoo.com/directron/mcw50.html
42.50 Swiftech MCW6002-A , http://store.yahoo.com/sidewindercomputers/swmcforamd.html
01.50 T-line at Home Depot
12.50 Tubing , http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/kutec1odclvi.html


07.85 Shipping: sidewindercomputers.com
06.84 Shipping: directron.com

Total: 199.14




Deleted:

74.99 Danger Den D4 , http://www.dangerden.com/mall/Pumps/dd12vd4.asp
40.00 Zalman ZM-WB2 Waterblock , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_49_54&products_id=239
29.99 Zalman ZM-GWB1 VGA Cooler , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_49_54&products_id=829
19.98 Panaflo M1A x2 , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=25_59&products_id=800
15.00 Tubing , http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=2_49_52&products_id=224



Any suggestions?

I kind of wanted to fit my water cooling system into my Lian-Li PC65, but the Bonneville heatercore is too big for that. Should I go with the Chevelle heater core instead if I want it to fit? Will I still need two fans for that? How much cooler do you think this setup be than my current air cooling?

EDIT: How are these for clips? Should I get metal ones?

http://store.yahoo.com/directron/clamps.html

i would probably keep the panaflow fans and D4 from old list

unless you want to run a 3/8" tubing system, that tubing is 3/8" ID not 1/2" (just want to point that out)

Hey, I am also just getting into watercooling, and like you I also wanted the best bang for the buck. the trick to keeping your price low (atleast what I have learned so far) is to purchase as less as you can from "real" watercooling shops, they like to overcharge you..

I'll just modify whats on your list that you can save money on..
15.00 Via Aqua 1300, http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=8164 code [6892]
17.99 1977 Pontiac Bonneville , http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/Ui.../C&PageSync=6
13.98 Tailed JMC 120mm x2 , http://store.yahoo.com/directron/120mmfans.html
36.99 Swiftech MCW50 , http://store.yahoo.com/directron/mcw50.html
42.50 Swiftech MCW6002-A , http://store.yahoo.com/sidewinderco...swmcforamd.html
01.50 T-line at Home Depot
5231K237
8.30 ClearFlex60 10' , http://www.mcmaster.com 5231K237

and you can save some money by ordering your fan, and water blocks from the same place (shipping)

New pump on the market

Suggest you look at the CSP750 pump in a dual setup. This pump is extremely small, cheap compared to the Swifty, and when set up as dual pumps will out perform and still be cheaper than any of the other pumps out there. It is a 12 volt pump as well, so you can omit any relay card. You can see a thorough review of this pump here. I think this pump is now marketed through D-Tek exclusively. I have been following a thread at Pro Cooling with some very knoweldgeable people as well as one of the principals from C Systems, the mfg of this pump. This thread can be found here .

Ok, great. I am much happier with the price if I were to get a CSP-750 or a ViaAqua 1300. What can you guys tell me about how these pumps perform compared to what has been on the list?

EDIT: Do I need two CSP-750s for a CSP-750 to be worth it?

OLMI said:

Ok, great. I am much happier with the price if I were to get a CSP-750 or a ViaAqua 1300. What can you guys tell me about how these pumps perform compared to what has been on the list?

EDIT: Do I need two CSP-750s for a CSP-750 to be worth it?

Click to expand...

I would go the double on the CSP750. Your still below the cost of the Swifty with considerable more performance. I saw some flow/head comparsions somewhere. If I can find them again I will post a link.

2Busy said:

I would go the double on the CSP750. Your still below the cost of the Swifty with considerable more performance. I saw some flow/head comparsions somewhere. If I can find them again I will post a link.

Click to expand...

I can't really spend that much How good is the ViaAqua 1300?

Csp750

OLMI said:

Ok, great. I am much happier with the price if I were to get a CSP-750 or a ViaAqua 1300. What can you guys tell me about how these pumps perform compared to what has been on the list?

EDIT: Do I need two CSP-750s for a CSP-750 to be worth it?

Click to expand...

Comparison of head / pressure on single and dual CSP750 against Eheim go
here

Flow / head of CSP750 parallel vs series go here

CSP 750 flow/tubing length vs Eheim go here

CSP750 parallel and series configurations go
here

OLMI said:

I can't really spend that much How good is the ViaAqua 1300?

Click to expand...

Have been told it is a very noisy pump. I have a Mag3 on order, due to cost and performance. It shows to a strong contender, but have read mixed reviews on it as far as leaking. Some swear by it while a few have cussed it.
Pro Cooling has some very good reading and charts as well. Check this out. It may answer your questions on many pumps regarding performance.

Wow, the Danner Mag3 looks really good for only 40 bucks... What do you guys think? Is it really that good?

i have a mag3
nice pump i think to me but make sure u seal it up with silicone grease becasue since its not meant to be a wc pump it will leak a little but the stuff seals it up and u forgot fittung for pump if u get mag3 and clamps