Watercooling Question/advice

[homer98]

Hey all,

Probably going to start a new build soon, this time thinking about going watercooled, never done it before, but would like to give it a go. One thing I am curious about is basically hwo would you determine where each component goes and in what order?

So say I was planning on cooling my CPU, and GPU, with the pump, res, radiator etc.. How would I determine in which order I should put all the components?

Also, what kind of Rad would be sufficient for cooling cpu,gpu and maybe one other piece like the north bridge or another gpu?

Any help woudl be much appreciated, Cheers

[SugarJ]

Your res should always be just before your pump. I put my rad before my CPU block so that the water is coolest going across the CPU, although it's been shown that loop order only makes 1-2 degrees difference.

As for which rad, what CPU will you be using? Heat produced by an i7 is way different than a E2200. Regardless, with a CPU, GPU, and NB you'd want a triple rad.

[homer98]

I like the i7's, planning on overclocking as well, so would it be too much heat if I had 3 components in one loop?

Is there much benefit to WC the North Bridge? or should I not include it in the loop which might save a bit of heat?

[Sagath]

Originally Posted by homer98

I like the i7's, planning on overclocking as well, so would it be too much heat if I had 3 components in one loop?

Is there much benefit to WC the North Bridge? or should I not include it in the loop which might save a bit of heat?

on an X58, you could totally do the northbridge. They get pritty warm, especially when overclocking. However, you should remember that most of the boards have heatpipes linking NB/SB and the MOSFETS. This means that if you do the NB, depending on the board, you'll likely have to get MOSFET blocks too.

Heat isnt an issue, depending on your setup. Charlie3.0 can show you a double rad doing a CPU and 2xGPU without issues. The problems usually come in with restriction of flow rate. The more objects you are cooling, the harder your pump has to work to push the water around. NB/mosfet blocks are notoriously bad for restriction, due to their small chamber sizes.

[3.0charlie]

Originally Posted by Sagath

on an X58, you could totally do the northbridge. They get pritty warm, especially when overclocking. However, you should remember that most of the boards have heatpipes linking NB/SB and the MOSFETS. This means that if you do the NB, depending on the board, you'll likely have to get MOSFET blocks too.

Heat isnt an issue, depending on your setup. Charlie3.0 can show you a double rad doing a CPU and 2xGPU without issues. The problems usually come in with restriction of flow rate. The more objects you are cooling, the harder your pump has to work to push the water around. NB/mosfet blocks are notoriously bad for restriction, due to their small chamber sizes.

... and add a Northbridge. Old rig: i7 @ 4.2, dual GTX275s oc'ed and the NB - all wc'ed using a PA120.2 and a MCP-355.

[homer98]

Alright, so should I consider cooling the MOSFET's and the NB/SB, if I do end up doing that, would 2 different loops be better than one bigger loop?

it is more expensive, but the flow rate would be better and wouldn't be as many issues right? Would it be worth it if I was planning on tweaking and overclocking quite a bit? a good investment if trying to push the hardware?

Any suggestions that might help my decision?

**I like that black tubing, looks good, was it a tight fit for that Rad?

[3.0charlie]

For the MOSFETs, I'd consider good old sinks with some airflow. NB, it's worth it for very high overclocks. SB? Nah.

Based on this, a single loop using a MCP-355 or a 655 should fit the bill.

That PA120.2 in the P182? Worked out, but wau too tight. I would not recommend this.

[homer98]

One other question, does Tubing matter a whole lot? i know there are a few different kinds of tubing and different sizes, is 1/2" too big? what is in that case?

Also, for the water blocks, mainly the CPU, what different kinds are there? are there significantly better ones or are most of them similar in cooling efficiency?

[3.0charlie]

I stick to 3/8" tubing: takes less space, easier to bend and will less likely to kink.

The Heatkillers blocks are the norm at the moment, but other manufacturers are very good for a cheaper price: I'm using both Swifteck and D-Tek at the moment.

[miggs78]

Watercooling enthusiast?s portal and store Dazmode actually has an i7 cpu block comparison on the main page. Those EK Blocks also seems to be doing a pretty good job..

Swiftech and D-tek are available locally, the Heatkiller is a very good block, could be a little pricey and you would have to order from the states, EK blocks not too sure, maybe PM Dazmode on this forum, I think he did have some..