Rad help for Cosmos 2

Hi everyone,

As I'm finalizing my parts for my next build, I only have 2 items left.
My loops consist of the CPU, motherboard, 1x 680, and another 680 in the future.

1) Radiator
2) Reservoir

1) First I read the stickies of water cooling and have researched on and off for about 4 months now, but I still have questions since this is my first time doing a water build. I was wondering if a 120.3 type radiator will be enough for my loop or should I get a 140.3 radiator. If i do get the 140.3 will it fit in my case? I'm thinking about putting the rad on the top of the case, but now im considering to put in on the side since I want the top and back to be exhaust. I have some radiators in mind so I was wondering if I can get some feedback.

NOTE these are only the 120.3 and 120.4, I didn't know if a 140.3 would fit so i didn't really look for any.

1. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14317/ex-rad- 313/EK_Ultimate_Performance_CoolStream_480_XTX_Series_Liquid_Cooling_Radiator_EK-CoolStream_RAD_XTX_480_.html?tl=g30c95s570

2. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9391/ex-rad-160/XSPC_RX480_Quad_120mm_Radiator.html?tl=g30c95s570

3. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...EK-CoolStream_RAD_XTX_360_.html?tl=g30c95s161

4. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8...riple_120mm_Radiator_Rev_2.html?tl=g30c95s161


2) For the reservoir, I have no Idea which one to get... I've been waiting for my case from newegg so I can take measurements but it hasn't arrived yet. Any one have any recommendations?

Oh and if anyone is curious these are the parts I have for my water loop so far.

1. Tubing
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...ter_12ID_x_34OD_-_UV_Blue.html?tl=g30c99s1614

2. CPU block
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...t_info&cPath=59_971_498_490&products_id=34462

3. GPU block
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...t_info&cPath=59_971_240_579&products_id=35784

4. Pump
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...ump_-_Ultra_Version_41061.html?tl=g30c107s153

Feedback will be much appreciated

I have a Cosmos II and I dont know how a four fan rad would fit on the roof... it only has holes for 3 fans? (120mm) :L

The 3 fan one most likely will unless your mobo is huge like my SR-2

Although, apparently, if you remove the lower HDD cages you can put radiators in, Ive seen through my research (although it is unrelated to my build, since I'm going to use strictly air, I still remember it... go figure...)

But I don't know what size.

Culbrelai said:

I have a Cosmos II and I dont know how a four fan rad would fit on the roof... it only has holes for 3 fans? (120mm) :L

The 3 fan one most likely will unless your mobo is huge like my SR-2

Although, apparently, if you remove the lower HDD cages you can put radiators in, Ive seen through my research (although it is unrelated to my build, since I'm going to use strictly air, I still remember it... go figure...)

But I don't know what size.

Click to expand...

Here's one with 4, and I believe it has the same mobo as you do.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?278143-Cosmos-II-(Liquid-Edition)

And if I can fit a 3 fan rad on the side that would be great, otherwise I'll have to go with the top

A quote from the builder of the case you had liked to ....

Its also worth mentioning that due to the motherboard locating so close to the ceiling of the chassis, you can also only use a slim radiator like the XSPC EX series as anything thicker will hit the motherboard and those hoping to run push/pull, forget it.

Click to expand...

This confirms what I had found when using this case. I put a thin 280 rad up top .... 30mm thick which I had issues getting in there with fans on the bottom. Allyour rads you had linked to are all thick rads and could give you issues when installing.

Take a look through my thread on my build you will see how tight it is up top.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715371&highlight=tamer

bassnut said:

A quote from the builder of the case you had liked to ....



This confirms what I had found when using this case. I put a thin 280 rad up top .... 30mm thick which I had issues getting in there with fans on the bottom. Allyour rads you had linked to are all thick rads and could give you issues when installing.

Take a look through my thread on my build you will see how tight it is up top.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715371&highlight=tamer

Click to expand...

Your thread was very helpful, thanks.
Do you recommend me to go with dual rads like the one you have
or should I go with a single 120.3 up top. Whats the biggest radiator
the bottom part of the case can hold?

Knight51 said:

Your thread was very helpful, thanks.
Do you recommend me to go with dual rads like the one you have
or should I go with a single 120.3 up top. Whats the biggest radiator
the bottom part of the case can hold?

Click to expand...

Any slim radiator will work (35mm or slimmer). Anything thicker than that, you wont be able to install the rad inside the case. It will block the mobo from being installed.

Slim 360 will fit w/o any case modifications. A slim 480 will fit w/ modifications.

You can a 360 rad downstairs but your PS will stick out. If you dont want that, 240 will fit.

Ironsmack said:

Any slim radiator will work (35mm or slimmer). Anything thicker than that, you wont be able to install the rad inside the case. It will block the mobo from being installed.

Slim 360 will fit w/o any case modifications. A slim 480 will fit w/ modifications.

You can a 360 rad downstairs but your PS will stick out. If you dont want that, 240 will fit.

Click to expand...

I see, thanks for the info. So would this be sufficient cooling setup.

one 360 up top with push pull, and a 240 or smaller push pull on the buttom?

you wont get a push pull on the top rad as it is not possible to get the 3rd or front fan in the top of the case. As far as how thick a rad you can use on the bottom mine is 54mm thick with GT AP29 fan on the front as well as an empty fan frame, another 50mm to allow for the rad / fan combo to fill out as much width of the bottom part of the case. There still is a bit more room all told you shoud have about 110mm to 115mm or so in width you can fill with rad and fans.

bassnut said:

you wont get a push pull on the top rad as it is not possible to get the 3rd or front fan in the top of the case. As far as how thick a rad you can use on the bottom mine is 54mm thick with GT AP29 fan on the front as well as an empty fan frame, another 50mm to allow for the rad / fan combo to fill out as much width of the bottom part of the case. There still is a bit more room all told you shoud have about 110mm to 115mm or so in width you can fill with rad and fans.

Click to expand...

I see, I just got the case today, so hopefully I'll have a diagram this weekend. do you think I need two rads?

If you are looking to cool a CPU, 2 X 680 GPU and Chipsets with just a slim 360mm rad you will be running some very noisy fans to accomplish this. Have you figured out your heat load for all this? What CPU are you using in this build?

To be honnest you really don't need to cool your chipset on the MB I would drop those blocks and just concintrate on your GPU and CPU for now and yes you will need the 2 rads for that so you can run some normal fans to keep the noise down, at least in my opinion.

bassnut said:

If you are looking to cool a CPU, 2 X 680 GPU and Chipsets with just a slim 360mm rad you will be running some very noisy fans to accomplish this. Have you figured out your heat load for all this? What CPU are you using in this build?

To be honnest you really don't need to cool your chipset on the MB I would drop those blocks and just concintrate on your GPU and CPU for now and yes you will need the 2 rads for that so you can run some normal fans to keep the noise down, at least in my opinion.

Click to expand...

Ohh amazing post. bassnut, I never dug into the builders parts in this thread.

The OP wants TWO 680, chipsets and CPU on one 120x3 rad? No matter the 120x3 rad the OP is wayyyy underraded. We know the system will overheat easily when the GPUs get stressed in gaming usage. No matter what even at stock clocks the OP will need 120x5 rad space, more if a big overclocker.

Let's see if the OP replies to yours and my post. Good catch.

Thanks Conumdrum. I really have not had a lot of time to post much here lately just cought that myself today.

His plans are for this build is cpu and 1 680 now and another 680 later down the road.

Sorry for the late reply, been busying studying for midterms. But yes I agree that the MB blocks aren't that important, I just thought I include them in the loops since I go the ASrock OC Formula, but for my CPU I'm using an i7 3770k.
I'll probably go with two rads, one on the bottom and the other on top, I haven't really decide on which ones yet. But yes overall I'll just be doing a loop for the CPU and 2 680s. I'll most likely have a diagram of my plans tomorrow after my test. Thanks for the help guys

Ok sorry for the late response. I thought about my configuration and I currently have 2. I think I might go with a similar setup to your's bassnut.

1) 360 rad or smaller on top with either Res in bay or out
2) 360 rad on top with a 240 on the buttom same res setup

I have a really bad diagram of my potential setup hahah.
Sorry bout that...

OP, don't mean to change topic, but are you sure you want to pay some $350 for a plastic case that is really crowded? Have you looked at caselabs, for a bit more, you can get a full aluminum case that is far better than cosmos in all aspects. You also won't have to worry about if this or that fits in the case as their cases are quite roomy.

DerStig said:

OP, don't mean to change topic, but are you sure you want to pay some $350 for a plastic case that is really crowded? Have you looked at caselabs, for a bit more, you can get a full aluminum case that is far better than cosmos in all aspects. You also won't have to worry about if this or that fits in the case as their cases are quite roomy.

Click to expand...

I'm kind of stuck with the case since I already purchased it, and I have looked at case labs before, I don't really like the looks of them but I'm sure they're more accessible. Also I really liked the design of the cosmos 2 except for the clearance issue, and u got it for 299 free shipping, also jw what does op stand for?

Don't bother with 2 loops. That case isn't roomy and you'd be frustrated with organizing things.

And forget the bay res, because it will interfere with the barbs/fittings/tube from the top radiator.

In my case, a single Vario 655 is plenty for a CPU block, (2) GPU block and (2) rads. So if you can - go with a M35x, its small, compact, powerful enough for your loop.

Suggestion, buy as much angled fittings as you can. It definitely helps with this case. Trust me, once you get all your parts - you'd know what i mean about being cramp.

Ironsmack said:

Don't bother with 2 loops. That case isn't roomy and you'd be frustrated with organizing things.

And forget the bay res, because it will interfere with the barbs/fittings/tube from the top radiator.

In my case, a single Vario 655 is plenty for a CPU block, (2) GPU block and (2) rads. So if you can - go with a M35x, its small, compact, powerful enough for your loop.

Suggestion, buy as much angled fittings as you can. It definitely helps with this case. Trust me, once you get all your parts - you'd know what i mean about being cramp.

Click to expand...

I think my horrible diagram wasn't descriptive enough haha, I'm only doing a single loop, I was trying to get feedback on the placement of the parts

Ironsmack said:

Don't bother with 2 loops. That case isn't roomy and you'd be frustrated with organizing things.

And forget the bay res, because it will interfere with the barbs/fittings/tube from the top radiator.

In my case, a single Vario 655 is plenty for a CPU block, (2) GPU block and (2) rads. So if you can - go with a M35x, its small, compact, powerful enough for your loop.

Suggestion, buy as much angled fittings as you can. It definitely helps with this case. Trust me, once you get all your parts - you'd know what i mean about being cramp.

Click to expand...

I have the Same case.
I went with a slim 360 at the top.
you can put a bay res in It may be a tight fit but you can do it i did it for a while then removed my old dvd drive and moved the bay res down 1 slot and left my Blu ray burner in the last one. The only reason i did this was so i could add another fan to the bottom of the Rad. you won't be able to do full push-pull on the rad but you can get 3 fans on top and 1 on the bottom if you don't use your top drive bay.

To the Op i agree this case is way more appealing than the plain case labs cases. if i wanted something plain with a lot of space i'd make a case out of aluminum my self. for way cheaper.

If you have any questions on the case case and making things fit let me know i may be able to help.

Liquid_3D said:

I have the Same case.
I went with a slim 360 at the top.
you can put a bay res in It may be a tight fit but you can do it i did it for a while then removed my old dvd drive and moved the bay res down 1 slot and left my Blu ray burner in the last one. The only reason i did this was so i could add another fan to the bottom of the Rad. you won't be able to do full push-pull on the rad but you can get 3 fans on top and 1 on the bottom if you don't use your top drive bay.

To the Op i agree this case is way more appealing than the plain case labs cases. if i wanted something plain with a lot of space i'd make a case out of aluminum my self. for way cheaper.

If you have any questions on the case case and making things fit let me know i may be able to help.

Click to expand...

thanks for the info, what do you think about this setup.

slim 360 on top, like a black ice gts stealth and a 240 on the bottom with push-pull, and I think I'll skip the bay res and get a standing one, maybe a frozen q, and put the below the res next to or in the extra drive bays?

Oh and can someone tell me what op stands for plz