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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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OK it is a D5 with a PWM sensor wire but is still raw powered by the power supply. (learn something new everyday! :) )

Personally I would not use that feature for my cooling setup as I use the variable speed model of the pump and fine tune the pump speed for my needs.

Once it's fine tuned as my cooling needs are static once set, there can be no variability with pump speed for my setup, as I run below ambient temperatures and the PWM voltage control would be a roller coaster cooling effect, and my cooling performance would seriously degrade!

So I would never buy a PWM model of a D5 pump, but that's me, and my setup is not a daily solution!

Of this Lutfi knows! :)
 
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I found a review for it:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/user-review-swiftech-mcp35x-d5-pwm-pumps.177317/


In a scenario where my CPU (and GPU) produce a lot of heat during gaming, but stay close to minimal clock speeds during non-gaming activities, how much does the pump speed influence cooling? (and pump life expectancy)

Gaming - high pump speed
non-Gaming - low pump speed

Or does flow speed loose it's relevance beyond a certain point, and only rad/fan performance make a difference ?

I am thinking a flow speed meter + pwm pump combo, to keep the pump at lower speeds when water temp drops - or would this have a worse effect on the pump health?

 
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For a setup like yours I wouldn't be worried about pump speed fluctuation during load and idle scenarios rather you should be worried about the rpm of your fans during gameplay.

Most watercoolers often set their fans and pump rpm to one setting and forget about it, if in some situations you're worried about temps, you can dial the speed of your fans up. If you're wondering how you can control your fans on the fly, there are 2 ways.
1| physical fan controller
2| pwm fan header splitter off of motherboard(mobo).

The former is what every watercooler will have in their arsenal while the latter is something you see in tight budget or case constraints. The latter will utilize your mobo's header to send and receive (sometimes power) and rpm signal and can conversely set rpm or fan curve on corresponding header via software.

I have my D5 set to 2 on the speed dial and its been like that for about ~3 years.

On a similar note, the sort of pump you need in your loop would be dictated by the loop construction, e.g; high restriction loop or high flow loop.

A DDC and a D5 pump both have their unique places in a loop construction.
 
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Thanks for clearing that up.

Luckily the new case has a 10 3pin molex hub with a manual voltage control on the outside (5-7-12V) so I could easily control the rad fan speed.

The case will be here today, so tomorrow I'll move all the parts from the old one, and do the measuring.

 
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You're welcome!

That watercooling sticky I've posted in the second post is the thread to fall back on when you are confused. Even after a couple of readthrough if it doesn't make sense, you can ask around the forums or in this case this thread :)

There's another thing you also need to understand; voltages off a fan controller as well as audibility of a fan motor will vary greatly from fan maker to fan maker. Noiseblocker E-loops are touted to be the quietest fans out there now and they are also fantastic for watercooling, however they come at a premium. I suspect since NB's are a European firm, the prices of said products may be cheaper down your end or from caseking.de

Voltage regulating fan controllers reliability depend on their capacitor and circuitry builds. The better the build quality the longer they will last and the more fans you can run off one header IF going physical fan controller route.

I'm kind of excited to see what you'll be doing with the case :) Have you thought about opening a build log?
 
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Great, I already have one of those as a back exhaust :)

Ditech will probably find a investor to keep them alive - they just made the insolvency official last week - they just need to close some stores.

What do you think about the 5.25 Fan controller? Is it useful, or just unnecessary *Bling*

Where should I post the log? Here, or should I start a new thread?
 
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Update: The postal service tried to deliver my case on Friday @1.30 pm (!?) and because no one was (obviously) home, they will make a second delivery attempt today. As a result I will have my case prob tomorrow, when I can pick it up from a post office.

🙁 big dissapoint
 
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Just found a review that recommends the EX over the RX http://martinsliquidlab.org/2012/12/22/xspc-ex360-radiator/5/
 
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I meant, according to him, the EX does perform almost as good as a RX with lower speed fans :) so I can probably get a 360EX in push/pull "naturally" in my case, w/o modding, where as I could get the RX only with push fans.


 
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Very Good Investigating! :)

 
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I looked and measured from different angles and I have some mixed feelings...

First of all here are some of the pictures http://imgur.com/a/H24jL (It does look nice tho :) )

I have 2 concerns about going for a EX360 rad:

1 - there is no dedicated space for the tubing (see Measuring 1)
I could go for drilling my own holes downwards through the metal - but I don't have the tools or skill/experience to do it.

2 - there is only proper exhaust for 2 fans - the 3rd one would have troubles (last photo - correct me if I'm wrong)


On the plus side, I have 55mm space above and 40mm space beneath - so the EX 35,5 mm + the fan 25mm would both fit in the top - and push pull is no problem - a 25mm fan fits w/o any problem on the inside (Measuring 2)


So I am inclined to go for a EX240 and place it with the tubing facing forward (so I don't have to do any modding) in a p/p config.

Downside is the only Kit with this rad is the http://www.xs-pc.com/watercooling-kits/raystorm-d5-ex240-watercooling-kit - that has only the D5 Dual Bay Reservoir.


I'll have to see how big the price difference is if I order the parts individually with the cylindrical rez.


As for future upgrades: there is ample room for a thick 240mm rad in the bottom intake and a 140mm rad in the back exhaust
Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/6tm5k
 
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Update:

As I want to get the cylindrical rez with the nice "glow stick", I had to research the AX series rads some more, because there is no kit with the EX and the cyl rez.
This seems to be the kit solution for me:

http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Wasserkuehlung/Interne-Wasserkuehlungen/XSPC-Wasserkuehlung-Set-RayStorm-D5-Photon-AX240::25468.html

Here is the article:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/Review-detail/xspc-ax360-radiator/4/

THERMAL RESISTANCE

http://www.pureoverclock.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Heat-Graph.png

In this line graph it clearly shows that the AX360 outperforms most radiators from low speed to medium speeds. The AX360 competes neck in neck with the full copper AMS-360 at a fan speed of 1200RPM. Then, the AX360 falls behind the TFC X-Changer 360 after the 1400RPM mark, and finally is pretty much on par with its big brother the RX360 after increasing the speed to 2000RPM. The AX360 is well suited to medium airflow, which will give you the best of both worlds in performance and low noise levels. It’s also still a good performer at high air velocity considering its thickness.


The compromise I have to make is that I probably won't have enough space to do a push/pull setup with this one.
 
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