This part will be continued with components are not necessary for a water cooling loop, but are highly recommended for maximizing performance.
Reservoir: The job of this component is for bleeding (the process for getting rid of the air bubble), with air bubble inside the loop you are not getting the best temperature as possible. Bleeding a lot easier than T-line and much quicker.
Budget (5-15): Notice that reservoir isn't budget at all, so an alternate choice would be a T-line http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3723, not to mention that the quality is just plastic. Not recommended if budget is low just skip the t-line.
Mainstream (15-30):
![]()
Swiftech MCRES Micro Revision 2
Extreme (30+):
![]()
EK-Multioption RES X2
![]()
iandh SteathRes 225 Multi-Option
![]()
XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25in. Reservoir for Two Laing DDC's
When buying reservoir make sure you got enough space to fit. Some reservoir are design for certain pump only, so make sure you read everything through before making a purchase. Note: any acrylic product do not put alcohol inside or in contact with or else the acrylic product became dry and cracks. Here is an image with alcohol on acrylic product
![]()
Hose Clamps: the job is to tighten up the tubing, reducing the chance of a leak occurring and those are cheap.
For this component it is only budget not high quality stuff except plastic verus metal.
Plastic http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/heclnyhocl0t.html
Metal http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/brmihocl7int.html
Tops: improve water flow
I already mention in the post above, so just going to show you how they looks like and the price on those.
Budget (20-30):
![]()
EK Waterblocks EK-DDC X-Top Rev 2 - Acetal
![]()
XSPC Laing DDC Acetal Top
Mainstream (30-40):
![]()
EK Waterblocks EK-D5 X-TOP Rev 2 for Laing D5 / Swiftech MCP655 Pumps
![]()
Bitspower D5 MOD TOP V2
![]()
Bitspower D5/MCP655 Pump Replacement Top
Extreme (40+):
![]()
EK Waterblocks EK-DDC Dual TOP V.2
![]()
EK Waterblocks EK-D5 Dual TOP
The tops are design for certain pump make sure you got the right model to match your pump.
GPU blocks: it is optional to cool the video card, but most people who wants to overclock their video card should consider water cooling it does make a big different in temperature and noise. To cool video card it is very expensive, so don't go cheap. There is a full cover water block and there is just the GPU alone.
Budget (40-50): Swiftech http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcungpuwa.html
Mainstream (50-100): XSPC and Bitspower http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bimablblfrvg.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/xsra59fucogp.html
Extreme (100+): EK and Water Cool http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/waehegp59for.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekniacwafora.html
Chipset blocks: cooling the northbridge and southbridge enhance better stability for overclocking and much lower temperature. It also comes in full block or the mofset version. Is not that common for chipset cooling, nevertheless still is an optional cooling components. I will briefly touch upon this component, since it not common and the cost is high.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekwaek6ac.html <<-- Budget
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekwaekasx58a.html <<-- Extreme
HDD blocks: cooling the HDD, least common cooling you will come across and it is hard to find in most online retailers.
![]()
Bitspower HDD Acetal Liquid Cooling Block - Black (BP-HDS350P-BK) Bitspower HDD
![]()
Ram blocks: cooling the ram, also one of the rare cooling solution that many people won't use.
Koolance RAM-33 Ram Liquid Block - (Single DDR/DDR2/DDR3/SD) [no nozzles] Koolance RAM
Fans: for removing heat quicker and more efficient. Highly recommended for radiators optimize performance. Most common fans are 25mm thick, but for most radiators 38mm fans are recommend due to higher static pressure. Since, there are many fans selections I just choose the one I like the most in each price range.
Budget (3-6):
![]()
Yates Loons 120mm Yate Loon D12SH-12
Mainstream (6-15):
![]()
Scythe Gentle Typhoon
Extreme (15+):
![]()
San Ace 9G1212H1011
Fans are the very important in term of noise level and cooling potential.
Shroud: help to reduce air in dead zone increase air flow/static pressure, is optional but it does help improve overall temperature.
![]()
ThermoChill PS120.2
Installation of the water cooling setup:
Leak test is highly recommend and if doing it the first time allow 24 hours before turning on your pc. Leak test (bleeding) is to remove air bubbles from the water cooling setup to the reservoir that why reservoir is recommended. To start a leak test is better to set it up outside the case the first time, since you don't have prior experience even if you didn't do it right you won't damage your hardwares. On the 3D man youtube video you see how he setup the whole loop outside the case and already planned how long the tubes to be. Note: To start the leak test outside the system nothing should connect to the power supply except the molex connector from the pump. To start the power supply without powering up the system, you need to jump start the power supply. Here is an image:
![]()
I have done this many time so it is safe to touch the paper clip, while the power supply is on. As long as the paper clip is wiring against black and green doesn't matter which black color wire.
I am no expert at this, but the orientation goes like reservoir>>> pump>> radiator >> cpu block >> reservoir. I will post some picture of my setup, afterall a picture is worth a thousand words. Apologize for the bad quality on my webcam. http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3159/picture17p.jpg
Here are the professional setup: http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/
I will put up some youtube video for reference:
![film_go.png]()
&
![film_go.png]()
As someone comment about the noise level I will included a review regard on the sound level of the fan source: martinm210 http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=223391.
If anyone got suggestions or comments or questions feel free to do so, I will end it here.
I already post this on Eggxpert source: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/636453.aspx
Reservoir: The job of this component is for bleeding (the process for getting rid of the air bubble), with air bubble inside the loop you are not getting the best temperature as possible. Bleeding a lot easier than T-line and much quicker.
Budget (5-15): Notice that reservoir isn't budget at all, so an alternate choice would be a T-line http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3723, not to mention that the quality is just plastic. Not recommended if budget is low just skip the t-line.
Mainstream (15-30):
Swiftech MCRES Micro Revision 2
Extreme (30+):
EK-Multioption RES X2
iandh SteathRes 225 Multi-Option
XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25in. Reservoir for Two Laing DDC's
When buying reservoir make sure you got enough space to fit. Some reservoir are design for certain pump only, so make sure you read everything through before making a purchase. Note: any acrylic product do not put alcohol inside or in contact with or else the acrylic product became dry and cracks. Here is an image with alcohol on acrylic product
Hose Clamps: the job is to tighten up the tubing, reducing the chance of a leak occurring and those are cheap.
For this component it is only budget not high quality stuff except plastic verus metal.
Plastic http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/heclnyhocl0t.html
Metal http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/brmihocl7int.html
Tops: improve water flow
I already mention in the post above, so just going to show you how they looks like and the price on those.
Budget (20-30):
EK Waterblocks EK-DDC X-Top Rev 2 - Acetal
XSPC Laing DDC Acetal Top
Mainstream (30-40):
EK Waterblocks EK-D5 X-TOP Rev 2 for Laing D5 / Swiftech MCP655 Pumps
Bitspower D5 MOD TOP V2
Bitspower D5/MCP655 Pump Replacement Top
Extreme (40+):
EK Waterblocks EK-DDC Dual TOP V.2
EK Waterblocks EK-D5 Dual TOP
The tops are design for certain pump make sure you got the right model to match your pump.
GPU blocks: it is optional to cool the video card, but most people who wants to overclock their video card should consider water cooling it does make a big different in temperature and noise. To cool video card it is very expensive, so don't go cheap. There is a full cover water block and there is just the GPU alone.
Budget (40-50): Swiftech http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcungpuwa.html
Mainstream (50-100): XSPC and Bitspower http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bimablblfrvg.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/xsra59fucogp.html
Extreme (100+): EK and Water Cool http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/waehegp59for.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekniacwafora.html
Chipset blocks: cooling the northbridge and southbridge enhance better stability for overclocking and much lower temperature. It also comes in full block or the mofset version. Is not that common for chipset cooling, nevertheless still is an optional cooling components. I will briefly touch upon this component, since it not common and the cost is high.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekwaek6ac.html <<-- Budget
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekwaekasx58a.html <<-- Extreme
HDD blocks: cooling the HDD, least common cooling you will come across and it is hard to find in most online retailers.
Bitspower HDD Acetal Liquid Cooling Block - Black (BP-HDS350P-BK) Bitspower HDD
Ram blocks: cooling the ram, also one of the rare cooling solution that many people won't use.
Koolance RAM-33 Ram Liquid Block - (Single DDR/DDR2/DDR3/SD) [no nozzles] Koolance RAM
Fans: for removing heat quicker and more efficient. Highly recommended for radiators optimize performance. Most common fans are 25mm thick, but for most radiators 38mm fans are recommend due to higher static pressure. Since, there are many fans selections I just choose the one I like the most in each price range.
Budget (3-6):
Yates Loons 120mm Yate Loon D12SH-12
Mainstream (6-15):
Scythe Gentle Typhoon
Extreme (15+):
San Ace 9G1212H1011
Fans are the very important in term of noise level and cooling potential.
Shroud: help to reduce air in dead zone increase air flow/static pressure, is optional but it does help improve overall temperature.
ThermoChill PS120.2
Installation of the water cooling setup:
Leak test is highly recommend and if doing it the first time allow 24 hours before turning on your pc. Leak test (bleeding) is to remove air bubbles from the water cooling setup to the reservoir that why reservoir is recommended. To start a leak test is better to set it up outside the case the first time, since you don't have prior experience even if you didn't do it right you won't damage your hardwares. On the 3D man youtube video you see how he setup the whole loop outside the case and already planned how long the tubes to be. Note: To start the leak test outside the system nothing should connect to the power supply except the molex connector from the pump. To start the power supply without powering up the system, you need to jump start the power supply. Here is an image:
I have done this many time so it is safe to touch the paper clip, while the power supply is on. As long as the paper clip is wiring against black and green doesn't matter which black color wire.
I am no expert at this, but the orientation goes like reservoir>>> pump>> radiator >> cpu block >> reservoir. I will post some picture of my setup, afterall a picture is worth a thousand words. Apologize for the bad quality on my webcam. http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3159/picture17p.jpg
Here are the professional setup: http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/
I will put up some youtube video for reference:
If anyone got suggestions or comments or questions feel free to do so, I will end it here.
I already post this on Eggxpert source: http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/636453.aspx
