Help with first WC setup

D

Drunkinsquirl

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 7, 2003
Messages
232
My main concern about this is price, i read the stick and it says that most good water cooling systems usually dont cost much more than a hundred bucks but the "cheap system" comes out to $160. The main reason i want a water cooling system is becasue even with air cooling i can still boil water on my gpu and my cpu runs at least 10 degrees higher than id like. i really cant afford to spend more than $150 bucks on this so basicly im asking is this even possible?

edit: im sure i could get a system for $150 but my fear is that it wont be much better than air cooling and then that would mean i spent all that money for nothing.
 
gpu and cpu, i thought about the nb but that would just mean extra money and it dosent really run hot enough to need it, maybe in the future when the cash flow isnt that tight but right know im just going for the necessity's.
 
cooling the gpu as well as cpu gets pretty expensive, you will probably go up towards $200.

I prefer looking at dangerdenstore.com for watercooling parts, they have a lot of stuff. Danger Den = DD.

Let's see, there is a $250 cpu + gpu watercooling system laid out in the link in my sig (actually it's $220 + $14 shipping, but it's the extremely slow shipping, Fedex super saver is $28, putting the cost at ~$248). I think it is pretty good, I focused on things that would give me a good price to performance ratio. (note: oops, forgot there's no pump in there).

However, if you want to cut down, you can start by not getting the ramsinks on my GPU block, that's $18 saved. If you get a 120.2 (two 120mm fans) radiator, which gives you a lot of cooling power, you are pretty much stuck with spending about $35 + $15 (for shroud), putting you at $50 + fans. You can get cheap fans for about $10 each I think, but good Panaflos will cost you $18 each. so $75 ($25 for fans). If you get a 120.1 rad, it will only cost you $7 less for the rad and ~$3 less for the shroud, so there is a possiblility to save $10. $65 minimum

You will need a CPU block. A good one is the DD TDX block. It is $53. If you want a decent to good one (well it really all depends on your pump, a TDX w/ extra nozzles for $3 more will do real well with a high power pump), get the swiftech 6002. You will only save about $5-8 and it is a different site, so I recomend the TDX. A less reliable one (I don't know if you would get much performance gained over air) could be like $40, say the Maze4 CPU block, so maybe you can save $15 if you want to sacrifice performance. $105 minimum.

GPU block. Really the only one I know decently priced is the Maze4. It is $46.5 (If you have a new video card, $45 for older ones). As I said before, RAM sinks, while allowing you to overclock more, aren't NEEDED. It is $18 more for 8 RAM sinks. $150 minimum.

We need a pump! If you choose to get the TDX, RAMsinks, and a 120.2 rad, then you should get something like the Aqua 50z (DC pump, so you will use your psu to power it) for $75. It is a powerful pump, one of the best. However, if you took the cheap route, then lets look at some AC pumps. Hydor L25 is $38 and L35 is $54. L25 it is then! $188 minimum.

Now you have the main parts: pump, rad, CPU block, GPU block. We need the little things now.

If you get a T-line it will take a T-line ($1.50) and a fillport ($12). A res just takes a res (standard 5 1/4" bay res is $18. T-lins is a little cheaper, so $201.50.

Tubing! you will probably spend around $10 on tubing. Get ClearFlex 60, it's quality and cheap. 10 ft. is $11.20 (10% discount w/ 10+ ft at DD).

You'll need clamps. The plastic ones DD sells aren't that great, see if you can't find some metal ones at a hardware store in your town. If you do get the plastic ones, they are $.75 each. You should get about 10, so $7.50 means $209.

Last you need a water additive. For a limited time, if you spend over $100 at DD you can buy a free case of MCT -40. This is like a $21 value, you get 32oz!! After you are done adding everything else, just go to it's page and select the free option and add it to your cart.

Consider adding some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste to your order to help push your computer a little cooler. It's like $7.50

Sooo, $209. Better mow a few lawns. The alternate choices I gave you will offer a great chance to overclock. If you aren't interested in that, follow the minimum, and I think you just might get your 10 degree drop. Get 1/2 ID tubing, and 1/2 OD barbs on everything. It should be pretty clear, everything you have to make a choice on tells you what ID tubing it is meant for. (That's Inside Diameter and Outside Diameter.)

If this is a little too expensive, I'm sure someone else can outdo me. If not, look at Thermaltake kits (but I doubt they will be cheaper if they cool the GPU too). Notice that if you don't cool the GPU you will have to spend $164. And you'll use less tubing.

Be sure to read up on efficiently designing your loop. I believe the general consensus is that you should go pump > cpu > gpu > res > rad > pump. Or does the rad go just before the cpu? O well. It shouldn't affect your temperatures much, just do it with as little tubing as possible. That should keep your flow rates high and your temps low. :)

I wrote this as I investigated the prices, that's why it kind of progresses, not summarizes.
 
That last post was wowsa :eek:

What case are you going to do this with? What kind of computing do you do? Are you a hard core gamer, just want to do some experimenting on OC, or do you want quiet? Once we start with what you really want to do then we can probably design up a system for you within the price parameters you desire. :)
 
Well after some research i have concluded that there is no way in hell im going to get what i want for a hundred bucks. My piece-o-shit case is to small for a w/c setup so this christmas im going to ask for a lian-li pc-70 (my dream case) and a dremel, thankfully im only 15 so i still have a few birthday and christmas presents left. My birhtday is in april so for my birthday i'll probably ask for the setup that way i can spend 200-300 bucks on it. the hard part is going to be deciding between a w/c setup or a ps3. I have a 2.8 ht p4 and under load it runs @ 60C NON-O.C.ed which is scaring the crap out of me. it might have something to do with the crappy thermal paste i use. when i get the w/c setup im definitly going to invest in the good stuff. Im definitly planning on giving over clocking a shot once i have the proper colling. i wouldent say im [H]core gamer becasue with school and everthing i dont have much time but during summer and breaks you cant get me off :D .

Oh and i would just like to say to Russ that that was the most helpful/informative thing i have heard anybody say about anything, ever :eek:
 
heh, thnx. I've done a lot of research into WCing myself (probably why I was able to write all that), haven't actually bought it yet. I'm waiting for money. :-P

The first thing I did was read the watercooling help thread thingy in this forum. It was a little confusing for most of it, because I didn't really know what everything looked like or where it was upposed to go. I'd look at some pictures to try to figure out what everything does before reading it. I think that may help.

It's always good to wait. My new computer thread is pretty much a sounding board for what I want to get. I've certainly changed it a lot so I'm glad now that I've been waiting. Otherwise I might have a 3200+ winnie, 6800GTs sli, an ASUS mobo, GEIL pc4000, and an ANTEC 550w. O yeah, and a XP-120 and NvSilencer5s. I've since thrown out all of that for different things, as you can see.
 
Russ said:
I believe the general consensus is that you should go pump > cpu > gpu > res > rad > pump. Or does the rad go just before the cpu?.
Click to expand...

I think it goes res>pump>rad>cpu>gpu>res, it seems to me that you would get cooler water by having a direct line between the rad and your cpu and/or gpu because id guess that the pump generates some heat so if you place it after the rad then it would slightly heat up the water. Also i was wondering, my gpu runs alot hotter than my cpu so which should i put first in the loop?
 
Drunkinsquirl said:
I think it goes res>pump>rad>cpu>gpu>res, it seems to me that you would get cooler water by having a direct line between the rad and your cpu and/or gpu because id guess that the pump generates some heat so if you place it after the rad then it would slightly heat up the water. Also i was wondering, my gpu runs alot hotter than my cpu so which should i put first in the loop?
Click to expand...

As has been said many times on this forum, it does not matter which order you put the components in. Do not think about heat at all when ordering your loop, instead think about providing the least amount of restriction for the pump (having it after and below the res is the best way to do that). The less work the pump does pulling water into the inlet means the more can be put into pushing it out the outlet providing better flow. The pump will heat up the water less than one half of one tenth of a degree centigrade, so you can neglect the heat all together. In a low flow system the cpu will heat up the water about one quarter of a degree centigrade, also small enough to ignore.

Heat is not a factor when ordering the loop, tubing lenght/kinking and ease of filling/bleeding are the only things which should be considered.
 
after looking around a little more i realized something, how am i supposed to mount the cpu block on my mobo, all the faqs i looked at required there to be holes right next to the cpu, on my mobo (in sig) there are no holes. the only thing i can think of is the piece of plastic that holds the hsf inplace, it looks like it is held by 4 holes in the mobo but thier like an inch away form the cpu and it seems way to far for say the 478 tdx block to reach.
 
Great writeup above on parts, alot of what you listed is what I'm interested in. I'll probably end up following your suggestions exactly.
 
The P4 bracket is basically universal meaning the one off your mobo will fit mine etcetera. This means that a waterblock designed for a socket 478 mobo will basically fit all 478 mobo's as long as it clears any obstructions that might be clustered around the mount like a bank of caps for instance.

Generally though most mobo mfg's allow for clearence around the socket to allow the use of larger than stock cooling especially on mobo's designed to OC and Abit is generally pretty good at designing enthusiast boards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top