W/C questions from a beginner

Hi Guys and Gals,

You may recall me as someone posting in other areas with trouble cooling an Intel 660 / P5WD2-P combination.... well I am now just about to treat myself (ooops! this is my wife's gift to me this Xmas, honest!) to some water cooling kit in the hope I can get more out of this rig.

I'm currently on air with a 120mm intake at front, a 90mm just behind that to help direct the cooler inbound air upwards in the system, a 120mm exhaust on the back, a 120mm sitting on top of a non-stock HS (I forget which of several I ended up with) and a hole in the side panel with a 120mm sucking air in over the CPU..... oh.... and an 80mm intake sitting in the top 2 5 1/4" slots just for good measure.

I haven't lapped anything, I used AS5 VERY carefully (several times to make sure I wasn't screwing up the seating of the HS) and ambient temps in this room are about 23 C, and yet as I type this with IRC, IE and Speedfan running my CPU is at 66 C I really don't understand why it's so hot, but I guess I just got unlucky with my prescott.

I mention all of this as background in case one of you has a better idea than going water for me....

Anyway... getting to the point a few w/c questions.

1) Have any of you got 1st hand experience of using this:

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/MCRES-1000.asp

it's a reservoir and pump combination designed to go in a 5 1/4" bay. I am quite keen on the idea for neatness, but I am worried that my case accepts 5 1/4 devices through the front panel, and that the pipes would have to be set up to give a little extra for me to pull the reservoir in and out of the system... I hope I explained that.

2) Aside the above, are reservoirs/pump combos any good in general? What would be a good one if so?

3) With setups using a separate reservoir, do you fit the reservoir inside the case or sit it externally?

4) I am thinking of getting the twin rad unit that fits on the back of the pc, but if this covers my existing exhaust am I likely to get other general heat issues?

5) I am looking at the Storm block for the CPU, but I am not sure about GFX and Northbridge.... can someone recommend good coolers for these? My GFX card is an ATI X850 XT PE.

I'm a bit down in the dumps and hoping for a bit of shopping therapy soon, so your answers and suggestions would be very welcome!

Thanks

STICKY

that res/pump setup isn't bad, but you could do better IMHO.

-the 655? (next pump up from the 1 you picked)

-Using a T- line would simplify things a lot since you are just getting started too. (no res)

The dual 120mm rad /fan setup should work nicely along with a Storm.

Do some more reading of stickies & look at other members sigs & see what they are running & read, read, read !!!!

Hi WarriorII!

Trust me, I HAVE read alot already, but there is alot of jargon to wade through and it's real nice to get some kind of reassurance about the setup I am trying to achieve, before blowing hard earned cash! Right now, I'm at work drooling over items for water cooling, trying hard not to click on any 'buy now' buttons!

So far I am considering the following...

MCW55 GPU cooler:

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcw55.asp

MCP655 pump (it's a bit more powerful than the res/pump combo I looked at, meaning potentially I could add a water block for the northbridge later):

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcp655.asp

The MCRES-525 reservoir - neat, like the combo, but this has a safeguard against air trapping, I think:

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/MCRES-525.asp

Good old STORM CPU block:

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/STORM.asp

I have seen Swiftech moving to a different block in their kit, but the STORM is undoubtedly good, and I think the newer block may have an advantage in multicore CPU's, which I don't have.

I think I can hook all this up with 1/2" ID piping except the GPU block which needs an adapter of some sort, and now I am looking for a decent radiator, probably a dual 120mm which I can mount externally on the back of the machine... suggestions welcome! I'm also thinking about fitting a T-piece connector in near the bottom of the piping to allow an easy drain mechanism if everything in place - does all this sould feasible to the more experienced out there please?

Thanks!