- Joined
- Jun 18, 2006
- Location
- Austin, Texas, USA
I’ve spent the last month prowling the boards digging up water cooling info. I’m ready to start buying, and would appreciate general advice on my decisions. Mostly I’m looking for any quick yells of “Wait, don’t buy A if you are buying B, they aren’t compatible!”.
[Edit: I've bought most of the stuff I was firm on. All that is left is pump/rad/additive]
Background: I’m finally breaking down and building a new system from the ground up. I have a good selection of general plumbing/woodworking tools, but little metalworking experience beyond basic copper plumbing/solder work.
Budget: No hard limit. $2-300 for the water cooling part is my expectation.
General goal: fast gaming rig, plus have fun building it and tinkering. I’m not looking to break any speed records here, but I would love to crank up some game details.
Current plan: build a Conroe capable overclocking friendly system (yes, I’m paying attention to all the Conroe motherboard threads), drop in an 805 for now, hopefully get it up to 3.5GHz+ (I know, I know, no guarantees; but for $120 shipped, what the heck, and I’ll still be a step up from my current generic 3 gig P4 system)
Which leads me to water cooling. I'll watercool my 805d for now. When fast Conroes start dropping in price (end of year?) I’ll make the jump and use the water cool rig on the Conroe. I’ll likely stick with single vid card for now, but crossfire/SLI is always a possibility at some point. No cooling the vid card for now, but I’m leaving that as a possibility.
Current component plans:
Motherboard: TBD Asus/Gigabyte/Intel conroe ATX/975/965 MB when I can grab one
CPU: 805D for now, Conroe or beyond eventually
Case: *BOUGHT* Stacker TC01 ($115 with rebate at Newegg! I was ready to order at $145)
I like the Aurora and Armor, but both seem to have less room and less flexibility. So many places to put the rad and pump in a stacker, and I like the looks. Plus it will make a great server case if I ever retire it. TJ07 is out of my price range.
PSU: *BOUGHT* OCZ Powerstream 520, $109 after rebate
I wasn’t up for $200 for the PC P&C
CPU waterblock: *BOUGHT* Apogee
I don’t see anything that clearly indicates Storm is worth the extra $30 for an 805 or Conroe with heat spreader, plus I like the idea of a less restrictive block.
Rad: BIP II
$30 at Directron, less restrictive than a GT, and I can put 3 in for the price of a thermochill...
Pump: DDC+
I keep going back and forth from D5 to DDC(18w), but I’m leaning towards extra-quiet at this point.
Fans: *BOUGHT* Four Yate Loon D12SL-12 ($3.50 per at directron) to start with, along with a Sunbeam 5-1/4" Rheobus Kit ($11 at jab-tech)
Reservoir: TBD, likely home brew PVC (or copper).
Tubing: *BOUGHT* Mastercleer 7/16”, 20 ft (too much, but it’s cheap)
Cheap and easy from jab-tech
Clamps: worm screw Home Depot special.
thermal paste: *BOUGHT* AS5 (2.5grams)
I really won’t figure out my configuration until I get the pieces, but radiator in the front/bottom of the case with four fans in push/pull sounds good, pump mid-bottom of the case is my likely config. Pump flat on the bottom venting through the bottom vents is also possible if I can make that work.
Any thoughts? What am I missing? Where am I making bad choices (overkill or underkill).
Thanks for any help. I'll be back when I start putting pieces together.
Paul
[Edit: I've bought most of the stuff I was firm on. All that is left is pump/rad/additive]
Background: I’m finally breaking down and building a new system from the ground up. I have a good selection of general plumbing/woodworking tools, but little metalworking experience beyond basic copper plumbing/solder work.
Budget: No hard limit. $2-300 for the water cooling part is my expectation.
General goal: fast gaming rig, plus have fun building it and tinkering. I’m not looking to break any speed records here, but I would love to crank up some game details.
Current plan: build a Conroe capable overclocking friendly system (yes, I’m paying attention to all the Conroe motherboard threads), drop in an 805 for now, hopefully get it up to 3.5GHz+ (I know, I know, no guarantees; but for $120 shipped, what the heck, and I’ll still be a step up from my current generic 3 gig P4 system)
Which leads me to water cooling. I'll watercool my 805d for now. When fast Conroes start dropping in price (end of year?) I’ll make the jump and use the water cool rig on the Conroe. I’ll likely stick with single vid card for now, but crossfire/SLI is always a possibility at some point. No cooling the vid card for now, but I’m leaving that as a possibility.
Current component plans:
Motherboard: TBD Asus/Gigabyte/Intel conroe ATX/975/965 MB when I can grab one
CPU: 805D for now, Conroe or beyond eventually
Case: *BOUGHT* Stacker TC01 ($115 with rebate at Newegg! I was ready to order at $145)
I like the Aurora and Armor, but both seem to have less room and less flexibility. So many places to put the rad and pump in a stacker, and I like the looks. Plus it will make a great server case if I ever retire it. TJ07 is out of my price range.
PSU: *BOUGHT* OCZ Powerstream 520, $109 after rebate
I wasn’t up for $200 for the PC P&C
CPU waterblock: *BOUGHT* Apogee
I don’t see anything that clearly indicates Storm is worth the extra $30 for an 805 or Conroe with heat spreader, plus I like the idea of a less restrictive block.
Rad: BIP II
$30 at Directron, less restrictive than a GT, and I can put 3 in for the price of a thermochill...
Pump: DDC+
I keep going back and forth from D5 to DDC(18w), but I’m leaning towards extra-quiet at this point.
Fans: *BOUGHT* Four Yate Loon D12SL-12 ($3.50 per at directron) to start with, along with a Sunbeam 5-1/4" Rheobus Kit ($11 at jab-tech)
Reservoir: TBD, likely home brew PVC (or copper).
Tubing: *BOUGHT* Mastercleer 7/16”, 20 ft (too much, but it’s cheap)
Cheap and easy from jab-tech
Clamps: worm screw Home Depot special.
thermal paste: *BOUGHT* AS5 (2.5grams)
I really won’t figure out my configuration until I get the pieces, but radiator in the front/bottom of the case with four fans in push/pull sounds good, pump mid-bottom of the case is my likely config. Pump flat on the bottom venting through the bottom vents is also possible if I can make that work.
Any thoughts? What am I missing? Where am I making bad choices (overkill or underkill).
Thanks for any help. I'll be back when I start putting pieces together.
Paul
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