Water Cooling Build Sanity Check

H

Harrath

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2003
Messages
209
Hi all,

I'm putting together my first WC setup and after hours of research, here's what I've come up with:

(all 1/2" ID barbs)

Case: NZXT H630
CPU Block: EK Supremacy w/"Naked Ivy" adapter
GPU Block: EK-FC R9-290X
Pump: Swiftech MCP35X
Radiators: 2x Swiftech MCR320-XP
Fans: 6x 1850 RPM Gentle Typhoons
Reservoir: Swiftech MCRES Micro Rev. 2
Barbs, clamps, silver coil, etc.

Here's how I want to set it up (should say 3x120mm radiator, woops):

6gId5fH.png


And the order:

Res -> Pump -> CPU -> Top Radiator -> GPU -> Front Radiator -> Res

This will be cooling a BARE DIE 4770k (which is currently @ 4.6 and 1.3v) and an r9-290 (which will also be heavily overclocked); I will eventually want to x-fire it and water cool the second card.

So before I buy all this stuff, I'm asking for a sanity check. Anything glaringly wrong? Suggestions for better choices? Setup and loop order look good? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!
 
Since you may be adding to the loop later you may want to consider just adding a simple T connector with a plug, or something like this around the 2x140mm exhaust fan area. You will be able to easily drain it and add the GPU blocks to the loop. You can then remove it or keep it.
 
King has a good suggestion. A drain is very handy and well worth the time and a few bucks to install.

Does this case have dust filters on the top? If not, intaking thru the top rad will suck in a ton of dust. I would personally have the top set to exhaust for 2 reasons. One, if the front has filters you'll block more dust having that intake only. Two, heat rises so I would try to keep the natural flow of the air exhausting out the top of the case. It will still work the way you've got it setup, and you can try it both ways but those are the concerns i'd have with the way you have the fans pointed right now.

Otherwise your component selection looks pretty good. Since you're doing 1/2 barbs I'd suggest 7/16 tubing to make the seals alot tighter. Little more effort to install, but IMO worth the effort for the piece of mind.
 
Thanks for the input everyone - I'm definitely going to make the top radiator an exhaust, I foolishly forgot the old axiom "heat rises"! :p

So this case is capable of having dual 200mm radiators in both the front and top, what do you guys think about that? It's significantly more surface area than 2x360 and would hopefully be much more quiet.

Here's the downsides that I've discovered:

1.) There's only 1 2x200mm radiator I've found (that's worth using): The Phobya Xtreme 400mm. Reviews are...basically non-existent and feedback seems all over the place. Everything from "it sucks" to "better than a 480 quadrad".

2.) Fan selection is pretty minimal, although there are now decent 180/200mm fans with good static pressure (e.g.: http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?area=&pid=258).

Thoughts? Thanks again!
 
Those radiators with push/pull fans looks like a good choice for the case.
 
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