Watercooling parts questions and should I wait?

[Rune]

Firstly, hello! I'm new here and this will be my first time building a watercooled system. I currently have a corsair h80i which gets the job done, but I have been looking for a good reason to upgrade and since the 4790k came out, I figured it might be time to at least get ready. I've picked out a list of component I think work well together and would be adaquate for a single CPU and single graphics card build, but I'm honestly not sure. I am also totally taking a shot in the dark for the fans and radiator, so any advice would be great!

 

For the pump and reservoir I am looking at a combo Bay Res D5 Vario mostly because I am building this in a HAF X and I do actually have the spare 5.25 bays. I couldn't find any specific information about the built in pump, but from reviews that I could find it looked like it was decent enough.

 

For my graphics card I'm a bit worried about spending the extra on cooling with the 800 series so close to release. I currently have a 780ti so I'm fairly certain if I watercooled it I would be able to last long enough to make it to the 900 series while still running things on ultra/high, but would it be worth the wait? Anyway, I was looking at an acetal EK block and backing for it.

 

For the cpu (currently a 4770k @ 4.6ghz, hoping to upgrade later) I chose the supremacy clean CSQ because astetically it matches everything else and also had decent reviews.

 

For radiators I am trying to go for a single 360mm (120x3) solution, and am stuck between the Coolstream XTX 360 and koolance model that has more FPI but appears to be much thinner.

 

For fans I chose the only ones I could find that said they were optimized for radiators and didn't look terrible, corsair SP120s

 

I'm hoping this upgrade will last me at least 5 years with a cpu upgrade, but I don't know if I should wait until after maxwell truly releases on desktops. I also really don't know that much about which companies/models are best (evidence: 3/4 of my parts come from EK who I have only heard good of) or if any of these would bottleneck the flow or performance of the others, so any recommendations on parts or anything would be greatly appreciated.

[FusionBlitzx]

I would definitely wait for the 900 series of GPU's to come out, they will be truly 4k ready then and would be a worthy upgrade to a 780ti.

 

As for your watercooling setup, that bay res has the best pump available; the D5 so it is a great res and pump combo.

 

The waterblock is very good but you might want to look at some of the blocks from swiftech and XSPC.

 

The GPU block is good but you might also want to look at the XSPC razor block as it has better core temps but somewhat worse VRM temps than the EK block.

 

I would get the EK Coolstream XTX 360 as the the thicker core compensates for the lower FPI and will also result in less noise because of reduced turbulence. The XSPC RX360 would be another alternative as it has slightly less flow restriction and is the same thickness.

 

As for fans, I highly recommend you get Noctua NF-F12 PPC fans. These fans don't look as ugly as the original Noctuas but offer better static pressure, airflow and acoustics than the corsair fans, but they are a bit pricey.

 

Hopefully this helps with your build .

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Firstly, hello! I'm new here and this will be my first time building a watercooled system. I currently have a corsair h80i which gets the job done, but I have been looking for a good reason to upgrade and since the 4790k came out, I figured it might be time to at least get ready. I've picked out a list of component I think work well together and would be adaquate for a single CPU and single graphics card build, but I'm honestly not sure. I am also totally taking a shot in the dark for the fans and radiator, so any advice would be great!

 

For the pump and reservoir I am looking at a combo Bay Res D5 Vario mostly because I am building this in a HAF X and I do actually have the spare 5.25 bays. I couldn't find any specific information about the built in pump, but from reviews that I could find it looked like it was decent enough.

 

For my graphics card I'm a bit worried about spending the extra on cooling with the 800 series so close to release. I currently have a 780ti so I'm fairly certain if I watercooled it I would be able to last long enough to make it to the 900 series while still running things on ultra/high, but would it be worth the wait? Anyway, I was looking at an acetal EK block and backing for it.

 

For the cpu (currently a 4770k @ 4.6ghz, hoping to upgrade later) I chose the supremacy clean CSQ because astetically it matches everything else and also had decent reviews.

 

For radiators I am trying to go for a single 360mm (120x3) solution, and am stuck between the Coolstream XTX 360 and koolance model that has more FPI but appears to be much thinner.

 

For fans I chose the only ones I could find that said they were optimized for radiators and didn't look terrible, corsair SP120s

 

I'm hoping this upgrade will last me at least 5 years with a cpu upgrade, but I don't know if I should wait until after maxwell truly releases on desktops. I also really don't know that much about which companies/models are best (evidence: 3/4 of my parts come from EK who I have only heard good of) or if any of these would bottleneck the flow or performance of the others, so any recommendations on parts or anything would be greatly appreciated.

Great res, best pump. Some people have had problems with the res tho. The Monsoon 5.25" D5 res might be worth a look. 

 

780 ti will be good for a while. EK blocks are the best, I'd go with an Acetal + Nickel version tho, the water block is still copper but has nickel plating to give a bit better protection against water corrosion. 

 

If you can fit it, I'd get thick low fpi rad like the Alphacool UT60 3 x 120mm or Black Ice SR-1 3 x 120mm. They are some of the best rads and allow you to run the fans at low rpm while still getting good heat dissipation.

 

I wouldn't waste money on NF-F12 PPC's. Either get the normal ones and deal with the color or SP120's and deal with the noise.

 

You already have your res, rad, water blocks and pump (Switech MCP-655 if you need to buy it separately). For tubing Primochill Advanced LRT 1/2 ID 3/4 OD, fittings bitspower, monsoon or koolance. 

[Rune]

I would definitely wait for the 900 series of GPU's to come out, they will be truly 4k ready then and would be a worthy upgrade to a 780ti.

 

As for your watercooling setup, that bay res has the best pump available; the D5 so it is a great res and pump combo.

 

The waterblock is very good but you might want to look at some of the blocks from swiftech and XSPC.

 

The GPU block is good but you might also want to look at the XSPC razor block as it has better core temps but somewhat worse VRM temps than the EK block.

 

I would get the EK Coolstream XTX 360 as the the thicker core compensates for the lower FPI and will also result in less noise because of reduced turbulence. The XSPC RX360 would be another alternative as it has slightly less flow restriction and is the same thickness.

 

As for fans, I highly recommend you get Noctua NF-F12 PPC fans. These fans don't look as ugly as the original Noctuas but offer better static pressure, airflow and acoustics than the corsair fans, but they are a bit pricey.

 

Hopefully this helps with your build .

So you are saying I should include my 780ti in the watercooling upgrade then? I'm happy with the performance now, but I don't know how much it would cost and how it would compare to an 880/880ti on air.

I saw the noctua's from many of linus's build guides and thought that short of the industrial ones, they were kind of ugly. Brown with brown is not quite going to fit with the rest of my setup

 

Great res, best pump. Some people have had problems with the res tho. The Monsoon 5.25" D5 res might be worth a look. 

 

780 ti will be good for a while. EK blocks are the best, I'd go with an Acetal + Nickel version tho, the water block is still copper but has nickel plating to give a bit better protection against water corrosion. 

 

If you can fit it, I'd get thick low fpi rad like the Alphacool UT60 3 x 120mm or Black Ice SR-1 3 x 120mm. They are some of the best rads and allow you to run the fans at low rpm while still getting good heat dissipation.

 

I wouldn't waste money on NF-F12 PPC's. Either get the normal ones and deal with the color or SP120's and deal with the noise.

 

You already have your res, rad, water blocks and pump (Switech MCP-655 if you need to buy it separately). For tubing Primochill Advanced LRT 1/2 ID 3/4 OD, fittings bitspower, monsoon or koolance. 

Hm, I have not heard of either of those radiators. I'll definitely give them a look!

Ah, I had picked just basic tubing and fittings from EK. Is there any benefit going for bitspower over choosing everything from one provider?

[Shaqo_Wyn]

So you are saying I should include my 780ti in the watercooling upgrade then? I'm happy with the performance now, but I don't know how much it would cost and how it would compare to an 880/880ti on air.

I saw the noctua's from many of linus's build guides and thought that short of the industrial ones, they were kind of ugly. Brown with brown is not quite going to fit with the rest of my setup

 

Hm, I have not heard of either of those radiators. I'll definitely give them a look!

Ah, I had picked just basic tubing and fittings from EK. Is there any benefit going for bitspower over choosing everything from one provider?

I'd definitely get premium tubing, especially when going for flexible tubing. It'll last longer and stay better for longer (not saying that EK tubing is bad tho, if that's what you can or want to go with, get that). Primochill Advanced LRT is widely considered the best. As for the fittings EK fittings are fine, Bitspower just looks better and has way more options in terms of fittings type and colors.

[Rune]

I'd definitely get premium tubing, especially when going for flexible tubing. It'll last longer and stay better for longer (not saying that EK tubing is bad tho, if that's what you can or want to go with, get that). Primochill Advanced LRT is widely considered the best. As for the fittings EK fittings are fine, Bitspower just looks better and has way more options in terms of fittings type and colors.

Oh, the color on the advanced RT is much more vibrant under lights than what I was looking at. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Oh, the color on the advanced RT is much more vibrant under lights than what I was looking at. Thanks for the recommendation.

Happy to help.

[Rune]

Based on recommendations for the noctuas, how about this? I think these would be a good compromise.

[skline00]

I have the XSPC older acrylic D5 bay res for my FX 8350 build and I use the XSPC Twin D5 bay res for my 3930k build. Both combos work well.