Veteren Watercooling Gurus....

[mdchesne]

I have a lian-li pc-60. I origionally was looking into the asetek vga-chipset-cpu dual 120 watercooling kit... futher research revealed I'd need to have the radiator outside the case to fit it at all, and remove my HDD cage to fit the pump/reservoir. This is unacceptable because the location of the HDD cage in the pc-60 is in prime location for active HDD cooling (especially important when I upgrade to dual 74gig raptors next year).

I was looking into the Koolance Exos series, but at $310 just for the res and pump, not including any blocks, that's a bit steep. I plan to cool the CPU and GPU primarily, chipset if I can.

So here's the specs:
experience absolutely none! I'm a clean slate, so build me an awesome setup!
budget: <=$350
case Lian Li pc-60
nit picking I don't want to remove the HDD cage for any reason. As little or no (preferablly) hard-modding to my case (I'd hate to drill into such a nice case). It can be external. Quiet and efficient please. No Thermaltake 80db POS. I have a MSI Neo4 Platinum mobo so be aware that the video card is further south than on an Intel board.... think 80mm MAX clearance from bottom of case, and this means if I have no other cards below it (probally won't have any empty slots in a few years with my upgrading). Peltier cooling would be a definate plus if someone can fit it in!

thanks guys.

 

[haelduksf]

I'm hardly an wizened guru, but I can still help you out

Pump: Either the MCP-350 or a Danner Mag. Either are small enough to fit just about anywhere, and the 350 can be modded to perform almost as well as the 650. You might even be able to squeeze an MCP-655 in your case, but it'd be tight.

Blocks: Whatever your little heart desires. Top performance is Swiftech Storm + Silverprop Fusion, top bling is Aqua-Computer (probably won't fit your budget though), top value is PolarFlo E-series/whatever you can find on the forums. You probably have the budget to go with the top-performing kit out there, namely the Storm and Fusion combo.

Rad: if you get a Swiftech Radbox, you can use any rad with 120mm mounting screws on both sides. That would require either no case modding, for a 3/8" system, or minimal modding (Drilling a pair of small, circular holes in the back to pass your hoses through) with a 1/2" system. Use your favourite fans: Yate Loons and Nexuses have good reputations for silence. You should probably get a shroud for the rad to get the best performance out of it.

Add some good quality tubing (tygon, masterkleer, etc), some clamps/zipties, a res/t-line of your choice (t-lines have less restriction than reservoirs), and you're set.

I havn't linked any of that stuff because I don't have the links handy, and you can google them just as well as I can

 

[kamranziadar]

Here is your water block best in the business!

for only $39 shipped with coupon.

Text

 

[mdchesne]

Originally posted by: haelduksf
I'm hardly an wizened guru, but I can still help you out

Pump: Either the MCP-350 or a Danner Mag. Either are small enough to fit just about anywhere, and the 350 can be modded to perform almost as well as the 650. You might even be able to squeeze an MCP-655 in your case, but it'd be tight.

Blocks: Whatever your little heart desires. Top performance is Swiftech Storm + Silverprop Fusion, top bling is Aqua-Computer (probably won't fit your budget though), top value is PolarFlo E-series/whatever you can find on the forums. You probably have the budget to go with the top-performing kit out there, namely the Storm and Fusion combo.

Rad: if you get a Swiftech Radbox, you can use any rad with 120mm mounting screws on both sides. That would require either no case modding, for a 3/8" system, or minimal modding (Drilling a pair of small, circular holes in the back to pass your hoses through) with a 1/2" system. Use your favourite fans: Yate Loons and Nexuses have good reputations for silence. You should probably get a shroud for the rad to get the best performance out of it.

Add some good quality tubing (tygon, masterkleer, etc), some clamps/zipties, a res/t-line of your choice (t-lines have less restriction than reservoirs), and you're set.

I havn't linked any of that stuff because I don't have the links handy, and you can google them just as well as I can

could you link to this kit? I can only find the Storm g5 seperately... no kit
link to others too? again, i'm a newb at h20 cooling so I don't know the places to get this stuff. frozencpu.com (place I was looking at with the asetek) doesn't have half that stuff :thumbsup:

 

[Uhtrinity]

Kingwin self contained full kit - $90


I'm using one of these in my system, and installed one for a client in his P4 3Ghz system.

Pros: Self contained, small form factor, iclkudes all hardware for cpu and gpu cooling, 2X radiators. Everyhting in one inezpensive package.

Cons: you have to add a few ounces of water every few weeks.

On my Overclocked X2 system I get sub 30c idle, 40 - 42c under full load with an X800XTPE. My clients P4 system runs about 35c idle, 45 - 50c load, with an ATI 9800 in the loop.

 

[kamranziadar]

Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
Kingwin self contained full kit - $90


I'm using one of these in my system, and installed one for a client in his P4 3Ghz system.

Pros: Self contained, small form factor, iclkudes all hardware for cpu and gpu cooling, 2X radiators. Everyhting in one inezpensive package.

Cons: you have to add a few ounces of water every few weeks.

On my Overclocked X2 system I get sub 30c idle, 40 - 42c under full load with an X800XTPE. My clients P4 system runs about 35c idle, 45 - 50c load, with an ATI 9800 in the loop.

Are you overclocking your X2 or not?
What speed is it running at?
Your X800XTPE is in the loop?

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: kamranziadar

Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
Kingwin self contained full kit - $90


I'm using one of these in my system, and installed one for a client in his P4 3Ghz system.

Pros: Self contained, small form factor, iclkudes all hardware for cpu and gpu cooling, 2X radiators. Everyhting in one inezpensive package.

Cons: you have to add a few ounces of water every few weeks.

On my Overclocked X2 system I get sub 30c idle, 40 - 42c under full load with an X800XTPE. My clients P4 system runs about 35c idle, 45 - 50c load, with an ATI 9800 in the loop.

Are you overclocking your X2 or not?
What speed is it running at?
Your X800XTPE is in the loop?

Overclocked to 2.5 Ghz at 1.375v, X800XTPE in the loop for 3 months now, prior to that it ran a A643000 @ 2.5 Ghz, same setup, except I included the northbridge in the loop also. Roughly the same temps.

 

[haelduksf]

The kingwin kit is barely better than aircooling.

There is no kit with the Storm and the Fusion- they're made by different companies. You have to get them seperately.

Some of the major WC retailers are: cool-cases-usa, frostytech, shakra, jabtech, newegg...check the retailers' websites to learn more

The apogee may or may not be the best.

 

[Shimmishim]

i have a lianli 65...

i use a 80mm radiator but i had to remove the fdd cage. the radiator sits on top of my hdd cage and fits perfectly. it has a few bends which are bad but it all fits in my case.

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: haelduksf
The kingwin kit is barely better than aircooling.

There is no kit with the Storm and the Fusion- they're made by different companies. You have to get them seperately.

Some of the major WC retailers are: cool-cases-usa, frostytech, shakra, jabtech, newegg...check the retailers' websites to learn more

The apogee may or may not be the best.

Having an X2 @ 2.5Ghz and a X800XTPE at sub 30c idle and 40c under load in one cooling loop is alot better than air, at least stock air cooling. I just pointed it out because it is hard to beat for $90.

 

[w00t]

have you thought of getting a raditior on top of the case? also maybe you can fit a dual 80mm in the front intake?

 

[mdchesne]

Originally posted by: w00t
have you thought of getting a raditior on top of the case? also maybe you can fit a dual 80mm in the front intake?

radiator: external? Yes, that would probally be my best bet if I choose to go with a radiator of any size. internal? I could, but that would entail cutting holes in the top panel of my case. something I will do if I can, but soemthing I am loathe to for two reasons:
1) If I am going to cut a hole, or multiple ones, it should at least take out the blowhole already cut there. a nice clean cut that doesn't look like a hack-job. this might be hard considering the proximity of the blowhole fan to the PSU and the power cables coming out of the PSU.
2) I hate modding for anything but cooling and performance. my friend's with their giant tornado-loud thermaltakes with their fancy LEDs and cold cathodes *shudder*

I looked in my case and putting a radiator in the intake wouldn't fit. It's a great idea and I would if I had the ability to remove the HDD cage, but I can't. I don't want to but some loud POS 5 1/4 bay HDD cooler for my raptors and other HDDs.

I was looking into 120mm radiators because of the quiet factor. I would like to get rid of as many 80mm and lower fans as I can. If I can leave the two 80mm intakes and simply have one 120mm output through my psu, that would be super quiet and efficient IMO. I might have to drill a 80mm hole under the already existing 80mm in the back panel and put a dual 80mm radiator there... but then I'd need to find quiet fans that can also push a decent amound of air (no, panaflos won;t work. not enough static pressure to push air through metal grating on a rad).

 

[Zebo]

What kind of tools do you have? Jigsaw? Dremel with lots of cut off wheels?

 

[haelduksf]

mdchesne: Like I said above, your best bet is probably to use the radbox, and hang your rad off the back of your case. No modding, no 80mm fans, no fuss.

Uhtrinity: You're quite right, that's better than stock cooling, but for an extra ~$50, you can get a system with much better blocks, a much stronger pump, much bigger tubing, and a much more effective rad.

 

[w00t]

well what i am thinking is not actually putting the rad ouside of the case but just on top of the case i have seen couple people do it you might be able to fit around two 120mm or 3 120mm not sure guessing two though. just to give you an idea of what i am talking about http://home.comcast.net/~kellyfall/Aqua/115.jpg

edit: i dont see why you just put you hd's in the floppy drive cage and put it right there

edit: another http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/BlueAqua/IMG_0875.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/beyondrepa1r/33.jpg

 

[Absolute0]

Get a 120.2 heatercore as exhaust in top of the case or intake in the bottom of the case or front of the case. Use 1/2" ID tubing with a decent pump (i like the D5) and performance waterblock (Swiftech G4). With a similar configuration to what i mentioned, my X2 3800+ loads at 38C at 2.86 Ghz 1.60 volts, and at stock settings loads at 29C. Dual SP2004.

 

[Zebo]

and hang your rad off the back of your case

= ghetto

 

[haelduksf]

Guys...he has specifically requested a *minimal* amount of modding. Cutting a 120x360 hole in a case is not minimal, in my books.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: Zebo

and hang your rad off the back of your case

= ghetto

lol, why is that ghetto? If you have a shroud on it and a 120mm fan slot, imho that would be optimal. if I had the need for water thats what I would do. Hell, in my antec, I could put in a dual 80mm radiator, but a TT Big Typhoon is fine for me.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: haelduksf
Guys...he has specifically requested a *minimal* amount of modding. Cutting a 120x360 hole in a case is not minimal, in my books.

Takes about 5 minutes with a jigsaw. and for his case it would be 120 x 240 anyway. http://www.acryan.com/download/RadGrillz-Template-2x120_A4.pdf

Hanging off back of case is ghettto looking, never liked it in any pics i've seen.

What's cleaner something like
http://www.coolercases.co.uk/images/vents/48.jpg

Or like this
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/sidewindercomputers/apexultra1.gif

Same rad totally different look I'd say.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: haelduksf
Guys...he has specifically requested a *minimal* amount of modding. Cutting a 120x360 hole in a case is not minimal, in my books.

Takes about 5 minutes with a jigsaw. and for his case it would be 120 x 240 anyway. http://www.acryan.com/download/RadGrillz-Template-2x120_A4.pdf

Hanging off back of case is ghettto looking, never liked it in any pics i've seen.

What's cleaner something like
http://www.coolercases.co.uk/images/vents/48.jpg

Or like this
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/sidewindercomputers/apexultra1.gif

Same rad totally different look I'd say.

I agree go with the 1st link it will look clean you will have to cut case but your going to keep using water cooling and will alwas have that two 120mm rad.