Water Cooling First Build

[Daedelous]

My current system is brute force using heatsinks and 140cfm fans. I have been looking into water cooling as a better means of temperature control for my main system. I have read numerous "how to articles" and such. But I am still unsure of a few areas. Below are the list of components I have selected so far based on my initial research.

 

CPU Block: Watercool HEATKILLER CPU Rev3.0 754/393/AM2

Rad: ThermoChill PA120.3 3x120mm Radiator 15mm spacing

Pump: Swiftech MCP655 12v DC Pump - with Speed Controller

Management Panel: Koolance CTR-CD10BK Pump & Fan Speed Controller, Black

Top Panel: T-70103B 3 x 120mm fan cutouts for rad installation

 

The other parts needed that I am unsure of which is best to get. Are the reservoir, which type/kind/brand of luquid would be best, tube brand and size and either barbs or compression fittings and also which size to get for best flow. My current system specs are listed below.

 

Case: Lian Li PC-A7010B

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965BE C3

Mobo: MSI NF980-G65

RAM: Corsair Domintaor GT 4GB DDR3-1600 C7 Kit

GPU: Evga GTX 285 2GB SC

Sound: Auzentech X-Fi Forte

PSU: Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050W

 

But since I have been thinking about this water cooling setup. I also noticed EVGA has updated it's current products to include an nVidia GTX 480 Hydo series and was wondering if that would be possible to cool with the parts listed above regarding the water cooling setup. Thank you for any and all help.

[Hyper]

I wouldnt use pre-mixes, just use distilled water with either a silver coil or something like PT-nuke.

 

Tygon tubing is good unless your looking for something collered then maybe Permochill or maybe Feser tubing.

 

For size of tubing I would go with 1/2in ID 3/4in OD.

 

I like compression fittings but a lot of people go with barbs (less expensive).

[Daedelous]

Thank you very much Hyper for your reply and helpful information. The last area of concern would be if I could add a GPU into that cooling loop, or would I need to add a second radiator. I was also thinking about getting blocks for my chipset and vrm/mosfets as well. I have read about those being on a separate loop. I have also been thinking about if there would be a way to add a peltier into the mix to really chill the coolant before it returns to the blocks. Thanks again for your previous help and any further help.

[Hyper]

Thank you very much Hyper for your reply and helpful information. The last area of concern would be if I could add a GPU into that cooling loop, or would I need to add a second radiator. I was also thinking about getting blocks for my chipset and vrm/mosfets as well. I have read about those being on a separate loop. I have also been thinking about if there would be a way to add a peltier into the mix to really chill the coolant before it returns to the blocks. Thanks again for your previous help and any further help.

 

 

Unless your going for some realy high over-clocks I wouldn't worry about water cooling the chipset, just make sure you have some airflow, a standard cpu fhs will provide some air flow for the chipset, vrm/mosfets, a waterblock wont, so you will want to make sure there will be some sort of fan blowing over the chipset.

 

As far as adding a CPU into the loop with the GPU's you probably can depending on how high you would want to oc.. also make sure the cpu comes before the gps's in the loop and you may want higher volume fans or run 6 fans in a push-pull config on the rad..

 

The problem with using a peltier or something that could cool the liquid below room temp is that you will introduce condensation in the mix.. meaning you will need to insulate your components to prevent shoting stuff out. Roadrunner or one of our other members into more extreme cooling would be a better source of info

[Daedelous]

The current case fans in my case are Delta 120mmX25mm 140CFM fans. 3 of which I would be attaching to the radiator I listed in my parts list to get. With the fan/pump controller the fans and pump would be adjusted automatically based on temperature. Which to keep the fan noise from being constantly loud and to also give me a better measure of security if something went wrong. That controller can also invoke a system shutdown as well. I dont plan on overclocking my system really, just want the temps to be lower and stay lower for longer system life. Plus I have wanted to go with a cooling solution that can be quieter as well. Thank you again for your help. Would those parts in that list be good quality parts? I am a frim believer in spending a little more money for a better quality product.

[Drdeath]

My current system is brute force using heatsinks and 140cfm fans. I have been looking into water cooling as a better means of temperature control for my main system. I have read numerous "how to articles" and such. But I am still unsure of a few areas. Below are the list of components I have selected so far based on my initial research.

 

CPU Block: Watercool HEATKILLER CPU Rev3.0 754/393/AM2

Rad: ThermoChill PA120.3 3x120mm Radiator 15mm spacing

Pump: Swiftech MCP655 12v DC Pump - with Speed Controller

Management Panel: Koolance CTR-CD10BK Pump & Fan Speed Controller, Black

Top Panel: T-70103B 3 x 120mm fan cutouts for rad installation

 

The other parts needed that I am unsure of which is best to get. Are the reservoir, which type/kind/brand of luquid would be best, tube brand and size and either barbs or compression fittings and also which size to get for best flow. My current system specs are listed below.

 

Case: Lian Li PC-A7010B

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965BE C3

Mobo: MSI NF980-G65

RAM: Corsair Domintaor GT 4GB DDR3-1600 C7 Kit

GPU: Evga GTX 285 2GB SC

 

 

Sound: Auzentech X-Fi Forte

PSU: Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050W

 

But since I have been thinking about this water cooling setup. I also noticed EVGA has updated it's current products to include an nVidia GTX 480 Hydo series and was wondering if that would be possible to cool with the parts listed above regarding the water cooling setup. Thank you for any and all help.

 

You have the same cooling as I used with my C3 965. You can easily cool the CPU and 2 GPU's with one loop. I did and my load temps at 1.6v was about 50 degrees! I got 4.14Ghz stable with that cooling/965... Like mentioned above, DO NOT USE LIQUID WITH ADDITIVES! I use distilled with 2 drops PT NUKE with no worries....GL!

Edited April 26, 2010 by Drdeath