Lian Li PC-V1000 & water cooling

floydenheimer

Member
Dec 2, 2003
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I have a PC-V1000 and am working on an upgrade to an A64 system and I've decided to go with water cooling. Anyone have this case and use water cooling with it? I've been looking at the kits by Asetek, Swiftech, and Danger Den but I'm not sure one which is best suited for the case. Any info is much appreciated, thanks!
 

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
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You're in luck :)

I happen to use the case with a watercooling setup. Here's how I put it together:

I put together my own watercooling kit using mostly mainstream - highend parts online. I've got a Dangerden TDX CPU block, a Dangerden D4 pump, a Black Ice Xtreme radiator, a Swiftech polyeurothane reservoir (which is pretty much the same as any other PE res), and big thick 1/2" green tubing.

I've got the radiator set up in the back where the rear fan normally goes. I've got one of the fans that came with the case behind the rad, and one in front (one to push air and one to pull), with the rad sandwiched in between.

The reservoir is on the top 5 1/2" bay, above my two CD drives.

The CPU block is on the CPU :eek:

The pump is where I got clever. I didn't want to see it, so I shoved it down in the hard drive compartment that's closest to the PSU. Since they get in the way with the PSU cords, I routed them back behind the motherboard tray and they come out where the USB and IEEE cords normally would. I only have like one or two molex cords going through so they fit fine. The only cords I have going through the whole made for cords is my big 20-pin motherboard power cord, the 4-pin motherboard molex, and an SATA cord.

My tubingp job was nuts. First I need to get the tubing from the res to the pump. Since the pump intake was underneath the case floor, I had to route it some other way. Now remember, I don't have a fan in front of my hard drive (it's a Seagate, temps stay in the 30s), so I'm able to route things in front through where the front fan normally would be. Anyway, I have the tubing going from the res, over the vid card, making an S around down to the front of the case, down the slot in the front above the hard drive, and under the case floor and to the pump intake. Then goes up from the pump to the rad, out the rad to the CPU block, up from there back to the res.

This is really confusing so I drew a pic in MSPaint: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Mrvile/watercoolingsetup.JPG

That's not really clear either but it gets the point across.

Anyway I hope you have fun with your watercooling, mine cost me about 220 dollars, so budget out about the same. Good luck!!
 

floydenheimer

Member
Dec 2, 2003
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Thanks for the quick reply. Few questions though.
How did you get your radiator to mount on the rear? I thought it would be tough since the case calls for those rubber peg type things to mount a fan. Do you mount the radiator with the rubber connectors or with screws?
Also, how's the noise? I like things very quiet.
Would adding a video card block or a northbridge block be feasible with said pump/radiator?
 

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
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I used normal screws with nuts to secure them on the back of the case.

Since I used a Dangerden D4 pump, it's a bit on the noisy side. But since I have the pump in a seperate compartment I can add some noise dampening if I want to quiet things down a bit. According to Dangerden, the pump is about 34 - 36 dBA @ 2ft.

Adding a video card is very feasible, but adding a ND block would be impossible in my case. I have the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, which places the video card right over the Northbridge, so I can't add anything on the NB higher than about 2cm. However on your motherboard, things might be a little different so it might work. In fact, I'm thinking about adding some video cooling myself.
 

floydenheimer

Member
Dec 2, 2003
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You've all been very helpful, thanks big.
Few ideas I'd like to throw out there.
Any thoughts on the Swiftech MCP350? I like the size, I would like to not occupy my hd bays with a pump if I don't have to.
On top of that MCP350 question- Swiftech offers a pretty nifty solution by combining the res and pump in a 5.25" bay. Check it out here:
http://www.swiftnets.com/products/MCRES-1000.asp

Do you think the res would be too small? I suppose I could probably get their 5.25" res and maybe use the adhesive pad to stick the pump on top of the res. That would kinda make it a 2x 5.25" bay solution which is reasonable to me.
 

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
14,066
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That setup is a good idea, and the pump isn't bad, but you have to keep in mind that it's god about half the pumping power of different pumps such as the D4 and the MCW650. However, it has less moving parts and is much quieter. I wouldn't recommend using this pump with anything more than just a CPU block. If you plan on using a VGA or NB block with it, better get a stronger pump.
 

floydenheimer

Member
Dec 2, 2003
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Ok I think I've come down to either getting the kit by swiftech, the H20-120 rev3a with the pump/res in 1 drive bay. Or I can get the pump/res separate and find a place for the pump somewhere and get the black ice xtreme instead of the one in the kit. I'm just not sure if the res size matters a ton, haven't read a lot about what part the res size plays in the system. From what I've read the Swiftech block that comes with it is tops aside from the super highend stuff, on par with the DD TDX block. The radiator I'm not sure about because it has 2 lines that come out and go into an expansion slot but since I'm using it with an "upside-down" case they'll go up to the slots instead of down; could that hurt the flow? Thanks.
 

floydenheimer

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Dec 2, 2003
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The koolance solution looks very slick and easy, I think you've made me see the light. Does the exos 2 come with hoses and fittings or is it just the external device? I'd like to get a block for cpu, northbridge, and video card. Would I just need the koolance exos and the blocks or do I need to buy splitters and extra hoses? Thanks.
 

floydenheimer

Member
Dec 2, 2003
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Way beyond what I want to do. :p Cool stuff though, I just like keeping it relatively simple. ;)
What I really need to know is about the splitters and hoses so I can get crackin!
 

aviddigi

Member
May 7, 2005
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You should not need any splitters unless your using an RBX 3 nozzle type block etc. just the extra hose if you plan on running a NB, GPU and CPU block.