[unfoundbug]

Rather than long winded sentences, I'm just going to condense everything to bullet points.

• At the end of September I will be hopefully spending about £1300 on a new computer.
• I will use this computer as my first entrance into water cooling.
• the £1300 is for both components and cooling.
• I have built computers before.

Prospective Components

• CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz £209 OEM
• MoBo: ASUS P6T SE iX58 £137
• RAM: Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 £78
• PSU: Hiper M1000 1000W £119
• Sound: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music £63
• Case: Sunbeam Transformer Black £57
• Graphics : 2x Zotac 9800GT ECO Edition (£69 each) £138

Total on computer £801 (usng old HDDs, monitor and keyboard

As for water cooling, I was thinking of going for the WCUK Xtreme Quad 480 Watercooling Kit from WaterCoolingUK. Then adding in the blocks for GFx cards and Mother board chipsets

Any advice? I'm asking now so when the money comes in I can order straight away without concern

 

[richardbb85]

never heard of that kit

i would suggest custom build one urself, and i am not sure why you would need to WC ur gfx

 

[I_dalder_I]

If your builing fresh i would say skip the water cooling and up grade your graphics. 2 9800gt's is ok but not too much power :/

And new dx11 cards come out at the mid-end of November! wait till they come out then upgrade your rig. just my $.02

 

[richardbb85]

yea, mite as well get a gts 250 or ati 4850

 

[unfoundbug]

@richardbb85:
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/cata...oducts_id=1298
Also, I was looking at WC the GFX cards because I wasnt sure if it was needed.

 

[MintMouse]

If you've got £1300 to spend get better graphics cards.

That's quite a decent kit, actually. I'd look at building one yourself.That comes with 3/8 ID tubing, 1/2" ID is better. You should also get better fans than that too.

 

[unfoundbug]

Ok, after reading the replies, the new prospective setup is below

Computer Plan
Buying Parts from http:\\\\ebuyer.com
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz £209 OEM
MoBo: ASUS P6T SE iX58 £137
RAM: Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 £78
PSU: Hiper M1000 1000W £119
Sound: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music £63
Case: Sunbeam Transformer Black £57
Graphics : 2x MSI HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 (£108 each) £216
Total on computer £880 (usng old HDDs, monitor and keyboard

Cooling
Prospective site:http://www.overclockers.co.uk
Black Ice GT Xtreme 120 Radiator £41
Black Ice GT Xtreme 360 Radiator £82
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump £69
EK Supreme i7 Clear Top £41
EK Multioption Reservoir 150 £35
2x XSPC Full Cover Razor 4870 - Acetal (£58) £115
PrimoChill ICE Non-Conductive Coolant £9
4x EK 1/2" ID fitting G3/8(£3) £12
6x EK 1/2" Hose fitting(£3) £18
Total On Cooling £422

Total Cost £1302

Cooling Loop idea
Cpu -> Radiator(120) -> GFX1 -> GFX2 -> Resevoir -> Pump -> Radiator(360) ->Cpu

 

[junkyard00000]

The best advice for a first time watercooler IMO is do not go with a kit. Get good parts (browse around here and ask questions), and order everything on its own. It will save you time, money, and busted components.

 

[Darren9]

If your looking at 2 4870's with 2 FC blocks you could just get the 4870x2 and a single FC block for a simpler loop.

 

[I_dalder_I]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren9 If your looking at 2 4870's with 2 FC blocks you could just get the 4870x2 and a single FC block for a simpler loop.

---^ this is what you want to do, same performance less heat and simpler loop. good advice

 

[Darren9]

I found this with the Sunbeam Transformer loaded up:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...s,1011-44.html

I'm not sure if your planning to have all the WC external? There's not much room in there. A much bigger case would make things a lot easier.

 

[unfoundbug]

The radiators I was going to mount externally. And the 4870x2 is a good idea, though it seems alot more expensive. I might replace later for a better slot, but for now the extra finance needed is a little too much.
But I would look at another case, that one just looked nice and was cheap for the size and looks. Any recommendations of a replacement? (I'm most likely getting all the main Base unit parts from ebuyer.com, personal preference and I know there trustworthy.)

 

[88EVGAFTW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unfoundbug Any advice? I'm asking now so when the money comes in I can order straight away without concern

Yeah...buy more tubing than you need, and clean everything reallllly well before use.

and PLEASE use the search functions because every part available for water cooling has been discussed before and there's threads everyday asking the same thing that has been asked before.

 

[ira-k]

I'd read everything I could on WC'ing, the stickies here are a good place to start. Figure out what kind of loop that you want, quiet, all out performance or something in between, then start looking for parts that match your needs.
Don't buy any parts until you know why your buying it, how does it fit into you goals for the loop. Sounds kind of simplistic but it costs a lot more money to keep replacing parts then to get what you need from the git-go, these parts are durable and will generally last you for years.

If your really wanting to push CPU v-core for high clocks I'd put it on a loop of its own and really hog it out to get the lowest rad out temp to ambient delta that you can get. I'd try for at least a 5C rad out but the lower it is the better temp's you will get and the higher you can push CPU clocks.. Martins Rad Thermals ..The GTX rads are a favorite of mine and do very well at anything over 1500 or so RPM compared to other rads in its price range. For rad fans I'd stick to 120x38mm fans over 80cfm, they have a higher static pressure and scavenge air through a rad better then 120x25mm fans will, I'd use at least that size on any rad but the GTX really needs it. If fan noise is a problem there are lower fin per inch rads that will work with the lower cfm skinny fans, just over-rad a little and get as much rad surface area as you can.

If fan noise doesn't bother you a good after-market HSF for your GPU's would normally be enough for average OC'ing on them. They just aren't as temp dependant as the CPU. The same for NB and all that,usually a good HSF is all that's needed for them also.

I'm glad to see that you are researching this before hand instead of buying it all in a rush, you'll end up with a better performing rig for the money f...

I'll leave you my cleaning and set-up PDF. It's getting a little dated now but most of it will still hold true. The part about using 90 degree angle fittings is a little off since Martin did some testing on them a couple of years ago, I'd still not use them if you can avoid it, the worst place to have one is in the pump intake line, you need to keep that as unrestricted as possible. One or two aren't going to kill your flow but if you can avoid them I would.

 

[unfoundbug]

@ira-k:
Thanks for the advice, and that PDF will definitely come in handy. So I could just go for after market HFS for the NB and GPUs, and eliminate the 240 rad all together. Thing is, I do want it as quiet as possible, but still within budget, which is why I'm planning in advance. It looks like I'll need to buy a second pump and reservoir at a later time, and split the NB/GPU blocks to a seperate loop. But would the pump be OK until then?

 

[T3h_Ch33z_Muncha]

if this is for gaming, then you will get far more performance by using air cooling and spending the excess on better GPU's.

just my

 

[88EVGAFTW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by T3h_Ch33z_Muncha if this is for gaming, then you will get far more performance by using air cooling and spending the excess on better GPU's. just my

So true, I forgot to reply to this the other day, but very true