Noobie watercooling help

[Th0rn0]

hey all,

Recently got me some money to spend woot! I was considering a watercooling kit. But I have a few questions before I venture to the whole LCS.

1. Is it worth it? I currently have a Arctic freezer 7 pro running my e8200 (OC'd at 3.1ghz) at 40c load. Would I get a significant improvement?

2. What do I need? I have priced a kit and its roughly 110 pound from water cooling UK. Wasn't sure however if I needed screws and what not on the pipes. Can someone give me a exact list of what I need.

3. Is it worth getting a Thermaltake 850i Pro water for my first contact with water? I can pick one up for 80 pound brand new.

4. Failing the 850i, can someone price me up a rough outline for me to follow for a water cooling kit?

Thanks.

 

[kyle2020]

Heres a quick breakdown:

1. Not worth it unless your temperatures are out of this world awful. If your idling under 40 degrees and loading under 60, I wouldnt recommend it.

2. Link to the kit? And it depends on what your cooling - if its just CPU then youll need enough tubing to go from your pump to your reservoir, then to your block, then radiator, then back to the pump. You'll need:

- Waterblock (recommendations are D-Tek FuZion V1 & V2, EK Supreme, anything along those lines)

- Pump. Tend to be quite expensive - I used to own a dB-1 and it was awesome for £35.

- Radiator. Major component. The bigger the better IF, and I say IF loudly, its a good brand - for example, a 12cm Thermochill could probably outperform a crappy no name 24cm radiator. (Good brands of radiator are Thermochill, Feser, Black Ice & the odd XSPC)

- Reservoir (however this is optional) - something like a Swiftech MCRES.

- Tubing - dependant on the size of barbs. Go for 1/2" barbs, youll be needing 1/2" tubing, and so on. Go for Tygon if you can get it, excellent stuff.

- Coolant. Id recommend just normal distilled water with some PT_Nuke in it (biocide), or you can go down the feser UV route if you want extra wow.

- Fans for the radiator.

3. Dont buy thermaltake kits. They are pathetic.

4. Rough pricing guide:

CPU Block - £30 - £50

Radiator - £30 - £70

Reservoir £10 - £20

Pump - £30 - £70

Tubing - Price per foot (depends on brand / quality)

Fans - £3 - £20 each.

Coolant - £10 or so.

 

[Th0rn0]

Thats the kit.

 

[kyle2020]

Thats the kit.

Please dont go anywhere near XSPC kits - I had a V3 when I first started H20 and my Quad overheated within 20 minutes.

Ill do your a quick kit mock up, give me a few minutes.

 

[kyle2020]

here:

Excellent kit that has enthusiast level performance. Tad pricey though.

 

[Th0rn0]

yea a little too pricey for me

 

[kyle2020]

hmm . . . ill go budget then

brb

 

[Th0rn0]

Thanks

 

[kyle2020]

ok even cheaper, identical to my old loop only I had a FuZion V1:

Call it £150 after water, delivery etc.

You can always check ebay for some bargains, got my FuZion off there for £20.

 

[Th0rn0]

wow nice. Will have a look. You use watercooling uk for this? OR do you know a better site?

 

[kyle2020]

you can try:

ChilledPC
KustomPC's
Ebay (for the odd bits)
And I forgot the others. lol.

 

[Th0rn0]

cool thanks