My First Water cooling setup and First post

Hey Guy's
My name is Danny and im working on my first water cooling setup. I have some Questions for you guy's and Ill through some pic;s up along the way.Here is a list of my part's

1.) Cpu Water block--- Swiftech APOGEE GTX
2.) Radiator----------- MagiCool XTREME QUAD 480
3.) Pump-------------- Swiftech MCP655
4.) Reservoir---------- XSPC Bay Reservoir
5.) Tubing------------ Tygon 3603 1/2
6.) I also got the Kooliance card that monitors temps and flow
My question's are

Do i need to clean the system out before i put my cooent in? If so how.

What ratio Do I run of coolent to water?

what else do i add to the water ?

Here are some pic's of the work in Progress

Here is my P180 after taking some metal out that use to accomidate a 3.5 and some hard drive's


Here it is with the Pump in Place


Here is my xspc bay res I dont know much about water cooling but this thing is awsome its so thick it could take a bullet


My fans mounted on my Rad


cutting my shrouds to fit on the fans


My cat getting takin advantage of by my dog


Shroud's installed


cutting the Door


cut Door


This is still a work in Progress I will be installing it with the fans in the case blowing the air out the side accross the rad Ill keep you guys updated.
BTW my system is
evga 680i A1 mobo
6750
4 gigs of patriot 800
evga 8800 GTS 640
fatality sound card
I think tats it

Are they the noctua fans?

yea the 1200's

Eeep, is your performance okay? those fans are terrible for radiators they provide semi-decent airflow but the presure is terrible = not good for radiators.

JamesXP said:

Eeep, is your performance okay? those fans are terrible for radiators they provide semi-decent airflow but the presure is terrible = not good for radiators.

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I dont know yet i didnt get the project done yet

Welcome to the site Danny. I'm new around here too. That's a nice project you've got going, I can't wait to get started on mine.

Welcome to O/C Forums!

Looks to be a real nice setup. Nice dremel skillz. Keep posting them pics!

Dannyt028 said:

Hey Guy's
Do i need to clean the system out before i put my cooent in? If so how.
Well, odds are nothing major will happen if you don't clean it but you are better off just giving them a thorough cleaning. Some may disagree, but vinegar is a very effective solution for cleaning, just don't keep your parts in it for too long (about 45-70 minutes tops I say).

What ratio Do I run of coolent to water?
If you have a pre-mixed coolant such as Feser or Fluid XP, you will not need to add any water. If you are using distilled water and plan to add anti-freeze, a 9:1 ratio of water:anti-freeze usually works well.

what else do i add to the water ?
I'd add a drop or two of biocide. Your local fish store may have them or Petras offers the solution under the name PTNuke.

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Nice loop by the way!

to OCForums!!!


Cleaning: For the rad I like a good soak for at least an hour in vinegar followed by rinsing w/tap water and a final rinse of distilled water before the tap water has a chance to dry. After that I usually assemble the loop outside the box and run distilled through it (using the pump) for an hour or so. I like having a deep bowl (doesn't have to be wide) of some kind in the loop to let particles drop out.

Since your loop is all copper and/or brass (I assume) I wouldn't put any anti-freeze in it at all. My first batch of fluid had it but I've found many knowledgeable people on here that don't use it or use very little. I didn't put any AF in my last mix but if you feel you need it use the 2% shown. A nice mix I've seen (for 1 quart of fluid) is 98% distilled, 2% AF, 8 drops of iodine or 4 drops of povidone-iodine (Betadine) is better, and algaecide for aquariums (follow directions - they're all a little different).


Is it just me or have you got those fans set to push? Water temps are slightly better in a pull configuration.


Great Dremel work! Wish I were as good.

Keep us posted ...!

MattODoom said:

Welcome to the site Danny. I'm new around here too. That's a nice project you've got going, I can't wait to get started on mine.

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thanks a lot Matt

Nebulous said:

Welcome to O/C Forums!

Looks to be a real nice setup. Nice dremel skillz. Keep posting them pics!

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Thank's Nebulous More pic's are on the way

ancalime said:

Nice loop by the way!

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ty

QuietIce said:

:welcome to OCForums!!!


Cleaning: For the rad I like a good soak for at least an hour in vinegar followed by rinsing w/tap water and a final rinse of distilled water before the tap water has a chance to dry. After that I usually assemble the loop outside the box and run distilled through it (using the pump) for an hour or so. I like having a deep bowl (doesn't have to be wide) of some kind in the loop to let particles drop out.

Since your loop is all copper and/or brass (I assume) I wouldn't put any anti-freeze in it at all. My first batch of fluid had it but I've found many knowledgeable people on here that don't use it or use very little. I didn't put any AF in my last mix but if you feel you need it use the 2% shown. A nice mix I've seen (for 1 quart of fluid) is 98% distilled, 2% AF, 8 drops of iodine or 4 drops of povidone-iodine (Betadine) is better, and algaecide for aquariums (follow directions - they're all a little different).


Is it just me or have you got those fans set to push? Water temps are slightly better in a pull configuration.


Great Dremel work! Wish I were as good.

Keep us posted ...!

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Thanks for the welcome Ice. I was reading on how a pull setup will gain lower temps but in the name of cleanliness i wanted to keep the fans inside the case. Here come some pics so you see what i mean.

Looks good!

About the fans, yeah the Noctua's aren't the greatest for radiators, by all reports. However, I'd also keep them inside the case, blowing out. That's if you care about the noise at all. The P180 has some pretty decent sound dampening, and will take care of a lot of the noise if they are inside. You may get temps a degree or two higher though, so there is a little trade off for the noise reduction. But by your choice of the P180 and the Noctuas, it looks like you want a quiet rig.

I can recommend you check out SilentPCReview (SPCR). They are dedicated to silent computing, and have some good reviews of quiet fans:
SPCR's Fan Round-Up #2: 120mm Fans
SPCR's Fan Round-Up #4: 120mm Fans II
Recommended Fans

Or maybe even look at the new fans by Scythe, like this 120x38mm Ultra Kaze 1000 RPM. They have a good rep for quiet fans, and the 38mm fans are better than the standard 25mm fans with pressure.

As Promised here come some more pic's

radiator in place


I didn't mount the Radiator on yet its just sitting there once i get some brackets on it it will suck it in to the case harder and look cleaner also you are seeing a lot of metal dust from cutting all over the case a radiator



OK here is what i learned cutting the case with a dremel

Go get metal cutting blade's I started off with the old shabby 36 pack of Cutting blades that come with the dremel they are garbage they where down faster then the case cut's

sand paper bits are your friend they can fix anything (almost)

here are some pics of what i used and how the sand paper bits saved me.

this is a pic of the old 36 pack that sucks


here is a pic of the metal cutting bits i used one the whole time and its still got lots of meat left.


here is a pic of the sand paper bits and how thy saved me


smoothed that right out

Celoth said:

Looks good!

About the fans, yeah the Noctua's aren't the greatest for radiators, by all reports. However, I'd also keep them inside the case, blowing out. That's if you care about the noise at all. The P180 has some pretty decent sound dampening, and will take care of a lot of the noise if they are inside. You may get temps a degree or two higher though, so there is a little trade off for the noise reduction. But by your choice of the P180 and the Noctuas, it looks like you want a quiet rig.

I can recommend you check out SilentPCReview (SPCR). They are dedicated to silent computing, and have some good reviews of quiet fans:
SPCR's Fan Round-Up #2: 120mm Fans
SPCR's Fan Round-Up #4: 120mm Fans II
Recommended Fans

Or maybe even look at the new fans by Scythe, like this 120x38mm Ultra Kaze 1000 RPM. They have a good rep for quiet fans, and the 38mm fans are better than the standard 25mm fans with pressure.

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thanks alot ill take a look

Looks very good! And great tips on the Dremel use - I've never seen the cutting blades you show and will have to go looking for them!


Hmm, I bet that air cleaner runs most of the time - too bad you couldn't use it for your computer fan ...

Looks good

to the forum!!

that's some nice dremel skill there!! I'm curious how you gonna mount the rad? and how's that rad perform. but imho, yes, those fans have to go!

QuietIce said:

Looks very good! And great tips on the Dremel use - I've never seen the cutting blades you show and will have to go looking for them!

Hmm, I bet that air cleaner runs most of the time - too bad you couldn't use it for your computer fan ...

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the Bladed are at Home Depot for 9.99 pack of 5. But then you got to spend 9.99 more on the ez lock tip to mount them.

meionm said:

Looks good

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ty

LandShark said:

to the forum!!

that's some nice dremel skill there!! I'm curious how you gonna mount the rad? and how's that rad perform. but imho, yes, those fans have to go!

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thanks here are some pics of the mount plans I'm no good with Microsoft paint so a paper towel did the trick



i will cut it out of aluminum all i will need is to drill the one hole where the fans mount the pressure against the side panel will be fine no need for bolts through my panel. I HOPE

very nice built !..........

Dannyt028 said:

the Bladed are at Home Depot for 9.99 pack of 5. But then you got to spend 9.99 more on the ez lock tip to mount them.

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No problems there - I'm kinda' a tool collector. Never thought to look through HD for them ...

Sweet! I love seeing new approaches to WCing the P182, very nice work!