noob about to make a big purchase, would like some advice

[3dfxtwkr]

well im about to take my first step into the world of watercooling, and i think ive pretty much decided on a system, but would like some advice before I buy it. I'm planning on buying a P4 3.2E (Prescott), a coolermaster "stacker" case, and the swiftech H20-120 (Rev. 3a) watercooling kit. Do you think this case and watercooling combo is a good choice, or should I look into something else? I don't mind hacking at the case a bit to fit in a custom watercooled setup, but I can't do TOO much as I'm very busy with school (so i dont have alot of time to be chopping away at it), and most of my power tools are back home anyways. If I do go with this setup, I was also thinking of purchasing an additional radiator, do you think its worth it though??? Other than that, any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!!!

edit: forgot to add that I'll only be cooling the proc with the watercooling setup, nothing more

[jman1310]

you might consider waiting a little while for your store of choice to get this in stock
http://www.swiftnets.com/products/MCRES-1000.asp or buy directly from swiftech it looks like a great product see this thread
also, it may be cheaper to buy the system in parts instead of the kit (not sure)
one rad should cool it, definatly wait with the second rad and see how your temps are
if they're not great then add it
also, then you will have the case and will know exactly what your size constraints are

[3dfxtwkr]

funny you should mention the mcres-1000, because that actually comes in the kit I was planning on buying (Rev. 3a). i think it's a relatively new kit, because i haven't been able to find it at any of the online retailers i've looked at. i guess ill just have to pay the extra $20-$30 dollars to buy it straight from swiftech, no biggy. now another question, does the orientation of the waterblock and the radiator matter (i.e. is there an "upside-down" and a "right-side-up" orientation for the both of them??) The reason I'm asking is because I was planning on mounting the kit on the case just as they did on this site HERE (they actually use the same case im planning to buy, and Rev. 3, not 3a, of the kit im planning to buy.) instead of mounting the pass-through kit through one of the PCI slots, they just decided to drill holes right above the rear 120mm fan grill. is the radiator, "upside-down" in this case, or does it not matter??? If the setup works fine that way, Rev. 3a should make for a pretty clean setup, as the longest piece of tubing ill have to use will go straight from one side of the case to the other (above the rear 120mm fan grill straight to one of the 5 1/4 drive bays.) Once again any input is much appreciated.

by the way, what order should the water be flowing in.........is it pump/reservoir, radiator, cpu, then back to pump/reservoir, or should it go in a different order??

[Brians256]

Ideal order has the CPU coming right after the radiator. However, the head loss from bad tubing runs makes it more important to have a good layout for the tubing. I believe that you lose more efficiency from a kinked or sharply bent hose than you do from putting the CPU before the radiator.

Saying all that, I think you can have your cake and eat it too. Just put the rad before the CPU and make a neat and tidy tubing run.

[MadHacker]

try to remember that air is easier to remove from the system when the fittings are at it's highest point.
the Rad in the review is mounted properly but the CPU block is upside down.
It should be rotated 180 deg to make the exit higher then the input.

as for order resevoir then pump. CPU or rad next doesn't matter much.
my 2¢

[jman1310]

there is one major problem with that system
the 120mm exhaust fan blows hot air from the case directly into the radbox and into the rad...
might as well skip using the radbox and get a cleaner install
or
mount the radbox somewhere it will get unheated air
it looks like the back of the stacker will be a bad location in general due to the large number of exhaust fans there
however, with some clever ducting you could place the fan in the front of the case (it will take (4) 5 1/4" bays and duct the exhaust out the large vent on the side of the case

[3dfxtwkr]

Originally Posted by jman1310

there is one major problem with that system
the 120mm exhaust fan blows hot air from the case directly into the radbox and into the rad...
might as well skip using the radbox and get a cleaner install
or
mount the radbox somewhere it will get unheated air
it looks like the back of the stacker will be a bad location in general due to the large number of exhaust fans there
however, with some clever ducting you could place the fan in the front of the case (it will take (4) 5 1/4" bays and duct the exhaust out the large vent on the side of the case

I noticed that as well, bad design on their(the site's) part IMHO. However, in my setup im not going to even have a 120mm fan blowing air out on that exhaust port, I was thinking of just blocking that completely off. As you can see in the other pics, there is actually another 120mm fan mounted directly onto the radiator blowing air through it. As for the two 80mm exhaust ports at the bottom rear of the case, I wasn't planning on using fans there either........not exactly the first place I would think of when putting in exhasut fans. So now my only concern is the hot air coming out of the power supply.......do you think the power supply would be far enough up so that the fan attached to the rad won't be pulling in hot air?? I'd like to mount the rad at the bottom/front of the case, but I just don't see how I could accomplish that with absolutely no way for me to attach the rad/fan to anything (except the plastic grills at the front, which wouldnt be a very clean setup.) Thanks again for all the input, any more suggestions on how I should mount the rad, or do you think the radbox will suffice???

[POET250]

I'm not sure if you realize this but you can mount the motherboard upside in a btx fashion. That way would put the 120mm exhaust at the bottom of the case and the 2 80mm fans at the top. You could then duct some air straight through the case to the rad at the bottom on the 120