WC noob....help needed - build kit under £80/$160??

[Sam__]

I am really interested in getting into WC as it seems to be a really good way of cooling over air.

The story is: I am trying to build a wc setup for under £80/$160 (i am really strapped for cash and cannot go over budget) and all i seem to be able to fund around this price is kits. I don't want to get a kit if i can help it. Am i just looking in the wrong places or something? The cheapest i seem to be able to build seems to be around £100.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[CGR]

If that was for all new parts then you could try to get some used parts off these forums or clearance items at sites that sell WC equipment.

Can you list the items you found and their prices?

[Sam__]

ok...here is the cheapest i can seem to build from one place. Only want to buy from on e shop so p+p doesn't become an issue.

Cpu Block - XSPC X20 CPU Waterblock (http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=2739&cat=545&page=1) - £14.99
Resevior - Thermaltake CL-W0031 AquaBay M3 (http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=1541&cat=548&page=1) - £12.42
240mm Radiator - Black Ice Pro II (http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=2967&cat=541&page=1) - £20.39
Pump - XSPC X20 Compact Pump with 1/2" Barbs (http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=2993&cat=537&page=1#tabs) - £29.99
tubing (http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=3418&cat=570&page=1) - £1.69 per meter
10 Clamps (http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=2193&cat=565&page=1) - £9.90

This totals £92.76

Could i use a fish tank pump like this one: Blagdon Minipond 250 Indoor Pond Pump (http://valueaquatics.co.uk/blagdon-minipond-indoor-pond-pump-p-114.html) its only £12.24 so if i put that in the set it would be £75.01

I forgot to add Fans to the list so thats like an extra £10 for some decent ones.

Anyone got any ideas? Anything else i can skimp on.

[CGR]

You could drop the resevior and do a t-line setup, that would save you a little bit.

I do not know that brand of waterblock or pump, the rad is good though.

I would try to find some clearflex or tygon tubing to replace that alphacool tubing to save you trouble with kinks and what not.

Other then dropping the res I dont think you can get that down any further.

You may want to hold off and save a bit more to get a higher level pump/waterblock for better performance. Not to mention tubing.

After WCing many rigs over the years the one major conclusion I have come to is you are better off getting high quality parts over skimping on parts...

[Sam__]

thanks a lot...whats a t-line setup?....any comments on the fish tank pump?

[Sam__]

found out what a t-line setup is

[killercanadian]

I agree with CGR, the best thing to do would be wait a bit longer and save up.

If your not up to that, a site you may want to check out is www.TheCoolingShop.com they seem to have better prices then www.SpecialTech.co.uk

KC

[jackrungh]

As GCR said, drop the res, lots of people include them and people have this idea that they are necessary, but they are a convenience(Ease of filling) only. A t-line is simply a three way t-shaped hose barb placed somewhere in the loop. (Its a good idea to place it right before the pump inlet, but often that conflicts with the desire of many to place it as high in the loop as possible, which aids bleeding.) From the 3rd prong of the T you just run a short length of tubing and put and end-cap on it. This short piece of tubing is in effect the res.

In addition to GCR's comments I would suggest you use masterkleer tubing, as tygon will be out of your price range. You can save a whole lot of money on the radiator by not buying one made for the purpose. Look online at the dimensions of automotive AC-Unit heatercores, and find one that is suitably thin and of the correct dimensions to fit either 1 or 2 120mm fans. Common usage here is the fedco 2-302 series of heatercores. They require a bit of modding, need to cut the copper tubing and thread the ports so that barbs can be installed, but if you are willing to invest the research and effort, it is very very cheap, and very effective.

For fans I would recommend Yate Loons as they are not only quiet but are generally amongst the cheapest fans available.

That pond pump is very dubious, as it proffers no specifications and is most likely all flow and no head, which can be a problem. The watercooling pump is extremely overpriced for what it is however, and you could definitely get better for your money there. Mag3, or some of the Hydor L series would do you, but really you are so close to the lower price points of the main WC pumps that it would probably be a good investment to just splurge on that and pay a little more for a d5 or a ddc, the classifieds has historically had amazing deals on used versions of these two.

Finally don't waste your money on those clamps online, go to your local hardware store and buy a bag of the same thing, in the US you can get bags of 10 for less than $2.

Good luck. :)

[Sam__]

thanks a lot for the help guys...it has been very useful

[Sam__]

dyu think i could use one of these as a pump?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=007&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=170099190104&rd=1&rd=1
i think this page has slightly more info on them
http://toronto.craigslist.org/for/306097306.html

[Otter]

Iwaki makes some very nice pumps, but the head on those is a bit on the low side for our purposes, and if they will only pump 2.3 gpm flowing free, I wouldn't count on getting 1gpm (a good minimum target rate) through your blocks and radiator.

[Sam__]

thanks

[Otter]

On second thought, you might be able to make that pump work. You won't get high performance with it, but it would be better than some cheap aquarium pumps. It will probably be slightly better than a D5 on setting 2 (5 is the highest).
http://www.systemcooling.com/images/reviews/LiquidCooling/Swiftech_MCP655/image16big.gif

[Sam__]

would having two help at all?lol....and they are 110v but im in the uk so i get 240...can you get cheap adaptors? and do you have any idea what the fitting sizes are...i have e-mail them but no answer yet.

[Otter]

No idea on fitting sizes or the cost of step down transformers in the UK.

Yes, two in series might work nicely. I think you might get away with running them in series electrically as well, so that each pump had 120V across it. Approach that cautiously, though, because one pump will be at twice the voltage to ground that it was designed for. And if one pump shorts out, the other one will probably get fried too.

[Sam__]

ok...ty

[Sam__]

how gd are passive rads? like this one
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=392921&source=froogle

[CGR]

You would be much better served to just get one good pump than use two in a series. A lot less hassle involved in my opinion.

There are a couple nice passive rads on the market, however they cost a lot. The Zalman Reserator is one of them. Personally I would shy away from a passive rad as they are large and if not of good quality, which costs a lot, they are not as good as a rad with fan.

[Sam__]

decent passive rads seem to be out of my price range....i think ill keep looking for cheap second hand pumps

[Otter]

You would be much better served to just get one good pump than use two in a series. A lot less hassle involved in my opinion.

decent passive rads seem to be out of my price range....i think ill keep looking for cheap second hand pumps
I don't think series pumps are much of a hassle, but if you can find a good D5 or DDC you can afford, that would be better than two of those pumps from ebay.

I agree with CGR on passive radiators. They need to be extremely large to get the kind of performance you can get from automotive style radiators with quiet fans. And those fans can be very quiet if you've got three of them on a rad that doesn't restrict air flow -- much more quiet than your drives are going to be unless you go to extreme measures to silence them. OTOH, if you don't ever need to move your computer, a couple hundred feet of copper tubing under your garden would provide excellent cooling.

[Springbok]

You're better off not getting one of those if it's 110v, power converters are heavy and expensive. The best thing to do in your situation would be to spend the majority of your money on the pump. You don't want to buy a second hand one that might fail on you in a month, there must be an online shop in the UK that sells good ones. You also need to spend money on a waterblock unless you can make your own, but those are the only two things that should cost you a chunk of change. That is because you can build a bong cooler (http://overclockers.com/tips1255/) for cheap that will take the place of a radiator. I made a bong cooler for my first watercooling setup, it worked great except for the fact that it took up a lot of space and you have to refill it every few days!

You could also look for an auto store or even a junk yard and try buy a heatercore/radiator.

[Otter]

I wouldn't use a heater core or radiator from the salvage yard. Have you ever seen what comes out of an automotive cooling system when you flush it? I would not want to risk running bits of that through my pump, much less my CPU block.

[jackrungh]

Whatever the British equivalent of Pepboys, Autozone, O'Reilly's, etc etc, that would be your best bet on a custom heatercore.

[Sam__]

thanks a lot guys....it there a tutorial on how to make a bong anywhere?