Thinking About Watercooling - Where To Buy?

[ChuckleBrother]

So i've been thinking about watercooling for a while now, I like my system but I wouldn't mind cooling my gpu(and might be buying a second sometime soon), my cpu is already taken care of by a Freezone Elite.


What are good quality names? I've heard that Danger Den are the people to see about rads, but what about blocks, pumps and such? Is there any worry about corrosion if I mix alum with copper? And what IS the best coolant, a nice green coolant would look nice with my lighting, but performance is the top concern.

Finally, and most annoying, WHERE can I get the parts? I do most of my shopping through DirectCanada.com and RB Computing, but neither seem to have a very good selection of cooling parts. Are there any other good stores that ship within Canada, with good prices and selection for WCing?


Any help is appreciated, feeling just a bit overwhelmed by all the options.


Edit: Also, my budget wouldn't be too tight, under $600 is preferred though. Also, internal parts only, and I think the biggest rad I can fit is a double 120mm, can fit in the top fan mounts, case is a Silverstone TJ09.

[Cptn Vortex]

Direct Canada or NCIX is going to have all the parts you need. I suggest you get the Swiftech 220 RAD, a MCP655 Pump, and the MCW60 VGA waterblock. You can either use a T-line, or the swiftech MicroRES resevoir.

Also add this http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...e%20Technology as it lets you install the RAD in the top area, where the 2 fans should go.

It is a full featured kit. Works very very well.

[ChuckleBrother]

Is there any real difference between having a large or small reservoir? Also, is Swiftech good? I want a lot of performance out of this setup.

Also, not sure on WHAT video card I am gonna be running this on, I currently have an 8800 Ultra, but I will probably shed that soon, once something with more oompf comes out, or maybe do the jump to an ATI solution(depends on what chipsets support CrossfireX, but I THINK p35 is supported, hope).

[Cptn Vortex]

Swiftech is very good. The best RADS are the Thermochill, however, they are not going to fit in the top of the case, if that is your plan. You need thinner Rads, like HW Labs Stealth, or the swiftech model.

A Larger Res will only make filling they system a little faster. They don't do anything else to the performance of the loop. The microRes is good because it is small, works well, and can be mounted pretty much anywhere.

[llama_egg]

The Swiftech is quite nice, the shape is a little annoying, but other then that the thing causes me near to no problems.

[ChuckleBrother]

Ah, so the PA120.2 wouldn't fit top mounted? Is that with the mounting pieces that Silverstone makes or would it be possible to get a little creative? Or is it just flat impossible?


So now, about tubing, I've read a lot of disputes, is there any realistic difference between clear/opaque tubing, and what about tube SIZE, is 1/2" best? God, I thought I knew a few things about computers, but watercooling is a bit over my head I think.


Finally, when I cycle my system for the first time, should my res be out of the system, so it can be high so the air can escape easier or what?

Thanks for all the help so far:).

Edit: What about pumps, whats a nice quality pump? I don't care about sound output, as I mentioned, I have a Freezone Elite in my system, when its going full bore it makes me feel like theres a plane trying to land beside my desk, though it does drop me to sub 20C at idle, which is pretty rad.


An afterthought: is it in any way useful to by a controller card, like the one offered by Koolance? Also, how is Koolances product quality? Worth buying or should I stay away?

[MpG]

Let me put it this way - I just swapped out my Koolance system for air.

Not to say that their stuff is BAD, but their waterblocks are poorly designed compared to competing solutions, and their aluminum radiators basically require you to use their waterblocks or face the prospect of galvanic corrosion. Compared to building the system yourself, their pricing is pretty brutal as well, and they'll nickel and dime you into poverty on stuff like fittings and adapters. Put simply, there is much better for much cheaper.

That said, I rather like their basic fan controllers (although I think they're only available as part of their cooling systems). You just plug in a standard temperature probe, and it'll vary the speed automatically within a preset range. Or you can override it with a button push. Extremely simple, surprisingly hard to find elsewhere.

[vinister]

Hey I dont want to steal your thread but I am in the same situation. I am looking for a good pair of gpu blocks, considering either the maze 5, or the swiftec ones. My main requirement is thickness, because I have a motherboard with 4 slots and I plan to eventually use them. Right now I have 2 gpu's, will be getting a third in the near future.

My question is how do I know for sure its going to fit without actually buying the items? Do I need one of the EK/Koolance thin full coverage blocks, or can I still use a maze 5 (low profile) on the gpus only? When you're buying 3, this makes the difference between $150 and $330, so its kind of a big deal. Theres also the issue of bending the tubing in such tight loops going from card to card, versus the expense of the fittings to connect the full-coverage blocks to each other.

I'm only doing video cooling in the loop, and I'm thinking of getting a thermochill triple rad. Thermochill is obviously the best right now so its either that or a nice big heater core.

[Babrbarossa]

What kind of case are you working with vinister? The thermochill rads are almost 6cm thick (56mm if I recall correctly) so make sure your mounting plans allow for that plus the fans and shroud if you're using one.

As for SLI-ability with different waterblocks, I would just google something like "insert name of waterblock + SLI + clearance" and you'll easily find threads on it- or look at the threads below the item on NCIX and see if it's discussed. Tight bends in the tubing can be more easily achieved if you use smartcoils to prevent kinking. Tygon tubing resists kinking more than others as well.

[vinister]

Well it would seem that 4 cards will only fit with single-slot spacing, which counts out using the swiftec style. Plus it would just be a mess of hoses. If I run 3 cards, the top one has only single slot spacing.

I have an NZXT Hush, and the rad would be mounted externally on a custom bracket. One big problem is the bottom pci slot only has single slot spacing to the bottom of my case, so I can't have any tubing coming out the bottom. I think the only way I can run 3 or 4 cards is to use the EK or Koolance full coverage blocks, in which case I'll take the EK. I just wonder if my last gpu will get roasting hot because the water is getting pre-heated by the time it gets there. I have seen people run these systems in parallel instead of series, avoiding the pre-heating problem... but that can have issues too.