First Time Custom Loop Builder: Critique my Plan/Parts?

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
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Hey all,

After waiting forever for Corsair to launch their HG10 N980 brackets, and then starting to think about customizing a couple of Swiftech H240-X kits, I finally came to the conclusion that I might as well just build a custom water loop.

I've always wanted to do this, but never gotten around to it, so why not start now? :p

I've been doing a lot of reading, and come up with the tentative build plan below. I would really appreciate any comments or feedback, especially from the perspective of me being a custom WC loop n00b.




Loop configuration

3x 140mm radiator up top in my Corsair 750D in push-pull blowing out.
2x 140mm monsta radiator up front in my 750D blowing out.
Pump/reservoir combo in drive bays.

I'm thinking of going with the following layout for the sake of simplicity:

Pump -> 2x 140mm Monsta -> GPU2 -> GPU1 -> CPU -> 3x 140mm -> reservoir -> pump

I had originally considered putting a radiator in between the GPU's and CPU, but everything I've read suggests that component ordering isn't a big deal, as the coolant moves fast enough and reaches an equilibrium where it isn't significantly warmer after a hot component, or significantly cooler after a radiator, so I decided that for layout simplicity's sake. Any feedback here would be appreciated.


Why I selected the components I selected:

CPU Block:
WC reviews are rather limited, but the EK Supremacy EVO seems to be performing the best in every test I have seen. Based on the fact that my chosen radiators are copper, I decided to go with the copper version rather than the nickel. I know Copper-Nickel doesn't have much in the way of galvanic corrosion, but better safe than sorry, right?

GPU Blocks:
I like the ability to reuse the water block Alphacool allows, so I don't have to break into the loop if I am upgrading GPU's and can save some money by just getting the full cover plate.

Radiator 1:
I have seen several reports of people fitting these up top in my Corsair 750D case, even though Corsair lists the max radiator size as 360 or 280mm. 30mm is the thinnest I can find, as I want to do push-pull, and I am hoping to avoid motherboard interference. I will need to do some closer measurements to make sure it will work. The GTX 110i I currently have is 26mm thick, and it is very close. Need to make sure I can squeeze in 4 more mm.

Radiator 2:
Wasn't originally going to go with the 86mm Monsta up front in the 750D, but it isn't THAT much more money than the more normal sized 280mm rads, and if I have the space, why not?

Reservoir/Pump:
Ive heard good things about Swiftechs pumps, and I like the drive bay reservoir design. I liked the original Maelstrom better because it had the coolant temp readout on it, but they ave been out of stock for a year now I think, so I don't have high hopes of finding one.

Push Fans
I selected Swiftech's helix fans as they receive positive comments on pushing a lot of air, and doing so quietly. I'm not entirely sold here, but they are my choice for now.

Pull Fans:
This one was easy. I have these already, and they look so pretty in my case :p

Fittings:
I didn't like the concept of barb fittings and zip ties, especially if I have to cut them off. Compression fittings seem like a more engineered solution and less like a hack. I'm not entirely sold that the fittings I have selected are the best, and would love some opinions. This being my first build, I am rather surprised at how much they cost. Usually hardware like this is dirt cheap. I get the impression this is the equivalent of expensive cables, for WC. I would appreciate any suggestions for cheaper compression fittings (but not so cheap they will let go and soak my rig :p )

Tubing:
I'm not that well informed on tubing. I selected this semi randomly Would appreciate any thoughts regarding alternatives.

Some questions:
  1. I see a lot of people using elbow type fittings between GPU's in SLI instead of just a short length of tubing. Is this a good idea from a performance / functionality perspective, or just for appearance? (those elbow fittings are surprisingly expensive, and I won't spend THAT much time looking at them)
  2. I'm considering two quick disconnects around GPU 2, so if I move to a single GPU in the future, I can easily cut the second one out of the loop. Good idea? I'm not 100% sure though, as they seem really surprisingly expensive.
  3. If I am using distilled water and PT nuke, should I also use a silver kill coil? Or maybe drop the PT Nuke and add a coil? Thoughts?
  4. Anything else I've missed, or beginner mistakes I have made? Are there things I am doing that needlessly add cost?

Much appreciated guys!
 
1. Primarily just appearance purposes.
2. Depends on how often uou change your GPUs, and whether you think the added cost is worth the time saved not needing to drain your loop. I would put the QDCs around the GPUs (before GPU1 and after GPU2).
3. I prefer a killcoil so that nothing needs to be added when changing coolant. Both are unnecessary.
4. I would pick a bay reservoir that supports the D5 pump.
 
Tsumi said:
1. Primarily just appearance purposes.
2. Depends on how often uou change your GPUs, and whether you think the added cost is worth the time saved not needing to drain your loop. I would put the QDCs around the GPUs (before GPU1 and after GPU2).
3. I prefer a killcoil so that nothing needs to be added when changing coolant. Both are unnecessary.
4. I would pick a bay reservoir that supports the D5 pump.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the comments!

2.) My thoughts here are that since the Alphacool full cover blocks are a hybrid design (water block usable with any GPU, full cover bracket separate and mates to water block) I will never need to open the loop if I switch GPU's I will just buy another bracket, and move the block. So, the only reason I'd need to break it is if I'm changing the quantity of GPU's. Because of this I'm thinking two quick disconnects allowing me to unplug GPU2, but keep GPU1 in the loop would be ideal. I just don't know if it's $60 in quick disconnects ideal :p

4.) What would you say are the advantages of the D5 pump?

NEW QUESTIONS:

5.) It is going to be very close from a fit perspective up top. If the 30mm rad in push pull with 25mm fans on either side DOESN'T wind up fitting, what would be my best second option?
  • Keeping 30mm rad, using it in pull only with 25mm fans
  • Keeping 30mm rad, using it in push only with 25mm fans
  • Keeping 30mm rad and 25mm fans on one side, and adding specialty slim 15mm fans (like these to the other?
  • Switching to an XT 45 45mm thick rad, and using it with fans in just pull?
  • Switching to an XT 45 45mm thick rad, and using it with fans in just push?

Thanks again!
 
Never mind.

I don't think I'm doing this after all. Every which way I try to get different parts, I wind up with an $800 loop, and I really don't feel like spending that much :p

WC loops are deceptive. No individual part is hugely expensive, but there are lots of them, and they all add up.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041832691 said:
...WC loops are deceptive. No individual part is hugely expensive, but there are lots of them, and they all add up.
Click to expand...

Yep. When adding everything up, your needs should be matching the bill. Rather choosing a tiny bit less power consuming components, and just use air, is probably best for most people.

Even for silence, cooling a 500W rig really silent with water, is just not possible with a usual rig. Quieter yes, silent no. It will be running cooler though. Pump noise and vibration is a b*t*h.

But you did use a GPU block which is crazy restrictive, that made little sense combining with mostly low-restriction parts, as a lot of your pressure would be devoted to the GPU.
 
Frode B. Nilsen said:
But you did use a GPU block which is crazy restrictive, that made little sense combining with mostly low-restriction parts, as a lot of your pressure would be devoted to the GPU.
Click to expand...

ahh, I did not know to look for this. I just tried to find some reviews, and the EK Supremacy EVO repeatedly showed up with the lowest temps.

I'm not pursuing this anymore, but just because I am curious, ideally parts should be of similar levels of restriction? How do you know how restrictive a given component is?
 
Yep, watercooling is expensive. Unless you're looking at used parts, the minimum you're going to spend on a barebones watercooling system is ~$350 for a CPU only loop, plus $100 per GPU. Then add in higher cost reservoirs, larger radiators, compression fittings, and you can easily get to $1000.

Ideally, you want to get the lowest restriction parts you can. Parts do not need to have the same restriction unless you want to put them in parallel.
 
Tsumi said:
Ideally, you want to get the lowest restriction parts you can. Parts do not need to have the same restriction unless you want to put them in parallel.
Click to expand...

It only matters if you are doing parallel like Tsumi said. To expand, what you care about in a normal serial setup is the total restriction of all your components because that determines the flow of your system.
 
OP:

Did you end up pulling the trigger and building? Would like to see pics.

I just went from AIO to full custom loop too, my first ever attempt.

To address some things you mentioned / things I learned...

I went with flexible tubing all around, 1/2" ID 3/4" OD. It's big and can be hard to route. I would like to rebuild with 3/8 ID 1/2" OD and see if it looks better and if temps change. I also would like to water cool both banks of RAM (just because I think it would look cool) but there is no way I could do this with the big tubing and also would possibly have to throw out the top rear 120mm rad as well.

All 3 of my water blocks (1 x CPU 2 x GPU) are EK. I like them. However, the GPU block is disassemble able (if that's a real word), the GPU blocks are not. The CPU block comes with various "inserts" (baffle type plates) that are each different and optimized for a different type socket CPU. Unfortunately, it came from the factory with the one for my socket (2011-v3) NOT installed. And I didnt feel like taking it apart so I just ran it as is, which probably costs me 2C or so in higher CPU temps. It also came with some "weird" (to me anyway) replacement for CPU thermal paste, the EK indigo or whatever its called:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZsWpou43vY

This guy really liked it but I didnt even attempt it, just used good ole Arctic Silver 5.

I went with the short piece of tubing between the video cards:

To me, this is simpler and better looking than the plastic "blocks" you can buy.

For fluid I went with just normal over the counter distilled water. To color it, I went with Meyham (sp?) dye. In the first build through (towards the bottom), I mixed red and blue dye and ended up with purple water. For the final build, I just used the red dye only.

I went with a res/pump combo unit by Thermaltake. I found it to be simpler and better looking than the alternatives. The pump is also adjustable for flow rate with speed settings from 1-5 (5 being approx 1100 L/h). It came set to 5 and I left it there. After much testing, I ended up turning it down to 3 because at 5 there was some vibration noise as well as some "whistling" that I never could rationalize. At 3, the system is near silent and the temps literally did not change from 5 to 3. (The bubbles in this pic are the tiny ones inside the res that you get when you first fill and prime the system. They all disappear after running the system with the res uncapped for about 24 hours):


Some of the sections were hard to route:


That fitting in the top right corner of the pic, connecting the top 360mm rad to the front 420mm rad required one 45 degree and one 90 degree and a very short piece of tubing in between to make work.

Another thing I learned about fittings, some are out right shit. For example, this was my fist build thru, when I didnt have any 45's or 90s:


You can see I had to use a very long looped piece of tubing to connect the top rad to the front rad, which I later replaced with the setup in the previous pic. You can also see in the SLI connection that I can not screw down the compression part of the fitting. Those were BitsPower Premium compression fittings and all of them (I had about 8) simply would not work right. The barb part of the fitting is slightly bigger than the EK compression fittings (which worked perfectly) so they force the outer diameter of the tube to expand to the point that it is near impossible to get the outer part to screw down onto the threads. I guess the one plus side of this would be that the tubing was so hard to get onto the barb, that there is no way it was EVER going to pop off under pressure even with the compression part not screwed down :) But I ended up throwing them all out and replacing them with EK fittings and some random brands for the 45/90s.

Something else I learned was the the barbs have to be screwed VERY tightly into the radiators and water blocks, but especially the radiators. My experience with working with aluminum is limited to building radio controlled cars only. With those, whenever working with aluminum parts you have to be very careful NOT to over tighten things or you will strip the aluminum part and ruin the threads, requiring now a bigger screw or throwing the part out. So initially I was afraid to really wrench down the barb into the radiators especially. When I first fired up the system, I had 2 x leaks. Both were from a barb not being screwed tight enough into the radiator. Also there is no really "good" way to tighten the barb into the radiator that I could see. I used metal vice grips to get them real tight (which stopped all he leaks) but slightly buggered up the threads on the bars. This didnt matter much since the compression part of the fitting screwed down with no problems on top of it (except for those crappy BitsPower ones I mentioned) and covered up any visual evidence of me scuffing the threads. I believe there is such a thing as pilers with rubber jaws, though sadly I didnt have any on hand.

Overall, I like the looks and performance. I went with a lot of fans all set at very low RPM, approx 600-800 using Asus Fan Xpert. I chose the "slim" versions to further reduce perceived nose. The system is almost dead silent at idle AND during gaming. Performance is not nearly as good as what I would get with full size fans running at 1500+ RPM. My temps under extended heavy gaming are:
CPU 60
GPU Top 52
GPU Bottom 50

Running Asus Realbench on an infinite loop to max out the CPU load for a long time also produces a constant CPU temp of 64-65. The low RPM fans will spool up from their idle speed of under 800 rpm to about 1100rpm automatically under Asus Fan X Pert to attempt to keep the CPU always at 64-65C.

Idle temps are CPU 41-43, GPUs 35-36.

One comment about temps are that "everything" else often gets hotter in a custom loop setup. My ram gets hotter, my mobo gets hotter, my PCH and VRM get hotter.... Why? Because of that big front mounted 420mm radiator dumping warm air INTO the case. With my previous AIO setup, the only radiator was the top mounted Corsair H110i GT and that of course exhausted the hot air OUT of the case. Naturally my top 360 and rear 120 vent their warm air overboard, but still that front 420 is constantly pumping warm air into the case where in the old setup the 3 x front intake fans I was running were pulling in cool air.

I'm ok with these numbers as my main focus was silence combined with looks:


The Phoyba (sp?) RGB LED strip w/ remote really makes the whole thing look a lot better (IMO anyway) and was definitely worth the money.

I got nearly all my parts from performance-pcs:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/blac...-stealth-u-flow-low-profile-radiator-red.html

(The pump/res unit and the Thermaltake LED fans I get from newegg and amazon).

Enjoy your build and please share pics when you are done.
 
Last edited:
@Skypine27
Were your o-rings in good shape? I've never had to wrench down on a fitting to get it to seal properly, haven't had a leak in the 4-5 months I've been running the loop. I generally just tighten until the fitting/barb stops against the part--I never continue once it reaches that point, not even a mm more. At one point I was even running the loop with a fitting not tightened down all the way, because it wasn't a rotary fitting and I didn't have any to replace it that would fit, and even that didn't leak.

@Zarathustra[H]
Seems like a good plan. Can't comment on the compression fittings, cpu/gpu blocks, or pump/res--don't have'em. ACool's radiators perform pretty well, though I don't have one of another brand that's a similar size to compare them to. My 280x45 rad does well to keep my CPU under 55/60C loaded up.

I can't recommend Corsair fans--the ones that came with my H80i were loud, and didn't perform well on that rad. That may have just been bad pairing, but the JetFlo's that I got to replace them were much better. That said, I haven't used any of their 140mm fans, so they may be better. Rosewill's Hyperboreas are really good fans (for the day that I've had them). They're (what I'd consider) silent at <1000rpm, and you can really feel them pulling air through the rad.

The D5s pump I got used here on [H] is really quiet--would be silent if it wasn't mounted without a rubber silencer to the side panel. If you can afford the little extra space that they take up, they're worth it, IMO.

Most importantly, have fun! ;)
 
I prefer the sound of the D5 pump over the DDC units. If you get a D5 get a Vario or PWM version. I love the EK Xres Revo 140 in mine.. dead silent at 50% speed 2,300rpm..I bought the bracket that holds the pump and added some rubber isolators to the bottom of it. The Revo has some rubber isolation around the motor as well so very little vibration feeds through.. if any.

 
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