So I'm debating taking the plunge into the whole water cooling scene on my backup PC that currently has a Kuhler 920 on it. I have an Antec Lanboy with an EVGA x58 motherboard and an i7 940. I'm thinking of cooling both CPU and GPU on water and I'm totally lost on where to start. What's good/not good, what all is needed, etc. Any ideas would be helpful.
Take alook at this for starters. http://www.overclock.net/t/1406363/beginners-guide-for-water-cooling-2013
I'm working towards a "custom loop" as well. I started with a Coolermaster Glacer 240L since it's an expandable AIO....and cheaper than buying all the parts separately.
You will need a radiator Some decent fans(static pressure is usually prefered but it will ultimately depend on the FPI of the rad you choose) A pump A reservoir Water blocks Tubing(I recommend something newer that does not have plasticizers) Coolant/Distilled water w/ a Biocide(NOTE:most coolant already have a biocide additive) Fittings, compression or barb. Either works well, compression fittings look much nicer. Ideally you do not want to mix metals, so get all copper, or all nickel blocks. Basically for the loop order, just make sure your res is above the pump. Flush the blocks and radiators before installing into the system. Its all pretty simple really.
So here is where I am at with the setup. I know it's expensive, but I want to actually sell this to a good buddy of mine for gaming (it's not that bad of a system with a bit of OC, could be very nice still). It already has an Antec 920 on it. Can I remove the tubing from that, use the cpu block, and just buy a res/pump/fittings? I feel like going from the AIO unit to a loop would still help with the temps, wouldnt' be more than a few hundred bucks and would look much much better.
If you are going to buy a res, pump, and fittings--you might as well get a rad and a proper block. A decent CPU block is not that expensive and neither is a 240 or 360 rad. I don't know if you can use the Antec as just a block, because it also has the pump built in. I am not sure what the internal structure is on those, and how well it would flow with an external pump.
I know I need a rad/pump. I wanted to know can I use the part over the CPU itself? Since it's already mounted, has 1/4" fittings and is a copper block.
I was thinking of doing something like this, only replacing the res/pump as well. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/14543-replace-tubes-of-antec-kuhler-620-and-920/
920 can be used as a block. Will need to unscrew it and remove the impeller (it just pulls out) A Kuhler 620 will fit on your 580 if you just wanted a simple solution to wc the gpu.
What your doing there is customising but why bother when you can just buy a custom loop and get superior performance. All you needs is rad, pump, res, blocks, tubing, fittings and biocide. Pick your components, make sure they all fit and it will be much better than what you had in mind.
This. If you're going water, do it properly the first time. As much as you can, anyways. Patching up an existing AIO is not the way to go.
