Legit Reviews

so i have finally decided to jump on the water cooling bandwagon and thats where the problem starts. since i never did water cooling am kinda lost on what company i should choose for parts and what size tubing to get so far heres wat i have:

CPU block - D-TEK FuZion CPU Block
GPU block - stuck in between Swiftech MCW60-4870 and the XSPC Razor ATI Radeon 4870 Full Coverage VGA Water Block
Radiator - Danger Den Black Ice GT Stealth 240
Pump - i have no clue (just saw dicecca112's thread might go with the pump he has)
Reservoir - no clue (i want something that fits in 5.25")
and the type of tubing

I ended up with all Swiftech stuff after listening to Martin and Dan. We'll see how that goes for the install. I don't have a GPU block yet and I can't water cool my chipset.

Look for my Warmachine build thread to see what I'm doing.

im not a huge fan of danger den, they don't have as good performance, are ugly looking (IMO) and are overpriced. Full coverage GPU blocks are a waste, to much flow restriction, unnecessary heat in the loop, and if you upgrade you have to drop another hundred for a new full cover block. MCW-60 is your best bet. for the rest of the stuff, do you have a price range? good mainstream system that will get you great performance:
Swifty GTZ cpu
Swifty MCW-60 REV 2
Swifty 240 rad
Pump: MCP-655
Res: T-line (better performance, less price, less space in your case)
all connected with 1/2 inch tubing. as for what kind, if your really nervous about leaks and junk, go with tygon 7/16'' tubing, worm clamp drives no matter what kind of tubing you get. any questions feel free to ask.

How much are you looking to spend?

Normally I would agree that core only is the way to go, but My friend has a 4870 and he put a AC Accellero S1 on it, and while the core is cooled fine, the other parts of the card like the VRMs need something more than ramsinks, so would reccomend something like the swiftech one originally picked out, it's essentially a core only block (with extras) which means that the block will restrict the waterflow less and allow everything else to work better than the full cover style block.

Dan

well i was planning to spend around 200 i might be able to stretch it to 300 depending on how much my car is gonna cost

the setup i gave is around 250 or so (with tubing, clamps, barbs, and shiping, and thats a liberal estimate ). if you want to increase performance more the best thing you could probably do is get a better pump,like a mcp-355 with a petras top. but those are damn near impossible to find instock (ive tried)
EDIT: factor in the mcw-60-4870 its more around 300

i dont understand what exactly is a petras top? does it assist the pump somehow?

well the mpc-355 is a not a bad pump to begin with, but the placement of the outlet and the internal design limits its power. the petra's top fixes those, an mcp-355 witha petras top outperforms the mcp-655.

Unfortunately the stock top only comes with 3/8” barb fittings and that sharp 90 degree inlet bend looses a fair amount of efficiency.

Along comes the aftermarket tops.....straightening out that inlet and providing the much more desireable G1/4 fitted barb.

They basically allow it to pump more water and as such reduces system temps.

The XSPC top is actually the best:



Dan

u mind linking the XSPC top?

It's the top I plan on getting myself, though I'm going to put it on the MCP350 because it is a bit quieter than the 355. It's a lot sexier than the Petras top IMO.

Few stats:
http://www.xspc.biz/ddctop.php
http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/DDC32Pu ... sting.html

Retailers:
Jab-Tech
FrozenCPU
Performance-PCs