Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of building my first PC (most exciting I must say :)). I was thinking about jumping straight into watercooling and was hoping ya'll could provide some advice, thanks! :worship:

Basically, I've bought a Cosmos S and want to fit a triple radiator into the roof. I've seen the excellent review done by overclock3d where they list the models that'll fit, but the problem is that I have no idea which is the best one! I'll just be cooling an overclocked Q6600 for the moment, however I'll most likely end up cooling my current HD 4870 or the new HD 4870 X2 (if I decide I need the extra power!). I'd like the computer to be nice and quiet, so I guess I want a radiator that works well at low fan RPM?

So, out of these radiators, which would you choose as the best for me?

HWLabs BlackIce GT Stealth III
HWLabs BlackIce GT Xtreme III
HWLabs BlackIce Pro III
HWLabs BlackIce GT
Watercool HTSF 360
XSPC RS360
XSPC R120-T
Aquacomputer Airplex Evo
Aquacomputer Airplex Pro
Alphacool NexXxoS Pro III
Magicool Aluminium 360
Magicool Xtreme 360 Radiator
Magicool Slim 360 Radiator

Thanks very much for your advice, appreciated :-)

Hi Guys,

I'm in the process of building my first PC (most exciting I must say :)). I was thinking about jumping straight into watercooling and was hoping ya'll could provide some advice, thanks! :worship:

Basically, I've bought a Cosmos S and want to fit a triple radiator into the roof. I've seen the excellent review done by overclock3d where they list the models that'll fit, but the problem is that I have no idea which is the best one! I'll just be cooling an overclocked Q6600 for the moment, however I'll most likely end up cooling my current HD 4870 or the new HD 4870 X2 (if I decide I need the extra power!). I'd like the computer to be nice and quiet, so I guess I want a radiator that works well at low fan RPM?

So, out of these radiators, which would you choose as the best for me?

HWLabs BlackIce GT Stealth III
HWLabs BlackIce GT Xtreme III
HWLabs BlackIce Pro III
HWLabs BlackIce GT
Watercool HTSF 360
XSPC RS360
XSPC R120-T
Aquacomputer Airplex Evo
Aquacomputer Airplex Pro
Alphacool NexXxoS Pro III
Magicool Aluminium 360
Magicool Xtreme 360 Radiator
Magicool Slim 360 Radiator

Thanks very much for your advice, appreciated :-)

Personaly i would go for a crossflow rad with barbs at either end as its much easier to route hose in the Cosmos.

Black Ice® GT Stealth 360 XFlow or Black Ice® Xtreme 3 XFlow

XSPC also do an X-Flow

TBH a lot of those rads are actually the same - just rebranded. Personally I'd go for the Blackice GT Xtreme though. Used it in a few of my builds and its a nice rad.

So there's no real difference between the Stealth and the Xtreme in terms of performance?

On a different front... What do you guys think of Aqua Computer's gear? I've been eying off their Aquastream 'Ultra' pump and their 'Aquero' LCD monitor/controller... are they any good?

I'm building my first ever PC and I'm thinking about jumping straight into watercooling... Chose the Cosmos S specifically for this reason (I was going to go with an Antec P182, but then I kinda got hooked on the idea of coloured hoses and flashy readouts... shallow I know :rolleyes: Of course, the thought of a lovely quiet and cool PC attracts me as well! :))

As mentioned earlier, I'll initially just be cooling an overclocked Q6600, but will probably move on to cooling my GPU as well (most likely a HD 4870X2, eventually), and maybe various mobo bits (I'm using an Abit QuadGT and apparently they can run a bit hot...)

What would you recommend as a setup? Thanks guys, appreciate your help! :)

BTW, Coolmiester, your Cosmos Skulltrail build is awesome :yumyum:, really enjoying following it, you have some serious talent! :worship:

I am also pretty new to water cooling, but I think a 3x120 radiator may be overkill for *just* a CPU block.

Nothing wrong with planning ahead, just no reason to spend money until you need to... a 3x120 won't be enough to do both (I don't think) so pace yourself and save some $$$.

-EazzyTarget

I found my PA120.3 just enough to chill my CPU before heatsoak from the GTXs in SLi got to it and now with them in the loop too its getting toasty even at stock speeds in this weather (Sunny UK). If the PA120.3 (which is the undisputed best radiator) I think the ONLY choice for you are the BlackIce range because they are the best of your choices. I'm not too sure which will be best for your final cooling setup but I would assume the Extreme is the only way to go. I'd buy high output fans then control them to stop noise then when it gets toasty a few minutes at full should see the temps go back down.
I'm becoming interested in the AquAero and Multiswitch for my rig as the next step is 2x PA120.3 with 6x Yate SH fans plus case fans. Would be noisy if I had no control so I'm researching them as best as I can. It was between the Aqua stuff and the mCubed but it looks like the Aqua is winning.
Do keep an eye on projects for problems with kit though as its very useful.

crossflow will be hard to have the room for barbs go for black ice xtreme and get some good fans liek xilence or scyth

Im using the PA120.3 in my current rig which is also a cosmos S,you need to carry out a small touch of modding to get it to fit tho!

I am also pretty new to water cooling, but I think a 3x120 radiator may be overkill for *just* a CPU block.

Nothing wrong with planning ahead, just no reason to spend money until you need to... a 3x120 won't be enough to do both (I don't think) so pace yourself and save some $$$.

-EazzyTarget

im with this guy