Planning a water cooling setup

[BlakAcid]

I'm currently planning on adding a custom water loop into my system in the near future. The reason being is the I like to run SLI cards and the temperatures are too high for my liking during long sessions of gaming.

My current setup is as follows:
CM HAF 932
Asus Sabertooth x58
Core i7 920
Noctua NH-D14
MSI GTX 570 Twin Frozr II

I believe this will be all that will be run under water (eventually, and so-to-speak). Currently I have one 570 right now (a side-grade move from dual 460's because temps were unacceptable to me). I will be adding another 570 later on. Right now I am using FrozenCPU's website to get an idea of the cost of parts and will be linking to that site exclusively. This is not to say that I am dead-set on ordering from them; they just happen to have a large variety of items/manufacturers and its easy for me to dump everything into a cart and ball-park the costs.

One question I have is concerning quick disconnects. Outside of ease of use (quickly separating parts of the loop, less leakage, etc.), what are the benefits to them and can the cost be justified? For each end of a hose I would want this installed on it will run 27.98$ total (1 Male and 1 Female connections). Also, exactly how many of these things will I need for a full single GPU loop and an SLI GPU loop?

Another big question I have is concerning pressure inside the case and how this will affect the loop. As it stands now, here is my fan setup:

1x 200mm front intake fan
1x 200mm top exhaust fan
1x 140mm rear exhaust fan
1x 120mm bottom intake fan
2x 120mm side intake fans
2x 120mm side exhaust fans

The four side fans are arranged in a 2x2 block with the bottom two being intake and the top two being exhaust. The bottom two blow almost directly onto the video card.

Obviously I will be getting rid of the top exhaust fan in place of a radiator. As far as fans go with the radiator, is there a major improvement with a push/pull fan setup (fans on both sides of the radiator) versus a single row of fans? Also, in a single row scenario, which is more beneficial: to have the fans push the air through the radiator or pull the air through the radiator (fans on top or fans on bottom).

Barring the top fan, which fans would I want to keep and which would I want to get rid of. All of the 120mm fans are Scythe Kaze slim fans. The others are the stock CM HAF 932 fans.


Ok. So on to the actual products I'm considering.

Setup 1:

XSPC Dual 5.25 Bay Dual Pump/Reservoir 255.93$ including 2x Swiftech MCP355 pumps and Koolance compression fittings.
Coolgate 3x120 Radiator 104.98$ including Koolance compression fittings.
Danger Den GPU full cover waterblock 145.94$ including Koolance compression fittings.
Danger Den 1/2" ID 5/8" OD tubing 29.95$ for 3 meters with cutters and clamps.

Total: 536.77$

Setup 2:

XSPC Dual 5.25 Bay Pump/Reservior 172.94$ including Koolance compression fittings.
Black Ice GT Stealth Radiator 82.94$ including Koolance compression fittings.
Danger Den GPU full cover waterblock 145.94$ including Koolance compression fittings.
Danger Den 1/2" ID 5/8" OD tubing 29.95$ for 3 meters with cutters and clamps.

Total: 431.77$

In either setup, the Pump/Res will fill some bay slots and the radiator will be going in the top of the case.

Initially, I will only be cooling the one GPU. Over time and when I add the other GPU, I will also add it to the loop. I'm fairly certain that either setup will be able to handle dual GTX 570's in SLI. Eventually, I will also water cool the CPU. However, it will be in it's own loop. Adding another 2x120 radiator for the CPU in Setup 1 would not be that big of a deal as there is a separate pump/res for the CPU. In Setup 2, it could get tricky. I've also read a little about the Corsair H100 and don't think it would be difficult to add that in addition to Setup 2 for the CPU.

How viable would these builds be and did I leave out any parts?

Once again, I'm not set on ordering everything from FrozenCPU. It was just easier for me to find all of the parts I was looking for and throw them into a single shopping cart/wish list. I know that there are better deals on several of the parts and I will shop around quite a bit when I get closer to making a purchase.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

-BlakAcid

 

[mokrunka]

My opinion is that you are pushing things a bit with a single 3.120 rad for cooling a 570 and 920, especially if you may add another video card. I would think about adding another 2.120 somewhere to be safe. It's always easier to plan for upgrades down the road with your first build.

Push/pull fans offer negligible performance difference. In your specific case, you will need all the room you can get, so don't worry about having a fan on both sides of the rad(s).

You may find that you need some adapters (or, rather, "extenders") when it comes to mounting the fittings on the waterblocks. Some fittings are large, and will contact the surface of the block when installed since they are so wide. The extender essentially mounts to the block, and then your other fitting mounts to the extender to give you some amount of standoff from the surface of the block.

I would also use 3/4" OD x 1/2" ID tubing, but that's just my preference.

I can't speak to the issue of differential pressure in the case, since my case is fairly large, I haven't really had to deal with the issue. I have 9 fans on the front of the case, and only 3 in the back, and those aren't on.

I haven't had any experience with the DD blocks, but from what I can tell, the EK waterblocks are top notch (that's what I use).

Have you discovered Skinnee's website? www.http://skinneelabs.com/

 

[Modz 4 Higher]

Setup 1 looks best to me. Those black ice dads are great but you need very high cfm fans to cool them. Also get Primochill tubing or something with 1/2id and 3/4od. Won't link near as bad as 5/8od. Also I reccommend an EK GPU water block if budget allows.

 

[Conumdrum]

Those 10mm thin fans won't work on a radiator. They have NO static pressure. You need quality 25mm thick fans on a radiator, and with the proper amount of rad 1800 RPM is plenty.

Scythe GT AP15 or AP14 fans are a great choice.

That Stealth radiator is a VERY old design, needs high speed fans to work, has poor liquid flow rates and just isn't good anymore.

Whats wrong with Koolance or EK GPU blocks? Should be cheaper.

The clamps that come with the DD hose aren't very popular. Look at Primochill hose and Stainless hose clamps.

Look at other rads please, more info about FPI and fans in the stickies.

 

[Modz 4 Higher]

READ READ READ READ and READ some more

 

[BlakAcid]

My opinion is that you are pushing things a bit with a single 3.120 rad for cooling a 570 and 920, especially if you may add another video card. I would think about adding another 2.120 somewhere to be safe. It's always easier to plan for upgrades down the road with your first build.[/url]

I would not be running the CPU and GPU's in the same loop. That's why I'm leaning more towards the dual pump/res combo. Both GPU's will be on one loop with the 120.3 rad and the CPU will (eventually) be on a separate loop with its own 120.2 rad.

You may find that you need some adapters (or, rather, "extenders") when it comes to mounting the fittings on the waterblocks. Some fittings are large, and will contact the surface of the block when installed since they are so wide. The extender essentially mounts to the block, and then your other fitting mounts to the extender to give you some amount of standoff from the surface of the block.

Thanks for that suggestion! I am definitely going to look into those.

I haven't had any experience with the DD blocks, but from what I can tell, the EK waterblocks are top notch (that's what I use).

The EK cards seem to get high praises. They are also a little cheaper than DD. I'm looking at this one for two reasons. 1) It's cheaper. 2) It's in stock. EK FC-580 GTX

Those 10mm thin fans won't work on a radiator. They have NO static pressure. You need quality 25mm thick fans on a radiator, and with the proper amount of rad 1800 RPM is plenty.

Scythe GT AP15 or AP14 fans are a great choice.

That Stealth radiator is a VERY old design, needs high speed fans to work, has poor liquid flow rates and just isn't good anymore.

I wasn't planning on using any of the existing fans on the radiator. That will have it's own set of new fans (going back and forth between some Scythe and Yate Loons). I was more curious if having all the fans in there, in the existing arrangement, would be detrimental to the WC setup and how I should concern myself with pressure differentials.

After looking at more comparisons with FPI's in radiators, I will probable go with either the Aquatuning or Coolgate.

I will also definitely look into different tubing (1/2"ID 3/4"OD) and clamp systems.

Thanks for all the input so far! Nothing is set in stone yet and I will keep devouring articles, reviews, etc. to make sure I at least have a very informed decision when I make one.

 

[BlakAcid]

READ READ READ READ and READ some more

Haha. That's all I've done for the past couple of weeks. I posted here after I exhausted my google searches and guides.

 

[Modz 4 Higher]

That's good. Sounds like your understanding is coming a long way You'll get there.

 

[mokrunka]

Sounds like you've done a fair bit of research.

Sorry I misunderstood your loop setup, but even still, I think 2x 570s on 3.120 is running a bit slim. Best thing to do is estimate the TDP, and then look at skinnee's website to determine how much raddage you want based on the delta T you want to achieve.

 

[Rotary]

I run everything in one loop and its just fine, i have 3 5870s and my i7 and the videocard temps dont go up more then 40c and the cpu temps dont even hit 60c while im stress testing, now im pulling over 1000watts of power

 

[Modz 4 Higher]

How much raddage do you have Rotary?

 

[Rotary]

3x120 and a 2x120

 

[Jason_23]

Sounds like you've done a fair bit of research.

Sorry I misunderstood your loop setup, but even still, I think 2x 570s on 3.120 is running a bit slim. Best thing to do is estimate the TDP, and then look at skinnee's website to determine how much raddage you want based on the delta T you want to achieve.

Actually I have 2 x 570's which are rated at ~200w per, so ~430w you would be OK with a 2.120 just for the GPU's ONLY!! Now if you seriously OC the GPU's then you probably would want more rad. 3.120 is fine for just the 2 GPU's though...

GL...

 

[Modz 4 Higher]

A 360 rad is plent for GPU's(2) now if you want to add a CPU in the loop get another rad. I'll be running 2 360 rads here soon for my single CPU and GPU. Future proofing because when budget allows I'll be getting my chipset blocks