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First watercooling build, please help

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petes123

New Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
First of all, hello everyone!

I've been lurking around here for a few weeks now, I'm finally happy with my current setup and watercooling seems the next natural step.

With this being my first watercooling build I'm obviously nervous about choosing the right parts and setup.

So, here's what I've got to cool:

Corsair 800D
Intel i7 920 (currently @ 3.2GHz - wouldn't really want to OC it too much more seeing as I don't know what I'm doing ;D)
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
ATI Sapphire 5850 in Crossfire

And here's what I'm looking at so far:

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK-Supreme-HighFlow-CPU-Block-Acetal-77511561366AM3_323.html
EK-Supreme HighFlow CPU Block - Acetal 775/1156/1366/AM3

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/ThermoChill-PA1203-360-Radiator-15mm_769.html
ThermoChill PA120.3 - 360 Radiator

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK-FC5850-5850-CF-Acetal_951.html
EK-FC5850 5850 CF - Acetal

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Black-Ice-GT-Stealth-120-Radiator_152.html
Black Ice GT Stealth 120 Radiator

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/XSPC-Single-Bay-Reservoir-Multi-Fascia_1187.html
XSPC Single Bay Reservoir

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/1...355wWatercool-DDC-Pump-Top-LT-Acetal_934.html
12V Laing DDC-1T+ Ultra 18W (MCP355)w/Watercool DDC Pump Top LT - Acetal

In this sort of configuration:

singleloop.jpg


(Sorry for that pic ;))

I'm not very confident in chopping up the case to make a dual rad fit in the bottom, like other projects have done, so I'd like to keep modding to a minimum.

The concerns:

That there won't be enough heat dissipation :< ;
What sort of pump should I be looking at?
Will 2 pumps in series help?
Will the single radiator be useful or is it just un-needed?
Would parallel loops help at all?

paraloop.jpg


This is just an idea that popped into my head - is it good, bad or just plain awful :).


I hope to achieve: cooler temps; quietness - although this isn't a huge concern for me, when the 5850's pick up speed it soon gets incredibly irritating, especially with it sitting on my desk - as long as its quieter than 2 5850s @ 50% speed that'll be nice.

If you got this far, thanks very much for reading!

If you could post your thoughts I'd be very appreciative.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Pete, I just got done with a build where I cut up the 800d a little...so I empathize with your concerns about taking a dremel to an expensive product. Honestly, it's not as big a deal as you might think and I think it's worth the reconsideration. I had no idea how to drill out a rivet and put new ones in, until I just....did it.

Aren't your pumps in the second pic in parallel instead of in series? If you want to run them in parallel, be better off with 2 loops, in series, one loop. Kind of seems like you are just adding a second pump and 4 fittings but without the security that if one pump goes down, the loop will flow w/o issue. Pump 1 dies, and the video cards might not get decent flow and vice versa.

Im no expert at all, but I know I would be more comfortable with a second 2x120 rather than a 1x120 with a GPU and SLI card setup.
 
Thanks for your replies!

I've been pondering for the past day or so and absorbing more threads ;D

Gotts, I've read your thread thanks for that it was very helpful :) - great result!
However I'd still like to not cut anything up :> I guess now I'm asking is it possible to get away with a triple and single rad or if I should investigate mounting a dual rad outside the case.

Conumdrum, thanks for that link, I'll keep an eye on it :)

Thanks for reading, I'd appreciate any views/criticisms :D
Pete
 
since this is your first watercooling build, here's a few tips and pointers on your loop setup


for OPTIMAL performance, the loop should always go in the following order:

PUMP >> RADIATOR(s) >> CPU block(s) >> GPU block(s) >> RESERVOIR >> back to PUMP


as far as running two pumps in series goes, it may give you a small performance gain due to the increased head pressure in your system, but with most of today's blocks being on the less restrictive side, I would say just go with one single strong pump such as a Laing DDC-2 (Swiftech MCP-355) or Laing D5 (Swiftech MCP-655)

running your system with an i7 920 + 5850 crossfire, you really have no need for a second radiator - a single Thermochill PA120.3 will cool that system and much more - don't underestimate the power of a 120.3 radiator (assuming your fans push a minimum of 40CFM, you won't have a problem)


other than that, I would say your choice of an EK Supreme HF and EK FC5850's for blocks is great


look into something besides an XSPC reservoir... there's definitely better quality ones out there for the money... I'd personally suggest an EK reservoir, or a Swiftech MCRES-Micro if you're looking for one that's a bit cheaper


-JR
 
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