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Started By
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Water Cooling: My First Loop
Posted on 4/23/13 at 10:06 am
Posted on 4/23/13 at 10:06 am
I'm finally starting to wind down on my case mod on my new build and before I start putting everything together I want to go ahead and do a loop.
My System:
NZXT Phantom
Corsair AX860
I7-3770k
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
Kingston HyperX Beast 32GB (8GBx4)
3 SSD's
2 HDD's
Nvidia GTX660ti BUT I'm likely upgrading to a 680.
I picked up an XSPC Raystorm a couple of weeks ago so that is covered. What else will I need? What will fit? I'm lost
My System:
NZXT Phantom
Corsair AX860
I7-3770k
ASRock Z77 Extreme6
Kingston HyperX Beast 32GB (8GBx4)
3 SSD's
2 HDD's
Nvidia GTX660ti BUT I'm likely upgrading to a 680.
I picked up an XSPC Raystorm a couple of weeks ago so that is covered. What else will I need? What will fit? I'm lost
Posted on 4/23/13 at 10:59 am to Srbtiger06
I wouldn't start making tubing and fitting purchases until you have that 680 at least on order. Order one with a reference pcb and voltage unlocked. Then you can buy your gpu block. You'll need to choose a pump, 1/2 or 3/8 tubing, appropriate fittings, reservoir, rads, coolant, etc. diagram out the way your loop is going to go and make sure you have enough space for all the things I mentioned before you start ordering things. I have no experience with the phantom so I can't offer you WC advice for it.
Eta check out dazmode's YouTube channel for a pretty good intro into WC. It's a little dated parts wise, but the principals are the same
Eta check out dazmode's YouTube channel for a pretty good intro into WC. It's a little dated parts wise, but the principals are the same
This post was edited on 4/23/13 at 11:01 am
Posted on 4/23/13 at 3:03 pm to Srbtiger06
When I get home and get something to eat I will help you out. I keep up with all the new parts, testing, thermal/flow charts, etc.
Meanwhile, answer these questions for me:
1. What is your goal with this loop? (e.g., you want to really push your hardware, you just like the aesthetics, you want something quiet, you only want to OC CPU, etc. etc.)
2. How much 5.25" bay space do you have? This will determine selection on reservoir, pump, and possibly fan controller.
3. Unrelated, but why 3 SSDs? RAID?
4. Are you water cooling only GPU and CPU? (i.e., not RAM, Mobo chipset, etc. -- which is not recommended anyway).
5. How important is PC silence? There are three desirable features: Compact, quiet, and better cooling performance. And in general, you can only pick two, and compromise on the third.
6. What about aesthetics? Custom loops are not cheap, but there are ways to cut costs. For example, using barbs and worm clamps instead of compression fittings; getting clear food grade tubing instead of watercooling-rebranded or colored tubing; using a small case-mount reservoir or T-line/fillport instead of a bay reservoir; etc.
7. Rough estimate of your total watercooling budget? (not including the Raystorm you already bought, which was a good choice).
8. I concur that you should get your 680 before doing the loop. Do you see yourself going SLI in the near future?
Meanwhile, answer these questions for me:
1. What is your goal with this loop? (e.g., you want to really push your hardware, you just like the aesthetics, you want something quiet, you only want to OC CPU, etc. etc.)
2. How much 5.25" bay space do you have? This will determine selection on reservoir, pump, and possibly fan controller.
3. Unrelated, but why 3 SSDs? RAID?
4. Are you water cooling only GPU and CPU? (i.e., not RAM, Mobo chipset, etc. -- which is not recommended anyway).
5. How important is PC silence? There are three desirable features: Compact, quiet, and better cooling performance. And in general, you can only pick two, and compromise on the third.
6. What about aesthetics? Custom loops are not cheap, but there are ways to cut costs. For example, using barbs and worm clamps instead of compression fittings; getting clear food grade tubing instead of watercooling-rebranded or colored tubing; using a small case-mount reservoir or T-line/fillport instead of a bay reservoir; etc.
7. Rough estimate of your total watercooling budget? (not including the Raystorm you already bought, which was a good choice).
8. I concur that you should get your 680 before doing the loop. Do you see yourself going SLI in the near future?
This post was edited on 4/23/13 at 3:05 pm
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