Designing a WC loop for friend and me

[Neuromancer]

His comes first and is about performance. With an option for price/performance

Mine comes second and is about price/performance/quietness.

So far from my research there really isnt that much difference in price/performance except for the radiator. Thermochill for best. GTS for second best for much much less (which works for me as i was thinking a GTS anyway because I wouldnt have to apint the rad)

ANywho

Performance

• Thermochill 120.3
• MCP355 with alphacooltop and 1/2" barbs or the 655 (or that Iwaki in the Classies)
• Apogee GTX

Price/Performance

• Black Ice GTS (any color) Swiftech MCR320
• mcp355 unmodded
• Fuzion waterblock (better for mulitblock systems, and supposedly has a bling factor although I didnt look at pics just stats and prices)

Other Stuff for both Catagory
Tubing clamps and res vs Tline.. I prefer Res although harder to fill / bleed... means more water and thats never bad.
No particulare recommendation for res... if he has room a 2x 5.25" or eve na 3x T line is cheap with hardware parts.. .looks crappy though (imho)
Go with:Microres

Tubing, tygon = best or masterkleer = second (or is it masterclear) 1/2" I(D or 7/16"
Go with: Masterclear
Clamps = best Thoses screw on jobbies, dont know what they are called so cant find them,, but I think that would be the best. Price/Performance= cheap *** worm drives. (the metal screw driven things)
Go with: Standard Worm Drives

Those hose ani-kninking things
The cheap plastic ones I found looked like crap and the first WC package I got had them... they sucked.. Did there job but once on they stayed on (I didnt put them on so I dont know how easy that was) I know trying to pull htem off they just shattered. I saw some metall rings that looked great...dont know what they are though
Go With: Nothing thick wall tubing doesnt need them

Added (cant beleive I forgot to mention this originally)
Fans
Go with: Yate Loon D12SL-12


MY personal WC kit will be the least expensive of the two...
Go with: 355 pump barb and bridge modded, yates already mentioned or the lighted ones, MCR320 Tubing :?

Tips suggestions? (Oh I looked for Iwaki pumps online... and couldnt find any, only thing I found was an XS link that led to parts... I thought Iwaki was trhe flow/head king... but figuring it out is a little beyond me i guess

 

[OCnewbee]

I would run the MCP655 with that 120.3pa rad, as for the price/performance i would use the MCR series rad over the BI GTS, Seem more people on here run those over the BI series rad. Tubing wise i run a 1/2"id 3/4"od and have no need for SMartcoils or coolsleeves(the anti kink thingys). When you run a thicker od you won't need to use them, only on thin walled tubing like the tygon 1/2"id 5/8"od, that stuff kink very easily. The 7/16 tubing with go on very snug over the 1/2" barbs, some people use that with out hose clamps. For a res i run the Swiftec Microres, Fills very easy with the fill port option. You can run a tube from a fillport down to the top of the res and fill the loop without having to open the case if you like. For clamps i use the plastic re-usable clamps been using them in my loop for over a year no and no leaks (knock on wood.) But if you are going to use metal clamps get the ones with the smooth inner area so the clamp does not eat into the tubing.

 

[Neuromancer]

Good suggestions thanks. I will look into the MCRs. I have half plastic clamps and half screw calmps.. I got a little nutty tightening the plastic ones down and shattered three of them, then I lost another thats why im using half screw clamps.

 

[Otter]

Looks like you've got a fairly good handle on things. If you want extreme quiet, you'll probably prefer the mcp350 over the 355. The good news is that it's apparently the same pump except for one solder bridge. Warranty service might be a problem if you get the 355 and break the bridge, though. I haven't tried it, but you might be able to make the bridge on the 350 with graphite (from a pencil).
http://forum.effizienzgurus.de/f23/howto-laing-pro-zur-ultra-umloeten-t1106.html#overview

Keep in mind that the DDC/350/355 has 3/8" barbs molded into the top. Hence if you don't modify it, and you want to use larger tubing, you'll need adapters. Or you could run 3/8" tubing to the the components on either side of the pump and use 1/2" or 7/16" for the rest of the loop. Be sure you get both 3/8" and 1/2" barbs if you want to do this.

Though modifying the top makes a huge difference to the MCP350, the impact is less with the more powerful 355. Hence, the performance w/ price option rig might start out with an unmodified 355. Your friend could always add the top later if he thought he needed it.

You can also modify the stock top yourself for a low-cost, warranty-voiding upgrade.
http://www.systemcooling.com/mcp350_mod-01.html
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=1440226

I'll second OCnewbee's rec for the MCR rad over the GTS, especially for a low cost rig. Same for the Swiftech Microres. I've never used a res myself, but people who have these seem to like them.

I'm not sure that you wouldn't be better off with the Fuzion on both rigs. I was distracted for a month or so, did Nikhsub finish his testing?

Worm drive clamps are very hard to beat. I'm not sure what screw-on jobbies you mean, but they won't have any more than bling over stainless steel worm drive clamps.

7/16ID-5/8"OD vs. 1/2"ID-3/4"OD is a wash. The smaller tubing is a closer match to the ID of 1/2" barbs which gives you less turbulence, offsetting the slightly higher restriction for the narrower bore. And the restriction for either size is negligible at the flow rates you'll get with a 355 or 655 anyway.

For the quiet, price/performance rig, the Yate Loon D12SL-12 is great fan and only costs about 3 bucks.

 

[Neuromancer]

Wow thanks for the details and the links!

The difference between the Fuzion and the GTX I got from XS, but hte caveat is that use must "bow" it (use the fatter Oring) and lots of people mention backplates (not really sure what that is), I think I have an idea just have not looked it up yet to see im right, im guessing an insert between the block and mount plate (requires dissambling the WB).

The screw n jobbies I mentioned (I am so technical I know) are the quick connect kind that TT uses and see to get lots of raves. Do not know how it effects restriction etc, but they do look a lot smarter then the worm drives I think. I supposed special barbs would need to be purchased too. Worms are definitly the Price/Performance king

Looked up the MCR320 and though cant find straight comaprisons (jsut breezed through) everyone seems to recommend the MCR320 and says it performs about equal to a thermochill 120.2 with same fans. Thats pretty impressive considering costs less then half what a 120.2 does too! lol


Yate loons definitly for him... I want some blingy on mine and am going to try and find the best performing blue led fan (or clear fans and I will led it myself if I have too).

 

[CCUABIDExORxDIE]

screw on jobbies are basically only uses on tubing thats 3/8th id at the most....you wont find that for 1/2id. and the screw on jobbies are the barbs. worm drive clamps are the way to go. they are infact the expensive clamp, some people use none at all, or zipties.

and yate loon makes a blue led fan.

as far as radiators go, its all relative, what do you plan on cooling and do you want things mondo silent?

and be weary about buying a mcp355, the new revision, revision 3.2 really blows, it lacks the performance that the old mcp355's had.

7/16th tubing all the way. tygon is nice, but isnt needed, i actually have both tygon and masterkleer here with me, and i like masterkleer better, despite the fact that the tygon is softer.

 

[Neuromancer]

Rad for me is going to be multi blocked.

For my buddy he will start with just his c2d (6300 and 6600 he wants to try it on both.). Although once he starts im sure he will want to WC his 8800 also.. which is why I suggest the 3x rad. (Plus I ran a BIX 1 fan rad and it wasnt enough for an AMD IMHO.. let alone a blast furnace 6300)

 

[Otter]

Looked up the MCR320 and though cant find straight comaprisons (jsut breezed through) everyone seems to recommend the MCR320 and says it performs about equal to a thermochill 120.2 with same fans. Thats pretty impressive considering costs less then half what a 120.2 does too! lol

I think it's better than that. I've seen one test that placed the MCR320 about equal with the PA120.2, however, both BillA and Cathar give the PA series only about a 10-15% advantage over the MCR. (Cathar didn't actually name the MCR in the post I'm taking this from, but I'm pretty sure that's what he was talking about.) When those two agree on something, that is a good indication that it's true. Hence I suspect something went wrong with the test that places the PA rads so far ahead.

 

[inkfx]

I've got an MCR320 myself and absolutely love it. This thing does an awesome job at cooling my CPU and GPU even when the fans are at 7v. The price is probably my favorite part.

 

[Neuromancer]

Great well his is decided then .. I mean my input to it is (one of hte first two options or combination of parts..)

I updated the original post with strikeout or yellow font for the changes.

Oh Im still up in the air about my tubing. I am pretty sure I want softer stuff so going to go with tygon and grab some of the metal anti-kink things JIC.

 

[CCUABIDExORxDIE]

think about buying tygon before you do, seriously its like 2 bucks more a foot for the same tubing...not worth it imo, i got mine because it was super cheap, i think i got 10ft for 10 bucks.

 

[||Console||]

Next Time i replace My tubs I will be going to Silver tubes .

 

[myndlessdayz]

How crazy would it be to have a silver TUB

Back to tpoic, I just redid my loop recently... with my remaining 7/16" Next time I may go silver also. Seeing as I always end up changing tubes every 6-9 months for growth (I run straight distilled water). I'm not a friend to additives anymore. Too many risks or hazards and also to many choices.

 

[Neuromancer]

Looking at finally doing this. Was wondering if these part lists was still the best bang for the buck

Thanks.