Watercooling advice please.

[tarheel7734]

I have decided to wc my current sstem and keep the loop when I upgrade. I figure if I do it right, only the mobo waterblock will need to be changed when I upgrade. Currently I am running an i7 950 on a rampage 3 extreme board and will have sli gtx 970s in a corsair 800d case. I am thinking I will need a single black ice Nemesis 360 and two black ice 140 radiators. The loop would go from 360 Rad to mobo then to cpu. From the CPU it would go to a 140 Rad on back of case then to gpu's. From going it would go to bottom 140 Rad then to pump and resevior. Will this be a good enough setup without having to mod the case too much? My tdp estimation before mobo is 450 Watts. Not sure what the mobo is. Fans I will using are corsair sp120 led. I might even pick up a xeon 6 core to replace the 950 on the cheap.

 

[RCoon]

120.1 radiator per component, plus 120.1 overhead.

Basically for CPU + GPU + GPU I'd look at 2 x 240's or a 360 + 120 radiator setup.

As for ordering of components, it really doesn't matter, as after 10 minutes the whole loop will reach an equilibrium. You might think that putting radiators after certain hot components will help, and yes it does for all of a few minutes. After the system has been on for a while, it makes the entire exercise completely pointless.

 

[the54thvoid]

What RCoon says.

Also, gravity and fill/drain points are far more important to think about than specific order. Here's a few of my own basic rules (not necessarily gospel):

1) Pump is physically below reservoir (or fill point). Otherwise you'll have problems drawing air through loop.
2) Install a drain point (off a 'T' fitting) at lowest point of loop. Helps when re-arranging components and emptying loop of water.
3) Don't use quick disconnects unless you regularly 'disconnect'. My Koolance QDC have ALL failed, they 'clog' over time without use. Luckily they are set away from mobo.
4) Use de-ionised water and maybe a silver coil for algae control. Keep loop out of direct sunlight (promotes algae growth).
5) When installing, triple check every connection and triple check that you have 'plugged' unused ports. I have twice spilled water on my gfx card and more recently killed a DIMM slot on my mobo with a flood, caused by a single unplugged gfx block port.
6) Buy a cheapo power supply jumper and run the loop with plenty of kitchen paper covering parts to check for leaks. When leak testing, only connect power to the pump - DO NOT test with anything else powered on. I literally spilled about half a cup worth on my mobo but because it was de-ionised water and the mobo wasn't powered up I didn't kill it (though as i mention, I've lost a DIMM slot).
7) Have fun and make it look pretty. Water cooling is more about 'enthusiasm' than performance these days.

 

[tarheel7734]

Thanks for the advice. So I don't need to count the mobo chipset as a component? I have places where I could have 2 140 radar. One on back of case and one on bottom. If It's not needed than a 360 and a 140 is doable.

 

[T-Bob]

What RCoon says.

Also, gravity and fill/drain points are far more important to think about than specific order. Here's a few of my own basic rules (not necessarily gospel):

1) Pump is physically below reservoir (or fill point). Otherwise you'll have problems drawing air through loop.
2) Install a drain point (off a 'T' fitting) at lowest point of loop. Helps when re-arranging components and emptying loop of water.
3) Don't use quick disconnects unless you regularly 'disconnect'. My Koolance QDC have ALL failed, they 'clog' over time without use. Luckily they are set away from mobo.
4) Use de-ionised water and maybe a silver coil for algae control. Keep loop out of direct sunlight (promotes algae growth).
5) When installing, triple check every connection and triple check that you have 'plugged' unused ports. I have twice spilled water on my gfx card and more recently killed a DIMM slot on my mobo with a flood, caused by a single unplugged gfx block port.
6) Buy a cheapo power supply jumper and run the loop with plenty of kitchen paper covering parts to check for leaks. When leak testing, only connect power to the pump - DO NOT test with anything else powered on. I literally spilled about half a cup worth on my mobo but because it was de-ionised water and the mobo wasn't powered up I didn't kill it (though as i mention, I've lost a DIMM slot).
7) Have fun and make it look pretty. Water cooling is more about 'enthusiasm' than performance these days.

Coudn't have said it better myself

 

[SirKeldon]

tarheel, you will find tons of information also in this thread:
Naturally Aspired PC WaterCooling Club

 

[GreiverBlade]

tarheel, you will find tons of information also in this thread:
Naturally Aspired PC WaterCooling Club

that almost make me want to necro it ... with my simple dual loop (first WC first try )

well for order it doesn't matter and @RCoon , @the54thvoid summed pretty much all up
(altho i do a Res>pump>rad>block>res myself and use 2 240 for each 60mm thickness for GPU and 30mm for CPU)

 

[xvi]

So I don't need to count the mobo chipset as a component?

Need? No, typically not. If you're pushing for overclocks on everything and you need to bump up chipset voltage by a large amount, then it could be worth it to watercool it.

If you mean "Do I need to consider additional radiators if adding my chipset to the loop", then no to that as well. Chipset only uses, like, 30w or something. The heat it adds is minimal.

Edit: I'm overvolting my northbridge and temps aren't too bad on stock cooling, btw.