Help me understand if WC would benefit me

[jdsparks21]

Yeah, Thermochill makes some top flight rads, that's for sure. And being in the UK, he should be able to get them for a good price too. IMO, they are an even better choice for silent watercooling because of the large FPI of the rad as compared to the Swiftech and would do well with quiet fans such as Yate Loon lows or some 1450 rpm Gentle Typhoon fans. But you would have to go with a separate pump and radiator like Conumdrum stated in post #13. A PA120.3 hung off the back of the case, with a Laing DDC3.2 with an XSPC res top or an MCP655 with a reservoir or T line would definitely do a great job and be nice and quiet.

And definitely do like Conumdrum said and do your research first and thoroughly. Since you are in no cooling bind right now, it will definitely pay dividends and save you money from reading, studying and looking at other people's setups. I researched for several months before I took my initial watercooling plunge back in 2002, but I went straight to using a TEC with my loop too. That required a bunch of extra research. When you are doing subambient cooling, you have some extra steps to go through to keep from frying equipment from condensation.

Are you saying Thermochill is better than Swiftech?

 

[muddocktor]

For low speed fans, yes they are. They have a less fins per inch, which makes it easier to get effective airflow through the rad at low static air pressures. Plus, Thermochill rads have traditionally had the lowest fluid pressure drop across them too. You can see the tests that skinnee and Martin earlier have done on the PA120.2 and PA120.3 rads. They show excellent performance with low speed fans and really the only rads that perform like them are the RX series rads from XSPC. And the Thermochill rads are made in the UK, which lowers their cost for our Brit forum members too.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Are you saying Thermochill is better than Swiftech?

For low speed fans, yes they are.

There, fixed.

Thermochill beats Swiftech at all fan speeds. They're just a whole lot more expensive in the US than the UK and on par with other very high end radiators. As such, Swiftech beats everyone else in the price-to-performance category.

 

[Spawn-Inc]

There, fixed.

Thermochill beats Swiftech at all fan speeds. They're just a whole lot more expensive in the US than the UK and on par with other very high end radiators. As such, Swiftech beats everyone else in the price-to-performance category.

not if you spend the same amount of money on swiftech that you would thermochill

 

[Conumdrum]

Are you saying Thermochill is better than Swiftech?

Yes, 100%. maybe you haven't been offered link, but we consider it the holy grail of scienfiic, non-biased input.

Martin is an engineer who just wanted to learn, he posted his info. Bless him.

Martin retired, Skinnee picked up where Martin left off.

This is where you REALLY begin to learn. Look at the charts for the Thermochill rads, and compare to the Swiftech MCR series. TC wins hands down, and still considered the king of rads. If living in the UK, your price is much better and I wouldn't hesitate one bit buying a TC (PA) rad at your cost.

Did deep, this is where it's like, "OMG, the brain + research really does matter". BTW, bookmark/fav these, fav every main link, you'll want them later.

Yes, each link is way diff, you need both....................

http://martin.skinneelabs.com/
http://www.skinneelabs.com/

 

[QuietIce]

Something along the lines of a ThermoChill PA120.3 with maybe a Swiftech Apogee drive would easily cool your CPU using three quiet fans - total £106 for the main components plus fans, tubing, and clamps.

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_55/products_id/2483
http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/33_54_292/products_id/2938


If you really want to add the GPU you'll most likely need to go with a separate pump and blocks ...

 

[Conumdrum]

btw, gcw, the OP of this post. You have stuck it long enough where yea, you think it would be fun and within your budget. Glad your on board, we'll do what we can.

Guys, how many full WC rigs have we helped build with comments from the builders that have posted thanks? And pics?

Hokie, that might be fun to research. We do well I think.

 

[gcwebbyuk]

I have sold my Zalman CNPS9900 and replaced it with a 10x flex for the time being, while I put together my thoughts on a WC setup.

The H50 idea has been totally scrapped, and I am certain I will build a seperates system using the items you guys recommended above.

I am looking at running two loops, one for CPU and maybe NB, and one for GPU. I will start with just the CPU on it's own first though, and then add to it.

With regard to other items in the case getting warm hard disks etc, how many case fans do you tend to run in a WC system?

 

[jr1]

When i had my computer in the mozart tx case i had 4 in and 4 out
The fans on the two 120.2 rads was the ones going in
Now i have moved that one into a mozart medialab case and am running it on air and open case
only fans now is the one on the cpucooler and one small 40x40mm fan in the hddrack in there
Both setups was and are working well for me

Edit

For ease of ceeping the rads cleen i made some filters for them out of a filter from an airpurifier that was made of fabric instead of paper

 

[gcwebbyuk]

So you had 8 fans in total? And were two of those for the radiator, leaving 6 for others?

What were they cooling?

I was expecting to have less than that - maybe 2x120mm on the radiator, and one 140mm intake, and one 140mm exhaust.

 

[jr1]

I had 2 rads at 120.2 makeing it a total of 4 in and 4 out and they where just makeing some airmovement over the hw in my sig
There is 8 hdds that they also moved the air across

 

[QuietIce]

With regard to other items in the case getting warm hard disks etc, how many case fans do you tend to run in a WC system?

If you also WC the GPU then just a couple of fans should be plenty. I flipped my rear fan around and added a baffle to deflect that incoming air onto the MOSFETs and NB chipset. I've also got an inlet at the front for the HDDs and there are plenty of vents in the case for air to flow freely. I don't know how much cooling the video RAM on today's cards need though. For my 7900GTX what little comes off the HDD fan seems to be enough ...

 

[Conumdrum]

Well it's hard to describe. Depends on the case. Inside the case no mattr how much watercolling you have you still need good airflow. The requirements go up at your colling needs go up.

Kinda rad around, don't expect perfection the forst time, you will alwaays improve.

Of course yoy could spend $700 easy at Mountain mods and have plenty for future use.

It's a hobby and not pure science. Do what you want, accept mistakes, move past them and have fun.

 

[gcwebbyuk]

Does it make sense to get all the kit from the same manufacturer - or is mish/mashing components a better idea? Think I am sold on the switech Apogee GTZ, but not sure on Swiftech radiators or the Thermochill ones...

hokiealumnus: nice review of the case and the setup you used. Was there a reason to mount the 2nd radiator outside the case? Was the setup for quietness or maximum cooling? Guessing Max cooling due to the high speed fans.

I am only using the top two HDD bays, I have the rest removed so could fit a second down the bottom.

If I used one whole loop with say two 120.2 radiators, would I need two pumps to cool CPU / GPU / NB?

 

[muddocktor]

If it's a choice between the Thermochill and Swiftech rads, go the Thermochill route as they are just higher performance rads. The Swiftech rads are good rads, but not in the same league as the Thermochill rads. But here in NA they are about half the cost of the TC rads, which makes them a much better bargain. Over in the UK, you all can get the TC rads much cheaper than us and then the Swiftech rads have to be imported, raising their cost up to you. As for the last question, if you are going with a single loop, 1 strong pump would be more than enough. A MCP355/DDC3.2 or MCP655/D5 vario would be good choices for the pump.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Mixing components is just fine. If you have the cash for THermochill, get them. Watch thickness though. I know in this case, a Thermochill would be too thick for the top rad mount.

Re: External mounting - I do that because the case cannot accommodate an internal 120.3 rad (without modification). Using 6" threaded rods instead of typical 3" bolts was for maximum cooling - it keeps the rad farther away from the warm air from the rear exhaust and video card.

Re: Pumps - Mudd nailed it - one good pump should be enough for that loop. Either a DDC3.2 with a good aftermarket top or a D5. Two pumps wouldn't hurt, but aren't necessary unless you find yourself in need of extra flow.

 

[gcwebbyuk]

I am just looking at prices for all the kit - the TC vs Swiftech is still a biggy over here in the UK:

Thermochill PA120.2 Rad - £56.12
Swiftech MGR220QPK Rad - £29.34

Would a MCP655 pump be quiet, especially if it is pumping for VGA too?

I still keep looking at the Reserator, as it "looks" good, and as a full kit with VGA RAM cooler, NB cooler as well it still comes in cheaper at £180, plus it uses no fans - so the only noise is the pump.

Decisions, decisions - this watercooling certainly isnt cheap, so I want to make the right choice from the beginning or it could mean a divorce!

 

[jazon1]

I am just looking at prices for all the kit - the TC vs Swiftech is still a biggy over here in the UK:

Thermochill PA120.2 Rad - £56.12
Swiftech MGR220QPK Rad - £29.34

Would a MCP655 pump be quiet, especially if it is pumping for VGA too?

I still keep looking at the Reserator, as it "looks" good, and as a full kit with VGA RAM cooler, NB cooler as well it still comes in cheaper at £180, plus it uses no fans - so the only noise is the pump.

Decisions, decisions - this watercooling certainly isnt cheap, so I want to make the right choice from the beginning or it could mean a divorce!

a few other things to consider gcwebbyuk about liquid coolers are,one if you dont know what your doing(and some times if you do) they can leek and cost you alot of money.i don't happen alot but does happen,also there is more maintenance than air cooling too,you should top off your reservoir every couple of months and change out you fluids every 6 months or so to avoid sludge build up.if you start to grow algae youll have some work ahead of you(youll have to pump some peroxide through the system and change your tubing out) dont get me wrong liquid cooling is great,but its considerably riskier and more work involved than just blowing some fans off

 

[hokiealumnus]

I am just looking at prices for all the kit - the TC vs Swiftech is still a biggy over here in the UK:

Thermochill PA120.2 Rad - £56.12
Swiftech MGR220QPK Rad - £29.34

Would a MCP655 pump be quiet, especially if it is pumping for VGA too?

I still keep looking at the Reserator, as it "looks" good, and as a full kit with VGA RAM cooler, NB cooler as well it still comes in cheaper at £180, plus it uses no fans - so the only noise is the pump.

Decisions, decisions - this watercooling certainly isnt cheap, so I want to make the right choice from the beginning or it could mean a divorce!

Stop looking at the reserator, your thoughts betray you.

The noise from a pump won't change regardless of what's in the loop. I don't have one of those, but my MCP355 is very quiet. I've heard 655's are as well.

With that price difference, I'd go with two of the Swiftech rads. Great price/performance, which is why I use them.

 

[jr1]

I find the mcp655 quiet too even if it do have a tiny tad more of noise than the mcp355but nothing you would notice unless your extreemely sensitive to noise