First time watercooler - need advice!

[Otter]

One potential problem with mounting a triple rad on the back of a mid-tower is that the PSU exhaust will go through the radiator.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=506308&highlight=PSU+exhaust

Okay, all the parts in my pic down here, will this all work? Anything I am missing at all, or is there something on there I don't need?

You're missing a couple things, but maybe that's because you plan to obtain them locally:
1)Stainless steel worm drive hose clamps.

2)Distilled water, iodine, aquarium algaecide, a small percentage of antifreeze or racing coolant. Or the expensive wonder coolant of your choice.

 

[voigts]

Top mounts are really much easier to manage than rear mounts. You just have such a pain with the cabling and the rad, and I have yet to see a rear mounted rad that looked worth a rip. I would go top mounted with some threaded standoffs.

 

[QuietIce]

Top mounts are really much easier to manage than rear mounts. You just have such a pain with the cabling and the rad, and I have yet to see a rear mounted rad that looked worth a rip. I would go top mounted with some threaded standoffs.

I agree!


And if you want it looking nice get some sheet metal of your choice (copper, Al, stainless) and make a nice looking (but unrestrictive) cage for it ...

 

[jEevion]

Hey guys I appreciate your feedback!

@cr0ss - Yeah NCIX is a great site ... not the LOWEST prices, but pretty close, and outstanding service.
@khriez - I'm not rich, I just happened to conveniently get 3 sizeable cheques around the same time by chance (tax, work bonus & regular pay). Needless to say, it has all been spent, once so far, after the PC is built I would have spent it 2.5 times
@Otter - Yes these are a quick buy at my local shop, but thanks for the heads up!
@voigts - OK here is my dilemna with that suggestion...

Yes I would much prefer to top mount the rad, but the problem is the rad I want (PA 120.3) measures 17", and the top of my case measures 16" .. even if I did get it mounted up there, I would have to run the tube to the back beside the slots, to CPU/GPU/Res, then again out the back into the rad. Also considering that I need to buy a 3x5.25 TO 4xHDD bay converter to put in the 3 5.25 bays, leaving me with one for my DVD drive .. that leaves basically no space at the top of my PC at all. The only way I can see this working is either a rear mount, or an external box, but I do not want that.

I'm going to paintshop a few pics to show you my idea of what I want to do, give me a few minutes.

Again, thanks to all for the help. I will surely get pictures of the build and my entire downstairs rig when it's all done! (Hurry the Eff up R600)

 

[jEevion]

Sorry for the terrible diagram, but here's an idea of what I was thinking.

 

[voigts]

I just looked a some pics of that case, and from what I can see, I'm not so sure that you CAN rear mount it the way that the back has that large plastic curve. I don't see any problem top mounting it with the barbs hanging off the rear of the case and the tubes going in and out via a PCI slot. You would just need to use threaded standoffs high enough to clear the top handles.

That case looks slick, but it is definitely less than desirable to work with for watercooling given the funky curved front and back.

What if you went with the Swiftech MCR320 rad. According to the schematic, it is 16.13" long and 1 3/4"' thick. Would it fit under the case in a bottom mount? I can't tell by the pictures how high up the feet space the bottom, but even if you had to add something to raise the case bottom up a bit, you could possibly mount the rad under the bottom, cut fan holes and holes for the barbs in the bottom of the case, and have the fans in the bottom of the case pulling air in through the rad. It just depends on whether or not the Swiftech rad will fit between the plastic feet on the ends. The specs say 569mm deep which is about 22", so I would think the rad would fit. You may have trouble getting the Thermochill anyway as NCIX doesn't list ready availability on it.

 

[jEevion]

Hi voigts thanks for the reply.

I have the case beside me and have already taken off the rear "curve" .... thankfully NZXT made the rear curve a seperate attachment. The rear appears just as any other case does.

For a better idea, look in my original post under the attachments, pic "back2", that is a pic with the rear attachment off.

Do you see any problems with that loop I have drawn out?

Also the MCR320 would definately not fit under the case. I would have to use a 120.2, and if that were the case I'd mount it to the back anyways.

 

[voigts]

Sounds like you have your mind made up on the rear mount. It should work. My first couple of rads I rear mounted, but it was a pain with the cabling and to me looked sloppy, so I gave up on rear mounting. But that is a matter of personal preference.

As for the tubing routing, what you have will work. I probably would go from the pump-rad-gpu-cpu-res-pump with the way you have it setup, as that way you can get the res at the hightest point and just tip the case on its back when filling to get the air out of the rad. The Thermochill has a bleed screw in the end tank opposite the barbs (on top when mounted this way) for exactly a mount like this to make it easier to get the air out of the rad when filling before bleeding.

 

[jEevion]

Would you still recommend a top mount with longer threaded standoffs? I'm only concerned about having to run a very long loop, as the tubing would run from the top of the case, down the back and in through the PCI slots, and I figured it would just be easier rear mounting it, as the 120mm holes are already there and the only mods I have to do are cut holes for the tubing and remove the lower HDD cage. I don't want to run the tubing through the PCI slots, just seems it would work better if I made holes beside them.

Thanks again for the help.

EDIT also is it necessary to get both a shroud and a radbox?

 

[Otter]

Having the PSU exhaust go through the rad will have a much bigger impact than few extra feet of tubing. If the heat from the PSU goes through the rad, it's going to be about the same as if you were watercooling the power supply too. With an 80% efficient PSU, that means at least 25% more heat to deal with. And because part of your system is aircooled, coolant temps would probably go up more than 25%.

 

[jEevion]

Would it be stupid to go with a PA 120.1 then? Or a 120.2 and top mount it? I really wish there were a way to get a 120.3 mounted on this thing.

 

[Otter]

The PSU exhaust problem could make a 120.3 perform about like a 120.2, but it won't be worse than that. And you could always just block off the top third of the rad until you get a more appropriate case.

I really don't see why you can't mount a 120.3 on top of your current case with standoffs, though, and make a simple baffle to help keep the hot air from going through the rad. The rad might still suck some exhaust, but if it's had a chance to mix with cooler air, the impact won't be too bad.

 

[voigts]

If you want a 120.3 rad, go with a top mount. A couple of extra feet isn't going to make squat of a difference. And I'm telling you, having it on the back can be a real pain (my .02c).

You can have the tubing enter the case however you want to, whether it be through PCI somehow, or through some other holes you drill. There is only so much you can do with the case you have.