First Water Cooling Build - Corsair 650D

[pranavrules]

Hi All,

My first post here on this forum. I am an avid gamer and have been playing for a long time. I have always been up to date with my components, and my upgrade is coming up pretty soon. Right now my specs look a little like this:

• Case: Corsair 650D
• Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65
• CPU: Core i7 3770k OC'd at 4.2 GHz
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i
• GPU: 2 EVGA GTX 670 in SLi OC'd at 1000 MHz
• RAM: 16 GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1500
• PSU: SeaSonic Gold 850 W 100% Modular

I am upgrading to 2 780 Ti in SLi, ASUS Rampage Formula VII, Core i7 4960K and 32 GB of DDR3 RAM within the next couple of months. I am planning to water cool the entire build (each component, including the RAM, Southbridge and Northbridge of the Motherboard and GPUs). Since I've never done any water cooling before, or never have seen it in person, I have no experience with that process and honestly, I am extremely intimidated by it.

I thought it would be better if I practiced with a simple, cheap water cooling build on my existing machine before working on the new build to gain some experience and understanding of how this process works. I read through all the guides I could to understand the basic understanding of how the loop is supposed to work, the radiators, reservoirs, pumps and water blocks. Trust me, I read a LOT, yet this topic scares the bejesus out of me.

Here's a list of components that I have selected so far for the existing build that I have (listed above - Corsair 650D):

• CPU Block: EK Supreme LTX Intel CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Nickel CSQ (EK-Supreme LTX - Nickel CSQ)
• GPU Block: EK GeForce 670 GTX DCII VGA Liquid Cooling Block - Nickel CSQ (EK-FC670 GTX DCII - Nickel)
• GPU Backplate: EK GeForce 670 DCII GTX VGA Liquid Cooling RAM Backplate - Black CSQ (EK-FC670 GTX DCII Backplate - Black)
• SLI Bridge: EK FC Bridge Dual Serial 3-Slot CSQ - SLI Connection - Acrylic (EK-FC Bridge DUAL Serial 3-Slot CSQ Plexi)
• Pump Reservoir Combo: EK Dual 5.25" Bay Reservoir / Pump Combo - w/ D5 Vario (EK-BAY RES D5 Vario (incl. pump))
• Top Radiator: Magicool Extreme Dual 120mm Radiator - Slim Profile (LC-RADI240)
• Back 120mm Radiator: EK High Performance CoolStream 120 PE Series Liquid Cooling Radiator (EK-CoolStream PE 120 (Single))
• Front 200mm Radiator: Phobya Xtreme 200 Radiator - 60mm Version 2 - Full Copper
• Tubing: PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT Tubing 3/8"ID x 5/8" OD - 10ft Retail Pack - Red
  [*]Dye: Mayhems Aurora 2 Coolant Concentrate - 250mL - Tharsis Red As suggested by caddi daddi, going with red tubing instead
• Jump Start Connector: FrozenCPU 24-pin Power Supply Jump Start Connector
• Silver Coil: IandH Silver KillCoils - Antimicrobial .999 Fine Silver Tubing / Reservoir Strip
• Distilled Water: PrimoChill Base Intensified™ - High Purity Deionized Water - 1 Gallon - Clear (PC-BASE128)
• Top Radiator and Back Radiator Fans: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition High Static Pressure 120mm Fan (CO-9050007-WW)
• Top Radiator Gasket: XSPC 2 x 120mm Radiator Gasket - 3mm
• Front 200mm Radiator Fan: BitFenix Spectre All Black 200mm Fan (BFF-SCF-20020KK-RP)
• CPU Thermal Paste: Tuniq TX-4 High Performance Thermal Grease - 3.0g

Right now, as I type this my legs are twitching with excitement and anxiety of going through with this. I don't want to mess anything up and none of my friends have ever worked with water-cooling either, so I don't know where to look for advice.. I hope you folks can help me out?

I still have to get the compression fittings, but I was looking for suggestions for which ones I should go for..

Also, I would love it and really REALLY appreciate it if someone could tell me if the above parts are compatible?

Thanks,
P

 

[caddi daddi]

let's start with a few things,
why so much ram?
why water cool the ram?

 

[pranavrules]

let's start with a few things,
why so much ram?
why water cool the ram?

Hi Caddi!

That's a build that I haven't planned on at all yet.. That's just a "dream-pc" right now. I want to experiment with everything possible, hence including the RAM cooling too

Right now, I am trying to water cool the existing build that I have, which the parts are listed above..

Thanks,
P

 

[caddi daddi]

the only two things that i see are the dye, it may be a no no, others will chime in.
it might stain the other plastics in the system.

the tube, it comes in red.

 

[pranavrules]

the only two things that i see are the dye, it may be a no no, others will chime in.
it might stain the other plastics in the system.

the tube, it comes in red.

Hmm.. Any other possible dyes I could use? I really want to use a colored coolant rather than a colored tube..

Also - did the other parts seem okay? Are they compatible with one another, especially the threadings and ID and OD fittings related?

Thanks,
E

 

[caddi daddi]

takes a while to look it all out.

 

[caddi daddi]

it all looks good.
if you use die you will have red crap giving your res a layer of red scumb you will not be able to reach in and wipe out, it looks good for a week ot two, then the crap builds up and gives us heart break.

 

[pranavrules]

it all looks good.
if you use die you will have red crap giving your res a layer of red scumb you will not be able to reach in and wipe out, it looks good for a week ot two, then the crap builds up and gives us heart break.

Gotcha.. I guess I'll ditch the dye then.. I'll stick with the red tubing like you suggested

Updated the list..

Thanks for the tip!

 

[caddi daddi]

the tube was clear, 2 months.
the res was clear, 1 month.

like what you see?

 

[pranavrules]

the tube was clear, 2 months.
the res was clear, 1 month.

like what you see?

UGH!! That's nasty!!! I can't believe dyes are still promoted so much then!! Thanks for the headsup! I had NO idea.. Saved me a lot of cursing..

 

[caddi daddi]

yea, it makes me use bad words.

 

[caddi daddi]

I use 25% zerex g-05 coolant and distilled water from the local store, a silver kill coil and a bioside from the pet store for coolant.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Welcome to OCFs.

First and foremost I'd also say that you should steer away from dyes. I think you got the point.

I am not sure if its only for gaming that you should waste it on a i7 4960k. If you're doing other things than gaming like video editing etc, than its understandable. I would also add since you'll be waiting a few months, you should be seeing the arrival of the newer i7 59xx line from intel with the new DDR4 ram. Nvidia might be coming out with their 8xx series GPUs as well but thats all speculation atm. The 780ti's are nice regardless.

I would save some of the cash if you changed a few upgraded purchases and possibly purchase a bigger case to house more heat surface (rads) at lower FPI to run low speed fans to keep the rig as quiet as possible at full load. It will be night and day difference. Well worth the cash spent than get watercooling temps with a loud rig but again that is up to you.

Wondering if you're from the states so we know which e-tailers can accommodate you.

Let us know if anything changes or if you're still going as planned and take a peak at this basic water cooling friendly video in the meantime to ease your anxiety.