Full Tower + water cooling (2 GPU) suggestions

[rspassey]

It's approaching my birthday, and I've decided I'm going to ask for a new case / water cooling set up. I'm looking for a full tower case, and a water cooling set up that will keep an AMD FX 60, plus 2 nVidia cards cool, while being as close to silent as possible (my current set up is getting to be too noisy if I want to leave my PC on over night).

I'm pretty much open to all suggestions, however I wouldn't want to ask my parents for something very expensive.

TIA,
Ryan

My preference is to keep the water cooling unit contained within the case, just because I have friends over and what not and the chances of something going wrong seem much greater if components of the system are just sitting on my desk.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Hi, first, if you already do not have an understanding of watercooling components. Check out my brief write-up: link (http://forum.pcmech.com/showpost.php?p=1143288&postcount=8)

I'll just need to know a few things-
1. Whats the total budget?

2. I assume the videocards are the one in your sig? 6800s.

3. What case might you have? For internal setups, some cases are very watercooling friendly and can fit up to 5'x15' radiators without any issue. Others, will require extensive modding. Even some are totally incompatible. The only real thing that comes into issue when doing such setups is the Radiator.
Now *just* incase you can fit your stuff internal. You might want to think about this: Swiftech Radbox (http://jab-tech.com/Swiftech-RadBox-MCB-120-Revision-2-Black-pr-3337.html)

4. If you wish for me to suggest an appropriate case, I can, just need a budget.

[rspassey]

I'm probably not wanting to spend more than 350$ - less would be nice. I'm just exploring this option, because I can live with a little noise, and 350$ is a heck of a lot of gas money :D, if I decide against water cooling.

Great thread, I thought I was pretty fluent with the concepts of liquid cooling, but I've learned quite a bit from your post.

3. Right now I have a torn apart mid tower, no name case, that I am using. No matter what, I'm getting a new Full Tower Case - I need it...

4. At the moment, suggestions on a large case that will accommodate a liquid cooling set up, would be highly appreciated. I'll probably pick up the case and see, first, how noisy it is with fans, and then make the definitive decision to move to liquid cooling.

And yes, it is the two 6800s - at the moment I wont be upgrading these until mid 2007.

Thanks,
Ryan

[Mr.Ferrari]

Opps, Almost forgot about this thread.

Case: Coolermaster Stacker T01 black or silver (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2010090007+50001333+1054808289+1309521181&Subcategory=7&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=)
This thing will fit the largest radiator on the market. Requires little to no modification. You can just sit your radiator in front of the mesh drive bay covers. Depending on how large of a radiator you get, you will obviously loose a few drive bays.
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Here are my suggestions for the water setup:
CPU: Aquaxtreme IceFloe (http://www.cooltechnica.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=AQX-ICEFLOE-CPU-HF&Category_Code=WB) $41.99
*Make sure you select the option for 1/2'' ID barbs

GPU: DD Maze4 (http://www.petrastechshop.com/q.html) $44.95 x 2=$89.90
*You might want some RAMSINKS (http://jab-tech.com/BGA-Ram-Cooling-c-224.html) of your choice to cover your videocard's ram.

Radiator: Swiftech MCR220 (http://jab-tech.com/Swiftech-MCR-220-Radiator-Black-pr-3199.html) $40 ORSwiftech MCR320 (http://jab-tech.com/Swiftech-MCR320-QP-K-Triple-120mm-Radiator-pr-3320.html) $47
*I HIGHLY suggest the MCR320 if you can sacrifice your drive bays for it. 3 fans=Cooler Temps!
*Pick 1/2'' barbs

Pump: Laing DDC w/Custom Top (http://www.petrastechshop.com/laddcwpeddto.html) $99.95
*Select the 18W version
*Preferably opt for the "EK" barbs for $.35 extra.
*You will also want a gel pad to muffle the vibration from the pump: PTS Gel (http://www.petrastechshop.com/pegviabbl.html) $3.99

Reservoir: Swiftech MCRES-MICRO (http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmchire.html) $19.95

Fans: Yate Loon SL (http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa.html) x3=$14.97
(Best quiet fans around)

Tubing: MasterKleer 1/2'' (http://www.petrastechshop.com/1id3odmagepu.html) OR MasterKleer 7/16'' (http://www.petrastechshop.com/7id5odmagepu.html)
*I would select the 7/16'' as it as a tighter seal around the barbs, but is harder to get on
*7/16'' would be preferable for the bends around the GPU SLI'ed waterblocks
*Get atleast 10FT.

Clamps: Worm Drive Clamps (http://www.petrastechshop.com/ststwohocl.html) $1x12=$12

Additives:
IF you want some color get this and follow the instructions: Pentosin G11 BLUE (http://www.petrastechshop.com/peg11coadb.html) $2.99
IF you just want some anti-algae colorless substance, use this and follow instructions: PT NUKE (http://www.petrastechshop.com/pepcobi1.html) $2.50

*ALWAYS use distilled water to dilute!

TOTAL: ~$310-325
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Guides:
As I linked earlier:
Watercooling Guide (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=731319&postcount=1)
Go Down to PART 2 for installation and Cleaning! :)