Planning a Watercooling setup
Ok ...after looking around I decided I like the swiftech waterblock the best. I haven't seen everything so I've still got my eyes open to any suggestions you may have. Bare with me this is my first go round at watercooling and I want to apply it to my rig in my sig.
Mudd ...I'll be waiting for your opinion(s)
My list so far:
MCW6002-A: $42.50 (Sidewinder)
MCW50: $38.95 (Sidewinder)
MCW20-A: $30.95 (Sidewinder)
MCB-120 Radbox: ?
Black Ice Xtreme: $59.95 (Sidewinder)
MCP600r2: $84.95 (Sidewinder)
HydrX Extreme-Duty UV Coolant: $3.25 (Sidewinder)
Coolsleeves 500: $3.95 (Sidewinder)
Kuri Tec Clear Vinyl Tubing (1/2" od per ft): $1.25 (Sidewinder) Replace w/ 1/2" ID
YS Tech 120x38 (131 cfm/45db): $14.50 (Sidewinder)
Subtotal: $280.25
Shipping: $13.00
Tax: $0.00
Total: $293.25 (Sidewinder)
Also ...what fittings and clamps do I need? I'd like to get the latest and best available by swiftech preferably if I go with the setup above.
Mudd ...I'll be waiting for your opinion(s)
My list so far:
MCW6002-A: $42.50 (Sidewinder)
MCW50: $38.95 (Sidewinder)
MCW20-A: $30.95 (Sidewinder)
MCB-120 Radbox: ?
Black Ice Xtreme: $59.95 (Sidewinder)
MCP600r2: $84.95 (Sidewinder)
HydrX Extreme-Duty UV Coolant: $3.25 (Sidewinder)
Coolsleeves 500: $3.95 (Sidewinder)
Kuri Tec Clear Vinyl Tubing (1/2" od per ft): $1.25 (Sidewinder) Replace w/ 1/2" ID
YS Tech 120x38 (131 cfm/45db): $14.50 (Sidewinder)
Subtotal: $280.25
Shipping: $13.00
Tax: $0.00
Total: $293.25 (Sidewinder)
Also ...what fittings and clamps do I need? I'd like to get the latest and best available by swiftech preferably if I go with the setup above.
0
Comments
While I see nothing truly bad with your choices you can do better. First I think you need to stay with 1/2" ID hose and fittings. The adapters for the MCW50 and MCW20-A Swiftech blocks won't really affect flow. I also think you should "think outside the box" for mounting the radiator. I am in the process of moving mine now. I did some testing and found that my temps dropped considerably when I did a temporary set-up with the radiator on the rear of the case as opposed to inside. First the large chunk of brass which holds heat like a bastard added a lot to the system temp inside the case. No amount of air will get rid of it. I will also be able to run less fans and be quieter overall. I have not completely decided on mounting sideways or not (this will allow for the radiator to be completely isolated from all system air). First I highly recomend going with an AC powered pump from Eheim. This will cut down on the draw from your PSU and you can use a relay to power it on and off. Below are my choices and I can vouch for all stores linked to.
Pump: Eheim 1250 $59.00 @ Dangerden
Radiator: Heather Core Radiator $29.99 @ Dangerden
(these are basicly the same as the now discontinued D-Tek Pro-Core)
Fan Shroud: Coolingworks Coolshroud for 6"x6" Heater Core $10.99 @ Cooltechnica
(these are great and easy to install/ if you get 2 you can simply snap them together)
CPU Block: Swiftech SMCW6002-A $40.00 @ Cooltechnica
Chipset Block: Swiftech MCW20 $32.50 @ Cooltechnica
(Add $4.00 for a pair of 1/2" Tube ID Hose barb adapters/ I know its alittle more but you will save on combining shipping:))
Vid Card Block: Swiftech MCW50 $38.00 @ Cooltechnica
(Add $4.00 for a pair of 1/2" Tube ID Hose barb adapters)
Coolant: Zerex Racing Super Coolant $4.50 @ Cooltechnica
(this stuff really works)
Then you will need 2 "Y" fittings and a "T" fitting. I recomend splitting the loop into 2 parts (where the 2 "Y" fittings come in). The CPU on one and the NB/ Video Card on the other. (This not only makes the loop more efficient but also gets cooler water to your NB and Vid Card.) A resivoir is optional but does make filling and bleeding easier. I just put one "T" fitting on the inlet side of the pump and connected my resivoir to it (mounted highest). You really don't want to put a resivoir in your loop as it will create excess head pressure. I recomend a 120mm fan with between 85cfm and 115cfm for starters. Try to plan it out ahead of time and avoid "NEEDING" extra stuff as you go like me.
The MCB-120 Radbox is thinking out of the box as you say ...This just came out like yesterday.
"Thinking 'outside of the box' is exactly what we did when we started this project. How does one fit a 120mm radiator/fan assembly into a mini or a mid-tower chassis without any modifications to the chassis whatsoever ?
I like the Radbox because my lian li has only an 80mm exhaust vent at rear.
Ok I see the mistake on the tubing ...they only offer 1/2" and 3/8" OD at sidewinder ...I should have 1/2" ID correct? Is there anything else that indicates 1/2" OD in my specs? Is the GPU & NB cooler for 3/8" or something?
Probably the only reason I didn't go with cooltechinca (I can be persuaded though) is that I did a check on their mcw6002-A earlier and it said $40 like you show ...but when I selected it to check out the price was $42.95 so I felt I was being deceived. However now I see that that block is out of stock so it may have been just a mistake. The block is/was out of stock at sidewinder as well. I still have time to really think this threw.
What tubing did you use?
I also modified my post above. It was a "Work in Progress".
I'm sure Mudd will have a good recommendation for a local store to get the tubing.
I appreciate the help ...modify at will big fellah!
Perhaps I should add the chevette shroud as well.
What reservoir are you using?
BTW: My heart sank when I read this
Yes they stopped shortly after I completed my rig. I do think they were going down hill though with Q/C. These are what you want though. I really wish I would have kept the one I started with then switched for a JR120. The Coolingworks Coolshroud is definitly the best thing going. Like I mentioned you can simply snap 2 together. You will need to get 2 to make the most of an external rear mounted radiator with the fan sucking from behind the radiator. I am considering making mounting brackets to mount mine sideways and would only need one of them. But I am concerned about putting extra bends in my hose as it greatly affects flow. The two things you want to avoid are lots of tight bends and elevation change. Right now I only have one sharp bend from the NB block to the Vid card and my whole system is less than 5" from top to bottom not counting resivoir (which isn't in the cooling loop).
With the Rad box I can see how I might use 1 shroud ...but 2?
Can you elaborate more on that?
I take it the Radbox draws air from all 4 sides to the fan. You would then need a shroud to funnel the air to the radiator and another on the other side between the radiator and fan. Also, whenever you put a fan in front of a radiator you need a "plenum" to equalize the air so it passes through all the fins and it eliminates turbulence.
Fan>Shroud>Radiator>shroud>radbox
Radiator/Shroud/Fan/Radbox
What's wrong with this configuration provided I'm drawing air thru the radbox to the radiator?
Ok ...can you describe the water flow configuration from the pump back to the pump or radiator back to the radiator? Similar to the way you described the Fan/Shroud/Etc thing because that is very comprehensive.
Wait a minute ...what is the air flow direction here (Fan>Shroud>Radiator>shroud) ...if the fan is blowing thru the radiator wouldn't you be restricting airflow by the second shroud by reducing from a 6" square hole to a 6" inscribed circular hole? Even if sucking you still have the second shroud as a reducer. If the second shroud had 6" square hole and then a 6" circumscribed hole then that would make better sence to me.
I have the joy of having mine all set up and I placed the rad at the outside top of my case and my temps are pretty decent, I get about 97 degrees at idle on the CPU and 104 on the GPU and under a gaming load the CPU reaches 108 and stays there and the GPU hits about 122 (all temps are in F) but I took the front 2 fans out and replaced them with SF II's and turned the rear exhaust fan around so it shoots cool air straight into the 120 under my rad.
All my fans are runnin on a rheobus so the noise is basically nil and the cooling is, even with warm air going through the rad, as good as if not better than the exos was.
If I had it to do over again I'd have run 1/2" id line from the rad to a y and from the y run 3/8" id line to the CPU block on one leg and the GPU block on the other and 3/8" back to another y for the return to my bay res. My setup consists of bay res with the outlet going to the pump inlet, the pump outlet going to the rad, the rad feeding out to the CPU block, the CPU block feeding the GPU block, the GPU block returning to the res.
I used 90 degree barbs at the juncture from the CPU to the GPU to create a U shape without any kinks and from the GPU to the res to give it a straighter shot.
I also used a 90 coming out of the pump going to the rad to reduce the bend of that line as well.
Welcome to the world of Watercooling, make sure to tighten the heck out of your clamps as I had mine as tight as I thought they needed to be and found out I was wrong!! I ended up needing to crank them down until they were at the point of stripping to stop the leaks but that was only on the metal barbs, the pastic ones are a bit more forgiving.
That woud work just fine as long as you are pulling the air through the rad and not pushing it. Is the radbox of sufficieny depth to move enough air? Why not mount the fan sideways?
Well my thinking is this:
Case Fan (SF2)>Radbox>Rad Fan (YST)>Shroud>Radiator
So yes I'd be pushing air thru the radiator but I will have almost 80cfm coming out of the case exhaust ...the air shouldn't be be warm because the buld of the heat is now on the outside of the case. The 80cfm plus the slots on the radbox should give me a sufficient source to draw air to push thru that shroud. If I reversed that and sucked air thru the shroud then I would be shooting all of that hot air right back towards the case.
So:
80cfm>vented radbox w/ ambient air>shroud>131cfm>radiator>hot air
Heck look at the pic ...wifey wouldn't even know it is there!!! LOL
Sorry dude but that's not it.
The D-Tek Pro-120 really is their previous JR-120. Here are the specs with links. (I can't beleive I found the old listings.)
ProCore = 6"x 7" X 2"
D-Tek Pro-120 = 5.5"W x 6.38"H X 2"Thick
D-Tek JR-120 = 5.5" x 6.38" x 2"
Chris,
Here is the resivoir I got from Criticool. It's from Keto's part of the world.
I'm glad I've got that same heater core sitting in reserve for the sole purpose of replacing the rad should it need it as the hole in my case roof is nearly 6"x6" square.
Just make some brackets to hold the assembly and mount the radiator sideways and not even involve case air. I am split on doing it myself.
Chris,
I also want to thank you for starting this thread as I was embarking on my altering my own set-up. I just ordered the Heatercore Rad from Dangerden. and am deciding on 1 or 2 shrouds (depending on if I mount sideways or straight/ drawing air from the case).
So:
case fan>80-120 shroud>fan>shroud>radiator
Really the only thing I like about the radbox is the quick release because after this whole setup will somehow block the case door.
I bet if you do it right without the radbox you will still be able to open the case, unless it's one of those cases that the panel slides the whole length of the case. The more we go over this the more I'm leaning toward a sideways mount on the rear of the case.
I'm thinking about ordering just the 80-120 adapter for $3.99 from svc just to see if it would work and let me still slide the door open. If it does I could drill holes on 4 sides to let air in so that the 120 fan would have enough breathing room.