Setting up a new water cooling system [Archive]

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nerdman978

August 13th, 2009, 07:42 PM

I haven't stopped by the Ubuntu forums in awhile, so this could be my first post in well over a year.

Anyway, I'm trying to set up a new liquid cooling system for a new PC of mine. I'm going to sell my old setup (Conroe motherboard, no SLI support, Core 2 Duo E6400, 8800GTS, 500W PSU all that good stuff) and put together a new Core i7 system with the some of the proceeds (and of course some additional cash of mine).

I want to cool my new GPU in addition to the CPU in my water cooling loop. The GPU will be a Geforce GTX 260, and the CPU a Core i7 920. The blocks for both are here
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9160/ex-blc-620/Swiftech_Apogee_GTZ_i7_CPU_Waterblock_-_Socket_LGA_1366.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2067/ex-blc-285/Swiftech_MCW60_VGA_Water_Block_-_Rev_2_nVidias_GeForce_200_Series_Ready_260_275_28 5_.html
I also plan on getting the full coverage heatsink for the GPU (checkbox at the bottom).

I have a radiator from my old Thermaltake Bigwater 735 water cooling setup with 3/8" fittings, so I'm going with 3/8" compression fittings for all of my blocks (I don't trust barbs, even though they are cheaper). Which leads me to my first question, how much 3/8" tubing will I need? I'm thinking around 5 feet would be a good idea. The new case is going to be a Cooler Master HAF 932, so the tubing will need to be fairly long as the HAF is a large case. The pump/reservoir is going to be in a drive bay (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6473/ex-res-130/XSPC_Bay_Reservoir_Pump_Combo.html).

My other question is whether or not I should include a T-line in my setup so that the coolant goes to the GPU and CPU separately, rather than going first to the CPU then going to the GPU.

Also, how necessary is a flow meter? And any recommendations for one?

Suggestions about anything here are welcome. The rest of the hardware for my new PC includes a 750W Xclio Greatpower PSU, 6GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, and a Foxconn Flamingblade LGA 1366 motherboard.

PurposeOfReason

August 13th, 2009, 07:55 PM

Do not use a flow meter as it kills flow. I'd stay away from that pump res combo. I have *this pump that I would be willing to sell you, since I stopped cooling, for a good price. Then get a normal bay res for cheap. I say an XPSC should be best. What radiator do you have (in terms of size/ fin density) and do you plan on overclocking the i7. What fans are going on the rad? I also have a swiftech mcr320 if you wanted that. I'd go with a bit of extra tubing as well since mistakes happen. 7 feet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835108082 [+]

EDIT - Checked what a "Thermaltake Bigwater 735" was and that rad will not be enough to cool the whole system without some crazy fans.

nerdman978

August 13th, 2009, 08:06 PM

PurposeOfReason

August 13th, 2009, 08:09 PM

The HAF case itself has plenty of fans (3x230mm fans and 1x140mm fan).

I really only liked the the pump/reservoir combo because I don't want to have to mount a pump on the bottom of the case.

7 feet of tubing sounds like a good idea. If I ditch my previous radiator, what size tubing should I then use?
That is all up to you. There have been several tests and it really doesn't matter, just make sure it is universal and the fittings match. Having fans in the case is not the same as having them on the rad. You cannot cool an i7 stock with a gtx260 without direct cooling.

nerdman978

August 13th, 2009, 08:22 PM

Yeah, I figured you meant that the radiator would need more fans. I think I will pick up a Swiftech MCR320 radiator (I'll just order it online, thanks for the offer though). It looks like it takes 3 120cm fans, so I'll grab 3 of those (I think I'll go with red LEDs to complement the red UV fluid http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6997/ex-liq-76/Feser_One_Non_Conductive_Cooling_Fluid_-_1000_ml_-_UV_Red_F1-0002.html). The only question on the MCR320 I have though is where will I mount it? It looks like it is too long to be put where the 120mm fan on the back of the case would go (which is where my current radiator fits nicely).

I'm also just going to stick with 3/8" tubing then. In addition to the change in radiator I guess I will also get the pump that you linked me to, the Swiftech MCP655 (I'm ordering most of my stuff from newegg so that should work out fine). Any recommendations for a bay reservoir or does it not matter

PurposeOfReason

August 13th, 2009, 08:31 PM

If it holds coolant it works, just don't get too cheap or it could leak.

For the rad, you can mount it out the back, on top, cut some holes in the case. You could search this thread for the HAF case and see what others have done. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202620

You don't need 120CFM fans. If you're ordering from frozencpu get some yate loon medium speed fans. They're cheap and great fans. I'm not sure if they have LED versions.

nerdman978

August 13th, 2009, 08:39 PM

I see the yate loon fans, and yes they are cheap thanks for the heads up.

Do you mean on the outside back of the case? That could work. You've used the MCR320 before, how big is it compared to a full tower case?

nerdman978

August 13th, 2009, 08:44 PM

PurposeOfReason

August 13th, 2009, 08:56 PM

Actually I just googled around a bit and it looks like the MCR320 can fit at the top of the HAF 932 case. I guess that about covers all of my water cooling. Although there is one thing I'm still curious about, is it worth it to install a T-line?
Not if you have a res. A drain line might be worth it if you plan on changing it a lot. I've only used a t-line for when I had no res.

nerdman978

August 13th, 2009, 09:01 PM

Alright then, thanks a lot. Hopefully I'll be able to find some cash and order this before the end of the summer.

PurposeOfReason

August 13th, 2009, 09:09 PM

Alright then, thanks a lot. Hopefully I'll be able to find some cash and order this before the end of the summer.
No hurry, summer sucks for any kind of cooling. :popcorn: