Beginner's new w/c setup

[Meethoss]

Hmm...I wish to use a Dark Blue UV additive. Is there anything that will do the same job as WW etc. but without colour? Otherwise it'll mess up my colour system And any suggestions on my NB block question above?

[Aardil]

Well, I can tell you that Zerex Super Coolant is also pink in color but I have Never used it so I don't know if it is good or bad. I dont recall anyone posting the pro's or Con's of that product.
As Far as your choice in Chipset coolers, There has been a ton of dicussion on these boards and a few others.


Read that thread it didnt start as a discusion about NB's but it went that way for a while LINKY

[kusojiji]

If there is any aluminum in your system, ensure that you have a good additive mixed in. I just lost my MCW5000 because I didn't use any. The liquid penetrated the anodized aluminum top and is now eating its way in. It's all nasty and green inside. I just wrote to Swiftech to find out what they recommend and what the solution strength should be.

I may end up jumping out of this boat and going to a waterblock that has no aluminum, to be safe in the future. One of my rigs is 100% swiftech. It is currently running about 5 - 10% Zerex. The other one may end up being 100% Danger Den.

[kusojiji]

You know, I really haven't seen too many reviews on nb waterblocks. I think that if it fits and is not too terribly bad, it should work fine, you know what I mean? Maybe the lucite top is easy to crack or something. I had one and sent it back because the lucite top was cracked from the original manufacturing. I never had a chance to test it, so I don't know how it works. With it's fittings, it should not put too much back pressure on the system and I think that that is probably going to be the most important issue for a nb cooler.

[Meethoss]

I've made sure that all my parts are made out of either copper or lucite, so corrosion shouldn't be too much of a problem. Do you know what is in these chemicals? Maybe I can shop around for a see-through alternative.

I think as far as the NB block I'll just go for the DD Z block because the MCP600 should easily deal with it. Thanks for the link but had already been reading that one and it didn't say lot - not many people have much thoughts on NB cooling, as Kusojiji says.

I ordered my case (and window) last night, as it's quite low in stock. Surprisingly the cheapest place I found it was amazon.co.uk! And with 3-5 days free delivery They think it should be here by 23rd Jan the latest, which (incidentally) is the last day of my exams

I'll start shopping around and try to get the most optimal shopping list. I've already found that Halfords does 10 worm drive hose clips for £3.50! My Taekwon Do instructor is a plumber so I'll see what things he can get me for cheap

Thanks again guys. I'll post my final design and parts list plus all pictures before, during and after installation (and leak test). Thanks for the help

[kusojiji]

One more thing to add before you finalize your list. I've been reading around on nb cooling and a lot of people do not think that it is necessary to watercool it. In fact, the gains do not outweigh the losses. All it adds is extra backpressure to the system.

A good aircooled or passive sink should be enough. I'm planning to remove mine as well. It makes a really tight kink in my line from the cpu to the nb.

[Meethoss]

Best water additive I can find is Water Wetter or Purple Ice. Know what's better, anyone? I may consult some experts and see what I can get locally so at the moment it's out of my list - won't be hard to add it.

[fhorst]

Originally Posted by kusojiji

One more thing to add before you finalize your list. I've been reading around on nb cooling and a lot of people do not think that it is necessary to watercool it. In fact, the gains do not outweigh the losses. All it adds is extra backpressure to the system.

A good aircooled or passive sink should be enough. I'm planning to remove mine as well. It makes a really tight kink in my line from the cpu to the nb.

The same goes for your cpu and GPU
yesterday I saw a nice movie from Tom's hardware, with liquid nitro, pushing the CPU to 5.2ghz.
they used a Prommy to cool the northbridge...... to -50c
And they had help from the mainboard manufacturer to get to this crazy overclock.

I know that they are just amatures, so they don't know that to cool

[Meethoss]

LOL, I was thinking about it...Uh, but then I got back to reality :P

[kusojiji]

Sorry, but I won't go back to an air system, unless a new technology comes out that cools as good as water, is quiet like a water system, and doesn't cost more than a water system . Those prommies are out of control and the price is outrageous. The prommy is only good for one thing. If it could be expanded to cover all the heat producers in the case, then the exorbitant price may be worth it.

Northbridge coolers such as the Gigabyte cooler are quiet. Asus didn't even bother to put a fan on theirs. There are extreme coolers as the swifty, but the cost and noise are too much for me.

I thought cooling the nb would be worth it at first, but I'm going to run without it and see what the differences will be. Will post the results.

[Meethoss]

Will be interesting to see - especially if it's before I get my stuff :P Thanks mate!

Here's my new setup, BTW:

Antec P160 (Amazon)
Antec P160 Window (Amazon)
Cooler Master Aerogate 2 (Overclockers)
Swiftech MCP600 (PCLincs)
Danger Den Heater Core (PCLincs)
Danger Den Reservoir (PCLincs)
Danger Den RBX (Coolercases)
Danger Den Maze 4 (PCLincs)
Danger Den Z (Coolercases
Danger Den Hose (per foot) (Coolercases)
Worm Drive Hose Clips (10) (Halfords)
Dark Blue UV Additive (PCLincs)
OCZ BGA Copper RAM Heatsinks (4) (Coolercases)
Light Blue Cold Cathode Lamps (PCLincs)
As above light only (PCLincs)
120mm Vantec Stealth Case Fan (Coolercases)
Arctic Silver 5 (PCLincs)
Arctic Alumina (PCLincs)

I decided on where to buy those depending on the cheapest prices, but then made some slight alterations to ensure that I purchased from as few shops as possible. So far that's 5 shops - but that's better than it sounds. Halfords I can just pop down to; Amazon my case is already bought; and that leaves the other three to buy the Aerogate and Fans from Overclockers and the watercooling stuff split between PCLincs and Coolercases.

It comes to a total of £493 not including delivery. My mum is paying for the case and window about £110 and my dad is paying for the rest up to £300. As the rest is £383 I'll be paying the £83 and delivery myself (so call it £100).

Here's a rough picture of what the setup should look like with (along with major parts of my computer) and without:



Not yet decided on coolant stuff - probably Water Wetter but just waiting to find a clear and brilliant alternative

Let me know what you think!

[kusojiji]

okay, finally took the nb cooler out and replaced it with the stock cooler. Just bleeding the air out of the system.

Still bleeding the system, . . .

Still bleeding the system, . . .


I hate T-lines!!!

[Meethoss]

Ooh :O Let us know how it goes and what results you get

[kusojiji]

okay, finally got most of the air out. I can still hear the swishing so I still need to get the rest out. Anyway, pulling the mcw-20 nb block out lowered my idle temp about 2 degrees C to about 32-33. Sandra burn in gave me a high of 37. Right now, I'm doing some video editing and when I get to the crunching part, I used to see temps in the 42-43 range. I should be getting to that phase in about a half hour. I'll keep you posted when that part starts and the temps I get.

[kusojiji]

Okay, I'm about 30 minutes into the crunching phase and my temps are at 37 degrees C. Looks good right now. I think that it is working much better. My temp probe on the radiator is 26.8, which is about what it was before also, so I'm getting about a 5 degrees C improvement over having the nb inline.

Tsk, tsk, should have listened to BillA as he recommended to me a long time ago that it wouldn't be worth it. I guess I had to learn it the hard way and 90 bucks later (bought 3)!

[kusojiji]

And more info: my radiator is now at 28.0 C and my processor is still at 37!

Man! 30 bucks for nothing!!!!

[Meethoss]

Really? Christ - so it's definitely not worth cooling the NB with water then? I have a pretty good HSF on mine now, so maybe I'll just leave the DD Z block as it's supposed to seriously inhibit flow. That's great, thanks a lot mate! Will make things cheaper for me.

A bit of bad news - the shop I was buying from shutdown. I can get it all elsewhere for a little more but the MCP600 - gonna have to import it from the US as there is officially nowhere to get it in the UK anymore :/ I asked Swiftech and they forwarded me to http://www.sidewindercomputers.com.

[Meethoss]

Description Qty Cost Total
------------------------------------------- --------------------- ------- -------
Swiftech MCP-600 Industrial Pump 1 79.95 79.95
HydrX Extreme Duty Coolant 1 2.95 2.95
Global Express mail to the UK 2 lb 1 oz package 32.75 32.75

Subtotal $115.65
Sales Tax (0.0%) $0.00
Total $115.65

Sound good to you guys? That's works out at about £6-7 more expensive than the place I was gonna get it in the UK, and that didn't include the HydrX or postage. I may have to pay tax - anyone know what this entails? Anyone from the UK had anything like this befor and know how it works or have any idea how much it may be?

Thanks

[Meethoss]

Bollocks - all my nice formatting didn't work

[kusojiji]

Sidewindercomputers is where I get all my swiftech stuff from. Gary is the best and will work with you on anything. He's 100% customer oriented. I highly recommend him. I hope he can help you overseas!

Surprising about the nb cooler, eh! Took me by surprise also.

[Meethoss]

Yeah, he's dealing with my order! What a great guy! I'm just putting through the order now

[kusojiji]

Cool. I once sent him an email and he answered in less than an hour. Then we "chatted" for a few more emails. It was past midnight for him. I had forgotten to add a few items to my order and he put them on it for me. Unreal!

[Meethoss]

Wicked. Yeah, he replied to me very quickly too. I was very impressed. I see he doesn't work on Saturdays though cos I've not had anything back about my order - I shouldn't be so impatient, especially as I haven't even ordered my blocks and stuff yet (and even if I had it all I've got exams to finish!) :P

[kusojiji]

Exams? Yech!! I hate exams! That's why it is taking me 22 years to finally get my degree!!

Can't wait to see your results with your new build!

[Meethoss]

Yeah, this is my Computer Science degree (I'm 20). It's pretty fun but I hate exams too!