I don't know if I'm just the only one here but I confused when I look at watercooling items when I browse them. Anyone know of a good guide somewhere? I was just gonna go buy an all in 1 kit. But I heard building one is not only cheaper, but much better. I just have no idea what I need. I know I need like watercooling blocks for my CPU, VGA, northbridge, etc. I don't know what barbs are o.O I dont know the size tubing I'd need.. the radiators.. the pumps.. But i think its the next thing I'm going to get seeing how I.. NEED TO SPEND $$!

I list you a short list of what you'll need for a general setup
(and a little info on some items)


to start:

CPU WATER BLOCK

optional GPU WATER BLOCK-

12 V PUMP. (its wise to spend the money on a quality pump) i'd recommend swiftech

Radiator- (these are basically counted as 1 unit for each of the size of a 120 mm fan) so id recommend 2-3 unit rad. (wide range of companys)

it's a good idea to have a decent size RESERVOIR

barbs: when they say 1/2" means the size diameter of the piece. so you'd get 1/2" tubing. you also want some hose clamps (i like the metal ones you can tighten)

a decent setup will cost you between 300-450 (depending parts and all of what you wish to cool)


if ive forgotten anything, feel free to post.

non conductive coolant, i use primochill pc-ice, works awesome,

So as long as their proper sizes (like 1/2, 3/4, etc) I could mix and match parts like a more powerful pump with one, but an better waterblock from somewhere else. Wouldn't be issues with how they connect?

It wouldnt matter as long as the connection size on the waterblock, pump etc is the same as you cant use 1/2' tubing with 3/4' connections.

As long as everything you intend to connect has the same size, it shouldnt be an issue. Mix and match as you wish. Double check things tho to make sure they are all the same size.

you can boil the ends to stretch over the barbs , it creates a water tight seal when it cools

The tips above are good to remember.

Watercooling is a system which transfers heat to the air. Engineering of a watercooling system is determined by the heat which you intend to generate.

The rate of heat transfer is a function of waterblock, flow rate, cooling fluid, radiator design, radiator surface area, air movement through the radiator, and finally the ambient air temperature.

If you do not intend to increasing component voltages, you can design a fanless watercooling system. If you want to increase component voltages for an overclocked system, then like with everything else, take your time and spend some cash.

With any system that you design,

-do not go smaller than 1/2" inside diameter tubing,
-ALWAYS use non collapsing, non kinking tubing,
-ALWAYS use clamps,
-avoid 90 degree bends/elbows as this will reduce (or add restrictions) to flow, and
-try do not go below 2 litres of cooling fluid in the system.

Rule 1:There is no such thing as too much flow,

Rule 2: There is no such thing as too much radiator surface area.

Regardless of what you do (without a chiller), you will never get the component below ambient air temp; however, you can get a component very close to ambient air.

When you compare various components look for the following:

- a pumps flow rate and max head pressure.
- waterblock internal surface area and resistance to flow, avoid waterblocks which route the water by 180 degrees if you can.
- not all cooling fluid is the same. Distilled water is the best to transfer heat; however running only water can cause problems down the road.
- radiators should have a copper core and using rule 2 from above.
-more radiators means more fans which mean more heat transfer.
-ambient temp at the radiators should be kept low as with any air system.

Always flush your components and after the system is assembled, filled with water for the first time, and the pump turned on, rotate the box 360 degrees to ensure you remove any trapped air.

Very helpful! So far I've just been browsing Swiftech but I'll brand off and hopefully come back within a week and purpose a list of parts on the forum.

I also planned on the whole flushing thing, but was going to assemble it outside of my PC first just to make sure I didn't have any leaks. Anything I can do extra to prevent leaks I'm all up for, whether its that boiling the ends technique, specialized thicker tubing ( I dont care spending extra $$ on expensive tubing if it means my entire system wont get bunked). Etc.

Great help so far! I have a Armor Series case so I think I could get a rad in the back, possibly a 2nd cause there's a spot for a single 80-120mm fan where a PSU can go, and currently in the front of my case I have 3 120mm fans stacked up for airflow.. perhaps i could buy something to mount a rad to the front.

Got bored and started checking stuff out. Using a combination of Direct Canada, and NCIX I found out a solution I slapped together on Swiftech. The only thing it's missing is a reservoir. I wanted to have a bigger one that fits in a 5.25 bay but for $20 there's the Swiftech one (only seem to make 1.. ).

Here it is.

CPU: Apogee XT Waterblock
GPU: MCW60-R
Chipset: MCW-NBMAX
Pump: MCP655
Rad: MCR 320
Tubing: 320inches of tubing (in case I really fuck up).
Liquid Coolant: Undecided

Now the H20-220 Ultima XT Plus is $399 and the differences are I got a bigger Rad and a better Chipset. That configuration is $350 from Swiftech.

Then I checked out Direct Canada and NCIX's price matching (oh I love it!)

The whole damn thing for $275, some parts are 3-6week orders but I couldn't beleive how much cheaper that stuff was on their sites. I figured maybe going for a bigger Rad but I'm not sure how it'll fit on my PC quite yet..

Any suggestions or insight?

not a bad list, iv got the gtz waterblock (getting the xt soon tho) same pump 320 rad and microres res (all swifttech) i got 10' of hose and still have tons left over. keeps my i7 920 @4ghz at 20c at idle 31c on load

Nice, what size case do you have, or model rather.

I'm running at i5 750 that never peaks above 44c on air. Running at 4.1ghz.

If I end up ordering the watercooling setup I'll take some snapshots, and maybe make my own mini-guide "Babies first Watercooling" or something.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7039/ ... 30c225s558

wow.. and I'd need 4 of those... and Imagine if they broke like in the 1 review?!?!

Looking at some parts now and trying to compare EK to Swiftech. EK seems to be a bit more expensive, but use full copper blocks, and some are nickel plated... some neat chipset blocks that well are quite expensive cover mosfet ( i dont know what that does but it sounds important!) a few other components and your chipset.

So hard to decide, anyone have some good sites that have conducted tests on parts? I know to stay away from thermaltake, and things like Koolance. But EK, Dangerden and Swiftech all seem quite similiar in the quality field. Other than the visuals I need to find some raw data.. the few I found seem to put EK up in the lead, and I'd hope so... their CPU waterblocks are 30-40$ more than anyone elses... and their website is all fancy with audio.!