first watercooling build (planing)

[Guest]

Ive looked at building a water cooling rig a few times, and I am now looking at actually doing one. For now I want to start out water cooling my CPU "intel LGA 1150 socket" and then later on when I change out my GPU to do the GPU's as well. and there is a couple things I do not know. First in choosing parts, is there a particular company than people prefer? I have looked at Koolance and XS-PC (I know there are others I just have not looked at them) and would like to know if there is a particular company I should choose?

 

Its like how I choose my PC parts I tend to stick to ASUS for example with motherboards as they have always worked for me.

 

Should I get a larger case? I currently have a Corsiar Obsidian 650D (I may get a new case anyway as I could use more room for other things) and what cases are good for water cooling space?

 

I have seen plenty of tutorials on building and selecting parts and should'nt be too much of a problem. I just do not know which companies are best.

[Izaya Orihara]

First i'd like to welcome you. Also what is your budget? Do you need an OS or anything else? 

[ZetZet]

650d should be just fine.

[Flight1sim]

WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY!

EDIT: WAIT U ALREADY HAVE YOUR CPU AND MOBO?

[Guest]

I have all the pc parts at the moment I will be changing my GPU some time in the future, but right now the one I have is great. I have XFX DD Radeon HD 7970, and I am looking at switching to a Nvidia one at about the same performance, Not that Nvidia is neccisarily better than ATI, but Nvidia has better Drivers on Linux for WINE gaming and better 3D modeling work in Blender.

 

A side note if anyone is looking to buy a GPU I have that one and an older one its a 6000 series, dont remember and box is hidden somewhere.

 

The rest of my system is a ASUS p8z68-V MB, Intel core i7-2600k @ 3.4 GHz, 32gb G-skill RAM, XFX DD Radeon HD 7970, Corsiar 60D case. Stock fans. OS Kubuntu 13.10

 

I have not been pushing my system all that much to care about cooling, but as of recently I have been doing a lot more rendering and I see more of it in the future and will need better cooling.

 

Budget < $300 (just the CPU cooling for now) I do want a system I can later change to add GPU cooling, and eventually RAM cooling.

[Whaler_99]

Those are two excellent brands. Also in there is EK which make a lot of nice parts. Bitspower make excellent fittings. End of the day, most of the parts listed on major retailers are all good quality and perform within a degree or two of each other. Mostly it is about what design appeals to you the most.

 

So, you should be able to get a decent bay res / pump combo if that works for you, saw a 240mm rad and a CPU block for $300...

 

Also note, please don't bother with RAM cooling. There is zero performance requirement, costs a bunch more (block, fittings, tubing) and typically doesn't even look that good.

 

Once you have decided on parts, run the list by here, and we can comment on any compatibility issues and such. Tubing is always a issue. Clear versus colored  Are you just going to run distilled water or pre-mix coolant?

[Guest]

well I like the look of XS-PC stuff a bit better than Koolance.

 

Intel water block : http://www.xs-pc.com/waterblocks-cpu/raystorm-cpu-waterblock-intel

 

Single Bay Reservoir : http://www.xs-pc.com/reservoirs/single-525-bay-reservoir-alu-front (does the size of a res matter? as long as you have a little extra water, right?)

 

pump : http://www.xs-pc.com/water-pumps/d5-vario-with-front-cover-12-barbs (I prefer the look of compresion fittings over the barbs) or the Koolance : http://koolance.com/pmp-500-pump-g-1-4-bsp

 

radiator : http://www.xs-pc.com/radiators-ex-series/ex240-dual-fan-radiator : with 2x : http://www.xs-pc.com/radiator-accessories/120mm-1200rpm-low-noise-fan

 

Not sure what size hose to get, amount of fittings (not without mock fitting the system first to see where to put parts and what fitting then)

 

I want to place the Radiator at the top of my case. I want clear tubing (dont care for color) and will most likey use distilled water

[Whaler_99]

All good parts. You need two fittings (barb or compression) for each component in your loop. Also, plan out your loop prior, take a look at things. Will you need 45 or 90 degree fittings as well?

 

Fans - better off getting higher end static pressure based fans if you can. Ultimate are the Noctua NF-F12, but also can look at others, like Corsair SP's and others...

 

Hose fittings, that XS-PC pump comes with 1/2" barbs... so, go with 1/2".  

 

If just using distilled water, don't forget some sort of biocide or a kill coil...