Watercooling

[VirginAus737 0]

Hi Andrew,If you do go with either of the RASA kits, bear in mind the following:

• The pump is fairly weak.. It will be fine for the kit setup but if you add a GPU block to the loop and another radiator it will struggle.
• The tubing that is included in the kit is not great and tends to discolour quite easily. Rather pick up some other tubing such as Primochill. Plus you can get some great colours. 7/16th ID(Inner Diameter) tubing over 1/2 inch barbs creates a much tighter seal which is great as it will further help with preventing any leaks, but it is tricky to get over the barbs.
• The fans that come with the kit are not brilliant... though depending on how you feel about noise they will work well enough. You could pick up others that will be better in both airflow and sound.
• The RS radiator is best used with higher RPM fans (more noise) while the RX radiator is best suited for low speed fans (quieter)

Hope that helps

I wont be adding any GPU blocks for now. I dont think there are any blocks for the DirectCU ii cards anyway.At my local store I only have access to 3/8 and 1/2 ID tubing, would either be suitable? Actually, if its not too much of a hassle, could you take a look at the site below and recommend anything. I will go for the RS360 and maybe have noisier fans because I will end up putting a basic 4 fan controller in it.www.pccasegear.com

[airnews 0]

Hi Andrew,Their is an EK block for the 580 Direct CU II though none for your 570.As for tubing, I would say go for the 1/2 inch tubing. Just make sure you have clamps if you use barbs or if you want to spend more you can go with compression fittings.To give you an idea, my loop is as follows:

• Radiator: Swiftech MCR-320-K (works well with low-medium speed fans)
• Pump: Swiftech MCP-655 (Variable speed so I can keep the noise down to a minimum)
• CPU Block: EK HF Cu Plexi
• Reservoir: Swiftech Micro Res
• Fans: Yate Loon medium speed led fans (great price to performance ratio) (Best fans would be Gentle Typhoon AP-15's though)
• Tubing: Primochill 7/16 tubing

I will be adding a Gtx 580 and another radiator to the loop shortly.Hope that helps

[Christopher Low 5,353]

What exactly are the benefits of water cooling? It's just that i5s and i7s can be overclocked to 4.5Ghz and beyond using decent air coolers, and my own overclocked i5 2500k PC (4.4Ghz) is as quiet as a mouse (Thermaltake Frio CPU cooler, and CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer case).

[VirginAus737 0]

Well when it heats up here in Australia, which it does, my CPU idle temps can be hovering around 40 degrees. At the moment in Melbourne we have been experiencing some 30 degree + days, so I am not looking forward to when it goes up to 35 degrees because idle temps of 45 degrees are not ok for me.

[airnews 0]

Well with water cooling (unless you are using a water chiller or phase change unit) you can't go cooler than the ambient temperature.So at the moment in South Africa the temps are in the 30's during the day so my cpu is idling at 32-35 degrees.

[VirginAus737 0]

Yeah, I no. I am more looking to improve the load temps. But if I could get around 32 degrees I would be very happy.

[airnews 0]

Well then you're thinking along the right lines... Water cooling will greatly reduce your load temps!

[VirginAus737 0]

I have seen mixed reactions all over the place, but will smaller tube diameters actually have any affect on performance?

[Kosta 122]

I have seen mixed reactions all over the place, but will smaller tube diameters actually have any affect on performance?

As I was buying my watercooling solution the guy in the shop told me there is a minimal difference, that it doesn't pay off to go bigger diameter.

[VirginAus737 0]

OK, thanks. At the moment it seems to get the tighter fit I will have to go for 3/8 over the 1/2 barb.

[Kosta 122]

OK, thanks. At the moment it seems to get the tighter fit I will have to go for 3/8 over the 1/2 barb.

I'm running quarter inch connectors.