WC for my new system

I haven't used liquid cooling on any previous PC, but love to OC. I need 3 things still....a Power supply, case, and cooling. I have about 2000 to spend on it. Let me know what you would recommend. I have thinking about getting a Thermaltake Kandalf LCS or the Thermaltake Armor LCS A case window is a MUST HAVE No point in having some really nice equipment if you can't show it off to fellow geeks. Anyway, without further blabbering...my system:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...3watch-_-Motherboards+-+AMD-_-ASUS-_-13131593 (mobo - ASUS Crosshair)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...top+Memory)-_-OCZ+Technology++Inc.-_-20227198 (RAM x2 - OCZ SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400))

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=OTC-pr1c3watch-_-Processors-_-AMD-_-19103773 (CPU - Athlon 64 X2 6000+)

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=MSI-880GTX&c=pw (video card - MSI 8800GTX OC)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ch-_-Hard+Drives-_-Western+Digital-_-22136011 (HDD x2 - WD Raptor X)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...watch-_-Sound+Card-_-Creative+Labs-_-29102014 (Sound Card - Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion)

$1,670 total

For the money you have, i'd suggest a Q6600 and one of the P35 series motherboards.

Their more bang for the buck at the moment.

http://www.xoxide.com/swiftech-h2o-apex-ultra-plus.html

And with that kit, it will put you right around 2000$.

VGA cooling blocks

I heard that people were having trouble running 8800GTX in SLi w/ VGA water cooling blocks due to the cards being too close. Has anyone else heard of this happening? I am only going to have one 8800GTX right now, but will get another one soon.

Welcome to the forums!

I just set up a system with the Thermaltake Armor LCS. Very nice temps for a kit. I am running an E6750 on an Abit IP35 @ 3.75 GHz and 1.41 volts at the moment, Orthos and Super_Pi stable. I am nowhere near the max overclock yet. Temps are 22 deg idle and 46 deg full load using rivatuner temps (I think the Abit sensors might be reading high). Check out the reviews on this case which are pretty detailed. (google "Thermaltake Armor LCS review") The comments were right on.

The case window is nice but too big for me. That is, I think you can see too much of the inside of the case. Stuff like the area behind the PSU which is all wires. I might cover up some of the window to hide the ugly parts. The blue LEDs and green fluorescent tubing is very pretty though.

So I now have my PC built! Running very nice without OC. Ran 3D Mark 06 and got 10178. Updates on the system are: PSU (Cooler Master 1000W) and my case the Raptor X.

I am wanting water cooling for OverClocking, but space is limited. My case inverts the mobo and puts it on the left side of the case and places the PSU at the bottom. Well the PSU is a mammoth itself and took up WAY more room than I anticipated. All i really want WC'ed is my CPU. Ideally I want to have a reservoir that I can put into a 5.25" bay since there is next to no room left. Any suggestions on what to do? I you want a visual, I can take some pics of my machine and upload them so you can see the little amount of space I'm dealing with.

Cheers,
Da

CJ_da said:

So I now have my PC built! Running very nice without OC. Ran 3D Mark 06 and got 10178. Updates on the system are: PSU (Cooler Master 1000W) and my case the Raptor X.

Click to expand...

Cool case!

CJ_da said:

I am wanting water cooling for OverClocking, but space is limited. My case inverts the mobo and puts it on the left side of the case and places the PSU at the bottom. Well the PSU is a mammoth itself and took up WAY more room than I anticipated. All i really want WC'ed is my CPU. Ideally I want to have a reservoir that I can put into a 5.25" bay since there is next to no room left. Any suggestions on what to do? I you want a visual, I can take some pics of my machine and upload them so you can see the little amount of space I'm dealing with.

Click to expand...

Well for starters, you can wc a smaller sized case, like that you'll just have to get creative and do some modding. As for a bay res, danger den sells a pretty slick bay res that looks awesome in an acrylic case.

Given the size of your case, Might I sugget buying some acrylic sheets from the hardware store and make an exteral mount/enclosure for the radiator/pump?

You mounted the Crosshair upside-down? How are your chipset temps with a good drive load?


One good pic from the side would be good ...

Here are my temps and a picture of my PC from the side. Only took me a week to do with finals going on =/

http://cjpryor.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/6/1?xurl=/photos/photo/6/1
http://cjpryor.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/6/2?xurl=/photos/photo/6/2
The temps were checked while running Crysis on high settings. (I'm mad that I can't run it on "very high" settings. it's grayed out)

you need DX 10 or you need to hack attack a file for dx9.

not sure what res your running but 3 8800ultras in trisli can only get 37fps in crysis at 1920x1200.

as for watercooling most kits are crap and i would stay away from any thermaltake water cooling.

this swiftech kit (made up of there parts, which are really good) should do the trick.

That's a good kit but I don't think the MCR220 will cool a CPU and a pair of 8800's. You'll need a bigger rad than that, at least a triple. Or you can get the kit and add another rad at the front of the case as well. The other parts in the kit are very good options.

If space is a big problem and money isn't get an MCP355 with modded top instead of the MCP655. The MCP355 is slightly smaller and has a little better performance but it's also more expensive.


BTW - Your chipset temps are that high because the board's upside-down. Mine never goes over 45°C and normally runs 38-40°C. Adding IC7 or Ceramique to the chipset heatsinks may help some but the problem is the heat is all running to the SB. Maybe an HR-05 SLI on the SB block ...?

How can I get DX10 w/o upgrading to Vista? Anyone know of a download location?

Only works with Vista. At least right now.

Jas said:

Only works with Vista. At least right now.

Click to expand...

Chalk up one more GOTCHA' for Bill ...