Water Cooling help

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1

I plan to either,

           Primary Rad

  1. Thin 360mm rad and mod my corsair 600t
  2. Thick 240mm rad 

                (And)

         Secondary Rad

  1. 200mm rad
  2. Thick 120mm
  • Would it really be worth the headache of cutting up my case for the bigger Rads? Or is the headache to performance ratio not worth it?
  • What size tubing would help the performace the most (if it does at all)
  • What brand of water block (Lga1155 socket:I5 3570K(may upgrade to 3770K) and a GTX 670 FTW) has the best price to performace value?
  • (and finaly) Is it worth me upgrading to a 3820 vs my 3570K or the 3770K (I do alot of Video Editing , photoediting, as well as gaming) 

Thanks for the help!!!

2

First of all, don't modify your case for a 200mm rad. It will look terrible, unless very well done, and isn't worth it in the slightest. Stick to 120mm and 140mm based rads :)

Secondly, an i5 3570k is a great CPU. It is about the same as a 3820 in terms of performance, but the X79 chipset is much more powerful. If you need more than 32GB of memory (if you don't know if you do, or why you would, then you don't need it), or plan on getting more than one 670 FTW later on, then the 3820/X79 is the way to go.

Moving on, for the CPU block, I would grab a Koolance 380i. Best 1155/2011 block out there, right now. Looks great, and performs fantastically. However, most blocks perform within a few degrees of each other. If the 380i isn't worth $74 to you, then get what is :|

I assume by thin 360mm rad, you mean a physically "short" radiator with high FPI (fins per inch.) 360mm is a good size; fits in a lot of cases, and are great performers. I'm guessing you're grabbing either an EK XT or XSPC EX 360mm; both are relatively thin, and are pretty common. Not a bad buy, but I'm a fan of Aplhacool rads. For the thick 240mm, I'm assuming a "fat"(er) rad, with possibly lower FPI, but enough thermal mass to not require fans, necessarily. I recommend Alphacool NexXos Monsta rads; they come in all sizes (120mm and 140mm based), and are relatively cheap for what you're getting. Black Ice is another great brand for rads; don't limit yourself to what I'm saying. I like to stay away from 120mm rads, thick or thin; they just look wrong and ugly in a loop :|

Tubingdoes affect flow, but in a simple loop like yours, it doesn't really matter. I like to use 1/2" ID (inner diameter) by 5/8" OD (outer diameter) tubing; it is one of the largest standard tubing sizes out there, and has a rather thin wall for less kinking. I recommend Primochill Advanced LRT crystal clear tubing - great stuff.

Basically, to recap, if you plan on upgrading to more than 32GB of RAM, or multiple 670s, get a 3820, or even a 3930k, along with a socket 2011/X79 board. Otherwise, stick with the 3570k. Whatever you do, don't upgrade from a 3570k to 3770k; pretty useless upgrade, unless you can get the 3770k at a Microcenter ;)

Hope I helped :)

3

First off, thank you for the response! 

I could use more than 32GB of ram (I do alllllloooot of heavy hd video editing/ encoding while editing a photo or two... and maybe watch an episode of the tek while a video is rendering) and I do plan on SLI'ing in the future when the funds become available. I just wasn't for sure if the extra pci bandwidth of the X79 platform was worth it or not. ( since a decent board is 200 plus )   Now onto te water cooling part.... I would not have to modify my case for a 200mm rad, (my case supports it) but I would have to modify it to fit a 360mm rad . Is it worth modding my case to fit a 360mm rad , or would a 240mm do just fine?

4

are you doing a full water cooling loop or just your cpu? if its just your cpu a single 240 would be fine theres really no reason to have a 360 rad for just a cpu

5

I plan on dong Cpu ( 3570k OC to 4.5-4.7ghz) and gpu. (Soon to be 7970 or GTX 670 ... maybe 680 if i can fInd one for 400 or under) 

6

I do some video editing via Adobe CS6 premiere pro and After Affects btw .

 

I also game ( metro, farcry 3 and blood dragon, Crysis, Crysis 3, chivalry, Bioshock Infinite, Gmod(lol) , LOL, Dota 2, Starcraft 2, Killing Floor, BF3, Day Z, Planetside, and a plentitude of indie games. If that helps you help me decide what would be best. Oh I have a HD 7870 windforce OC by Gigabyte atm.  

7

probably get a 360 rad for both gpu and cpu but if only cpu just get 240 rad. or if you wish get a 240 rad and a 120 for gpu and cpu.

8

Alright !!! Thanks for all the help!!! I have decided to go for a 3930k if I can find one for sub $425 . If not a 3820 with 64 gb of ram.