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Watercooling newb

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:26 am
by tanker27
So I need a weekend project and I have always wanted to try my hand at a watercooling rig. But I am rather ignorant how I should start going about to accomplish this. For reference I am wanting to watercool the PC in this thread viewtopic.php?f=22&t=91065.

I am pretty sure I have enough room for everything thats needed. Right now I am using the Corsair 100i AIO. Also I have a AMD R9 280x.

So if anyone can point me in the right direction or to a good guide I would appreciate it.

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:32 am
by vargis14
Youtube has plenty of watercooling how to videos....it is definitely worth a look. It will give you plenty of ideas.

Also listing the case you have would be a help, Unless I am blind and did not read it :D

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:56 am
by tanker27
vargis14 wrote:
Youtube has plenty of watercooling how to videos....it is definitely worth a look. It will give you plenty of ideas.

Also listing the case you have would be a help, Unless I am blind and did not read it :D


Thanks, i'll poke around. the Case well its the PC in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=91065

Anyways, its a Corsair 350D

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:47 am
by Phishy714
Alrighty, you won't be able to use that Corsair AIO because of the way they have connected things - basically sell it and with that money buy the other components.

First off you need the following:

Pump
radiator
reservoir
cpu/gpu water blocks
fittings
Tubing

You can go to this page: http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g30/Liq ... d=6cjoTMJR and basically pick out everything you wanted from there. I would personally recommend 5/8 x 3/4 Compression fittings (remember to pick out 5/8 x 3/4 tubing to fit it) but most everything else is basically user preference. Here are a couple of tips in water cooling itself to help you get started:

1) No matter how you connect everything together, always connect the reservoir outlet (water going out of reservoir) directly into the pump inlet. These will be marked specifically on the reservoir/pump so there is no guess work. Just very important that the reservoir feeds the pump directly.

2) How much radiator space do you need? Rule of thumb is that you need 1 x 120mm radiator per block in your loop + 1. so if you are putting a CPU block and a GPU block on, the bare minimum would be 2 x 120mm + 1 x 120mm for a total of 3x 120mm radiator space. This is bare min - there is nothing wrong with going more.

3) Because water distributes temperature to its entire volume evenly, there is no special order everything needs to be in. The ONLY thing that matters is that your reservoir feeds your pump directly.

4) When you have everything hooked up, you must do a leak test. Basically disconnect the PSU FROM EVERYTHING and just have your pump connected to the psu. KEEP IN MIND THAT YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT WILL NEVER LOOK GREAT. Get one of these (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5141/ ... ector.html) to turn on your PSU without the motherboard.

5) Turn on PSU that is ONLY connected to your pump once you have filled the reservoir. The reservoir will slowly drain - so keep refilling it until you see water coming in from the loop and it can fill itself. There WILL be air bubbles - just a matter of moving around the system a bit to get rid of air bubbles, and time. Turning off the pump and turning it back on also helps eliminate air bubbles. **NEVER RUN YOUR PUMP WITHOUT WATER IN IT*

6) Leave the leak test running overnight, with paper towels at all the connections. Check the next day to see if there are any leaks - hopefully if not you are all set to hook everything back up and get your system going.

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 3:42 pm
by cynan
I can recommend the XSPC starter kits. The ones with the Laing pumps any way. The Raystorm CPU cooler is very decent, and the Laing D5 or DDC pumps are pretty much the best in the business. Something like this is what I got started with (though I'm not certain if this particular kit comes with the tubing?). These pumps are plenty capable of support an additional radiator or 2 and a GPU block or 2 as well.

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:07 am
by Kougar
Some basic things to consider... if you plan to watercool, look at your case and see how much radiator you can use. It's possible to chain two radiators together, but it complicates the build and will cost more than a single radiator for decent ones. Glancing at that specific case you'd probably have to use the spot the Corsair AIO is already in I'm guessing.

Another thing is tubing... don't use cheap vinyl tubing from any hardware store. That was my biggest mistake when getting into watercooling myself. Pay for good tubing from any watercooling enthusiast website and you will greatly appreciate having done so. Personally the DangerDen Dreamflex tubing was the best I've ever had the pleasure of using, absolutely doesn't kink and seals perfectly yet is quite flexible. Unfortunately DangerDen decided to leave the business, and I don't remember who actually made the tubing (info is buried somewhere on the XtremeSystems forums) ... there are other brands too so check around or ask on the XS forums for suggestions.

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:52 am
by SoM

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:22 am
by vargis14
He has a Corsair 350D.

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:32 am
by SoM
vargis14 wrote:
He has a Corsair 350D.


sowwy, bad hang over + 2hrs of sleep

Re: Watercooling newb

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:30 am
by tanker27
Thanks for all the info. I'll research more and then post my results if and when I get all up and running.