Water Cooling Setups to Purchase - Overclock.net

OC'ing Noob · 08-18-08

** Attention: There has been user reports from reliable sources that older Feser radiators used a fan spacing different from the standards set by Thermochill and HWLabs/Swiftech. Basically the fan layout is off by 2mm. Always consult with the store first to see if this will affect you!

It seems that more and more people are looking forward to getting their feet wet and dabbling with liquid cooling. Naturally, there first question is what setup should I buy, rather than the more practical, what do I need to know? Well, rather then spam the same responses per varied for each request, I compiled all the information in one post/thread. Others are more than welcomed to add on with their inputs. Now below the proposed setups, there are additional items to reconsider. With these other alternatives, once can swap out parts to their enjoyment!

Low cost:
Waterblock: Swiftech Apogee/Danger Den TDX - $30
Radiator: Bonneville 77' Heatercore welded with 1/2" barbs - $30
Shroud: 2 tupaware containers - $5
Pump: Aqua Via 1300 modded to 1/2" barbs - $20
Fans: 4x Yate Loons Highs - $16
Fittings: 2 sets of Danger Den Fatboys and a nylon T-line - $8
T-line Plug: AA battery - $1
Tubing: 20ft Masterkleer - $9
Coolant: Distilled water, 50/50 antifreeze, and aquarium biocide - $10
Total Cost = ~$134
* This may be considered the bottom feeder of effective water cooling rigs. It is very cheap and effective, achieving good temperatures while offering little restriction. The downside is that its very loud, very plain and ugly, and involves lots of modding on someone's part.

Medium Cost
Radiator: Swiftech MCR320 - $55
Pump: Swiftech MCP655 - $80
Waterblock: DTek Fuzion V2 - $65
Fans: 6x Yate Loons Medium - $24
Reservoir: Swiftech Micro-Reservoir - $15
Tubing: 20" Masterkleer - $9
Coolant: Petosin 11, distilled water, PT Nuke - $12
Total Cost = ~$260
* Now this is can be considered the standard for most water cooling. This is a very common setup, give or take the exchange of the the CPU waterblock or addition of a GPU waterblock. A triple radiator ensures stable temps of an overclocked CPU as well as provides the means to add in the GPU in the future as well.

High Cost
Radiator: HWLabs Black Ice GTX 480 - $135
Pump: Swiftech MCP655 - $80
Waterblock: EK Supreme and DTek GFX2 - $117
Fans: 6x Scythe S-Flex F - $78
Reservoir: EK 250 with Anti-Cyclone add-on - $50
Tubing: 20" Tygon - $60
Coolant: Petosin 11, distilled water, PT Nuke - $12
Barbs: 4x Sets of Danger Den Fatboy barbs - $15
Total Cost = ~$547
* This is the epitome of what most water cooling enthusiasts are usually willing to spend for a water cooling setup. The reason for this is because beyond this setup, the slope of diminishing returns is mercilessly steep. Temperatures achieves by this setup are as close to optimal as one can reasonably achieve. To go beyond this can be viewed as pointless and expensive.

Ultimate Setup
Radiator: 2x Feser TFC XChanger 480ER and Thermochill PA160.1 - $500
Pump: Iwaki RD30 with Meanwell PSU and 2x Swiftech MCP355 with XSPC acrylic top - $415
Waterblock: FstFrddy Stinger V8, 2x EK 4870X2 FC Waterblocks, 2x EK-NB5/SB5, 2x EK Mosfet, Danger Den Aqua-Drive - $745
Fans: 18x Scythe S-Flex F - $234
Reservoir - 3x TribalOverkill Custom Reservoir - $750...I think?
Drainage - Bitspower 360 Rotary and Fillcap- $26
Tubing: 30" Tygon - $90
Coolant: 3x Bottles of Feser One F1 - $60
Barbs: 17x Sets of Danger Den Fatboy barbs - $85
Total Cost = ~$2905
*Please note that at this time only two people on this forum may have something remotely close to a loop this godly. The only two people that comes to my mind would be CyberDruid and marcus000. This setup is composed of only the highest quality of water cooling accessories and thus, the premium price of $2865 is not unreasonable for one to pay. With the ultimate quad radiator cooling CPU and GPU's individually and the ultimate single radiator cooling mosfets, chipsets, and hard drives, your temperatures are guaranteed to be the lowest one may achieve with water. As for what monster case can fit all this...the only ones that come to mind are an external housing, Lian Li 343 Cube, or specially modified Mountain Mod UFO

Other accessories to consider when putting together your loop. The order of the categories is set by the position in a typical water cooling loop. On that note, a typical loop goes like this: reservoir, pump, radiator, waterblock, and back to reservoir.

Another thing one should consider is the size of tubing used. Most people here use 1/2" ID (Inner Diameter) tubing because it provides for optimal flow rates for acceptable bendability (new word so don't criticize). Basically the bigger the ID of a tube, the less effort water needs to move through it. With smaller tubing, you get more restriction, but you also gain better flexibility of how far the tubing may bend. There is also the argument that the smaller the tubing, the less pressure is applied on the barbs. This may slightly affect nylon barbs, but for people using metal barbs, one does not need to worry about the force exerted by 1/2" ID tubing to deform the barb.

Reservoir:
- XSPC Single Bay - $35
- XSPC Dual Bay - $45
- Alphacool Cape Bullseye - $58
- Alphacool Repack - $50
- EK 150 - $44
- EK 250 - $45
- EK 400 - $54
- Tanky Single - $30
- Tanky Dual - $35

Pumps:
- Aqua Via 1300 - $13
- Danger Den DD-CPX1 - $45
- D-Tek DB-1 - $45
- Ehiem 1048 - $58
- Ehiem 1250 - $70
- Ehiem 1260 - $114
- XSPC DC1000 - $70
- Swiftech MCP-350 - $64
- Swiftech MCP-355 - $68
- Swiftech MCP-655-B - $70
- Swiftech MCP-655-V - $80
- Iwaki RD20 - $180
- Iwaki RD30 - $205
- Iwaki MD20RLT - $181
- Iwaki WMD20RLT - $135
- Hydor SELTZ L25 Pump - $38
- Hydor SELTZ L30 Pump - $60

Radiators:
- XSPC RS240 - $40
- Swiftech MCR240-QP - $50
- Thermochill PA120.2 - $110
- Feser TFC XChanger 240ER - $TBA
- HWLabs Black Ice GTS 240 - $50
- HWLabs Black Ice GTX 240 - $90
- HWLabs Black Ice GTS 360 - $56
- HWLabs Black Ice GTX 360 - $100
- Thermochill PA120.3 - $130
- Feser TFC XChanger 360ER - $TBA

Waterblocks:
- FstFrddy Stinger V6i - Ask FstFrddy
- FstFrddy Stinger V8 Economy - Ask FstFrddy
- FstFrddy Stinger V8 All Metal - Ask FstFrddy
- FstFrddy Stinger D-Max - Ask FstFrddy
- DTek Fuzion V2 - $70
- Dtek Fuzion GFX V2 - $47
- Swiftech GTZ - $70
- Swiftech MCW60 V2 - $37
- EK Supreme - $70
- Enzotech Sapphire - $65
- Aqua Computer Double Impact - $60
- XSPC X2O Delta V3 - $55
- Danger Den MC-TDX - $55

Coolants:
- DTek PC Tonic - $25
- Primochill Ice - $20
- Feser F1 - $20

Tops for Laing DDC3.2/Swiftech MCP355:
XSPC Reservoir - $45*
XSPC Acrylic - $20
EK DDC Dual Turbo - $39
EK DDC X - $27
EK X-Res 100 - $70*
EK X-Res 140 - $75*
Petra DDCT-01 - $29
Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 403 - $60*
Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 803 - $70*
* denotes that this add-on also couples as a reservoir

Tubing:
Clearflex
Clearflex 60 3/8" ID - $1.50
Clearflex 60 1/2" iD - $1.50
Previous standard for WC tubing a long time ago when there were only 3 popular tubing types: Clearflex, Tygon, PVC from hardware stores. Now days, most people eschew this tubing due to it easily staining as well as causing reactions with certain coolants
Feser One
Feser Tube Active UV Hose 3/8" ID - $2.75
Feser Tube Active UV Hose 1/2" ID - $2.75
The so-called Tygon replacement, this tubing is made by popular newcomer to the wc community, Feser One. It comes in all sizes and colors and is very popular for enthusiasts into the UV craze
PrimoChill
PrimoFlex 3/8" ID - $1.40
PrimoFlex 1/2" ID - $1.75
PrimoFlex Pro LRT - 3/8" ID 1/2" OD - $2
PrimoFlex Pro LRT - 3/8" ID 5/8" OD - $2
PrimoFlex Pro LRT - 7/16" ID - $2
PrimoFlex Pro LRT - 1/2" ID - $2.25
PrimoFlex tubing by the company Primochill, known for their non-conductive coolant PrimoIce and vibrant dye bombs.
Masterkleer
Masterkleer 7/16" ID - $0.60
Masterkleer 1/2" ID - $0.85
Dirt cheap and resists kinking, Masterkleer is quickly finding a very solid niche as the new standard for tubing. Recently however, it seems that they have changed production companies and newer Masterkleer tubing sports a mildly cloudly appearance.
Swiftech
Swiftech PVC 1/4" ID - $1
Swiftech PVC 3/8" ID - $1.09
Swiftech PVC 7/16" ID - $1.29
Swiftech Sleeved Neoprene - $12.99 (Sold by 4ft bundle)
Long time player of the WC movement, this old dog has long offered cheap but decent PVC tubing.
Tygon
Tygon R-3603 1/4" ID - $1.50
Tygon R-3603 3/8" ID 5/8" OD - $2.50
Tygon R-3603 3/8" ID 1/2" OD - $2
Tygon R-3603 7/16" ID - $2
Tygon R-3603 1/2" ID - $3
Tygon R-3400 3/8" ID - $3
Tygon R-3400 1/2" ID - $3.50
Tygon A-60-G 3/8" ID - $1.50
Tygon A-60-G 1/2" ID - $4.00
Tygon Silver Antimicrobial 1/2" ID - $3.75
Tygon is regarded by the majority of the WC community as the King of Tubes. Their tubing has been consitently durable, pliable, and heavily resistant to kinking. More recently, they have offered an increased variety of tubing, including shiny black one and a silver one that kills germs.

Barbs:
Danger Den/Bitspower Fatboy - $2.50 ($3.50 for the black one)
D-Tek High Flow - $2.50
EK High Flow - $2.50
Iandh Brass Barbs - Ask Iandh or CD for price
FstFrddy Red Barbs - Ask FstFrddy for price

Clamps:
Zipties - $0.05
Nylon Resuable Clamps - $0.22
Steel Worm Drive Hose Clamp - $0.39
Steel Worm Drive Hose Band Clamp - $1.25

Shops in the US:
Jab-Tech
Performance-PC
Sidewinder Computers
Petra's Tech Shop
NCIX US
Modder Smart
Silicon Valley Compucycle
Frozen CPU
Crazy PC
McMaster-Carr

Shops in Australia:
Flabbergast
PC Case Gear
CoolPC

Shops in Europe:
England
Watercooling UK
Chillblast
Cooler Cases UK
Chilled PC
CoolestPC UK

War of the Radiators... further food for thought of which ideal radiator one should purchase:
HWLabs Black Ice GTX 360 Beats Thermochill PA120.3 with Yate Loons D12SL-12 Case Fans
Thermochill PA120.3 Thermal Testing
Testing of HWLabs Black Ice GTX 480 by Martin
Testing of Feser One THC XChanger 480ER by Martin
Radiator Estimator Spreadsheets
Martin's Calculator for Radiator Performance

DaCrusader · 08-18-08

you should add shop at watercooling shop and petra's tech.... Very nice but! ultimate set up should include a fstfreddy block... BTW low cost ghetto T stop ftw! AA battery

OC'ing Noob · 08-18-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaCrusader

you should add shop at watercooling shop and petra's tech.... Very nice but! ultimate set up should include a fstfreddy block... BTW low cost ghetto T stop ftw! AA battery

Great idea and done! Also updated the ultimate setup to the point where no one can set one up...

razar · 08-18-08

I approve of this message

Not that you need it lol

There are some components that are more "personal preference" than "best performance", some things are subjective but it's a really good list ya got there.

Drakemoore · 08-18-08

Nice thread. *subs*

Mmansueto · 08-18-08

Very nice thread. +rep for you.

OC'ing Noob · 08-18-08

Feel free to suggest parts to add too and I will add them

Tufelhunden · 08-18-08

Nice idea. However, I would argue the Feser versus the GTX480.

Not by much mind you but, with high speed fans the GTX 480 does beat it.

Maybe ultimate loud and ultimate silent?

BTW it would also help to put the all the lists in the same order.

CPU Block
Rad
etc.
etc.

Hoodcom · 08-19-08

Awesome thread. +rep

I find this quite helpful in my researching.

OC'ing Noob · 08-19-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tufelhunden

Nice idea. However, I would argue the Feser versus the GTX480.

Not by much mind you but, with high speed fans the GTX 480 does beat it.

Maybe ultimate loud and ultimate silent?

BTW it would also help to put the all the lists in the same order.

CPU Block
Rad
etc.
etc.

You are talking about a difference of 1-2C for about 35-40dBa worth of noise at that point as well as a significant drop in pressure. The 480ER has so much less restriction than the 480GTX, that even though at high levels the GTX does beat it out by neglible delta T, the 480ER still comes out on top. That's why I chose to eschewed the 480GTX for the 480ER in that loop...not to mention the 480ER just looks sooo much better and comes with a bleed cap!

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Water Cooling Setups to Purchase

08-18-08	#5 (permalink)
Drakemoore Overclocker Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 363 Rep: 12 Unique Rep: 11 Trader Rating: 0	Nice thread. subs

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