New watercooling setup!

[Basard]

I've been looking at getting the cheapest watercooling setup for my CPU. I can some good speeds with my new mobo, but my CPU temps are hurting.... I've got the 'low profile' RAM to match up with a 420mm radiator. But I just need the rest. I do WCG crunching 9-10 hours a day while I'm at work. I just want something that will keep my delidded 8700K at a decent temp for 5ghz while I'm at work. I have it at 4.8Ghz, no AVX offset, and 1.29 volts right now, and it runs at 76C average while crunching.

I've been eyeballing a 420mm AIO from Alphacool, but also looking at building my own loop.

What would you guys recommend?

I've been looking at pumps, and their reliability also..... D5 is obviously the best, but seems overkill for a 420mm loop for just my CPU.

 

[dgianstefani]

Buy a Noctua NHD-15. I run my 8700k at 5.1 24/7 never exceeds 75c

 

[Basard]

Buy a Noctua NHD-15. I run my 8700k at 5.1 24/7 never exceeds 75c

I thought about it, but I would like the ability to expand the loop for GPU cooling. Plus i think it will just be fun to build a loop.

Forget I even said 'cheapest,' I'm thinking that's a bad idea when mixed with water cooling.

Anybody know which brands have best warranty support?

 

[infrared]

It's definitely fun building a loop, and temps are very good too.. maintenance can be a complete PITA though (especially if you end up with some growth or corrosion), there's been a few times where I've wondered to myself why I bother, but I do love the aesthetic and cooling performance so it's worth it to me. Definitely nice for distributed computing stuff like WCG too.. My 6700k rig currently doubles as a HTPC and WCG cruncher, it's nice to be able to run it full load at 4.0ghz 1.24v and never exceed 48c, fans are running almost silent. Even when I push the chip hard I end up in dangerous voltage territory long before I have to worry about thermals. Although that particular loop sucks when the two Kepler GPUs are loaded up, 2x300W + cpu with only 360mm of rad area isn't nearly enough! My main system with 480mm of rad area for a ~160w cpu and 360w gpu is about perfect, more rad area would be nice to be able to run the fans slower though.

Probably worth just getting a D5, you could get a pwm one and drop the speed if you only have your cpu in the loop, but you have the ability to add your GPU (or two) to the loop without having to worry much about flow rate/restriction so I think it's worth the investment, if you buy decent pump/res/rads/fittings you can re-use them in the future

Warranty wise.. Here's my limited experience:

So far I've had EK, XSPC, Swiftech and Aquacomputer stuff.. I haven't needed to contact EK yet, but would like to talk to them about nickel getting corroded off my 1080Ti block in a few small places, the quality seems great for the most part. XSPC is kinda no-frills, does the job, really good price. Never needed to return anything of theirs. Likewise for Swiftech, that was the first watercooling kit I ever had back in the Core 2 duo days and loved it. Aquacomputer make good parts, I did need to contact their support dept about the wrong spacers being included with my two 6GB Titan waterblocks, they resolved the issue quickly and with no fuss. Oh, I did get some Bitfenix hard-tube fittings once that came with o-rings that were too fat, OCUK were happy to replace them but in the end I just found some correctly sized o-rings myself. Tbh I think if there's a genuine issue with any watercooling product you shouldn't really have much of a problem getting it sorted.

 

[Kapone33]

The Alphacool 420 is a no brainer if you have the space in your case. The best thing about the Alphacool are the following

1. The waterblock and Rad are both copper.
2. Their quick connecct links allow you to expand the loop to include a GPU.
3. The reservoir is on the CPU block and has a fill hole so that when you lose fluid, due to condensation you can refill it. Based on the side window on the block.
4. For what you get it is inexpensive.
5. There are a myriad of parts that are available to use e.g. any 1/4 inch will fit.

 

[Basard]

Cool. Thanks for your time guys. I'll figure it out in a week or so when they money hits the bank.

 

[HUSKIE]

Just like this.

 

[Kapone33]

Cool. Thanks for your time guys. I'll figure it out in a week or so when they money hits the bank.

Just like this.

View attachment 124820

That is too expensive for what the OP wants to do. You are showing a full custom loop that would not be fun for someone with no experience to try.

Just like this.

View attachment 124820
[/QUOTE

What is that Asus card in your PC. A sound card?

Cool. Thanks for your time guys. I'll figure it out in a week or so when they money hits the bank.

Maybe when you have some time and our time differences work out we can PM each other and I can show you my rig that has 2 Alphacool 420s in it and give you a detailed list of pros and cons.

 

[Basard]

Lol @HUSKIE that's a little over the top.
@kapone32 that would be cool. When you got your Eisbaers did they come with the blue or black fans?

 

[phanbuey]

Just like this.

View attachment 124820

"My board won't post"

"take out a ramstick and try just one in slot A1"

"Give me a few days...."

I've been looking at getting the cheapest watercooling setup for my CPU. I can some good speeds with my new mobo, but my CPU temps are hurting.... I've got the 'low profile' RAM to match up with a 420mm radiator. But I just need the rest. I do WCG crunching 9-10 hours a day while I'm at work. I just want something that will keep my delidded 8700K at a decent temp for 5ghz while I'm at work. I have it at 4.8Ghz, no AVX offset, and 1.29 volts right now, and it runs at 76C average while crunching.

I've been eyeballing a 420mm AIO from Alphacool, but also looking at building my own loop.

What would you guys recommend?

I've been looking at pumps, and their reliability also..... D5 is obviously the best, but seems overkill for a 420mm loop for just my CPU.

Oh wait you're on air...

A 360MM rad intake will keep it cold. For just a CPU loop you dont need a d5, you can easily get away with this:

Amazon.com

I have the alphacool pump block and it is a bitch to bleed.

This is my setup for a 7820X @ 4.6ghz:

If you don't bleed it right it will make a rattling noise from the air bubbles. It's also much much much weaker than the $30 pump i posted.

It does look cleaner though, and it is pretty silent (once you get the air out of it).

If you have the space (I like going with smallest possible ATX) then I would build a proper loop with an MCP355 clone - you just can't beat the temps.

 

[Basard]

If you don't bleed it right it will make a rattling noise from the air bubbles.

So, maybe this is a newb question... but if the radiator was above the block/pump there would be no issues with the air bubbles in the pump, right? Unless there was just a massive amount of air in it?

And about the TC-A pump... it seems like a DDC style pump. Excuse my lack of experience with these things, but, it would not be compatible with the reservoirs that you can stick a DDC to the bottom of, like the EK-XRES, right? I'm thinking of getting something like that (EK-XRES), just for a little more simplicity.

Edit: Missed the last part where you say go with a MCP355 clone. Is that like an upgraded DDC? Probably another newb question, but I'm only really familiar with DDC and D5 right now--everything else seems like maybe generic to me.

 

[phanbuey]

So, maybe this is a newb question... but if the radiator was above the block/pump there would be no issues with the air bubbles in the pump, right? Unless there was just a massive amount of air in it?

And about the TC-A pump... it seems like a DDC style pump. Excuse my lack of experience with these things, but, it would not be compatible with the reservoirs that you can stick a DDC to the bottom of, like the EK-XRES, right? I'm thinking of getting something like that (EK-XRES), just for a little more simplicity.

Theoretically yeah if you have the rad above the pumprez the air should get stuck in the top of the rad and the pump will run quiet.

Kind of defeats the purpose of a pump rez. I've also seen people have luck mounting it upside down to get rid of the air rattle.

Temperatures are very good with it though, so no complaints there.

 

[Basard]

I might just get that Alphacool kit, it comes with fans, and is so much cheaper than building a loop. at least the rad and fans can be reused if i wanna throw a bigger pump at it. But then I always forget to factor in the cost of a CPU block.

 

[phanbuey]

I might just get that Alphacool kit, it comes with fans, and is so much cheaper than building a loop. at least the rad and fans can be reused if i wanna throw a bigger pump at it. But then I always forget to factor in the cost of a CPU block.

It's a good plan - you will definitely need another pump if you do a GPU block.

 

[John Naylor]

1. I have never seen a WC loop where ARM height had any impact on radiators.

2. I'd skip the AIO and just go custom, Im not familiar with the pump in the kit your speaking to. The only AIOs I can attest to having sufficient pump flow are those from EK and Swiftech.

3. Pump flow depends on system pressure loss. For CPU, I shoot for a usable range of 0.5 to 1.5 gpm. While GPUs usually have far more heat output, CPUs temps are far more sensitive to pump flow than GFX cards. If doing SLI / CF, you can split the flow before the cards, sending half thru each, resulting in reducing pressure loss thru the cards to 28% of a single card.

4. Assuming a 130 watt OC'd CPU and a 300 Watt OC'd GPU being cooled, that's 430 "theoreticial watts"... Abut 30-40 % of that load be handled by the rad a a) the system will never have all components at max load at the same time, and b) a good part of the heat radiated off th blocks, tubing, shrouds, etc.... that leaves 60 - 70% (@ 258 - 300 watts) or so to be handled by the rad.

5. A 45 mm thick custom loop 420 mm Alphacool radiator will handle the following

Radiator Size Estimator

A few peeps have asked me to provide this info in an easily accessible / findable spot so the don't have to remember what thread it is in or take snippets from multiple threads. If ya find it useful, great .... if ya like something better, by all means use what ya comfy with. First off, I did...

www.overclock.net

1000 rpm ~ 199 watts in push / 240 watts in push pull
1250 rpm ~ 245 watts in push / 296 watts in push pull
1400 rpm ~ 272 watts in push / 329 watts in push pull
1800 rpm ~ 359 watts in push / 434 watts in push pull

I'd suggest:

a) Alphacool 420mm / 45 mm thick rad (review below for 360 model)

Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 360 Radiator

This is #10 in my series of triple radiators the Alphacool NexXxos XT45. We saw how “Full Copper” of the thicker 60mm UT60 did extremely well in performance and the XT45 shares that s…

martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com

b) Swiftech MCP-655 PWM

Swiftech MCP 655-PWM-DRIVE Pump Review

Welcome to my “living” review/preview of the Swiftech MCP 655-PWM DRIVE. What do you get when you couple our most reliable, most silent, and most cool running pump with PWM technology? …

martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com

 

[Basard]

Thanks for the post @John Naylor .

I've gotta list put together from PPCs site. Other than fans, do yo guys see anything missing, or incompatible in the list?

 

[Basard]

Okay...... So after some further research, it turns out that a few items (everything in my cart, almost) is junk.

I'm looking at pretty much only keeping the pump, radiator, tubing, and fittings. Also, it turns out that the pump comes with the o-ring and D5 screw ring. The D5 Photon res seems to have a really bad pressure drop, according to a review I read--pity because it looks pretty cool. I'm also looking at an XSPC Raystorm Pro CPU block--seeing as the one I have in that cart doesn't even come with a back plate.

The last time I had to do this much research into parts was when I got out of the navy and had fallen behind on the news.

 

[FireFox]

it turns out that the pump comes with the o-ring and D5 screw ring. The D5 Photon res seems to have a really bad pressure drop, according to a review I read--pity because it looks pretty cool.

Alphacool 13291 Ice Cream Cup D5 250 mm Acetal Including 1x VPP655 Water Cooling Pump : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy Alphacool 13291 Ice Cream Cup D5 250 mm Acetal Including 1x VPP655 Water Cooling Pump at Amazon UK. Free delivery and return on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[phanbuey]

if you're just doing a cpu loop do a normal ddc pump and a triple rad / 280mm rad -- throw some Noctua A12's on it in push... done. Keep it simple.
DDC pump with res top -$35
3/8" id tubing with fittings- $25
360mm rad - $60 to $80
3 x noctua a12's - $90
whatever block. -you can get some decent ones on amazon for like - $30.

You shouldn't really have to spend more than about $200 to $250 for that.... it will cool really well and run fairly quiet. just have the fans ramp up with the CPU temp and put a slow rampdown on them, and it will work great. Make sure the rad is intaking cold air, and your chip will run plenty cold.

Or just buy one of the ek kits and get some experience putting it all together. Once you do it once it becomes exponentially easier to piece custom loops together.

 

[John Naylor]

I personally use the Swiftech 35x2 dualie w/ heat sink and fan which runs about $250 but you have no need here for such a beast. But the better D5 pumps w/ speed control will run ya $80.....and as you can see here, take the Noctua fans off a Noctua cooler and replace them with Phanteks and at the same rpm your CPU drops 6C.

Phanteks PH-F140(XP, SP, SP_LED) Fans: Testing - Phanteks PH-F140 (XP, SP, SP_LED) Case Fan Review - Page 3

There's always the kit option .... Here's a kit well worth the money

Swiftech Boreas Series DIY CPU Liquid Cooling Kit

Boreas Series, DIY liquid cooling kits with built-in addressable RGB lighting

www.swiftech.com

• The Apogee SKF-LT CPU waterblock, based on Swiftech's most advanced in micro-fin technology
• The D5/MCP65X pump, the Award Winning pump with full PWM functionality preinstalled to the Maelstrom D5 V2 reservoir
• One of three Hydrae GT Series radiator
• Up to three Helix 120 IRIS fans
• The IRIS ECO V2 fan and lighting controller
• Swiftech's HydrX NF coolant, premium nanofluid coolant manufactured by Mayhems exclusively for Swiftech
• Ultra Clear 3/8"x5/8" tubing by Mayhems
• HydrX IRIS coolant dyes in three colors
• Filling accessories

Part Number: H2O-BOREAS

Configuration: RAD360-X100-BARB-BLACK-EXT0 - $259.95


And customizations ....

Upgrade to 3 fans / 360mm rad - $76.49
Upgrade to 100mm reservoir - $6.49
Upgrade to Compression Fittings - $26.19

Swiftech's D5 pumps are top notch and very quiet as you can see by the link below . The rads, well they are not up to say Hardware Labs but, as with the water block, still upper tier performers.

Swiftech MCP 655-PWM-DRIVE Pump Review

Welcome to my “living” review/preview of the Swiftech MCP 655-PWM DRIVE. What do you get when you couple our most reliable, most silent, and most cool running pump with PWM technology? …

martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com

 

[HUSKIE]

@ OP Are you using soft or rigid tubings? If you are first timer on dirty and messy custom watercooling set up. I suggest go for soft tubings first. but if you prefer rigid you have to be ready. It cost you some extra money to buy an Petg or acrylic tube. Practice makes perfect. Lol

 

[MrPerforations]

hello,
EK™ Vardar 120mm fans, cold air is paramount. a 360 AIO and those would be a cpu cooled.

EK-Furious Vardar FF5-120 (3000rpm)

EK-Vardar is the industrial grade high-static pressure computer cooling fan, designed and built primarily for highest-performance computer liquid cooling systems.Furious Vardar FF5-120 makes no compromise. It is the highest performing Vardar series fan!

www.ekwb.com

they do have 140mm fans too, 144cfm and

5.28mm H²O​

ali express™ has "deals" on water cooling kit. last I remember seeing was about £80-90

 

[HUSKIE]

hello,
EK™ Vardar 120mm fans, cold air is paramount. a 360 AIO and those would be a cpu cooled.

EK-Furious Vardar FF5-120 (3000rpm)

EK-Vardar is the industrial grade high-static pressure computer cooling fan, designed and built primarily for highest-performance computer liquid cooling systems.Furious Vardar FF5-120 makes no compromise. It is the highest performing Vardar series fan!

www.ekwb.com

they do have 140mm fans too, 144cfm and
5.28mm H²O

ali express™ has "deals" on water cooling kit. last I remember seeing was about £80-90

I'm using those EK Vardar. Not the best fans when they're on full speed sounds Just like an engine jet.

Not recommended:

 

[Basard]

Thanks for all of your posts guys.

I've been digging around a lot and I discovered Monsoon's modular system. It blew my mind--everything I've been looking for! I ended up with an all black setup, with white lights, a 200mm tube, three-port top, and a D5 bottom. I added an MCP655 PWM and an inverter for the lights and hit order. So, I've got a pump and res coming. I figure I'll have to do some drilling to get it in the case and then I can figure out where to go from there.

It's lookin like one or two paydays from now before I get the rest of the setup though.

@HUSKIE I'll be going with the soft tubes. I work at a fluid power company--building hose assemblies, shipping, and receiving... eventually I'm hoping to get some custom, stainless steel braided hoses with crimped fittings on the ends. I'm not sure how that's all going to work out, and the fittings are probably going to be expensive.

Something similar to this $500+ piece of SCRAP that I brought home the other day:

 

[Basard]

Well, I got the res all put together.... It's pretty sweet. The caps for the res are a LOT harder than I expected. They almost seem like they are made of the same stuff that fan blades are made of. They say it's nylon, and that had me a bit worried, but I guess it's super nylon or something.

And here it is, mounted in my filthy case.

It's a tad crooked.... of course, but I'll probably get that sorted out when I put the radiator in. It's gonna be tight.