Water cooling build from scratch...

[Daemonkin]

I think Sandybridge is evidence that they will cool back down. BTW I got the wrong tdp for your gpu. The superclocked has 225 tdp which gives you 28 less watts than what I figured. If you plan for 600 watts, it will more than cover what you want to cool.

 

[m0r7if3r]

I think Sandybridge is evidence that they will cool back down. BTW I got the wrong tdp for your gpu. The superclocked has 225 tdp which gives you 28 less watts than what I figured. If you plan for 600 watts, it will more than cover what you want to cool.

SB is a mainstream chip though, we'll see what happens with server and enthusiast level chips quite shortly here with bulldozer and then SBe

 

[Daemonkin]

Fair enough, but the 1156 chips weren't exactly cool, either. Time will tell, though.

 

[thebski]

I'm going to go ahead and plan for 600w and probably just plan on mounting 1 radiator externally on the back with the mount you've shown me Daemonkin. I wanted to stay internal, but I think to be on the safe side and prevent having to mod anything I'll just have one hanging off the back. I've got a parts list pretty much put together. I'll list everything out here in the next day or so once I get it finalized and let you guys tear it apart.

I really appreciate all the advice and links to everything from everybody. Wouldn't be able to do it without ya.

 

[Daemonkin]

You could do this. Take your cage out for your hard drives.

Move your hdd to your bay drive via an adapter.

This clears up the entire lower area for a 120.2 radiator. You will have to drill out some breathing holes (4 in drill hole saw).

You have to drill out the rivets of the hdd cage, or use a rivet removal tool.

Just an option I thought I would put out there.

 

[thebski]

Well I've come up with basically a full loop to put in an HAF X case. I still haven't decided on tubing size (and thus fitting size) or specific fans yet. Now that I think I know my components it's just a matter of deciding between 1/2 and 3/8 tubing and picking a specific good mid range fan.

Here is a diagram of what I envision the loop looking like:



Starting with the Res:
Swiftech MCP35X Rev 2 - $27.95
http://www.jab-tech.com/Swiftech-MCP35X-Reservoir-Rev-2-pr-4810.html

Pump:
Swiftech MCP35X - $99.95
http://www.jab-tech.com/Swiftech-MCP35X-12V-DC-Pump-pr-4750.html

GPU Block:
EK nVidia 580 GTX - Acetal - $101.95
http://www.jab-tech.com/EK-nVidia-5...Block-Acetal-EK-FC580-GTX-Acetal-pr-4789.html

Radiators:
XSPC RX360 Rev 2 - $175.90
http://www.jab-tech.com/XSPC-RX360-Triple-120mm-high-performance-radiator-pr-4384.html

CPU Block:
EK Supreme HF - Acetal - $70.95

External Radiator Mounting Bracket:
Koolance Radiator Mounting Bracket with Quick-Release - $44.99
http://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=829

Fittings:
Koolance VL3N QDC Male G1/4 x 4 (2 on CPU Block, 2 on GPU Block) - $51.96
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9..._Male_G14_Thread_VL3N-MG.html?tl=g30c405s1026

Koolance VL3N QDC Female Compression x 4 (1 for CPU in, out, GPU in, out = 4) - $59.96
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...m_12_x_16mm_58_VL3N-F13S.html?tl=g30c405s1026

Bitspower Ultimate G1/4 Compression Fitting x 6 (4 on radiators, 1 on res in, 1 on pump out) - $53.70
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...Matte_Black_BP-MBCPF-CC4.html?tl=g30c409s1033

Water:
Distilled with silver kill coil

Unless I'm forgetting something I think that should do it (other than fans and tubing). Fire away with any and all ideas, thoughts, suggestions, etc.

 

[m0r7if3r]

OK, I might be wrong on this, but I THINK the way the QDC's work is you need a male and a female connector everywhere you wanna use them...also, be aware that QDC's are quite long and might throw off your look some.

 

[Daemonkin]

I'll tell you to use 1/2" tubing every time.

Not because it's superior temp wise, it is but not enough to matter.

Not because it's superior quality, it's not, 3/8 is just as good and great for tight bends.

Not because it's got superior flow, it does, but again not enough to matter.


No, the only reason I say go 1/2" is because I think it looks better.

Completely logical, huh?

 

[thebski]

m0r7 - Unless I've counted wrong, I thinks that's the way I had it figured. You need a male on the intake and output of each block (cpu + gpu = 4). Then I have 4 female compression listed as well. I did forget to add in an extra male compression qdc to put on a spare piece of tubing for draining the loop. I figure I will disconnect the graphics card intake and drain from there.

Daemonkin - That's the problem. I can't really find much distinction between the sizes so something simple like looks is all it takes. It doesn't help that I'm and indecisive person to begin with lol.

 

[thebski]

And thanks for the heads up on QDC length. I'll have to look into that a little closer.

 

[m0r7if3r]

m0r7 - Unless I've counted wrong, I thinks that's the way I had it figured. You need a male on the intake and output of each block (cpu + gpu = 4). Then I have 4 female compression listed as well. I did forget to add in an extra male compression qdc to put on a spare piece of tubing for draining the loop. I figure I will disconnect the graphics card intake and drain from there.

Ah, nevermind, the notation switch threw me off. You're good there

It's worth noting that you can unmount the CPU block without tearing down your loop and that the graphics block is the only place I would put QDC's (and maybe the res out back) because of their length and price. The reason for this is that the graphics loop needs a new block every time you change cards (if you're not on universal) and QDC's afford you the flexibility of changing those out

 

[thebski]

Well I'll just kind of explain to you my line of thinking in selecting QDC locations. Obviously, the graphics cards I want to have QDC on for a couple reasons. That will be the one part that is most likely to change. For example, I'll be building this with one card and adding a second one probably by the end of the year. Also, the intake of my graphics card block should be the lowest point in my loop, so I can disconnect from that and drain from there.

I also know I want to be able to remove my rear radiator with a QDC because when I transport my machine I don't want to take a chance of the radiator getting yanked off or the mounting bracket bent etc.

At this point I know I'm buying 4 male QDC's and 4 female QDC's. I had originally planned on putting them on the graphics and external rad. Then after some thinking and looking at the diagram I thought if I use the QDC's on the CPU block that will allow me to disconnect the external rad by disconnecting graphics out and cpu in. Then I can just pull the hoses and QDC couples through the gromets on the back of the case and I'll have my rad with a foot or so of tubing connected, but it will be an isolated system.

So, placing my QDC's on my CPU will still allow me to easily detach the rear radiator, still gives me the flexibility of changing graphics cards/draining my loop there, but also adds the flexibility to disconnect cpu and gpu should I ever need to pull my motherboard out in tact (such as upgrading to ivy bridge or the gen after that in a couple years).

That was my line of thinking anyways. I figure I'm buying 4 male and 4 female regardless. Doing it that way would give me the most flexibility. I'll have to pay attention to length and see if that causes many problems. If I'm buying 4 of each either way I can play around and see where they best fit.

 

[m0r7if3r]

If you set it up right, you could probably have it so you could drop the external rad from the loop and connect the CPU directly to the graphics...that'd be a pretty cool little trick (though not really useful I don't suppose)

 

[thebski]

Any other suggestions on hose size? I realize I may have some relatively tight kinks, and that scares me a little bit with 1/2". At the same time, for a single loop, going through 3 blocks and 2 large radiators will be a good amount of distance/restriction so I think I want all the flow advantages I can get.

I'm really torn. I've read that people like the looks of large and I've read that people think 1/2" is too large because it looks cluttered. Without having both in front of me its hard to compare for myself.

Also, which wall thickness does everyone use? 1/2" ID and 5/8" OD, 1/2" ID and 3/4" OD, or 3/8 5/8?

 

[m0r7if3r]

I use 1/2x3/4 primochill...looks fine to me, I always think that 3/8 looks a bit wimpy. If you get some angle adaptors or rotary fittings, you don't really have to worry about the tight bends since you can alleviate them

 

[t4runnr]

I don't know how big the grommets are on the back of your case but the QDCs are quite large in diameter. I have the VL4N's and they are at least an inch in diameter. Well, I take that back, the female side of the QDCs are quite large (diameter and length). If you put the males on the lines for the external radiator, then you might be able to use the existing holes/grommets.

Of course I could be wrong. Just wanted you to think about it.

 

[thebski]

t4runnr,

Would you do me a huge favor and put a tape measure to one of your female VL4N's? I'll see what the gromets are when I get home and see if they'll fit. I would really appreciate it.

If It is a problem I'll probably just drill the holes out bigger and put my own gromets in place.

Seems like people are mostly using 1/2" tubing, so if I do that I will go with the VL4N's.

 

[t4runnr]

Sure. But I won't be able to get to it until later this evening (10pm ET).

 

[thebski]

Not a problem. I won't be building until the Z68 chipset comes out anyways because that's when my current case is spoken for.

 

[Owenator]

You can use an intermediate 7/16 ID tubing also. I use the 7/16 ID x 5/8 OD myself. Fits over barbs well and is a little more compact.
Masterkleer tubing is the house brand of McMaster Carr. You can get it in colors also.

You may also want to consider a bottom mounted radiator along with the top one. Not sure if the HAF lets you remove part of the hard drive mounts like my 690 II. See my sig for details.