Completely new to water cooling - Page 6

Originally Posted by mrinnocent 

i think thats a wise decision

Originally Posted by nleksan 

I am not familiar with any high-Power touchscreen controllers except maybe the Aquaero which is super-expensive. I understand the OCD bit, I am similarly afflicted haha. However, the Bitfenix Hydra does seem really nice, and the use of sliders rather than knobs looks a lot better on the front of most cases IMO.
One benefit from using the more powerful Hydra is that you can have multiple fans on one channel, thus you can be pretty certain that the fans are all running the same speed.
Another option is the Sunbeam Rheosmart 6ch 30W/ch which has six channels and is both manually controlled and PWM controlled. You just press a little buttonblow the knob and it switches that channel between PWM and Manual, and you only have to run one PWM cable to the MB's CPU fan port and all the fans hooked up to the controller become PWM. Very sweet, but hard to find. Worth it if you find it though, IMHO, especially as you want PWM. I mean, PWM controlled 3-pin fans, how awesome is that?
With the Bgears, I can pretty much promise that the performance will make you forget about the looks, but you can always paint the blades yourself; there is a great thread here that explains how (and he even used Bgears Blasters!). So colors can always change, but performance can't.
Also yes that picture would work great. Just get exact measurements of everything, put a horizontal line and a vertical line outside of the case so you can tell how many mm a given area is, and then use those to draw in parts to scale. It should give you a very good idea of what to expect size-wise.

Originally Posted by sticks435 

Lamptron FC Touch. 30W per channel.

Originally Posted by Juggalo23451 

All you need is a 360 rad to cool your cpu and gpu. I have a water cooling guide and it has videos on how to set up and install water cooling

Originally Posted by nleksan 

By the way, the Bitfenix or NZXT LED light strips would be a perfect complement to your build. I am thinking of getting the white ones and running it behind my components to give everything a glow, almost 3D effect.
Another option is to get some of the Bitspower LED Stop-Plugs and set em in your reservoirs extra ports, and anywhere else that they would shine through (such as the GPU block if it has a clear acrylic top). That gives a very cool effect as the light is constantly moving due to the water deflecting the beams.

Originally Posted by nleksan 

Regarding the Sunbeam Rheosmart, you can always run any one of a number of software monitoring programs to keep track of fan speed. Some of them will even log the fan speed and temp over a long period of time for you to review and adjust the fans accordingly (if needed).
For the fittings, I almost always recommend getting however many fittings you need in the proper size from XSPC, which are only $4 a pop and are very nice (available in black chrome and chrome/silver). Then, for any angles or such where you need angled fittings, buy the appropriate Bitspower Rotary Angled Adapters which are available in "Shining Silver" and come in single and dual rotary 45deg + 90deg as well as all types of snake fittings and such. To give you an idea of price difference, on Jab-Tech you can get 10x XSPC Compression Fittings for $39 and add in 4x 45deg Rotary Adapters ($30-35) and 2x 90deg Dual Rotary Adapters ($25-28) and you end up saving a lot versus buying the rotary Angled compression fittings. Plus you can reuse adapters, and they are "modular" in that you can take 2x 45deg single-rotary and connect them to make a 90deg Dual Rotary. Very useful stuff, and no water cooler should be without them IMHO.
For the CPU block, I personally think that it's a tie between the Apogee HD and Raystorm. The former is more restrictive but has more options and has the absolute best mounting system, while the latter has better flow/less restriction and may cool a tiny bit better (with high end cpu blocks, the difference is within a degree or two).
The pump I favor is the MCP35X for its small size, huge pressure, PWM control, and the fact that it is cooled by air rather than dumping extra heat into the loop. The D5 is the other popular choice, and it has a higher flow rate when there is less restriction but a lower amount of pressure, it's rather large, and it dumps its 35W into the water (a small amount of heat but the less heat the better). So, if you want to have a quiet running pump that is fully-automated, get the MCP35X from Jab-Tech or Sidewinder for $84 and grab the MCP35X Heatsink for $12 (you can optionally install an 80x15mm fan to further cool the pump, or you can just set it so that it's right in front of a case fan's airflow).
For the reservoir, I really like the EK Multioption Res X2 150 - Advanced (also available in 250 and 400) which has EIGHT total G1/4 ports, 5 on the bottom and 3 up top. The bottom has 2 facing down and 3 on the sides which are all angled apart from one another to allow the use of any fittings and to make tube routing easier. The Bitspower Multi-Z reservoirs are also very nice and similar in design but with a few less G1/4 ports. Then there is the Swiftech MCP35X-Res which mounts directly to the pump and is pretty inexpensive, but only has 3 total ports (you can attach the pump directly to any res simply by using a rotary male-to-male coupler fitting). The Swiftech MCRES-Rev2 is nice as well, and is extremely easy to bleed, but some people don't like it's square shape. PM me if you are interested in it as I have one and can send you pictures of it.
That's about everything I can think of for now. Hope it helps!

Originally Posted by nleksan 

That res and pump combo would work, but you may want to have a look at Jab-Tech, Sidewinder, and Performance PCs as the price seems really high. Also, I know that you will save a lot of money on fittings, rads, fans, everything else at those 3 sites. Like, I am going with all 3 for various parts and it's saving me well over $100.
Yes, you can connect two dual-rotary 90deg adapters to for a quad-rotary 180deg fitting. You may want to use an extension fitting between them if you are going for a 180deg turn, though, as it will be less "sharp". Idk if it'll have any effect on flow, but my rusty physics tells me that it might.
Regarding tubing, I like 1/2ID x 3/4OD as it has very thick walls it looks nice and substantial, and it will never be the cause of any flow problems. Plus, every fittingi avavailable in that size, which is convenient. You can get 10ft of any color Primochill Primoflex Pro LRT you'd like for $18 @ Jab Tech (use the coupon code facebook for 5pct off entire order). The difference is mostly aesthetics, but I just really think it looks so much "beefier".
Oh, and the XSPC fittings as well as the Bitspower Rotary Angled Adapters are available at Jab Tech also, for really good prices (45deg matte black rotary Adapters $9.50/ea if you buy 2 or more, and the 90deg are $14).
With the heatsink for the MCP35X, you don't have to use the legs; you can simply screw on the heatsink, but you will need them if you want to use the fan underneath. It shouldn't wobble if, just make sure you set it up so that the pump is not being "pulled" in any direction, and you can always use a bit of padded double sided tape under each foot to help keep it in place as well as to reduce vibration. Another option is the use of a male-male coupler fitting to mount it directly under the reservoir (you can use spacers here too; btw, XSPC 10mm spacers are only $1.99 @ Jab Tech), an option that is best when you are using a cylinder res, but it could be done with a bay res, it just might be a hassle.
Here is a link to a strong 80x15mm fan: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_394&products_id=2223
As for TIM, here are my recommendations in order:
Shin-Etsu X23 (I always forget exactly which one, but I believe X23)
Tuniq TX4
IC Diamond (may "polish" your chip and remove lettering so be careful)
Arctic Silver Ceramique (non-conductive so it is decent choice for GPUs)
Arctic Cooling MX4
Arctic Silver 5 is no longer one of the top TIMs, others have surpassed it by a number of degrees, and the others don't have a 300hr break-in time.
1gram of TIM should be enough for a CPU and a GPU as you want to use a very small amount, slightly less than a grain of rice. And let the block's pressure during installation spread the TIM don't do it yourself, as the block will push it to the areas its needed such as if the CPU/block is bowed, something that you can't adjust for.
I am pretty sure that is it and I am happy to help, that's what places like this are here for