INFO: Building/Buying a Desktop (PC or Mac)

[Xandax]

Yeah I've checked everywhere for HK LGA1366 block and the only sites that have them stocked are in the UK...

A few other things you should know about water cooling

The loop should go something like this.

CPU -> Chipset -> Res -> Pump -> Radiator

The CPU will receive the coolest water.
The res must be right before the pump in order to bleed air out of the line before it reaches the pump.
It is advised to have the res/T line be the highest point in the loop for air bleeding.
The res immediately before the pump is a good spot for filling your loop with liquid as well.
The pump should be roughly the lowest point in the loop.
You can mount your radiator upside down. I was skeptical of this with my configuration, but it works fine.

I'm using the thickest inner diameter fittings and tubing for maximum flow. 1/2". I'm using the thinnest outer diameter for the tubing/fittings. 5/8", which in retrospect it may have been a better idea to go with a thicker sidewall for the tubing to prevent less kinking and bending in the tubing from block to block and around corners.
So I'd suggest
Tygon 10-15' of 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD.

There are two types of fittings that most people use.
Barbs, these look decent and are the cheaper option. You can simply buy a thicker barb and buy a slightly thinner tubing to provide a tight fit on your barbs. (1/2" barb with 7/16" tubing will be a tight fit for the most part.) You can also either zip tie the tubing to the barb or use worm drives. Worm drives are pretty solid but can be annoying to get on.

A DangerDen Barb


The other type is compression fittings. I opted for these because I heard they were the best, and they looked great. Every compression fitting I have in my loop is fucking locked down to the tubing. The tube is going no where and nothing will be coming out. They are a bitch to get on. Because you have to tighten the fitting to the tube first, then screw it into the block/radiator. Which is annoying because if you have two compressions on the ends of a single tube, you have to compensate for the twisting of the tubing at the same time as screwing it into the block. So the major of my lines are compression at one end and barb at the other. Looks weird, but it gets the job done. I would of preferred all compressions, but the pump atleast comes with two barbs built into the housing.

Here's the BitsPower compression fittings I'm using in my build.


Next is your fluid. I'm using Feser One F1 Fluid @ $18 a bottle. After reading on the forums a bit more you can just purchase distilled water from Walmart and add your PetraTech's PT Biocide Nuke and a few drops of food coloring to reach your desired color. Lots of fluids claim that they are nonconductive, but I keep reading that its just a claim or it actually is true that they are nonconductive. So I'm not really sure... best bet it to test your loop and make sure it's tight.

I bought the 1/2" ID 5/8" OD tubing thinking it would be thick enough to not kink up when I was building the loop. I was wrong. I needed antikink springs, I went with the metal ones from Koolance because I heard the plastic ones crack and break after a few months. They may detract from the appearance of your build or you may like them, but they ended up being necessary for my build.

Ok so we've covered Blocks, Radiators, Pumps, Tubing, Fittings, Fluid, and Reservoirs. I've mentioned before I've got a T-block before the pump for filling, bleeding air. And a t-block after the pump (lowest point in the loop) for future draining.

The filler port.


If you go with the Monsta 360/480. You can only use 140mm fans I think. So i'm not sure how to go about mounting a radiator built for 140mm fans. Here's my XSPC RX480 with two steel Swiftech Radboxes (with around 20 zip ties and 20 screws securing them together) holding up the radiator off the back of the box. It may not look sturdy, but it is. Radboxes by the way only come in 120mm mounting holes.





Edit: Forgot to cover fans.
There are a lot of different configurations for fans on the radiator. Push, obviously pushing air through the radiator to dissipate heat from the fins. Pull, the opposite. (This sounds the least effective and for the most part is.) Then the overkill, Push/Pull. Fans feeding air into and pulling air off the fins at the same time.

After figuring out which configuration you want, you will need to consider which radiator you have. Some of the denser radiators require higher RPM, cubic feet per minute fans to effectively dissipate heat. These radiators are generally higher density fins per inch. Then you have the mid range radiators (not by price, but by fin density) that will perform best with mid range RPM/CFM fans - i'd say this range is around 2k rpms. Then finally you have the low density fins per inch radiators. The XSPC RX series are a Low density radiator, so I've got 4 medium speed Yate Loons at 1200 rpms, inaudible to me. 1.2k rpms is the most effective performance/noise level for this radiator. The HWLabs GTX series perform best with 3k rpm fans. There are charts out there that show you the heat dissipation, flows etc of most of the popular radiators, PA, HWLabs Black Ice, XSPC, Feser.

Here is a link on overclock.net that shows a radiator round up with some great analysis.

Huge Radiators: Roundup - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

Hopefully you've got more information I had before I put mine together. If you want more pictures or info let me know, I've done a shit load to the Antec 1200 to know most of the ins and outs of water cooling and cable management on it. Good luck with your build.

[Jysin-DW]

Thanks, the information has been useful.

Made an initial purchase about 10minutes ago from FrozenCPU.

Bitspower Black Sparkle G1/4" Barb Fitting - 1/2" ID - FrozenCPU.com -Barbs
Swiftech MCRES Micro Rev. 2 Small Form Factor / High-Flow Reservoir (1/2" ID & 3/8" ID) - FrozenCPU.com - Res
Swiftech 1/4" BSPP to 1/2" Barb Reservoir Port Fitting (1/4" BSPP-1/2" RPF) - FrozenCPU.com - Barbs for Res
Feser Tube Active UV Hose - 1/2" ID (3/4"OD) Anti-Kink Tubing - Clear / UV Blue - FrozenCPU.com - 10ft Tubing (Only had thin walled Tygon)
PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils - 3/4" OD Tubing - Glossy Red - FrozenCPU.com - 10ft worth (Might not need, just playing safe)
Zinc-Plated Steel Hose Clamp for 3/4" OD Tubing - FrozenCPU.com - Dozen clamps
Koolance Radiator Mounting Bracket w/ Quick-Release (BKT-HX001P) - FrozenCPU.com - Rad mount (Bit pricey, but I like the look and flexibility)
Feser Limited Edition "Monsta" 420/360 Xchanger Triple 140mm Xtreme Performance Radiator - FrozenCPU.com - Went for the monster Rad (Has 120mm and 140mm holes, so mounting via Rad mount will not be an issue)
Swiftech MCP655™ 12v Water Pump w/ Speed Control and 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH) - FrozenCPU.com - Pump
EK D5 X-Top Acetal Pump Top Rev. 2 - Laing D5 & Swiftech MCP-650/655 - FrozenCPU.com - Pump top
Feser One Non Conductive Cooling Fluid - 1000 ml - UV Blue (F1-0001) - FrozenCPU.com - Few bottles of coolant (No even going to attempt to find DW where I live)
Petra'sTech PT_Nuke -PHN Concentrated Biocide (10mL) - FrozenCPU.com - For killing greenies


I still need to picks some fans. I am waiting to find an HK 3.0 for CPU block, as well as another 7-10 days for the EK full board block for the Classified.

Anything I missed?

[Xandax]

God damn that radiator mount looks fucking sick. I think I came across that in my search originally and saw the $52 and didn't even bother clicking it, but fuck that looks ten times better than my set up.

And I just now saw that the Monsta has 120mm mounting holes on it.. so good call. Looks like you have everything in line.

I'll look up some good fans for the Monsta. Do you want best performance or a mix of performance and silence?

Here's the Overclock.net review of the Monsta using some 56mm x 140mm fans. They are fucking massive. Normal fans are 20 or 25mm wide... wow..

TFC "MONSTA" Rad and Triebwerk Fan Toys - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net




Do you have a fan controller?

[Jysin-DW]

I am going for performance and silence mix. I dont want some sick 200+ CFM Delta on the thing. I figured anywhere from a 1200-2000rpm fan would do it. I was searching for a 140x38mm, but FrozenCPU didnt list any. I still have a week to research what exact fans I want before the EK block is available though. I am a bit nervos on the HK CPU block. They seem to be out of stock everywhere for weeks now.

No fan controller. Is it necessary? I just plan on running full speed when I commit to a set of fans.

[Xandax]

Well all I can recommend is yate loons as that's all I've used. I think you are going to have to look at performance-pcs.com for their assortment of fans is pretty wide. Not sure about the 140mm fans though. If you don't mind the noise you don't need a fan controller.

[Kuriin]

I gotta say, what you guys are doing (from the pictures), is absolutely GORGEOUS. The tower and all the cables look clean and then that radiator (I'm assuming?) looks sweet.


Okay. Back to my build. I'm going back and forth between components to maximize performance. I'm also trying to make sure my system is completely cooled. The thermal grease I'm looking at is IC Diamond as I heard it was one, if not the best grease out there. The reason why I'm going back and forth is because it's kind of expensive. Not to mention, I'm still a little confused on the RAID thing, OS/Programs? Or OS/Games? for the HDD.

Things I won't get rid of: Tower and Fan (Noise does NOT bother me!).

Scythe SY1425SL12H 140mm Case Fan - Retail $9.99


OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) $710.00


Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model $279.99

EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $679.98


EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $299.99

Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM $229.99


CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit$336.00


Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case $204.99





These are what I'm looking at with of course, its price next to it. If the price looks too big for what it should be, that means I have DOUBLED it (double ram and SLI). Thanks again guys. You kick ass.


edit: Again on the HDD...sorry. I just currently have a REALLY slow computer so I'm just wanting a fast computer. But, I'm also not one of those guys who fills up like terabytes worth of HDD space.

[Xandax]

Give a budget and are you getting new keyboard mouse monitor? What are the intentions of your build other than speed?

[Kuriin]

Don't need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or power supply.

I guess the only budget I can say is less than 2500. Intentions are gaming, some video editing, etc.

[Xandax]

Give me a few minutes and I'll throw together a bad ass build with your recommendations.

[runcade]

So I bought this GTX260 and because it is recertified it said it does not come with any cables. This is my first time so I do not know what cables I need to buy. Any help?

[Kuriin]

Originally Posted by Xandax

Give me a few minutes and I'll throw together a bad ass build with your recommendations.

Gracias.

[Xandax]

runcade: Depends how new your monitor is. A GTX 260 has DVI outputs. So you will need either a DVI to DVI cable or a DVI to VGA cable. The video card and the monitor are females, so you need a male to male cable.
Newegg.com - Link Depot 6 ft. DVI-D male to DVI-D male dual link Cable Model DVI-6-DD - Cables


Kuriin: Here's a $2350 i7 build. It's 2250 before shipping from Newegg, 40 dollars shipping. Then the 70 dollars for the heat sink from a different vendor. Read further...

i7 920
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Evga X58 Mobo (Same motherboard that I just recommended for Disgruntled's build)
Newegg.com - EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Here's the case: ThermalTake Armor+, decent choice but I'd go for the Coolmaster Cosmos S 1100 for that kind of money, or even the Antec 1200.
Newegg.com - Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Here's the Cooler Master Cosmos S 1100 for you to compare to.
Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER COSMOS S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

And the Antec 1200 is what you saw in my post above.

What kind of PSU are you getting? If you are thinking about using the "free computer power supply" that comes with that ThermalTake case... think again. i7 + 2 gtx 285s aren't a pushover. That's 750 watt+ territory. Let me know and I'll include a quality PSU. By the way, they are charging $45 for this free PSU it's in the price of the Armor+ if you look at it in your cart.

Here's the Corsair 850W non-modular PSU. It's a monster and will definately handle 2 GTX 285s and an overclocked i7. If you want modular i'll hunt down that link as well.
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

I'm gonna save you $130 and recommend the G.Skill ram that was used in Disgruntled's build. 12 Gig at 1600mhz and has 9-9-9-24 timings as opposed to the Dominators which are 8-8-8-24 for an extra $130 and the dominator name.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

2x GTX 285, nothing more to say about this.
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1180-AR GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Here's basically the best air cooler at the moment, includes bracket for 1366 socket. Newegg doesn't carry this beast.
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT

You do not need any extra fans, because with the money you are spending for the case, whether it be the Armor+ or the Cosmo S or an Antec 1200, the air cooling will be good enough. That does not mean that your 285's will not be dumping a metric fuck ton of heat into your room, because they will regardless unless they are watercooled.

Ok for your OS and Applications, things that are loaded often, you will want on your SSD. You don't need a raptor to accompany the Solid State Drives. You should go with a 500GB or maybe a 1TB for storage. The raptor's run at 10k rpms and the normal storage is 7.2k rpms.. the difference is negligible for storing photos, videos etc. You want the speed with your applications, games, and operating system. Raiding 120GB SSD is alot of money for the performance you get with the onboard Raid controller on the motherboard. What I mean is you will be wasting some of that speed because the controller will be limiting the through put.

Here's your storage drive. 1TB Western Digital, 1000+ reviews and 5 stars.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Here's your OS/Apps/Games drive. You only need one. You shouldn't be filling up 120gb with your applications and games, after the OS. Bare in mind, you should read up that a few things need to be tweaked in order to optimize SSDs at the moment. Certain ways the OS accesses and indexes information on the drive need to be adjusted.
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Solid State Disks

Only things missing at the moment are operating system, the power supply question, the choice about the proper case, and an optical drive. I'm going to assume you have the Dvd drive and the OS, you need 64 bit Vista to use more than 3.3 gig of ram though.

If you have any questions, want pictures, more advice let me know. I'm here all night and day...

[Kuriin]

I have an ABS Tagan BZ 800w modular PSU. Also, I already have that heatsink -- I bought it like a year ago expecting this socket build.

Thanks for the recommendations btw. The only thing I'm worried about the case is that the airflow won't be too good? Not sure. But, when I was originally browsing, the COSMOS *was* my choice until a friend had me look at the Armor+

[Xandax]

Ok the PSU will be fine. Heatsink good, you may need the 1366 socket mounting bracket.

Case, I have a friend with the Armor + and I wasn't too thrilled by the features. I honestly think a Cosmos S, Cooler Master HAF 932, or Antec 1200 would crush it in features and looks. The Antec 1200 is considered one of the best cases for air builds.

Here's the HAF 932 and the Antec 1200 links.

Newegg.com - Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases

Check those out, read the reviews... check out a site that has a review video. All of those cases are really high quality and pretty much kick ass.

[Kuriin]

I looked at the Antec and that is a gorgeous case. I think I'll get that.

The heatsink -- I actually bought it at Sidewinder. So, that's cool.

Onto the ram -- will I see any noticeable difference between the two?

What I'm hoping for is to get a tower as clean as yours to make it easy to swap things in and out.