Help with watercooling please

Associate
Joined
17 Aug 2020
Posts
1
Hello,

I am new to watercooling and would like to watercool my system badly and I need suggestions and advice on what to buy and from where please.

My case:

Corsair Spec 3:

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...Red-LED-Mid-Tower-Gaming-Case/p/CC-9011052-WW

My Motherboard:

MSI Z170 A PRO:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z170-A-PRO/Specification

My CPU :

Intel i7-6700k

My RAM:
4x Corsair CMK8GX4M1A2400C14 Vengeance LPX 8 GB (total : 32GB)

My GPU:

XFX AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 XT 8GB GDDR6 THICC II :

https://www.xfxforce.com/gpus/amd-radeon-tm-rx-5700-xt-8gb-gddr6-thicc-ii


At the moment there is only 1x 120mm fan in front and 1x 120mm fan at the back in my case. There is nothing in both of my DVD drive bays. Not interested to watercool RAM modules, just CPU and GPU OR just GPU.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot :)
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Sep 2010
Posts
7,146
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Edit: I spent ages looking at parts and pictures of your case to best advise, and ultimately wasted time because your case just isn't viable for watercooling. Any points in the front have cages that need to be chopped out, and there's insufficient space up the top for a radiator and fans before you hit the motherboard. I don't even think you could fit an AIO in the roof either for this reason. Fitting a pump and res would also greatly limit the size of the radiator in the front.

The advice on parts still stands, but you just have to get a different case.

Original post still provided...




I think you may struggle with that case. The spec says it'll fit a pair of 120mm fans and a pair of 120mm or 140mm fans in the front, but radiators are about 15% longer than the fans they use because of the tanks for ports, etc.

I think you'll have space for a 240mm radiator up the top but tube routing will be tricky because you have the optical drive cage in the way. I'd definitely say putting a 240mm radiator in the front will be troublesome because of both the optical cage and hard drive cage; even if the hard drive cage itself can be removed, the perforated mesh piece will need to be cut out by the looks of things. And even then it doesn't appear there's sufficient vertical clearance to allow for the end tanks of the radiator.

If you want to mod the case and physically remove those cages you'll be fine (unless it affects the structural rigidity of the case), and I'd even suggest then putting a 280mm radiator (2x140) in the front, just be careful of width too (most radiators are also wider than the fans they use).

As for the cooling kit, your GPU isn't a reference PCB or a common-enough brand for the established vendors to make blocks, so choices are limited. Alphacool do make a block for the Thicc II, which also works with the Thicc III, so I presume then it's the same PCB. As a result, there is also a Bykski block for the Thic III which may fit the Thicc II, but don't quote me.

Alphacool Eisblock Aurora GPX-A RX 5700/5700XT Plexi XFX Thicc II/III Waterblock
Bykski A-XF5700XTBW-X

CPU blocks are ten a penny.

Assuming your case will suppor the radiators as discussed above, I'd suggest Alphacool radiators simply because they are more-or-less the same width as the fans. Take a look at the new Nexxxos V2 range, and they've released new 25mm thick versions too to save you some space.

Tubing? Play it safe for your first time out and go soft tube with compression fittings. Plenty of options out there.

Pumps and reservoirs? That's a small case so I doubt you'll get a D5 in there so you'd be looking at a DDC. Or go super tiny and look at the Alphacool DC-LT; it'll be fine for a small loop such as this.
 
Back
Top Bottom