Spec the best cpu watercooling loop!

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Ive got an E8500, with the DFI X48 UT mobo. Its in a Antec 1200 case, and i want to watercool this little badboy.

So guys its upto you to spec me the BEST watercooling loop JUST for the cpu. Im running my 4870's with the HR03-GT + 92mm Sharkloon silent eagle's, and Zalman ramsinks so the gfx isnt a problem.

Also ive got some OCZ Flex ram, but i dont think its really worth watercooling these.

The DFi passive cooling should be more than enough with the airflow from the 1200 dont you think? (its the top end model with the heatpipes)

I was looking at the swiftech 220 all in one jobby but its well dated now.... This is my first watercooling adventure ;)

Foxor-

Edit: Full Spec (so far)

Antec 1200
Seasonic X900 900w

E8500
DFI X48 UT
OCZ Flex 9200 (4gb)


Gainward HD4870's x2
HR03-GT x2
Zalman Ramsinks x2
Sharkloon Silent Eagle 92mm x2
 
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Associate
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I would go for:-

EK Supreme Acetal (Socket A,754,939,AM2, 478 and LGA 775) CPU Water Block

TFC Xchanger - Single Radiator 120

Swiftech MCRES-Micro Watercooling Resevoir

Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump

Masterkleer 7/16" Tubing - 2m

6 half inch barbs.

Feser One UV Reactive Coolant 1 Litre


Hope this helps a little.
 
Soldato
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I would go for

TFC single or thermochill pa120.1 single rad

Laing DDC 1-T Pro 10W 12V DC Pump

D-Tek Fuzion V2 Universal CPU Block

Alphacool Single 5.25" Bay Reservoir (Black)

whatever barbs and tubing you like.

Note you may need to buy the nozzle kit for this block as its a great high flowing block, but as i found with in a loop on its own the water flows so fast (even with a DDC 10w) it caused bubbles in my system.

I added a nozzle to restrict flow and it removed all bubbles and greatly improved my temps.
 
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OP
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I was thinking more of a 220 or 360mm rad not a 120mm :o i dont think thats going to be good enough to get nice temps with 4ghz + clocks ?!

Agreed on the D-Tek Block ive heard brilliant things about it. maybe need a bit more of a more power full pump and a bigger rad.

Is the TFC better than the Thermochill i know its only £10~ more but still :) (the 360mm versions)


Or i could even maybe mount a 240mm at the back of the case where the 2 120mm's are, or at the front ill just loose 2 hdd caddys
 
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OP
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I would go for:-

EK Supreme Acetal (Socket A,754,939,AM2, 478 and LGA 775) CPU Water Block

TFC Xchanger - Single Radiator 120

Swiftech MCRES-Micro Watercooling Resevoir

Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump

Masterkleer 7/16" Tubing - 2m

6 half inch barbs.

Feser One UV Reactive Coolant 1 Litre


Hope this helps a little.

Just looked at your sig, basicly the same kind clocks i want from my E8500, what do you have running in your loop and what are the temps please mate?
 
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Best of the best?

It will all depend on budget really but here's the best CPU loop, in [] I've included the best though partly excessive setup :):

Pump: MCP355 / DDC3.2 with aftermarket top (XSPC) [D5]

Block: D-Tek Fusion V2 [EK Supreme]

Radiator: PA120.2 (dual 120mm) [PA120.3]

Tubing: Whichever you prefer, Feser comes in more colours, Primoflex is most flexible, Tygon is the best quality however has the widest bend radii (lowest flexibility) and only comes in transparent (you'd need to sue dyes to colour it). 7/16 ID (inside diameter) tubing over 1/2 OD (outside diameter) barbs will provide the best fit (you need to heat the tube with a hair dryer to make it softer to fit it over the barb but it will seal better).

Reservoir: It's kind of up to looks here :)

Liquid: Distilled Water + PT Nuke (anti algae).

Barbs: Either Compression or Worm drive, though if you use a V2 Fusion know that only Koolance compression fittings fit from my understanding.
 
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OP
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Thermochill PA120.2 120mm Double Radiator;
Alphacool Cape Coolplex Pro 25 Reservoir;
Swiftech Laing D5 Vario MCP655 12V DC Pump;
EK Supreme Clear Top (Socket A,754,939,AM2, 478 and LGA 775);

So this would be the best setup to cool the e8500 at STUPIDLY high clocks?
 
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my loop includes cpu northbridge and my 8800gtx overvolted to 1.47v.
cpu load temp go up to around 58(this is under full load using prime95 to stress the cpu). I think a 120.1 rad should be fine for just the cpu thou a 120.2 might allow you to run your fans at low rpm if u want silence.

Edit- Just realised u probably want to know what blocks ect. i have a thermochill pa120.3, d-tek fusion cpu block, swiftech stealth full cover gpu block and on the nb i use the asus fusion block that came with my mobo thinking about swapping it for a swiftech mcw30 chipset block as the asus thing is rather restrictive.
 
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Soldato
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ek supreme or dtek fuzion 2 cpu block
Laing DDC 18w ultra pump
thermochill PA120.3
decent fans, yates etc

and any res you like, makes no difference to temps.

if you're after super high fsb then you'll want your NB cooled which you need a swiftech MCW30 for.

In fact you're better off running a 120.3 for your cpu alone and adding everything else into a 2nd loop.

Its entirely possible, in fact probable your mobo will run out of steam well before you hit temp limitations on even a modest watercooling system.

Temps aren't anywhere near the be all and end all these days, mobo and the specific chips limitations are easy enough to hit with modest cooling.

Don't assume you can hit "silly" clocks just because you've made it slightly cooler than it might be on decent air, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.
 
Caporegime
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Best of the best?

It will all depend on budget really but here's the best CPU loop, in [] I've included the best though partly excessive setup :):

Pump: MCP355 / DDC3.2 with aftermarket top (XSPC) [D5]

Block: D-Tek Fusion V2 [EK Supreme]

Radiator: PA120.2 (dual 120mm) [PA120.3]

Tubing: Whichever you prefer, Feser comes in more colours, Primoflex is most flexible, Tygon is the best quality however has the widest bend radii (lowest flexibility) and only comes in transparent (you'd need to sue dyes to colour it). 7/16 ID (inside diameter) tubing over 1/2 OD (outside diameter) barbs will provide the best fit (you need to heat the tube with a hair dryer to make it softer to fit it over the barb but it will seal better).

Reservoir: It's kind of up to looks here :)

Liquid: Distilled Water + PT Nuke (anti algae).

Barbs: Either Compression or Worm drive, though if you use a V2 Fusion know that only Koolance compression fittings fit from my understanding.

Pretty much what I would go for except I would have 4 fans on the rad in a push pull setup with shrouds. Push/pull with shrouds reduce temps of water by 3C over just a single fan with no shroud :eek:

Definitely the fuzion v2 and MCP355 / DDC3.2 with aftermarket top (XSPC) nothing beats them out there atm

The new Feser rads outperform the thermochill rads but cost a lot (but u did ask for the best of the best)

That's it.

Some fantastic technical reviews here including the proof about shrouds and fans in push/pull.

http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/

Makes me laugh sometimes when people when spend top end money on pumps, radiatiors and blocks to get an extra 1C when doing your fans properly nets you 3c more cooling power!
 
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OP
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ek supreme or dtek fuzion 2 cpu block
Laing DDC 18w ultra pump
thermochill PA120.3
decent fans, yates etc

and any res you like, makes no difference to temps.

if you're after super high fsb then you'll want your NB cooled which you need a swiftech MCW30 for.

In fact you're better off running a 120.3 for your cpu alone and adding everything else into a 2nd loop.

Its entirely possible, in fact probable your mobo will run out of steam well before you hit temp limitations on even a modest watercooling system.

Temps aren't anywhere near the be all and end all these days, mobo and the specific chips limitations are easy enough to hit with modest cooling.

Don't assume you can hit "silly" clocks just because you've made it slightly cooler than it might be on decent air, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

I like you way of thinking, and now im considering putting two 120.2 rads, one in the front for the mobo (nb+sb) and a 120.2 in the rear of the case for the cpu alone.

I guessing ill need two pumps? or can i run it all off one pump, would that fux the temps up? i spose having two seperate loops with two pumps is better,

soz about all the stupid questions just wanna get this done properly, since its my first adventure with watercooling.

loop one -> pump, rad1, cpu

loop two -> pump, rad2, nb, sb, ram,

sound good?
 
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OP
Joined
23 Oct 2003
Posts
580
Location
Cambridge
ek supreme or dtek fuzion 2 cpu block
Laing DDC 18w ultra pump
thermochill PA120.3
decent fans, yates etc

and any res you like, makes no difference to temps.

if you're after super high fsb then you'll want your NB cooled which you need a swiftech MCW30 for.

In fact you're better off running a 120.3 for your cpu alone and adding everything else into a 2nd loop.

Its entirely possible, in fact probable your mobo will run out of steam well before you hit temp limitations on even a modest watercooling system.

Temps aren't anywhere near the be all and end all these days, mobo and the specific chips limitations are easy enough to hit with modest cooling.

Don't assume you can hit "silly" clocks just because you've made it slightly cooler than it might be on decent air, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

I like you way of thinking, and now im considering putting two 120.2 rads, one in the front for the mobo (nb+sb) and a 120.2 in the rear of the case for the cpu alone.

I guessing ill need two pumps? or can i run it all off one pump, would that fux the temps up? i spose having two seperate loops with two pumps is better,

soz about all the stupid questions just wanna get this done properly, since its my first adventure with watercooling.

loop one -> pump1, rad1, cpu

loop two -> pump2, rad2, nb, ram, sb,

sound good?

pump1&2 MCP655
rad1&2 PA120.2's
cpu EK Supreme cleartop
nb+sb MCW30
ram OCZ Flex
 
Associate
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Pretty much what I would go for except I would have 4 fans on the rad in a push pull setup with shrouds. Push/pull with shrouds reduce temps of water by 3C over just a single fan with no shroud :eek:

Bold statement!! Assuming way too much.

Under what conditions are these 3 degrees coming from? The choice of fan, radiator and heatload will massively influence not only any change in temps but also what is best.
 
Soldato
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Pretty much what I would go for except I would have 4 fans on the rad in a push pull setup with shrouds. Push/pull with shrouds reduce temps of water by 3C over just a single fan with no shroud :eek:

that's way too much of a blanket statement right there, totally depends on the type of radiator+configuration+type of fans and more.

you won't see a 3c drop with a PA120.x anyway ...it's already been proven.

OP - 2 loops for what you're doing is kind of overkill, performance isn't related to the amount of money spent.
 
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Caporegime
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Bold statement!! Assuming way too much.

Under what conditions are these 3 degrees coming from? The choice of fan, radiator and heatload will massively influence not only any change in temps but also what is best.

All very true and I may have been a bit bold in my statement. I should have said "up to 3c drop in water temperature depending on radiator,fan and heat load and even flowrate"

With 2000rpm fans, 167watt load and 1.5gpm 2 fans plus shrouds drops water temperature by 2.8c over 1 single fan with no shroud.

http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/Radiator-Fan-Orientation-And-Shroud-Testing-Review.html

He also states that you can expect to see a 10-20% gain with two fans and shrouds over just a single fan, no shroud but he has yet to test the thermochill but apparantly is doing so. It will be interesting to see the results to see if this performance gain is carried through to the thermochill.

EDIT: Probably not. Just been reading up on Thermochills website and with their on in house tests two fans on pull give the best performance and a shroud only adds 2% gain. Must be the way the radiator is designed.

All very odd since most radiators perform better on push over pull but that will teach m to make wild generalisations!
 
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Soldato
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having that much radiator is way overkill IMHO why put bigger rads in when you just dont need them

a 120.3 for cpu alone ? a 120.2 may give a slight change in temp over a 120.1 for a dual core cpu alone but a 120.3 is overkill.

I run both my quads through a 120.3 moving from a 120.2 and the rad made no difference in water or cpu temp.

My 120.2 handled two graphics cards and a skulltrail NB no problem
 
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