Well, a little(Or a lot) of advice is needed.

TLDR at bottom


Well, I'm in the process of building a new PC as money flies at me with paychecks.

So I'm looking at liquid cooling!

All I know I'm that I need an AM3 block, two HD 6870 blocks, and a 240mm RAD for my case. (NZXT Tempest 410 Elite)

So system specs, as I just signed up to this forum (That I DO plan on staying active on!)

AMD FX-4100
ASRock 990FX Extreme3
Crucial 1600MHz 2gb(x4)
2x SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 (Will be shipping soon)
OCZ ZT Series 750W Fully-Modular PSU


So, I was just stopping by here, subscribing to this awesome forum, to ask what I would need for my liquid cooling system.

(How many barbs/compression fittings will I need, how many feet of tubing should I have, and what all would be compatible?)



TL;DR
Could you tell me how many of what I need, and how it's compatible?

Aquacomputer would be the best that's out there. EK is another good company. Also make sure you stick to noble metals like copper. Most of the high end water block with be made from copper. Some might be coated with other metals. No real reason for it, copper does a great job just on its own. As far as liquids, just use distilled water or pure RO DI water and some PT Nuke to keep funk from growing in the tubes. Good luck and ill be following along..

So I was thinking..

Should I start out with a budget kit, and go from there?
I was looking at
http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/kits-cases/kits/ek-kit-h3o-240-ltx.html
and thinking, hey.. not bad, it'd fit in my case, the top has a mount for a 240 which would stop sound right there. (The top of the case is just a big hole, with mesh over it.)

Thats not a bad kit. I would deff consider it. EK makes some good stuff and since they put the kit together, all the parts should be compatible with each other. Also I have that same pump, mount and reservoir. Its a good setup.

Well, you miss quite a few things here... You should start with this one: http://www.overclockers.com/beginners-guide-water-cooling/
One 240 rad for a CPU and 2 GPU's is far from enough. You need AT LEAST 1x240 and 1x360.

manu2b said:

Well, you miss quite a few things here... You should start with this one: http://www.overclockers.com/beginners-guide-water-cooling/
One 240 rad for a CPU and 2 GPU's is far from enough. You need AT LEAST 1x240 and 1x360.

Click to expand...

How would I fit them both in my case though?

SkyChotik said:

How would I fit them both in my case though?

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External, with brackets, but 1 240 will not cool your setup. It's just enough for the CPU.
You really should read the sticky.

If you take a look at the specs for my case, which is the top has room for a dual 240 radiator, which was what I was referring to, of course, and then the back of the case will fit a 120. But that's all I have room for, what could be the best choice I could go?

A single, closed loop for cpu, then the dual 240 on top for GPU's or.. what?

Read the sticky to get a better understanding of water cooling. You need to realize that your hardware is producing heat that needs to be dissipated by the radiator in your loop. A single 240 rad will not be near close enough to cool a CPU and dual 6870 GPUs. Nor will a 240 and a single 120. You need to do your heatload calculations and figure out how much radiator surface area you actually need.

First off, welcome to the forums!. Second, you definitely should read the stickies, and spend a LOT of time learning about water cooling and whatnot, it's quite the long process. You should really read up on this and that, looking up your own parts and making sure YOU know what you're doing before pulling the trigger, this usually lasting for maybe at least a month of researching. I didn't by my parts and my 1st loop until like 3 or 4 months of research. You gotta keep in mind, that though you might make an inexpensive loop, water and electronics DON'T go well together. This means that you are risking your ENTIRE setup as in everything could short circuit and burn, if you do not do this right. ANY amount of water could literally destroy key components of your system. Don't rush this, and just absorb the knowledge provided for you. Trust me, you won't regret it if you take my advice.

Supaduck said:

ANY amount of water could literally destroy key components of your system.

Click to expand...

That's exactly why I was going to purchase pre-bottled non-conductive liquid.
and I'll go and read some stickies, is there a math formula that would possibly explain what kind of radiator surface area I would need?

SkyChotik said:

That's exactly why I was going to purchase pre-bottled non-conductive liquid.
and I'll go and read some stickies, is there a math formula that would possibly explain what kind of radiator surface area I would need?

Click to expand...

Everything you need is in the stickies. Most people here will not be very helpful to you unless you put in the effort of reading and doing research.

But if you read up first and put together your draft of a loop people will gladly help you out tweaking your loop.

I will give you a freebie here.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON PRE-BOTTLED NC FLUIDS.

If done properly just running distilled water will be fine the chance of leaks will be close to 0%.

Hope you will follow our guidance so we can help you on your way to an awesome water cooled setup

manu2b said:

Well, you miss quite a few things here... You should start with this one: http://www.overclockers.com/beginners-guide-water-cooling/
One 240 rad for a CPU and 2 GPU's is far from enough. You need AT LEAST 1x240 and 1x360.

Click to expand...

Nope. My GTX360 can cool my loop without effort, so could my RX360.

@op: Read the stickies, everything's there. Some rules of thumb.

Take your time when installing it. And double, triple, or even quadruple check everything. It is not such an effort and you'll thank yourself when you don't get any leaks.

Aquacomputer is my favourite brand. Everything they do is usually perfect quality. I love their GPU blocks. I use EK though, and they're almost the same. Aquacomputer GPU blocks are better IMHO. I do not recommend EK since they had nickel problems and, well, I don't really trust them a lot anymore. XSPC Raystorm is the best CPU block right now, at least that's what the reviews say.

GentleTyphoons are arguably the best 25mm fans for radiators. If you like silence, I recommend the AP-14 GentleTyphoons. You should buy a RX360 radiator and AP-14s, since that did not fail me. Do not mix copper and aluminum or the atoms will have a party and eventually, make your aluminum parts leak.

The DDC pump should be your election. It's quite powerful to drive your loop. MCP35X, for example. Aim for 3/8" tubing and 3/8" fittings. The 1/2" are also a good choice, but usually fittings are more expensive for 1/2" and there is just 1/8" difference between those two. Not to mention that the fittings thread is G1/4", that is 2/8". 3/8" is enough. I like PrimoChill tubing and EK PSC fittings. Run from prebottled liquids. Just get some DI water and a silver coil and you're good to go. For reservoirs, I love bay reservoirs or the Swiftech Micro (MCRES).

So, to wrap it up. Something like this will do. BUT READ THE STICKIES.

CPU: XSPC RayStorm
GPU: Aquacomputer
PUMP: Any Laing DDC based model, f.ex. Swiftech MCP35X
Res: Look for a bay reservoir, or a MCRES. The MCRESs are lovely.
Tubing: PrimoChill 3/8"
Fittings: EK PSC 3/8"
Radiator: XSPC RX360
Fans: 3x AP-14

SkyChotik said:

That's exactly why I was going to purchase pre-bottled non-conductive liquid.
and I'll go and read some stickies, is there a math formula that would possibly explain what kind of radiator surface area I would need?

Click to expand...

If you really believe that the non-conductive liquid is going to save you then you really really need to do a LOT more reading. The liquid will start off non-conductive just fine, but as the liquid passes through the system, small pieces of metal diffuse into the liquid, making it conductive. In other words, don't waste your time, you'll get better temps and a overall better system using distilled water + a silver kill coil / biocide. Take your time, do it right the first time, and dont worry about it once you know what you're doing.

^ Really?
What's the delta? I guess more than 15°C...

Supaduck said:

If you really believe that the non-conductive liquid is going to save you then you really really need to do a LOT more reading. The liquid will start off non-conductive just fine, but as the liquid passes through the system, small pieces of metal diffuse into the liquid, making it conductive. In other words, don't waste your time, you'll get better temps and a overall better system using distilled water + a silver kill coil / biocide. Take your time, do it right the first time, and dont worry about it once you know what you're doing.

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That's exactly why I came here, for advice.
I know that this will be expensive, but beneficial in the long-run.


Any idea what size of a radiator I would need for only the dual-gpu?
Those are the loudest in my system, and I my fans to shut up.

With a "standard" 8fpi 120.3 (XSPC RX360) you'll be able to drive 2 470s and a i5-2500k 4.5GHz.

@txus: looking at these charts ( http://skinneelabs.com/hwlabs-gtx360/3/ ), I don't see how one GTX360 can handle 120w+2x260w decently, even with top fans.

manu2b said:

@txus: looking at these charts ( http://skinneelabs.com/hwlabs-gtx360/3/ ), I don't see how one GTX360 can handle 120w+2x260w decently, even with top fans.

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I just tell you from my own experience. My GTX360 can handle both Fermis and the i5.

txus.palacios said:

I just tell you from my own experience. My GTX360 can handle both Fermis and the i5.

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If you say so
Any data to back up what you say?