So I think this summer I want setup my computer with water cooling, but I want to do it right. This doesn't mean I want the top top of the line, but some where between medium to top of the line. I basically want to do this because I just have too many damn fans. 6x 120mm fans and 1x 80mm.

I'd like to cut it down to 3x fans, where one is in the powersupply. Part of the plan was also to limit dust in the computer and to soundproof it with foam. I have the following stuff to cool...

3x SATA II HDD's (Nexus HDD coolers I have 1x)
1x IDE HDD (again use above cooler)
8800GTS OC (the loudest SOB ever)
Core 2 Duo E6600
P5N-E SLI mobo (need to cool North bridge and prolly just a passive sink on the South)
2GB DDR2 800 Corsair RAM (already has sinks)
DVD drive (no big deal)
Coolmax 600w PSU (120mm fan its quiet, maybe put a 140mm on it?)

Case: Enermax Max Flow or Silverstone TJ06 (I have both, they are clones of eachother)

But I was think of putting the Reservoir and Radiator in the HDD bays and put all the HDD's in the 5 1/4" bays.

Anyways I was wondering how much should I be expecting to spend of decent W/C? $200 in the ballpark?

Let me get some dinner in me and I'll cover the cost of each item one by one.


Overall, a moderate DIY system should cost around $300

A crucial piece of information I need to know is:


Do you plan on cooling just the CPU or both CPU and video card?

If you want both, then a system that can pull It's own weight will not be in the $200 range.

Ideally both. But I do have a Tuniq Tower right now so if my budget goes short I could live with the tower and switch the CPU cooling later.

Hello Dreyco you know who would be the best person to ask is AntiM for he very knowledgeable in the H2O field of water cooling, you should hit him up on Pm and send him the link to what your looking at doing , i am sure he would be helpful to you and getting you started in the right direction on getting the right parts for a H2O setup.

Jab-tech
$0.99 1/2" T Line for 1/2" ID Tubing - Black
$7.90 (10') - ClearFLEX 60 Tubing 3/8" ID / 1/2" OD
$11.95 Dangerden Fillport - Delrin
$26.95 Swiftech MCW30 Chipset cooler
$41 Swiftech MCR-220 Radiator - Black <-- stick it at bottom front
$54.95 Swiftech Storm Universal Waterblock Rev 2
$69.95 Swiftech MCP 355 12v DC Pump
$109 EK Waterblocks EK-FC8800 GTS - Poly Top <-- gts blocks are expensive
$322.69

A couple items are out of stock. That rev2 cpu block has improved flow. All are 3/8", but i put in 1/2" T for fillport. With 3/8" tube stretched on it, you should get better flow.

Quote: Originally Posted by Seyeklopz Jab-tech $0.99 1/2" T Line for 1/2" ID Tubing - Black $7.90 (10') - ClearFLEX 60 Tubing 3/8" ID / 1/2" OD $11.95 Dangerden Fillport - Delrin $26.95 Swiftech MCW30 Chipset cooler $41 Swiftech MCR-220 Radiator - Black <-- stick it at bottom front $54.95 Swiftech Storm Universal Waterblock Rev 2 $69.95 Swiftech MCP 355 12v DC Pump $109 EK Waterblocks EK-FC8800 GTS - Poly Top <-- gts blocks are expensive $322.69 A couple items are out of stock. That rev2 cpu block has improved flow. All are 3/8", but i put in 1/2" T for fillport. With 3/8" tube stretched on it, you should get better flow.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Here is an idea though. If you plan on cooling the video card, get two mid sized rads. I was thinking in the 2x 120mm zone. Put one before the CPU and one before the vid card.

Instead of a single mcp355, get two mcp350's and put them each halfway through the waterloop. The 350's have about half the balls to them, but it will equally distrubted throghout the loop at stress points and also, they are VERY (i own a modified one. Does about 192 GPH) quiet. The 355's are noticably noisy.

Also you mentioned you needed a good res preferably in a 5 1/4" bay. I have been running one of those acrylic 2x 5 1/4 bay res for over a year now. Some people might tell you they are prone to cracking under temp fluctatuons. Well, I can tell you I have had the ambient temp in here at around freezing all winter long and It's still going like day 1. As long as you treat them with respect and don't overtighten anything, they will do just fine. And look great!

You don't really need a res. You can just put the fillport in that middle deck of the case since it will be higher than all the components. Rad - Cpu - NB - Gpu - T - Pump - Rad

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Yes that is true also.

As long as you have a radiator big enough for the job and It's cooling right, a res will do little to decrease your temps further.

Dont you want to have seperate loops for each component?

This cpu block is a bit restrictive, so I don't think it would perform well with a split loop. The water would flow mostly through the nb and gpu. You might want to try 2 weaker pumps, or a different cpu block if you want 2 loops.

A pair of these would be just $10 more. Dangerden Mag II - LE

I highly suggest DD stuff, the DD12v pump is a beast, along side the TDX, and the GTSblock. Would reccommend a blackicerad of any sort, but i can't say others aren't great. My TDX block works great, and the RBX or MAZE blocks work great as well.

Thats what I was gonna recommend.

Look at my setup for example.

3x 120mm DD blackice xtreme rad. 1/2" tubing, modded mcp350 (192GPH) big arse res, what are my termps? on a bad day 48C idle. Why? Because of that crappy thermaltake waterblock I'm using.

A waterblock can fubar your loop worse than lousy coolant can. I recommend, as that guy said (Sorry my ambien has just kicked in and im ready to go to sleep), you get yourself a high flow block. DangerDen specializes in this area and they look fantastic!

P.S. - This is a good place where that res I shopwed you will help. Since it has 4 inlets and 2 outlets, you can rig up both the gpu and cup to go back to the res. Just make sure that before each , it will go like this,


Reservoir > Swiftech MCP350 > Dangerden rad > CPU/GPU.



That is if you want to set it up my way.


If your more interested on this idea, let me know and tomorrow I will create a graphical blueprint for you.

cost wise for a good setup... for CPU/GPU

75.00 for a DD5 pump
60.00 for CPU block (Swiftech Apogee is my vote mine works wonderful)
20.00 for tubing
60-120 for a Radiator either 120mmx240mm or 120x360mm radiator (I'm a fan of Thermochill Rads)
125 for a GPU for yoru 8800.
35.00 for the Chipset Block (Swiftech's version is universal)
15.00 for a Fillport (You can forsake a resevoir for a fillport)

If you go with Swiftechs CPU block/Chipset block you can do them in series all on 1/2 inch lines as well as the fact swiftechs Apogee block has nice flow. It all comes down to what your price point is, with water i learned go big or go home. FYI all the blackice radiators are awsome however AVOID like the plauge the black ice micros.... the 80mm rads work well but just not worth it.