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Water Cooling my Setup: never done it before

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V

Vio1

Member
​
Joined
Mar 3, 2003
Location
Toronto Canada
Hi, im thinking of going for a water cooling setup. Ive been using air cooling mostly, and few years back i had a lightspeed ls phase cooler.
Ive seen someone's setup on craigslist and i was wondering if its a good watercooling combination:

- D-Tek FuZion CPU block
- Thermochill Pa 120.1 Radiator
- Swiftech MCRES Micro Reservoir
- Swiftech MCP-655 Pump

all i want to cool off is the cpu, not the gpus or the northbridge.

Will this be better than my current setup with a Thermalright ultra 120 extreme? What kind of temps?

Would the Zalman Reserator XT be a better setup?
Its kind of expensive and large, so i was hoping to keep it inside my case.

If the above parts are not what i should be looking into, please direct me towards what i should get. all my stats are in the sig. I will be using this cooler for a few generations of intels, so some degree of "future proofness" would be nice.
 
Warning!!! WC n00b here as well, but Ive been researching all the options for the past 5 or 6 weeks pretty aggressively, so heres my 2 cents :)

Looks like a good setup.

D-tek FuZion is arguably the best CPU block out there for your CPU. Some prefer the Apogee GTX but they perform within 1-2 degrees C of each other. Id order the accelerator nozzles for your FuZion to give it a bit more efficacy.

Pump is top of the line as well. If its the variable speed MCP655 then that is ideal, if it isnt the variable its still good, just not ideal.

MICRO-RES Im told is the best and easiest res to use IF you are using one. Many ppl advocate a T-line instead but that res is considered the best/one of the best of them.

Radiator is iffy. Thermochill 120.1 is a quality product no doubt, and could be enough for a dual core solo loop, but Im not 100% sure. You might want to replace the rad with a 120.2 instead of the 120.1, but the 120.1 might work out ok if its for C2D and not C2Q and its CPU only......

I think this setup as is will be noticably better than your current TRUE 120, and it would be relatively simple to also WC the GPU at the same time if you are interested......
 
jabtech(american but they ship here) yeah Canada!!

thats a really good setup and i think would be great with your cpu. add some high speed panaflos or yate loon fans and your good to go.

i will be getting similar to that but more stuff.

Swiftech micro res
Swiftech apogee GTX
Swiftech MCR320
Swiftech MCW60
Swiftech MCP655
and some yate loon fans.


but anyway that should be a good setup how much they charging?
 
120.3 over for just a C2D? Yes. Definitely.

However......it allows you to have a good rad if you decide to watercool your GPUs in the future.

A single 120.3 wont handle SLI 8800 GTXs AND a C2D, but it will do a single 8800 and a C2Q/C2D. For SLI you would need 2 rads/2 loops for adequate cooling.

If you are just doing a C2D single loop if you want to be sure you rad isnt holding you back go with either a 120.2 or a Swifftech MCR220 IMHO.
 
I've never understood why, if you've got the space, you would get a PA120.1 or 120.2 over a full 120.3, the difference in price is relatively small (£5/$10 between models) and it means you have so much extra cooling capacity for future use :)

Go with at least a 120.2 in case you decide to include your GPU in the loop, although a 120.3 is preferable.

Vio1 said:
Would the Zalman Reserator XT be a better setup?
Its kind of expensive and large, so i was hoping to keep it inside my case.
Click to expand...
No, I'd definately go custom over the Zalman. The Zalman may perform well but with custom you have much better upgrade options.

I'm not sure what temps will be like compared to an Ultra120 Ex with just a PA120.1, it definately wont be worse though.
 
Vio1 said:
would this setup (with the 120.3) be good enough to cool the cpu, gpu (2), nb, southbridge?
Click to expand...

Probably. However I wouldn't cool the NB and SB. Some heatsinks will be just as effecient (HR-05 [sli or vanilla models]). But the price you pay for the blocks, the flow drop, and heat dump really isn't worth it in my opinion.
 
so what else do i need exactly? some kind of clips? fluids? what are barbs? what size of stuff should i go for?
 
Vio1 said:
1. so what else do i need exactly?
2. some kind of clips?
3. fluids?
4. what are barbs?
5. what size of stuff should i go for?
Click to expand...
1. You will need
+ a Funnel
+ Thermal Paste
+ 10 feet of tubing (1/2" ID 3/4" OD)
+ Barbed tube fittings

2. Plastic or worm drive tubing clamps. I personally prefer worm drive clamps, and your most likely local source will be Fastenal (http://www.fastenal.com for locations) or a local hardware store. They can get expensive though.
3. + 1 Gallon of Distilled water
+ Water Wetter or Antifreeze (10% solution in Distilled water)
+ Iodine (add 2-3 drops to distilled water)
4. Barbed Tube Fittings are how you connect the tubing to the various loop components.
t_3713.jpg

1/4 BSPP (G) is the current standard thread specification for most watercooling components (90% of them).
5. 1/2" for everything.
 
Last edited:
is the swiftech micro res a good choice? Would the Aqua Tube be a better option? My concerns are: heat and noise.
 
ya the micro res is a great res for small/ cramped cases for people who want the ease of a res but don't want to have a giant one.

1/2" barbs are the best, if you have the cash go with metal over plastic, but its not that big of a deal.

you don't need 10 feet of tubing, its different for everyone but i would get 10 feet to be safe.
 
if you were to only run the system for a short period of time (maybe 30 minutes+ pending on res size) it will take longer to heat up all the water. the micro res will suit you fine. i'm not sure the time to amount of water ratio but i think its in the gallons to get an hour or so of cool temps. but a good rad, thermochill have the best rads out, will keep things plenty cool.
 
Hehehe, browsing this section I keep glancing over at my full tower and thinking about trying to WC it again.

Granted, its got some over the top air cooling right now anyway... But WC just might be that extra dose of over the top that the case is all about.
 
Sleepy_Steve said:
Hehehe, browsing this section I keep glancing over at my full tower and thinking about trying to WC it again.

Granted, its got some over the top air cooling right now anyway... But WC just might be that extra dose of over the top that the case is all about.
Click to expand...
Just set it next to an open window ... ;)
 
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