Need help with cooling system design/parts

[wolfgheist]

Well, I think I am about to pull the trigger, but I have a question about the waterblock. Anyone know if I can put compression fittings on this waterblock for 1/2 ID, 3/4 OD Tubing? Been waiting forever for the guy at extremerigs.com to do his review on this WB, but tired of waiting. Anything I am missing from below?


Going to get

Swiftech MCP655 G3/8" Threaded Edition 12 VDC Pump With Speed Controller
- Fittings 2 x Bitspower G3/8" Compression Fitting for ID 1/2" OD 3/4" (Chrome Look)
Bitspower D5 / MCP655 Mod Kit - Blue Finish
Bitspower CPU Block Summit EF (Intel) ICE Blue Acrylic Top Version
PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Blue Tubing -1/2in. ID X 3/4in.
FrozenQ Liquid Fusion V Series 250 ml Reservoir - UV Blue (POM)
- Cathode Inverter Kit (No Bulbs)
- Reservoir Brackets Add UV Fluorescent Blue Mounting Clips
- Pair Bitspower Compression Fitting 1/2" ID 3/4" OD (Chrome look)
- (I was going to get the version with the side ports, because two outlets look cool, but not sure it is worth $50 extra so going with the normal version)
EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (240)
- Pair Bitspower Compression Fitting 1/2" ID 3/4" (Chrome Look)
AeroCool Shark 120mm Blue Edition 120mm Blue LED Case Fan x 2
White Sleeving kit

 

[musicfan]

wolfgheist, I did not answer because I don't know about whether two large fittings will fit in spite of Google searches on images, etc. Think the block is too new. I suggest you write Bitspower. Vincent in Taiwan got back to me pretty quickly a few months ago. Their contact email is [email protected] and the website contact page is: http://www.bitspower.com/html/contact/contact.aspx

I am confused on your pump because of the "G3/8". Please link to your pump. That may be a standard D5 vario with 1/2" outlets and 3/8" adapters but if you have the G 1/4" mod, that is good.

Don't know what to say about the BP Summit Block because it's so new and untested. BP had some trouble making VGA card full-covers but nearly all new CPU blocks now fall within 3 to 4°C of the best.

Tubing 1/2" ID & 3/4" OD is fine.

Frozen Q - I don't own one but they look cool and have the correct holes.

EK XTX is an excellent rad when Martin recently tested it, but is thick so may be a challenge to fit. You need to know how much room you have between your ATX board and the top of the case.

Aerocool Shark is rated at 1500 rpm & 800 rpm. If these don't do the job, you may need to go push/pull so will want to consider the case size or whether you can add fans on top. Another option is a thinner rad (alphacool nexxxos UT45 or Swiftech XP? or XSPC EX?) to push/pull if you need it to fit.

The good 120.2 radiator with single fans in push should do OK for just a CPU. You should be able to OC although might need to add push/pull or even a 120.1 depending many volts you use. If you add a VGA card to the loop, you will need more radiator.

And you are going to be using distilled and a silver coil? Good luck.

add: if you can't fit 1/2" ID & 3/4" OD compressions directly on a CPU block, this often helps - I use them for my CPU block after I changed to compressions for that component.

 

[wolfgheist]

wolfgheist, I did not answer because I don't know about whether two large fittings will fit in spite of Google searches on images, etc. Think the block is too new. I suggest you write Bitspower. Vincent in Taiwan got back to me pretty quickly a few months ago. Their contact email is [email protected] and the website contact page is: http://www.bitspower.com/html/contact/contact.aspx

I am confused on your pump because of the "G3/8". Please link to your pump. That may be a standard D5 vario with 1/2" outlets and 3/8" adapters but if you have the G 1/4" mod, that is good.

Don't know what to say about the BP Summit Block because it's so new and untested. BP had some trouble making VGA card full-covers but nearly all new CPU blocks now fall within 3 to 4°C of the best.

Tubing 1/2" ID & 3/4" OD is fine.

Frozen Q - I don't own one but they look cool and have the correct holes.

EK XTX is an excellent rad when Martin recently tested it, but is thick so may be a challenge to fit. You need to know how much room you have between your ATX board and the top of the case.

Aerocool Shark is rated at 1500 rpm & 800 rpm. If these don't do the job, you may need to go push/pull so will want to consider the case size or whether you can add fans on top. Another option is a thinner rad (alphacool nexxxos UT45 or Swiftech XP? or XSPC EX?) to push/pull if you need it to fit.

The good 120.2 radiator with single fans in push should do OK for just a CPU. You should be able to OC although might need to add push/pull or even a 120.1 depending many volts you use. If you add a VGA card to the loop, you will need more radiator.

And you are going to be using distilled and a silver coil? Good luck.

add: if you can't fit 1/2" ID & 3/4" OD compressions directly on a CPU block, this often helps - I use them for my CPU block after I changed to compressions for that component.

The pump is here MCP655 Modded

For now I am only doing CPU with OC. Down the road I will add the 670 with another RAD. My case (Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition) is supposed be built to house a RAD with 2 x 120mm fans in the top.

That adapter is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[musicfan]

Thanks for the link to the pump - had not seen that mod.

Let's hope I am wrong but I have concerns whether you can fit that 64 mm thick rad in the top of your case. I could not find many build logs (none at OCF). When I looked at this build log (see post #40), the OP took a photo with a blue HW Labs Black Ice Stealth GT (30 mm thick) with standard 25 mm fans underneath. That is 55 mm and you can see from my arrow in the photo, there is not a lot of space left.

Are you sure you can get a 64 mm rad in there with 25 mm fans underneath? Or are you planning on modding? Sorry if you already have this all figured out but I wanted to alert you in case you needed a thinner rad up top.

 

[wolfgheist]

Thanks for the link to the pump - had not seen that mod.

Let's hope I am wrong but I have concerns whether you can fit that 64 mm thick rad in the top of your case. I could not find many build logs (none at OCF). When I looked at this build log (see post #40), the OP took a photo with a blue HW Labs Black Ice Stealth GT (30 mm thick) with standard 25 mm fans underneath. That is 55 mm and you can see from my arrow in the photo, there is not a lot of space left.

Are you sure you can get a 64 mm rad in there with 25 mm fans underneath? Or are you planning on modding? Sorry if you already have this all figured out but I wanted to alert you in case you needed a thinner rad up top.

I think you might have just saved me some return fees.
The odd thing about the photgraph is this. The rad with the fans are only down about 1 3/4" and 55mm should be closer to 2 1/4". The rad and fans I have would be put around 3 1/2", which would be the middle of that first rubber cable slot in the pic.

 

[musicfan]

It's a striking case but is very new so facts are hard to find. I agree it's not a great photo but the other photo I found with Google and forum searches was no better. The back of the case stock photo from Thermaltake (or Newegg) also caught my attention because there is not much space between the top and the exhaust fan.

There are several good thin radiators that can match to 1500 rpm fans. If it was me, I would consider the XSPC EX tested by Bundymania here. It is very close to the RX at 1200 rpm to 1500 rpm where your fans will be at load. From Martin's testing, the Alphacool ST30 or Swiftech XP also look good for slim rads with 1500 rpm fans.

 

[wolfgheist]

It's a striking case but is very new so facts are hard to find. I agree it's not a great photo but the other photo I found with Google and forum searches was no better. The back of the case stock photo from Thermaltake (or Newegg) also caught my attention because there is not much space between the top and the exhaust fan.

There are several good thin radiators that can match to 1500 rpm fans. If it was me, I would consider the XSPC EX tested by Bundymania here. It is very close to the RX at 1200 rpm to 1500 rpm where your fans will be at load. From Martin's testing, the Alphacool ST30 or Swiftech XP also look good for slim rads with 1500 rpm fans.

I actually just found a guy that put in a rad that would be the same as what I am thinking about getting and it looks like it works.

Thermaltake Level 10 GT with 64mm rad and 25mm fans/

 

[musicfan]

That single pic without a log wouldn't be enough for me. Can't see the PSU 4/8 pin to motherboard. And the fans look very close to the MOSFET heatsinks on the motherboard. Would read his build log carefully to see if he had to cut up his fans like the other guy at OCN.

On the other hand, you can try it and return it if it doesn't fit. But it might be easier to get your case and measure the distances for yourself. Then this mystery can be solved.

 

[wolfgheist]

That single pic without a log wouldn't be enough for me. Can't see the PSU 4/8 pin to motherboard. And the fans look very close to the MOSFET heatsinks on the motherboard. Would read his build log carefully to see if he had to cut up his fans like the other guy at OCN.

On the other hand, you can try it and return it if it doesn't fit. But it might be easier to get your case and measure the distances for yourself. Then this mystery can be solved.

I read his log, but he did not do any cutting/modifications. He said it was really tight due to the RAM modules. The problem is I am measuring from the screw mounts for a 240 rad, and I am not getting the same distance as that girl that you linked. Her 30mm + 25mm should have been 2 1/4 inches from the rad mounts, but she was only 1 3/4 inches down. My 64mm + 25mm should be about 3 1/2 inches down, but if something is different about the way it mounts then it would only be 3 inches down and would be more than perfect.

I hate to have to go with a thinner RAD because then I need more noisy fan power.

There are not screw mounts for a 360 RAD, but there is plenty of room up there for one as it would just go into the first 5" bay, that I would not be using anyway so trying to see if anyone has done that with my case. Appreciate the comments, has helped a lot.

 

[wolfgheist]

My next question is about sleeving. I have been reading a lot about heatshrinkless sleeving, and wondering what are some good brands to look at for this? Is there anyone comparable to MDPC? They are rarely open and pricey to boot. Paracord?

 

[wolfgheist]

MDCP was open so I ordered my sleeving from there.

 

[wolfgheist]

Another question. If I mount the fans above the radiator and 'push' air by pulling cooler air from outside of the case, is that better/worse than if I mount the fans below the radiator and 'push' air from inside the case that is hot?

 

[wolfgheist]

Also is the 5 year old Black Ice Radiator the only blue 240 radiator out there?

 

[musicfan]

Also is the 5 year old Black Ice Radiator the only blue 240 radiator out there?

To the best of my knowledge the Black Ice GT Stealth is the only stock PC radiator colored blue available in the US.

To check further I did a search on radiators, went to images, saw the blue rad and clicked on "similar" to get more pictures of blue rads. Then I repeated the search, went to images, and clicked on the color blue. All searches showed the Black Ice GT Stealth but one. It was labeled as an XSPC RS 240 but I couldn't find it at the XSPC website. I did find it at a Hong Kong website but have no idea if the paint is custom.

Those 1500 rpm Blue Sharks won't be ideal for the GT Stealth, which likes fast fans. You could push/pull but that's gets back into fitting the rad. Can't recall if Yate Loon high speeds come in blue LED. They under-volt well to get quiet around 5 volts according to Spawn-Inc, an OCF member. Their top speed is around 2200 rpm at 12v.

There are some tutorials floating around about how to paint rads if you are up to it.

 

[wolfgheist]

Ok, pulled the trigger on my Water cooling setup.

Performance-PCS
1 x Sunbeamtech Power Supply Modding Tool Kit
1 x Black Ice® GT Stealth 240 Highest Performance Radiator
- Radiator Color: Coolmetal Blue
- Fitting Size: 1/2" OD
1 x Bitspower CPU Block Summit EF (Intel) ICE Blue Acrylic Top Version
- Fitting Size: 1/2" Barb for 1/2" ID tube
1 x Swiftech MCP655 G3/8" Threaded Edition 12 VDC Pump With Speed Controller
- Fittings: 2 x Bitspower G3/8" Compression Fitting for ID 1/2" OD 3/4" (BP-CPF-HFCC5)
1 x Bitspower D5 / MCP655 Mod Kit - Blue Finish
1 x FrozenQ Liquid Fusion V Series 250 ml Reservoir - UV Blue (POM)
- Reservoir Brackets: Add UV Fluorescent Blue Mounting Clips
- Cathode Inverter Kit (No Bulbs): Add Cathode Inverter Kit
- Nozzles: Add Pair Bitspower Compression Fitting 1/2" ID 3/4" OD
2 x Aerocool Shark Series 120mm Blue Edition High Air Pressure Fan
2 x Bitspower G1/4 Silver Shiny Dual Rotary 45-Degree Compression Fitting-ID 1/2" OD 3/4"
10 x PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Blue Tubing -1/2in. ID X 3/4in. OD
2 x IandH Silver KillCoils - Antimicrobial .999 Fine Silver Tubing / Reservoir Strip

MDPC
100 meter Pack Sleeve SMALL - WHITE
20 meter Pack Sleeve SMALL - B-MAGIC
5 meter Pack Sleeve SATA - WHITE
5 meter Pack Sleeve SATA - B-MAGIC
1 meter Pack Heatshrink SATA - WHITE
1 meter Pack Heatshrink SATA - BLUE
1 meter Pack Heatshrink SMALL - WHITE
1 meter Pack Heatshrink SMALL - BLUE

 

[Conumdrum]

Also is the 5 year old Black Ice Radiator the only blue 240 radiator out there?

Yep. It's also a very old rad, dating over 5 years. It was one of the first rads made for a PC, when only car heater cores and other DYI stuff was availible. In the day it was great.

It's Xflow, not dual flow etc, really high FPI, but back then heater cores needed massive fans anyway. It's old tech.

Its not hard to paint a rad. You cover the fins and paint the outside, then take the cover off and LIGHTLY dust the fins. Like modern rads, they have a LIGHT dusting on the fins, if you look between the fins way down there is no paint. But from a side angle they look black.

So no BI Stealth, but painting a rad isn't that hard.

 

[musicfan]

Here is a link to testing of the Black Ice Stealth GT. The testing looks similar to the BI GTX, which is what HW Labs was trying for I think. Please read the helpful comments by HESmelaugh too.

Your rig should look great. Do you need supplemental lighting? Have fun with the build. Can't wait for pictures.