Full Watercooling custom setup, help needed! Budget $650

Hi guys,

Well, first of all thank you to all of you who helped me in my last threads! I have finally everything delivered and sitting next to me right now! I am modding the antec 900 so i get the wiremanagement right! Now, its the time to build the watercooling kit! I was going to go with the Reserator XT just to minimize any extra work ( Lazy i know! ) But just before ordering i noticed i am paying almost £320 ( 640USD including VGA waterblock! ), i decided to go custom and get MUCH better performance for the same money or even less! Here is the list:

Pump: Laing DDC-1T Ultra w/XSPC Delta Pump Top ( 950 lt/hour )
Rediator: ThermoChill PA120.3
Reservoir: XSPC 150mm Passive Aluminium Reservoir (Blue)
Cpu Water Block: D-TEK FuZion CPU Block
GPU Waterblock: EK-FC8800 8800GTX/Ultra
Coolant: Feser One Coolant 1ltr (UV Blue)
120mm Fans: Yate Loon 120mm D12SH-12 - 2200 RPM - QTY 3
Hose: 1/2" Clear/UV Blue High Flex Hose (XSPC) (3m)
Thermal Paste: Artic Silver 5 - 12g
Lapping Kit: Heat Sink Lapping Kit (no Glass) - Standard
Hose Coils: Zinc Plated Jubilee Wormdrive Clip 1/2"

Total: ~£295

Ok guys, i included everything above, the reason is i would like to make sure i am not missing anything! Welcome to UK .. they don't sell anything like this in shops, so i will have to order everything online which means more postage charges and few days waiting time. I will order all on Tomorrow to make sure i recieve them by Monday .. I would really apperciate it if you guys spend few minutes to answer this questions:

1- I will get better performance with this right than a reserator XT right? Does it worth the effort .. i always like to have everything custom so its easy to upgrade or change .. but it should really worth it!

2- I was going to spend almost 35 pounds more on the XT ... So does everything look ok? Do i need to change/upgrade anything as i can spend a little more. Just note i have no experience whatsoever with Watercooling and it is my fist time so i dont have any other thing (tools, tubes ) at home except basic tools. I am a old OCier ( since i was 8 !! ) and can learn stuff quick and all this is from the reading of forums in last few months .. what more can you expect from a 14 year old kid?!

3- Is that pump going to be too loud? Noise level is VERY important to me and it is one of the reasons why i decided to WC ( Main one is of course Ocing), I already have a nice fan controller so i can manage the noice level of the fans .. but what about the pump?

Stuff to be WCd:

E8500 ( will be badly overclocked ) ( soon to be changed with a QX9650 as soon as price come down in UK .. just cant spend £650 on it!! )
8800GTX ( Will be upgraded as soon as the new chips are out .. )

Edit1 : Should i also use 10/8mm hose instead?
Edit2: Whats all this different kind of coolers?! Thats the only thing i am confused about .. do i need ANY other kind of liquid other the one that im buying?

You cannot believe how much i appreciate this frorum and your replies!
Have a great day and thanks for your reply!

Ditch that reservoir. Mixing metals is bad. Go with a Swiftech micro res, EK res, or just a T-line.

Ditch the coolant. 5-10% antifreeze mixture with distilled water and a few drops of iodine will do wonders.

I'm not sure on that tubing. Being a no name brand, I'm sure it will probable cloud up very quickly and/or kink easily. I'd go with some Tygon R3603 or even the Tygon silver (then you can run strait distilled water).

You don't need that lapping kit. Do NOT lap the Fuzion! I'm sure EK VGA block will be perfectly fine the way it is too.

You said that you will be upgrading to another video card soon. If that's the case, then you might not want to get the EK block since it will only work on the specific card you have now. You might want to get the Swiftech MCW60 or DD Maze 5 with some Ramsinks.

The reserator is NO!!! It's aluminum! Copper and alum means in a few months your rad will be clogged. It's also a VERY poor thermal transfer medium. In other words it sucks in the ability to pull heat out of the water.

On to your actual list:
Nice! Except the Res, NO aluminum in the loop.
I like this, it's avail at this URL, and pretty nice lookin.
http://www.over-clock.co.uk/acatalog/reservoirs.html

Yate Loon mediums and fan controllered to low would do for you. Drop to the medium fans.

Good hose can't be overstressed if you can spend a few more bucks.

Distilled water and some biocide is the proven best (even by science) cooling solution. You want pretty bling colors, I don't care or know.

Hi guys,

Ok changes:

The tubing is changed and i am getting 3 meters of Tygon R3603 as evilrad mentioned.

The reserator is changed and i am getting EK Multi-Option Res150 Rev2 as Conumdrum mentioned. However one question , is 170ml capacity enough? or do i need to get the bigger one?

You don't need that lapping kit. Do NOT lap the Fuzion! I'm sure EK VGA block will be perfectly fine the way it is too.

Click to expand...

Ok no lapping kit then!

Is there anything else i should change?

BTW, thanks alot for your replies!

Nope looks like you should have one kick *** cooling loop. You should see some nice temps out of this loop you selected. I say go for it.

Good luck

I keep seeing complaints about getting 1/2" hose over the barbs on the d-tek fuzion. I got mine a tad smaller and have no problems. Also, as the sticky thread points out, hose diameter isn't an issue.

Aside from that as other people pointed out, ditch the lapping kit, the aluminum reservoir, and the coolant and save the $60-70

If you want to save some on tubing, MasterKleer is a great alternative to Tygon. I can't justify spending the extra on Tygon when I can use MasterKleer. It fogs up faster but is dirt cheap and bends well. I use the 7/16"x5/8" tubing, but that's a bit of a hassle for some. It takes more effort to stretch the 7/16" over 1/2" barbs but it negates the need for hose clamps, puts less torque on your blocks (and thus your motherboard, video card etc) and is easier to route because it is less bulky. I personally also like how it looks compared to 1/2"x3/4" tubing. MasterKleer also makes 1/2"x3/4" tubing, but I've never used it so I can't comment on it.

Otherwise your loop looks good withut that reservoir and coolant and lapping kit. If you want a res, the Swiftech MicroRes is unbeatble.

7/16 masterkleer is what I used on my 1/2" barbs, still used clamps(no reason not to, just for that extra bit of insurance). The effort to stretch it just meant heating up a pot of water on the stove, pouring some into a coffee cup(didn't need to be boiling), dunking the end of the tube into it for about 15 seconds, stretch with needlenose for about 5 seconds, quick dip again and slipped right on. I could have saved a few minutes with 1/2" tubing, but we're talking about 10 minutes maybe.

Prisoner1138 said:

7/16 masterkleer is what I used on my 1/2" barbs, still used clamps(no reason not to, just for that extra bit of insurance). The effort to stretch it just meant heating up a pot of water on the stove, pouring some into a coffee cup(didn't need to be boiling), dunking the end of the tube into it for about 15 seconds, stretch with needlenose for about 5 seconds, quick dip again and slipped right on. I could have saved a few minutes with 1/2" tubing, but we're talking about 10 minutes maybe.

Click to expand...

Right, my reason exactly. I boil water in a teapot and then pour it in a thermos. I dip the ends of the tubing in for around 10-20 seconds then just push it over the barb. It isn't hard at all because the tubing gets extremely soft and pliable after being heated. I did use clamps for my first loop with 7/16" tubing, but for my last loop I didn't use clamps and had no problems. For my upcoming loop I won't be using clamps either.

Meh, I'll stick with my $5 in clamps.

ya i would also stick with clamps... they are cheap and just give you a (false?) sense of security