planning WC for first time

Okay...1st post, 1st rig, but I have been researching for months....I have come into a position where money shouldn't matter in building a new rig (to a certain point I suppose). Here is what I have planned for the rig -- I recently decided to delve into watercooling for this so I wouldn't have to worry as much about heat.

CPU: QX9770
GPU: Dual 9800x2 EVGA liquidcooled
Mobo: EVGA 790i ultra (WC?)
Mem: Corsair 4x2gb dominator DDR3 1800 or OCZ
Case: Thermaltake Armor
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 1200 (1300 if out)
HD: 4x 1TB seagate barracuda 32mb cache
DVD+/-RW
Blu-ray-RW
Sound: X-Fi fatility plat.
Network: Killer M1
______________
WaterCooling
------------
GPU block: Swifttech GTX or edit: DTek fusion
Pump: Swifttech MCP655
Radiator(s): edit: 2xThermochill PA120.3 in 1 loop (or Blackice GTX480?)
Tubing: Tygon edit: 1/2"ID:3/4"OD
Additional Fans??
Resovoir MCRES-Micro

Okay....I think that's my list...Now the questions for the experts.
I want to keep this in the case--neat. Not sure on a pump or radiator setup yet...sounds like I need 2 radiators? What about additional fans?

I was also looking into a TT Hardcano 12SE ... would this be useful now that I am going to WC?

Please give your opinions -- especially on watercooling...as I don't have this ironed out as far as what I should use...I'm fairly confident I can get this built.

Also opinions on Case and memory choice would be welcome.
Thanks a bunch....
PS -- very useful and interesting forum here.
PSS: Is Artic silver 5 the paste of choice?

to the forums..

Are you only going to cool the vid cards?

You dont NEED two rads, but if you are going to cool two 9800's I would at least get something like this:

http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=204&cat=5&page=1
or the three 120fan version.
http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=205&cat=15&page=1

Also, 1/2 inch tubing would be much better.

The pump you list should be fine for the job.

AS5 is my choice for compounds, but a lot of people like Arctic Cooling MX2.

Good component choices, and I would agree with CGR about using a single loop with a large radiator and using 1/2" tubing minimum. Sounds like you're on the right track. I have run similar setups and had no issues.

Thanks -- yes I would cool the GPUs, but just read today that EVGA is planning some liquid cooled units so I probably would go with those instead of doing it myself.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/EVGA-Exposed-Water-Cooled-GeForce-9800-X2-80301.shtml

I was going to go with 1/2" tubing until I read Cathar's sticky on tubing size---> may go back to planning on it.

So which is the better 3x120 radiator?
ThermalChill PA120.3
BlackIce Pro III
Swiftech MCR320

or what about Black Ice GTX480
I'll do some more searching on the forum -- I'm sure the answer is out there, but thought I would write it down while I was thinking about it.

The Black Ice GTX is the best performing rad afaik. That is with some decent RPM fans on them. On the other hand, the Thermochill PA 120.3 will outperform the BIX if you use low cfm fans. So it comes down to what kind of fans you will be using. I think in the case of a nice fan with 1200+ RPM, the BIX is the better choice.

The Swiftech radiators on the other hand are by far the best bang for buck. You should definitely go for these considering their cost is less than half the cost of an equivalently sized BIX or Thermochill radiator.

I almost forgot about the reservoirs....these 2 are decent and I have used them both and liked them a lot.

I used this one in my last setup...
http://www.dangerden.com/store/product.php?productid=55&cat=28&page=1

This is the one I currently use...
http://www.crazypc.com/products/93318.html

Most of this will come down to your case size and layout as far as how the tubing fits and such.

look into the apogee gt's, they are cheaper and from what i have read perform as good if not better than the gtx's.

For quiet you can't beat the PA 120 series rads.

Some good info on rads recenlty posted, lower is better.

http://translate.google.com/transla...&article_id=222&langpair=de|en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Jinu said:

look into the apogee gt's, they are cheaper and from what i have read perform as good if not better than the gtx's.

Click to expand...

They are cheaper but do not perform better..

Conumdrum said:

For quiet you can't beat the PA 120 series rads.

Some good info on rads recenlty posted, lower is better.

http://translate.google.com/transla...&article_id=222&langpair=de|en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Click to expand...

It looks like a 1200RPM fan on a BIX will beat one on a Thermochill. 1200RPM isn't noisy at all imo (stock low speed yate loon), but I guess for those silence freaks out there..

Thanks everyone...will consider all of this...can't wait to get started.

What about putting 2 Thermochill PA120.3 or 120.2's in 1 loop to separate CPU and GPU's? Will they fit INSIDE a TT Armor?
edit: yes...thanks thideras