Water cooling
I have water cooled my personal desktop PC. It is a soft-tube loop for the CPU and GPU, with a single 240mm radiator and an alphacool eisbaer reservoir-pump-cpu block combo.
Planning
I am considering water cooling my desktop computer, mainly for noise reasons. Here I explain my plans and thoughts about this.
Requirements (in order)
- Loop must cover the graphics card
- Don’t have a bunch of tools left over that I will never use again
- Should look cool
- Loop should be liquid temperature controlled to reduce noise as much as possible.
Soft or hard tubing
Hardline tubing would look great, however I don’t think it’s worth the money and hassle.
| Option | Price | Safety | Difficulty | Looks | Tools | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| Hard with bends | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Hard with fittings | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
But it would look so cool…
Part selection
I am choosing parts from Scan.co.uk, as they seem to have the best availability. I will look around some more once I have a good idea of the parts I want.
| Part Type | Short Product Name | Shop link | Available? | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Waterblock | Alphacool Eisblock Aurora for Sapphire Pulse | Scan.co.uk | Y | 103.79 | @@@@@@@@@@@@o |
| Pump and Res combo | EK-Classic | Scan.co.uk | Y | 83.99 | @@@@@@@@@@ |
| Radiator | Alphacool Nexxos ST40 240mm | Scan.co.uk | Y | 59.99 | @@@@@@@ |
| Fan controller | Aqua computer quadro | Amazon | Y | 41.53 | @@@@@ |
| Fittings | Alphacool Eiszapfen 13/10 black (x6) | Scan.co.uk | Y | 26.95 | @@@o |
| Tubing | Corsair HydroX 13/10 soft tubing | Scan.co.uk | Y | 12.49 | @O |
| Temperature Sensor | Alphacool Eiszapfen Icicle | Scan.co.uk | Y | 8.99 | @o |
| Liquid | Mayhems X1 ECO UV Purple 1L | Scan.co.uk | Y | 6.98 | @ |
| 344.71 | too large |
Alternatives
| Part Type | Short Product Name | Shop link | Available? | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pump and Res combo | Alphacool Eisstation 80 DC-LT | Link | Y | 35.99 | Super compact |
| Pump and Res combo | Link | N | ?? | Flat, fits on rear fan mount |