Help me build a no-price-limit watercooling system!

[earwicker7]

Ok, there's only so much overclocking you can do on stock air... the bug has officially got me by the balls.

I really have no price limit (well, I'm not spending thousands of dollars, but within reason), and the only thing that I'm really set on are these two things:

1. Unless there are reasons people can think of, I want this reservoir, as there is a huge amount of blue light in my system already: FrozenQ PC Mods Liquid Fusion V Series "2nd Generation" Reservoir 400mm - UV Cathode - UV Blue Helix - FrozenCPU.com

2. I already have a built-in North Bridge heatsink that can take watercooling (I'm glad their heatsink does something right, as the Hybrid Silent Pipe module for air cooling that they advertise the **** out of will not fit if you are using dual graphics cards in the recommended slots--d'oh!); it says it needs tubing with an inner diameter of 7.5mm and outer diameter of 10mm.

 

[Sean W.]

lol


your res costs more than my entire loop

the HAF X can fit a triple rad internally, which is NOT enough to cool a 980, two(2) 5970's and the motherboard, which in reality, doesnt need to be watercooled at all ( the mobo ).

so... what i would do is talk to a guy on here named " q8xxxxx0 " or something like that ( EDIT: went and found his name, its cq842000, i was way off haha )... hes a mo with a rig identical to yours and talk to him about how he has is radiators set up and everything. he has 2 triple radiators, both are external i believe.

i wish i could help you and point you in the right direction as far as parts, but im really not very good at putting together water loops...

my entire water loop cost $130 haha... thats the shallow end compared to what its going to cost to cool your rig... estimated $5-600 easy.

good luck bud! i will be watching this thread closely


added to the EDIT: i told you this was going to happen... took you a lot less time than i thought it was going to for you to jump off that cliff haha... welcome to the hobby my friend.

 

[earwicker7]

Yes, you gave me fair warning lol.

Yes, that reservoir is expensive, but a double helix that glows blue... oh, my, gawd, becky!

 

[earwicker7]

With a setup like mine, would it be better to have two completely isolated loops? In other words, one loop is reservoir 1--> pump --> cpu --> chipset --> radiator --> reservoir 1; the other loop is reservoir 2--> pump --> GPU 1 --> GPU 2 --> radiator --> reservoir 2. On each loop, is it better to use y-splitters (a split just before the cpu/chipset, and a split just before the two GPUs), or are they unneccessary?

I'm trying to keep as much of this as possible external... there are external reservoirs, and the pumps can obviously be mounted anywhere, but how do you set up external radiators? Am I going to have to build some kind of enclosure?

EDIT--My graphics cards are reference board, correct?

 

[cq842000]

With a setup like mine, would it be better to have two completely isolated loops? In other words, one loop is reservoir 1--> pump --> cpu --> chipset --> radiator --> reservoir 1; the other loop is reservoir 2--> pump --> GPU 1 --> GPU 2 --> radiator --> reservoir 2. On each loop, is it better to use y-splitters (a split just before the cpu/chipset, and a split just before the two GPUs), or are they unneccessary?

I'm trying to keep as much of this as possible external... there are external reservoirs, and the pumps can obviously be mounted anywhere, but how do you set up external radiators? Am I going to have to build some kind of enclosure?

EDIT--My graphics cards are reference board, correct?

I have two dedicated loops. One for the CPU/ chipset, and one for the two 5970s. The GPU loop has an external triple 140mm rad ( top modification....take it off fans and all.) The CPU loop has an internal triple 120mm rad(easy enough to mount). If you need to know more, please ask, I'll be subbing your thread.

 

[earwicker7]

Thanks for checking this out!

So when you say "top modification", do you mean you yanked the top of the Coolermaster off and modded it? That might be beyond my skills lol. I was thinking that, since I'm already planning to have external reservoirs, external pumps, and external radiators, I might be able to have someone just build a custom enclosure of some type with all of them packed in one area.

I'm also wondering if the three holes in the rear of the Coolermaster would be enough to run dual dedicated loops the way I'm thinking, given that you'd need two lines in and two lines out... I'd think that using 1/4" inner, 3/8" diameter, that you should be able to find a way to squeeze two into one hole, but who knows...

 

[cq842000]

Here http://www.techist.com/forums/f10/well-almost-done-228536/index15.html . Use post 145 for visual reference. They are slightly outdated photos, but you get what I'm saying. You can take the top off pretty easily, and the 2 fans also remove easily. The fiberglass molding I did on the top front with the USB ports takes a little patience and sanding, but again no biggie, just make sure and wear a mask.

Also, if you take the top off, there is a slightly larger gap that I used for 1/2" ID tubing for the externally mounted rad, but at the sizes your planning, the three holes in back should work fine. the cpu/chipset rad is a Swiftech MCR-320 QP triple 120mm mounted inside at the top, the GPU rad is a koolance triple 140mm rad mounted on top. Both reservoirs(2x EK 140) for both loops, as well as the pumps(2x Swiftech MCP 655) themselves are mounted via a dual top/dual pump block, and sit perfectly in my front 5.25" bays for easy fill/draining. Keep in mind that two 5970s overclocked are creating alot of heat that needs to be dissipated by a large surface area. Also make sure that you have the right fans for your rads...low fin desity= Low CFM fans/ High fin density= high CFM fans.

 

[earwicker7]

I'm looking at post 145 and I don't see any images...

 

[cq842000]

I'm looking at post 145 and I don't see any images...

I promise you they are there.

View attachment 4564

View attachment 4563

 

[earwicker7]

This is almost a rhetorical question, since obviously larger diameter equals higher flow (I know that from car exhaust mods and having reef aquariums), but what are the advantages and disadvantages of using the bigger tubing? It there a certain flow rate that you're trying to hit with the different blocks? Does larger tubing mean less resistance, and therefore less pump power necessary?

Are those quick disconnects I see? How reliable are those?

The top looks nice, but that's way too much work for me lol. I think I'm going to farm out an enclosure... are there people on the forums that make stuff like that?