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Help me out guys! Going water cooled!

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V10Ace

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2005
Location
Richland, Washington
Alright, so here's the basics of what I am looking for and any help would be GREATLY appreciated! I'll admit, I have looked around the threads and haven't really found anything that'll answer my questions. I am upgrading to an Opteron 170 here very soon.

- The setup needs to be mobile as I take my computer to LAN parties, etc.

- I don't care about noise, but it must be less than my Zalman screaming at 3400 RPM. I mostly want water cooling for the performance.

- My budget is between $100 and $250 at the very most.

- Which tools will I need? I am sure I have everything needed

- I have never setup a water cooling setup before and the easier the kit the better.

- What all will I need(water blocks, etc)? Are there any kits that come with EVERYTHING needed?

Thank you very much!! :p
 
Only kit that is recommendable is the Swiftech Apex kits, they come with the Apogee a double rad equal to the BIP2 a superb pump, tubing clamps, etc.
I highly recommend it for a beginner.
Link
I think you can get it cheaper by shopping around or buying the parts individually.
 
Does this kit only cool the CPU? What if I wanted to cool my video cards as well? Also it looks like I'm going to need a new case. Doh!
 
if you get a small enough rad you might be able to fit it into the case, but you might have to sacrifice performance for space
 
The apex kit comes with the rad box, you can mount the rad virtualy anywhere and if you want to cool a gpu you just need the block.
There is an Apex kit with a GPU block, just look around other sites.
 
blah, i say no need for a kit, just use the kits as a reference of what parts to get. but i will say if you are set on buying a kit, the swiftech usually average out with the best components.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144076

^That is my case.

I am willing to go with whatever is cheapest. I am willing to buy the parts seperate but I am deathly afraid I will leave something out and have to wait for the parts to be shipped that I missed. I HATE waiting! I want small, mobile, and able to cool my video cards and cpu. I noticed on that Apex kit there's only one slot or whatever that a hose comes out of for the video card and another for the CPU, that is it. Will I need a special pump to cool an SLI config? Or should I say will everything included with that kit be able to cool SLI and a CPU?
 
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you dont need a special pump to cool sli the D5 is an excellent pump

what you may need is a better rad such as a BIX2 or 3 because those gt's kick out a lot of heat and so will your cpu if overclocked

as for the chipset.. I am going to be wc mine however most people say that they just get an active chipset cooler because its not worth the loss in flow. This may be especially true with the sli's

for those blocks I would recommend the Danger Den Maze 4s great performance on those things

the kit doesnt have and gpu coolers so you would have to pick those up on your own

basically the break down goes something like this

$70ish for the pump
$40ish for cpu block
$50ish (if your lucky to find a couple used) for sli gpu cooling
$65-110 for a good rad
$10 or less for tubing
$10 or less for clamps
$20-? for fans unless you already have some good 120 fans
$20ish for a res or i'm not sure how much a T-line costs

total cost= $300 ish

in my opinion its the sli that will kill you because you need the bigger rad, stronger fans, and the 2 gpu blocks
 
With that being said, I won't run any water cooling to the cards then. I am really only interested in the CPU temperature anyway, just thought it'd be cool to get some tubes coming out of my video cards as well. Thanks for your help. I'll probably end up picking up this Apex kit as I really like the setup and look of it. Though it'll be a VERY tight fit with that pump, it should fit.

Edit: I was also looking at this custom water cooled Lian-Li case. For the same price it looks like I get a CPU water cooling setup and a Lian-Li?

http://www.frozencpu.com/cas-169.html
 
well I dont recognize the pump but I only know a handful
also I would probably get a different cpu block

as well I dont really understand their options

in general it seems that the public sentiment is that (with the exception of the apex) pre-made kits tend to be of lesser quality

I would think of it like this.
If they are giving you the case where did they cheap out?
I note its only a single fan rad which is OK but may not provide the performance that you are looking for and also limits you incase you do want to upgrade parts

hopefully someone who knows that pump can give more info on it
 
Well I really don't think the case is included. I read up and down that page to see if it did and I can't find it anywhere. I think its just a "demonstration" of what it'd look like. Also the radiator is a twin 120 MM? Not a single?
 
ya i didnt really understand that either...
but if that is the case why do they give you the option to swap out parts.. it doesnt make much sense to me

either way you would be better to go with a D5/ Laing or if you are concerned about noise but still want good performance go with the DDC (aka MCP 350) worse comes to worse you can modify it to boost flow rates
 
You mean the MCP350 pump (cheaper) is better than the MCP655(more expensive) pump that the kit comes with? :bang head

Edit: I was also looking at reviews of the APOGEE waterblock and noticed that the $50 APOGEE performs EXACTLY the same as the $80 STORM, from Swiftech.
 
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the 350 *can* outperform the 655 in *some* systems *IF* the mod is done correctly
otherwise the 655 for teh win

i love your avatar btw! that is so sweet

just fyi if you buy the pumps directly from DD they are the exact same price
 
the 120 has the MCP 350 which hides in the drive bay as it is attached to the MCRES1000
tada
Swiftech_MCRES1000.jpg


the 220 has a bigger rad and the mcp 655
 
I obviously got way too many questions to ask. Anyone familiar with the Black Ice Extreme 2 dual 120 mm radiator? I heard it gives some nice temps compared to other radiators out there. How the hell would you mount this thing to your case? I am putting together a custom water cooling setup and so far the cart looks like so -


I need help with selecting tubes, clamps, and fittings.
 
I have the BIX2 as well :D lol I feel like the man tonight because I am actually able to answer some questions instead of ask them tonight

as for mounting there are several things I have seen a few involve modding your case
the other is getting one of the mounting kits from swiftech

http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/yhst-24067115789173_1884_19276314

this are universal and can be applied to an 80mm fan outlet or a 120mm and hold the bix up

it would look like this

http://us.st11.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/yhst-24067115789173_1885_4553835

or you can run the hose through the pci slots with the pass through nobs the mounting kit has

TIP: most places sell the kit for more then buying the "rad box" and the pass through pieces... save a few bux and order them seperately and not the kit ;)
 
Hey sweet, I'll probably just get that Swiftech mounting kit then. I already have a single 120MM in the back, looks like I'll have to pick up one more to make it dual. This radiator wouldn't be overkill for just the CPU, right? Also, I love that smaller pump as it'd EASILY fit in my case instead of that bigger one. Will I need more than one bottle of that coolant? Will I need a bigger reservoir than the single? :D

Edit: I'll definitely run the hoses through the PCI slot because I don't feel like drilling holes through my case as it's got plenty as it is.

PCI pass-through kit added!

Still need help with tubes, fittings, and clamps!
 
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