Watercooling a NZXT H400i

[Quagmaire]

Morning all!

 

So one of my New Years resolutions was to finally watercool my system that i have. Its something that I’ve always wanted to do but never could justify the money for it . 

 

I don’t have a lot of knowledge in this area so this is why I’ve come for help here.

 

I want to watercool my CPU and GPU only . Nothing fancy with soft tubing will do for now. By the end of the year i will want to switch to hardline though .

 

Case : NZXT h400i 

CPU : i7 6700k

GPU : GTX 1070 STRIX 

 

The reason why I want to watercool is to have a silent system rather than a cooler one. This is cause my flat is a studio so everything is in one room and I’m fed up of my PC sounding like a jet engine.

 

First question is: How much radiator real estate do i need?

 

Second question : Are there any good suppliers for water cooling hardware for the UK?

 

Final question: What’s it like to watercool in the case that I have ? There is not a lot of room in it for watercooling so I’m happy to do a bit of modding if need be.

 

Below you will find a picture of my system if that helps at all?

[Bananasplit_00]

id go for dual 240 rads probably, if you can fit them, not sure what can go in the front but a thicc 280 rad would also be a good option. For the tubing id recomend you buy Mayhems Ultra Clear, i use it in my current system. Its cheap and dosnt leach softners any more than the XSPC stuff thats generally recomended.

[Cereal5]

A dual fan radiator and Asus Strix card is about as quiet as it gets. You don't have a whole ton of room for radiators in that case either. I'm surprised you think it sounds like a jet engine. The stock fan profile on my strix 1080 is very quiet. Overclocked to 2050 MHz with a stock fan profile, only 60C. I could make it even quieter if I wanted. It's possible some of the sound is coil whine, and some of the sound is the water pump.

 

It looks like you have room for two 240mm rads, maybe even a 280mm in the front. Might have to take that white piece out if you want to put the reservoir in the front, though you should have other options. There's probably a youtube video or 7 on watercooling in that case, it seems to be a very popular series from NZXT.

 

EK water blocks is located in... Somewhere in Europe. They're pretty good.

[Quagmaire]

3 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

A dual fan radiator and Asus Strix card is about as quiet as it gets. You don't have a whole ton of room for radiators in that case either. I'm surprised you think it sounds like a jet engine. The stock fan profile on my strix 1080 is very quiet. Overclocked to 2050 MHz with a stock fan profile, only 60C. I could make it even quieter if I wanted. It's possible some of the sound is coil whine, and some of the sound is the water pump.

 

It looks like you have room for two 240mm rads, maybe even a 280mm in the front. Might have to take that white piece out if you want to put the reservoir in the front, though you should have other options. There's probably a youtube video or 7 on watercooling in that case, it seems to be a very popular series from NZXT.

 

EK water blocks is located in... Somewhere in Europe. They're pretty good.

I believe that it is the pump yeah listening to it now . The front aio is actually the thickest AIO corsair do at 45 or 40 mm with fans on one side with still a little breathing room. 

 

Ill have a look at EK now, especially for there pump/res combos 

[Quagmaire]

10 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

id go for dual 240 rads probably, if you can fit them, not sure what can go in the front but a thicc 280 rad would also be a good option. For the tubing id recomend you buy Mayhems Ultra Clear, i use it in my current system. Its cheap and dosnt leach softners any more than the XSPC stuff thats generally recomended.

Ah right , thanks for that !

[Quagmaire]

What if i were to put the pump/res in this position in the picture . I saw someone else do it and think it looks good. Does it matter that it is not the right way up?

[Cereal5]

2 minutes ago, Quagmaire said:

What if i were to put the pump/res in this position in the picture . I saw someone else do it and think it looks good. Does it matter that it is not the right way up?

 

As long as you tilt the case 90 degrees when you're filling the loop so the pump is lubricated, yeah, that's fine. Would be a good use of space also. (remember to mention or quote people if you want a response).

[Bananasplit_00]

3 minutes ago, Quagmaire said:

What if i were to put the pump/res in this position in the picture . I saw someone else do it and think it looks good. Does it matter that it is not the right way up?

 

as long as there is enough liquid in the res that the pump isnt taking in a bunch of air that should be fine, my pump is sideways atm  

[Quagmaire]

5 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

As long as you tilt the case 90 degrees when you're filling the loop so the pump is lubricated, yeah, that's fine. Would be a good use of space also. (remember to mention or quote people if you want a response).

Ah right okay. So when it comes to liquids , what’s the best?

 

My colour scheme is white/light blue so I preferably want liquids that will go with that . Anything that i should stay away from?

[Cereal5]

3 minutes ago, Quagmaire said:

Ah right okay. So when it comes to liquids , what’s the best?

 

My colour scheme is white/light blue so I preferably want liquids that will go with that . Anything that i should stay away from?

Primochill. EK cryofuel is great. Basic stuff, never heard of any problems with any of them. Also, clear liquids tend to do better than opaque liquids. But do as you wish, you should be flushing your loop out before anything happens anyways.

[Quagmaire]

9 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

Primochill. EK cryofuel is great. Basic stuff, never heard of any problems with any of them. Also, clear liquids tend to do better than opaque liquids. But do as you wish, you should be flushing your loop out before anything happens anyways.

Ah right , thank you again !