Gigabyte 3D Mercury - Good Starter Case?

[WerdAxion]

Hey guys. I was sent over cause I'm building a new gaming rig and this is my first time with water cooling. I figured I'd buy a case that already has the water cooling inside this way I get an understanding of how it all works. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Gigabyte 3D Mercury Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811233021

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: WerdAxion
Hey guys. I was sent over cause I'm building a new gaming rig and this is my first time with water cooling. I figured I'd buy a case that already has the water cooling inside this way I get an understanding of how it all works. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Gigabyte 3D Mercury Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811233021

only lesson you'll learn is never again to buy this kit.

The case is too overpriced. The watercoolign is at best medocore.

Best route is to get a case ment and designed for h2o cooling. And then add the watercooling aspect to it.

 

[thilanliyan]

I had the 3D Galaxy Kit (same stuff as the case I think and my first shot at watercooling) and it didn't perform that well compared to my earlier TT Big Typhoon air cooler. I like the integration of the case but like aigomorla suggested, buy a H2O capable case and add the components yourself.

 

[VinDSL]

Rod seems pretty happy with it!

 

[jeffw2767602]

I hate Rodney Reynolds with a burning passion. Theres something about the robotic way he talks that just makes me want to repeatedly slam my head against a sidewalk.

BTW to the OP, dont get that case. Get a Gigabyte Aurora 570 $140-$160 and a nice 2x120 rad kit from Petras Tech Shop. It will cost about the same, look 10x better, and have WAYYY better performance. Oh yeah, don't be intimidated by watercooling. Just do your research!

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: jeffw2767602
I hate Rodney Reynolds with a burning passion. Theres something about the robotic way he talks...

Cut him some slack!

He's Canadian. They all talk like that...

 

[MarcVenice]

Why don't you guys suggest some parts he needs to get started? I know some of you could prolly write down the url's to those parts without looking it up I second getting the parts/case yourself and then build it yourself though, I reckon it's more fun, costs less, and will perform better.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

If you're getting your feet wet in water cooling then i think you need to tighten your lines a bit.

 

[tylerdustin2008]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: jeffw2767602
I hate Rodney Reynolds with a burning passion. Theres something about the robotic way he talks...

Cut him some slack!

He's Canadian. They all talk like that...

Then what do us Americans talk like?

 

[WerdAxion]

Well now that we've ruled the case out, I'm lost haha. I'm not sure if I need a huge case nor do I know how to really setup this water cooling stuff. I read the sticky and from the looks of it, sounds like I'm in for a long day setting up my Rig. Do I want a huge case with good airflow like the NZXT Zero. Or something a little smaller like an Antec 900? The money isn't really the problem here. Its more that I have no experience in doing this stuff. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Why don't you guys suggest some parts he needs to get started? I know some of you could prolly write down the url's to those parts without looking it up I second getting the parts/case yourself and then build it yourself though, I reckon it's more fun, costs less, and will perform better.

because watercooling doesnt have a generic build.

If you read my sticky, i clearly seperate them into 2 catigories. Performance, or Silence.

Most people MESH something in the middle, but his cooling objectives, and also the parts he wish to watercool need to be defined.

The op has stated neither. Anyone recomending him parts without knowing his objective would be a complete fanboy of a product line.

Example: ApogeeGTX vs D-tek Fusion. Thermochill PA series vs. MCR series.

Originally posted by: WerdAxion
Well now that we've ruled the case out, I'm lost haha. I'm not sure if I need a huge case nor do I know how to really setup this water cooling stuff. I read the sticky and from the looks of it, sounds like I'm in for a long day setting up my Rig. Do I want a huge case with good airflow like the NZXT Zero. Or something a little smaller like an Antec 900? The money isn't really the problem here. Its more that I have no experience in doing this stuff. Thanks for the help guys.

Once again. list your objective. Are you an avid overclocker? Or are you looking for something super quiet? Or you want a mesh in the middle?

What components are you looking at watercooling? How much bling factor do you want in the lineup?

Some great cases to look at:

No moding required:
Mountain Mods U2-UFO or Horizon
Silverstone TJ-07

Some moding maybe required:
CM Stacker T01
Lian Li Goliath series.
Lian Li Modular Cube

 

[WerdAxion]

Thanks Aigo.. Sorry about not stating what I want.. I could care less about quiet.. I'm more concerned with Stability and Performance.. I usually use my headset on high volume so I doubt I'd hear it and even if I did, it wouldn't bother me much.. Thanks for the help once again! I look forward to your recommendations.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: WerdAxion
Thanks Aigo.. Sorry about not stating what I want.. I could care less about quiet.. I'm more concerned with Stability and Performance.. I usually use my headset on high volume so I doubt I'd hear it and even if I did, it wouldn't bother me much.. Thanks for the help once again! I look forward to your recommendations.

now the next big factor is budget?

You prepared to go all out? Or you have a set defined budget? Also whats your case?

Loud to watercooling = to medium noise on air incase you didnt know.

 

[WerdAxion]

Budget isn't really too big of a factor considering I was about to spend 400 bucks on that Gigabyte case.. This is a PC I want to build to hold me off for awhile so I dont mind spending the money so long as its stable and does what I need it to do. I'll refresh your memory, the PC is being built for gaming so I'm going to be doing so Overclocking on my q6600. I need that as cool as possible while doing so but I don't really care about the noise. I read about the Zalman and the Tuniq Air Coolers but still I'd rather be safe considering overclocking 4 cores, the processor is going to be pretty damn hot. Thanks aigo!

 

[MarcVenice]

It's easier if you give him a budget dude, if you say it's not too big of a factor he could throw something together for 300$ or for 1000$. Let's assume the case costs 150-250$, how much more do you want to spend on the watercooling. AFAIK 300$ buys you a decent gpu/cpu kit, 400-500$ is probably better though.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: jeffw2767602
I hate Rodney Reynolds with a burning passion. Theres something about the robotic way he talks that just makes me want to repeatedly slam my head against a sidewalk.

BTW to the OP, dont get that case. Get a Gigabyte Aurora 570 $140-$160 and a nice 2x120 rad kit from Petras Tech Shop. It will cost about the same, look 10x better, and have WAYYY better performance. Oh yeah, don't be intimidated by watercooling. Just do your research!

I actually like Rodney Reynolds. I also think his video reviews are far, far better than a text review.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

I actually like Rodney Reynolds. I also think his video reviews are far, far better than a text review.

LoL! Me too!

And, his wife 'Orangepeel' is pretty hot!

He's got good taste, in women and computers, IMHO...

 

[WerdAxion]

OK atleast 400 which i was gonna spend but no higher then about 600. Sorry for not being so clear but remember once again this is my first time doing water cooling too. Is this going to be easy for me to setup? I hope so. I look forward to your recommendations and thank you for the help.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: WerdAxion
OK atleast 400 which i was gonna spend but no higher then about 600. Sorry for not being so clear but remember once again this is my first time doing water cooling too. Is this going to be easy for me to setup? I hope so. I look forward to your recommendations and thank you for the help.

CM STacker T01

You need to lengthen the opening at the bottom. Its not very hard to do. You can do it with a jiggy if you have one, a dremel, or a nibbler.

The nibbler would be the cheapest tool if you dont have one of the 3 i mentioned. The problem is the opening on the T01 stacker at the bottom is a little short. You need to lengthen it and then flat mount the radiator at the bottom. Or you can go route 2 which looks cleaner and use a radgrill at the bottom. Your choice, your flavor.

As for blocks:

CPU: D-tek Fusion <--- great block for multi block setups.

GPU: SWiftech MCW60 +G80 ramsinks and RAMDAC sinks. Its called the G80 kit.

Radiator: Swiftech MCR320

Pump: Swiftech MCP 655 <--- you dont need to get the vario one. Doubt you'll under volt the pump thats why.

SWiftech Micro Reservoir: Great res, easy to mount, makes bleeding and filling a snap.

Tubing: Masterkleer 7/16ID <--- very cheap tubing. Not as clear as tygon, but almost 75% less in price / ft. Its my personal favorate

EK G1/4 Barbs x 4 you need 2 for the radiator 2 for the reservior.

Pentosin G11 <red or blue> + Distilled H2O. <read coolant section in my sticky>

Good old fashion zipties as clamps.


How it should look like is simular to this:
http://i125.photobucket.com/al...aigomorla/IMG_0406.jpg

You can add a NB block to it if you want. Swiftech MCW30 is a great block.

Loop Order:
Pump1 -> Radiator -> CPU -> <chipset if added> -> GPU -> reservior -> Pump1


My TOP recomended storefronts:
Jab-Tech.com <owner john> absolutely great store. Very competitive pricing.

Petrastechshop.com <owner alex> another great store. Recomended highly by many WCers. Also great prices

NCIX.com <have no clue i think its a corp.> Another great store, but takes a tad bit while to ship out. Canada is where most of their warehouses are if im not mistaken.

Sidewindercomputers.com <no idea on owner> They botched my last order and never responded back. But my previous orders were great and they treated other members really nicely, however... id rather go to the first two b4 i try this store again.

Performance-PCS.com deserves a mention as well. There a great store, i believe the owners name is hank. Only beef i have with this store is that its located in FL. Takes forever to get something in Cali. But they carry a lot of good stuff. And its also very reputable.