Back to watercooling, now the choices...

I had a Koolance 2 years ago and it turned into a leaked bogus case with chemical reaction probably due to the fact that there was aluminium and copper in the loop, even if i followed exactly the instructions...
Now i'm back and i want to do it all by myself, choosing every component (all copper) and making sure everything is not plastic and of very good quality. My idea is to buy the following:

Dangerden TDX A64 waterblock with 1/2" OD fittings with copper top,
Dangerden 6800 waterblock with 1/2" OD fittings,
Maze4 chipset waterblock with 1/2" OD fittings,
MCP600 pump (i want silence with pretty good performance and durability),
FBK525 fill and bleed kit from stiftech (takes 1/2" OD tubes i think),
BIX or double BIX or double black ice pro; still not sure,
1 to 4 silenX 120mm fans 14dBA on 7V to hear NOTHING, well just my hard drives,

Now what about tubing? I read on the dangerden site they suggest putting 3/8" IN (1/2" OD) tygon tubes on 1/2" OD fittings? Is that good in the long term? Swiftech seem to put 3/8" ID tubing on 3/8" OD fittings, which would be less constrained. I just want a system that will not leak. I want to minimize the chances; i know there is always a risk but i want the best choice choice for that system. I also don't want to mix aluminium in the loop; i think there is no aluminium in the setup i described, feel free to point to me any flaws in my project...

I would also be using some Hydrix additive because that's the product i've heard the most good things about.

I will also add that i'll probably mod a true power 430W with a silenX 120mm fan on it; i don't want it quiet, i want it almost silent. If that doesn't work, i'll get myself a Luxurae

umm take out the FBK525 fill and bleed kit from stiftech (takes 1/2" OD tubes i think), it is a pain in the a$$, and on top of that it cost way to much, just get a simple 3/8 ID T fitting, and plug from you local hardware store all for under $5... then do a search for T lines, and start reading how you fill one...

also i just use food grade clear tubing, that i buy from the local hardware store, it is ALOT cheaper and works just as well, (you will probably need 3/8 ID *inside diamater* and 1/2 OD *outside diamater* )

Well, i liked the fill and bleed because there is a written procedure to fill and empty the system quite easily and when it's closed, it won't leak. I fear leaks. My watercooled system could have to be transported by car everyday sometimes so i must put it on the side without caring about water... A t-line can be leak proof?
I also want a system that i can totally empty and refill in a few minutes; can i do that with a t-line? As for the price of the tubing, i really don't mind it. I would pay 10$ a foot if there is less chance of leak. I'll read on the properties of materials of the currently available tubes. Also, note that my local store does not have a whole lot of tube choices available. I also want something that will not react with the additive. By buying something of a known/tried brand, i kind of insure miself. I really seek the most secure solution, without any regard to the price (well, there is a limit but the limit is far...)

actually buy shear number of added components you have more chance of it leaking if you get the fill and blead kit... i also have a fill and bleed kit from swiftech (it was the version before this one) and i just modded it into a T- line cause the fill and bleed kit too up to much space for what it did and was a pain to fill and bleed, but i did use one of the T fittings from the kit and then i used one of the switches from the kit also, this way i could close the switch and have it be air tight... and as for going on car rides, how does a 6 hour, over 400 mile car ride up to college sound... well i left the water in my system (i was to lazy to take it out) and no leaks, so...

and as for filling a t-line...



i m going to use this case as an example.... (EDIT: this is not my case, but someone on this forum did make it)

now you either want to have the T fitting on the bottom of you loop or on the top of the loop so for simplicitys sake lets say you do your lay out in case like how he did his

now since we picked to have the T fitting on the bottom of the loop after you install alll the hoses, then make sure everything is WATER TIGHT.... (the easiest way to do this is to create a vacum in the system... you can do this buy sucking out all the air right at the t (easiest way is to put ur mouth around the hose and in hale... no dirty joke, i m just tryen to help) then if you have a switch on the end close the switch and come back in like 5 minutes, open the switch back up if there is any suction left then it is ready to fill, if you notice that the vacum is not holding and it gets weaker then you have not installed one of the hoses correctly

now onces you finish testing, the fun beggins...

ok so since the T lin is at the bottom of the case we are going to need to make the T line become the top of the case... easiest way to do that is by flipping the case on to its top....

No you should have the T on the top of the case, but wait what the middle of the T is still pointing to the inside of the case, well all you have to do is to loosen the hose clamps on bot sides of the T and rotate it up so that you can fill it easily (don't worry about it leaking to much as long as you got the hose as far on the T as you can it should be fine)

ok but now when you go to start pouring the distled water/ waterever addative you chose pour it in slowly cause the main problem with the T is that there is only one hole for the both the water to come in and the air to escape from now once you have finshed filling the whole system, sry but your not done yet, now you are going to have to try and work the air bubbles out the system, you might want to either close the siwtch or put the cap on the T line now... ok so what you want to do is to move the case so that all the bubbles inside the radiator come up (if you don't do this well your water will not get cooled) you are going to have to tilt it (stil with it being on its top) back and forth up and down, and side to side, and any combination of those, and keep doing this until you no longer see any air coming out of the raditator, oh and then do it some more (can never be to safe...) then repaet the tilting but this time focusing on the CPU cooler, and then focus on the pump, it is VERY important that you get as much of the air out as possible, i can't stress that enough

now since some air probably came out of your parts just fill up the T line a little more so that it is full, then put the cap of the T line, move the T-line so that it faces to the inside of your case and tighten the hose clamps on both sides of the T and then flip your case right side up, and take alook at your new watercooling system

Oh its almost time... you soon get to start your water cooling up, but wait not yet...

go around one more time make sure all hose clamps are tight

make sure the pump is pluged in make sure the new fans that you added to cool the radiator are pluged in (not to mention everything else you need to plug in like your HD cables power for the mobo ect ect ect...)

ok now pray that you did everything right

(leave the side panel off)

plug in all the cords to the back of the computer

turn the power on (the pump may be a little noisey in the begining but it should go away in a day or 2) make sure you watch the inside of your case if you see any leaks pull the power plug to the computer immediately

check to see that the pump is working the fans are on and go into the bios and see what tempature you got on your CPU

(this one i did for a guy on another forum...)

Hey it is your money spend it as you want i m just trying to save you some of it

I suggest you leaktest it *out* of the system before installing ;p

Icedfire, thanks for the lengty reply When you say that the Swiftech kit was a pain in the body exit, do you mean it took a long time to do it compared to a t-line? What about the time required to empty the system by the Swiftech compared to a t-line? In my case, i don't mind making a few manipulation and not having to loosen tube clamps (i really fear leaks, as i have already seen water FLOWING into my case I also had a reservoir explode into my face because of a chemical reaction... So now i'm paranoïd...)

Also, keep in mind that my chosen pump is not self priming, meaning that if there is no water in it, it will be waster in no time... So the Swiftech kit could be more adapted to this pump because it evacuate the air well by the temporary exit during the time when the entry is being filled by water by gravity... I found the installation manual attracting but I believe you if you say that it's a pain; i would just like to know what you did not like about it precisely.

well a t- line will take less time and effort to drain then the dual T line (what swiftech has), all you have to do is lossen the clamps turn the T down and empty it into a container, but with switechs you have to its kinda a pain because not all the water would come out of the lines, cause inorder for this kit to work you have to have enough water blocking the lines so you could replace it with air... but with it being high up in your system and other lines acting like a sink trap you have water stuck in there, and when you take out the hoses you have to be very carefull not to spill any of the water... you don’t have any water trapped in your system with a t line cause the T line is at the bottom of your system so gravity helps get all the water out…

and even though a T-line make you try and maneuver all the air bubbles out the system, it is still better (at least in my book) then having to suck all the air out while having one tube in the container then having to turn on the system leaveing the 2 lines inside a container, then turning the main switch off and the secondary switch on then turning the secondary on and the main switch off, then shutting down the system then turning both secondaries off and the main on…


the next problem with the dual T is that you have to put it up high in your case then go through and 180 degree bend (it uses 2 T that basicly act like 90 degree elbow.... bad) it just adds a lot of restriction for no real reason…

so in the end it probably takes equal time maybe the T line might win it...

and i have seen people that use no hose clamps on there systems and it works just fine...

but when you do this (ur rig will be shut off) so you are not going to be doing it under any major pressures so there is really no reason for a line to slip off out of no where and the way that the T is designed means as long as you have as much hose on the T that will fit it should hold all the water inside

did you even read what i posted... i have a 600 too and mine works fine, your not trying to prime the system with the pump you are priming the system with out power... that means no pump... you are letting gravity do the work of priming the system for you... only after you prime the system, get most of the air bubbles out, and flip the case right side up do you turn on the system.

but like they say there is risks in everything, whether that be going outside your house, you could get hit by a car and die..., or watercooling your PC, you could fry your whole computer

it really sounds like your stuck on the swiftech kit, so go for it you see, maybe one day your see'll what i m talking about and think it is a pain to and and find out that you payed $30 for a something you could have gotten for under $5, or you may love it and use it on all the rest of your systems

it is up to you i m just tryen to show you different options...

How bout a Whitewater instead of a TDX? If you don't want to deal with the 1 inlet 2 outlet into the wye splitter, then get the TDX

I'd do some more research on the vid card block; there's a thread around here somewhere saying its performance is sub par or something like that; possibly Polarflo makes a vid card block that fits.

You could probably get away with not having the chipset block; to cool or not to cool it has been a topic that was heavily debated on this board in the past.

You might as well get the MCP650 / DD-D4 instead of the MCP600.

Ditch the fill and bleed kit; T-lines are simple and that fill and bleed kit looks like rocket science compared to it

Go with a heatercore cuz they're cheaper; not sure about performance though but heatercore vs. BlackIce has been heavily debated on this board also. If space is a problem, then I'd suggest a Pro-120 from Dtek (basically a small heatercore)

Oh ya, throw it all in a CM Stacker!!! I wish I'd gotten one of those instead of my CM Wavemaster.

isnt the MCP 650 / D4 louder then the MCP600? he wanted a quiet pump

to Icedfire: nice setup looks like u got it like that from the factory is that a 120mm rad up there?

umm thats not mine... but it is a really nice and clean setup and i give props to who ever made it...

I thought the MCP650 / D4 is muffled so they're quieter? My MCP600 is pretty loud.

If I remember correctly, that's Scandido's WC rig.

Icedfire, i'll think again about all you said to me. I was not supporting the Swiftech bleed kit or anything, i was just trying to understand all the implications of the choice i have to make. You explained it to me very well and i thank you

Shraad, you say the MCP600 is loud? I have never heard it but i tought it was quite quiet. I have heard the new MCP650 is louder! Anybody have a suggestion for a quieter pump that is at least as efficient as the MCP600 and quieter, if price is not a consideration? (well, less than 200$...)

umm your going have to pick two of these... efficient, quite, size

so you can either have size and efficent with an mcp 600 or 650
or go with a smaller pump and not have as much head pressure but it will be quiter (generally)
or have an efficient and quite pump... hmm maybe put about 5 feet of sound deading material around dual mcp 650's...

there is yet to be a pump that can have all three for everybody

I changed my mind about the dangerden blocks because of what everybody say about them (6800 block too much expensive for what it's worth...) What do you think of my new setup idea?:

Swiftech A64 waterblock with 3/8" OD fittings (all blocks mounted for 3/8" ID tubes),

Swiftech GPU waterblock with adaptor for Geforce 6800,

Swiftech AMD chipset waterblock (i don't want to take chances because i'll overclock memory to DDR500, or at least try it...)

BIX with one silenX fan at 58cfm to begin; if not enought, i'll try to add one on the other side of the rad... I know i could have a bigger rad which is more efficient but i'm in Canada and i did not find any online store that wanted to ship a rad for less than 50$CAD... So i'll just remain with the BIX idea until i find other stores. I don't mind spending a ton on equipment but I cannot bear to give 50$ of shipping for one piece of equipment.

The c-systems pumps are really what i would need but they are not available... I can wait 2 weeks but after waiting for 4 MONTHS after an x800 xt that never showed up at the normal price, i cannot wait for long; my patience is almost gone. I tought about the Hydor L20 and the Eheim 1048... If i forget about money completely, is the Eheim a better choice if i can fit it without any problem into my case? I want the quietest pump possible...

(edit)
Also, i forgot to ask, about the mix of anodised aluminium of the GPU swiftech and copper of the remaining of the loop... Can i have a problem with the GPU block? I mean, could the anodised finish "peel" off? I would not open the block so there is no scratching danger but i mean from normal use, will the block always hold it's anti-corrosion treatment? That is a very critical point because last time i used a Koolance CPU "gold" "plated" block, the "plating" got separated (read: the golden paint separated from the wall of the waterblock) and i got a beautiful EXPLOSION right into my face when i opened the reservoir to check why the system was leaking from everywhere... The pressure was so high I got wet from head to waist. Now you can understand why i fear this leathal copper-aluminium mix... But if you tell me the anodization process of the GPU waterblock from Swiftech is really good, I will give it a try.

My particular MCP600 is loud; I think I got a Rev. 1 but am not sure. All I have to compare it to is my old Koolance setup and an Ehein 1048 before that.

Sorry, didn't notice you were in Canada until now. I TOTALLY understand you not wanting to get raped on shipping. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with any of the Swifty stuff.

Sorry for this dumb question but whats the diffrence between using a T-line or resovoir whats the advantages and disadvantages?

Why not buy a heatercore from canadian tire, or whatever your equivalent of a Autozone or Napa Autoparts is, and mod the heatercore. I believe there is a very nice article detailing this in the stickies section. You could possibly save some money that way.