Some Noob questions before I start...

Im planning to do my second loop (first build of my own), for the cpu I use some thermaltake el-crap-o (bigwater 735)... that was almost 2 years ago since I bought it, I will upgrade with something good this year but first I want to WC my video card and my chipset (using the block that it has the Maximus Formula SE).

System:
asus maximus formula SE
Q6600
4gigs of ram
MSI 8800 ultra
coolermaster stacker

So I bought
MCP 355 pump
MCW60-R vga block
D-tek uni-sink for vrams of my 8800 ultra
BlackIce Xtreme II Rad
Swifttech Micro-Res.
3/8 tygon tubes
hose clamps and stuff

I know that I will have to do some mod to the uni-sink in order fit the mcw60 but after reading a couple of posts, I know what to do. But I have some other questions:

1) Is this a good setup?
2)what should be the order: res>Pump>Rad>chipsetblock>vgablock>res ?
3)I notice that the vga block brings some artic ceramic, do I use this or can I put some Artic Silver 5 on to my GPU core? what should I use for the vga rams? ceramic,silver or nothing (just the pad attached to the heatsink?
4)I notice someone talking about a Leak test 24hrs after the installation... any post or some advice of how to do that?

Thanks for your replys and sorry my bad english

I'll post some pics after the installation....

1. yes, that looks like a very good setup
2. order really doesn't matter much, except it is best to have the res feed the pump inlet. Otherwise, go with the simplest, most direct routing that uses the least tubing. It is also good to go in a circular fashion from top to bottom and back to the top to make bleeding easier.
3. Ceramique will work fine, as will AS5. You can use either one. They perform about on par with each other, but the Ceramique isn't conductive. If you want the best TIM, get Arctic Cooling MX2.

As regarding the heatsinks for the VC, you can just use the pads. Some people use other thermal tape (Sekisui #5760 is my favorite), and some put a dab of thermal adhesive on the corners with AS5 or the like in the center. The chips don't require much cooling anyway, so use whatever method suits you.

4. To avoid any potential problems, it is advised that once you get your watercooling put together, you fill it up and run it with just the pump on and you computer off for a while to make sure nothing is leaking. It is a good idea to put paper towels under all fitting and such so that you can easily see if you have any problems. THis way if you do have a leak, you can just clean it off and fix the problem without potentially hurting anything.

correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the NB block on those boards was highly restrictive.. I wonder whether the standard MCP 355 pump would handle that, or if you would need the 18w version of it.

EDIT: fantastic looking setup btw, it's very similar to what I am looking at now.

Nickdeveau said:

correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the NB block on those boards was highly restrictive.. I wonder whether the standard MCP 355 pump would handle that, or if you would need the 18w version of it.

EDIT: fantastic looking setup btw, it's very similar to what I am looking at now.

Click to expand...

mine is the 18w version.....

BTW thanks voigts for the good explanation...

The MCP355 is the pump of choice for restrictive loops.