Water Cooling 101 - A good place for newbies to start

[Ghost]

I added to the CPU water block section. It is called "Other Types of Water Blocks"

I would argue with your statement that RAM doesn't get very hot. When you start pumping voltage into ram without a heat sink you can actually feel it radiating heat. What I think you meant to say is that RAM very rarely overheats enough to damage itself and most heat sinks can keep the temperature of it very low.

Also you could have advised to NEVER buy a hdd block. To be honest I have never seen a Temp delta of more than 5C on any of my HDD/SSDs. Any cooling on it would just heat them up from the temp of the water coming from your other components. It would be more of a radiator than a waterblock.

[UberFefa]

A couple of things:

1. What about other materials such as silver, nickle, acetal(?) etc. What works together? What do I avoid?

2. Why does one need all of the same sized barbs, does that apply to compression fittings?

3. Can you put more than one pump in a system?

Thank you, great thread.

As a side note, how do you feel about the H220? Will it be able to run a whole loop?

I couldn't help but noticing that Snef's build has some beautiful lighting in it, especially around the Mobo.

My question: where, how, what cost, and where to buy.

[Gmac]

A couple of things:

1. What about other materials such as silver, nickle, acetal(?) etc. What works together? What do I avoid?

2. Why does one need all of the same sized barbs, does that apply to compression fittings?

3. Can you put more than one pump in a system?

Thank you, great thread.

As a side note, how do you feel about the H220? Will it be able to run a whole loop?

The blocks are XSPC. That is just kind of how they make all their blocks. They all have LED holes in them so you can make them glow. The fans are Bitfenix spectre pro's. And for the mobo it is a ROG motherboard so it has red LED's in the board.

[ijks]

Awesome and very helpful guide Gmac! I'm starting my first liquid build soon, and will be using a CPU Block, GPU Block, and a full MB block. Thinking about using either a single 360 Rad, or two 240 Rads. What is your opinion on this? Would you use a single 360 Rad or 2 240 Rads? Maybe something different?

[Whaler_99]

Awesome and very helpful guide Gmac! I'm starting my first liquid build soon, and will be using a CPU Block, GPU Block, and a full MB block. Thinking about using either a single 360 Rad, or two 240 Rads. What is your opinion on this? Would you use a single 360 Rad or 2 240 Rads? Maybe something different?

Going a single rad versus two keeps your loop a bit more simple, and saves costs on extra fittings, tubing, coolant, fans, etc... At the sacrifice of some cooling of course. If you can do a 360 and one 240 - that would be ideal...

[Gmac]

Awesome and very helpful guide Gmac! I'm starting my first liquid build soon, and will be using a CPU Block, GPU Block, and a full MB block. Thinking about using either a single 360 Rad, or two 240 Rads. What is your opinion on this? Would you use a single 360 Rad or 2 240 Rads? Maybe something different?

Ya i have to agree with Whaler. One is cheaper and more simple. However a lot of cases dont hold a triple rad natively. Likewise it can be hard to get large rads in with all there fans and such. On the other side the two doubles will give you more cooling potential and more mounting options. It is probably a little over kill for your triple block set up but you could add another block later and not have to worry about it.

In short it really comes down to what you want to spend and what is going to fit well in your case. Both are good options.

[Administrator]

Amazing thread, great job and i thank you deeply for contributing this to the forum!

[msi_mpower_z77]

Sorry about the post my cell dose what it wants 2 do ugh as i was saying. How would i go about water cooling my mpower mobo i have never did water cooling befor but i like to i have a corsair 650d case what water block or tubeing would i need and were can i get it and how do i even do it

[Gmac]

Amazing thread, great job and i thank you deeply for contributing this to the forum!

Appreciate the shout out

[Gmac]

Sorry about the post my cell dose what it wants 2 do ugh as i was saying. How would i go about water cooling my mpower mobo i have never did water cooling befor but i like to i have a corsair 650d case what water block or tubeing would i need and were can i get it and how do i even do it

I personally dont know of any block for the MSI Mpower. I did a quick google search and could not find anything either. However this doesnt mean that there isnt somethign that could be used for your board. You will need to do the research and see what people have gotten to work. There is probably not a full cover mobo block but that doesnt mean you couldnt find something for the mosfets or volt regs.

As for what water blocks and tubing you will need is why i wrote the sticky. But i can honestly tell you what you pick is going to be up to your discretion. Most products perform in a very similar to one and another.

If you have any specific questions i am more then happy to help. And if you figure out how to water cool your mobo post it. Im sure other people will have questions about it.

[Ghost]

I thought I might as give you the list of the 3 main UK distributors (That I have used and are trusted):

- http://www.specialtech.co.uk/

- http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/

- http://www.candccentral.co.uk/

Also if someone wants a run down of UK prices they can message me or something.

[Gmac]

I thought I might as give you the list of the 3 main UK distributors (That I have used and are trusted):

- http://www.specialtech.co.uk/

- http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/

- http://www.candccentral.co.uk/

Also if someone wants a run down of UK prices they can message me or something.

Thanks i will add them

[Whaler_99]

Hey Gmac - was just thinking - maybe add, or expand, on these two points:

WC Kits - great starting point for someone looking to get into custom WC. Typically has everything you need, expect maybe coolant. XSPC, aquatuning, Alphacool, Ek, etc. You know you are getting (usually) good quality components that will work well!

AiO Hybrid (As I call it) - list out some popular AiO units that have the option to easily expand upon. A bit simpler then a kit as it already comes assembled and pre-filled. Thinking of Swiftech H220, H20, Thermaltake BigWater, Cooler Master Eisberg, etc. When expanding, will need res for sure. :)

[Demos]

New Zealand:

www.computerlounge.co.nz

Only good supplier of Water-cooling components in NZ. They typically can get other components shipped in as well.

[Gmac]

New Zealand:

www.computerlounge.co.nz

Only good supplier of Water-cooling components in NZ. They typically can get other components shipped in as well.

Cool when the edit function is working again ill add it.

[MunsonedForLife]

I am a true water cooling newbie with a good question I hope. Would it be better to do a triple rad thickness of 58mm with push or pull or a 35mm thickness rad with push/pull? Please give me some good opinions from the water cooling veterans! Thank you!

[Ghost]

I am a true water cooling newbie with a good question I hope. Would it be better to do a triple rad thickness of 58mm with push or pull or a 35mm thickness rad with push/pull? Please give me some good opinions from the water cooling veterans! Thank you!

Thick rad with fans on 1 side is better. Adding more fans only decreases temps by a few degrees.

A thicker rad often has less FPI which means 1 set of fans is sufficient for it.

[Gmac]

I am a true water cooling newbie with a good question I hope. Would it be better to do a triple rad thickness of 58mm with push or pull or a 35mm thickness rad with push/pull? Please give me some good opinions from the water cooling veterans! Thank you!

Gotta agree. Thinker rad with a good SP optimized fans.

[MunsonedForLife]

I am a true water cooling newbie with a good question I hope. Would it be better to do a triple rad thickness of 58mm with push or pull or a 35mm thickness rad with push/pull? Please give me some good opinions from the water cooling veterans! Thank you!

Thanks for the advice guys! Thick rad it is!

[MG2R]

Reservoir- Res

This is a very simple item it stores the extra water that is not being fed through the loop at any given time. They come is all shapes and sizes. They can be tube shaped, rectangular/square shaped, some are 5.25†double or single bay mounted with or without pumps, some are attached to the tops of pumps. A res really comes down to what you want to spend, what works best with the form factor of you case and what you like aesthetically. There is only one thing you have to know about your res. MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS, ALWAYS PUT YOUR RES IN FRONT OF YOUR PUMP IN YOUR LOOP. ALWAYS. Water should always be directly fed from your res to you pump. This is a point a lot of new Water coolers forget to do. Your pump must always have water flowing into it when it is on. If a pump runs dry it will die.

You might want to emphasize that last sentence some more... NEVER EVER EVER LET YOUR PUMP RUN DRY!

[MunsonedForLife]

Anyone have an opinion on Mayhems Pastel Coolant...I was looking at that for my water cooling rig.

[Ghost]

Anyone have an opinion on Mayhems Pastel Coolant...I was looking at that for my water cooling rig.

I am planning on putting it into my rig next weekend. I will probably do a text review when I do that.

[MunsonedForLife]

Anyone have an opinion on Mayhems Pastel Coolant...I was looking at that for my water cooling rig.

I am planning on putting it into my rig next weekend. I will probably do a text review when I do that.

Sounds great...let me know when that happens!

[Rollergold]

Got a quick question Gmac. I plan to have a couple of Koolence QDC's in my loop and they are Nickel plated Brass, so is the rumor that silver (eg. a silver kill coil) in the loop can cause the nickle plating to corrode just a rumor or is there some truth to it?

[Gmac]

I am done with my cross country move. Sorry for my lack of work and answering of questions but i should have everything up to date in a few days.