IvyBridge 3770S + 2xRadeon HD 6950 Loop Design Review

[coolbaskin]

Hello everyone,

I am planning my first water cooling project and would very much appreciate if local experts (or pretty much anyone) can take a look at my thoughts on the design. Please, criticize heavily and do tell me if there are some weak points that may be or even have to be improved in order for it to be a success. If it is a complete failure and is doomed to failure, please tell so as well. Ok, now to the topic. The system.

Case: Antec Eleven Hundred
Components to be cooled:
CPU: Intel IvyBridge 3770S, TDP = 65 W
GPU: 2 x HD Radeon 6950 (TDP = 200 W) unlocked to 6970 (TDP = 250 W) and overclocked (+ 20-30 W?)

Total: ~625 W

I want to have the whole loop to be contained inside the case, no external parts unless absolutely necessary. Also there is a strong preference for the system to be as silent as possible. Dampening materials and isolation will be used as needed to reduce the noise level. I am not restricted on the amount of money I can spend within reasonable bounds but I would prefer not to build a system that is too much of the overkill (some reserve is definitely nice to have). I find it very reasonable to pay for high quality components in the top-middle tier up to to a point where price
increase-performance increase curve starts being horizontal.

Here is what I came up with for the water cooling loop (all Koolance):

CPU Water block: CPU-380I $75
GPU: 2 x Full-coverage water blocks: VID-AR697 and VID-AR685 (already acquired)
Reservoir and Pump, RP-1005 with PMP-400, $235
Radiator HX-CU420V, 1x120, 30 FPI $40
Radiator HX-CU720V, 2x120, 30 FPI $50
Fans: Scythe Gentle Typhoon, 120mm x 3 (all push) $60
Tubing, HOS-13GN, 13mm x 16mm, 10' $20
Compression Fittings 13mm x 16 mm $50
INS-FM19 Coolant Flow Meter $25
TMS-205 Software Thermal Interface Controller $100
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: ~$700 with taxes and shipping
Potential questions I already have:

1. Would the PMP-400 in RP-1005 be able to provide decent flow to this loop (~1+ GPM)? My current thinking is if it could not, I'll add another pump to the loop serially.

2. Anything recommended to be added to the loop to simplify maintenance like bleeding and draining? Drain Valve (http://koolance.com/drain-valve-for-id-13mm-1-2in)? Rubber Funnel (http://koolance.com/threaded-rubber-funnel)? Quick disconnects surely look nice but they seem to introduce a lot of restriction which looks like an overkill for maintenance which I hope to be doing not more often than once a year.

Thanks in advance and have a cool day... or night.

[Izerous]

The PMP-400 and PMP-450 can both take a lot more abuse as far as blocks than most people realize and still keep flow rates reasonable.

Personally had back luck with Scythe fans failing within only a couple months of use, so even though they are not a great color have been using noctua fans without a single failure.

Most will tell you to use 10mm tubing instead...

As for draining mentioned this to others before and I'll keep mentioning it, using QDC fittings as your drain is much nicer than using the dedicated drain valves. 2 sets of QDCs 1 set inline and 1 set spare. Disconnect the 2 inline fittings and attach the spares (that have tubing attached) and presto instant drains into your sink or other means of disposal without making a mess.

[coolbaskin]

Thanks for quick reply. I take it overall the setup makes sense.

I based my calculations on research done by Martin (http://martinsliquidlab.org/pump-planning-guide/). According to them, PMP-400 w/o custom top can provide ~5PSI of pressure. Radiators are ~0.3 and ~0.5 PSI drop, CPU block - 1 PSI, GPU blocks - 1.5 PSI each + ~1 for tubing and fittings which looks like it could eat everything PMP-400 can provide. But I guess I'll need to experiment to see in practice.

Is PMP-400 noisy? I understand it is subjective, but is it on the noisier side of the spectrum or is it reasonably quiet?

Why 10mm? Originally I thought about it, but then found it to be a little more restrictive and resorted to 13mm. Is 13 mm significantly harder to work with? Are the benefits less restriction provide are negligible?

I already have Noctua's on my air cooling + extra (enough to power the water cooling system I planned), but as I understood they are not great in terms of air pressure and as such might not be blowing enough air through rads. But yes, I can experiment with them first. And I do like the color... well, as standalone, not that it is matching anything inside the case.

Again, the setup you described is exactly what I had in mind for draining, I even plan on ordering the fittings to experiment, but what's stopping me is that according to research mentioned earlier, QDCs are restricting the flow by ~0.3 PSI and it seems too much of a cost for a rarely done maintenance. I haven't seen anything like this about drain valve.

[Fluxc0re]

I would recommend putting a header at the bottom of the case with a drain valve in it . I used a swivel header that unfortunately seems to no longer be available . I ran the output of the RP in to it then ran from it in to everything else . It also was the point I was able to put a drain valve . as it was at the low point in the case it was very easy to drain everything or just one part of the loop . I really like using a header instead of running from one block to another . and then before the Rad going in to another header . Then on to the RP .

[coolbaskin]

Swivel header? What is this beastie? Search in Google and Bing did not return anything that looks related to water cooling. Could you give some examples, please? It could still be obtainable through eBay, Craiglist, and such.

Also what is the RP?

[Fluxc0re]

The Rp , like the RP-1250 in the reverb section ,it is a integrated rez and pump with a set of plugins for fans,flow meters,
And temp probes. It also has a display .The SPL-XFR3 is the header .

[Fluxc0re]

You can see a pic of how I used them in the post by me in this " another 1366 build "