Budget WC.

[CRiMZ]

hi, could you guys help me out. i've been reading a bunch of posts about wcing and i'm interested but i don't want to invest too much. can anyone put together a wc kit for about $100 or less? I can't seem to find some of the parts like apogees. they are sold out everywhere. i'm just going to wc my cpu for now and add on as I upgrade. i'll be running an e4300 oc'd but I can't say how high or how hot yet because it hasn't come in.

 

[WonderingSoul]

Here's the list I generally give people:

DTEK Whitewater: 30
Via Aqua 1300 pump: 20
Swiftech MCR220 rad: 45 OR BIPI 25
About 10' of masterkleer: $5
10 stainless hose barb clamps (get em at any hardware store): $5


That comes to: $105 or $85. You could also go with a different pump too for the money.

 

[CRiMZ]

will the whitewater fit on a gigabyte s3 mobo? I remember reading somewhere on this board that the whitewater did not fit on a ds3 which is basically the same board.

 

[Moto7451]

I think you have to rotate it to get it to fit. You could do the same setup with an apogee from [url="http://www.svc.com]SVC[/url] for about the same amount of money.

 

[CRiMZ]

svc is out of stock on apogee. btw if a barb has 1/2 OD I need to get a 1/2 IN for tubing right?

 

[saladCzar]

You can stretch 7/16" and even 3/8" if your ambitious. A little boiling water and something to ream the ends will do the trick on the 3/8". You can do the same for the 7/16" but its not really necessary; just force them on (not while blocks are attached to components).

 

[CRiMZ]

assuming i went with the setup wondering suggested which tubing size would give out the best performance?

 

[saladCzar]

Check Cathar's new Sticky on exactly that.

 

[WonderingSoul]

From 1/4" to 1/2" the difference is only about 1-2deg C.

Personally, 7/16 is the nice sweet spot for size not too big and bulky but doesn't look puny like 1/4" does.

 

[4od]

For the ViaAqua series, you need a large reservoir to put then in because they are intended as submersible pumps. If you want, i can show you pics of how the intake works, but just believe me when i say it would be hard to put one directly into a loop.

 

[JamesXP]

Wouldn't a heatercore be cheaper?

 

[johan851]

I agree. The Via Aqua is a pain to use because it's submersible. I think something like the dB-1 pump, linked below, would be worth the extra cash. It's a DC pump, so you can plug it directly into your PSU, and it doesn't require a reservoir, which will make everything much, much more convenient.

http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=188

Something like the Hydor L25 or L35 would also work, and might be a couple of dollars cheaper. I ran a pump similar to the Via Aqua for a couple of years, and believe me when I tell you that it's a huge hassle. You shouldn't have to reach into a bucket of water when you're watercooling your PC.

 

[CRiMZ]

thanks for all the replies.

would a double heater core be better? I was looking at dangerden and their double heater cores are cheaper and it's one of the recommended rads on the monthly wc roundup sticky. Would this be a better option?

 

[WonderingSoul]

As far as I know the via aqua can be used in line and doesn't have to be submerged... Check the site again.

Check it:

Models 180-480 are submersible only pumps. Models 1300 and higher are both submersible and in line pumps (Model 4900 is submersible-only) .

Heater cores are a gamble. As they require shrouds and good fans to run them effeciently being that they are so dense.

Personally, since you are only cooling a CPU a single 120 rad would be fine. A dual if you want absolute performance.

 

[Otter]

The problem with automotive heater cores is that they are designed for powerful blowers. Couple them with nice, quiet 120mm fans, and performance suffers. Heater cores will work, but purpose-built computer rads have worked better for a few years now. In the bad old days, this wasn't necessarily true, and hence some of the older posts about the superiority of heater cores were right on target at the time they were written. If you can afford it, a double MCR series rad is a better option.

The fins on the Black Ice Pro series are a bit more dense than on modern rads, pushing it in the direction of the heater cores. But BIPs have been around long enough that sometimes you can get them very cheap, and though they aren't the very best radiators on the market they work well enough that they were preferred for quiet systems until the PA and MCR series came out.