Water Cooling in CoolerMaster Cosmos 2

[Lanfear1]

Hey!

Its time for me to upgrade my hardware, and I'm going to invest in water cooling, but I don't know enough about it and thought perhaps someone here could give me some tips/recommendations on parts.

My rack is CoolerMaster Cosmos 2.

My thoughts:

I'm thinking about having something like this: http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/444498/1/
I'm thinking about buying the parts trough Amazon because I live in Norway and parts are lackluster here.

Additional information:

I don't have any water cool equipment.

Budget:

I'm not going to buy diamond jeweled equipment, but good parts cost money and I'm prepared to buy good parts.


Thanks in advance
-Lanfear1

[llDemonll]

Is there a specific reason you want water cooling? Or just because it's cool?

It takes maintenance every ~6 months; you have to drain and clean the thing. And it's really not much quieter than air cooling due to the radiator fans

[Lanfear1]

My GPU is really warm, no overclocking, Im running games like wictcher 2 and sleeping dogs on medium settings and my GPU is 60 degrees Celcius with 60% fan speed (stock speed on the 7970 card is 25-30%).

I thought about only having the GPU water cooled and with the mentioned maintenace Im pretty sure Ill go with that, the cpu temp is never much higher then room temperature.

New question:
Can you give some tips and/or suggestions regarding GPU water cooling? (Im gonna buy a 2. GPU soon so please take this in mind, I'd like a radiator that can take care of both)

[Drunkenvalley]

What are your specs?

As for the case, I'd suggest something ala this:
- 1x 360 radiator in the roof. This should only be maximum 40mm thick. Anything more won't fit.
- 2x 240 radiator in the bottom hard drive bay. These I'd recommend 45mm for, mostly because that often opens up better port solutions. It's gonna be tight for your hands down there, so the more ports available the better, imo.

I'd suggest sitting a D5 with Bitspower pump top and mounting on the midsection floor, connecting with a bridge to a Bitspower Z-tank. The tank can be fixed directly to the case using a single screw on each res holder by fixing them to the excess motherboard standoff points. This'll also hold the pump very firmly in place when seated on the floor.

EK Supremacy seems to be the more common CPU waterblock out there nowadays, and it does perform very well. For the GPU you're going to have to do with what you find. If you use an EK block here too, I suggest adding in the single-slot bridge for the ease of arranging the loop.

[Lanfear1]

Specs (no overclocking)
CPU: i5 3750
GPU: 7970
Mobo: Sabertooth x77

Anyone done a water cool build in this case before?

[Lemmiwink]

Specs (no overclocking)
CPU: i5 3750
GPU: 7970
Mobo: Sabertooth x77

Anyone done a water cool build in this case before?

Not in that particular one, but as Drunkenvalley says, it can fit 1x360 in the roof or 2x240 in the bottom. Or both! He already gave you a nice setup that should do you nicely and it's pretty straight forward. I'd suggest getting compression fittings and not use colored coolant. If you are unsure of how to do it, a good tip is to draw the inside of your case with exact measurements and draw in all the waterblocks, motherboard, radiator etc. That way it is easier to actually build your custom loop.

A good beginners tip is to not aim to high on style and watch ALOT of videos.

[Drunkenvalley]

(Note: Received PM. Guy's Norwegian, making techbay.no a popular site to buy watercooling stuff from.)

I built a loop for my brother in this case. Gotta admit it's surprisingly tight to get the kit in there for such a huge case.

• Compression fittings or clamp fittings doesn't make much difference. In fact, I'd argue clamp fittings would be easier to work with for you.
• I'd get a couple of 90 degrees and some extension fittings. You won't need many, but the rads in the bottom may need them, as does perhaps the res. Pump is less likely to. The pump-top requires two extension fittings, because the plugged ins and outlets won't fit a fitting next to it... I'd get a third, as I know some waterblocks won't let you install a fitting topside without colliding with the PCB, sometimes. So having a spare is always good.
• If you're ordering from techbay.no, I'd suggest buying the CSQ block for your graphics card if you know you're getting another card in the future. The old waterblocks are super-rare nowadays and a PITA to obtain. He's literally just got that one block left, and no one's buying it now because people who care want two of 'em, I think.
• Buy low-speed (800 RPM for example) Scythe Gentle Typhoon fans and be happy. They're some of the best fans out there, and most of the options are a PITA at the end of the day, I find...

I'm probably forgetting things now, but. That said, here's something to keep in mind:
Watercooling is expensive as all hell. A sample kit I put together to get an idea of the cost landed at 5-7k NOK.

[Lanfear1]

Could you possibly write the parts for that loop you built for your brother?

[Lemmiwink]

Scythe Typhoon is definately best value for money imo, NB and Noctua is as good but they cost more.

[Drunkenvalley]

Giving you a shopping list wouldn't be useful, because it's a pretty generic list. I only mention the Z-tank + D5 because it was the awkwardly perfect fit in the case. I also gave you the limits of the radiators, and make a note that the bottom rads having inlets and outlets on the side as well as the ends is fantastic for making installation easier, etc.

For components in your waterloop otherwise, I suggest more comprehensive guides and making your own choices for aesthetics, performance, etc.

[Lanfear1]

Giving you a shopping list wouldn't be useful, because it's a pretty generic list. I only mention the Z-tank + D5 because it was the awkwardly perfect fit in the case. I also gave you the limits of the radiators, and make a note that the bottom rads having inlets and outlets on the side as well as the ends is fantastic for making installation easier, etc.

For components in your waterloop otherwise, I suggest more comprehensive guides and making your own choices for aesthetics, performance, etc.

Im talking with the store owner now, thanks for help