[sPultz]

Hi everyone,

I been reading up alot about watercooling on the threads here and think I am finally reading to take the plunge into watercooling. Kudos to everyone here for the informative threads and tutorials.

I'm about to buy the EK-KIT H3O - Supreme HF 360 kit. Its comes with everything I need, and its more or less the only thing available I have here, apart from a complete custom loop, which will cost alot more.

I plan to have my i7 2600k and 2 570GTX in the WC loop.

Is the provided pump and radiator sufficient for the setup?
I'm currently using a 850w PSU to supply power to the 2600k, 2 570 in sli and a 460 as PhysX. Is the PSU sufficient or do I need to get a 1000w PSU?

 

[badatgames18]

you're all good to go... you should be set with that kit

it shouldn't have much trouble cooling your rig... might want to buy an extra set of fans for push pull though.

and the only thing i can think of changing is a better pump... other than that you're good

 

[X-Nine]

I think you should be good to go as long as you're not running a dozen LED fans on top of what you have going.

The EK kits are a good way to go, methinks. Though you could spend a little less and go XSPC Rasa kits....

 

[KRAZYTRUCKER]

The Rasa kits get my vote too

 

[Arksniper]

I think the EK kits come with a better pump the rasa pump may struggle with 2 gfx cards. Also you may want to add another 240 rad a single 360 isn't enough to handle all 3 of those parts oced. Or you can stick to the 360 and adjust your oced cards to get the best temps.

 

[sPultz]

Thanks for the comments! Really appreciate it.

The XSPC kit here is only about $60 cheaper. Considering the EK kit comes with compression fittings and slightly better blocks and pump, I think its a much better buy.

Hmm, how should the loop look like for a dual rad loop? Didn't really plan for 2 rads.
Res>pump>CPU>Rad240>GPUs>Rad360>Res?

 

[Blue6228]

Close, but with that setup your CPU would be getting the benefit of the 360 and it won't be necessary. Your GPUs should use the 360 as they're going to need more cooling than the 2600k.

EDIT: Just out of curiosity, how much is that EK kit going to set you back? The custom loop in my sig set me back $250 USD after it was all said and done. I came from a H50 leaving me at 80-85C at load (@4GHz) to 55-60C with the custom loop. The XSPC gear is really good for the price.

 

[sPultz]

The EK kit is going for around 250 USD inc of delivery, while the XSPC 360 kit is around 200. Not inclusive of the GPU blocks of course

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Hey guys...

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I also am a first-time water-cooler with the same kit sitting in front of me, daring me to install it. I was cool up until the last parts arrived, but now I'm having a sudden attack of nerves. I'm only using it to cool the CPU.

It's got the Multioption X2 RES 150 Advanced reservoir, with quite a few inlet/outlet options on both the top and bottom. Plus, there's an optional "Anticyclon" thingamajig in the kit.

Assuming that I can mount the reservoir any which way to use any of the inlets and outlets, is there any advantage to using certain ones? Is "top in bottom out" better than "bottom in bottom out" or vice-versa? Or does it not matter, and the multiple options are strictly for mounting ease?

Judging by the name and the cryptic instructions, the Anticyclon is meant to help mix the water and even out the temperature within the reservoir. Should I use it, or should I stick to the default "small tubes" configuration. Speaking of the tubes, the pics I've seen on FrozenCPU's site and in the instructions have it with one long and one short tube on the bottom and one short tube on the top, yet mine came with three short tubes. Will that make a difference?

In case anybody needs to know what the heck I'm talking about, here's some pics: Linky. The Anticyclon is the flat black piece with the EK logo cut out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[sPultz]

The anti cyclon thing is to stop vortex from occuring in the tube reservoir, read it somewhere here that it happens quite frequently in tube reservoirs.

 

[GingerJohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sPultz;13024144
Hmm, how should the loop look like for a dual rad loop? Didn't really plan for 2 rads.
Res>pump>CPU>Rad240>GPUs>Rad360>Res?

Loop order, other than res > pump, is not too important. The water does not change in temperature very much as it goes through your loop.

As a rough guide, it takes ~250W to raise the water by 1C at 1GPM.

The relationship is linear, so double the power load = double the temp increase, double the flow rate = half the temp increase.

The positioning of your rads is even less important. True, in theory putting them after the heat producing components means that they have warmer water going into them, therefore a higher air - water delta and more efficient cooling, however with the heat loads we deal with the differences are negligible.

I would go for the loop order which gives the cleanest lines and the least amount of tubing.

 

[sPultz]

Sorry for the bad drawing

So I'm guessing me cooling the GPUs before the CPU shouldn't really matter much in terms of cooling right? Maybe 1 to 2 degrees difference? This seems to be the neatest configuration I can think of.