My first WC attempt – lots of pics - Updated 04/11

qwake · 21st December 2010, 10:44 AM

After spending too much time on these forums and seeing some of your WC systems I decided to give it a go. I want to water cool for looks and to give overclocking a go with something that I hope will continue working on a 35+ degree summer day.

Since I’ve got some hardware I’ll probably settle on for at least a few months I want to start with just cooling the CPU. I’m currently running the following:
i7 930
GB x58-USB3
4gb Kingston ? Ram (I think its 9-9-9-24)
Galaxy GTX275 (bloody loud!)
Seagate 500GB ST3500320NS
HAF-X

I read around and came up with a wish list and I’ve managed to put together the following parts 2nd hand over the past few months:
Swiftech MCP655-B (non-variable) Pump
Thermochill 120.3 Rad
EK 250 Multioption Res

Then purchased the following parts from GAM Mods:
3m PrimoFlex Pro LRT Tubing 7/16”
EK Supreme HF (full Nickel)
6x ½ Nickel Plated Barb (radiator came with its own barbs in Thermochill's size)

And I also picked up a set of Gelid Wing12 fans
5L Demineralized Water
All up about $360 + shipping
+ I still need to get some pure silver..

With the cash left over I decided it was probably best spent on a new PSU and went with a HX850

Next upgrades will probably be:
RAM
Vid Card/s + Block
UD7/9

1 – Before shot

Click to view full size!

2 – New HX850 vs old CM 650w.

Click to view full size!

3 – GAM Mods package

Click to view full size!

4 – XSPC 1/2 Nickel fittings

Click to view full size!

5 – 7/16 Tubing UV Blue

Click to view full size!

6 – and under UV light

Click to view full size!

7 – Gelid Fans

Click to view full size!

8

Click to view full size!

9 - and under UV

Click to view full size!

10 – Amazingly quiet

Click to view full size!

11 – Tried to fit radiator first and of course this will require some holes in the HAF

Click to view full size!

12 – Next was some more holes for the pump

Click to view full size!

13 – Awkward nuts and screws everywhere for this one

Click to view full size!

14 – In with the CPU block, tubing, and prepare for leak testing. I choose to go with 7/16” tube because I preferred the simple look. During the install I connected a tube to the wrong barb (radiator to CPU In instead of Out

). No matter what this tubing is not going anywhere without splitting it with a blade to the end of the barb. Very happy with this choice.

These are the barbs that came with the radiator.

Click to view full size!

15 – Now the fun part! Filling my loop

Click to view full size!

16

Click to view full size!

17 – 12+ hours later and no sign of any leakage. I can't tell this pump is even running unless i put my head in the case or feel it for vibration!

Click to view full size!

18 – Install some UV CCFL’s and prepare for boot

Click to view full size!

19 – Perfect start, system running and 20 degrees cooler!

Click to view full size!

20 – I would like to change the LED’s to blue in the front light.

Click to view full size!

21 – Case on

Click to view full size!

22

Click to view full size!

Other changes were removing the rear 140 CM fan and replaced with a 120 Gelid added filter and using to pull air in under the rad. I also have 2x 200 CM fans above the radiator. I added a CCFL controller and hid it in one of the removable HD bays.

Idle temps dropped from 50 to 30 and load temps from 83 to 45! With ambient of around 27 degrees.

Now time to try and learn something about overclocking!

MorgzMods · 21st December 2010, 8:53 PM

looks pretty good mate

Check out A&E metals for your pure silver.

the rest looks pretty good

PaulysVision · 21st December 2010, 9:29 PM

Nice work

congrats on the first build, Expect 4ghz+ with that setup easy!
Depending on the price of the blue leds you may as well find a blue fan to replace the red one instead

MoultoMan · 21st December 2010, 9:41 PM

Nice work, it looks pretty good, if your looking for silver, Gammods has strips of it for $9.95, although the shipping will probably cost just as much.

qwake · 23rd December 2010, 12:31 PM

Thanks for the comments!

I cant believe I didn't see that silver on GAMMods in the first place..

Im not 100% sure what to look for at A&E
5 grams of Bezel Plain 3x0.3 Fine Silver??

Im wondering if a local jeweler's here on the GC will have rather than paying for postage from somewhere.

How quickly will not having the silver in the system become a problem? I'm sure it probably wont be long before I have more stuff I want from GAMMods.

BigDave · 23rd December 2010, 4:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MorgzMods

looks pretty good mate

Check out A&E metals for your pure silver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by qwake

I cant believe I didn't see that silver on GAMMods in the first place

It's in the new products section

Well done 'qwake'

Alfonzo · 23rd December 2010, 6:46 PM

I haven't watercooled in a few years (last system was an AMD 2500+, haha) so I've forgotten a few things - sorry for asking, but what is the pure silver needed for?

qwake · 23rd December 2010, 7:22 PM

Silver is the only recommended additive to your loop by most of the experts on here. From what I understand a small piece of silver added to the res is toxic to algae / bacteria or whatever might want to grow in your loop.

PaulysVision · 23rd December 2010, 7:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Alfonzo=-

I haven't watercooled in a few years (last system was an AMD 2500+, haha) so I've forgotten a few things - sorry for asking, but what is the pure silver needed for?

The silver ions help provide resistance against algae,scum mould basic microorganisms etc.. known as the Oligodynamic effect Copper has this potential as well although nowhere near as effective as silver, Silver does nothing for anti corrosion so an anti corrosion agent is still recommended.

Your loop will grow microorganisms instantly but for scum deposits and algae to form visually takes a long time, once you install your silver into the loop it will kill all the nasties that were trying to grow so it can help get rid off already formed micro organisms and also help prevent more from growing.

Alfonzo · 23rd December 2010, 7:42 PM

Oh ok, thanks guys

Will have to factor this in to the build I'm coming up with then.

Things have changed a little, back when I did the 2500+ Nulon radiator coolant was top choice. A few of us were experimenting with Nulon Red (which was even more awesome 'cause it would glow bright red under UV lights)

h2oxide · 24th December 2010, 12:29 PM

PaulysVision, again about the anti corrosion?

Cmon mate, seriously? There will be no corrosion problems if you don't mix metals OP. Anyone with 1/2 a brain won't do that anyway.

All you NEED is silver mate, anything more than that is just unnecessary.

lofi · 24th December 2010, 3:33 PM

looks awsome, i'm thinking of getting starts like you

, just need a better case

qwake · 10th April 2011, 6:29 PM

Upgrades!

Kingston 3x 2GB HyperX
5870 + WB

Draining the water was no problem since I only had to get the water below the CPU, I just dropped in a small tube into the bottom of the res and siphoned that out a few times while tipping the water out of the radiator.

I cut and moved the 2 pipes that I had to. I was thinking that this may not look the best but I am fairly happy with the resulting tubing positions. The old Galaxy 270 is gone! That thing was so loud. System is now near silent.

I've been running at a 4.0GHz overclock and adding the video card added a few degrees if that. Overclocking the video card doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference in temp - maybe i'm not overclocking it enough.
My motherboard heat sinks however are very hot!

I still haven't added silver to my loop as the barbs I am using and want more of, have not come back into stock at GAMMODS. Hoping new water will keep me going now until I make another order.

Now some pics + almost silent video. These images are taken with different cameras, none really do it justice.

Cant figure out how to add the youtube vid??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AaFNj0XdIs

.Radiant · 10th April 2011, 10:44 PM

loop looks overly long imo, i would have done pump -> res -> cpu -> rad -> gpu -> back to pump

Creekin · 11th April 2011, 8:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Radiant

loop looks overly long imo, i would have done pump -> res -> cpu -> rad -> gpu -> back to pump

rly? pump b4 res?

gotta agree, loop looks too long

i would suggest
res/pump/gpu/cpu/rad

21st December 2010, 10:44 AM	#1
qwake Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 48	My first WC attempt – lots of pics - Updated 04/11 After spending too much time on these forums and seeing some of your WC systems I decided to give it a go. I want to water cool for looks and to give overclocking a go with something that I hope will continue working on a 35+ degree summer day. Since I’ve got some hardware I’ll probably settle on for at least a few months I want to start with just cooling the CPU. I’m currently running the following: i7 930 GB x58-USB3 4gb Kingston ? Ram (I think its 9-9-9-24) Galaxy GTX275 (bloody loud!) Seagate 500GB ST3500320NS HAF-X I read around and came up with a wish list and I’ve managed to put together the following parts 2nd hand over the past few months: Swiftech MCP655-B (non-variable) Pump Thermochill 120.3 Rad EK 250 Multioption Res Then purchased the following parts from GAM Mods: 3m PrimoFlex Pro LRT Tubing 7/16” EK Supreme HF (full Nickel) 6x ½ Nickel Plated Barb (radiator came with its own barbs in Thermochill's size) And I also picked up a set of Gelid Wing12 fans 5L Demineralized Water All up about $360 + shipping + I still need to get some pure silver.. With the cash left over I decided it was probably best spent on a new PSU and went with a HX850 Next upgrades will probably be: RAM Vid Card/s + Block UD7/9 1 – Before shot Click to view full size! 2 – New HX850 vs old CM 650w. Click to view full size! 3 – GAM Mods package Click to view full size! 4 – XSPC 1/2 Nickel fittings Click to view full size! 5 – 7/16 Tubing UV Blue Click to view full size! 6 – and under UV light Click to view full size! 7 – Gelid Fans Click to view full size! 8 Click to view full size! 9 - and under UV Click to view full size! 10 – Amazingly quiet Click to view full size! 11 – Tried to fit radiator first and of course this will require some holes in the HAF Click to view full size! 12 – Next was some more holes for the pump Click to view full size! 13 – Awkward nuts and screws everywhere for this one Click to view full size! 14 – In with the CPU block, tubing, and prepare for leak testing. I choose to go with 7/16” tube because I preferred the simple look. During the install I connected a tube to the wrong barb (radiator to CPU In instead of Out ). No matter what this tubing is not going anywhere without splitting it with a blade to the end of the barb. Very happy with this choice. These are the barbs that came with the radiator. Click to view full size! 15 – Now the fun part! Filling my loop Click to view full size! 16 Click to view full size! 17 – 12+ hours later and no sign of any leakage. I can't tell this pump is even running unless i put my head in the case or feel it for vibration! Click to view full size! 18 – Install some UV CCFL’s and prepare for boot Click to view full size! 19 – Perfect start, system running and 20 degrees cooler! Click to view full size! 20 – I would like to change the LED’s to blue in the front light. Click to view full size! 21 – Case on Click to view full size! 22 Click to view full size! Other changes were removing the rear 140 CM fan and replaced with a 120 Gelid added filter and using to pull air in under the rad. I also have 2x 200 CM fans above the radiator. I added a CCFL controller and hid it in one of the removable HD bays. Idle temps dropped from 50 to 30 and load temps from 83 to 45! With ambient of around 27 degrees. Now time to try and learn something about overclocking! Last edited by qwake; 10th April 2011 at 7:04 PM. Reason: Update

21st December 2010, 8:53 PM	#2
MorgzMods Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Brisbane Posts: 662	looks pretty good mate Check out A&E metals for your pure silver. the rest looks pretty good __________________ 'Super' Cool Case Worklog - Completed

21st December 2010, 9:29 PM	#3
PaulysVision Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Newcastle,Australia Posts: 289	Nice work congrats on the first build, Expect 4ghz+ with that setup easy! Depending on the price of the blue leds you may as well find a blue fan to replace the red one instead __________________ If you stare at something long enough all you can see is it's faults!

21st December 2010, 9:41 PM	#4
MoultoMan Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: 3152 Melbourne Australia Posts: 375	Nice work, it looks pretty good, if your looking for silver, Gammods has strips of it for $9.95, although the shipping will probably cost just as much. __________________ i5 750@4.0GHz\|Asus P7P55D-E PRO\|GTX580\|8GB RipJaws X 2133MHz CL9\|Seasonic X-750\|Lancool K62\|X25-M 80GB Koolance 370\|Koolance VID-NX580\|120.6 Swiftech Rads\|Laing D5 (EK top) Last edited by MoultoMan; 21st December 2010 at 9:43 PM.

23rd December 2010, 12:31 PM	#5
qwake Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 48	Thanks for the comments! I cant believe I didn't see that silver on GAMMods in the first place.. Im not 100% sure what to look for at A&E 5 grams of Bezel Plain 3x0.3 Fine Silver?? Im wondering if a local jeweler's here on the GC will have rather than paying for postage from somewhere. How quickly will not having the silver in the system become a problem? I'm sure it probably wont be long before I have more stuff I want from GAMMods. __________________ Intel i7 2700k \| 32GB 1866 Corsair \| 128GB Intel 330 SSD \| ASUS 570GTX

23rd December 2010, 6:46 PM	#7
Alfonzo Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Carindale, BrisVegas Posts: 10,839	I haven't watercooled in a few years (last system was an AMD 2500+, haha) so I've forgotten a few things - sorry for asking, but what is the pure silver needed for? __________________ tweet

23rd December 2010, 7:22 PM	#8
qwake Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 48	Silver is the only recommended additive to your loop by most of the experts on here. From what I understand a small piece of silver added to the res is toxic to algae / bacteria or whatever might want to grow in your loop. __________________ Intel i7 2700k \| 32GB 1866 Corsair \| 128GB Intel 330 SSD \| ASUS 570GTX

23rd December 2010, 7:42 PM	#10
Alfonzo Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Carindale, BrisVegas Posts: 10,839	Oh ok, thanks guys Will have to factor this in to the build I'm coming up with then. Things have changed a little, back when I did the 2500+ Nulon radiator coolant was top choice. A few of us were experimenting with Nulon Red (which was even more awesome 'cause it would glow bright red under UV lights) __________________ tweet

24th December 2010, 12:29 PM	#11
h2oxide Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Perth Posts: 3,545	PaulysVision, again about the anti corrosion? Cmon mate, seriously? There will be no corrosion problems if you don't mix metals OP. Anyone with 1/2 a brain won't do that anyway. All you NEED is silver mate, anything more than that is just unnecessary. __________________ Project TJ07: High Contrast

24th December 2010, 3:33 PM	#12
lofi Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 29	looks awsome, i'm thinking of getting starts like you , just need a better case __________________ i7 920 4.0ghz \| Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 \| Noctua NH-U12P SE2\| Gigabyte gtx 480 \| Samsung 2443bw+, BenQ XL2410T \| 2X1TB WD Black raid 0 \| 5X1TB Black raid 5\|

10th April 2011, 6:29 PM	#13
qwake Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 48	Upgrades! Kingston 3x 2GB HyperX 5870 + WB Draining the water was no problem since I only had to get the water below the CPU, I just dropped in a small tube into the bottom of the res and siphoned that out a few times while tipping the water out of the radiator. I cut and moved the 2 pipes that I had to. I was thinking that this may not look the best but I am fairly happy with the resulting tubing positions. The old Galaxy 270 is gone! That thing was so loud. System is now near silent. I've been running at a 4.0GHz overclock and adding the video card added a few degrees if that. Overclocking the video card doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference in temp - maybe i'm not overclocking it enough. My motherboard heat sinks however are very hot! I still haven't added silver to my loop as the barbs I am using and want more of, have not come back into stock at GAMMODS. Hoping new water will keep me going now until I make another order. Now some pics + almost silent video. These images are taken with different cameras, none really do it justice. Cant figure out how to add the youtube vid?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AaFNj0XdIs __________________ Intel i7 2700k \| 32GB 1866 Corsair \| 128GB Intel 330 SSD \| ASUS 570GTX Last edited by qwake; 10th April 2011 at 7:10 PM. Reason: Youtube not working

10th April 2011, 10:44 PM	#14
.Radiant Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: brizbun Posts: 3,952	loop looks overly long imo, i would have done pump -> res -> cpu -> rad -> gpu -> back to pump __________________ Intel i5 2500k \| Asus Maximus IV Extreme-z \| 8GB G. Skill Ripjaws 1600mhz \| Sapphire 6950 2GB Unlocked \| Water Steam \| PSN: Cermage