Noob Water Cooling

[Nyt]

Hey guys ,

I've decided to maybe go the route with watercooling . I was thinking of going with a small wc setup just for my cpu and then adding on for gpu's later next year.

 

I was thinking of getting these parts from Danger Den (since they can ship to SA):

 

Pump: DD-CPX1 12V Pump

Radiator: Black Ice Pro III Radiator 360 rad

Res: XSPC 5.25" Bay Reservoir

CPU Block: MC-TDX for AM2/AM3 Processors

Tubing: Some of this Tygon 3603 Tubing

Coolant: Feser One - RED - F1 - Coolant

 

This seems like a nice cheap option . I know that this is not very high performance but it will just be for my cpu until next year. If I like wc then I'd get blocks for the gpu's and get a 480 rad and bigger res and pump,etc.

 

What do you guys think ? Anything I missed ?

[Water_Hazard]

I wouldn't get that Feser One coolant. I used the exact same stuff in my first loop and it left a residue in all my parts that was a pain in the arse to get out. I have used distilled water since then and temps seem better and no crud in my loop.

[Nyt]

I wouldn't get that Feser One coolant. I used the exact same stuff in my first loop and it left a residue in all my parts that was a pain in the arse to get out. I have used distilled water since then and temps seem better and no crud in my loop.

 

Then I would change the tubing to some UV Red tubing because I really want red in my loop. Isn't distilled water conductive ?

[Boinker]

Petra's tech shop has some red dye. the dye they have is also a form of coolant but performs well with distilled water. you can follow it up with some pt nuke to bring the ph level down to kill everything for certain. I would use that over red tubing and the feser one performance killer.

 

One thing about the res your getting. That res is not able to be removed out of the back side of the case due to its disign. (I have it at home)

 

No distilled water is not conductive. Once its introduced into a water cooling loop its no longer distilled water due to the minerals that are in the loop.

 

I would caution away from that particular water block and go with the swiftech apogee xt or the gt. Im not sure and have not heard about it, im just riding on IMHO's.

 

looks good to me other then that.... What fans do you plan on using????

 

Edit: use walmart distilled water.

Edited November 17, 2010 by boinker

[El_Capitan]

I use PrimoChill PC PURE (Low Conductive), but making a move towards PrimoChill PC ICE Non-Conductive Coolant. The main reasoning is because it's an Environmentally responsible food safe NON-TOXIC biodegradable product - good for you, good for your PC, and good for the planet. Does NOT contain Ethylene Glycol.

 

I also use the XSPC 5.25" Bay Reservoir, and it's nice.

[Nyt]

Petra's tech shop has some red dye. the dye they have is also a form of coolant but performs well with distilled water. you can follow it up with some pt nuke to bring the ph level down to kill everything for certain. I would use that over red tubing and the feser one performance killer.

 

One thing about the res your getting. That res is not able to be removed out of the back side of the case due to its disign. (I have it at home)

 

No distilled water is not conductive. Once its introduced into a water cooling loop its no longer distilled water due to the minerals that are in the loop.

 

I would caution away from that particular water block and go with the swiftech apogee xt or the gt. Im not sure and have not heard about it, im just riding on IMHO's.

 

looks good to me other then that.... What fans do you plan on using????

 

But does Petra's tech shop ship to South Africa ? I'll have to check on that

So the res can only be pulled out the front ? Is that a bad thing ? How would that affect me having to refill the res ?

I want to use 3x120mm Cooler Master Red LED 2000rpm fans on it .

 

Edit: Should I just stick to distilled water and red tubing ? What are the negative effects of that ?

Edited November 17, 2010 by Nyt Ryda

[El_Capitan]

So the res can only be pulled out the front ? Is that a bad thing ? How would that affect me having to refill the res ?

I want to use 3x120mm Cooler Master Red LED 2000rpm fans on it .

It's not a bad thing. I don't even pull it out to fill it. I just put it on the bottom two trays of my 5.25" bays, and just remove the upper two 5.25" panels and use a funnel to fill it on my Storm Sniper case. However, it won't fit in the 5.25" bays on my Thermaltake Xaser VI (because of side protrusions), so I have it on the bottom of the Thermaltake case (which still looks good).

 

Those are speedy fans. I use Noctua NF-P12 fans at 900RPM's and they cool my 120.4 rad just fine and it's really quiet (just doesn't look as nice). When you start getting faster RPM's on the fans, you'll notice the sound. If I ran my fans at 1300RPM's, the sound isn't too bad, but slightly more noticeable, and my temps don't get any better.

[Nyt]

It's not a bad thing. I don't even pull it out to fill it. I just put it on the bottom two trays of my 5.25" bays, and just remove the upper two 5.25" panels and use a funnel to fill it on my Storm Sniper case. However, it won't fit in the 5.25" bays on my Thermaltake Xaser VI (because of side protrusions), so I have it on the bottom of the Thermaltake case (which still looks good).

 

Those are speedy fans. I use Noctua NF-P12 fans at 900RPM's and they cool my 120.4 rad just fine and it's really quiet (just doesn't look as nice). When you start getting faster RPM's on the fans, you'll notice the sound. If I ran my fans at 1300RPM's, the sound isn't too bad, but slightly more noticeable, and my temps don't get any better.

 

Noise doesnt really bother me . I'd prefer performance over noise anyday.

But with all my fans at 2000rpm its extremely quiet compared to my 5970 thats at 100% and sounds like a leaf blower.

[El_Capitan]

Noise doesnt really bother me . I'd prefer performance over noise anyday.

But with all my fans at 2000rpm its extremely quiet compared to my 5970 thats at 100% and sounds like a leaf blower.

You really won't get high temps on a GPU on a 120.3 or 120.4 rad, but maybe the 5970's are different. My GPU temps on load don't go above 45C. The CPU is what gets into higher temps. I'd bet that if I had 8 fans in a push/pull, it wouldn't lower the max temps by much (someday I might test that theory).

[Locutus]

What's all this about non-conductive fluids? If it gets on your parts you're screwed either way. XD

[Nyt]

You really won't get high temps on a GPU on a 120.3 or 120.4 rad, but maybe the 5970's are different. My GPU temps on load don't go above 45C. The CPU is what gets into higher temps. I'd bet that if I had 8 fans in a push/pull, it wouldn't lower the max temps by much (someday I might test that theory).

The 120.3 rad is just for the cpu , next year the 120.4 will cope with the gpu's. I might get more fans in push/pull. What are all your guys opinions ?

[El_Capitan]

The 120.3 rad is just for the cpu , next year the 120.4 will cope with the gpu's. I might get more fans in push/pull. What are all your guys opinions ?

I'd try running the 120.3 with the CPU and GPU's, I really don't think you'll have a problem. I had a 120.4 on my CPU and a 120.2x2 (dual stack rad) on my GPU's, and the max temp difference was the same as when I had my 120.4 on my CPU and my GPU's. The 120.4 was good enough that my 2nd 120.2x2 wasn't even a factor in making it any cooler.