HD 4870 X2 Watercooling

[Dr_BenD_over]

I've had about enough of this hot, loud spaceheater, and it seems I can now do something about it. I've never bothered with watercooling before as I was always able to get decent temperatures on air without much noise so I'm not entirely sure where to start. My plan at this point is to only have the card itself being watercooled. My case doesn't really have any room inside for a pump, rad or reservoir, but it does have the punch out points to run the tubing through from the back. Can somebody point me to what I should be looking at? I'm thinking a rad with single 120mm would be enough, and I'd like to have the res. and pump packaged somewhat.

[Dr_BenD_over]

Here's what I'm thinking now.

I've got an old APC UPS case sitting here, the UPS itself sacrificed itself several years ago. I'm thinking this would be the perfect place to have the RAD, Pump Res. and whatever else I needed that just won't fit in my case. I can either mount the rad to the outside of the case and maybe find a snazzy shroud for it or maybe even tuck it inside and cut out some fans holes, which would probably be pain as it's somewhat heavy gauge steel. I'm also now thinking about overdoing things, so I can add on in the future. The UPS case is big enough that a triple fan ran would fit.

First dumb question. 1/2" barbs, 5/8" tubing right?

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by Dr_BenD_over

Here's what I'm thinking now.

I've got an old APC UPS case sitting here, the UPS itself sacrificed itself several years ago. I'm thinking this would be the perfect place to have the RAD, Pump Res. and whatever else I needed that just won't fit in my case. I can either mount the rad to the outside of the case and maybe find a snazzy shroud for it or maybe even tuck it inside and cut out some fans holes, which would probably be pain as it's somewhat heavy gauge steel. I'm also now thinking about overdoing things, so I can add on in the future. The UPS case is big enough that a triple fan ran would fit.

First dumb question. 1/2" barbs, 5/8" tubing right?

1/2" barbs = 1/2" ID 5/8" OD (or a lot of folks use 7/16" ID)

Have a look at this pump.......

NCIX.com - Buy Swiftech MCP355 High Performance 12V Industrial Water Cooling Pump 3/8IN Barbs - MCP355 In Canada.

It's got quite a small footprint, and should fit fine in almost any case rather than trying to come up with an external setup.

Pair that with one of the swiftech combo res/rads....

NCIX.com - Buy Swiftech MCR220-QP-RES Quiet Power Dual 120MM Water Cooling Radiator & Integrated Reservoir G1/4 - MCR220-QP-Res In Canada.

and a radbox.....

NCIX.com - Buy Swiftech MCB-120 Radbox Revision 2 Black - MCB-120 In Canada.

Make a note however that the pump I linked to uses 3/8" ID tubing.

[SugarJ]

For 1/2" barbs, you can use 1/2" or 7/16" tubing.

1/2" tubing is 3/4" outside diameter, 7/16" tubing is 5/8" OD.

[MpG]

Is everything going in THIS setup?

[Dr_BenD_over]

Originally Posted by MpG

Is everything going in THIS setup?

In or on, I've added another HD since then.

[MpG]

How about a setup like this?

Use a Swiftech MCP350/355 pump in stock form, with a little foam underneath to handle vibration. Use a radbox to hang a double rad/res off the back, and the components should clear what's there fairly well. If you use 3/8" tubing (minimal performance loss), it will usually fit through an empty expansion slot, eliminating the need for any drilling. Otherwise, two quick holes will let you run 7/16" or 1/2" tubing just fine.

[Dr_BenD_over]

That would work, I have 4 punch out holes that appear to be 3/8" down in that lower left corner. Self contained would probably be better for LAN's hmmmmmm.

[Apollo4g]

Im going to use 2xmcw60s from swiftech, had to make a few trips to the hardware store to find the right screws, but i get em! :)

[MpG]

Do the MCW60's fit on the 4870X2? I thought it used the same mounting hole spacing as the 3870X2, which are slightly too small.