First real water loop

I am just starting to test my first "somewhat real" water cooling loop. I purchased most of my gear from performance-pcs.com and was very satisfied with shipping times and everything arrived in perfect condition. The loop will start out as follows-
Swiftech mcr220 xp radiator
Koolance kp401x2 resevoir with a single mcp350 pump (bmaverick Liang ddc1t)
7/16 x 5/8 primochill uv green hose
Swiftech apogee xt rev 2 cpu block
Yate Loon 12dsh fans push/pull
Fractal Designs Arc Midi case
Intel 2600k cpu @ 4.4ghz @ 1.26v under load

I didnt question the powers that be here at ocforums.com on what to buy, as I feel this is a decent start with the ability to expand in the future. I do have a second pump that will go in the loop in the next week, so I will rerun prime and see what differences that makes.

As it stands, I have the pump run in the most restrictive way possible. As I have just the single pump running through both sides of the res- without the serial connector and its running through the bottom cavity to make use of both sides of the resevoir, and the pump doesnt seem to be moving a ton of water. I know that observation is just from apperance, and I could be way off base. But I dont see much agitation from the view space of the res.

I just finished running a 30minute prime blend test with the cpu at 4.4ghz and 1.26volts under load with min temps at 23c and max core temps of 52 55 57 and 48c. This is with HT enabled in bios. The room temp is actually 76'c currently.

Im not sure if I have a very good mount on the cpu block, I may spin it 90' and see if there are any differences in results.

Not really sure what kind of temps to expect at this point, as I am just getting started and never really played with water much at all. Here is a screen of the prime run after 30minutes

I am hoping that my serial connector get here today as well as the koolance guick disconnects so I can get the res a little less restrictive and add the second pump into the mix.

When I get my parts and the rig back together I will try and post some pics of everything

changed orientation of the cpu block and no difference to speak of. now just waiting on the mailman to bring my quick connects and serial connector. then on with more testing

Nice temperatures! My i5-2500k at similar clock/voltage loads almost 10C hotter on every core, and yours has hyperthreading.

How do you like that Koolance bayres/pump mount? Was it easy to bleed? I remember when they released the first run of those (that took up 2 5.25" bays) they were a nightmare to bleed all the air out.

the way I have it configured using both sides through the bottom port, I had to crack the seal at the top of the second side while using a barb with tubing and funnel on the other it went pretty smoothly. I am new to this so it could just be me not knowing. I do like the res though. Just wish usps would get here with my serial connector so I can tear it down and get the second pump in and route the water as its intended to be ran. then will see what it will do

parts came in and have added the second pump and have the resevoir ran with serial connector. when I mounted the quick connects, it forced me to remove the pull fans from the push/pull setup. so now I just have the yate 120 dsh fans in push. Also the temps in the room are now 5'c hotter than this morning and it seems that after 15minutes of prime small it is running 2'c hotter in the loop as my cores are now reading 57 61 61 51. still not bad.

apparently the res wasnt as restrictive as I had first thought, I think the res just does a very good job at keeping the turbulence down as it still doesnt look like much is going on from the front of the res. When I first got the loop primed and running I could see the water bubbles really moving around. So I know I have the power to add another radiator is needed down the road.

Pics later, forgot the take any while I had it in the room with better lighting.

some lame camera phone pics.

Is there any way you could flip your radiator around? It seems like you could tighten up the hosing quite a bit. Looks good though!

the barbs wouldnt clear the quick connects if ran the other way. Now that I have the quick connects in I could have shortened up the hose runs. But I may add an external radiator or do some modding and add another to the front of the case and dont want to kill any hose I dont have to, just in case I need the length. I have about 2.5 more feet of what was used so...

more testing this morning and bumped up to 4.8ghz @ 1.32volts. Prime 30minute returned cores of 62 66 66 58. This is also with just the push fans- yate loon 120dsh 2000rpm. May have to put the scythe ultra kaze fans and see if it makes any difference

dejo said:

more testing this morning and bumped up to 4.8ghz @ 1.32volts. Prime 30minute returned cores of 62 66 66 58. This is also with just the push fans- yate loon 120dsh 2000rpm. May have to put the scythe ultra kaze fans and see if it makes any difference

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nice temps you should be able to push 5ghz with HT off and sit nicely in the mid 70's at a guess. ( depending on the voltage). But nice temps dude.

not quite stable at 5ghz @ 1.36v. still working on it

dejo said:

not quite stable at 5ghz @ 1.36v. still working on it

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ahhhh you will need a lot more than that you will have to venture into the 1.4's ( especially if you have HT enabled)

chip will do 5.5 without ht but needs 1.59v for benches. getting it a bit cold will do 5.5 with ht on. but temps get crazy.

I have a small single stage that is just right for it