Water/Liquid Cooling Setup for Silverstone FT02

[Xeven]

I've been mulling a new build and I'd like to go for an i7 920/930 and 2x GTX 480 with a Silverstone FT02 chassis. The HAF's are probably a better choice but I'm not too fond of the "industrial" look/design and would rather go for the "sleek" FT02.

The case looks like this:



It has 3x180mm fans on the bottom and I'll need to remove the drive bays to fit a 3x140mm radiator. But aside from the radiator type, I'm at loss on what motor, reservoir, fittings, tubings, blocks etc to use including the specific radiator brand. I want a "black" theme so I guess that factors in as well. The tubing color doesn't matter since I will sleeve it with wire mesh.

I'm willing to spend around $700 (or maybe a tad more) for the cooling system. Please help!

[Dazmode]

You need to measure if you have enough clearance for rad/fan combo. I believe thin rads are 25mm.

[Xeven]

Yes with a ~266mm GTX 480 (ASUS ENGTX480) and a 30mm Koolance 3x140 radiator, there's around 20mm clearance between the bottom of the GTX 480 and the top of the radiator so it should fit and I should be able to fit another 1x140 radiator on the top exhaust as well.

[Xeven]

After doing some more research, I'm kinda leaning towards changing to the 800D/700D instead (ok, I haven't really made up my mind since I really like the FT02's design and finish). The 800D will allow a 3x140 + 1x140 + 1x140 with "minimal" modding. I have to mod the case for the 3x140 or if I get lazy I can also go with a 3x120 on top 1x140 at the back and 1x140 at the bottom with first loop 3x140 and second loop 1x140 x2.

So I did some windows shopping and ended with the basic setup as:
1 - Swiftech APOGEE XT Ultra Extreme Performance Water Block - $89.94
2 - Bitspower BP-VGNGTX480AC-BKCL Black Freezer Acrylic-Black/Clear Panel-Nvidia GTX480 Ref - $323.90
1 - Black Ice® GTX Gen Two Xtreme 420 Highest Performance Radiator - 149.95
2 - Black Ice® GTX Gen Two Xtreme 140 Highest Performance Radiator - $159.90
2 - Koolance Pump Nozzle & Reservoir Base for PMP-450/S - Acetal - $269.88
10 - Enzotech Compression Fittings Matte Black - $69.90
10 - Feser Tube Active UV Hose - 1/2" ID (3/4"OD) Anti-Kink Tubing - Black - $27.50
1 - XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25” Split Bay Reservoir - $49.95

Total Cost Basic Setup: $1140 USD (without 800D)

Include tax, shipping (and duties?) and I'm looking at almost 2x my original budget. But if I decided to bite the bullet, what do you guys think of this setup? Any recommendations for improvement?

[dustin1706]

Sounds cool... Black tubing, black fittings, black interior and exterior on the case... should be sweet!

The 800d (or 700d) is crazy easy to mod for a 2x120 in the bottom if you want to go that way. Takes a dremel with a few cut off wheels and a drill bit, and a cheap rivet gun with a few rivets...

Can you get the apogee XT in black? Or does it have a bunch of chrome on it? I know I always sound like an EK fanboy... but I've had great luck with all their stuff and the Supreme HF acetal is all black.

I've never noticed those bitspower gpu blocks before... pretty cool looking.

[Xeven]

Yeah the apogee XT is full chrome, I thought it might look good as a centerpiece since I want everything in black. But yeah, a black block might be cool too. I'll take a look at the Supreme HF. I'm planning to use an EVGA x58 FTW3 motherboard since it's mostly black, corsair dominator + extended black fins and any GTX 480 with black PCB. BitsPower one piece black nb/sb block. Black sleeving on all wires and black connectors. I'm mulling if I should use clear tubing with purple UV coolant and UV lights instead for some glow in the dark action

Anybody have any experience with these Black Ice GTX radiators? Apparently they need > 100CFM for optimal operation and only those expensive ($25 each) Noiseblockers seem to fit the bill -__-'

Originally Posted by dustin1706

Sounds cool... Black tubing, black fittings, black interior and exterior on the case... should be sweet!

The 800d (or 700d) is crazy easy to mod for a 2x120 in the bottom if you want to go that way. Takes a dremel with a few cut off wheels and a drill bit, and a cheap rivet gun with a few rivets...

Can you get the apogee XT in black? Or does it have a bunch of chrome on it? I know I always sound like an EK fanboy... but I've had great luck with all their stuff and the Supreme HF acetal is all black.

I've never noticed those bitspower gpu blocks before... pretty cool looking.

[dustin1706]

If you are looking for a quiet PC with relatively low RPM fans, the HWL360 rads are not the ones for you. But, if you are running 3k rpm fans for a max overclock, then yeah, these are the rads.

Skinnee Labs | Triple Radiator Comparison V2

Notice how they are a complete fail at 600 RPM, but are about 1.5* better at 2800 RPM.

They are also much more restrictive than other rads. Skinnee Labs | Triple Radiator Comparison V2

[Xeven]

I'm not really going for the quietest I could get, a good solution between quiet and performance is what I'm aiming at. I also don't mind designing a custom microcontroller based temp + pwm fan controller to manage my temperatures. I haven't had good luck with aftermarket "auto" temperature management. The graphs indicate that it's decent at 1400 and it's sweet spot between noise and performance seems to be < 1700 rpm. Which I think is ok, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna get noisy when pushing through the radiator at that speed. I guess pulling should be better, but then I don't know how much the performance will degrade. Which means more work. Can you suggest a better alternative (3x140) ?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by dustin1706

If you are looking for a quiet PC with relatively low RPM fans, the HWL360 rads are not the ones for you. But, if you are running 3k rpm fans for a max overclock, then yeah, these are the rads.

Skinnee Labs | Triple Radiator Comparison V2

Notice how they are a complete fail at 600 RPM, but are about 1.5* better at 2800 RPM.

They are also much more restrictive than other rads. Skinnee Labs | Triple Radiator Comparison V2

[dustin1706]

My recommendation would be either the EK coolstream 420 OR the HWL SR1 420. Both of these blocks are meant for lower RPM fans and have less pumping restriction.

Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the HWL GTX, you just need to be aware that it is meant for extremely high air flow (LOUD) operation. Going to the SR1 means that at lower RPMs you have a 3-7* drop, but at extreme RPMs you gain about 1 degree.

Personally, I am running a system somewhat similar to what you are suggesting. I have an i7 930 @4.0 and a full motherboard block on an XSPC 360 with 1000 rpm fans and I idle at 36 and peak around 58* (2 hours of prime 95)

My GPU is a 5780 with a moderate overclock and it idles at 30 and full load is 38.5 It is on an XSPC 240 with 1000rpm fans.

Oh and 21-22 ambient.

I don't claim to be any kind of a W/C Guru, but am just giving you my 2c.

[SugarJ]

I just have one suggestion. If you're looking for a nice looking chrome CPU block, you can't get better than the HK nickel-plated: DAZMODE LIMITED EDITION HEATKILLER Rev3.0 1366 VERNICKELT Watercool HeatKiller 3.0 LGA 1366, Core i7 [14015-VERNICKELT] - $119.99 : DazMode, Canadian PC Water Cooling and Modding Store