Water cooling for under $200

[gigabit]

You can try the swiftech h20-220 compact cooler here at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108105

pretty good fore the price. Pump and CPU block are one unit so it keeps things neater and easier to setup. Plus the kit gives you plenty of t fittings and all that other junk to expand the system down the road like you want to.

You can see my review on that page, the one by slb785

Thats what im using right now and i got my Q9400 at 3.6ghz.And its running pretty cool.idle is 32/35/35/32.But its not really idle i have some downloads going on so knock like 3 to 4c off each core for idle

 

[TheThermaltaker]

I've been talking to someone about tubing and he suggested 7/16 Tygon. After adding shipping it would cost about $10 more for 7/16" Tygon than it would 1/2," should I go with that? I'm nearly finished with planning the setup, the only things I haven't figured out are the tubes, clamps, and barbs. Since 7/16" tubes are such a tight fit, would I have to worry about clamps as much? Because these look a lot better than these ones. I'm going to replace the stock plastic barbs on the reservoir with some of these, but I have two questions. Are there any other plastic barbs on the parts I'm getting? And would you recommend these barbs, or other ones?

Also, do I need to clean my parts before use? Because one guide I read recommends a giant cleaning process that sounds like a pain to do. If they do need to be cleaned, would running the system for an hour with some distilled water, then draining and replacing it with the water and PT Nuke solution be enough?

 

[Blazing fire]

Oh I'll like to add. Read this up: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showpost.php?p=3114991&postcount=5

Don't worry. I dipped my tubes in hot water (I suspect it is around 60-80). My durelene tubes became soft and I was able to go over my 12mm bitspower barb easily. For 3 months now, no leaks even without clamps (with the exception of my CPU block).

Just flush it about 5 times using distilled water you find in your super market. You don't need any sauce or acidic substances like vinegar. For example, fill your radiator up , shake it and drain it and repeat the process 5 times or more. If you want it really clean, use what mudoctor said. Do note the price. One of the filter cost more than your water cooling setup. Of course, I am joking.

http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=5871985&postcount=5
http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=5872723&postcount=6

 

[Conumdrum]

I've been talking to Blazing Fire about tubing and he suggested 7/16 Tygon. After adding shipping it would cost about $10 more for 7/16" Tygon than it would 1/2," should I go with that? I'm nearly finished with planning the setup, the only things I haven't figured out are the tubes, clamps, and barbs. Since 7/16" tubes are such a tight fit, would I have to worry about clamps as much? Because these look a lot better than these ones. I'm going to replace the stock plastic barbs on the reservoir with some of these, but I have two questions. Are there any other plastic barbs on the parts I'm getting? And would you recommend these barbs, or other ones?

Also, do I need to clean my parts before use? Because one guide I read recommends a giant cleaning process that sounds like a pain to do. If they do need to be cleaned, would running the system for an hour with some distilled water, then draining and replacing it with the water and PT Nuke solution be enough?

Please run clamps or something. The plastic ones are ocassionally underclamped, and can pop off if overclamped. The barbs you chose are just fine. I don't think any other parts have plastic. And 7/16" kinks easier. It's your money, so do what ya want, I really don't worry about it. I just say what I think is proper for especially new users, we want you to be happy. Do you want to ruin a Mobo? A PSU? Once your at it a while sure, but please run more than tight hose this time. You might do it wrong, no offense, but I've read about it more than a few times. Cutting corners with cost, bad advise, poor methodology etc......

Not a pain, it's fun. Open the pump inspect for 'stuff', mine had packing foam pieces inside, rinse out the blocks with hot sink water, then rinse with distilled should be enough. I should of opened my CPU block, it had a bit of gasket material in it, not enough to cause issues, didn't find it till my first full rebuild (Ever 6 months is recommended by many). The rad needs major cleaning. Fill with almost boiling water (sink water is fine) let sit 10 min or so to cool a bit, empty 1/2 out or so, shake like a crazy man for a few min. Pour it a glass bowl, if water has no particles, do it 3 more times, then rinse with distilled. Rince hoses and res too. Wipe hands with alcohol (keep away from plastics!!!) to remove oils on your fingers that will leave tarnish marks on the copper in a few weeks. Practice putting hose and clamps on, properly tightening barbs etc BEFORE you start putting stuff on the Mobo.

It's FUN, play with it, no rush. Took me 3 days to get my first loop up. It's a hobby and the experiance is meant to be savored.

 

[Blazing fire]

And 7/16" kinks easier

I'm afraid you're mistaken.

Source: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=157370
Author: virtualrain
Topic/tittle: "Tubing Review - 18 Types of Tubing Reviewed [56k warning]"

Summary:

Overall, the best tubing for kink resistance is one which has the thickest walls in proportion to it's diameter with the highest durometer being a second consideration. Thus the Tygon R-3603 7/16" ID with 11/16" OD (1/8" wall thickness) provides the best kink resistance of the tubing suitable for 1/2" barbs. For 3/8" tubing, the Primoflex 3/8" ID - 5/8" OD (1/8" wall) is by far the best choice for kink resistance on tight bends.

I agree on getting good clamps (although I don't use them, for I couldn't care less about my computer). Kindly read my PM and my above post on what clamps to buy.

 

[TheThermaltaker]

Please run clamps or something. The plastic ones are ocassionally underclamped, and can pop off if overclamped. The barbs you chose are just fine. I don't think any other parts have plastic. And 7/16" kinks easier. It's your money, so do what ya want, I really don't worry about it. I just say what I think is proper for especially new users, we want you to be happy. Do you want to ruin a Mobo? A PSU? Once your at it a while sure, but please run more than tight hose this time. You might do it wrong, no offense, but I've read about it more than a few times. Cutting corners with cost, bad advise, poor methodology etc......

Not a pain, it's fun. Open the pump inspect for 'stuff', mine had packing foam pieces inside, rinse out the blocks with hot sink water, then rinse with distilled should be enough. I should of opened my CPU block, it had a bit of gasket material in it, not enough to cause issues, didn't find it till my first full rebuild (Ever 6 months is recommended by many). The rad needs major cleaning. Fill with almost boiling water (sink water is fine) let sit 10 min or so to cool a bit, empty 1/2 out or so, shake like a crazy man for a few min. Pour it a glass bowl, if water has no particles, do it 3 more times, then rinse with distilled. Rince hoses and res too. Wipe hands with alcohol (keep away from plastics!!!) to remove oils on your fingers that will leave tarnish marks on the copper in a few weeks. Practice putting hose and clamps on, properly tightening barbs etc BEFORE you start putting stuff on the Mobo.

It's FUN, play with it, no rush. Took me 3 days to get my first loop up. It's a hobby and the experiance is meant to be savored.

I'm too OCD to run the loop clampless, don't worry. Is 7/16" tight enough of a fit to allow the better looking plastic clamps or should I go with worm drive? I'm going to take your advice and clean it. Should I wear some powderless gloves when doing the cleaning, or would rubbing my hands with alcohol and using Purell every few minutes be better? Would you recommend 1/2" over 7/16" tubing? If I'm getting clear tubing I'd like to add some blue UV dye, is the one I linked to earlier a good one?

 

[Conumdrum]

You can use dye. I can link you to many threads about how long UV dye lasts, mixing with PT-nuke can in time make fun clumps etc. Some have run it with no issues. Problem is which one? I know peeps been using Fesser UV liquid with few problems. The new UV tubing by Feser is colored in many colors and UV's nicely. The most trouble free is distilled and one of the Petras liquids like PT-Nuke or Tygon silver tubing, or the new silver coils for the tubing/res that out. You choose.

Search here, google and at xtreme stsyems before you decide. Danger Den, Petras, Jabtech, Sidewinder, Performance PC's are my favs.

Don't need gloves, don't need anything more than a good wipe of the hands with a paper towel with house alcohol after washing your hands. Don't know what Purell is. Your just getting rid of the Burger King french fry oil off your hands if you get my drift.

My rig is on an open piece of wood on a tech station. It's ugly. I don't care how it looks, I believe on ease of maintenance and function over looks. So meh.. Clamps that clamp best is what I use.

 

[Blazing fire]

Regarding plastic vs metal clamps. I say go with metal if you don't want a leak. Look up the following:

For a good seal, use oversized barbs + high quality metal clamps. So you may want 7/16"ID, 11/16"OD tubes over 12mm barbs. As for clamps, go to http://www.mcmaster.com/ and search for "53175K". It should be under catalog page 251. Either that or "Type 430 Stainless Steel Nonperforated Worm-Drive Hose and Tube Clamps" under catalog page 249.

 

[TheThermaltaker]

Tell me what you guys think:

Reservoir: Swiftech Micro Rev 2

Pump: Swiftech 655

Radiator: Swiftech MCR320 with 6 Yate Loon medium speed fans.

CPU Water Block: Swiftech GTZ

VGA Water Block: MCW60 with adapter and GTX 200 heatsink

Clamps: Worm drives

Tubing: 7/16" ID 11/16" OD Tygon tubing

Coolant: Distilled water with a few drops of PT Nuke

The only thing I haven't figured out is what barbs to get for the reservoir.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/big1sishfifo.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/dadenhiflfi1.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/eng14hiflfif.html



Am I missing anything? And is there anything you guys would change?

 

[axis01]

On the PT Nuke question, DON'T USE MORE THAN WHAT'S RECOMMENDED, which is 1-2drops for a normal sized loop. Adding more can cause problems. PT Nuke makes the water acidic and too much will start to eat your parts. There's a few threads about it on XS. Iandh is selling silver tubing inserts that allow you to run straight distilled. Silver is a natural biocide all by itself. You can get them at Petras but they seem to be OOS at the moment.

Axis

 

[Spawn-Inc]

hmm, i think i will drain my loop, do you have any links to the threads on it axis?

Tell me what you guys think:

Reservoir: Swiftech Micro Rev 2

Pump: Swiftech 655

Radiator: Swiftech MCR320 with 6 Yate Loon medium speed fans.

CPU Water Block: Swiftech GTZ

VGA Water Block: MCW60 with adapter and GTX 200 heatsink

Clamps: Worm drives

Tubing: 7/16" ID 11/16" OD Tygon tubing

Coolant: Distilled water with a few drops of PT Nuke

The only thing I haven't figured out is what barbs to get for the reservoir.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/big1sishfifo.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/dadenhiflfi1.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/eng14hiflfif.html



Am I missing anything? And is there anything you guys would change?

either set of barbs are good, i went with all swiftech my self, only because its there stuff i was putting it on.

if you didn't select any barbs with the rad, it won't ship with any. also the MCW60 has plastic ones, not metal.

other than that it looks good to go.

 

[TheThermaltaker]

hmm, i think i will drain my loop, do you have any links to the threads on it axis?



either set of barbs are good, i went with all swiftech my self, only because its there stuff i was putting it on.

if you didn't select any barbs with the rad, it won't ship with any. also the MCW60 has plastic ones, not metal.

other than that it looks good to go.

So I should get 6 barbs then? I'm leaning towards the Swiftech, mainly because I'm using mostly Swiftech parts.

 

[Spawn-Inc]

6 barbs would cover all the parts and the GTZ comes with metal barbs.

 

[gigabit]

http://www.petrastechshop.com/pecod4.html

 

[gottcha]

After putting mine together tonight things i wish i got when i ordered my stuff.... Barbs that are shorter that the ones that come with the Res.(there are like an 1-1/2 inches long) makes for some tight bends. the barbs on the GTZ are perfect size. OH and some 90 degrees barbed elbows or some 45 degree elbows would have made for a much easier installation.

As far as clamps..... if you have 1/2" barbs and 7/16" id tubing.... well i would say the plastic ones are fine. Mine fit on so tight that if this wasn't my first time water cooling i would feel comfortable without clamps!

I am no expert in water cooling just sharing my 2 cents.

 

[baditude_df]

Stay away from 90 degree elbows, or 45 deg elbows for that matter. Keep your loop as absolutely simple as possible with as few obstructions and bends as possible.

 

[gottcha]

Stay away from 90 degree elbows, or 45 deg elbows for that matter. Keep your loop as absolutely simple as possible with as few obstructions and bends as possible.

With the power of the pump I wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference. but like i said before i'm no expert.

 

[TheThermaltaker]

After looking at it more I've started to like this Feser tubing. It's cheaper and looks better, but the only thing I worry about is the 1/2" ID. With some worm clamps like these, is 7/16" still important? And does anyone know of some high quality blue 7/16" tubing? I'm definitely staying away from dyes, so unless I find some good blue tubing I'm going to be running clear tubes with clear liquid. Also, I planned on going with distilled water, but have no idea what the differences are between distilled and de-ionized. Which water is better?

 

[axis01]

hmm, i think i will drain my loop, do you have any links to the threads on it axis?

Here's the latest one. Not completely PT Nuke fault but everyone agrees that it played a big part. This guy used 10 drops instead of the recommended 1-2.

Axis

 

[TheThermaltaker]

Here's the latest one. Not completely PT Nuke fault but everyone agrees that it played a big part. This guy used 10 drops instead of the recommended 1-2.

Axis

Interesting read. Why the hell would someone put that much PT Nuke in their loop in the first place? It seems like common sense that when you use 5 times the recommended dose of a chemical things aren't going to go well. To add that much of it to combat corrosion would be like to take a half bottle of Tylenol because you have a really bad migraine.

I can't seem to find much on the metal composition of what I'm getting, but am I going to have to worry about galvanic corrosion or are my parts all non-aluminum?