My New Project (Long Term)

[SirRob]

Not even 2 weeks after making the purchase of the parts of the computer I've decided to dub "Seika" (Sacred Flame- Due to the fact It's using Crossfire Tech), I am now going to start to make one for SLI. However this one will be water cooled. Now it's already a given that I will be using Vista 64bit. Now I don't know what's the best case for water cooling or the best water cooler. This time though since this a long term project (2-4 Months) the budget will be a bit higher: $1700-$2000. This will include monitor, Case, PSU, Motherboard, Ram, Keyboard and Mouse, GPU and Sound Card. Again I have Hard drives and DVD drives up the wazoo so no need for them.
I'll be posting my build soon, so in the meantime I'd like to hear about water cooling and such. This is a nVidia based system so I'll try to reflect that in the parts I choose.

[KarmaKiller]

What do you want to know about water cooling? I can help ya with that.

[SirRob]

Well I live on a mountain (as you may know) and for me the cold is no problem, since winter is coming and I keep the windows open (and the computers are near windows) It'll be around 0c-10c normally. For the water cooling what type of liquid won't freeze if it isn't moving. Meaning when I power down and leave it for the night will the cooling liquid freeze? I mean I'm half tempted to use vodka and dispose of it the old fashion way when replacing it (that and vodka doesn't freeze...I'll let you be the judge the real reason I want it). So aside from that what tubing and case go best for it?

[KarmaKiller]

Don't use vodka.. That's not a good idea..
There are a ton of different liquids you can use. Most people use a mix though, as the pre-mixed solutions are like $30 a bottle. IMO, that's a little much. Distilled water is best, no mineral build ups that way. You can mix that with some anti-freeze, pre-mixed solution, there are all kinds of different ways you can go. Right now I'm using distilled water and anti-freeze, with dye. I had some PC-tonic (pre-mixed) but I ran out.
You have to watch out for build ups. And when you mix metals in your loop (brass, copper,etc) you really have to watch out more for it. But basically, you can use straight distilled water, with a little bit of some kind of biocide/anti-freeze stuff.

As far as tubing, that's really up to you. There are some "name brands" that don't kink as easy, or have some kind of color. But I just picked up 15' of clear tubing from lowe's, and got some anti-kink coils. It adds the look I wanted, and prevents kinks.
You can spring for the name brand stuff, but it's more expensive, and really besides the kinks thing, offers nothing different.

Here's a couple of the best stores for H20 gear:

Jab-tech

Petra's Tech Shop

Danger*Den

Performance-PCs.com, ... sleeve it and they will come

Sidewinder Computers - Supplier of High Quality PC Modding and Cooling parts

FrozenCPU.com | 1.877.243.8266 | World's Largest Selection of PC Modification Supplies

PC Mods, Case Mods, PC Cooling, Gaming, and More - Crazy PC

Here's a link to pics of my system, so you can see what I'm talking about with the anti-kink coils.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...d/P1020010.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...d/P1010994.jpg

[||Console||]

Water doesnt freeze till 0 + the heat of your System No way it will freeze . I would use a bit of anti freeze to kill Algee and then you know for sure it wont freeze .

[SirRob]

Well I'm going for clear tubing and a special dye since at night my room is lighted by UV lights. 3 of them to be exact. So I think that would look nicer.

As for pumps though, I have no idea about whats good or not.

[KarmaKiller]

Swiftech and Laing are the most popular. And actually they are the same thing, Swiftech just rebadges them in their name.
D-tek's are also good for the price. Some of their pumps are a little weaker though, so you might have to have 2, or just multiple loops.
If your wanting to go cheap you could pick up a Via pump for about $30 from a pet store. They also work well.
As far as tubing, you can go cheap by getting it at lowes for $2.50 for 15', or you can buy some Tygon stuff for around $2.50 a foot. Or you can pick up some Feser stuff for $2.75- $3 a ft from online dealers.

[SirRob]

Well my main concern is the best possible cooling for my buck. Since it's a $1700-$2k system I want to make sure no leaks and great cooling.

[KarmaKiller]

I understand.
So my next question would be, what components do you plan on putting on the water loop?
I'm guessing GPU/CPU. Do you plan on adding RAM/Mosfet/NB/SB cooling?
That determines how many loops, how big/many rads you need, etc..

[SirRob]

Yes, CPU and GPU would be the major components. Ram won't be a problem nor the NB/SB.