Thinking about water cooling, need advice

I am thinking about doing water cooling in my new rig. I have been an avid OC'er for 10+ years, but have never done water cooling before. With my new system, I am having an airflow issue that I cannot solve so I'm thinking about water cooling. I just don't like the temps I'm getting stock, and I'm needing to keep the case side off for better temps. I have the following components:

Case: Gigabyte 3D Aurora
MB: Asus A8N32-SLI
CPU: Opteron 175
Vid: Dual eVGA 7900 GT KO in SLI
sound: SB Audigy 4

I am looking for performance because I want to OC this CPU, but note that I have a sound card on an A8N32-SLI running dual video cards. That means I don't have a lot of space for a water block on the GPU's. Do they make water blocks that fit into tighter spaces? Does anyone reading this run SLI on this board with a sound card?

I have access to many tools and I'm a crafter so needing to fabricate stuff is no problem. Unfortunately my budget is kind of small. Somewhere between $200 and $300. Should I go for a kit, or build my own system? If I should build my own, is there a write-up on how to do this stuff?

Thanks for any info.

For the VCs, you could get two full cover EK Waterblocks. They take up as much space as the stock heatsink AFAIK. I definitely think you will get close/pass your budget of $300. For a pump, I'd either get a D5 or a DDC. With a DDC, you'll need an aftermarket top. For CPU, I'd get either an Apogee or a Whitewater. The whitewater is THE budget block. It's cheap ($30 tops), and performs VERY well. Radiator, I'd get a heatercore for it's cheap price. $20 for a dual HC. I'd probably get two dual HCs. If you're willing to drop more cash, a Thermochill PA120.3 should handle your loop. It's quite a bit more expensive however. Fans, I'd get Panaflo FBA12G12Ms. Not too loud, good airflow. Cheap as well. Tubing, definitely vouching for MasterKleer 7/16"ID 5/8" OD tubing from McMaster ($.38/ft). Plain worm-drive clamps I'd get for extra insurance. Liquid, straight up distilled water (provided you get an apogee) or distilled + 5% antifreeze (with the whitewater original), Not sure if I missed anything.

Edit: After taking a closer look at Petra's I think everything you need is in one of their "kits". Petra's assembles their own kits so I think of them more as a a package buy than a kit. Petra's CoolKit SLI Basic should provide you with everything you need except maybe the RAMsinks for your video - you should ask them about that 'cause you'll need 'em. If it doesn't include the RAMsinks the parts below should do well.


I'd go for building your own system - you'll get better parts for the same price:

Apogee: $50
Swiftech MCW60 w/RAMsinks ($60 x2): $120
T-line fill port: $10
D5/MCP655 pump: $75
7/16" Masterkleer tubing, SS screw clamps ($1 x11), and SmartCoils: $20
Bonneville heater core: $20

That's $295. Petra's has everything you need except the heater core - check your local auto-parts store for that. Mmm, I did leave out fans but I don't know much about those, I have my own blower for the rads. Any good 120mm case fan should work and since you've been around I'm sure you have your own preferences.


I'm not 100% sure about the clearance for the GPU blocks since I don't have SLI as yet. The MCW60 GPU block looks like it takes up only one slot below my vid card (it's 1.25" from base to top) but you'd have to measure to be sure. It has a Delrin top & barbs so it's non-conductive if it's a close fit. If the MCW60 doesn't fit the alternate choice is the DD Maze 4 - it may be a little shorter but I couldn't find any dimensions to confirm.

You're a crafter so you shouldn't have any problems assembling the loop. Putting the T-line in front of the pump inlet is the most important thing for loop order, a far second is shortness of tubing. If you have questions you know OCForums is always here ...!

QuietIce said:

I'd go for building your own system - you'll get better parts for the same price. Usually I recommend Swiftech but the Maze 4 is slightly cheaper and is as good as the Apogee:

DD Maze 4 copper: $35
Swiftech MCW60 w/RAMsinks ($60 x2): $120
T-line fill port: $10
D5/MCP655 pump: $75
7/16" Masterkleer tubing, SS screw clamps ($1 x11), and SmartCoils: $20
Bonneville heater core: $20

That's $280. Petra's has everything you need except the heater core - check your local auto-parts store for that. Mmm, I did leave out fans but I don't know much about those, I have my own blower for the rads. Any good 120mm case fan should work and since you've been around I'm sure you have your own preferences.


I'm not 100% sure about the clearance for the GPU blocks since I don't have SLI as yet. The MCW60 GPU block looks like it takes up only one slot below my vid card (it's 1.25" from base to top) but you'd have to measure to be sure. It has a Delrin top & barbs so it's non-conductive if it's a close fit. If the MCW60 doesn't fit the alternate choice is the DD Maze 4 - it may be a little shorter but I couldn't find any dimensions to confirm.

You're a crafter so you shouldn't have any problems assembling the loop. Putting the T-line in front of the pump inlet is the most important thing for loop order, a far second is shortness of tubing. If you have questions you know OCForums is always here ...!

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The maze4 CPU block is on par with an apogee? I was under the impression it was a terrible block. I'm sure the whitewater outperforms it and it's probably cheaper to boot. Plus, the maze4 is discontinued, isn't it?

For GPU, maze4 acetal lowprofile would be your best bet if you don't want full cover blocks.

And a dual rad is not going to cut it with 2 7900s and a CPU. It'd barely cut it with just the dual 7900s.

SolidxSnake said:

The maze4 CPU block is on par with an apogee? I was under the impression it was a terrible block. I'm sure the whitewater outperforms it and it's probably cheaper to boot. Plus, the maze4 is discontinued, isn't it?

Click to expand...

Petra's was showing them for the 939. But you're right - I was thinking of another block and should have stuck with what I know and use. Previous list edited ...

check the classies, bunch of watercooling stuff, especialy d5's and d4's for hella cheap. also i would pick up a triple mcr320 instead of dual heatercores, its probably just as expensive when you tally in work/parts/barbs etc. for the dual heatercores. and a single heatcore probably wont cut it. it might. but i dunno

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll draw up a list, and post it when I get a chance. I'm a bit busy atm, so it might be a week..

thanks again.