Water Cooling my rig

[Killdrath]

I'm 100% noob when it comes to putting water in the box with my valuable electronics.

I got myself a nice dual 120 rad a long time ago, and it is still sitting in the box. I hear people touting the benefits of this or that brand, but I want to know what is easiest.

First off, has anyone had experience with this "kit":
Thermaltake Aquabay M5

I mean, a res is a res. I am still weighing the option of a drive bay res, but I have the room in the case.

Mainly, how reliable is that pump, if anyone knows? And, what water blocks work well for a reasonable cost? I'd like to cool at least my Q6700 and GeForce 9800GT, chipset if the price is right.

And, the quieter the better, since my current setup is driving me crazy with how noisy it is (especially when I have 2 or 3 copies of WoW running at once).

Anyways, just thought I'd pick the brains of all you folks.

[p0Pe]

i would keep away from that thermaltake one. keep the dual raddy you have and go for this setup:

laing dcc pump. there is many different classes, some being crazy prizy (the 18W) and some being just affordable. get one of thoose. even the small one will fit you need. i have 2 18W in the same loop, and one of them can easialy handle it. if you want a pump thats not as noisy, you can get a laing d5. they are amazingly quiet.

for waterblock, i would go for a d-tek fuzion, or a xspc acrylic edge. of course the fuzion is better than the xspc, but its also aprox twice the price.

for resevoir, i would go for an xspc single, or dual resevoir, that fits into you 5.25 bays. the are handy, and looks awsome

hoses, go for tygon. they are the best to work with.

fittings, just take what suits you. ive learned that you wont gain better result with having 19 mm hoses instead of small 6 mm ones, so just take what you want to work with. the 19 mm can be hard to work with though.

for fluid i would go for feser one.

for your waterblock to the gpu i would go for a Swiftech MCW60-R Rev. 2. dont bother with a pricey full cover block. your a likely to change that card in the future, and that way you can use this block on the next card as well. you might want to put some heatsinks on the gpu´s ram though you can get thermal tape that is sticky on both sides.

for chipset, EK is always good so just find the one that suits you.

this will make of a rather pricey watercooling system, but i promis it will work 5 times better, and longer than the thermaltake one.

think thats it your welcome to contact me if you need help putting different tube sizes and fittings together.

gl hf!

[SXRguyinMA]

I've got that same setup, as well as a TT 120 rad and such, has worked perfectly for years now

[Spawn-Inc]

i would keep away from that thermaltake one. keep the dual raddy you have and go for this setup:

laing dcc pump. there is many different classes, some being crazy prizy (the 18W) and some being just affordable. get one of thoose. even the small one will fit you need. i have 2 18W in the same loop, and one of them can easialy handle it. if you want a pump thats not as noisy, you can get a laing d5. they are amazingly quiet.

for waterblock, i would go for a d-tek fuzion, or a xspc acrylic edge. of course the fuzion is better than the xspc, but its also aprox twice the price.

for resevoir, i would go for an xspc single, or dual resevoir, that fits into you 5.25 bays. the are handy, and looks awsome

hoses, go for tygon. they are the best to work with.

fittings, just take what suits you. ive learned that you wont gain better result with having 19 mm hoses instead of small 6 mm ones, so just take what you want to work with. the 19 mm can be hard to work with though.

for fluid i would go for feser one.

for your waterblock to the gpu i would go for a Swiftech MCW60-R Rev. 2. dont bother with a pricey full cover block. your a likely to change that card in the future, and that way you can use this block on the next card as well. you might want to put some heatsinks on the gpu´s ram though you can get thermal tape that is sticky on both sides.

for chipset, EK is always good so just find the one that suits you.

this will make of a rather pricey watercooling system, but i promis it will work 5 times better, and longer than the thermaltake one.

think thats it your welcome to contact me if you need help putting different tube sizes and fittings together.

gl hf!

i agree with most of that .

thermaltake is a major no-no. unless you constantly look after all the problems that will arise, stay away. (even then stay away)


1/2" ID tubing is good but you can also get away with 3/8" ID tubing. i currently use 7/16" ID on 1/2" barbs.

before i start recommending any products i will say you need to read up before you buy anything. it takes a while to get it all down pat.

have a read through here, look through the various threads and there questions.


whats your budget? i know you want silence and what you want to cool but we/i need a budget to let you know what you can get.