Coolant, Tubing, & Fan Questions

Hey guys! I lurk around here more than i post but it's time for some guru/pro advice! LOL!!!!

First off, i've been comtemplating whether or not to go colored tubing or colored coolant!?!?!?! Decisions, decisions, huh?
I guess the end result is that i'm looking for a really 'cool'(LOL) deep looking, bright UV glowing, PURPLE!!!!! The build's name is The Grape so you can guess...... I have plenty of UV lights to do the job!
I guess if i go with the colored coolant i can always change down the road if i'm bored, that's a plus. BUT, i have clear tubing in another build with Thermaltake UV Green liquid and it does glow&look pretty cool.
Some background and system info:
The entire loop is going to be 1/2" ID, almost all compression fittings. (Koolance, i'm a fan )
It'll have 4 8800GT's waterblocked on an MSI P6n Diamond mobo, with the cpu being an OC'd E8200 with an Apogee GT for it's cooling. It'll have probably 3 individual loops, the first 2 gpu's cooled by an Exos 2.5, the second loop with a dual bay res/pump going through an XPCS RS360 cooling the bottom 2 gpu's. 3rd loop will be for the cpu with a Corsair H50. I might combine the #2&3 loop though depending on what the interior finally winds up looking like,,,,but,,,,3 loops and 3 different UV colors would be waaaaay yummmmmmmmy!!!!!! The PSU is an OCZ Game XStream 850W.

Sooooo,,,the question(s) is/are:::
<<<<<LIQUID>>>>>
what brand of liquid?
what coloring OR dye/dye bomb recommendatons or suggestions, if i can't get purple liquid?
Any land mines i need to know about when using 'dye'?
Any one better for cooling and longevity than the other? a couple of degree's one way or the other isn't gonna cause me any loss of sleep!

<<<<<TUBING>>>>>
If colored tubing instead of liquid, what brand?
I think the tygon tubing is to think for my compression fittings, and actually to much $$ anyway for the old budget, so i think if i go i'll go Koolance, but open to some comments, past experience, and or suggestions :lol:
Bends & bending shouldn't be a problem as the inside of the case is pretty good size and i have a boat load of fittings to do with and get to where i need to go.

<<<breathebreathebreathebreathe>>>
Last and finally,,,,ummmmmm,,,,,FANS!!!!!
they need to be 120mm, but,,,,,::::
what brand?
what size thickness(?) wise
colored frames or UV lighted?(can you even get uv lighted fans?
AND, speaking of that, are there fans that are UV Painted or Coated?
I know this has been a novel! Thanks for the patience :? !!!
Any comments, suggestions, or past experience on any of the points above would be much appreciated! This is another dedicated folder in honor of my mother who has Alzheimer's and newly diagnosed with Dementia !!!

Thanks again all for any reply(s).

Mr.(tryin' to put the pieces together)$cary!!

HAHA! here is the answer for UV colored Fluid/dyes
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=226632&highlight=feser
For tubing, Primochill UV tubing are nice!!!!

Rad choice and etc...
XPCS RS360 Old tech Get the XPCS RX360.
Why dont u ditch the exos for 2 XPCS RX 360 for the 4 Gpu, in a big single loop.
Fan? Gentle typhoon 1450/1850 are the best silent/perfo but costy!!! 14.00$each
Yate loon Best bang for the buck! 3.50$each
Other than that? i dont know other fans... they might be some good **purple** fan but u can eiter remove the fan blade and paint it purple!

You asking questions that are more bassed on prefferance than quallity and preformance vs price.

I can tell you this

1. Stay clear of dyes, and dyed fluids ...the dye wares off and taints clear tubes and then "cooks" to the WC Blocks, making performance bad!!!

2. UV Tubing all the way, here you want to go KINK FREE tubing and again whatever you can afford .... as the saying goes (You get what you pay for)

3. Fans...oh.boy.... most here prefer Yateloons.. and I am going to have to agree...I have 7 YL slims Meds 120mm and I can NOT hear them... I have some UV Blue w/led and they make more noise the YL's

my best advice here would be YateLoons with an absolut must a "FAN CONTROLER" this way you can turn them up or down according to your needs!!!

I posted on DD for this new person. Welcome to OCF! I'll see you in a week or so once your noob questions are answered by others who get no pay to help. I gave you the info you needed. Homework!

First and foremost, thank you ALL for the replies! Much appreciated.
Next, i posted this on multiple forumsof which i lurk, read, and sometimes but rarely comment. As my experience lends to the limited cooling that i've done, i'm in no position to give advice. that being said, i have done homework and a good portion of the forums and threads that i've been on, seen/read, there's usually at least one condenscending response for someone with, ummmm, 'vast' experience. This is readily apparent in comments made in another post i saw/posted to by 2C@nts. I just got back from some errands and am checking my posts.

Joining forums is about interaction. yes i've been around the faq's, but sometimes the faq's aren't 'my' q's! Also, a good chunk of faq's on a good chunk of forums are or can be pretty dated! nothing like the 'hey, what's happenin' now' feed!

That being said, again, thank you ALL for the responses.
@Conumdrum-thanks for the info and heads up on fans and rad info. rads that are better with low speed vs rads that are better with high speed fans, hmmmmm, sounds like that's what a controller is for!:!:??? maybe i'm wrong, won't be the first time,,,,or the last! LMAO!!!! AND if i had 4-5 hrs to kill i sure as heck wouldn't spend it reading about rads,,,i'd be spending it with my kids!
to clarify if it was missed in the OP, this is a budget folder.
i've either barter'd or traded for the equipment and pieces I have. After 4 other folding rigs, that's what i do for the ppd!
As far as outdated equipment goes, yea probably, but it works and is in great condition. the difference between an RX and an RS rad is truly only noticable to an uber enthusiast or someone who wants to spend more money than is actually needed to get the job done.
Seriously, we're talking about radiators for computers! besides the fact it's totally cool, please, don't buy into the omg i have to have 'x' amount of flow better in this model than what that model is giving me. if that's your thing, so be it, go for it, more power to ya!
I traded a psu and some other stuff for the exos and it'll work just fine!

As i do appreciate, good, bad, or whatever input, this is sounding like a conumdrum bash!
Well, it's not. he posted his thoughts and that's his right. Maybe i'll see him 'back in a couple of weeks'! As this is a budget build, i sure the heck don't have the money to pay him to 'solve others issues.'

Soooooo, moving on people, nothing else to see here!

Whew!!!!

Now,
@gros & 2C@n-wow what a link! thanks for that! ummmmmm, looks like dyes bad, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! i'll crack a couple more bl's and read the rest of the 11 pages, you know,,,,,it's a homework thing!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sorry Con, but i had to!

All this and one of my errands was picking up 2 gallons of 'distilled' water. not that i expect anyone to believe that but i figured i'd use that to flush the exos, the 360 rad, and the 240 as well as check them for leaks!

guess i'll shift to more research on uv tubing!
i do have a piece of tygon 3/8" ID and man the walls are thick. is 1/2" ID gonna work ok with the koolance compression fittings?

As for the fans, $14 a piece, woooohoool that is pricey! maybe for another time, but for now, i guess i'll look at the YL's or stick with my Thermaltake led's! they are quiet and do work well with the Swiftech MCR QP220 that's in the other rig.

i did run across a for sale thread with a nice Lamptron Fan Controller, but by the time i got to it, it was gone. any other not to pricey controller's out there that'll do 5-6 fans?
any luck with the NZXT's?

Thanks again, ALL, for the replies!

M$

i do have a piece of tygon 3/8" ID and man the walls are thick. is 1/2" ID gonna work ok with the koolance compression fittings?

They must be exact ID and OD for your tubing for compression fittings..

Cheapo fan controllers? I got one. First channel 3 GT 1850s, same for the second channel. 2 92 mm on the third. One 120 mm for the HDs on the 4th.

LEDs are bight, I painted mine.
http://www.jab-tech.com/Sunbeam-5-1-4-Rheobus-Kit-BLACK-pr-2530.html

http://www.jab-tech.com/Sunbeam-5-1-4-Rheobus-Kit-BLACK-pr-2530.html

Mr_Scary said:

i did run across a for sale thread with a nice Lamptron Fan Controller, but by the time i got to it, it was gone. any other not to pricey controller's out there that'll do 5-6 fans?
any luck with the NZXT's?

Thanks again, ALL, for the replies!

M$

Click to expand...

HERE is the best of the low priced fan controllers. I have one, and I love it. The LED's are very bright, so consider yourself warned. If you have some soldering soldering skills, there is a very easy mod to tone them down quite a bit, by soldering a resistor onto the ground (center) leg of each LED. You can get them in black or silver, but it looks like Jab-Tech is out of stock on both, but I believe Performance PC's has them in stock for only a couple dollars more. They will also add the mod for you for a decent price, and they also add the option to replace the LED's for a different color, aside from the red/blue that they originally come with. I think they add $15 to replace the LED's with a different color.

Now that's a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy cool controller! read the specs and features! friggin' cool!! i'm all over that AND the price!!!

M$

If you look at the link in my Sig you will see 2 Fan controlers

Sentry 2 Touch Screen
and
KazeMaster

now after personal use I am NOT to happy with Sentry2 its not all that great now as for the Kaze.....I luv it ... again it comes down to what you like

Koolance compression fittings standard "ID10" are 10mm(3/8") inside 13mm(1/2") outside. Their fittings standard "ID13" are 1/2" (13mm) ID, 5/8" (16mm) OD. So any tubing that has those dimensions will work with koolance fittings.

Koolance also has fittings that are 3/8" (10mm) ID, 5/8" (16mm) OD if the tubing that you have has really thick walls. but this isn't their standard stuff.

http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=745

hey guys, sorry for the delayed response(s).
Again, thanks ALL for the replies!
I'm going with the distilled water and silver coil route as well as colored tubing.
The jury on 'fans' is still up in the air, LMAO!!! sorry for the bad analogy!
as for the controller(s), i'd like a 6 channel, but i may be able to get away with a 4.
we'll see what the end setup looks like and go from there.

Thanks again ALL for the replies!!!

M$

ps-@conun, yea the walls are definitely thick on that stuff(tygon), i might just order up a couple different pieces to experiment with on the comp fittings, then make the final call on what to use. i'm definitely looking for a 'deep purple' and then maybe a red and or green color for the build. haven't decided if it's gonna be a 2 color thing or three. depends also on how many and what loops i go with where. 2 of the 4 gpu's might be purple, the other to green, then a red for the cpu,,,,,or maybe gpu's purple, then the cpu red or green. man, decisions decisions, huh?

tx