Help First Time Water Cooling.

[yassterday]

hey, guys, this is the first time i am adding a custom loops for my pc, im going to be over clocking, so i need a proper watercooled loop the problem is i need parts, and im not really sure on what to get, im only going to be cooling my CPU and GPU, i know i need 2 radiators, and such, the other problem is i live in New Zealand so yeah.. my system is

Amd Phenom X6 1090T cpu
Asus crosshair V Formula mobo
HD Sapphire 7970 3gb Graphics
500gb Hardrive ( may upgrade)
Corsiar 1600 8gb Ram
Case - nzxt Phantom 820 - huuuuuuge

thanks for all your answers guys, i mainley need help on the radiators, reservior, fans (what type of configuration) and cylinder. but as much part you can list would be alot appreciated

thank you!!!

EDIT: also my case is black so something like A red or Green Or Blue Layout would be awesome.

 

[manofchalk]

First place for an intrepid water-cooler, the water-cooling sticky. It will explain everything you need to know to get a general idea of what your doing.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky
I suggest reading it a few times to get everything to stick.

Once your done with that, pull together a loop that you think will work and post it here for feedback. You'l find around here that we dont give out parts lists for water-loops like we would with a system build. If you want water in the loop, you should dedicate the time to know what your doing and getting yourself into.

 

[yassterday]

First place for an intrepid water-cooler, the water-cooling sticky. It will explain everything you need to know to get a general idea of what your doing.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky
I suggest reading it a few times to get everything to stick.

Once your done with that, pull together a loop that you think will work and post it here for feedback. You'l find around here that we dont give out parts lists for water-loops like we would with a system build. If you want water in the loop, you should dedicate the time to know what your doing and getting yourself into.

Thanks for that stickey i have read it and decided to do some searching this is what i have pulled so far..

EK COOLSTREAM RAD XT 360 top mounted
EK COOLSTREAM RAD XT 240 bottom mounted
EK D5 X-RES 140 CSQ - ACETAL
EK Ekoolant UV Lime GREEN Premix 1Lt
EK-FC7970 Acetal + Nickel CSQ waterblock
EK SUPREMACY - NICKEL & ACETAL CSQ BLOCK
Green or Clear Tubing
il post the fans later on..

 

[manofchalk]

While it isn't an issue now, be aware of EK's past in regards to Nickel products.

Actually ties into the above.
You dont need to buy pre-mixed coolant, Distilled water is best, far cheaper and available in any supermarket. Also dyes will eventually fall out of the water and clog up any blocks and stain tubing. My advice is to get colour in the loop through tubing and lighting effects.
EK historically has also refused warranty support for those that dont use their pre-mixed coolants.

I assume from the res your going with a D5 pump?

Make sure your graphics cards use a reference design PCB, it will determine if you can use that water-block (and universal blocks in general).

Any plans on fittings, how you will drain the loop?

 

[yassterday]

While it isn't an issue now, be aware of EK's past in regards to Nickel products.

Actually ties into the above.
You dont need to buy pre-mixed coolant, Distilled water is best, far cheaper and available in any supermarket. Also dyes will eventually fall out of the water and clog up any blocks and stain tubing. My advice is to get colour in the loop through tubing and lighting effects.
EK historically has also refused warranty support for those that dont use their pre-mixed coolants.

I assume from the res your going with a D5 pump?

Make sure your graphics cards use a reference design PCB, it will determine if you can use that water-block (and universal blocks in general).

Any plans on fittings, how you will drain the loop?

i read About there issue with nickel, would you reccomend any other company's water blocks? also for the fitting i might use Compressed fittings, to drain it i will build a simple hand pump type thing to retract the liquid and pour into a bottle

the sizes i was thinking for the tuping would be 3/8" ID and 1/2" OD green uv tubing and just normal distilled water.

And yes the D5 will be the pump il be using, unless you or anyone else can recommend better solutions.
thanks..! and i dont really have a budget here, so yah..

 

[manofchalk]

All of the big names in water-cooling make good blocks, you could pick based entirely on aesthetic and not make a bad choice. The difference between the best and worst blocks is a few degrees.
I use the XSPC Raystorm for my CPU, and a Heatkiller 79X0 block for my 7970 (which I havent gotten round to fitting yet, so excited 😀).

Can never go wrong with a D5 pump.

Not having a budget is a good thing, because with water-cooling your guaranteed to blow it anyway :lol.

 

[yassterday]

All of the big names in water-cooling make good blocks, you could pick based entirely on aesthetic and not make a bad choice. The difference between the best and worst blocks is a few degrees.
I use the XSPC Raystorm for my CPU, and a Heatkiller 79X0 block for my 7970 (which I havent gotten round to fitting yet, so excited 😀).

Can never go wrong with a D5 pump.

Not having a budget is a good thing, because with water-cooling your guaranteed to blow it anyway :lol.

alright looks like im abit sorted, a bit of change though, im going to be having a EVGA GTX680 instead now, is that a reference design or will i need to buy evga's water block..?

 

[manofchalk]

Reference design refers to what AMD and Nvidia PCB designs that are shipped out to manufacturers, whether the manufacturer uses them or not depends.
Look up if that 680 uses a reference GTX680 design, and whether whatever block you go for supports it. If its non-reference, then you will be limited to universal or custom PCB blocks (which may just be the case since EVGA have their own HydroCopper blocks).

 

[yassterday]

Reference design refers to what AMD and Nvidia PCB designs that are shipped out to manufacturers, whether the manufacturer uses them or not depends.
Look up if that 680 uses a reference GTX680 design, and whether whatever block you go for supports it. If its non-reference, then you will be limited to universal or custom PCB blocks (which may just be the case since EVGA have their own HydroCopper blocks).

so i did abit of searching and found out nothing if it was a reference design or not, i know that i have their original one ( http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-2680-KR ) that one.

also an expert in watercooling dude told me a 360 and a 240 rads are abit of a over kill to cool only 2 components, so im going with a EX280 dual fan radiator both 140mm on top and bottom, can you advise me if i should do a push pull config or just 2 fans on one side will do? for both rads?

 

[manofchalk]

Who was this expert?
A 280mm rad I wouldnt trust to cool them under a decent overclock.

To figure out if you have enough radiator space, compare the TDP (power draw) of the components against what the radiator can deal with at certain fan RPM's. Pick something reasonable like 1200RPM, because a rad can cool 400W at 2000RPM, but will sound like a jet engine in the process.
Also, more rad space = slower fans = less noise. I use 2x360mm rads for my 3570k and 7970 and the fans are running at ~800RPM, fans are dead silent.

 

[yassterday]

Who was this expert?
A 280mm rad I wouldnt trust to cool them under a decent overclock.

To figure out if you have enough radiator space, compare the TDP (power draw) of the components against what the radiator can deal with at certain fan RPM's. Pick something reasonable like 1200RPM, because a rad can cool 400W at 2000RPM, but will sound like a jet engine in the process.
Also, more rad space = slower fans = less noise. I use 2x360mm rads for my 3570k and 7970 and the fans are running at ~800RPM, fans are dead silent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxVxifYkR2o this guy.
so should i stick with my normal seteup 360 on top and 240 on bottom?

also the gtx 680 draws a total of 195watts and the x6 at 125 watts..

and what case do you have? and assuming those 360 are triple fan ?