Water Cooling my new Rig..

[Benji]

Hey, i am building my first rig over the next month or two and i am thinking of water cooling it but i would have no idea where to start..
I will be using;
Armor+ Case
AMD Phenom II 720 AM3 Cpu
2x Radeon 4870 VGA
Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P Mobo
i think this is all that should need cooling, don't know about the mobo as they are supposed to very cool running.

I need help on what i need to cool all of this effectively and what brands and products are good..
Thanks in advance

Using that Wattage Calculator it gets around 1000W.. would i need a dedicated psu?

[Geralt]

Using that Wattage Calculator it gets around 1000W.. would i need a dedicated psu?

dedicated PSU for what?? water cooling. Its not needed. But for your setup you would need at least 1k power supply. I would recommend 1.2 k

For your setup i would recommend dual loop setup. One for CPU, and mobo if you would consider watercooling it as well and second for grfx cards.

So ie. 2 x 320 mm rad, 2 pumps ( ie. swiftech mcp 355) , grfx blocks, CPU blocks, NB,SB and mosfet blocks( if considered) and hose, coolant. barbs or compression fittings.

For details see here:

Basic Water Cooling Guide for Beginners

[Deton]

First of all, do you have budget set aside for the water cool system?

Because it's can cost you from $500 easily for what you try to cool, that is not including mobo blocks. I don't think you need to water cool the mobo since AMD intergated memory controller in the CPU so you should concentrate on the CPU instead.

Two loops setup will give you better temps but it's also cost you more due to the extra pump, reservoir and tubing. However, you can do one loop but definitely much have 2 triple rads in series.

About the PSU, you don't need 1Kw unit. I don't know how much hardware you have but minimum is 750W is enough for what you have listed. If you want a little extra juice then you can get 850W unit.

So let us know your budget then we can give you better parts recommending.

[Benji]

roughly $600AUD is how much i am willing to spend on the Water cooling system.

I don't really think the mobo will need to be water cooled as it has 2oz copper PCB in it and a descent heatsink on it as well as the integrated memory controllers.

So that Just leaves the Overclocked CPU and the 2x R4870's

and 2 triple rads doesn't sound like it will fit in an Armor+ case without some modding.

[Deton]

roughly $600AUD is how much i am willing to spend on the Water cooling system.

That's roughly around $450USD, so you are short about $100USD for what you are trying to setup.

To cool a CPU and two GPUs you need at least a Feser 360 or XSPC RX360 rad.
As a first time water cooling custom setup can be very costly, if I were you just concentrate on the CPU first then start saving money for the future upgrading. This way you can get a Swiftech H20-220 Ultima kit for $250-$300USD.

Here are my minimun recommendation for custom setup;
CPU block: Apogee GTS $70
GPU blocks: EK4870 FC $100 each
PUMP: MCP655 $65
RES: Swiftech Micro res R2 $25
BARDS: 8pcs $16
RAD: XSPC RX360 $100
TUBE: 10' Tygon $30
COOLANT: Feser 1 $20

Total cost: $526 this is just a ballpark figure.

[Benji]

Thanks Deton, and yes i probably will concentrate on the CPU first and then upgrade once i get my second GPU. so go with a Swiftech H20-220 Ultima kit??

Is this the ultima Kit you were talking about?
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=8508

[Deton]

Thanks Deton, and yes i probably will concentrate on the CPU first and then upgrade once i get my second GPU. so go with a Swiftech H20-220 Ultima kit??

Is this the ultima Kit you were talking about?
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=8508

Yes that's the one but $459AUD = $340USD is too much. The regular price in North America only $299USD and the cheapest one is $240 http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swh2edukit.html, but unforturnately they are out of stock. You need to shop around for better deal.

When the time come to upgrade, all you need the GPUs blocks and another MCR320 rad to add on to the current kit. So you will have one rad to cool the CPU and one to cool the GPUs.

[Benji]

i think i will import from the US then only $320 AUSD from sidewinder even if postage is like $50 i still save a ton of cash. Also when i do get both of the GPU coolers, should i buy another whole system and have 1 dedicated for cpu and 1 dedicated for GPU's? would that give better temps allround?

[Deton]

i think i will import from the US then only $320 AUSD from sidewinder even if postage is like $50 i still save a ton of cash. Also when i do get both of the GPU coolers, should i buy another whole system and have 1 dedicated for cpu and 1 dedicated for GPU's? would that give better temps allround?

They are out of stock though, send them an email asking for the ETA date for re-stocking.
Don't you have to pay for importing duty in Australia?

A seperate system will gave the GRFX better temps but it will cost you more money. But if you have a rad or rads that is capable to dissipate all the heat load then you will be ok. That the reason why I reconmended two triple rads for what you're trying to do or just one Feser Xchange rad will capable to do the job.

So if you get that Swiftech kit, the MCR220 is capable to cool your AMD CPU. When the time to water cool the GPUs then you can add on another triple (3x120) rad of your choice to cool the grfx. Swiftech rad is good performer and afordable.

Setup order will be like this;
Triple Rad --> CPU ---> Dual Rad --> GPUs ---> Reservoir ---> Pump ---> back to triple Rad

Triple rad will remove the heat load from GPUs
Dual rad will remove the heat load from CPU

You might have to alter the setup a little bit to suite with your case, however that is the principal how to setup multiple rads in series configuration.

[bullydog]

Hi Ben,
You could try placing your orders from Performance PC. They are quite the same to SideWinder
i have bought some stuff from them too.

They are selling the ultima kit at USD$299.95
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=24646