Water cooling Adventure help

Hey guys (and gals).


I'm starting my first water cooling kit because like all computer people I've built a beast and i'm not quite satisfied with it ( are we ever?). I need help picking out rads (multiple loops), blocks, pumps, and tubing pretty much everything. As I have never built a liquid cooling setup I am open to all opinions and options.

I have read the water cooling beginners sticky and i'm still slightly at a loss. Here are my specs

Case: Corsair air 540
SSD:Samsung 250GB evo
Motherboard: MSI G45
CPU: 4670k
Video cards: 2 x eVGA gtx770 4gb FTW ACX (SLI)
Ram: G.skills ripjaws X 2x8
Storage: WD 2tb caviar black
PSU: eVGA 1300 supernova
Cooling: 1x corsair exhaust 4x 140 corsair AF intake (2 stock, 2 red led)

• according to my case specs I have room for a 360mm in the front and a 280 in the top.
  
• I also saw that dye is no good I wanted my tubing to run red and be bright so it match's the color scheme I have going on inside the case... Is there an alternative?
  
• I'm planning on OC the CPU and the GPU's. My biggest priority is cooling and sound comes second. That being said I don't want something that sounds like i'm skydiving all day either.
  
• Doing some 3D modelling but mostly just gaming.

Thanks for any input and support for this water cooling adventure.

cheers

You have a very good case for air circulation and with a little bit of planning and work you can get pump and res hidden to the side compartment.

Because you want to mount rads internally I assume, you are going to need quite loud fans to keep the air moving trough the case.
Pulling air trough a radiator heats it up quite a bit when there is lots of heat involved.
With OCed Sli setup you are going to have quite a bit of it.

My recommendation is to stick low-mediumish FPI radiator for intake with around 2000RPM fans and go push/pull to keep the air moving around. For intake radiator something like UT30 or blackice stealth maybe even SR1 would be good and for the top radiator high FPI dual row radiator like GTX 240 with high SP fans.

And you don't want to use top as intake. It might sound like a good idea but I assure you that with that case you need the top as exhaust. I would also advise to install one fan on the bottom of the case to help with intake especially if you decide to go for dual row rad in the front.
You will also need additional cooling for the VRM section of your motherboard, that can be done with small fan directly blowing air on the heat sink. VRM can be watercooled but it really isn't worth it in most cases.

One thing you can do to improve your WC setup performance is to use the top rad after the component heat load to blow most of the heat straight out of the case. If you use the front rad after the components it is going to show as a small increase in case air temp and therefore affect the performance of the top rad a little bit. This is no major improvement but it could improve deltaT a little bit.
This is not really ideal as far as tube routing and loop order goes but could be worth the mess.

That being said I don't have whole lot of experience in fancy internal loops, I prefer to mount rads externally for maximum performance

I just finished a water cooled 540 Air build. What I ended up using was the Black Ice GTX rads (54mm thick) all around, 240 up top and 360 in the front. This worked real well with just a push fan setup using Gentle Typhoon AP45 (2150 rpm) all the way around. I hooked them up to a decent fan controller to turn the fans down when not needed though by no means are they loud and are probably quieter then allot of air cooled builds or any of the All in one coolers out there.

If you decide to use the thicker rads keep in mind you absolutely will not get a push pull fan setup on the front rad if you use a long 11"+ video card and ridged tubing. You can up top but it does take up allot of room and can make installing ram and motherboard wiring a major pain. But with the proper fans a push pull is not really needed.

This setup will give you great tempo and a pretty quiet build. My temp with an FX8350 @ 4.9GHZ 2 hrs prime stable is around 52*C core temp, this while also cooling the VRM in the loop as well. Even while testing stability at 5 GHZ is still only pushing 56*C.

Should you want a push pull fan configuration then take a close look at the UT 30 rads, they would be my second choice.

bassnut said:

I just finished a water cooled 540 Air build. What I ended up using was the Black Ice GTX rads (54mm thick) all around, 240 up top and 360 in the front. This worked real well with just a push fan setup using Gentle Typhoon AP45 (2150 rpm) all the way around. I hooked them up to a decent fan controller to turn the fans down when not needed though by no means are they loud and are probably quieter then allot of air cooled builds or any of the All in one coolers out there.

If you decide to use the thicker rads keep in mind you absolutely will not get a push pull fan setup on the front rad if you use a long 11"+ video card and ridged tubing. You can up top but it does take up allot of room and can make installing ram and motherboard wiring a major pain. But with the proper fans a push pull is not really needed.

This setup will give you great tempo and a pretty quiet build. My temp with an FX8350 @ 4.9GHZ 2 hrs prime stable is around 52*C core temp, this while also cooling the VRM in the loop as well. Even while testing stability at 5 GHZ is still only pushing 56*C.

Should you want a push pull fan configuration then take a close look at the UT 30 rads, they would be my second choice.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info man. I don't think I want to go with a push pull from what I've heard there is barely any difference. There isn't much room in the front at all... You think the 54mm thick 360mm will be enough to cool two gtx 770's that im gonna over clock?? the 240 on top is just gonna do the ram and the the CPU.

With the 4670 at 84w TDP and the two 770's at 230w TDP each brings you to 544 watts that need to be disapated, if you do not intend on overclocking the system, if you plan on overclocking you should size the loop to disapate higher wattage.

Rad size and FPI will have to be considered when determining the what kind of noise level you are ok with, higher density will require stronger fans thus more noise while lower FPI rads will require less potent fans thus lowering the noise level.

One of the better preformers at a low density is the Alpha Cool30 that will disapate around 50w at 1000RPM, however this is less than ideal for high speed fans where you see the MCR-XP disapating around 108w at 2200 RPM

These numbers take for granite typical flow rates of couse

One could formulate for a silent water cooling set uo you would need 11.120 set up running 1000 RPM fans, that is not going to happen inside that particular case

The other option is a bit more viable in your enviroment
the simple math brings us to a 6.120 set up using 2200 RPM fans

this should bring you in just under 8 dt. in a typical enviroment

There are many things that can effect this. do the research on block flow rates, pumps and resevoirs and read up on my rad points to keep me honest, most of all take your time do the research and you will have an enjoyable experience, this is a fun hobby if you can avoid frustration and make wise decisions based upon facts not fiction,

My personal advice would be to steer clear of nickel plating, and if you can't resist make sure you use the recommended fluid not to void warreties

I use Distilled and Nuke

Best of luck to you

Welcome to OCFs!

If you go with a rig that is quiet (low fpi rads) than you need more heatsurface aka rad space where if you go high FPI than you just need more RPM.

I've seen some amazing buildlogs on the Corsair 540. I would use the Nexxus ST30 360 up front as intake and ST30 240mm up top as intake as well. This will create positive pressure and exhaust through the back of the case. Front is filtered but the top will need to be filtered. If you decide not to filter the top than use it as exhaust.

If you really want a silent rig with great fans I would look at the Noiseblockers eloops PWM.

For pump and res I would look at the XSPC Photon D5 270. Make sure there's room for it and where it will be installed.

I would stick with distilled water and a silver killcoil.

Primochill Advanced LRT (RED) is the best tubing out there in the marketplace.

Make sure you measure before purchasing anything.

Bingemoose said:

Thanks for the info man. I don't think I want to go with a push pull from what I've heard there is barely any difference. There isn't much room in the front at all... You think the 54mm thick 360mm will be enough to cool two gtx 770's that im gonna over clock?? the 240 on top is just gonna do the ram and the the CPU.

Click to expand...

Unless your goal is BLING you don't need to cool your ram ...... it just doesn't need it, why restrict the flow in your loop if you don't have too. I am not that familiar with the Intel side of things so exactly how much heat it generates as you OC it, for me is just a guess. For yore CPU and 2 GTX 770 in a loop you will be looking at ..... at a minimum a good 360 front and a good 240 or 280 top match these with some good fans and you should be happy. If you are worried about running out of rad ..... take a look at some of the Better 280mm rads ....

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...treme_280_Radiator_-_Black.html?tl=g30c95s930

finding good fans for this rad might be hard or expensive ..... My Favorite.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._-_Red_LED_1600RPM_127CFM.html?tl=g36c331s877




Everyone has their favorite rads ..... I like these Black Ice rads ..... GTXJack ..... Nexxus ST30 360 and WAZA seems to like the Alfacool rads ...... I think if you look around through different builds you will see this even more pronounced. What I like about the Black Ice GTX rad's is though a bit more restrictive for air flow through them compared to the other 2 I just mentioned you have the added bonus of being able to add more fan if you so desire later, these rads do pull allot of heat out of the loop. Keep in mind that this will add noise to your build, if quiet is your goal then a different rad choice might be better for you though you might need more rad.

Black ICE GT's are high FPI rads as are the GTX series. Low FPI would be the SR-1 series but think they might be too thick for the Corsair 540. ST30 rads should fit no problem.

bassnut said:

Unless your goal is BLING you don't need to cool your ram ...... it just doesn't need it, why restrict the flow in your loop if you don't have too. I am not that familiar with the Intel side of things so exactly how much heat it generates as you OC it, for me is just a guess. For yore CPU and 2 GTX 770 in a loop you will be looking at ..... at a minimum a good 360 front and a good 240 or 280 top match these with some good fans and you should be happy. If you are worried about running out of rad ..... take a look at some of the Better 280mm rads ....

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...treme_280_Radiator_-_Black.html?tl=g30c95s930

finding good fans for this rad might be hard or expensive ..... My Favorite.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._-_Red_LED_1600RPM_127CFM.html?tl=g36c331s877




Everyone has their favorite rads ..... I like these Black Ice rads ..... GTXJack ..... Nexxus ST30 360 and WAZA seems to like the Alfacool rads ...... I think if you look around through different builds you will see this even more pronounced. What I like about the Black Ice GTX rad's is though a bit more restrictive for air flow through them compared to the other 2 I just mentioned you have the added bonus of being able to add more fan if you so desire later, these rads do pull allot of heat out of the loop. Keep in mind that this will add noise to your build, if quiet is your goal then a different rad choice might be better for you though you might need more rad.

Click to expand...

+1 on the ram cooling, ram blocks are just a unneeded restriction in the loop IMHO. My G skill @2133 would reach mid to high 30's, I added the G Skill mem fans that came with the mem set and these temps dropped to high 20's at most, usually just few degrees over ambient.

I like low fin count, thick rads, I have a 240 and 360 SR1 and it cools a [email protected]/board vrm's and boosted 280X with a DT of 8-10C at full load with Noc f-12's at full speed in P/P.

bassnut said:

Unless your goal is BLING you don't need to cool your ram ...... it just doesn't need it, why restrict the flow in your loop if you don't have too. I am not that familiar with the Intel side of things so exactly how much heat it generates as you OC it, for me is just a guess. For yore CPU and 2 GTX 770 in a loop you will be looking at ..... at a minimum a good 360 front and a good 240 or 280 top match these with some good fans and you should be happy. If you are worried about running out of rad ..... take a look at some of the Better 280mm rads ....

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...treme_280_Radiator_-_Black.html?tl=g30c95s930

finding good fans for this rad might be hard or expensive ..... My Favorite.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._-_Red_LED_1600RPM_127CFM.html?tl=g36c331s877




Everyone has their favorite rads ..... I like these Black Ice rads ..... GTXJack ..... Nexxus ST30 360 and WAZA seems to like the Alfacool rads ...... I think if you look around through different builds you will see this even more pronounced. What I like about the Black Ice GTX rad's is though a bit more restrictive for air flow through them compared to the other 2 I just mentioned you have the added bonus of being able to add more fan if you so desire later, these rads do pull allot of heat out of the loop. Keep in mind that this will add noise to your build, if quiet is your goal then a different rad choice might be better for you though you might need more rad.

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info, My goal first is cooling and i'm an aesthetic builder so I guess second is looks, 3rd is sound. In the end id rather have everything cold than melted.

GTXJackBauer said:

Welcome to OCFs!

If you go with a rig that is quiet (low fpi rads) than you need more heatsurface aka rad space where if you go high FPI than you just need more RPM.

I've seen some amazing buildlogs on the Corsair 540. I would use the Nexxus ST30 360 up front as intake and ST30 240mm up top as intake as well. This will create positive pressure and exhaust through the back of the case. Front is filtered but the top will need to be filtered. If you decide not to filter the top than use it as exhaust.

If you really want a silent rig with great fans I would look at the Noiseblockers eloops PWM.

For pump and res I would look at the XSPC Photon D5 270. Make sure there's room for it and where it will be installed.

I would stick with distilled water and a silver killcoil.

Primochill Advanced LRT (RED) is the best tubing out there in the marketplace.

Make sure you measure before purchasing anything.

Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the info man. That primochill LRT looks pretty unreal. Ill probably go higher FPI just so it doesn't make the case look ultra crowded.

Well with those 2 GPUs and CPU you should be fine with a 240 and 360 at low FPI and RPM quiet setup. If it heats up a bit you can still ramp up the fans. The ST30's I have seen have fit best in that case on a Push OR Pull fan coniguration. The thicker rads might run into issues and the higher FPI rads will need 1800-2000+ RPM constant fan speed which will make it noisy. Most nowadays when entering watercooling, most will aim for a quiet setup. Why fork so much money on watercooling when you're getting a noisy setup as if you were on air when you can get it quiet with water temps? Again, its all up to you on how you want to go about this but wanted to point out the obvious. I hope you share with us some pictures in a build log of some sort down the road.

I almost forgot as its already been stated the ram won't need watercooling because you will add restriction to the loop unless you're set on doing this for aesthetics. All you need in a loop is nice short routes of tubing, CPU and GPU cooling and some nice theme colors to give it a nice contrast along with the type of materials used for your blocks and fittings. There's many ways to do this to please the eye.

GTXJackBauer said:

Well with those 2 GPUs and CPU you should be fine with a 240 and 360 at low FPI and RPM quiet setup. If it heats up a bit you can still ramp up the fans. The ST30's I have seen have fit best in that case on a Push OR Pull fan coniguration. The thicker rads might run into issues and the higher FPI rads will need 1800-2000+ RPM constant fan speed which will make it noisy. Most nowadays when entering watercooling, most will aim for a quiet setup. Why fork so much money on watercooling when you're getting a noisy setup as if you were on air when you can get it quiet with water temps? Again, its all up to you on how you want to go about this but wanted to point out the obvious. I hope you share with us some pictures in a build log of some sort down the road.

I almost forgot as its already been stated the ram won't need watercooling because you will add restriction to the loop unless you're set on doing this for aesthetics. All you need in a loop is nice short routes of tubing, CPU and GPU cooling and some nice theme colors to give it a nice contrast along with the type of materials used for your blocks and fittings. There's many ways to do this to please the eye.

Click to expand...

Thanks man! Got any recommendation for blocks on the 770 it's set up sli so am I gonna have to set up two pumps to one rad and have two loops?

Bingemoose said:

Thanks man! Got any recommendation for blocks on the 770 it's set up sli so am I gonna have to set up two pumps to one rad and have two loops?

Click to expand...

Gone are the days of dual loops. The standard nowadays is a single whole loop. Just make sure you have sufficient heat surface for said heat load and make sure you do measurements so you won't have a slowdown or stoppage during the build in fitting rads etc.

As for the pump power, one is enough but if you feel the need for redundancy than you can get two in serial, if budget permits.

GTXJackBauer said:

Gone are the days of dual loops. The standard nowadays is a single whole loop. Just make sure you have sufficient heat surface for said heat load and make sure you do measurements so you won't have a slowdown or stoppage during the build in fitting rads etc.

As for the pump power, one is enough but if you feel the need for redundancy than you can get two in serial, if budget permits.

Click to expand...

Budget definitely permits.

Going to order everything in the next couple days.

Is nickle worth getting? or is copper the way to go? I still cannot decide on a block. Everything else I have picked out. I was hoping for a full block for my GPU but it doesn't look like the gtx 770 FTW ACX doesnt have any....

Looking forwards to starting a build log that all you guys can follow.

Any reference style full-cover will fit the 770 FTW.

ATMINSIDE said:

Any reference style full-cover will fit the 770 FTW.

Click to expand...

You sure about that? From my understanding the power phases are different than the others. FTW, Classifieds all have different power phases if I recall correctly and are non-reference.

GTXJackBauer said:

You sure about that? From my understanding the power phases are different than the others. FTW, Classifieds all have different power phases if I recall correctly and are non-reference.

Click to expand...

Classifieds are non-reference. Everything else is reference from EVGA.

ATMINSIDE said:

Classifieds are non-reference. Everything else is reference from EVGA.

Click to expand...

Nope. Non-reference cards: FTW, Classified and Kingpin. Again, they change all the power phases on those cards compared to the reference models. Look it up.

GTXJackBauer said:

Nope. Non-reference cards: FTW, Classified and Kingpin. Again, they change all the power phases on those cards compared to the reference models. Look it up.

Click to expand...

770 FTW - Cooling Configurator

FTW listed as reference, while the Classifieds aren't.