1st Watercooling build EKWB

Joined
Nov 13, 2010
Messages
759
Looking to start watercooling sometime in the summer/fall. It would be my first time doing anything other than AIO/HSF.

Was looking in the EKWB kits and want a 360 rad like this one:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...4Z05625&cm_re=ekwb-_-2YM-0010-00018-_-Product

Main reason is that I'm not finding adequate cooling for a x700k proc.

I'm also very interested in this case as I very much like the look and it can support a 360 rad on top:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854039


Since I have no experience in custom water loops my main questions are:

How difficult is it to assemble a kit like that one from EKWB?

How reliable are EKWB products? Will I have problems within 5 years due to cheap metals?

Is that kit worth it at $300? Will I see significant temp improvements?
 
1.) Custom loops are very easy to assemble. The toughest part is planning components, and these EK kits take care of that for you. If you're only planning to cool your CPU, a 360 rad is pretty beefy. You could get away with a 240.

2.) EK is a good brand. Their aluminum kits are pretty new to the market, but are well-regarded and seem to be quality kits.

3.) $300 is a hell of a deal for a real custom loop with decent quality parts.

4.) I would advise against the Evolv. I'm a former owner myself. They're beautiful, well-made cases, but they have terrible airflow, and that is just as important to a water-cooled system as to an air-cooled one.
 
That's a shame, I've been eyeing that case for a while now. I currently have the Corsair 400c but it doesn't have the space I want for a rad and the airflow is not as great as well. Any recommendations? willing to go up to 200 for the case. Another question: in terms of cooling is having a better pump more important or a bigger rad?
 
That's a shame, I've been eyeing that case for a while now. I currently have the Corsair 400c but it doesn't have the space I want for a rad and the airflow is not as great as well. Any recommendations? willing to go up to 200 for the case.
If you have your heart set on the Evolv, you can buy replacement top and front panels that have CNC-milled openings to promote better airflow. I did that for mine. The trouble is, at that point you've spent as much as the entire case. (PM me if you're interested in mine; they're in good shape, I hadn't thought of selling them 'til now.) If you go another direction though, just keep an eye out for cases with good airflow and radiator support. Fractal Design might have some cases that would appeal to you aesthetically, given your thoughts on the Evolv.
 
Oddly enough the front panel is very appealing to me, but I can see why airflow would be a problem.

Apparently there are "Air Flow" editions:

https://www.caseking.de/en/phanteks...midi-tower-tempered-glass-black-geph-079.html

Kind of iffy about this as only this site that seems to be based in Germany are the only ones that have these. I do like the honeycomb cutouts though.
ModmyMods.com makes both a front and top panel with more generous cutouts, and they're based in the US. That's where I got my set.
 
Less visually appealing but probably promotes the best airflow. You are right about the price though, adding the top and front panel prices up would equal the price of a case. I have plenty of time to plan out the build though and might even think of going for a larger tower.
 
Another question: in terms of cooling is having a better pump more important or a bigger rad?
Sorry, I missed this part! It's a little more complicated than that, but I'll try and lay it out.

1.) There is a bare minimum flow rate for liquid cooling to be effective, and above that rate you're going to start entering the realm of diminishing returns. Pretty much any standalone PC watercooling pump will provide more than enough flow and pressure to cool effectively, excepting perhaps the super-cheap direct from China crap you see for $15 on eBay. Pump choice starts to become a concern when you have a massive exotic loop with things like multiple graphics cards, RAM blocks, etc - loops with more restriction than you'd see in a normal CPU+GPU loop.

2.) How much noise can you tolerate? A single 120mm rad will cool your CPU, if you don't mind your fan going super fast. Similar to pumps, you hit a point of diminishing returns pretty quickly on rad size: it soon becomes not a question of "how cool can this keep my components" but "how quietly can this cool my components." More and bigger rads mean a greater surface area over which to dissipate heat which means you don't need as much airflow to do it.

Does that schpeel make sense?
 
Yes, complete sense.

I guess to be more clear about my questions I have to be more specific with my situation. I'm currently trying to get to 5ghz with my 7700k. Can I OC that far? Sure, but i'd have to set it to close to if not at 1.4v and at temps I am not exactly comfortable with. Ideally I'd want 30c or lower idle temps with load temps of 60 or below during gaming.

I have been planning out a case switch for almost a year now since the 400c doesn't have the best airflow for my build especially with a 1080ti shoved in there. So my original plan was to get a better case, fans, and fix my psu situation by getting a modular one with sleeved cables. I would have either thrown my Corsair 110i in there or would have gotten their new 360mm rads.

I quickly realized I would be spending a bunch of money without any significant performance improvements. That's when I figured it was time to get into custom loops.

I also looked into delidding but that to me seems more of a daunting task than water cooling. I have read that temps go down significantly as much as 10c or greater.
 
What you're after is achievable, assuming your chip is capable of 5GHz to begin with. Not all are; some won't get that high regardless of how well cooled. It's a matter of chance.

Definitely delid. It's nerve-racking the first time, but it's not complicated. Special tools can be had that make the job very easy and low-risk. On a 7700k, the gains are worth it, especially if you're going to the trouble to put it under a custom water loop. I happily recommend the Rockit88 tool from RockitCool. James is amazing and well guide you through the process and answer any questions you have through email.
 
What you're after is achievable, assuming your chip is capable of 5GHz to begin with. Not all are; some won't get that high regardless of how well cooled. It's a matter of chance.

Definitely delid. It's nerve-racking the first time, but it's not complicated. Special tools can be had that make the job very easy and low-risk. On a 7700k, the gains are worth it, especially if you're going to the trouble to put it under a custom water loop. I happily recommend the Rockit88 tool from RockitCool. James is amazing and well guide you through the process and answer any questions you have through email.

Oh the chip can. I just wont leave it at that OC. Yeah ive seen some vids on the Rocket. I think what scared me the most was actually when he was putting the thermal grease and putting it back together. Ive looked up thermal grizzeley and it seems to be awesome stuff but also very dangerous, especially since it is conductive and it seemed very liquid y. And it seems like using something like regular arctic thermal grease wont yield the same results. Also the video I watched used crazy glue to put the lid back on. Basically anything that I have to put on the die that may kill the chip is very worrisome for me.

But if not for those concerns it seems like a very cheap way, assuming you don't break your chip, to improve cpu performance.
 
Oh the chip can. I just wont leave it at that OC. Yeah ive seen some vids on the Rocket. I think what scared me the most was actually when he was putting the thermal grease and putting it back together. Ive looked up thermal grizzeley and it seems to be awesome stuff but also very dangerous, especially since it is conductive and it seemed very liquid y. And it seems like using something like regular arctic thermal grease wont yield the same results. Also the video I watched used crazy glue to put the lid back on. Basically anything that I have to put on the die that may kill the chip is very worrisome for me.

But if not for those concerns it seems like a very cheap way, assuming you don't break your chip, to improve cpu performance.
It's scary looking, but as long as you're careful and methodical, it's definitely doable. If you're detail-oriented enough to build a custom loop, you can definitely delid and relid your CPU. =)
 
Oh the chip can. I just wont leave it at that OC. Yeah ive seen some vids on the Rocket. I think what scared me the most was actually when he was putting the thermal grease and putting it back together. Ive looked up thermal grizzeley and it seems to be awesome stuff but also very dangerous, especially since it is conductive and it seemed very liquid y. And it seems like using something like regular arctic thermal grease wont yield the same results. Also the video I watched used crazy glue to put the lid back on. Basically anything that I have to put on the die that may kill the chip is very worrisome for me.

But if not for those concerns it seems like a very cheap way, assuming you don't break your chip, to improve cpu performance.
People put arctic silver or some other quality TIM on the die instead of liquid metal all the time and temps are only a few degrees worse. Still a HUGE improvement over factory.
 
Yeah but thinking about it, if Im going through all of this I might as well go for it. At the end of the day I'm still risking breaking a cpu.

So I went ahead and ordered a delid kit that includes the relid. Figured I'd get one just in case they sold out.

Ive watched a lot of vids including Kyle's. If either of you have done it, what do you recommend on protecting the contact points. I've seen people use nail polish but I'm not sure what kind or if certain kinds are actually conductive. Would also like a recommendation on the TIM. The ones on the Rocket store are sold out.
 
Yeah but thinking about it, if Im going through all of this I might as well go for it. At the end of the day I'm still risking breaking a cpu.

So I went ahead and ordered a delid kit that includes the relid. Figured I'd get one just in case they sold out.

Ive watched a lot of vids including Kyle's. If either of you have done it, what do you recommend on protecting the contact points. I've seen people use nail polish but I'm not sure what kind or if certain kinds are actually conductive. Would also like a recommendation on the TIM. The ones on the Rocket store are sold out.
I did it freehand and I didn't put anything down to protect anything and I've had no problems with either of the 7700Ks that I did as well as my 7820X. It's really not a big deal like it seems as long as you take basic precautions and are careful. Pro tip, buy the plastic razor blades and use with isopropanol.
 
i have never heard of plastic razor blades. will have to look into those
 
Yeah I bought a few plastic razors for delidding purposes.

So my orders from Rockit are about to come in. Still nervous but more confident than I was a few weeks ago. Main concern are still those contact points, but I've decided to use nail polisher.

On the case, I'm beginning to change my mind about the evolv. Just not enough clearance/room for what I want to acheive. Looking at the corsair 600c now. A lot ton of space for a thick 360 rad on the bottom and just a ton of space in general for a cleaner build and good airflow. Only thing I don't like is how the window is on the right side.
 
So the rest of my rockit orders came in.

I ordered the full delid relid kit, then got the liquid pro tim with the copper IHS.

The whole process was quicker than I thought, but it was more difficult than I thought.

1. When I used the delid tool, instead of just nudging the intel IHS off like most videos I saw, it completely came off. That scared the S*** out of me. The original TIM was very dry and the whole block of it was sticking to the heatsink. Almost none of it was on the die.

2. Cleaning the gasket was a nightmare and the most difficult part of the whole ordeal. Plastic razors barely helped. The little toothpick with the edge end worked the best but even then it was a pain in the ass. It got everywhere and I spent most of the time cleaning all the little flakes. Did a poor job honestly.

3. Getting the nail polish was a great idea. It just gives you that peace of mind.

4. The Liquid metal was kind of difficult to work with. Personally I just cant get the right amount out, so I opted to squeeze it out on a napkin instead of the proc just in case. Spreading it was a nuisance. Blotches would form and I couldnt exactly get it flat.

5. I had to redo it. Yes, I had to delid twice because for some reason the vids I watched didn't apply the TIM to the underside of the IHS. So when I tried it the first time my temps were way up. I took the chance to apply more TIM than I did the first time and applied it to the IHS as well.

Here are my temps at 100 percent load running prime 95:

prime48.PNG


This would have been up to 90 before. Idle temps didn't change much. Maybe about 5c give or take.
 
Also I'm finding out I wasn't so lucky with this chip. It takes 1.4v just to make 4.8 completely stable. Gonna consider this chip my delid/watercooling test chip and just oc the hell out of it.
 
Congrats on a successful delid also I know the feeling. Several of us upgraded to 7700K and mine is the none 5Ghz chip...
 
Back
Top