Liquid Cooling Options

Ok, so first off I am new here and to building PCs, so take that into consideration. My current build is in my signature.

I will soon be buying 2 Sapphire 5970s, a new power supply and I want to OC my CPU and maybe the GPUs if I have to. So of course I will have to buy a good water cooling system.

My budget is about $800 for the water cooling alone. What I want is something that fits in my case. My case is the Xion Predator 970. I will take pics if needed but here is a utube video for it. @ 2:40

So I want something like that. I would order from CyberPower, but they won't sell it separately. So I need a good substitute. I would like it to be very efficient keeping my temps below 55 degrees. If I have to install an external reservoir, I have no problem with that. I just want to make sure I get something that is compatible and will efficiently cool my CPU, GPU and possibly the RAM in the future.

Also and maintenance is important. I just want to make sure I don't get liquid on my hardware.

First, if you are new to watercooling, you really need to do some reading of the stickies at the top of this forum. And you are talking about a massive amount of heat dump into the cooling loop(s) with 4 GPUs and a CPU. So you are going to need some serious radiators to get rid of that amount of heat. And it goes without saying, that you will need a really serious psu to feed all those beasts too. I looked that case up on Newegg (too bandwidth limited to look at youtube vids while out here on the rig) and I think that it will be hard to impossible to get enough rads in and on the back side of that case for good cooling. The way I see it, you will need at least 2 cooling loops; 1 for the CPU and the other to cool the vid cards. You might be able to get away with a very high performance double fan rad for the processor loop but I think you will need at least a triple fan rad for the GPU loop to have decent cooling on the vid cards.

And you might want to consider a case such as the Mountain Mods Pinnacle 24 which is designed with watercooling in mind. You could easily mount 2 triple fan rads inside that case and keep everything internal. I know it's pricey but they do build nice quality cases.

MM are very nice cases, you do pay a premium but in reality, that case will do you fine for a VERY long time, and unless MM changes drastically you will be able to get different side panels afterwards. I have off and on talked with them via email about some custom work on one of their standard cases. I am looking at either 2 or 3 custom side panels (or a complete custom case) to stick on one of their cubes. They are willing to within reason do just about anything you ask of them and honestly within reason is pretty much, how much are you willing to spend.

If you are serious about watercooling, go read all of the stickies and once that is done, you should have a pretty good idea of what you actually need and then what you want as well. There are probably hundreds of ways of doing what you want, whether they are correct or not is a separate issue. Once ya get the stickies read, put together a list of what you want to cool, and with what. We will be more then willing to suggest better/different items.

i.e.
CPU: Q9300 Waterblock: Apogee XT
GPU: GTX 260 waterblock: Swiftech MCP80

etc...

The major problem with those suggestions is that I do not want to change cases. I have seen the mountain mods case and they are great. When I decide to go with an new build I will get the UFO or Ascension from them and build a monster with no problem. For now, I want to beef up this machine. I know it can be done.

Like you said muddocktor, I will probably need 2 loops being that I will have 2 5970s. So I think that is a good idea to have high 2 performance fans for the internal radiator which should fit in there because that is what it was designed for. As for the triple, I have no problem with that, so long as it will work.

Dragontatto, I looked at those before and I think that is definitely an option, I was hoping to have more options though. Koolance doesn't have a double fan internal rad so I can't use them. Who else is a good manufacturer.

I am pretty sure the Swiftech H20-X20 would work for the internal. How about a good external triple that isn't mounted? I will read those stickies today, but I want to cool my CPU and GPUs with the option to cool my RAM if I choose to in the future.

If I overclock my 950 to say 4.1, will I need extra cooling for my RAM or is that only if I overclock that?

I understand that you don't want to change cases, but with the heat production of that i7 overclocked and 4 GPU'S being cooled, I don't know if a double on the proc will handle the heat load well. A triple on the vid cards should suffice I think though and give acceptable temps. You can mount the triple off the back side of the case with little problem. For a double fan rad that has a chance of doing a decent job of cooling that i7, I would suggest something no less than a PA120.3 or Feser 240 or a Hardware Labs GTX240 and couple that with a push-pull fan setup on it or go with some higher cfm Delta or Sanyo Denki fans. I think that the double fan Swiftech rad would be marginal in your configuration.

Ok, thanks mudd.
I am going to look around more but I will keep the GT240 Extreme at the top of the list. As for fans, would I want them both to push air into the radiator?
I do not want to mount a triple. I want a completely external one. Preferably the standing. What are some of the better triples to look at.

If you aren't noise sensitive, the GTX360 is a good rad. For some good choices with lower cfm fans, the PA120.3, and XSPC RX360 are good and for slightly higher cfm fans the Feser 360 is a good choice. The Swiftech MCR320 isn't a bad radiator, but can't deal with the heat load quite as well as the others I mentioned. How do you plan to use the triple externally? Do you plan to make a separate box or stand to hold it or something? Because I can't visualize how you will go external without mounting it externally off the back of your case. And I prefer to push air into my rads too, but mounting in pull can work just as well, depending on the fans chosen and mounting location. There isn't a whole bunch of difference between them IMO.

Hi Whittle!

Welcome to the OC community!!

Thanks Jmtyra. It's my pleasure to be here.

New here as well and I was lucky to come across this thread as I was looking at buying the Xion Predator 970. The new Azza Hurrican 2000 looks interesting as well, but I'd like to find out more about the Xion. Sorry, don't mean to change the W/Cooling topic.

Whiitle, as you may already know, except the utube video, info / reviews on this case are hard to find on Google. Can you give us some feedback on this case.. wire management? and is there a dust filter on the front fan? Space seems tight? How is the quality? Thanks!

I actually just put up 2 vids on utube today focusing on the wiring of the Predator 970. Here is my channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/eerieleary?feature=mhum

You're case choice is pretty important. If I could have afforded at the time I would have selected a more premium case, but Predator 970 has awesome options.

First is the hot swap. A must for me because I download a lot and need to exchange HDDs.

Second is the SSD slots. I like this much more then I would like installing an SSD onto a 3.5in bay. When I get some of them, this option will be great.

Third is the cooling. No there is not a dust cover on the front intake fan. There is one on the PSU intake though. But the possibilities of cooling are great because of the removable of bay where you can install the dual fan rad. That is just what I need to cool my CPU when I overclock it. Then you also have the cooling option to install another external unit without further mods to the case.

So that is why I picked it. Mainly with the future in mind. Which reminds me, it can fit the length of a 5970, so that should tell you it has lots of room. I haven't owned a full tower, but for a mid tower, this thing is pretty good size.

The construction is pretty good. I mostly dislike the high gloss trim on the front because it can be easily scratched. The hot swop door is stiff, which is hard to see on the CPPC utube vid, but it's noticeable if you know what to look for. Other then those minor things, I would say the construction is quite professional.

As you can see in my videos, the cable management works out well, even with my sloppy job. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask, preferably in a PM or utube message so I don't step on anyones toes for discussing cases in the water cooling section. Oh an welcome to OC community!