Putting together my first Water Cooled PC

Hello all,

New poster just found your website lots of awesome info! Anyway I'm putting together a new PC and I've decided to give water cooling a try. Why?

1. I'm fairly noise sensitive and I would like to minimize noise.
2. I plan to overclock (not extreme or anything) and want to maximize my performance.
3. I just want to play with water cooling! = )

Here are the primary parts that I will build the system with:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 90nm (Venice if available on time)
DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR Mobo
OCZ EL PC4000 VX Gold Pair
Asus GeForce 6800GT V9999 Gamer Edition
300gb Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B300S0 (16mb)
OCZ PowerStream 520 PS

My plan is to initially purchase the system with (1) Hard drive, (1) 6800 GT and (1) matched pair of RAM and then upgrade this to RAID 0, SLI and 2GB.

I've been researching the differences between a vendor kit and a DIY kit. As for a vendor kit I'm leaning towards the Asetek Waterchill kits.

As for the DYI kit here is what I've been leaning towards:

PolarFlo TT or Little River Storm G4 CPU Block
PolarFlo TT Chipset Block
Coolance VID-NV2-L06 Nvidia 68XX GPU Block
Danger Den DD12V-D4 Pump
Thermaltake CL-W0009 Reservoir
HWLabs Black Ice (II) Xtreme Radiator
Thermaltake CL-W0012 Liquid Flow Indicator
Thermaltake Water Temp Indicator CL-W0033
Tygon 3603 Laboratory Tubing
Jubilee Clips

Here are my questions:

1. Will a single 120mm rad be enough to cool the eventual SLI system above? I have no problems going with a dual 120mm type rad but case selection and mounting it will be a bigger concern (I am not a skilled modder!).

2. Are there any direct comparison's of the PolarFlo TT and the Storm G4 blocks?

3. If i wanted colored hoses so I did not have to add any dye's what is the best one out there?

4. Are there any quick disconnect (barbs/y-joints,connectors,etc...) connectors out there that are high quality? I would prefer not to have to drain the system for upkeep.

5. Will the Danger Den DD12V-D4 Pump be a good choice for this type of setup (been checking out www.swagelok.com)?

6. Are those choices good for the PC components (chipset cooler and vga block)?

7. Case????

Here is what I'm picturing as the basic layout (not all parts included and excuse my bad drawing skills):

Please note not too scale or exact layout just a general guide to the flow of things. The red parts of the lines are where I see a Y spliter.

Sorry for the long post, any help/suggestions/feedback etc... will be greatly appreciated!

Your components look good except for the pump and the chipset wb. If your 'noise sensitive' then you should go with either the AQX-50Z or the MCP350. Both pumps give similar performance as the D4 but are whisper quiet compared to the D4. The chipset isn't really necessary for performance gains and just slows your flow.

A single 120mm rad will work but I think you'll be disapointed, especially after you add that second vid card to the loop. Do the dual rad if at all possible.

Your tubing layout needs some work too. I would suggest not using the 'y' and just running everything in series. Water follows the path of least resistance, so you may not get the amount of flow through one or the other loop that you need.

As for tubing, Tygon is great but pricey. Use the Clearflex 60 that you can find for less than a dollar a foot vs. the $2 a foot for Tygon.

Good luck and have fun building it.

What about those Koolance VGA blocks? Not sure if they are the best, koolance usually overprices for less performance. Have you looked at the Maze4 GPU blocks, I hear those are good. I could be wrong about this, so correct me if I am.

Regarding the Rad, with potentially 4 WB, I think you will definately need a dual 120 model or a good heater core, since you have not got the case yet, get one with plently og room, Lian-Li makes some good cases but they are expensive, $180 and up but they have good options for water-cooling compents, I personally just bought 2 pc-75's and I love them.

The Water block ? I know the G4 definately out performs the Polar Flow TT, so do the Danger Den Blocks ie...TDX for around $50.00, the Storm G4 is an outstand Block but your problem will be availability and the are expensive !

Ditch the Koolance Vid Block, go with a Danger Den Maze 4 ($48.00) acetal top and some Tweakmonster Ram Heat Sinks, (Solid Copper about $20.00 for 8) The Koolance Block is probably ok but the ram is cooled by Aluminum Blocks, NO GOOD.

I would use the Clearflex 60 w/dye, Danger Den sell color hose, but with water you will have some upkeep unless you go with Fluid XP, it doesn't give you any better performance than water but is non-conductive and worry free for years. Swifteck make some quick connectors, but I would reccommend using regular stainess steel clamps you can get at Home Depot.

The Danger Den 12V pump is a good one, very compact and has great pump head (force) AquaExtreme 50z is another good 12v pump.

Ditch the Thermaltake Res (Too Small) get a Drive Bay Res.

Your setup ? Here is advise from the sticky:

Q: whats the best order to put my stuff in
A: USUALY it goes pump outlet to radiator inlet, then radiator outlet to waterblock inlet , then waterblock outlet to northbridge inlet, and then from north bridge outlet to video card inlet. next from video card outlet to resevior inlet and from resevior outlet to pump inlet. NOTE that you dont have to do it this way and that not all of the stages are required for your water cooling system.
Also some people commonly switch the north bridge and video cooler stages due to the motherbored shape and hosing requirements.

Hope this helps.

Wow, great info/suggestions everyone. Thanks!

Can anyone point me to some head to head reviews of the PolarFlo TT/TDX/G4? Also how easy is it to fit a dual rad in the PC-75?

Based on what I've just learned here is the new kit:

PolarFlo TT/Storm G4/TDX
Danger Den Acetal MAZE4 GPU
AquaXtreme 50Z-DC12 Mag Drive Inline 12V Pump
Danger Den Single 5 1/4" Bay Reservoir
HWLabs Black Ice (II) Xtreme Radiator
Thermaltake CL-W0012 Liquid Flow Indicator
Thermaltake Water Temp Indicator CL-W0033
Clearflex 60 or Primoflex Tubing
FluidXP
Jubilee Clips

And changing the flow to:

Pump --> Rad --> CPU --> Vid1 --> Vid2 --> (chipset opt) --> Res --> Pump

I hear it is best to go pump > cpu. If you have money for the G4 go with it, its one of the best blocks out there. But if you dont want to spend money on it other good options are the Swiftech 6002 and the White Water blocks. I am not sure about the TDX and the PolarFlo. As for the rad, look at the sticky for pictures of watercooling rigs, I bet someone in there has that case or a case about the same size.

I didn't feel like looking around for any review of those blocks but it's fairly well known that the G4>TDX>TT. Having said that, all those blocks are good blocks with just minor performance differences between them. Price may be your biggest consideration here.

As far as your tubing goes. Route your tubing the shortest and easiest way possible. Temp and flow remain fairly constant throughout the loop regardless of wb or rad placement. The only consideration to really keep in mind is that your res should feed your pump to make it easier for your pump to get water.

That PC-75 case looks more than adequate for a wc system. It should leave you plenty of options to put your rig together.

One quick thought on Fluid XP...initially it's non-conductive but over time it becomes conductive. A well done rig with distilled water will have better performance and shouldn't give you any problems if you use some common sense when putting it together.

Keep us posted and take some pics.

The pc 75 has multiple placement optios for a duyal rad, I personaly would do a case mod and cut it in the top to pull in the cool outside air for the dual 120's.

You pump selection in a good one, the Danger Den pump does make more noise, but also has better overall head and flow, besides your case fans usually drownd out the noise.

Fluid XP cost $33.00 for 32oz, and is good for many years, but lets say it does break down in a year, for $33.00 I put it in my $4000.00 set up for peace of mind, plus neither have a cooling temp advantage per the review I have read, and Fluix XP takes dye well.

I have a G4, you can't beat this block, the problem is $$$$$$ and Availability.

I use a D4 pump and it works great. been running 24/7 for almost a year. the noise is drowned out by my 80mm fans. Definately go for a 2x120mm rad since with all those wb you'd need to run the single 120mm fan full pelt which is noisy. better to get 2 fans and run them slower. It's never too late late to become a serious modder! don't be afraid to be adventurous. The harder the mod, the more satisfying it is when you finish it . Just make sure you mod the case when its empty and keep the components in another room

Lose ALL of the thermaltake stuff, because its all designed for about half the tubing diameter that you blocks/pumps are based on.

You'll probably want some 120mm fans to go with that radiator - if you're looking for silcence, get a Black Ice Pro 2 and some quiet fans - ie yateloons, nexus or similar. Go to www.silentpcreview.com, browse the forums to the fan section and find the recommended 120mm fans. Search DrCR + 120mm fan and you _should_ come up with what you require.

"You pump selection in a good one, the Danger Den pump does make more noise, but also has better overall head and flow, besides your case fans usually drownd out the noise." - the mcp600/50Z DC12 is actually a better performing pump, its just wasnt as reliable, so the main vendors switched to the liang D4/mcp650 - have a look at procooling, theres a nice chart by Cathar on flow rates with thermochill 120.2, cascade + numerous pumps.

"As far as your tubing goes. Route your tubing the shortest and easiest way possible. Temp and flow remain fairly constant throughout the loop regardless of wb or rad placement. The only consideration to really keep in mind is that your res should feed your pump to make it easier for your pump to get water."

This man speaks the truth.

Get ALL STAINLESS STEEL hose clamps, i cant stress that enough - they're worth the extra money.

If you want a non-corrosive nb block, silverprop do a copper/brass block that might do the trick. Might be expensive for you over there though.

As for a case, Lian Lis are always great w/ easy modding, but if you have the room, a CMStacker (or Stcker2 if you like the look better) has space for a 3x120mm rad up front, with no modding required

I know this has nothing to do with your w/c setup but the video card you chose is an AGP model and it will not work with an SLI motherboard.

Jcollins82 is right, you will need to get a PCI-E, boy that would have sucked !!!! we were all concentrating on the WC system. You ought to be able to get a 6800 GT fairly reasonable now that the Ultra have hit the supply and demand curve. I would definately ponie up the extra moola for a Ultra Board, although the GT boards definately gots some Good numbers.

dump all the thermaltake water temp/flow crap - they are all made out of aluminum, and aluminum will corrode copper components inside you WC system

not to mention Tt's fittings on their parts are much smaller than the larger barbed fittings on the other blocks, so it will create a decent amount of restriction inside the loop

exact same case with the koolance GPU block - small fittings & are made out of aluminum - scrap these too

then the chipset block, not worth it IMO, just more restriction in the system for little-to-no performance gain


here's my .02 for a high-performance WC system:

Swiftech 6002-64 CPU block
2x Danger Den Maze4 GPU blocks w/ acetal top or 2x Danger Den NV68 blocks
Aquaextreme 50z or Danger Den D4 Pump
Thermochill 120.2 radiator or a 120.3 if you have room
Danger Den HDPE Resivoir or a simple T-line
Clearflex 60 1/2" ID x 3/4" OD (1/8" wall) tubing
stainless steel worm drive hose clamps

Again great advice everyone! My bad on the video card I copied down the wrong one since I plan to do SLI on that board, its the V9999GT/TD/256M model I want.

OK here's the latest version based on the input (I'll get the G4 if there are any to be had otherwise go with the TDX:

Storm G4/DTek White Water/Swifttech MCW6002
Danger Den Acetal MAZE4 GPU
AquaXtreme 50Z-DC12 Pump
Danger Den Single 5 1/4" Bay Res
HWLabs Black Ice Pro II Rad
Clearflex 60 or Primoflex Tubing
FluidXP
Steel Clamps
Yate Loon/Panaflo 120mm Fans

Been researching the Radiical CWX which seems like my best option since I haven't gotten back any response about the availability of the Storm G4.

So it looks like it's down to the Swiftech MCW6002 or the CWX

if i were you and i could, get the TDX, WHitewater, or Swiftech. they are all great blocks and are used by many of us i have an A64 3000+ and made a mistake and bought a DD RBX let me tell you if you want easy watercooling go for the TDX. performance would be the mainly in my opinion the Whitewater, its a great block and it is also made by Little River, i have not used swiftech myself much but i hear they are great blocks and make great pumps. choose between those 3 since the storm ins't available.

I like all those blocks also, in the order of; 1. Swiftech 2. TDX and Whitewater. I can't get any blocks by Little River it seems the Whitewater is now made by Dtek.

OC has reviewed the Radiical block and its a very good block for aggresive cooling. I'm no expert but I think the Radiical works a bit better then the TDX with lower pressure pumps.

While it doesn't have alot of bling the Swiftech seems very solid choice and very economical.

Not true Mils the Whitewater is now made by D-Tek. LRWB was the making of the first whitewater. Also the LRWB beats the D-tek one in coolnig by a degree or two.

Nnyan said:

Again great advice everyone! My bad on the video card I copied down the wrong one since I plan to do SLI on that board, its the V9999GT/TD/256M model I want.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you just made a typo or not but I figure I might as well check just to be sure.

You want this card here: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-192&depa=1

It's the PCI-E version of the 6800GT.

The SLi boards do not support AGP, in fact as I understand it, no new motherboards will be supporting AGP.

EDIT: It occured to me that if you have a video card budget of just over 400 some odd dollars you may want to just buy two 6600GTs. As they will outperform the one 6800GT. Then when you get the money to buy your 6800
sell your 6600s and buy another 6800.

That's what I was going to do anyway before I decided SLi was just too expensive for my blood. Hope that helps.