First Water Kit Need Advice/Help!

[Dr. V]

i need to know what to get.

im gonna be moving to watercooling quite soon and i really need to know parts and stuff.

there are some nice kits like the Thermaltake Big Water 735 that i was looking at - i know some ppl recommend not getting a kit at ALL and getting individual stuff.

i've heard amazing things about Swiftech and their waterblocks - also Danger Den.

in terms of rads, i dont think its too much of an issue between Thermaltake and Swiftech, or something similar. same with the pipe.

the tubing i think i wanna use 1/2" to get most flow possible (unless there is a reason why 3/8" is recommended) and i'll definitely be using steel pipe clamps -- no risk of leakage here.

on of the better suppliers for watercooling in my area is Bigfoot Computers and many people have recommended it to me. from there i'm considering only the individual part configuration.

i want to do my best to keep it at under $200 (sure before tax) CAD and get a good watercooling kit. i need it for S775 (as per my system in my sig).

i know 100% only 120mm+ rads, and obviously im all for that -- the fan is what im wondering too. should i risk a touch of noise for better performance with water, i.e. is it necessary? which fan is the best to mount on a 120mm rad?

basically i need to know whats best to buy for my budget and overall cooling capability, how good of a job it does, be it a kit, or custom parts
. over and over i hear Swiftech and Danger Dan, Thermaltake as well gets good word.

all help is appreciated as always, and i hope to get a kit up soon!

p.s. yes im looking for VGA cooling as well hopefully incorporated into that price. if it has to go a bit over to have VGA cooling its all good, but i dont want that high of a price if its only CPU cooling unless its REALLY necessary and recommended, then i can build on the kit later on.

[Bigedmond]

I can tell you right now, if you want to plan out a system, you should know what you want to cool first off. Most people recommend the cpu, northbridge, and vga.

From there, there you could do the southbridge, hard drives, ram, power supply. I just personaly bought a dangerden rbx 775 block for the system i am getting ready to build. Still cant find what block for the vga, and my northbridge has a pretty good setup. Its the EVGA 680i board.

[Tyreal]

there are some nice kits like the Thermaltake Big Water 735 that i was looking at - i know some people recommend not getting a kit at ALL and getting individual stuff.

Absolutely correct. Do not get a kit, let alone a TT kit. ThermalTake will never get a good word from me with water cooling. I've seen to many bad things happen with their kits.

You will most likely want to use 1/2 as you said. Steel worm drive clamps can be bought at your local homedepot, rona, or any hardware store. As for the tubing, you can get expensive stuff or the stuff from Rona/Homedepot. I don't care for the expensive stuff so I get cheap vinyl tubing from Rona. It gets the job done. I just recently bought Braided reinforced vinyl tubing from Princess Auto, I don't know if you have that there.

Here is a list of stuff I would buy:
Danger Den D5 (Laing D5)
NCIX.com - Buy Danger Den D-5 12V Water Cooling Pump with Mounting Bracket 1/2OD Barbs - DDPD5 In Canada. - 83.30
Swiftech MCR220 - Suitable radiator for a cpu and gpu loop. Likes fans above 40 cfm.
NCIX.com - Buy Swiftech MCR220 Quiet Power Dual 120MM Water Cooling Radiator Black - MCR220-QP-K In Canada. - 41.04
Swiftech Apogee - No longer top of the line. A very good performing block.
NCIX.com - Buy Swiftech APOGEE CPU Water Block S478/S603/S604/LGA775/S754/S939/S940/AM2 3/8IN & 1/2IN Barbs - Apogee water-block In Canada. - 57.34
Swiftech Delrin 3/8 NPT to 1/2 IN fittings - Fittings for the radiator. NPT = Tapered fitting so you will need teflon tape.
NCIX.com - Buy Fitting Swiftech 1/2IN Delrin Barb to 3/8IN NPT (Set of 2) - A6-8 In Canada. - 1.35
+ 2 Fans, I recommend Yate Loons.

Comes out to just over 200.

You would need to go to home depot or hardware store and get:
1/2 plastic or metal T-Fitting - For T-line.
Tubing
Brass cap - for your t-line.
10-12 (extra if you want) Worm drive clamps
Pure distilled water
Algaecide or Povidone Iodine - Since this loop consists of only copper and brass, there is no need for any "fancy" coolants. In fact you do not even need antifreeze. The algaecide is necessary unless you want to grow some lettuce.
Teflon tape for the radiator.


As you may have noticed this loop implements a t-line instead of a resevoir. It provides a very slight performance advantage over the resevoir. It takes longer to bleed the air bubbles but it's cheaper and the longer bleed time is not a big deal.

I should also mention that since all your blocks and radiators use plastic fittings (barbs) and you are going to use worm drive clamps, DO NOT tighten them too much! Only tighten them until you see the tubing start to compress slightly. The worm drive clamps have so much clamping power that if you tighten it too much you run the risk of collapsing the barb.

[Bigedmond]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

Absolutely correct. Do not get a kit, let alone a TT kit. ThermalTake will never get a good word from me with water cooling. I've seen to many bad things happen with their kits.

I cant agree here. The first water cooling kit for my 478 prescott. Thing was a heater, and the koolance heat pipe i had just couldnt keep up. The water kit used really small 1/4 line, but since i only cooled the cpu, it worked for me. It dropped my temps according to mbm5 20 degrees c just with that switch. And i never over clocked it.

[Capper]

yep, the original TT Big Water was a fairly poor kit, as far as the enthusiasts were concerned...

The newer kits are plenty good for anyone except the extreme enthusiasts trying for speed records or the top OC. At CES I saw kits from TT and Cooler Master that were worlds ahead of their older products.

CES 2007: Day 2 - Thermaltake
CES 2007: Day 2 - Continued

[Tyreal]

Interesting. Regardless, I still think that building it yourself will give you a sense of accomplishment and you will learn about it in the process.

Those kits are a great way for mainstream users to try watercooling but there will always be a market for do-it-yourself users.

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

Interesting. Regardless, I still think that building it yourself will give you a sense of accomplishment and you will learn about it in the process.

Maybe Ty, but for a first time beginner it may be best to start with a complete kit. At least with the "kit" type of water cooling, you can see what components go into a water cooling setup, and then maybe start doing some shopping for better system components.

[Tyreal]

Originally Posted by stinger608

Maybe Ty, but for a first time beginner it may be best to start with a complete kit. At least with the "kit" type of water cooling, you can see what components go into a water cooling setup, and then maybe start doing some shopping for better system components.

It could go either way depending on what your background was. I just started watercooling last year and my first setup was all store bought components. I always shy away from things like kits because I like to know exactly what I have.

[stinger608]

Of course, of course, Ty, you are absolutely correct man

I am just stating that, if Stix is not real comfortable with building, modding, and adding water cooling, that it may be best to start with a kit type, and later upgrade buying independent items.

He can always use the kit for a second system later, or sell the kit to someone that is just starting out water cooling.

[Tyreal]

Originally Posted by stinger608

Of course, of course, Ty, you are absolutely correct man

I am just stating that, if Stix is not real comfortable with building, modding, and adding water cooling, that it may be best to start with a kit type, and later upgrade buying independent items.

He can always use the kit for a second system later, or sell the kit to someone that is just starting out water cooling.

Hahaha. Ok...

We'll see what he decides. Let us know how it goes Stixs.