liquid cooling help

[ThitChoLover]

I'm fairly new to liquid cooling and I think I bit off more than i can chew. I built a previous liquid cooled system but it looked kinda ugly and the hardware was outdated. Here are the new hardware for my build. Any suggestion as to how to tackle this?

intel i7 4930k with ek water bock
2x sapphire r9 290x with ek water block
ek 250 mm res
32gb corsair dominator with ek water block
koolance pmp 500 pump
asus p9x79 pro mb
silverstone strider 1200w psu
corsair 900d

how many radiators/what size do I need?
how should i arrange the loop?

 

[RnRollie]

-the biggest rads you can fit
-reservoir directly before (and higher as the suction end of) the pump

Do you want us to design your loop for you?
Would it not be a better idea to have a search for pictures / build log using keywords like "corsair" "900D" "watercooling" so you can get inspired by how others have done it?

 

[Mag10]

I would also like to point you to the best thread on watercooling on the forums: Here

There is quite a bit of reading, I know Ive read it several 100 times.

 

[EarthDog]

It would help to know which of those components you want to water cool in the first place. I will assume CPU and GPU...

That said, Mag10 gave you an EXCELLENT link to learn more about what you are doing. Read that... 100 times.

But to give you a ballpark on the loop, I wouldn't go less than a total of 6x 120mm of radiator to keep those two cards and CPU cool with using quiet fans. This loop will be in the neighborhood of a few hundred dollars though note as just your blocks are going to run almost $300... 2 rads (assuming 2x 3x120mm rads), pump, fittings, res, and tubing on top of that...

 

[RnRollie]

It would help to know which of those components you want to water cool in the first place. I will assume CPU and GPU...

That said, Mag10 gave you an EXCELLENT link to learn more about what you are doing. Read that... 100 times.

But to give you a ballpark on the loop, I wouldn't go less than a total of 6x 120mm of radiator to keep those two cards and CPU cool with using quiet fans. This loop will be in the neighborhood of a few hundred dollars though note as just your blocks are going to run almost $300... 2 rads (assuming 2x 3x120mm rads), pump, fittings, res, and tubing on top of that...

OP listed everything he has except Rads & hoses & fittings
But i agree on 2x 120.3 - i'ld go Alphacool ST30 + XT45 (or UT60)

But i'm not gonna design his loop for him

 

[EarthDog]

Holy cow.. how I missed that, I have no idea... haha!


Now that I can see what was already there, LOL, Id sell/return the ram waterblock as it is pointless and restrictive (but looks pretty!).

As far as loop arrangement, you(OP) are well taken care of with the res before the pump advice, then it doesn't really matter as temperatures inside a properly radded and flowing loop do not vary by more than a degree or two Celsuis.

 

[BruceUSA]

Drop in 2 480mm radiator in that 900D this will cooled all your components.

 

[ThitChoLover]

-the biggest rads you can fit
-reservoir directly before (and higher as the suction end of) the pump

Do you want us to design your loop for you?
Would it not be a better idea to have a search for pictures / build log using keywords like "corsair" "900D" "watercooling" so you can get inspired by how others have done it?

i need to know the order of the loop is possible
i looked up other builds and they look so confusing
i think i need more than 1 rad for this so how should i connect them?

 

[EarthDog]

i need to know the order of the loop is possible

WE already said loop order doesn't matter outside of putting the res before the pump.

i think i need more than 1 rad for this so how should i connect them?

You do, we said that already too. They are connected by barbs and tubing...


Again, read the thread... that should get these very basic questions out of the way. :

 

[ThitChoLover]

WE already said loop order doesn't matter outside of putting the res before the pump.

You do, we said that already too. They are connected by barbs and tubing...


Again, read the thread... that should get these very basic questions out of the way. :

it does matter if you want the loop to look nice. i just need advice because i dont want to see tubing all over the place

i dont think you understand my question. lets say i have a rad on top and 1 on the bottom. do i connect the rad1>cpu>ram>gpu>rad2>res or rad1>rad2>cpu...

 

[RnRollie]

Its not rocket science.. but a basic grasp and applied logic is needed.
Spend some time in the stickies (or pretend to spend some time) and trying to figure out other builds, THEN come back with a sketch on how you think it should all be hooked up and if that can be done better/different/improved. Then you'll get tons of (contradicting) pointers

Give it a try, we don't punish for trying. (at least not much )

If you cant find it in you, then W/C might not be something for you.. it happens... But as far as i know, we have 99% successrate in guiding people through their (first) build.

For the 1% which are "lost"... there is always puget

 

[RnRollie]

it does matter if you want the loop to look nice. i just need advice because i dont want to see tubing all over the place

i dont think you understand my question. lets say i have a rad on top and 1 on the bottom. do i connect the rad1>cpu>ram>gpu>rad2>res or rad1>rad2>cpu...

that might work,

but i would suggest pump>gpu>rad>cpu>rad>res>pump OR pump>CPU>GPU>rad1>rad2>res>pump

and forget about the ram completely
if you dont want to forget the ram, then the ram best has to come before res, not before GPU or CPU
like pump>CPU>GPU>rad1>rad2>ram>res>pump

although i admit this is old school

 

[EarthDog]

it does matter if you want the loop to look nice. i just need advice because i dont want to see tubing all over the place

i dont think you understand my question. lets say i have a rad on top and 1 on the bottom. do i connect the rad1>cpu>ram>gpu>rad2>res or rad1>rad2>cpu...

The goal, as you understand, is to make the shortest tubing runs possible for a clean looking setup. Pick your rads, then one can figure out the best routing of the tubing for the components.

 

[gkline]

I've never water cooled ram but from what I've read unless you are really pushing your ram and since this is your first build of custom water cooling, I would focus on your cpu and gpus only in the loop.

Good choice of case. BIG and gives you lots of room to work. I'm a radiator "nut" since I have a RX360 rad coupled with an External MO RA3 420 but the consensus here the more rad space the better. Your 900D, I think supports a 480mm rad at the top and one at the bottom. That would be the simplest setup that would give you plenty of capacity to overclock both your cpu AND your gpus. You've sunk some serious $$ into your components so don't cheap out on rads. The 900D has numerous places for multiple rads (240mm, 360mm and 480mm).

 

[Spawn-Inc]

The only thing that matters is that your res is before (ideally above) your pump.

Look at your case and mount your rads, res, and pump. Once you have that done then just connect everything so it looks nice. Easy. Avoid super tight bends if possible, loop order doesn't matter. I run my loop res, pumps, rads, cpu, gpu. But I don't care what it looks like.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Welcome to OCFs!

I would also advise on reading the water cooling stickies to get a better understanding on how much heat surface you need and which type. You want a silent build @ full load or don't care? There are many questions to this. I know you want to get on it and get through it quickly but the honest right way to do is teach yourself. Don't rush this. We can only assist you as were giving you free advise and not building it for you unless you are willing to pay someone to do it for you. I'd rather have you figure it out because if you do run into issues down the line you will know what to do or catch it prior. We all were in your position before and learned by reading lots and researching videos and pics. I mainly did videos and pics and got ideas from other builds. Use the said components in searches with the included case to get a great idea of how you will want to go forward.

Here's a great video that explains the basics.



Take a look at my 900D build log for some ideas.

Nice choice in case as you'll have ample room.

Did you already purchase all those components already in your list? Btw, you should only be water cooling the CPU and GPUs. No need for anything else as you're just adding restrictions to the loop.

Are you on a budget? If not just fill her up with all rads and go with a dual pump setup for redundancy as well as quieter running pumps and fans like I did.

The routing of the tubing is one of the last few steps. Make sure what you want first and why you want it. Everything else will come in order.

Hope this helps.

 

[ThitChoLover]

Welcome to OCFs!

I would also advise on reading the water cooling stickies to get a better understanding on how much heat surface you need and which type. You want a silent build @ full load or don't care? There are many questions to this. I know you want to get on it and get through it quickly but the honest right way to do is teach yourself. Don't rush this. We can only assist you as were giving you free advise and not building it for you unless you are willing to pay someone to do it for you. I'd rather have you figure it out because if you do run into issues down the line you will know what to do or catch it prior. We all were in your position before and learned by reading lots and researching videos and pics. I mainly did videos and pics and got ideas from other builds. Use the said components in searches with the included case to get a great idea of how you will want to go forward.

Here's a great video that explains the basics.



Take a look at my 900D build log for some ideas.

Nice choice in case as you'll have ample room.

Did you already purchase all those components already in your list? Btw, you should only be water cooling the CPU and GPUs. No need for anything else as you're just adding restrictions to the loop.

Are you on a budget? If not just fill her up with all rads and go with a dual pump setup for redundancy as well as quieter running pumps and fans like I did.

The routing of the tubing is one of the last few steps. Make sure what you want first and why you want it. Everything else will come in order.

Hope this helps.

yea i bought everything except for the rads as i do not know how many i need
im thinking of mounting a 480 rad at the bottom as well as the top
will the bottom rad get in the way of the psu?
i already know the basic of water cooling since this will be my 2nd build
my other 1 is simpler with just 1 rad connected to a gpu and cpu
i just dont know what to do when there are extra rads added to the euqation

btw what do you guys think of 2X r9 290x vs a 7990? (i prefer radeon over nvidea)

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Nothing wrong with going with more rad. All you're doing is adding more heat surface for the fluid to cool. Think of it as a heatsink. The more heatsink you have the more layer is given for heat dissipation.

Again, are you on a budget? If not go overkill if you want a silent system. If you go anything bigger than a 360mm up top you're going to occupy one of the top bays. Think this through and again look at other builds.

If you searched the web on rads in a 900D or took a look at my build log with rads used you'd have your answer. You're showing me you're a bit lazy to do the search and just want straight answers. I only assist those that help themselves.

As for the GPUs, you're better off going with 290x in Xfire because they will be more powerful than a 7990 and have more ram.

 

[EarthDog]

The bottom rad will not get in the way of the PSU (you can confirm this by looking up your case at Corsair as it shows possible configs... and it was mentioned above).

2x 290x's or a 7990? NO brainer 2 290x's... the 7970 is last gen stuff... dual card on a stick.

With respect, if watercooling is giving you this much trouble, I'm not sure you want CFx/SLI and some of the problems that can go along with a setup like that.

How many monitors are you running to require such horsepower? What is the resolution you plan to game on? I mention this because a single 290x can handle 2560x1600 or less resolutions with no problem. Its only when you get into multiple monitors or 4K resolutions that two are needed.

 

[ThitChoLover]

The bottom rad will not get in the way of the PSU (you can confirm this by looking up your case at Corsair as it shows possible configs... and it was mentioned above).

2x 290x's or a 7990? NO brainer 2 290x's... the 7970 is last gen stuff... dual card on a stick.

With respect, if watercooling is giving you this much trouble, I'm not sure you want CFx/SLI and some of the problems that can go along with a setup like that.

How many monitors are you running to require such horsepower? What is the resolution you plan to game on? I mention this because a single 290x can handle 2560x1600 or less resolutions with no problem. Its only when you get into multiple monitors or 4K resolutions that two are needed.

im building it for the dell up2414q - 4k monitor