First attempt at custom water cooling.

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pandora's box

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So I've been thinking about diving into custom watercooling my rig. Looking at a monoblock (EKWB just released a monoblock for my X299 board) and water cooling my 1080 Ti. I used EK's configuration tool. Here's what it came up with. I changed the pump/resevoir combo from EK's recommended EX-XRES 100 (125ml capacity, 171L/h flow rate) to the EK-XRES 140 Revo (205ml capacity and 277L/h flow rate). Do I need 277L/h flow rate??

Let me know if you'd make any changes. How often would I have to drain the fluid and clean out the system? Any other tips or recommendations?

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You don't really need a huge flow rate - it will just make your pump bigger and noisier than it needs to be. You only need enough flow so that the water actually makes it though all your components, and if you are using 1/2" tubing you aren't going to have a lot of flow restriction.

You also don't need a huge reservoir - they are mostly for convenience in filling/burping, and looks.

The components you have picked out would be enough cooling capacity to keep a small four cylinder engine running. Not a bad thing, I'm just saying don't feel like you need to upsize any of this because you are worried about inadequate flow or cooling or reservoir space. AIOs, after all, use very small pumps and lines, and just rely on the elasticity of the tubing for reservoir capacity -- they aren't going to outperform this custom loop, but they aren't exactly slouching either. Water is a really good heat transfer media and a little bit of flow will go a long way.

Most of my systems - you make sure they are clean, you use distilled water and nothing funny, and I've never had to flush. When I tried to get fancy with some floro dye for a black light - that crap came out of solution and plated out on everything after about 6 months and I had a hell of a time getting it cleaned up.
 
Brian_B said:
You don't really need a huge flow rate - it will just make your pump bigger and noisier than it needs to be. You only need enough flow so that the water actually makes it though all your components, and if you are using 1/2" tubing you aren't going to have a lot of flow restriction.

You also don't need a huge reservoir - they are mostly for convenience in filling/burping, and looks.

The components you have picked out would be enough cooling capacity to keep a small four cylinder engine running. Not a bad thing, I'm just saying don't feel like you need to upsize any of this because you are worried about inadequate flow or cooling or reservoir space. AIOs, after all, use very small pumps and lines, and just rely on the elasticity of the tubing for reservoir capacity -- they aren't going to outperform this custom loop, but they aren't exactly slouching either. Water is a really good heat transfer media and a little bit of flow will go a long way.

Most of my systems - you make sure they are clean, you use distilled water and nothing funny, and I've never had to flush. When I tried to get fancy with some floro dye for a black light - that crap came out of solution and plated out on everything after about 6 months and I had a hell of a time getting it cleaned up.
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Cool, lots of useful info. Would you change any of this then if you were buying for yourself? I went with a larger reservoir for looks. I'm using a Thermaltake Core P3 case, a taller reservoir would look amazing in this case. Here's a pic of my rig currently:

38aF0YC.jpg



MorgothPl said:
I'd add backplate for that 1080ti.
Click to expand...

I'll take a look again on EK's website, but I don't think the MSI Gaming X 1080 Ti full cover block has a backplate option. I think you end up using the backplate that comes installed on the card.


Some more questions:

What's the best way to fill and test the system? Should I fill the system before mounting the blocks to the GPU and motherboard (monoblock)? Do I have to clean the blocks before filling? Are the EKWB Vardar fans the best to use with this setup? What about corrosion, do I have anything to worry about or look out for? What about a drain loop, should I set one up?

I think for my first watercooled rig I am just going to go with a clear fluid rather than messing with dyed coolant.
 
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The Rez you have picked out will look slick in there.

Nothing I see glaring in what you have picked out though- be thoughtful running the tubing, once it gets warm it will get softer. The issue there is if you have too tight of a bend anywhere it will just kink once it gets a bit warmer. It's very common coming out of GPU blocks right after the fitting if you aren't carefully about it. Clear PVC stuff is really easy to work with but it will have no structure or form of its own to speak of, particularly once it gets warmed up.

If it does happen, you drain, cut a longer piece of line, route it better and replace it. Once the tubing kinks, it won't break and you can straighten it back out, but it will always tend to try to rekink in the same spot later on. I have also used strain reliefs before where it's harder to avoid, or you can use stiffer tubing or pipe that won't kink (that stuff looks great but is an order more difficult to work with).
 
pandora's box said:
What's the best way to fill and test the system? Should I fill the system before mounting the blocks to the GPU and motherboard (monoblock)? Do I have to clean the blocks before filling? Are the EKWB Vardar fans the best to use with this setup? What about corrosion, do I have anything to worry about or look out for? What about a drain loop, should I set one up?

I think for my first watercooled rig I am just going to go with a clear fluid rather than messing with dyed coolant.
Click to expand...

For newbs, like you and me (even tho I go with EK aluminium kit) EK made a playlist about building a loop - even tho the movies about mounting blocks won't fit your setup - there is good info on how to fill and connect everything.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLURGpXub3CCCF2-bMLUKG8ZPgBHn47CBE
 
Great thanks man. I'm assuming the order should be Pump to CPU to GPU to Radiator to Pump?
 
How much fluid will I need for this setup? Looks like the reservoir is 205ml, looks like 1 bottle of EK Cryofuel makes 1 liter of fluid. Should I buy a second bottle?
 
Best way to fill and burp I've found -get everything installed.

Run just the pump (not the entire computer, don't boot it up) - either from the PSU with everything else unplugged or some other 12v source.

Fill your reservoir up - the pump should start pumping but it will make a lot of noise doing it, which is fine. Check for leaks here.

Once your res is as full as you can get it cap it up. Now spin your entire case upside down (if your res has a vent, pull it out and don't spin it as well - some common sense has to apply). Rotate the case a few times, you want to get the res above the other components, then back down below, so all the air can work it's way back to the res.

Refill res and repeat as needed until the pump quiets down and your no longer having to add water to the res.

The rad is the hardest thing to burp, and it will make a big difference in cooling capacity if you don't get all the air out of it. Sometimes, particularly on the triples, I end up pulling the rad out separate and just kinda rotating it around to make sure it's totally full.

It's a pain in the butt, but if you do it right, you only need to do it once with every fill up.

Some people like to leak test stuff before putting it in their computer, which is fine. Just realize that the fittings are the most likely thing to leak, and your going to have to unlock and reattach fittings to install, so your going to have a leak check sometime with your computer components.
 
pandora's box said:
How much fluid will I need for this setup? Looks like the reservoir is 205ml, looks like 1 bottle of EK Cryofuel makes 1 liter of fluid. Should I buy a second bottle?
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Rest of the system might use 200ml, depending on how long tubing runs you do. Rad is going to be the only other thing that holds a significant amount of liquid. *edit* and when you are done filling you do want to have some room in the res - ultimately you want it to end up about 3/4 full,
 
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pandora's box said:
Great thanks man. I'm assuming the order should be Pump to CPU to GPU to Radiator to Pump?
Click to expand...

Honestly if you have enough cooling capacity (and you should defnitely have enough), the order doesn't really matter that much. You have a res/pump combo and that is about the only order that matters - you want the pump suction to come off the res with as short a line as you can make it, but yours is internal so you have that covered.

Whichever component comes first after the rad will be the coolest, so if you can plan on whichever overclocked component you think will be more limiting. Your CPU or GPU might get up to 50/60/70 C (whatever it gets to for your load and overclock and what not) but the water won't get anywhere nearly that hot.

If only one thing is overheating, you have an issue with that waterblock mounting or fouling. If everything is overheating, then the flow has dropped (kinked line, bad pump, plugged line) or something up with the rad (air in rad, clogged fans, etc). The order you have stuff installed won't matter that much.
 
You can if you want to, but I would say you don't need to.

I ran an overlooked i7 920 and a 6970 on a single top mounted 240mm for years with one pair of fans. That's probably a similar heat load to what you are looking at, depending on your overclocks. Heck that system would run with the rad fans off entirely at idle and some lighter gaming loads - the air pull through from the PSU fan was enough.
 
My only concern is I have seen this i7-7820x pull over 400 watts during full load, that combined with a heavy overclock on the 1080 Ti, I am looking at 750 watts of cooling power needed. EKWB rates their 360mm rad at 580watts of cooling power.
 
A couple of thoughts about that:

Rad heat removal depends on surface area (which, ok, the manufacturer defnitely knows), the air temp, the air speed, the water temp and the water speed.

So that rad dumps 580W, but with what fans, with what pump, at what temps?

My point being, that 580W is just some marketing number. Koolance, for instance, rates their triple rad at up over 1000W -- odds are it's the exact same rad.

Does your CPU get too toasty with the current AIO you have in the pic? You do need to cool a GPU with the loop now, but you will have 50% more rad area, and probably 10x the pump flow rate of that AIO to do it it's.

Going with a bigger rad is one fix.

You can go with faster fans or push/pull with fans.

You can add as many rads in the loop as you want - a double up front and a triple up top, for example, might be cheaper than a quad and have more surface area to boot.

You can split the CPU and GPU into different loops. Don't do that with a single common pump though: you can share the res but each loop really should have its own pump.

If it were me, if budget isn't a concern at all sure get the quad rad. But honestly I think the triple would be fine, and even if you saw it struggle a bit, it's not a difficult thing to add another set of fans or another radiator later on.
 
The Thermaltake Core P3 can only support 1 radiator (up to 420mm).

This 360mm Thermaltake AIO with stock 120mm fans results in the CPU going to 86C (Thermal max for the skylakeX 7820X is 105C) at 4.8GHz. I feel the pump is fairly weak and may not be powerful enough for the 360mm rad.

I think I might just stick with the EK-CoolStream XE 360

Though I was looking at this 420mm 54mm thick radiator.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/blac...ore-xtreme-profile-radiator-red.html#Features

I like that it's red so it would match my case. Though it is thinner than the EK (54 vs 60)
 
For draining the system I was thinking this:

I was planning on getting perhaps a T splitter and ball valve and connecting to one of the ports on the radiator. I could then connect a small amount of tubing and hide it in the back of my case. That would probably be the lowest point in my system. Would this do the job?

99255aec_drain.PNG
 
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NIce, I'm in the process of building my own custom loop too....your thread is really helpful to me. Thank you.
PS: Did you order straight from EK? Also, how did you get a discount?
 
blarf said:
NIce, I'm in the process of building my own custom loop too....your thread is really helpful to me. Thank you.
PS: Did you order straight from EK? Also, how did you get a discount?
Click to expand...

I ordered directly thru EK's website. I was talking to someone on their online chat about my setup. I kindly asked for a discount code, they provided me with a 7% off code.
 
At least in EU, they got their delivery time wrong :p. They told me my a240g would be on Monday (went with cheapest delivery option - tracked DPD) and it's already here - they shipped on Wednesday.

Now to wait with installation till all my new Ryzen build parts arrive :)
 
IF you had ordered from PC-Performance, you'd get free shipping on all EKWB parts. Save yourself about $60

DId you also order the EKWB res/pump mounting plates? They won't work with the thermaltake one provided.
 
Hmm, so my order is still processing with EKWB, this has given me time to think about if I really need/want watercooling. My 7820X is maxing out at 82C at 4.7GHz @ 1.250 volts on a Thermaltake 360mm AIO cooler. My 1080 Ti runs @ 2GHz @ 1.0 volts at 68C while gaming with no throttling at all. What's watercooling going to realistically do to these temps? I imagine GPU dropping to 45C or so, and CPU dropping to maybe 70 - 75C. Skylake-X is notorious for running hot, it has a thermal limit of 105C, which I am no where near. Is this all worth the now $800 I am spending on a customized watercooled setup? I am starting to lean towards no and that if I did go with the custom setup, it would only really add to my build aesthetically. I'm not going to see any improvement in games. My rig is also very quiet too, and I question just how quiet this custom watercooled setup is going to end up being. I feel this is me once again trying to scratch an upgrade bug where I really don't need to.
 
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pandora's box said:
Hmm, so my order is still processing with EKWB, this has given me time to think about if I really need/want watercooling. My 7820X is maxing out at 82C at 4.7GHz @ 1.250 volts on a Thermaltake 360mm AIO cooler. My 1080 Ti runs @ 2GHz @ 1.0 volts at 68C while gaming with no throttling at all. What's watercooling going to realistically do to these temps? I imagine GPU dropping to 45C or so, and CPU dropping to maybe 70 - 75C. Skylake-X is notorious for running hot, it has a thermal limit of 105C, which I am no where near. Is this all worth the now $800 I am spending on a customized watercooled setup? I am starting to lean towards no and that if I did go with the custom setup, it would only really add to my build aesthetically. I'm not going to see any improvement in games. My rig is also very quiet too, and I question just how quiet this custom watercooled setup is going to end up being. I feel this is me once again trying to scratch an upgrade bug where I really don't need to.
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Aesthetics and silence is the main advantage of going with a custom loop. Air cooling can usually get you to 95% of the clock speeds that even custom water cooling will deliver.
 
Well, I'm doing custom loop, because my FE 1080 ti is loud as hell. Decided that instead of getting the new batch of AIOs (after 3 years my Nepton 280 is slowly dying), I'd rather pay for the loop - especially as EK launched their aluminium kit which is much cheaper than copper stuff.

Basically it's 350 Euro with 2 240 rads, pump, fittings, GPU full block, cpu and all other needed stuff. That's a price of 2 krakens, so I went with loop.

Yes, could go with air and get accelero xtreme. But where's the fun in that :))))))
 
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