EggXpert

The guide breaks down to 3 different building components: budget, mainstream and extreme.

Common Watercooling Questions:

1. How much does it cost? 
This answer will depend on which PC components you want to be water cooled, and which parts you choose to water cool them.

2. Is it worth the risk over air cooling?
If you are looking for a quieter solution and better overclocking headroom, then Yes.  If you just want to keep your components cool and within factory maximum thermal specifications, then No.

3. How often do I need to perform maintenance to clean out the loop?
I would suggest a quick few minutes to check on your setup every 2 weeks, to see if you can find any leaks or algae growing inside. Clean out and refill the loop roughly every 6-12 months, but definitely not more than 12 months.  I will post some pictures on what can happen if you never clean the loop.

4. What benefit does water cooling offer over air cooling?
More overclocking headroom, a quieter solution (if you picked the right components), a more suitable solution for a high-ambient-room-temperature situation, to save space (in the CPU area) so you don't have to worry about tall memory heatspreaders or northbridge heatsinks, less stress on the motherboard due to the CPU block weight being lighter than most air cooling heatsinks.

Some of the recommended online retailers for buying water cooling:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.petrastechshop.com/radiators.html
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php
http://www.frozencpu.com/
http://www.koolertek.com/

The Basic Watercooling Components:

CPU Block: this is what cools the CPU, which is one of the hottest components when overclocked. Beware when choosing your CPU block and make sure you buy the right model; some CPU blocks also come with a backplate.  Backplates just add pressure to give slight performance gain.  All the blocks & pricing are used for reference from Frozencpu.com

Budget (30-50):
EK Supreme LT

Enzotech Sapphire Series

Danger Den MPC

Mainstream (50-60):

XSPC Rasa CPU Block

D-TEK FuZion v2

Danger Den MC

Koolance CPU-340

Swiftech Apogee GTZ

Extreme (70+):
Heatkiller Rev 3.0

EK Supreme HF

Swiftech Apogee XT

Koolance CPU-380

Here is some comparison data: http://skinneelabs.com/i7-blocks-1.html and http://skinneelabs.com/i7-blocks-2.html. 

Pump: this component will move the fluid through the loop; a stronger pump will able to push the water around more quickly.  If your loop has very restrictive components, a stronger pump will improve the overall temperature.
Note: never let the pump run dry (meaning without water), it will fry the pump in a matter of seconds.

Budget (30-50):
OCZ Hydro Pulse

Danger Den DD-CPX1

Koolance G1/4" Threaded Acetal Pump

Mainstream (50-70):
Swiftech MCP655-B 12v DC Pump

Swiftech MCP355 12v DC Pump

Extreme (70+):
 Swiftech MCP35X

 Eheim 1260

 Iwaki RD-30

Optional tools that help pumps work better are called "Top", and usually improve the water flow and are quite expensive (ranging from 25-70 dollars).  I will post some pictures in the Optional Components section.

Radiator: this component is where the heat dissipates; the larger it is in size, the more surface area will be available to dissipate heat. For radiators I won't recommend specific models, since it is based on how much cooling performance you want.  In theory, a single 120mm radiator can dissipate 150Watts, so 2 X 120mm radiator should handle 300Watts etc. Most radiators from reviews are pretty much neck-and-neck, with little variation in performance. 

Budget: Instead of recommending a model I will recommend a brand.

Swiftech Swiftech MCR220-QP is usually very thin compared to other brands and quality wise you get what you pay for.  However, it has great performance and is probably the best bang for the buck.

Black Ice GT
Great price, but requires a high cfm or high static pressure fan to work well.

Magicool Extreme

Mainstream: 
XSPC RX240

Extreme:
Black Ice SR1

Feser XChanger Quad 

Thermochill Brand http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thpa4xhipera.html

Watercool MO-RA 2 PRO  

Reviews on radiators:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forums/showthread.php?t=220593
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=226445
http://www.skinneelabs.com/triplesv2.html

Tubing: it is very important to pick the right size tubing that can match up to your barbs or compression fittings.  The larger the diameter of your tubing, the higher the flow rate will be and the less likely that the tubing can become kinked (bent/knotted, impairing the water flow). UV or color tubing is aesthetic and usually costs more, but if you like showing off your internals then go for it.

Budget (0.25-0.99 per foot):
Durelene PVC tubing
Maskerkleer tubing - http://www.jab-tech.com/Masterkleer-Tubing-7-16-ID-5-8-OD-pr-3079.html
Clearflex tubing - http://www.jab-tech.com/ClearFLEX-60-Tubing-3-8-ID-1-2-OD-pr-2433.html

Mainstream (1.00-2.00 per foot): 
Primochill tubing http://www.jab-tech.com/PrimoFlex-Pro-LRT-Clear-Tubing-7-16in.-ID-X-5-8in.-OD-pr-4425.html I find these to be the best tubing.

Extreme (2.00+ per foot):
Tygon tubing Tygon

The length needed will depend on how many components your water cooling setup will handle; sometimes you need more just in case you mess up the first time cutting.

Fittings: It is very important to choose the right size to match your tubing so leaks don't happen within your water cooling setup. Barb fittings only need to match the ID (which means Inner Diameter).  Compression fittings on the other hand must have a perfect match of both ID and OD (which means Outer Diameter).

Budget (2-3):
barbs  http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekhiflfig14t1.html

Mainstream (3-6):
compression fitting http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekfi12g1bl.html

Extreme (6+):
Rotary and/or angle fitting: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bimabl3id1od3.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bimablro90de2.html

There is no performance variation here, just a matter of you want your system to look like.  Barbs need zip-ties or clamps to be safe.

Coolant: the fluid that will be moving through the setup, which helps to absorb most of the heat.  I personally recommend a cheap solution which works very well (at least for me).

Distilled water + Pt Nuke or Silver Coil: 
http://www.petrastechshop.com/sikibyia.html http://www.petrastechshop.com/pepcobi1.html, the purpose of pt nuke/silver coil is to prevent algae growing inside the water cooling setup. 
Here's an image of what algae looks like as I mentioned above, which can happen if you don't clean the loop every 6-12 months.

-- To be continued.

admin edit: STICKIED!

This part will be continued with components are not necessary for a water cooling loop, but are highly recommended for maximizing performance.

Reservoir: The job of this component is for bleeding (the process for getting rid of the air bubble), with air bubble inside the loop you are not getting the best temperature as possible.  Bleeding a lot easier than T-line and much quicker.

Budget (5-15): Notice that reservoir isn't budget at all, so an alternate choice would be a T-line http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_346_341&products_id=3723, not to mention that the quality is just plastic.  Not recommended if budget is low just skip the t-line.

Mainstream (15-30): Swiftech MCRES Micro Revision 2

Extreme (30+): EK-Multioption RES X2

iandh SteathRes 225 Multi-Option 

XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25in. Reservoir for Two Laing DDC's

When buying reservoir make sure you got enough space to fit.  Some reservoir are design for certain pump only, so make sure you read everything through before making a purchase.  Note: any acrylic product do not put alcohol inside or in contact with or else the acrylic product became dry and cracks.  Here is an image with alcohol on acrylic product

Hose Clamps: the job is to tighten up the tubing, reducing the chance of a leak occurring and those are cheap.

For this component it is only budget not high quality stuff except plastic verus metal.

Plastic http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/heclnyhocl0t.html

Metal http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/brmihocl7int.html

Tops: improve water flow

I already mention in the post above, so just going to show you how they looks like and the price on those.

Budget (20-30): EK Waterblocks EK-DDC X-Top Rev 2 - Acetal

XSPC Laing DDC Acetal Top

Mainstream (30-40): EK Waterblocks EK-D5 X-TOP Rev 2 for Laing D5 / Swiftech MCP655 Pumps

Bitspower D5 MOD TOP V2

Bitspower D5/MCP655 Pump Replacement Top 

Extreme (40+): EK Waterblocks EK-DDC Dual TOP V.2

EK Waterblocks EK-D5 Dual TOP

The tops are design for certain pump make sure you got the right model to match your pump.

GPU blocks: it is optional to cool the video card, but most people who wants to overclock their video card should consider water cooling it does make a big different in temperature and noise.  To cool video card it is very expensive, so don't go cheap.  There is a full cover water block and there is just the GPU alone.

Budget (40-50): Swiftech  http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcungpuwa.html

Mainstream (50-100): XSPC and Bitspower http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bimablblfrvg.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/xsra59fucogp.html

Extreme (100+): EK and Water Cool http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/waehegp59for.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekniacwafora.html

Chipset blocks: cooling the northbridge and southbridge enhance better stability for overclocking and much lower temperature.  It also comes in full block or the mofset version. Is not that common for chipset cooling, nevertheless still is an optional cooling components.  I will briefly touch upon this component, since it not common and the cost is high.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekwaek6ac.html <<-- Budget

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/ekwaekasx58a.html <<-- Extreme

HDD blocks:  cooling the HDD, least common cooling you will come across and it is hard to find in most online retailers.

Bitspower HDD

Ram blocks: cooling the ram, also one of the rare cooling solution that many people won't use.

Koolance RAM

Fans: for removing heat quicker and more efficient.  Highly recommended for radiators optimize performance.  Most common fans are 25mm thick, but for most radiators 38mm fans are recommend due to higher static pressure.  Since, there are many fans selections I just choose the one I like the most in each price range.

Budget (3-6): Yates Loons 120mm Yate Loon D12SH-12

Mainstream (6-15):  Scythe Gentle Typhoon

Extreme (15+): San Ace 9G1212H1011

Fans are the very important in term of noise level and cooling potential.  

Shroud: help to reduce air in dead zone increase air flow/static pressure, is optional but it does help improve overall temperature.

ThermoChill PS120.2

 

Installation of the water cooling setup:

Leak test is highly recommend and if doing it the first time allow 24 hours before turning on your pc.  Leak test (bleeding) is to remove air bubbles from the water cooling setup to the reservoir that why reservoir is recommended.  To start a leak test is better to set it up outside the case the first time, since you don't have prior experience even if you didn't do it right you won't damage your hardwares.  On the 3D man youtube video you see how he setup the whole loop outside the case and already planned how long the tubes to be.  Note: To start the leak test outside the system nothing should connect to the power supply except the molex connector from the pump.  To start the power supply without powering up the system, you need to jump start the power supply.  Here is an image:

I have done this many time so it is safe to touch the paper clip, while the power supply is on.  As long as the paper clip is wiring against black and green doesn't matter which black color wire.

I am no expert at this, but the orientation goes like reservoir>>> pump>> radiator >> cpu block >> reservoir.  I will post some picture of my setup, afterall a picture is worth a thousand words.  Apologize for the bad quality on my webcam.  http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3159/picture17p.jpg

 Here are the professional setup: http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/

I will put up some youtube video for reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We9xGpP1RWw & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmcZ3KyfiPA

As someone comment about the noise level I will included a review regard on the sound level of the fan source: martinm210 http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=223391.

 If anyone got suggestions or comments or questions feel free to do so, I will end it here.

Updated with flow rate calculation tool and Radiator temperature estimator done by Martin.

Flow Rate Estimator

Radiator Temperature Estimator

Updated with Skinnee Labs review on coolant performance.

Coolant Performance

Great write up, thanks for sharing.

 

Awesome writeup prtuc2, thank you very much!

-- Stickied --

I just read the second part, I'm impressed. 

Just saw this review on Xtremesystem Forum and it is a great review, so I will post it here and everyone can take a peek. 

Source: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4419881&postcount=1

THE ACTUAL INFLUENCE OF FLOW RATE ON SYSTEM TEMPS
It’s been a while since anyone published real life data measuring the actual impact of adding graphics water-block (s) to a loop, and we were interested in observing how the latest EVGA FTW blocks would integrate with the Apogee XT. Taken individually, these blocks are designed to dissipate extreme amounts of heat very efficiently, but this also result in substantially higher pressure drop values than in earlier designs. So the question was, how do they work together?

More specifically, the questions we wanted to answer were:

1. What is the impact of adding a high-end graphic card to the CPU temperature, and does it affect the CPU maximum stable overclock?
2. What is the impact of adding two high-end graphic cards in SLI to the CPU temperature; does it affect the CPU maximum stable overclock, and what GPU block configuration works best, serial or parallel?
3. What is the thermal performance of the GPU cooling solutions under heavy stress in various configurations?

Equipment:

• For the purpose of these tests, we wanted to cover the largest possible audience in the enthusiast community. So we setup a new bench which we believe to represent a typical middle to upper-range system. It is composed of an MCR320 Drive radiator, with built-in MCP355 pump, and an Apogee XT waterblock; the loop uses ½ lines. The fans are Gentle Typhoon’s (D1225C12B5AP-15) running at 1850 rpm and rated at 28 dB. We chose them because they are popular, and we found that they do represent a good compromise between cooling performance and operating noise.
• Components are connected to the loop with CPC quick-disconnect fittings; they are fairly restrictive, but the time they save in changing setups overshadows any other considerations.
• The CPU is an early Ci7 920, Revision C0/C1 stepping 4.
• For the Graphic cards, we wanted (2) EVGA GTX480 FTW, but they were unavailable at the time of testing, so we settled for (2) EVGA GTX470 FTW instead. Given the increasing popularity of the 470 for its overclockability and bang-for-the-buck factor, it’s not such a bad thing anyways.
• The Motherboard is a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R, and the OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit.

Methodology:

• The CPU maximum stable overclock was well established, since we have been using this same 920 ever since its introduction. It is 4095 Mhz (Intel Turbo mode on, and HT enabled), at 1.424v (after droop).
• The GPU’s maximum stable overclock was established in the graphics tests using Furmark in extreme burn mode at 1920x1050 for a minimum of two hours, and further validated by running a 3D Marks (Vantage results are posted in the report).
• Max stable overclock for one card was 898 MHz Core and 1050 MHz Memory, @1.087 Volts.
• Max stable overclock for 2 cards in SLI was 825 MHz core and 1000 MHz memory, @1.087 Volts. Note: To ascertain that our Maximum stable overclock in SLI was not temperature related, we also tested the cards at 850Mhz using our extreme bench composed of (2) MCR320 radiators with (6) 82CFM fans, and (2) MCP655’s in series, and the test failed.
  
  In order to answer our initial questions, we conducted two sets of tests:
  
  
• CPU load tests: In order to maintain consistency with previous test data, we ran our usual 8 instances of BurnK6. We logged the temperature results at 2 seconds intervals using CoreTemps. The average temperature of the 4 cores is reported.
• GPU load tests: We used Furmark in extreme burning mode, windowed in 1920x1050, post processing off to enable 100% load to both GPU’s in SLI configuration, and logged the temperature results at 2 seconds intervals with GPUZ.

Environmental Temperature recording:

• Air temperature: each fan was equipped with a type T Thermocouples (accurate at +/- 0.1c) at the inlet, and the average of the 3 values is reported.
• Coolant temperature was measured at the radiator inlet with a Type T thermocouple (accurate at +/- 0.1°C).

We do hope that the following data will help in rationalizing the readers’ further setup decisions, and without further ado, here are the test results.

First set of CPU tests featuring a single card in the loop:



To our first question, “Impact on CPU temperature of adding one restrictive GPU waterblock in the same loop”, we see that between CPU tests #1 and #2 the increase in CPU temperature when adding a GTX470FTW is equal to 0.68°C (Note 1 above). We can also report that the CPU remained entirely stable under these test conditions.

With further analysis, we can also determine the actual temperature increase solely due to the added heat generated by the GPU; it is calculated by (*) below and it is equal to: 0.34°C. This allows us to conclude that the added pressure drop in the loop actually contributed to the rise in CPU temperature by 0.34°C as calculated in (**) below. This is a very marginal increase considering the relatively high pressure drop of both blocks, and also considering that the reduced flow rate decreases the waterblock AND the radiator efficiency.

(*) : (ΔT Water to Air test 2) – (ΔT Water to Air test 1): 4.63 – 4.29 = 0.34°C
(**): (Note 1) – (*): 0.68 - 0.34 = 0.34°C

Second set of CPU tests, featuring the SLI setup :



To the first part of our second question “What is the impact of adding two high-end cards in SLI to the CPU temperature?” , CPU tests #3 and #4 show us that the temperature rise in the CPU is 1.26°C (note 2) when the cards are setup in parallel, and 1.84°C (note 3) when they are setup in series. In terms of CPU stability, the CPU remained fully stable in both cases.

So, while the overall increase in CPU temperature remained nominal (about 2%) it is also interesting to note that the parallel setup shows a measurable advantage of 0.58°C over serial as calculated in (*) below, which can be 100% attributed to a substantially lower pressure drop at the system level. And this fact clearly answers the second part of our question #2: “what GPU block configuration works best, serial or parallel?” : Clearly, the higher flow rate in the CPU waterblock and in the radiator yield a better thermal resistance and result in lower temps in a parallel setup than in a serial setup.

(*): Note 3 – note 2: 1.86 – 1.26= 0.58°C

Finally, for those users who already have a GPU in their CPU loop, want to add a second one and need to know what to expect, the data presented in note 4 shows that a second VGA card installed in parallel will result in another 0.58°C rise in CPU temperature, whereas note 5 shows that installing the second card in series will add 1.16°C.

Graphics Tests:

The graphics stress tests are obviously also influenced by flow rate, and we will see how below. CPU temperature is reported for reference only, since there is very little load on the CPU during intensive graphics (50% on one core, under Furmark).



We see a substantial increase in average GPU temperature from one card to two, ranging from 7.39 °C (calculated in Note 1) for a parallel setup to 7.99 °C for a serial (calculated in Note 2). But while 7 to 8 °C can seem like much, it is also important to remember that the overclock limitation in SLI mode was demonstrated during our initial setup NOT to be temperature related (see note in the above Methodology section).

Finally, note 3 is of particular interest within the framework of this study, because it shows that even at the GPU level, a parallel setup with modern blocks such as those presented here remains a superior solution to serial, as evidenced by a 0.6°C advantage of parallel over serial.

Conclusions:

While the importance of flow rate is certainly not to be discarded when planning a system setup, as particularly evidenced by the differences found between parallel and serial VGA configurations, we see with the tested Swiftech components that the overall impact of this parameter remains nominal in terms of total system performance. This is due to the fact that these components are designed to be highly efficient at low flow.

Results summary for reference:

Source: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=254683

 Are dual (dedicated) loops better than single loops?

Equipment:

• Loop 1: MCR320 Drive radiator, with built-in MCP355 pump, and an Apogee XT waterblock; the loop uses ½ lines. The fans are Gentle Typhoon’s (D1225C12B5AP-15) running at 1850 rpm and rated at 28 dB.
• Loop 2: MCR220 Drive radiator, with built-in MCP355 pump,Gentle Typhoon fans (same model) and 1/2" lines.
• All components are connected to the loop with CPC quick-disconnect fittings; they are fairly restrictive, but the time they save in changing setups overshadows any other considerations.
• The CPU is an early Ci7 920, Revision C0/C1 stepping 4.
• The Graphic cards are (2) EVGA GTX470 FTW
• The Motherboard is a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R, and the OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit.

Methodology:

• The CPU maximum stable overclock was well established, since we have been using this same 920 ever since its introduction. It is 4095 Mhz (Intel Turbo mode on, and HT enabled), at 1.424v (after droop).
• The GPU’s maximum stable overclock was established in the previous graphics tests using Furmark in extreme burn mode at 1920x1050 for a minimum of two hours, and further validated by running 3D Marks Vantage.
• Max stable overclock for 2 cards in SLI was 825 MHz core and 1000 MHz memory, @1.087 Volts.

We conducted two series of tests, reflecting the following hardware configurations:

• Series I, with the Ci7 920@ 4.1Gb and (2) GTX470 FTW in SLI @825/1000, and
• Series II, with the Ci7 920@ 4.1Gb and (1) GTX470 FTW @825/1000.

Within each series, we tested three cooling loop configurations:

• Dual Loop with MCR320 Drive dedicated to cooling the CPU, and MCR220 Drive dedicated to cooling the GPU(s)
• Dual Loop with MCR220 Drive dedicated to cooling the CPU, and MCR320 Drive dedicated to cooling the GPU(s)
• Single loop combining MCR320 Drive, MCR220 Drive, CPU, and parallelly linked GPU's, in series

Within each loop configuration, we simulated three load scenarios consisted in:

• CPU load tests: In order to maintain consistency with previous test data, we ran our usual 8 instances of BurnK6. We logged the temperature results at 2 seconds intervals using CoreTemps. The average temperature of the 4 cores is reported.
• GPU load tests: We used Furmark in extreme burning mode, windowed in 1920x1050, post processing off to enable 100% load to both GPU’s in SLI configuration, and logged the temperature results at 2 seconds intervals with GPUZ.
• Combined CPU + GPU load test: We used (7) instances of Burn K6 + Furmark in extreme burning mode - The combination of these two benchmarks placed ~100% load on all four CPU cores, and a load on both GPU cores varying between 98 and 100%.
• Graphics cards were hydraulically linked in parallel, as a result of the findings outlined in part I of this article.

The test results are compiled and summarized in two groups: Temps under load in typical computer use, and Temps under load in Extreme computer use.

• Typical computer use reflects the assumption that at the time of this writing, CPU maximum load and GPU maximum load are in the vast majority of the cases mutually exclusive of each other. In other words, the majority of games placing a heavy load on the GPU's use very few CPU resources, whereas the majority of CPU intensive applications use very little GPU resources.
• The extreme computer use scenario reflects the currently rare occurrences where both CPU and GPU(s) are under maximum load.
• Comparing these two groups provides an insight on the respective device load ratios relative to the heat exchangers and may provide guidance for further system configurations.

Environmental Temperature recording:

• Air temperature: each fan was equipped with a type T Thermocouples (accurate at +/- 0.1c) at the inlet, and the average of the 3 values is reported.
• Coolant temperature was measured at the radiator inlet with a Type T thermocouple (accurate at +/- 0.1°C).

Series 1 test results, CPU + SLI configuration:





Analysis

Under typical computer use, the above test data suggests as a general rule that users would not benefit from setting up dedicated loops for CPU and GPU. Serializing pumps in the same loop also adds a redundancy factor that dedicated loops cannot provide. With superior reliability and lower temperatures at both CPU and GPU levels, single loops appear to win hands down.

Under extreme computer use, this setup recorded a notable advantage at the CPU temperature level for the dual loop, counterbalanced by the opposite effect at the GPU level. This extreme environment uncovered the critical importance of the respective load ratios generated by CPU class devices vs. GPU class devices, relative to the heat exchangers to which they are connected. Clearly, a CPU generating 150 Watts solely dedicated to a triple radiator will cool substantially better than when mixed with another 400 watts generated by two GPU's even with a second dual radiator in the loop. Jedi Masters would say, "we need to bring balance to the force here", and they would be right.

We could define a simple mathematical method to properly configure a system accounting for loads, but that will be for another article. For now, we can simply illustrate the above in real life testing by removing one of the GPU's from the system. It has for effect to balance the heat load generated by CPU device more evenly against that of the GPU device and demonstrates how load ratios affects the results:





What we see above is that even under extreme use, the dual loop has all but lost its performance advantage against the single loop. Incidentally, the same type of trend could have also been obtained by adding a second CPU in the loop instead of removing a GPU.

Conclusions:

Under extreme performance scenarios, and from a pure performance standpoint, dual loops versus single loop are neither better nor worse, under the strict condition that the load ratios are evenly balanced.
Under the most commonly encountered loads though, single loops do win.

Under both of the above use scenarios, single loops also win from a reliability standpoint because of pump redundancy.

The choice is yours to make.

 

You did a great job there. However there are many solutions for people looking for liquid cooling. There are ones you can put together yourself and there are kits.  And then there are self contained maintenance free units such as the Corsaid H50 based of of the Asetek 550.  They range from $80-$300+

And Don't forget that users should use a special fluid that consists of a distilled water/alcohol solution with an anti-corrosive agent.  Some even come with florescent colors.

CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70

That make sense to include the H50 and water cooling kits, so I will extend the review.

Water Cooling CPU Cooler : Performance wise is similar to high end air heatsink.  For those who want to do water and less likely to have leak, this is a closed loop water cooling setup with integrated pump. 

CORSAIR CWCH50

 

CoolIT SYSTEMS ECO-R120

 

Water Cooling Kits: which included all the essentials parts to build the loop, performance wise is better than air cooling not as good as custom loop. I don't recommend Thermaltake kits so I will disregard it in this setup due to high rate of failure and performance is on the par with high end cooling at best cost much more than air cooling.

This kit actually comes with quality components will give you good performance.

   Swiftech H20-220

 This kit is the same as the kit above and included the VGA block and chipset block.

  Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima XT

For higher quality kits you have to look in UK shop or International like this one:

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/WCUK-Xtreme-Quad-480-Watercooling-Kit_3.html

 

http://www.aquatuning.de/product_info.php/info/p9823_360er-Wasserk-hlungsset-Special--EffizienzGurus---Performance---universal.html

Welcome for more comments and thanks once again.

Update the list Corsair H70 water cooling kit and XSPC Rasa Cpu block added to the list.

CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70

XSPC Rasa CPU Block

 Don't be fool by the price of the XSPC Rasa cpu block the performance is as good as the $80+ dollars cpu block just the look isn't exactly appealing the performance is up there.

Next session I will included some of the testing done by reviewers to go with the actual performance of those items.

 

Really good guide prtuc2, extremely well built and through

If I finally decide to move forward I will definitly be in contact with you!

 Thanks again,

~TK

Update on the water cooling kit the XSPC Rasa Kit is a great beginner loop without excessive cost and perform pretty much close to a custom loop.

There is two version:

XSPC Rasa 750 RS360

 

XSPC Rasa 750 RS240

 

Two kits are identical except one has a 240 radiator vs a 360 radiator.

 

adonn78:

And Don't forget that users should use a special fluid that consists of a distilled water/alcohol solution with an anti-corrosive agent.  Some even come with florescent colors.

 No! Like the Mod said water and anti- algae agent like silver or water additive are all that's needed, anti-corrosive isn't a bad idea either even when not running a mixed loop.

What you speak of is radiator fluid...PC's are not cars and are not going to boil off fluid or freeze in the winter so no alcohol is needed for a PC loop. Alcohol  does nothing for PC cooling and will even raise your temps above water alone, and the other branded garbage that's sold on the market as all in one coolant for PC's is mostly c**p, so stay away from those.

It would also be nice if the Egg would carry more water cooling products similar to what Fozen CPU has.

Are you from ES prtuc2? This guide looks really familiar.

I don't believed so, matter of fact not sure which forum is ES.  Well I saw a lot of tutorial for building, just not that many on parts and selection.  I do use some of the reviews done by other water cooling enthusiast such as Martin and Skinee's.

Well that explains it. Sure you know Extreme Systems, that's where Martin used to post allot of his info before he started Martins Liquid Lab, in fact if he still has it you should add his old water loop program to your guide.

You sure you never posted a guide like this on ES, they used to have a guide just like this until Fugger switched everything over..grrrr!  It's nice you posted this as I don't think ES has any of the old guides up any more.

 

brightstar:

Well that explains it. Sure you know Extreme Systems, that's where Martin used to post allot of his info before he started Martins Liquid Lab, in fact if he still has it you should add his old water loop program to your guide.

You sure you never posted a guide like this on ES, they used to have a guide just like this until Fugger switched everything over..grrrr!  It's nice you posted this as I don't think ES has any of the old guides up any more.

 

Ah ES = Extreme System, I always thought it was XS for xtremesystem.  Yes I am a forum member over on Xtreme System forum as well.  You meant the flow rate chart program?  

Yah, couldn't remember what it was called I haven't seen it in a long while

 Hey, I'm old man and we are picky about the way we spell stuff  Also, since your a mod see if you can get the Egg to get a better selection of Water cooling stuff, I'm sure you have more pull than we do so see what you can do.

Updated on post 3, I will let the admin knows about water cooling products but can't guarantee since ultimately is up to the company who decided on the decision. 

Here is another very good guide I just happened to come across when I was on EK's site looking at some of there new stuff.

http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/water-cooling/33772-water-cooling-guide-beginners.html

Ek's cpu blocks are exceptional for those that don't know, but be prepared to spend some money.

Hope you don't mind me posting this?

This is what I use, very good block!

Oh, for those wondering this is the full Copper nickel plated version.

A long time ago Danger Den used to make a full 99.9% silver block because silver transfers heat better than most metals, but in this day and age you will most likely never see another? Harder than hell to find a picture of this block.

More the merrier, is all about sharing knowledge.  Very organized guide brightstar you found there.

brightstar:

A long time ago Danger Den used to make a full 99.9% silver block because silver transfers heat better than most metals, but in this day and age you will most likely never see another? Harder than hell to find a picture of this block.

The thermal conductivity of silver and copper is almost identical (235 vs 221 BTU/hr*F*ft) and they are the best two metals for conductivity.  Silver costs $31 an ounce and copper $3 a pound.  You are right, we willl not see a silver block again.

This was about 10/11 years ago that DD made these when Silver was fairly cheap and copper was dirt. Heck, when is the last time you seen a full copper air cooler? I haven't since the old thermaltake blocks, and these blocks still stand up well against newer style heat pipe coolers.

Yah the silver blocks were more of a novelty, but still cool none the less, and no the silver blocks only got around 2c cooler if your lucky.

prtuc2:

Update on the water cooling kit the XSPC Rasa Kit is a great beginner loop without excessive cost and perform pretty much close to a custom loop.

There is two version:

XSPC Rasa 750 RS360

 

XSPC Rasa 750 RS240

 

Two kits are identical except one has a 240 radiator vs a 360 radiator.

 

 

I got the 360 one coz it is my first water cooling system, and I should say it is pretty good and easy to install, altho I should say if anyone gonna get this, you might wanna buy those long screws for fan to mount on radiator to make it easier to install. and the hose alone is enough the clamps were just overkill LOL (had to re-position the radiator and I could not pull the tube out of the nozzle, thats just shows how tight the fit is that you really would not need the clamp.. altho I put mine on just for show xD) and I got that Fesser Non-conductive coolant (clear) since I have heard bad things bout the dye'd ones leaving some residue in the loop. havent tried regular water on my system to compare if the coolant is good or not but I am satisfied w/ my temps right now.

Temps (PhenomII x4 925 2.8Ghz OC'd 3.4Ghz)

Temps recorded by HWMonitor, Load temps tested w/ Prim95 on Maximum heat/power settings and ambient temp is 60

CM Hyper 212+ :

Idle: 37-40

Load: 57-64

 

 XSPC Rasa 360 (CPU OC'd to 3.8Ghz)

Idle:  25-30 (hovers back and forth)

Load : 45

 

 

As you can see that is quite some numbers, hoping to get a replacement CPU (prolly will switch to the 4core bulldozer this black friday if it goes on special price and will stick w/ it til' the piledriver comes out. I Have no use for 6/8cores atm since this is just a gaming PC at this moment and have not had the need to use photoshop/sony vegas lately)

 

System:

Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3

Corsair Vengance 16Gb 1600

Sapphire Flex 6870 + XFX 6870 Xfire

Corsair TX 950

PhenomII x4 925 (2.8Ghz) OC'd 3.8Ghz

Coolant performance in that article you see distilled water + pt nuke is about as good as other coolants.  Like you said those coolants with dyes can leave some nasty residues inside the loop and will be tough to clean out.