Gettin' my feet wet

[Nocturnal036]

All right, I'm getting my feet wet for the first time and I wanted to run all the parts and a few mods I'm going to do to my Thermal Take Armor case.

Heres the hardware I'm running with:
:::Thermaltake Armor Case
:::Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe or Premium (Can't remember)
:::AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4200+ 2.20GHz socket 939
:::2x EVGA 7800GT's
:::WD250GB
:::WD500GB

I'm trying to stay on a low budget while making it look nice.
I plan on cooling my processor and both of my video cards.
I plan on getting 2 full block water coolers for the video cards.

Here's what I'm thinking of picking up for the water cooling system so far:

Radiator
Reservoir
Pump
Tubing
Fans

As you can see, I'm going for a certain look. I kinda wanted to stay at a mid range budget but still have it look nice.

What I plan to do is remove the 5.25" bays highlighted in red.
Then I plan on mounting a 3x120mm radiator on the bar highlighted in blue.
THE PLAN!

I mainly have some questions about radiator, reservoir, and possible T-line placement.
Do you think it will be okay If I mount my radiator where I plan to.?
I plan on putting my resevoir at the top of my loop in the 1st 5.25" bay.
If I mount my radiator where I plan to should I build a vent out to the front of the case to get rid of the heat?
Think I should put a T-line right before my pump, which is going to go down on the bottom of the case?
If everything has 1/2" barbs, I should but tubing with 1/2" ID (Inner Diameter) tubing right?

Thank you very much for the time.

 

[WoodButcher]

If you must have blue tubing I'd use this 3/8" ID on the 1/2" barbs. If appearance is important big clunky hoses don't cut it. I use this size and I don't think anyone will argue that my temps are bad. I'm still playing w/ my setup but the load temps on my OC'ed quad (3.6) are around 35c. I can personally reccommend the Dtek v2!

Your using a single loop for CPU & GPU? use the Swiftech or the Thermochill triple rads. As far as I know these two are still top dogs and you'll need all the cooling you can get. I prefer the Swiftech for cost and would add a 120x 1 internally on the back fan as well. Pump > 320 > cpu > 120 > vid > vid > res > back to pump.
If you want a t-line also I would put this close to the top rad, top rads are a bitch to bleed. Run a tube to the fillport of your res, You can use fillports or just cap the lines and tuck them away but this will make filling, draining and bleeding much easier. The fill and T-lines should cap off at or above the highest point of your loop.
The top rad will need air, if you open the front it will help, from the pic I'm thinking you have room for a top fan and another at the rear, If you can use a pair of 120's in the top and rear you may not need a fan in front. Top and front fans, while they help the airflow contribute greatly to the noise factor, I would mount the rad exhausting too the top chamber and then experiment w/ the airflow.

 

[aigomorla]

MCR320 > BIGTS 320.

GTS should only be used if space is super tight because of its thiness.

 

[Gillbot]

here's mine: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2184410&enterthread=y

 

[Nocturnal036]

All right. So it's a little overambitious to water cool my CPU and 2 GPU's in one loop?

So I should order 1/2" barbs on all of my parts and then get 3/8" ID tubing?

You guys would recommend having a t-line and a reservoir right? Makes draining, filling, and bleeding a while lot easier correct?

"If you want a t-line also I would put this close to the top rad"
So put a t line just before water enters the radiator or the pump?

 

[WoodButcher]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal036
All right. So it's a little overambitious to water cool my CPU and 2 GPU's in one loop?

Not necessarily that was the rig in my sig, quad and one 7950. I had a double and single rad w/ dual pumps, the pumps, compact "DB-1" have only 1/2 the head of the pump your looking at.

So I should order 1/2" barbs on all of my parts and then get 3/8" ID tubing?

This is what I do, They are a bitch to get the tubing on but it works ok. I use hot water and KY (sometimes prestretching w/ needlenose) to get the tube on the new "fatboy" barbs. Most folks use the 7/16" ID (mastercleer is one of the best) but I couldn't find that colored tube, only clear.The 7/16" will give tou a slightly better flow.

You guys would recommend having a t-line and a reservoir right? Makes draining, filling, and bleeding a while lot easier correct?

"If you want a t-line also I would put this close to the top rad"
So put a t line just before water enters the radiator or the pump?

In a loop w/ only a t-line it works best for bleeding right before the pump. In your case w/ a rad at the top I would think the line would be more useful for filling as you intend to use a res.

I've built a new home for my Quad but here is a pic of it as it was, and here is the new box. In the first I used 3/8" ID 5/8" OD and the second is 3/8" x 1/2". My new one is a dual loop w/ an 8800 gt and mobo cooling but I need a new board. The P5K I smoked, oops!