First step to liquid cooling

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Captain_Hindsight

Captain_Hindsight

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Dec 30, 2013
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Hi guys,

It has been a few months since I upgraded my CPU+Mobo and now I'm thinking about treating my CPU (and my ears) with a water cooling kit.

I have set my eyes on the XSPC RayStorm 750 EX240.
http://www.xs-pc.com/watercooling-kits/raystorm-750-ex240-watercooling-kit

Secondly, because my current case can't handle a 240mm rad, I'm thinking of switching to a NZXT Phantom 530
http://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/134-phantom-530.html

Sadly there is no easy cooling solution for my GPU (as it is a non reference design). Therefore I will just do a CPU cooling loop, and when I feel like upgrading my GPU, I'll expand the loop with a 120 or 240 rad and a GPU water block

As I am totally new at this, I would like to hear your opinions/advice on this. Also, I couldn't find a comparison between the raystorm 240 and the raystorm 280 rad - any advice?

Thanks!

Ninja edit: Distilled water vs. pre mixed coolant - Is there any strong argument for one or another?

My Specs:

Mobo Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
CPU Intel i5 3570k OC @ 4.2 ghz
CPU cooler Thermaltake Contac 39
RAM Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 CL9 (OC to 1866)
GPU MSI R9 270 Gaming (GPU OC to 1110 Mhz)
PSU BE QUIET! 530 Watt 80Plus Bronze
CASE Silverstone PS06 (Positive Airflow 3x120mm 1x180mm)

Edit: only one after-market CPU Cooler :)
 
Solution
Lutfij
Welcome to the world of overclocking. Hopefully your transition from air to water will be easy provided you get the steps right.

Regarding your inquiry:
Ninja edit: Distilled water vs. pre mixed coolant - Is there any strong argument for one or another?
Click to expand...
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky#3718886

There's a trend for people shifting over to dyes and coolants, if you are hell bent on going that route, you can look into Mayhems pastel/dyes. Mind you dyes are dyes because they stain items and in this case it'll be your tubing. Certain ranges of Mayhems are meant for events or shows and are not intended for long periods of use.

The 240 rad is basically a 2x120 rad whereas the 280 rad is a 2x140...
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Me too mate, this is going to be a fun and colorful build for the OP! While you're waiting for parts to arrive maybe do a few go checks about your loop order and its setup. You can later worry about how you're going to fill er up and prime it :)
 
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Update:
I'm priming the loop now. Fingers crossed. ;-)

I'll post some pics tomorrow after I get everything going.

Ps. I LOVE the purring of the D5 pump. 🙂

Edit:
2nd Update:

No dripping over night. 😀 Yey! If everything is ok when I get home from work, I'll put everything in place and post an update.
 
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I'm finally done :)

You will notice that I got the 5.25 bay rez, instead of the photon (cylindrical) rez, due to the simple fact that it was not in stock and they did not have a ETA for the next shipment. (no noticeable price difference).

I made an Imgur album for easy viewing :)

http://imgur.com/a/Os0eA

I really like how it all fits into the case, and I heave plenty of room for the GPU expansion later this year with a second 2.120 rad in the bottom intake and a GPU block.

I still need to order a UV LED for the UV tubing to kick in.


As for performance:

- browsing 30-35 deg. C
- prime95 and Unity Valley running simultaneously, temps peaked at 63 deg. C after about 20 min.

Fans are on 5V low speed and pump also running on 1/5 (Room temp 23 deg C)

I'm not sure if these are good or not, but I'm pleased with the performance/noise ratio.
 
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Lovely setup there! If that was my rig, I'd take some more time with the cables...tidy her up.

On a side note, the temps you're seeing are expected for a system like yours. I would hate to break this bit of news to you but the Twin Frozer MSI gpu's have some issues in teh full cover waterblock department...might be mistaken since EK is now offering support for some of MSI's GPU range, including Asus' DCUII.

Overall; GOOD JOB!
 
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Thanks :)

I was kind of anxious to get it running, and abandoned the cable management at one point 😛 - will take care of it this weekend, though.

I already checked, and no one makes water blocks for non reference R9 270 cards. I will have to look for a EVGA Nvidia 760 or a 270 reference design as replacement.
 
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I love the blue tubing!!!! :)

Now I do want to advise you in that keeping the rear exhaust combined with some good case intake is crucial to keeping the motherboard VRs cool!

Since you removed the air flow over them from the CPU air cooler it is imperative for motherboard longevity to keep those M/B VRs cool.

Many do not and suffer premature motherboard failure, because the CPU voltage load does add additional heat to the M/B VRs and it has to be dealt with, part of the original stock air coolers design was not only to cool the CPU but the VRs surrounding the socket as well.

So leaving that rear exhaust is a good thing but it has to have air coming to it to pull through to cool, so with the changes you now have made to the overall case air flow it may be best to turn the fan around and make it an intake, that way it will be blowing fresh air directly onto the VRs.

Traditional fans do not blow the main concentration of air straight out from the fan, they output air at a centrifugal angle to the fan, which is perfect for blowing directly onto the VRs.

This information is to keep you from having problems later on, use it as you decide!

Nice work! :)

Edit:

Seeing as how your top fans are pulling air through the radiator from inside the case, the rear exhaust as intake would be better anyway!
 
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I have a off-topic question regarding the PSU.

Since I finished the build, I had some unusual, short black screens (1-2 sec) and on 2 occasions my system crashed (no BSOD, just distorted image of my desktop) - The black screens happened during low-medium system load (Aprox 6-8 times over the last 3 days - browsing with lots of tabs open and gaming). One Crash was while playing prison architect and the other while I went to buy something and left my PC unattended for about 1h.


Now I have the growing suspicion that my PSU may not have enough power for all the extra consumers (LEDs, Fans, Pump)

Or my GPU is slowly dying ... :-?
 
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OS: Win 7 Prof. 64 bit

Mobo: Asrock Z77 Extreme 4

CPU: Intel i5 3570k - OC @ 3.8 Ghz (all cores under Load) 4.2 Ghz (one core under Load)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 CL9

GPU: MSI R9 270 Gaming - (GPU OC to 1110 Mhz)

PSU: BE QUIET! Pure Power L8 CM 530 Watt 80Plus Bronze

XSPC D5 Pump

DVD-RW Samsung (internal)

1x SDD Samsung Evo
1x Hdd (sata 5.400rpm) - former Laptop HDD



Leds:

2x 3mm
1x 1mm

Fans:

1x 200mm
1x 140mm
4x 120mm

USB Peripheral:

Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X PC/PS3 2960703 Joystick
Microsoft LifeCam VX-800


Don't know if it is relevant or not, but I also changed the Monitor cable from VGA cable to HDMI.

If you need more details, I'll be at home in 1h (I'm writing this from work)
 
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Could be graphic driver problems, (maybe fixed by an uninstall/reinstall?) I don't see anything obviously wrong.

It may be the power supply?

It appears to be a dual 12v rail from what I could find on it, I usually prefer a single 12v rail powering multiple items like you are now, pump and the additional fan load may have just been enough.

Usually a completely problem free machine suddenly developing problems after only adding and additional cooling electrical load is an indication the P/S is inadequate.

I would go ahead and change it, if after a GPU driver reinstall you still have the problem.

I have a different P/S philosophy than most as most get barely enough power to handle the load then the P/S has to do double duty to keep up, I always overpower then my P/S never kicks into high to handle the load, it just cruises.

I would recommend a 750w single 12v rail P/S, unless you have future plans of dual GPUs, then I would also take that into consideration as well.

 
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I did install the 14.4 Catalyst that was released on the 25.4. I will reinstall it.

I also have a friend who "desperately" needs a new P/S.

He has a A8-3750k with a Sapphire 6670 in dual Graphics on a F1-55M Asus mobo. I think my 530W would be sufficient for him (he has some antique 430W - no name- P/S)

So I am actively looking for a new P/S because I can sell the old one.

I do not plan to go dual GPU, so 750W sounds fine.

As I really like the service of Mylemon.at I'd buy it from them.

On the budget side, there is the CS SERIES 750W:

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&depth=1&hl=de&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.at&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.mylemon.at/artikel/corsair/cp_9020078_eu/netzteil-750w-cs750m-atx-semi.html&usg=ALkJrhidbsWy-lLW5dD8mPvvD-N5bYY1Ng

But I would go with something more expensive, if the quality is worth it: (100-150€)

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&depth=1&hl=de&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.at&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.mylemon.at/kategorie/computer-hardware/netzteile.html%3Ffilter%3D183%257C2445:2364%3B183%257C2362%3B185%257C2321%3Bpreis%257C100:150&usg=ALkJrhjTl8yjqulUMfh4NcV4k-HcisJjkQ
 
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