New and Improved Watercooling Sticky - Post Your Systems Here

My Wife's PC, built into a Rosewill Cullinan case this past summer (Summer 2018). I did this as a custom hybrid hard/soft tube system. The hard tubing is glass and connects the permanent bits (such as radiators, pump/reservoir, flow meter, and custom soft-tube manifold), and the soft tubing is for ease of upgrading the CPU, Video, and something else since I have a spare set of QDCs in here just connected by a hose (this was originally meant for some Koolance MVR-40's for the VRMs and a chipset cooler, but the spacing was too tight in this case to make that work). I had to shoehorn these parts in here, but I like the end result and she's happy with it.

She's running a Ryzen 7 1700 @ 3.8GHz w/Koolance CPU-380 block and modified CPU-390 AM4 adapter, 16G Corsair RGB RAM @ 3000, reference Radeon RX480 w/EK full cover block and backplate, Asus Prime X370-A mainboard, WD 256G NVMe SSD w/EK cooler, 1TB 2.5" HDD (Back), Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 PCI soundcard w/expansion card, XSPC Photon v2 270 Pump/Reservoir, Koolance FM-16 flow meter, a Koolance DCB-FM01 flow meter display, and 2x XSPC 360mm copper radiators. The manifold blocks, the G1/4 extensions, and all the soft tube fittings and QDCs are 10mm ID Koolance. All of the hard tube fittings are XSPC 14mm and the glass tubing is Mayhems 13mm borosilicate. Coolant is Koolance UV Blue. Fans are 6x Corsair ML120 RGBs connected to a Corsair Commander Pro, and there is a small generic UV strip under the reservoir. All RGB slowly shifts between cyan and purple in conjunction with her headset, keyboard, and mouse (all Corsair RGB). Everything is synced by Corsair's iCUE software.

This PC is the second system using this hybrid glass and soft tube setup. I prototyped this type of setup 2 weeks earlier in my much roomier Cooler Master C700P system, which I will post next.

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Glass on - it's really dark and hides the bits I'm a little less proud of :)

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Straight-in open view so you can clearly see the tubing (most of it, anyways).

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At an angle to get a better view of how it looks - again, glass off.

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Front Panel
I feel like I need a flow diagram for that. I can’t decide if I like the manifolds or not. Definitely different.
 
I feel like I need a flow diagram for that. I can’t decide if I like the manifolds or not. Definitely different.
Looks like:
Top two: inlet from CPU and res/pump (supplied by top radiator)
2nd two: outlet to CPU and GPU
3rd two: inlet from gpu and ?
Bottom two: ???
 
Looks like:
Top two: inlet from CPU and res/pump (supplied by top radiator)
2nd two: outlet to CPU and GPU
3rd two: inlet from gpu and ?
Bottom two: ???
Yea, but path of least resistance...wouldn’t the water just bypass all the blocks and flow right down to the res?
 
It can't flow top to bottom - the block actually has 5 inlets, only the "front" 2 of which are open and they have the QDCs attached (the sides are plugs, and the back is a temperature sensor plug for each junction).

As for part routing, the very top and very bottom junctions (not QDCs) go to the hard loop (pump/res/rads/flow meter). In general, the QDCs are arranged in alternating male/female and female/male pairs - this makes it impossible to get the flow backwards when disconnecting and reconnecting components. Similar to nature, the coolant flow direction goes from male in to female :)

Starting from the top, the top 2 QDCs are CPU, GPU, and unused (just a plain looped hose). The unused pair was originally intended for a VRM and chipset loop that I could not actually fit into the case. If you look at my C700P case in the next post, I have an empty set of QDCs on my PC as well. This is because I HAD that same arrangement in there (and remember this was the prototype build for what she ended up with). When I replaced my Asus Prime B350 Plus mainboard with the Crosshair VI, I opted to leave the RGB blocks that came with the mainboard on instead of fitting the chipset and VRM loop to it, leaving that set of QDCs unused - the CPU connects to the block bit above the unused QDCs, and comes back in below that set, isolating that particular block bit. Flow is maintained, and I have room for future expansion :).

ASCII Flow Diagram:

Code:
                ___
Flow Meter --->|   |
               |  -|--- Temperature Sensor
CPU Block  <---|   |
                ---
                ___
CPU Block  --->|   |
               |  -|--- Temperature Sensor
Vid Block  <---|   |
                ---
                ___
Vid Block  --->|   |
               |  -|--- Temperature Sensor
*NC        <---|   |
                ---
                ___
*NC        --->|   |
               |  -|--- Temperature Sensor
Pump/Res   <---|   |
                ---

*NC = No Connect/Plain Hose

I'm thinking that next loop maintenace cycle on her PC, I'll replace that angle barb on her CPU block with a straight compression fitting (I was 1 fitting shy and had to substitute) and just remove the NC hose and shift the vid connection down to compensate - it should neaten up the interior a bit with it out.
 
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What is the temp difference between all those sensors?

On my system, currently at idle, they look like this...

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Note that Temp #3 is the disconnected set of QDCs from the C700P picture above, so that is the current ambient in the case. I'll post a picture of it under load in a little bit as I am gearing up to do some deinterlacing and encoding using MEGUI x264 and QTGMC on Season 1 of McHale's Navy...
 
Are the sensors actual WC sensors? Or are you using the stick on probes that come with some motherboards? I'm keen to see load temps, thanks.
 
Are the sensors actual WC sensors? Or are you using the stick on probes that come with some motherboards? I'm keen to see load temps, thanks.

They are Koolance 10K Ohm plug probes connected to the Commander Pro. Wife wanted to play some Smite, so my full CPU load temps are a bit delayed. Smite is not the most demanding game, but here it is while I'm playing with her (we're waiting for the next match to start)...

Screenshot (6).png
 
Temps under full load. This is taken during the aforementioned encoding job (about 2 hours into it, actually). I loaded up the graphics card as well with a continuous loop of the Heaven benchmark running on the other monitor. Although it is not shown in the overlays in the screenshot, the CPU core temp is 57C according to Ryzen Master.

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I was gifted a Dell PowerEdge R515 server, and I upgraded it from a pair of 4-core Opteron CPUs to a pair of 6-cores for all of $11. After adding 32G of ECC DDR3L and a PERC H700, my Media Center PC no longer has Plex Server, light database and File Sharing duties, and thus no reason to leave an FX-8350 running all the time. So, I retired it this weekend in favor of something with a bit lower power draw.

The trick is... I have a VERY limited budget to do this, essentially leaving me scraps to build with. Fortunately, my needs in a Media Center PC are modest. It only needs to be able to run Kodi, Hulu and Netflix, and the video acceleration duties will be handled by the same Radeon 260x that was in the now-retied FX-8350 system.

Parts left over from the FX-8350... Koolance RP-1000 5.25" bay pump/reservoir controller, 2x 240mm Koolance aluminum radiators, various fans of various sizes, the aforementioned Radeon 260x (with EK generic video block), Koolance CPU-380 block, FM-16 flow meter, and the digital read out for it. I also got a 360mm Black Ice copper radiator from Blackbird here on the [H] (for the cost of FREE+SHIPPING because it was cosmetically unattractive), and a bunch of fittings from the old system, plus some I have collected over the years of water cooling as a hobby.

I had an Asus Prime B350-Plus mainboard that I got back from RMA (unrecoverable from failed BIOS flash, had replaced it with a used Crosshair VI from this forum while I waited for Asus to process it 1 month later), and I had my launch R7 1700 that I upgraded my wife out of in favor of a 2700x CPU (yay, Tax Time!). I had 16G (2x8) of DDR4 that my cousin opted not to use in his build when he saw the TridentZ Royal sticks, and my kids have been running a Skylake i5-6600K w/16G of RAM.

Well, the kids are getting an upgrade to the Ryzen system. Being the overall least powerful system in the house, and the most energy efficient one as well, the Intel is getting Media Center duty. And those aluminum rads are getting retired, too. While I'm at it, I should get a more modern and attractive case for the living room PC, and so I got a Lian Li o11 Dynamic in black for $150 shipped from NewEgg (it was actually in stock when I looked, so I jumped on it). I figured I'd manage to make this Koolance bay unit work with it some sort of way, except DISASTER STRUCK and I dropped it breaking the plastic on the reservoir. That actually made things easier, because the RP-1000 uses a standard DDC pump on the inside. I * COULD * have bought a replacement reservoir for the RP-1000 for $30, but instead, I opted for a Barrow 135mm cylinder reservoir instead ($20), and gutted the RP-1000 for all of it's other parts.

Is it the prettiest build? No, but I'm pleased with it. This is what I came up with, ultimately re-purposing a bunch of stuff I had sitting around + ~$180 of new stuff (note that the pictures aren't the greatest because of where this system is in the living room, and that they do not show the 2x140mm fans at the top of the case):

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I should also note, in case it was unclear, that the Koolance electronics and pump are mounted on the back side bracket, behind the motherboard tray. That's where that little mess of white wires going from the Koolance display is going. The wires aren't very noticeable when I'm not using flash photography on them :). The pump is lower than the reservoir, and the reservoir drains directly into the pump IN, making filling super-easy. The radiator, being "inverted" with the drain on the bottom (with ball valve) should make it super-easy to drain as well come maintenance time.
 
Here's my dual system water cooled build. The bottom mATX is my Gaming system, and the ITX up top is a Plex Server/Streaming PC.

My gaming system has an 8700k @ 4.9Ghz (All Cores) @1.31v. 32GB of 3600Mhz DDR4 and a 1080Ti with a modest overclock (2025Mhz).

The ITX system has a 6700k @ 4.2Ghz (All Cores), with 16Gb of 2400Mhz DDR4.

Water cooling parts consist of two EK Supremecy EVO waterblocks. An EK 1080Ti waterblock. EK X-RES and then Alphacool NexXxos 360, 240, and 120 radiators.

While gaming, the 8700k stays between 60 - 65°C. The 1080Ti stays below 50°C.

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Here's my dual system water cooled build. The bottom mATX is my Gaming system, and the ITX up top is a Plex Server/Streaming PC.

My gaming system has an 8700k @ 4.9Ghz (All Cores) @1.31v. 32GB of 3600Mhz DDR4 and a 1080Ti with a modest overclock (2025Mhz).

The ITX system has a 6600k @ 4Ghz, with 16Gb of 2400Mhz DDR4.

Water cooling parts consist of two EK Supremecy EVO waterblocks. An EK 1080Ti waterblock. EK X-RES and then Alphacool NexXxos 360, 240, and 120 radiators.

While gaming, the 8700k stays between 58 - 62°C. The 1080Ti stays below 50°C.

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You did some great work there my brother!!!
 
Small Update, I painted my Noctua NF-A20 PWM fans black, looks much better now :)
...


I've been thinking about doing something similar with my M1. I've been surprised with the thermal performance of my 2070x at stock that I really haven't had to touch it though. The w/c itch is real though right now.. haha
 
Yeah, it does look good. I'm pretty tempted to try painting mine now.

Then good luck, every fan took me around 50 minutes with the brush to complete. But it's worth IMHO.

I've been thinking about doing something similar with my M1. I've been surprised with the thermal performance of my 2070x at stock that I really haven't had to touch it though. The w/c itch is real though right now.. haha

My GTX 1070 (bought in 2017) runs at 28°C idle and 36°C full load @ 2050 Mhz @ 0.993 V @ 170 watt power draw, I guess the RTX 2070 would be almost the same under water temperature wise.
 
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Here's my dual system water cooled build. The bottom mATX is my Gaming system, and the ITX up top is a Plex Server/Streaming PC.

My gaming system has an 8700k @ 4.9Ghz (All Cores) @1.31v. 32GB of 3600Mhz DDR4 and a 1080Ti with a modest overclock (2025Mhz).

The ITX system has a 6700k @ 4.2Ghz (All Cores), with 16Gb of 2400Mhz DDR4.

Water cooling parts consist of two EK Supremecy EVO waterblocks. An EK 1080Ti waterblock. EK X-RES and then Alphacool NexXxos 360, 240, and 120 radiators.

While gaming, the 8700k stays between 60 - 65°C. The 1080Ti stays below 50°C.

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Beautiful is all I can say :)
 
My wife's 3800x
- ekwb se 360mm rad (copper)
- ekwb velocity water block (nickel/copper)
- ekwb ek-xtop revo D5
- antifreeze coolant
- clear pvc tubes


My 3900x
- ekwb se 360mm rad (copper)
- thick 240mm rad (aluminum)
- ekwb velocity waterblock (nickel/copper)
- modtek silent pump
- antifreeze coolant
- black fuel lines
 
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My wife's 3800x
- ekwb se 360mm rad (copper)
- ekwb velocity water block (nickel/copper)
- ekwb ek-xtop revo D5
- antifreeze coolant
- clear pvc tubes



My 3900x
- ekwb se 360mm rad (copper)
- thick 240mm rad (aluminum)
- ekwb velocity waterblock (nickel/copper)
- modtek silent pump
- antifreeze coolant
- black fuel lines


For whatever reason, the pictures don't seem to be making it... though, oddly, I can see them in the quote space for this reply.
 
Soft tubing is just horrible..........HORRIBLE!!!

After seeing a few posts here.....I decided for PETG and also I'm not bending anything. Add and cut.....

RGB fans? NEVER!! That's where the line is drawn. Otherwise my PC is going to start "idendifying" itself as a barby doll house.

ZOMG!!! Your Video Card liquid block seems to be defective!!

Seriously though, looks nice.
 
This is my first watercooled build ever. It is also an ~$10K build. Insert references to the POS $10K desk. :D

You might wonder why I chose the 9980XE and not a Threadripper. First and foremost, I am an enthusiast, who also happens to have a job which requires multiple virtual environments. I am also (most importantly) a musician. And finally, I am a gamer. This rig does all of those things well and has no shortcomings in any area.

I was actually going to make this my first Threadripper system, but couldn't find a motherboard that had exactly all the specs I wanted; only Asus did, and it just so happened that I had to get a board from their Workstation line to fill that need.

As I discussed in quite a few threads over the years leading up to today, the idea was to build a system that was powerful, and most importantly, silent. With the advent of all these new powerful CPUs and GPUs, air cooling was completely out of the question. Additionally, I had a requirement to move the heat and noise OUT of the computer case and far away as possible. The only way to do this was to do watercooling, and to use an external radiator.

I'm proud to say that I achieved all of my objectives with this build. It's now in production, and I type on this as I'm writing this post. Without further ado, here are the specs.

CPU: Intel 9980XE
Motherboard: Asus WS x299 Sage Pro/10G
RAM: 128GB G Skill RGB Z
GPU: MSI nVidia RTX 2080 Ti Seahawk EK
GPU support bracket: CloverTale Graphics card support bracket
Sound: Sound Blaster Z PCI-E
PSU: Seasonic Snow Silent 1050W
Case: Fractal Define R6 USB C
Triple monitors: Asus PG279Q (x2), BenQ BL3201PH (x1)

I went with 1/2" tubing for my build. The watercooling specs are as follows:

Radiator: MO-RA 420 Pro
Fans: Noctua NF-A14 PWM fans (x18) <--- [yeah that's not a typo]
Reservoirs: Heatkiller Tube 150 (x2)
Pump: Watercool D5 Vario (x2)
Tubing: Mayhems 1/2" clear tubing
Fittings: All XSPC compression fittings
Valves: XSPC black chrome (x2) [for outlet]
Liquid: Plain distilled water, no color
Biocide: Mayhems Extreme biocide

This rig is SILENT when doing all daily tasks: development, music production, and gaming. It's truly amazing to play all my games with highest settings and still have the computer silent. Only problem is that my room gets slightly warm now. :D

Here are pics as I was building.

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Leak test.

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Stress testing. This was only one of the stress tests I did.

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Final and in production.

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I am about to build my second rigid loop and will use some parts from my current loop. So, before
i dismantle it I wanted to finally post pics here. Hope you all approve.
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Hehe, just noticed how it is a little dusty, please overlook. Also I never could get the bottom right rad screw to bite. Fitting a GTX 360 in this case was not easy, so that screw is just for looks.
 
The fans are noiseblocker e-loops. They were really highly touted a few years ago. I still think they are the best looking non-rgb fans. I just ordered and recieved a bunch of Noctua chromax fans, and I have to be honest. For the price I thought I would get more. Those E-loops came with sleeved cable extensions and a ton of accessories to fit different radiator configs including both short and long m4 screws so you could attach the fans and rad to the case in one go. Noctua's package included alot less. Dont want this to be a fan debate derail, just sayin)
 
The fans are noiseblocker e-loops. They were really highly touted a few years ago. I still think they are the best looking non-rgb fans. I just ordered and recieved a bunch of Noctua chromax fans, and I have to be honest. For the price I thought I would get more. Those E-loops came with sleeved cable extensions and a ton of accessories to fit different radiator configs including both short and long m4 screws so you could attach the fans and rad to the case in one go. Noctua's package included alot less. Dont want this to be a fan debate derail, just sayin)
eLoops are awesome. Some of the nicest sounding fans I've ever heard. They're quiet, but they sound like a nice "whoosh" and not whiny or choppy.
 
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