Help a WC newb for the new year!

[Deviant]

After reading a lot of articles, forums etc... I still am confused about some questions I have.

Here's my future set up.

AMD 2600+ or 2700+ ASUS A7N8X

-All 1/2"
-Maze 3 or TC-4 WB
-D-Tek heatercore with fan shroud.(I know it's a chevette heatercore and that I can do all that myself but I don't want to start with the torch and put barbs and all) or BIX
-Clearflex60 tubing
-Hydor L30 (320GPH)(I know pumps and yes I prefer it to the Eheim 1250 because of lower EMI, size, performance, price and same reliability than Eheim. Hydor is a OEM manufacturer of pumps for US companies like little giant for a long time, so it's not a new company and compared to Eheim 1250 it consumes 5W less, thus it releases 5W less heat. So please no "you should go with Eheim" thx.

I plan on OC but nothing extreme. I won't use pelts and the main reason why I'm going WC is that I want silence. Plus I think it looks great so hey why not?

Now I have a Lian Li PC-75 coming, which is pretty big and I know it offers plenty of space but I'm still confused about these issues:

1- I was told that just for straight watercooling I won't see a difference between a heatercore and a BIX...true?


2- Originally I had planned to put a Dangerden reservoir because of the fact that people told me that it was easier to fill/bleed your system with a res. I was going to set it up like that:

reservoir setup

But I also read that I don't need a reservoir and that a T line is enough. So basically, I know both works but what is easier to maintain? Should I scrap the reservoir or keep it?


3- If I go for a T-line, people tell me that it's best if the T is at the highest point and that it should be put right before the inline of the pump.....is that true?


4- I know this will sound kinda weird but even though a Lian li PC75 is big....I am still unsure where is the best place to put my H/C fan.... Behind on the top of the PSU? At the top as a blowhole? In front at the bottom? There's a HD cage at the bottom front that can be removed but you also have 2 80mm intake fans there so I would need to scrap the HD cage, the 2 80mm fans and make a 120mm hole. Doable of course but at the same time I don't want to start scrapping the whole inside of that case especially if I have that much space!


5- I also read that I should put the fan so it pulls outside air through the H/C for best result. Is this true wherever the HC is placed? (At the back, top, bottom etc of the case)


6- Like I said, I'm looking for effective cooling but the main reason is silence so how much CFM should that 120mm fan have to effectively cool without me having to look for ear plugs


Pfeww! Ok I know that is a lot of questions but I'm a perfectionist ....I can't help it. I want to do things right and I know people here can help me.

Thanks in advance for your input. Greatly appreciated.

[gmat]

Welcome to these forums !
I'll assume you only want to cool your CPU down, for now.
Your goal is silence, nice, and good luck, this is doable but expensive as i can attest. But it's a great experience (we share the same goals...)
About the pump: i've been using a Hydor L30 for 1 year and half. I found it was too noisy under load. And had to change the shaft once. So i'm not 100% satisfied with it. I'll compare with a Eheim soon....

1 - false. Even straight watercooling is quite 'powerful'. The D-Tek HC has more surface area and less restriction than the BiX. Since you have no room constraint (where the BiX shines) go with the HC. With straight WC the only thing that has influence on temps is the rad... So a better rad will magically give you better temps.

2 - A res is easier to maintain indeed. But if you don't wat to go to extremes, consider a simple airtrap. Use a small 40mmx50mm PVC section with end caps for example. Look at Turbokeu's setup in this very forum (look for threads started by him). I found this more elegant than a big reservoir, and more practical than a T line.

3 - Not exact. Put the fill point (or airtrap) at top of the circuit - ideally sticking out of the top of the case, with a nice cap - for easy maintenance. Ah don't forget the 'purge' T+valve at bottom ... Very useful as well.

4 - Bottom front, sucking air from outside (ie the fan is inside). This location because you won't have any bubble problem (they tend to get trapped in rads) and sucking air because axial fans are more efficient that way.

5 - yes, considering you won't place your HC at top where it would act as an air trap...

6 - For my config: 3 waterblocks, Tbird 1000 @ 1500 with FSB @200, Geforce2 and NForce2 all watercooled then, with a single D-Tek HC, a low-speed Papst 4412 N/2GL cools my cpu down to 37-39°C with 22°C ambient. It's rated at ~57 CFM. I think i can even lower the voltage and keep my system stable.
The Papst can be had for ~$23 plus shipping and it's the best 120mm fan i know of (considering performance/noise ratio). It's rated at 26dBA at full speed.

Have fun ! And post photos...

(edit) hmm given the case you have.. you can fit the HC above the PSU, then have its outlet go to the airtrap which would be placed higher, since it would stick out of the top of the case...

[Deviant]

Originally posted by gmat


3 - Not exact. Put the fill point (or airtrap) at top of the circuit - ideally sticking out of the top of the case, with a nice cap - for easy maintenance. Ah don't forget the 'purge' T+valve at bottom ... Very useful as well.

Thanks gmat!

Can you elaborate on the purge T + valve at bottom? You kinda lost me there...what valve at bottom?

[Deviant]

oh and for the rad, I pretty much think I'll go with the scoop set up.

http://jpiperformance.com/scoop_twin_120.htm
http://jpiperformance.com/xlr120radiator.htm

Good choice?

[gmat]

It looks smaller than the D-Tek HC (in width, not in length)... i may be wrong. The HC is 150mm wide, this one looks more like 120mm wide.
All that counts is surface area. Oh and keep in mind that 2 fans makes twice as much noise as one fan... And your double length rad will be harder to fit. There (if it's 120x240mm) you gain 28% frontal surface area over the DTek one, but again there's the thickness to take into account (2 x thicker = 1.5 x better), as the DTek one seems thicker...
So maybe 20% more active surface area and twice the noise... you decide. Personally i'd stick with a single fan model.

The bottom purge is like this:

>-----T-----> 
      |
      x+ <-valve
      |

so when you want to purge your system, open the airtrap, then open this valve (and don't forget to bring a basin)

[bigdawginva]

The XLR Rad is appromixmately 10.5" x 5.5" x 2".

For total space, to include the Scoop (shroud), the dimensions are such that you need around 6 3/4" wide area for the Scoop width, then the length is about 11 1/2 and you need to allow for 5" from fan grill to backside of radiator

I have one mounted up top and there's no air in my system.

[Deviant]

http://jpiperformance.com/gallery.htm


If you look at the Lian Li case with the red "scoop" seems like it would fit rather nicely

Or there's always
http://jpiperformance.com/otis.htm that is coming.....I'm a case moder so looks count also for me. If it looks ugly it can't enter my case

[Deviant]

Thanks bigdawg =) Do you like that bayres? Easy to fill /bleed?

[Deviant]

So if I go:

-All 1/2"
-Maze 3 or TC-4 WB
-DD GF4 block
-Jp's Scoop V2.0 & XLR 120 Radiator
-Clearflex60 tubing
-Hydor L30 (320GPH)

Would that be a nice set up that I can build on if I decide to go more "extreme" ?

Also, watercooling the hard drives...I saw someone in this forum that makes a block for them.....waiste of money, trouble or worth it?

[bigdawginva]

Originally posted by Deviant
Thanks bigdawg =) Do you like that bayres? Easy to fill /bleed?

NP. Yes. Yes.

[bigdawginva]

Originally posted by Deviant
So if I go:

-All 1/2"
-Maze 3 or TC-4 WB
-DD GF4 block
-Jp's Scoop V2.0 & XLR 120 Radiator
-Clearflex60 tubing
-Hydor L30 (320GPH)

Would that be a nice set up that I can build on if I decide to go more "extreme" ?

Also, watercooling the hard drives...I saw someone in this forum that makes a block for them.....waiste of money, trouble or worth it?

IMO, that's pretty "extreme" already except for pelts and it could handle that as well.

I can't speak to WCing HDs but I'd never do it in my rigs.

[gmat]

Originally posted by Deviant

Also, watercooling the hard drives...I saw someone in this forum that makes a block for them.....waiste of money, trouble or worth it?

Depends.
If your goal is silence, then you can insulate HDD's with different materials. To prevent them from burning away though, you'll have to watercool them... D-Tek sell a nice HDD waterblock.

[Deviant]

I might just go all out lol....except for pelts...this really looks like another ball game with condensation and everything....not sure I want to go there.....

[airspirit]

If you want silence, look at a Lytron large copper radiator on EBay. You could easily make a external box for it, your pump, and your res to prevent modding to your case, and you could probably use the thing without any fans at all. That would be silent. Currently, you can get a single Lytron radiator for under $50 on most of the auctions. Be warned, they measure 1x2 FEET, so it wouldn't be a little puppy, but is very capable of cooling that thing without fans if not completely enclosed.

[airspirit]

Oh, and to do that, you'd need a stronger pump like a danner 700 GPH model. They cost in the $65 range in many places, but you'll need the extra oomph to get flow through that radiator.