Going WC for the first time need some feedback

[Gulkorr]

Hey, Everyone

I am thinking of buying this WC setup for Usd Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima XT Liquid Cooling Kit $239 and getting a 5850 gpu block $109.95 for it. i have been reading for the past few days and looking into it. and i have the feeling to try water cooling for the first time. this will be my first big upgrade in my entire computer life. here is the links

Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima XT Liquid Cooling Kit (Universal Mount) $239.99
http://www.petrastechshop.com/swh2ulcpulic.html

Swiftech Komodo™ 5800 for AMD/ATI 5850 & 5870 Reference Boards $109.95
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=26844

i was going to go amd but i figured intel would be better spent because i would get more life out of my pc. i am going to build a socket 1156

here is my setup so far
my wish list The combo deal dont show up
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/TemporaryWishList.aspx?BundleExist=Y&ChangeQty=0

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $99.99

EVGA P55 FTW SLI 132-LF-E657-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $209.99

Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Server Processor Model BX80605X3440 - Retail $239.99

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - Retail $109.99

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - Retail $31.99

Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail $4.99

ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail $229.99

Combo Deal

XFX HD-585A-ZNBC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB Black Edition 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported ... - Retail

XFX P1-650X-CAG9 650W ATX12V 2.2 / ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power ... - Retail

$489.99
instant -$30
combo deal -$70
$389.99

$60 mib

With out WC setup $1350.31

Total with WC setup $1700.25


Thanks For your input
Brian

 

[Puffnstuff]

Well I just went h20 myself for the first time and I've learned that you don't skimp on parts especially when you spending lots of money in the first place on pc hardware. I purchased my parts separately because lets face it...kits suck and they use cheap parts. Make sure you use quality fittings and have enough tubing just in case something goes wrong. I had a leak that started yesterday and destroyed two hd's and a dvd burner but I didn't catch it until today. New fittings and new hose and it still managed to leak. Pay attention to your res level and when it falls unexpectedly investigate.

 

[aigomorla]

give up watercooling, with that money...

Step up to X58 with the budget and go air for now.

You'll be much happier this way... or get another 5850 instead of watercooling, and xfire.

If you still want watercooling after the noticable upgrades, then you go for water.
And piece out a kit.
There are far better things you can buy separately then in an all in one.

The all in one manually really isnt much help, each block will come with its install manual.

 

[Schmide]

@aigomorla what if the OP is watercooling for the quiet factor? The extra heat a x58 puts out isn't going to help that.

 

[aigomorla]

@aigomorla what if the OP is watercooling for the quiet factor? The extra heat a x58 puts out isn't going to help that.

Meglahem + GT is still considerably cheaper then that waterkit.
But i cant say much about the gpu. :T

But he's also not gonna to be able to pull off quiet with a cpu + gpu on a single 120x2.
He needs a larger radiator, which is why he should just piece it out.

But i still think one should get all noticable upgrades out of the eq before you go into exotic cooling.

 

[Schmide]

The Four Fitties. The x58 motherboard is about $50 more expensive, requires you to buy $50 more in ram, and heat output is appox 50w more yet performance is 0-10% better in single card setups. On top of this the Megahalem is at least $50.

$150 is half way to a full water cooling setup assuming you swap the case for one that can handle a triple radiator.

For example if the case allows for a front mounted triple radiator.

$60 Swiftech MCR 320 QP-Res - Triple Rad with integrated reservoir
$75 Swiftech Apogee XT Extreme Performance CPU waterblock
$100 Swiftech Komodo HD5800 for ATI® HD5870 & 5850
$80 Swiftech MCP655™ 12 VDC Pump

$30 tubing, inhibitor, extra fittings, clamps, fans etc

So $175 or so over the price point of an x58 with more than likely better OC and acoustics.

Justification? Maybe?

 

[aigomorla]

ur making very large assumptions here..

first off, he has a better chance at a higher overclock on 920 over a 860.

second, a mcr320 will still not be quiet overclocking for a cpu and gpu. he need a thicker with less fpi rad, which is meant for quiet water.

third a second video card in xfire will give him way more gains on any game.. esp, on a 24 inch monitor.

so he has a ton of other pluses to obtain, then burning it in the front of water.

Normally people already have a system up, and then they add water.

Rarely will i recomend someone to piece out a system + water, unless there doing it for fun.

He talked about upgrade paths, so his core hardware is more important then water, and he's still buying core hardware.
This is why i am recomending him not to do water, and to go up tiers.

 

[Schmide]

Ehh the MCR320 is a very capable radiator and for the scope, budget and wattage; up to 450w, it runs neck and neck with the PA120.3. The PA120.3 only starts to bend the curve down for 500-600w+. For the wattage of an 860 + 5850, it could easily provide a rather quiet solution.

Yeah the 920 would go higher, but if the OP is targeting a number like 4ghz, an 860 or equivalent would suffice with less heat and cost.

Finally if the OP wishes to go crossfire, you're really talking single digit losses when comparing an 8x8 pci-e to a 16x16.

Everything is a trade off, many lesser systems go under water.

 

[Gulkorr]

plus if it helps i love modding my p.c i have plenty of time to mod it right now. so if it takes 10 hours to put it togather its fine with me. i have a c2d right now and i figured it was time for a upgrade then i got the idea to figure well i just should go with water cooling. i know it will be work but thats fine. plus it will be a fun thing to do.

the reason i was going to go with that kit was because it has some good parts but also at a pretty good price. and the reason i got the gpu water block was because i will be o/cing the cpu to 3ghz or 3.2ghz but i will be overclocking the gpu more then the cpu and i was going to put better fans on there with high cfm lets say Scythe SY1225SL12H 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan 88.11 cfm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835200049 which i can take out the 140mm fans at top LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 or would the top fit a 3 fans rad?

 

[Schmide]

which i can take out the 140mm fans at top LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 or would the top fit a 3 fans rad?

If you take a look at the components I laid out, they were actually almost equal to the cost of the kit. $345 vs $340

You could get a thicker 120.2 radiator

$40 XSPC RS240 BLACK - High Performance Copper Fin Radiator

and mount it up top. Then mount an 120.1 res combo rad in the lower front.

$40 Swiftech MCR120-Res Heat Exchanger (Rad and Res Combo)

For a total of $365

This would give you 120.3 cooling with 120.2 spacing.

 

[aigomorla]

Everything is a trade off, many lesser systems go under water.

he's a new h2oer.

So he has very little knowledge of what is going on.

As i said he has other ways he can get bigger pluses without having to dip his pocket in exotic cooling.

Op, the choice is honestly yours.
But i normally recomend people water AFTER they picked out there system and its been on air for at least a month or so.

The reason is, water is not something simple like air.
It has its own rules in building, and also needs to be serviced.

The overclocking range you are looking for on a cpu doesnt even require water.
So unless its purely for bling, then i really dont see it.

gpu cards are not limited by air.
An after market GPU card will be able to give u the max overclock water can.

Water is limited on the voltage side in gpu overclocking, so an airsink will net as much as water.

my advice still stands in you getting better core hardware.
Especially if u dont upgrade very often.

As i said your 24inch monitor would see a much greater benifit in xfire over watercooling your gpu and overclocking.

 

[Gulkorr]

My budet was around $1,200-$1,400 but then i was like well i should just spend a little more but not to much because i like to upgrade every 3-4 years i am still running a 8800GTX and 17" Lcd 1280x1024 atm

Ok i think i will hold off on water cooling for the time being. until i can fork over about $500-$600 in to it so i do it the right way and not the cheap way and have problems. i was going to do it for looks but then i got thinking and found a combo deal i dont think i could pass up. i will link the parts and please tell me what you think.

Intel Core i7-920/ASUS P6T X58 Chipset SuperCombo Kit $1,219.96 with $30 mib

ok here is the run down of the combo deal.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.343649

* Intel Core i7-920 (Bloomfield) 2.66GHz Socket 1366 130W Quad Core Processor (BX80601920) - Retail
* ASUS Intel X58 Express Chipset Socket 1336 ATX Motherboard (P6T) - Retail
* 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 4860 1GB 256bit GDDR5 PCI-E 2.0 x16 (100286L) CrossFireX Certified - Two Retail Units
* OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) low voltage Triple Channel Desktop Memory Kit (OCZ3G1600LV6GK) - Retail
* Seagate Barracuda LP 1.5TB 5900RPM 32MB cache SATA II 3.5" Hard Drive (ST31500841AS) - OEM
* LG Black 24X DVD+/-R 8X DVD+RW 6X DVD-RW SATA 5.25" DL-DVD Burner (GH24NS50) - OEM
* Cooler Master V8 120mm Rifle CPU Cooling Fan (RR-UV8-XBU1-GP) - Retail
* Cooler Master Storm Scout Black Steel/Plastic Mid ATX Tower Case (SGC-2000-KKN1-GP) - Retail
* Cooler Master Silent Pro 600 Series 600Watt ATX12V v2.3 CrossFireX/SLI/80 Plus Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply (RS-600-AMBA-D3) - Retail

It's a Core i7 920 with V8 Cooler which i have heard nothing but good things about it. Now i know with the hard drive being slow but i can pick up a 300gb raptor for my o/s and games and use the 1.5tb for video,music and what ever else i feel. I know the 4860 are cut down 4890's so i would be overclocking both of them.

now my qestion is will xfire help with games or does the game need to be made for xfire in order for it to work?

i think this is a good price for what you get. because i could always sell of the 4860's for say $100 or $110 e/a and buy a 5850 or something along them line's.

Now for the Psu would 600watt 40amp on the 12v be good for this setup? i could upgrade later and upgrade the hdd,gpu at a later time but i would be getting the cpu/mobo/mem is what is good about the deal and come other thing's.

Please let me know what you think and sorry for making you read so much :X

Thanks for your time!

 

[Gulkorr]

mods please close this thread i will make a new 1 in gen hardware since i am not going water cooling right now

 

[aigomorla]

get a 5850 instead of 2 4900 series cards.

Its a much better card.

And only the 5800 series offeres eyefinity, if thats your thing later on for gaming.

Anyhow im pretty sure you gonna love this platform.
Not many people can be heard saying they got a X58 and they regret it.

And to your request i will lock this thread now.