Building a High-End System with Water-Cooling: Need Advice/Critique

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DragonTG

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 29, 2003
Messages
165
Hey everyone,

DragonTG, here... currently working on building a new system for myself! I personally am pretty experienced with scratch building (at least 5 under my belt) but have NEVER done water-cooling before. I also haven't build a system is many years, and am looking forward to getting back into the game. My budget is going to be around $3k. Right now with my parts list I stand at just over $2.65k.

My question to you guys is basically whether or not, in your opinion, would these components work together and be good choices for overclocking, etc. I've tried my best to research and come up with the correct components, but there is always room for error. :)

As you can see, I am going to be as specific as possible, as this came straight from my parts list spreadsheet. (if you want that file, let me know)

TOTAL PRICE: $2,650.78 (BEFORE) --> $2860.88 (AFTER EDIT)


PC COMPONENTS
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600
Hard Drive: Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 128GB SATA III (SSD)
Hard Drive: Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD 1280MB 320-bit PCI-E
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional
Case: Obsidian 800D Black Aluminum Full Tower ATX
Power Supply: Cougar 850W ATX12V / EPS12V
Optical Drive: SH-B123L/RSBP Blue-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit Professional Edition
Cold Cathodes : Dual 12" Cold Cathode Kit - Ultra Bright UV
Miscellaneous: PC 12V Cigarette Lighter Adapter Lian Li 5.25" Drive Bay - Black
Sleeving Kit: MDPC Sleeve-Kit
Sleeving: Sleeve Small – Red
Sleeving: Sleeve SATA – Red
Heat Shrink: Heatshrink Small – Red
Lighting LEDs: Innovatek Dual 3mm Tailed LEDs - Red LED - 3-Pin
Lighting LEDs: Bitspower X-Station LED Power Hub - Red LED


WATER COOLED CPU/GPU LOOP

CPU Block: Apogee XT Intel Core i5 i7 CPU Water Block (rev 2)
GPU Block: EK GeForce 570 / 580 GTX VGA Liquid Cooling Block - Acrylic
Radiator: Swiftech MCR320 "Quiet Power" Triple 120mm Radiator - Black
Pump: Swiftech MCP655-B 12v Water Pump w/ 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH)
Reservoir: Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 250 Inline Reservoir
Tubing: PrimoChill PrimoFlex PRO LRT Tubing 3/8" ID 5/8" OD with 1/8" Wall - 10ft Retail Pack - UV Red
Cooling Fans: Cooler Master SickleFlow 120x25mm Super Silent Fan - Red LED
Cooling Fans: Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm x 25mm Fan - 1850 RPM
Fan & Temp Controller: Lamptron FC Touch - 30W - 6 Channel Aluminum Rheobus w/ Touch Screen - Black
Liquid: Feser Aqua Non Conductive Ultra Pure Water - 1000 ml
Dye: Feser View Active UV Dye - 50 ml - UV Red
Additive: IandH Dead-Water Copper Sulfate Biocidal PC Coolant Additive
Thermal Paste: Shin-Etsu X23-7783D Silicone Thermal Compound - 1g
Thermal Paste: Artic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound
Cleaner: Indigo Xtreme™ Clean Non-Conductive Thermal Surface Cleaner - 30mL
Fittings: Bitspower Ultimate G 1/4 Thread 3/8" ID x 5/8" OD Compression Fitting - Matte Black
Fittings: Bitspower Matte Black Ultimate G 1/4 Thread 3/8" ID x 5/8" OD Rotary Compression Fitting
Coils: PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils - 5/8" OD Tubing - Black
QDCs: Koolance QDC (Low Profile) Shutoff Nozzle, Male Compression (10mm, 3/8”)
QDCs: Koolance QDC (Low Profile) Shutoff Nozzle, Female Compression (10mm, 3/8")
 
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That looks like a pretty killer setup, the only thing that I would seriously think about changing would be dumping the coolant and running distilled water with biocide and/or silver coil. I've seen too many horror stories of people using the expensive coolants and having issues. Then maybe put the money saved into a dual rad to fit into the bottom of that case. The triple should handle your current heat loads but IMO more rad is always better :)

Otherwise i'd say happy cooling!
 
Definitely drop the feser coolant. If you want real coolant get Ice Dragon http://icedragon.mybigcommerce.com/products/Ice-Dragon-Cooling-Fluid-%2832oz%29.html it is white and looks like milk, but it works well. If you want to get a case that will last you many builds, get a CaseLabs case. They are not cheap, but they are the best cases by far. You will not need the anti-kink coils with the LRT tubing. Regarding thermal paste, Indigo is the best followed by PK1 and Shin Estu for CPU's. I use MX4 for myGPU's and it works well.
There have been a few complaints regarding the Koolance QDC's leaking, so do some research.
The best sleeving is MDPC-X http://en.mdpc-x.com/
HTH and good luck!
 
Imitation, the seeker,

Thank you guys for responding! That helps a lot, especially in terms of what type of coolant I will be using. You say it looks like milk... I'm kind of thinking that might look kind of good with red UV tubing. Think not? Not sure if white belongs in my red/black build though...

Also, I was going to get the anti-kink coils basically for appearance only.. even with LRT tubing.

I've heard of the QDC's leaking too, and they only have the older version for my size hose. So I might end up not using them at all.

I've been on the MDPC-X website and it looks like they have awesome stuff. Definitely ordering that!
 
there is no functional need for any type of coolant other than distilled water IMO, and any arguments for using other coolants (neat colors, non-conductivity [distilled water is non-conductive, too]) are all at the expense of performance. a silver coil or some biocide are the only additives you need to be putting in the distilled water. and with the price difference between a liter of distilled water (20 cents) and specialty fesser fluid (20 dollars), its a complete waste.

other than that, the rest looks good. the only thing i might suggest is that you could find a better price on better tubing. if you specifically want the UV look though, keep what you have. i would either use some nice thick walled silicone at $1.70/ft on amazon or tygon R3400 for ~$1.40/ft on ebay, but i prefer function over form.
 
I would definitely recommend looking at www.jab-tech.com or www.sidewindercomputers.com for your water cooling components. Based on the prices you have listed I am guessing you are shopping at FrozenCPU or PPCs. Both JabTech and SWC should be cheaper and offer exceptional customer service.

I also agree to avoid dyes.
 
The first issue I have is with your PSU. You can get a much better performing Corsair AX850 or Seasonic X850 for that same price. And you do not need 850 watts unless you know that you will be upgrading to SLI. And even then, SLI 570's only need about 750 watts.

Why not go with a Z68 board? You get all the functionality of P67 and then some.

Why are you getting Red cold cathode tubes when you have UV reactive tubing? Personally, I think it would look much better if you get UV Cold Cathode tubes.

Use distilled water. If you really want a colored look in your reservoir, stick a few LEDs next to it. Some reservoirs even have places where you can put in an LED.
 
Why the triple channel DDR3 2000mhz kit? Your board only supports dual channel, so you would essentially be throwing away a stick. 2000mhz is just complete overkill as well.

Also, I've never been a fan of the mounting system for the swiftech cpu blocks; the mounting bracket feels...cheap. I prefer the Heatkiller or AquaComputer blocks.
 
Wow you guys are good. I literally haven't been on [H] for like 4 years and it's awesome that I would still be getting such great responses. I will definitely take into consideration the coolant.. probably the first thing I will change. I will post updates later today.
 
I would change the SSD to a better brand such as the Crucial M4, throwing a Kingston in there is like throwing fuzzy dice in a Corvette, it just doesn't match the rest.
 
Gordo74 said:
I would change the SSD to a better brand such as the Crucial M4, throwing a Kingston in there is like throwing fuzzy dice in a Corvette, it just doesn't match the rest.
Click to expand...

I can attest to that. I have a Kingston SSD and it's pretty disappointing.
 
No reason to get the Z68 unless you need it. I just bought the EVGA P67 FTW and love it, not to mention their support is better than any other I've experienced, thanks to being domestic.

As for your SSD I'd recommend spending the money on a 128GB so you're not strapped for space. You'd be amazed at how quickly you can eat up 64GB on games and applications. Personally I'd recommend the crucial units as they have proven to be extremely reliable compared to other brands.

Crucial 64GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357

Crucial 128GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348

As for the cooling I'd recommend getting the full Electroless Nickel versions. The full Nickel EK CPU block is one of the best flowing, lowest restricting blocks available.

EK Nickel CPU Block
http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/blocks/cpu-blocks/ek-supreme-hf-full-en-nickel.html

EK Nickel GPU Block
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...FC570_GTX_SE_-_EN_Nickel.html?tl=g30c311s1356
 
baldrik said:
Why the triple channel DDR3 2000mhz kit? Your board only supports dual channel, so you would essentially be throwing away a stick. 2000mhz is just complete overkill as well.

Also, I've never been a fan of the mounting system for the swiftech cpu blocks; the mounting bracket feels...cheap. I prefer the Heatkiller or AquaComputer blocks.
Click to expand...

How about this RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233183

I also am going to change the board to a Z68 instead of the P67. Still dual channel though, right?

I also am going to go with the 128gb crucial SSD... although a lot more expensive the HD is a pretty important puzzle piece....

As far as the rest, I have updated the parts list with all your comments taken into consideration.

EDIT: also I think I'm going to stick with the apogee xt.. love how it looks too.
 
For me, I would avoid the 1tb Barracuda. The Samsung and Hitachi 5k300 drives seem to have proven themselves to have much greater reliability and quality than anything Seagate has to offer. I think there are many members that would attest that they avoid Seagate drives.
 
Definitely go with Hitachi, they are much more reliable nowadays than Seagate. Even their xk2000 models (previous gen) performed well, if not on the noisy side. Samsung is also a good one to go with.

I would avoid EK Nickel plated products for the time being, because they have not yet proven themselves to be reliable when it comes to nickel plating. I would actually avoid EK altogether due to the bad PR that's been going on (blaming users and retailers for something that is clearly their fault).

Sandy Bridge is a dual-channel CPU. So yes, go with dual channel. And unless you're doing tasks that depend heavily on the memory, just go with a good old 1600mhz set, which you can easily get 8gb for less than $50 (less than 1/3rd the price of what you're looking at).
 
DragonTG said:
How about this RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233183

I also am going to change the board to a Z68 instead of the P67. Still dual channel though, right?

I also am going to go with the 128gb crucial SSD... although a lot more expensive the HD is a pretty important puzzle piece....

As far as the rest, I have updated the parts list with all your comments taken into consideration.

EDIT: also I think I'm going to stick with the apogee xt.. love how it looks too.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, everything for the Sandy Bridge is going to be dual channel.

You could get a set of Mushkin or G.Skill ram @ 1866mhz for half the price of the Dominator. It's just as good, doesn't have that silly cooler and you can put the cash saved towards a larger SSD. Hell, you could even go with 1600mhz and not know the difference unless you run benchmarks and even then, the difference is pretty minimal.
 
EK blocks with the new plating has proven to be fixed. There are plenty of members out there who are already using their new EN versions without any issues. Like Tsumi stated they have had some PR issues but with a 2 year warranty on the new products and top-notch performance, I can look past it.

Just curious but why would you pick the Z68 over the P67 considering there are only a few differences that, in your case, you wont benefit from. 1) You dont need the integrated graphics 2) SSD caching is useless on your 128GB 3) You don't need Quicksync unless doing some serious video editing
 
TechSoldier said:
EK blocks with the new plating has proven to be fixed. There are plenty of members out there who are already using their new EN versions without any issues. Like Tsumi stated they have had some PR issues but with a 2 year warranty on the new products and top-notch performance, I can look past it.

Just curious but why would you pick the Z68 over the P67 considering there are only a few differences that, in your case, you wont benefit from. 1) You dont need the integrated graphics 2) SSD caching is useless on your 128GB 3) You don't need Quicksync unless doing some serious video editing
Click to expand...

Z68 doesn't cost that much more over comparable P67, and it's better to have those features and not use it than to not have the features and finding yourself needing it for nearly the same cost.

Integrated graphics can be very handy at times, especially when troubleshooting hardware problems, or simply selling out your current card, and using that cash to get a better card.

He might find himself doing some video editing, you never know. It may not be often, but it would be nice to have that option should he ever need it, instead of finding himself wanting that option but not having it.
 
Hi,

I have Apogee XT and I went for other back plate and mounting hardware. Original threads stripped in normal use.

I went for Acetal + Nickel version of EK water block. Not that acrylic and plexi blocks are bad but I do not trust them any more.

I would not go with Swiftech radiators. They are good quality but have some pressure drop and cooling capacity is not that impressive. I would go with it only if there would be no place for thicker radiator.
I went with TFC Feser Xchanger and with Phobia radiators. I do like XSPC RX radiators as well specially in silent setups.

I would not go with Obsidian 800D. Issues with HDD cooling, fresh air issues are bit to much for me. I guess you know only front is Alu rest of the case ain't. 700D is bit better (though no window) and 650 works good (not native compatible with 360 rads, so maybe 120 + 240?).

I went with OCZ Vertex3 MIOPS for OS. Next to it Vertex2 for games I want to start fast (I have had that Vertex2) and Green WD 2TB for storage.

I have had like tons of Corsair Dominators 1600 787-20 and at first I have used 4 sticks of 2 GB. It works but than I went for Mushkin 2133 91110-28 2x 4GB Ridgeback Red Line. It works much better. Ripjaws are good but go with 2133 maybe?

I use mostly Silverstone and Corsair PSU. Like Strider series and AX series. Silver 80 or higher. Have also Enermax Modu87+ in one system it is also pretty good PSU.

All in all your setup is good though some fine tuning would make it bit better. :)


MD
 
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As far as Water Id Just go for the Rasa RX 360 asve your self alot of troublw and just go that route It enough to cool my 980x and my 2 6970s so ave your self alot of problems and just do that. But the 2600 I have is at 4.8 and its doesnt get over 48 degs on a Asetek dbl Rad the one just like the H100 Idleing at 28 degs., so Its a Tad over kill for a 2600.And u are only running 1 570 so its not even worth doing watercooling... U go 2 or 3 then yep. hell man. godd air flow at that point is you best friend.
 
MD said:
Hi,

I have Apogee XT and I went for other back plate and mounting hardware. Original threads stripped in normal use.

I went for Acetal + Nickel version of EK water block. Not that acrylic and plexi blocks are bad but I do not trust them any more.

I would not go with Swiftech radiators. They are good quality but have some pressure drop and cooling capacity is not that impressive. I would go with it only if there would be no place for thicker radiator.
I went with TFC Feser Xchanger and with Phobia radiators. I do like XSPC RX radiators as well specially in silent setups.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you on the swiftech block, but disagree about the swiftech radiators. For medium to low speed fans, the Swiftechs are just as good as anything else.
 
baldrik said:
I have to agree with you on the swiftech block, but disagree about the swiftech radiators. For medium to low speed fans, the Swiftechs are just as good as anything else.
Click to expand...

^ What he said.

triples-v2_OC920-275sli_deltaT.jpg
 
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