Zeroing in on setup;5 weeksof reading done!

Thanks to the awesome stickies on Tom's, Overclockers.net, and overclockers.com, I have a good foundation to begin buying equipment. Would you mind looking at my (apologetically crappy) diagram of my setup?

First the goal:

+5-10 temperature delta
Quiet down the 3000rpm cpu and 5000?+ rpm dual 5870fans
Awesome looking setup without using dye
Solid build with no rushing and no "loose ends".

My system:

SilverStone Raven RV-02 (Supports 1 MCR320 radiator internally)
Amd Phenom II x4 955 @3.7ghz
6gb Kingston HyperX 1600 Ddr3
2x MSI Lightning Radeon 5870
Mushkin Enhanced Joule 1000 watt PSU (incoming)

The water cooling equipment I plan to buy for this setup:

*EDIT: revised list*
2x MCP655 vario pumps
1x 5 1/2 split bay reservoir
1x Swiftech Apogee XT cpu block
1x Swiftech MCR320 radiator
1x Swiftech MCR420 radiator
2x Swiftech MCW80 Gpu blocks (Msi's board layout does not allow full blocks) :'(
1 million shares of stock in a copper mine for all the memory and vrm chips I will have to cool on the 2 Msi 5870's.
7/16" Blue UV Primotech tubing
Various Bitspower fittings etc.

Now, looking at my picture I am unsure about whether 1/2" ID tubing would be wise. Narrow space between 5870 cards. Narrow space between Gpu2 and Reservoir. Not a huge case. I looked at the tubing flow study that looked like the 7/16 didn't loose much flow at all compared to 1/2". If this will make my build easier and cleaner, I want to go for it.The only question is how it affects which fitting etc I need to buy. I want to make one purchase and not find out I need a bunch of different parts that I didn't order.

My Msi 5870 cards don't allow a full block cover which is a bummer, but I have another solution. Gpu core blocks with lots of copper on the mem and Vrm.

I guess my main questions are what you think I will need for fittings and how this setup will achieve my thermal delta goals of 5-10c.

Any input is appreciated and I already owe Conumdrum a ton of gratitude for the help he has already provided via this forum.

Thanks,

Christopher

Disclaimer: I'm also putting together my first WC system soon, so my answers come from research, not experience...

Danger Den makes some good reservoirs, or you can get a microres 2 (but those aren't bay mounted) - really, any reservoir will work

Copper prices have gone way down - now's the time to buy shares!

You probably want 1/2" ID tubing - primochill and tygon seem to make good stuff - for two loops, get plenty (15-20 ft.), so you have some to mess up on. If you're using water blocks, they tend to take up less space than heatsinks, and should fit 1/2" tubing just fine. I don't see any reason why Primotech wouldn't work, if you like that brand instead. I've heard that the UV properties go away in a year or two, if that's of concern to you...

Case: Might want to look at a bigger case. Fitting two complete loops in a case is difficult. It gets easier if you mount radiators externally.

Fitting: I plan to use the DangerDen 'big boy' 1/2" ID fitting. Make sure the fitting OD matches your tubing OD

What fans are you putting on the radiators?

7/16 tubing will work on 1/2" tubing but as far as i know it's hard to get on
i used to use 1/2" id mastercleer myselve and i could bend it between 2 rads side by side without kinking
that was with both rads laying on theyr side and tubing going from the top barb on the top one to the top barb on the bottom one and no space between the rads

Get this res:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/dubayreforla.html

If you've done the heatload math you should be good. I think your fine.

7/16 ID is a pain to put on and usually needs cut off. But will help a bit as long as 5/8 OD, don't want too thin of a wall.

You can get some bitspower 45 and 90 rotaries to help of getting the tubing bent at the GPU.

Someone was selling prebent pieces of tubing in a few different radiuses, but I don't remember where, and it's not at any of my list of stores.

Zithras, I have been following your main build post. Can't wait to see what you come up with. 2x 5870 will do you just fine, but it's totally your rig! The heat and power savings with the 5870's are a huge bonus as well.

C, LOVE that res idea! 2 chambers in 1 5 1/2 bay! I am going to go with 1/2"ID tubing for ease of use and try to make the bends and space requirements with some creative fitting management.

What are the aftermarket tops for the MCP355 pumps I am reading about? I want to find out more info on that.

I looked at the heatload graphs and I will do very well with the 2 MCR320's. Again, thanks so much for all the information. This is helping a lot.

yes that XSPC is definitely built just for your setup, i would go for it no question.

aftermarket tops basically improve the design of the pump's stock top to increase performance. that xspc dual pump res will make your ddc's perform better then if you had a normal res and the stock top.

also aftermarket tops for the msp355 pumps allow you to change the stock barbs (3/8") to anything that has g1/4 threading. so you can use 1/2" barbs or compressions, etc.

as for the tubing, like most people starting out i went with 1/2" x 3/4" and that stuff is massive. i have since changed to masterkleer 7/16" x 5/8" tubing and love it. it's got great bending radius and doesn't look huge. plus it fits tighter over 1/2" barbs greatly reducing the chance of a leak. so much so some people don't use clamps but i highly recommend clamps. why risk it?

agree with spawn stick with the 7/16 for the case you are using

Good lord, talk about opening up Pandora's box... I have been reading all day since I posted this and have a couple of revisions.

1. I decided to go with 2 MCP655 vario pumps. They were only 5-10 dollars more than the 355 pumps. I don't need aftermarket tops for the 655, right? It says it has 1/2" barbs.
2. I decided to go for it and try 7/16" tubing and try to get it over the 1/2" barbs. Maybe use some dish soap or something similar to help. I think this will give me more room to work in my small space.
3. I decided to go with 1 MCR420 radiator for the gpu loop and 1 MCR320 for the cpu loop. I am going to mount the 420 externally and run the tubing and wiring through case holes.
4. I decided on PrimoChill 7/16" Blue UV tubing.
5. I am going with Yate Loon high speeds for the 420 and low speeds for the 320.
6. Going with the new Swiftech MCW80 Gpu block.

Would you mind looking at my cart(s) and letting me know if I'm missing anything before I order? I calculated 8 swiftech metal barb fittings. (2 for each radiator and 4 for the Dual Reservoir.

Thanks again guys. It's been a huge help reading through this forum!

Spawn-Inc said:

yes that XSPC is definitely built just for your setup, i would go for it no question.

aftermarket tops basically improve the design of the pump's stock top to increase performance. that xspc dual pump res will make your ddc's perform better then if you had a normal res and the stock top.

also aftermarket tops for the msp355 pumps allow you to change the stock barbs (3/8") to anything that has g1/4 threading. so you can use 1/2" barbs or compressions, etc.

as for the tubing, like most people starting out i went with 1/2" x 3/4" and that stuff is massive. i have since changed to masterkleer 7/16" x 5/8" tubing and love it. it's got great bending radius and doesn't look huge. plus it fits tighter over 1/2" barbs greatly reducing the chance of a leak. so much so some people don't use clamps but i highly recommend clamps. why risk it?

Click to expand...

thorilan said:

agree with spawn stick with the 7/16 for the case you are using

Click to expand...

Looks pretty good! Yep, it ciosts a lot more than you first thought I bet.

Rember the link about building the loop.

Take it very slow, have fun fun!

WAY more expensive than I originally intended C! I'm not even going to tell my girlfriend how much I spent. I told her 250 back when I was looking at the Swiftech H20 kit!

I will definitely take it slow. Reading your re-build/cleaning log also helped a lot with my build knowledge. I know I will hose something up, but hopefully nothing major.

Conumdrum said:

Looks pretty good! Yep, it ciosts a lot more than you first thought I bet.

Rember the link about building the loop.

Take it very slow, have fun fun!

Click to expand...

NOTE: you must use ddc's with that XSPC bay res or there will be holes in the bottom of the res since your changing pumps.

XSPC dual res for any pumps


also change the pt nuke to pt nuke PHN as that's designed for distilled water only loops. the one you have will make the water more acidic then it needs to be.

Yikes! Thanks for catching that. Just placed my order with those revisions and I can't wait to get started!

Spawn-Inc said:

NOTE: you must use ddc's with that XSPC bay res or there will be holes in the bottom of the res since your changing pumps.

XSPC dual res for any pumps


also change the pt nuke to pt nuke PHN as that's designed for distilled water only loops. the one you have will make the water more acidic then it needs to be.

Click to expand...

This one:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=312743

Awesome. Was that the same guy who wrote this?

http://www.overclockerstech.com/water-cooling-guide-for-beginners/

I read that forwards and backwards 10 times and there is an install portion at the end with similar wording.

Conumdrum said:

This one:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=312743

Click to expand...

Hehe, I wrote the one long ago on Danger Den, Someone asked if he could repost it there.

Hokie made a much better one and with my permission used some portions of it, thats the link you have.

And this one is here. BF wanted to redo it so we worked it up and he got it stickied.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631501

Might be a little late but have you seen these for your 5870?

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swhdhecotomc1.html

I did look at those, but the Msi lightning 5870 has huge VRM's and a completely different pcb layout so I couldn't use it.

QuietIce said:

Might be a little late but have you seen these for your 5870?

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swhdhecotomc1.html

Click to expand...

Well everything is ordered and should be here by Thursday. I will begin building on Friday! Did I order the right fittings for 7/16" tubing?

since you went with barbs, yes. 1/2" is what you want.

Crap... I didn't realize until just now that I need the Apogee XT mounting plate because I have an AM3 setup... Argh. Overnight shipping for a 10 dollar part.