[Matterhorn]

I have read several of these threads including all the stickies, so at least you won't have to refer me to them.

I am in the process of building a machine that looks cool and will also beat my buddy's 3DMark score of 10,799.
What I have and am going to get is listed below, and I'm definitely going to need to OC as much as possible. So:

I'm thinking CPU and GPU cooling blocks at a minimum. Should I also consider the chipset and/or RDRAM? If I understand things correctly, the easiest/cheapest way to do this (without using an external reservoir) Will be a pump, some tubing, 2 Y connectors, 1 or 2 fans and a radiator. I'm thinking of the Black Ice II mounted externally on the back of my machine, though maybe it will fit inside I don't yet know. For pumps, is inline better? It sure looks that way to my uneducated eye. I assume you have to be a lot more careful about making sure the system is bled of all air, so I guess I'd need some fittings to let me bleed air out as well. So maybe the Eheim 1250, and 5/8" hoses, along with the 2 (as yet undecided upon) cooling blocks. Does that sound like it would work pretty well?



I have:
Mid-tower case (Enermax)
Iwill P4R533-N mobo
1066 Rambus RAM (512)

Will definitely be getting:
9700 Pro Vid Card

Doh! Forgot to include CPU (reason for edit)
It will be P4 either 2.8 or 3.06

[NeoMoses]

Welcome to the Forums! It's nice to see someone who does a little reading before asking questions. Kudos to you.

It sounds like you understand what you need. I would recommend that you only get a black ice if nothing else would fit in your case. A heater core, sometimes sold as "The Cooler Core" will work better, but they are sometimes larger. For pumps, inline is easier to fit in a cramped case, as a reservoir will take up more room.

Ask as many questions as needed to beat your buddy! That's what we're here for.

[JML]

Don't bother cooling the chipset and ram with WaterCooling. 5/8" tubing is gigantic, and will be a be a huge hassel to install. How much did you plan on spending on your watercooler?

[Matterhorn]

I was hoping to do the whole thing for around $200, though I could go over if needed.

I'm not stuck on the 5/8" thing at all, I had just read that you needed a big tube if you were going to go paralell to allow for appropriate water volume. Though now I found the thread which says basically it should be serial, not paralell, so now I'm thinking I'll go that route instead.

My question about the inline pumps is if they are more or less efficient than a submersible pump.

[SpaceRangerJoe]

i dont think one type of pump (submersible / inline) is inherently more efficient than that other. submersible pumps do add some heat back into the water, which is in turn, more heat that needs to be removed by the rediator. but if you have a descent radiator and fans, then that shouldnt make to much difference. i personally like the idea of a reservoir in a water cooling system. but i know in a mid-tower case, that just might not be possible. but the reservoir will help remove air out of the lines through normal usage. JML is right, 5/8 is a whole lot of tube. 1/2 inch should be plenty of tube for a good flow rate, and would definately make the installation in a smaller case a whole lot easier. hmm....thats all i can think of for right now. best of luck!

[frostmeister]

From what I've seen, your setup will easily beat your freinds, without any overclock or cooling - nice rig by the way, and welcome to the forums I've run my rig in paralell and series, and I'm getting better results in series with smaller tube, although I can't say that's why, as I'm using an eheim 1250 in my series setup, whereas I was using an eheim1048 in the peralell rig. Paralell rigs are harder to set up, as you've got to make sure that the flow is equal in both tubes. I'd go series like you said. Cooling the CPU and GPU should be quite sufficient - I've yet to see if WC'ing the northbridge yeilds significant improvements, as that's my current project. good luck!

[SpaceRangerJoe]

oh yeah. ive never set up a watercooling system. but i would probably recommend a series setup. it would be a whole lot easier to do. run it like this. pump -> cpu block -> gpu block -> radiator -> reservoir if you have one -> back to pump. the increase in water temp while its actually in the cpu water block, compared to the temp of the water in the rest of the system, probably wont be all that much. the time it would take to get equal flow between the gpu block, and cpu block just doesnt seem worth is. and having everything in series would take a lot less tube. good luck!

[SpyderMatrix]

hey go for this case

http://www.xoxide.com/koolancepc2c.html

you can do all you need i ordered one some time back for a friend and he loves it

[Matterhorn]

Here is my case:
http://www.xpcgear.com/xpcgearc35.html
Basically I liked the look of the case, liked the PS, and liked the price. Mine is the black one. I got it at Fry's.

[Matterhorn]

Ack! I just went and measured, 4 1/2" width inside. Are there even any coolers that will fit, or do I need to externally mount my rad?

[SpaceRangerJoe]

i dont know any dimensions of coolers (radiators?) off the top of my head. surely theres something that would fit. but mounting externally is always an option. maybe attaching it to the side of the case, something like that. i dont see any internal pictures, but you might think about putting the rad on the top of the case. just an idea, but heres what im thinking. leave the top say 2 5 1/4 bays open. cut an opening in the top of the case. mount the radiator inside the case, with fans pointing up/out of the case. if you did something like that, you would want a lot of intake, and a good pump, cause that would put the radiator above everything else. but your case isnt to big, so it shouldnt be to much of a problem. if it fits, that would take care of the radiator problem, and it would act as a big blowhole, so you dont have hot air building up at the top of the case. just an idea. good luck!


oh yeah, and since i didnt say it before, WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

[cmcquistion]

You could go with an Eheim 1048 and save yourself some money. I doubt the 1250 is any better overall. It pumps more GPH, but it generates 3 times as much heat as the 1048.

1048, half inch tubing, CPU and GPU blocks in paralle, using a couple "Y" splitters, and an inline system with fill tube.

You could mount your radiator on the outside of your case with fans inside the case, blowing air through it.


BTW, I use a 1048 on my watercooling rig with three waterblocks, two CPU blocks and a Geforce 4 waterblock, all in parallel. It does a great job. The GPU waterblock probably won't make a bit of difference though, unless you volt-mod the card. In my case, it made no improvement, whatsoever. I need more voltage, not more cooling.

[SpaceRangerJoe]

yeah, ive heard that voltage holds gf4's back alot more than heat. what kinda gf4 do you have?

[cmcquistion]

yeah, ive heard that voltage holds gf4's back alot more than heat. what kinda gf4 do you have?

I have a Gainward GF4 Ti4600 128 MB Golden Sample @ 315/715.

I had the same experience (additional cooling didn't help overclock any higher) with my Radeon 8500, before I killed it attempting a volt-mod.

Needless to say, I don't attempt volt-mods anymore.

[SpaceRangerJoe]

thats the same card i have. i just put my crystal orb on, and some bga ram sinks. i havent tried to oc any more though, but ill let you guys know what happens. anyway, sorry for the thread hijacking.

[Bigg]

w/o ocing you'll be looking @15k 3dmarks