Recomendations on custom W/C parts

jim1976

Platinum Member
Aug 7, 2003
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Well I don't have the experience with a W/C setup, I'm a pure high end air o/cer till this day. But day after day I like more and more the idea of a high quality W/C o/cing and of the quitness that it can offer.. I don't favor the solution of ready kits,that as with many things in hardware have their strong parts and weak ones. I would like to hear your recommendations on a complete set of parts and budget if possible.
Budget is around 200-250$(well maybe 300$ if it's really worth it). I do believe that this is a nice budget for a really good custom W/C setup so..

Your advice would be greatly appreciated..

P.S :Keep in mind that I will need two blocks(gpu,cpu)

Thanks in advance
 

Fullmetal Chocobo

Moderator<br>Distributed Computing
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May 13, 2003
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I don't do water cooling myself, and have only briefly looked into it, but from what I understand, you won't be looking at too much of quality parts with that budget. Water cooling is relatively expensive to get into, and the minor stuff just isn't worth it. If you are looking for a really good performer, I'd look to increase the budget, else just stick with the high end air... Good luck to you though, and post pics of your end result. ;)
 

Messudieh

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Nov 9, 2004
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Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
I don't do water cooling myself, and have only briefly looked into it, but from what I understand, you won't be looking at too much of quality parts with that budget. Water cooling is relatively expensive to get into, and the minor stuff just isn't worth it. If you are looking for a really good performer, I'd look to increase the budget, else just stick with the high end air... Good luck to you though, and post pics of your end result. ;)


Actually, $300 was about what it cose me, and they were good parts. It's been over a year since I did mine, but most of the prices for things like this generally go down.

Polarflo makes some good heatsinks, and they're pretty cheap, especially if you buy like a CPU and GPU cooler together.

For a pump, go with a swiftech (I would assume still). I have an MCP600, and it's worked out well. Their new one is the 650 and 350 inline. You can put a 350 and a special reservoir into a single 5.25" bay. The 350 doesn't move a whole ton of water though.

I'm still working on trying to find really good tubing though. I've found that after over a year, a lot of the tubes in my case have started to collapse. I have a cool running Athlon 64 winchester though, so temps stay around 30 degrees celsius even under constant load.

I have a 120mm danger den black ice extreme radiator, and it's been pretty good.

*edit*
Does anyone know of any really good tubing for me to get?
1/2" ID.
 

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
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Here are the parts I went with and the results I got compared to an XP-120 w/ 103cfm fan. I don't know if you can find the Swiftech pumps anymore but the D5's that Danger Den sells are pretty comparable from what I've heard.

Looking back I decided to make an overflow tank out of PVC pipe and some brass barbed fittings and dump the Autozone special (although it did work fine). It looks a little better and is mounted more securely. Other than that I've been very pleased with the performance of this setup especially for the money spent.

Even though the Swiftech Storm blocks perform better than the MCW6002-64, it's only by a few degrees and it requires a more expensive pump to see the benefits. For that reason I still recommend the latter block.
 

mindwreck

Golden Member
May 25, 2003
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for 200-300 bucks you can get a really nice watercooling setup.

D5 pump: 75
10ft of clearflex tubing:~13
DD tdx: ~50-60 bucks
DD maze4 block: ~50 bucks
BIP3 radiator: 45 bucks
total: ~233-243 bucks.
 

The Linuxator

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Jun 13, 2005
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I am so tired today morning when I read the titel "W / C parts" I was going to recommend going to Home Depot for custom toilets but then I had a cup of joe, and then it came to my mind that you are talking about water cooling not toiles :eek:
 

Parkre

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Jul 31, 2005
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Well, if you have access to a good shop (with a mill, drill press, lathe, etc.), then you can make your own water blocks for cheap. The tubing you can get at Lowe's for 50cent a foot. The only expensive part would be the pump.
 

HardWarrior

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Jan 26, 2004
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Originally posted by: jim1976
Thanks for ur replies ppl.

In regards to tubing, my advice would be not to pinch pennies. The best general purpose tubing is Tygon 3603. It's chemicaly stable and won't dry out on you. If you go with one of the more tame coolant mixtures it'll last even longer. As someone suggested, the D5 is a truly excellent pump. When you consider that your pump is the heart of your cooler, and you don't want any problems with THAT aspect of your loop, the $75 that it costs is fairly cheap in the long run.

 

The Linuxator

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Jun 13, 2005
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Originally posted by: Parkre
Well, if you have access to a good shop (with a mill, drill press, lathe, etc.), then you can make your own water blocks for cheap. The tubing you can get at Lowe's for 50cent a foot. The only expensive part would be the pump.


Well allow me to add to to that, I have personally purchased a DREMEL from Home Depot $ 60 while I was there looking for parts for a PC case mod, and it struck me that I am in a big need for a DREMEL, s once I got it I was able t cut metal, make holes, make perfect circular cuts in Plexiglases, sand surfaces, sharpen knifes, cut wooden platforms, Install a spoiler on my brother's car :D , I also bought a diamond cut off wheel and I am able to cut any type of material I desire to cut, listen to my advice and the guy
that I am quoting, if you do the job yourself you will be so delighted with it, you will be able to taylore it to your own desires / needs, and you will feel more relaxed and not ripped off, once you find out how cheap it is o make your own WC system.
Personally I never felt the need for a WC so I never did it. but I am planning to make one on Spring break once I got some time on my hand, the only parts that I would recommend buying per-manufactured are the copper heat sink block for you CPU / Gfx card and the pump get a powerful one, and then everything else can be managed from an utilities store i.e ( Sears, Home Depot...etc)

have fun with your project. ;)
 

jim1976

Platinum Member
Aug 7, 2003
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OC Labs MonoBlock MB-06
OC Labs MonoBlock WBNKG2
Hydor L25 & Reservoir PVCN120
Black Ice Pro 2
ClearFlex Tubes
Coloured UV Anti-Corrosion Additive
2* Akasa 120mm Silent Led Fans

That's what I'm thinking of builting... It will cost me 200 euros from a friend... :D

Plz comment