Looking for Advice - Parts list for Water-Cooling

[rcanino]

Hi folks -

I have a couple water-cooling questions - thank you for whatever you care to share!

Case - HAF X
CPU - 980X
Fans - Noctua NF-F12
WC Loop for CPU only

My priorities and expectations for the WC loop:
1) to keep load temps under 60C on an overclocked 980X - mild OC, from stock 3.33 to ~4.0 MHz.
2) to run quietly (fans <1400rpm) for everyday use (higher fan-speeds for rendering is fine)
3) I'd rather not block the top drive bays in the case - which limits me to a 240mm rad

Radiator on top just under the case's top-fan grill
Pump/Reservoir in a spare HDD bay about halfway between top and bottom of the case


My WC parts list is taking shape - all XSPC so far
(1) Raystorm CPU Waterblock Copper (twice as expensive as the acetal mount but I love the looks of the copper/brushed aluminum/anodized silver finish mount)
(1) D5 pump
(1) XSPC dual-bay reservoir
(1) AX240 Dual Fan Radiator
(2) Noctua NF-F12 fans
(6) Compression or Barbs. I like the look of barbs on the waterblock. Also, if I use 3/4" OD tubing those compression fittings just barely fit side-by-side on the waterblock.

I will probably buy a D5/Reservoir combo from XSPC if I can find one I like.

Is there any downside to using wider tubing, besides it being a little harder to bend?

Last question - Is a 240mm radiator enough to run the fans quietly (<1400) and keep temps under 60C on a 980X running at 4.0 MHz? I know you can't answer for *sure* but does that sound reasonable?

That's as far as I got - I would love to know what you think. Thanks for any thoughts you can share!

Here's a few links to the parts:

RayStorm CPU WaterBlock (Intel) Copper ? XSPC - Performance PC Water Cooling
AX240 Dual Fan Radiator (Black) ? XSPC - Performance PC Water Cooling
D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo V2 ? XSPC - Performance PC Water Cooling

Thanks again!

 

[Layback Bear]

Take a look here at their complete kits. You might be able to save some money.

You should use the tubing size that the kit is designed for.
My kit came with 7/16 I.D. X 5/8 O.D. tubing and fittings.


XSPC Water Cooling Kits : Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come
You can also find just single parts if you desire them.
Another good site to look at.

XSPC Products - FrozenCPU.com

I use a XSPC complete kit and it works well.
I did get a silver coil and different tubing (Premo Flex Advanced LRT.
The tubing is easier to work with and I wanted blue.

Take a look at my system specs in lower left of this post.

I don't believe you will have any problems getting good temps with your plan of attack. I7-950 do run hot but if you keep the vcore volts around 1.2v you should be able to run 4.0 without any problems.

 

[rcanino]

thanks LB -

one thing - I have the 6-core i7 980X, which AFAIK has the reputation of running cool. I doubt that changes your recommendation but I thought I'd throw that out there! ...

I have looked over XSPC's kits (and Swiftech's) quite a bit but I haven't found one that includes the Copper waterblock and also the clear dual bay rez with just one D5. The clear bay reservoir and the all-metal waterblock only comes with the 2-pump kit, which is over-overkill for me - not to mention expensive. I know they sell the Photon tube style but I don't want that. That's the main reason I started looking at a custom loop, because I want that beautiful copper block + a clear bay reservoir.

I'll check out the links again after work tonight.

Thanks again LB! I appreciate your help.

 

[rvcjew]

i recently got this kit and love it. Intel Core i7-4770K, MSI GeForce GTX 780, NZXT Switch 810 (White) - intel build - rvcjew's Saved Part List - PCPartPicker (look in the custom section in the bottom) just don't be dumb like me and forget to flush your rad lol. i see a new cpu block o-ring in my future lol. a 360mm i don't think will fit in that case though(at least an RX) i moved from it to the switch.

 

[rcanino]

Looks nice - I have my eye on that kit too - still trying to figure out XSPC's naming scheme for the rads - EX vs AX vs RX ... a little confusing.

anyway you should be set with that rig - congrats!

 

[essenbe]

A 360mm Rad will fit in a HAF x case, although you may lose the top 5.25" bay. That said, there are only a few cases where that is not true. Like Layback Bear, I chose the XSPC kit. For the money, it may be the best on the market. As far as the copper water block, it will look nicer but won't perform any better. As far as the naming scheme, it is difficult, because XSPC changed their kits out and a new naming scheme with the change. So there are a lot of older type kit around (which I have) and the newer kits. I have not kept up a lot on the newer kits, so really can't help much there. I have the older kit with the EX 360, which is a beast of a rad. Is's a 360 but is 64mm thick. Those 4mm don't sound like much, but can make a big difference in clearance. Most cases are made for 60mm rads. So, if you plan on running push/pull, it can make a difference. All of the tests I have seen seem to indicate that adding the pull fan aonly make a difference of about 2-3C. So is it worth it. Most of the XSPC rads I have looked at have very few fins per inch, which is good, as far as I'm concerned and you should look at that closely when you choose a rad. Mine has <8FPI which means you can get excellent cooling with a good fan at around 800 RPMs. The amount of airflow from a fan is much less important than static pressure. Static pressure is what forces air through restriction, like a rad, not airflow. The fans to use can cause a big debate, almost like which is better AMD or Nvidia. So, I won't go there. But, if you've been researching, I'm sure you have an idea about fans. I use the same size tubing that comes with the kit. It is plenty large enough to carry plenty of water, especially with a D5 pushing it. Like LB Bear I went with the same tubing he has and compression fittings. To me, putting water inside a computer case is not something to be taken lightly, and compression fittings are probably the best at not having leaks. I would also suggest you invest in some 45 degree fittings. It will make your life a lot easier in making your tubing runs and greatly reduce the amount of hose you need to make turns, without the hose crimping. A D5 pump and an XSPC block (one of the best around) will keep your CPU as cool as most anything. Personally, I wish I had gone with dual pumps. Not for more flow, but for redundancy. If one pump goes out, you still have another to push plenty of water. I will give you 1 piece of advice. Whatever type system you build, make absolutely sure you can drain it easily. It could save you a lot of grief, and will make your life much easier. There are quite a few different ways to do it. Also with that system you can customize it greatly. I have added another 360mm Rad, am using Monsoon fittings and and new hose. I have plenty of flow with the D5. My next move mat be to ditch the bay reservoir and put in a tube type reservoir.

 

[rvcjew]

To chime back with in with sizing the RX360 I have is the new one (V3) and it took out my first bay with push pull as you can see in this pic. i imagine it will be like this in most cases and defiantly the haf-x. The haf also I don't think has a hole cut out in the top bay to let it breathe any better.

 

[essenbe]

I have a switch 810 also, and it takes the front bay too. You're lucky. You got one of the later versions with the holes cut out in the 5.25 bay. mine is the first version with the bottom of the 5.25 bay is solid.. Plus I have the older version RX 360 which is thicker than the newer versions, I believe. It was tight fit even without the bottom fans.

 

[Layback Bear]

Their are so many different ways to install liquid cooling in so many different cases. That is the reason one has to do some planing.

My Phanteks case allows me to install the 360 radiator in the top push/pull but blocks the top 5 1/4 bay so you cant install and normal length component.; but the dual bay dual pump fits perfect because it's shorter.
I use the fans that came with the XSPC kit plus I added three more of the same to make push pull. My finding were like Steves. It gave me another 2 to 3 C cooler.
Once you get the water cooling running cool improvement come in small increments.

 

[rvcjew]

I have a switch 810 also, and it takes the front bay too. You're lucky. You got one of the later versions with the holes cut out in the 5.25 bay. mine is the first version with the bottom of the 5.25 bay is solid.. Plus I have the older version RX 360 which is thicker than the newer versions, I believe. It was tight fit even without the bottom fans.

yeah i bought it with water in mind as my haf-x had no issues but was not very water freindly. I made sure I got the one with the new cutouts.

 

[Layback Bear]

Just for some helpful information.

I replace my cpu cooler H50 with a H80. What I use to have at idle temps now I have to put a 50% load to get. 100% load tops out after 1 hour at a average of max 61C.
P6X58D-E
12gigs of Kingston 2000 O/C

Did a Repair Install to clean up some things I screwed up doing beta test.
Then decided to continue to check out things and found that my system would see 12 gigs of ram and then 8 gigs of ram and then 10 gigs of ram.

Windows sees the ram just like the bios sees the ram.
CPU-Z always sees 12 gigs. Memtest 86+ always sees 12 gigs of ram. Confusing.
While doing many hours of Memtest86 I was doing some research and found on the Asus Forum some good info. Good hell it was great info. It fixed my problem and made my system run cooler.
Memtest86+ 13.5 hours and all ram passed.

** I had installed the new cooler to tight.
Puts to much pressure on the cpu where the memory controller is and puts to much pressure on the motherboard which effects the two ram slots closes to the cpu.

**Summery:

Backed the tightness off the cpu cooler and ram is indicated in all places 12 gb as it should and it lowered the cpu temps.

I hope this information help someone.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

To get a total education and immersion into proper water cooling please watch a few of this geniuses video's !

 

[linnemeyerhere]

OK folks I just can't wait for these next installs. Enjoy

 

[Layback Bear]

Thank you for the video.

Personally I would of bent the tubing instead of all those 90 deg fittings. It would of looked a lot cleaner and less cluttered. It also would have less fitting to possibly leak.

I would like to know what brand of lighting he uses.

 

[essenbe]

I watch a lot of his videos. He is excellent, but seems to be more interested in aesthetics than performance, but I still watch him and like him, I think you had better go in there and say money is no object. He usually uses Bitspower as much as possible. They make some outstanding stuff, but you pay dearly for it. I use some of their fittings, but the lower end ones. But, I thought that rig was excellent looking. Some of the stuff he does, I wouldn't even attempt.

 

[Layback Bear]

Oh yes he does great work. I also like his videos. Just some things I would do different.
When money is no object some great things can happen.