Water cooling kit Qustion

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DGMurdockIII

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 16, 2015
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IM using a AIO (all in one) water cooler now but I was wondering if there are places that sell pre complied or complete kits of parts so you can get everything in one go. Im asking because when AMD Zen CPU come out im going to upgrading my PC

and yes i do now that it if it dosent come with quick release connectors/ disconnectors that you should get those
 
I bought the EK kit, the L240. I love it. Very complete, ready to go. Great performance. Also, it saved over half the price by getting the kit compared to pricing the kit contents out individually.
 
alxlwson said:
I bought the EK kit, the L240. I love it. Very complete, ready to go. Great performance. Also, it saved over half the price by getting the kit compared to pricing the kit contents out individually.
Click to expand...

Careful when you make that comparison. Most of the time, much higher quality components are just a few dollars more than the components in the kit priced individually. So you're getting the illusion that you're getting a great deal, when you're really only just getting what you paid for.

My suggestion is that if you're serious about watercooling, then take the time to spec out your own components. You have plenty of time before your planned upgrade. If you're doing it just to dip your toes in the water, so to speak, then XSPC, EK, or Swiftech would be the primary choices. Though I am hesitant to recommend any of those three.
 
Tsumi said:
Careful when you make that comparison. Most of the time, much higher quality components are just a few dollars more than the components in the kit priced individually. So you're getting the illusion that you're getting a great deal, when you're really only just getting what you paid for.

My suggestion is that if you're serious about watercooling, then take the time to spec out your own components. You have plenty of time before your planned upgrade. If you're doing it just to dip your toes in the water, so to speak, then XSPC, EK, or Swiftech would be the primary choices. Though I am hesitant to recommend any of those three.
Click to expand...



EK Supremecy MX- $54.99
EK Coolstream PE 240mm rad- $61.99
EK Vardar F3 120mm 1850rpm (x2)- $17.99ea
EK ZMT 15.9/9.5 tubing, (2m)- $5.48/m
EK-ACF Fitting 10/16mm - Nickel (x6)- $6.49ea

Total without pump/res, coolant concentrate, and accessory kit is $202.86.
Add in those remaining items, you're well above the $225 the kit costs.

So, either you didn't do some reaearch and decided to talk out your ass, or you're confused with another product...
 
alxlwson said:
EK Supremecy MX- $54.99
EK Coolstream PE 240mm rad- $61.99
EK Vardar F3 120mm 1850rpm (x2)- $17.99ea
EK ZMT 15.9/9.5 tubing, (2m)- $5.48/m
EK-ACF Fitting 10/16mm - Nickel (x6)- $6.49ea

Total without pump/res, coolant concentrate, and accessory kit is $202.86.
Add in those remaining items, you're well above the $225 the kit costs.

So, either you didn't do some reaearch and decided to talk out your ass, or you're confused with another product...
Click to expand...
Black Ice Nemesis GTS for less does as good or better than the PE depending on review. Going to a Nemesis 360 is less than $5 more for 50% better cooling.
The Supremacy LTX included in the kit is a middle of the road-towards the back of the pack performer, other blocks in the $50-60 range can perform better.
PWM Gentle Typhoons are $20 each. Also, the fans included in the L240 kit are NOT the Vardar fans, more than likely they're cheap $5 sleeve fans.
The pump isn't worth more than half of the $67 MCP655, and the reservoir isn't worth more than the $25 Micro-Res. Coolant is cheap, you can get a $1 gallon of distilled water and a $5 killcoil.
Like I said, you get exactly what you pay for, nothing more, nothing less.
 
Tsumi said:
Black Ice Nemesis GTS for less does as good or better than the PE depending on review. Going to a Nemesis 360 is less than $5 more for 50% better cooling.
The Supremacy LTX included in the kit is a middle of the road-towards the back of the pack performer, other blocks in the $50-60 range can perform better.
PWM Gentle Typhoons are $20 each. Also, the fans included in the L240 kit are NOT the Vardar fans, more than likely they're cheap $5 sleeve fans.
The pump isn't worth more than half of the $67 MCP655, and the reservoir isn't worth more than the $25 Micro-Res. Coolant is cheap, you can get a $1 gallon of distilled water and a $5 killcoil.
Like I said, you get exactly what you pay for, nothing more, nothing less.
Click to expand...


You don't have a clue what you're talking about.
 

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Tsumi said:
Black Ice Nemesis GTS for less does as good or better than the PE depending on review. Going to a Nemesis 360 is less than $5 more for 50% better cooling.
The Supremacy LTX included in the kit is a middle of the road-towards the back of the pack performer, other blocks in the $50-60 range can perform better.
PWM Gentle Typhoons are $20 each. Also, the fans included in the L240 kit are NOT the Vardar fans, more than likely they're cheap $5 sleeve fans.
The pump isn't worth more than half of the $67 MCP655, and the reservoir isn't worth more than the $25 Micro-Res. Coolant is cheap, you can get a $1 gallon of distilled water and a $5 killcoil.
Like I said, you get exactly what you pay for, nothing more, nothing less.
Click to expand...

And you're also looking at the old retired kit.
This is the current kit:EK-KIT L240 (R2.0) – EK Webshop
 
alxlwson said:
And you're also looking at the old retired kit.
This is the current kit:EK-KIT L240 (R2.0) – EK Webshop
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Fine, must have missed the 2.0 in my searches. You get an upgraded waterblock and fans. However, the pump is still a weak as hell pump (DDC 3.1 6 watt pump, for reference the MCP35x is an 18 watt pump and D5 is a 24 watt pump) which basically limits your expansion, and the reservoir is cheap as hell.
It's a decent combo, but you're not getting as much value as you claim to be getting.
 
Tsumi said:
Fine, must have missed the 2.0 in my searches. You get an upgraded waterblock and fans. However, the pump is still a weak as hell pump (DDC 3.1 6 watt pump, for reference the MCP35x is an 18 watt pump and D5 is a 24 watt pump) which basically limits your expansion, and the reservoir is cheap as hell.
It's a decent combo, but you're not getting as much value as you claim to be getting.
Click to expand...

Those are the max capabilities of the pump. Wondering- How often do you run your pump at max voltage? Are you able to present numbers that show the pumps with the larger motors cool the system better? This, along with using the same rpm or voltage curves.
My FX8320 @ 4.5 is putting off far more heat than any relevant Intel processor on the market. If I still stay quiet, and sub 45°, then more pump doesn't matter, especially if I'm not even hitting 25% duty cycle on the pump.
Capability doesn't mean squat if you dont use it.
Its like buying a Corvette, but never going above 25% throttle. Why pay for a Corvette if you're not even gonna use what a Prius can offer?
Thats like buying an X99 playform to use MS Word.
Capacity doesn't mean better. Six Sigma.
 
I run my pumps at full throttle all the time.

It has been demonstrated that flow rates impact temperatures. 2012 CPU Water Block Roundup - Page 4 of 5 - ExtremeRigs.net

Additionally, the additional pump power allows for expansion i.e. GPUs, motherboard, more radiators, etc. That pump basically allows for minimal to no expansion without less than optimal performance.

I've been researching watercooling equipment for a long time, and built my system from scratch. I know my stuff.
 
As of right now, I don't need to run mine 100%.
I'm sure that will change with expansion. I will never return to multigpu. It's such a pain in the ass. So, that said, this pump will handle two blocks and two 240 rads just fine. I'm not gonna run 100% for a best case delta of 4°. Unless going on a suicide run of course:)
 
To the OP: I started water cooling 2 years ago with an XSPC kit. I was hooked very quickly and over the past two years I have replaced almost every part accept for the rx 360 radiator and the d5 vario pump. Nothing wrong with the kit at all accept for asthetics along with opting to add a radiator to cool my gpu. I dont regret buying the kit per say, but in hindsight I would have spent the extra cash to piece together a loop because in the long run it would have saved me hundreds. You will see the cpu temps from your AIO, you will see your cpu underwater and think the gpu looks out of place. You are going to want to tinker if you enjoy water cooling, might as well tinker from the start. This has nothing to do with the quality of AIO. I was quite happy with the performance of mine and it came with a great rad and pump.
 
Tsumi said:
Careful when you make that comparison. Most of the time, much higher quality components are just a few dollars more than the components in the kit priced individually. So you're getting the illusion that you're getting a great deal, when you're really only just getting what you paid for.

Actually you're paying for the time it took to think the kit out and assemble it. And the guarantee that the parts in the kit will work together properly, so long as your system fits the kit.
Click to expand...
 
For those with arguments against already compiled water cooling kits, you're right about research and quality and the like. Sure you can research and plan something much better yourself for similar price points or a little more or whatever, but you're ignoring the point of the kit to begin with. Not everybody has the same level of confidence you might to charge gung-ho into a project like this, and for those people, these kits are fantastic. They provide everything you need with no risk of leaving any parts out or having anything mismatched, they come with a book of very detailed instructions and over all offer a good level of assurance to a newbie to watercooling. They are a great stepping stone for a newcomer to 'get wet', learn a few things, build confidence, and they are a good platform to build off of.

My few cents anyway.
 
userfriendly said:
For those with arguments against already compiled water cooling kits, you're right about research and quality and the like. Sure you can research and plan something much better yourself for similar price points or a little more or whatever, but you're ignoring the point of the kit to begin with. Not everybody has the same level of confidence you might to charge gung-ho into a project like this, and for those people, these kits are fantastic. They provide everything you need with no risk of leaving any parts out or having anything mismatched, they come with a book of very detailed instructions and over all offer a good level of assurance to a newbie to watercooling. They are a great stepping stone for a newcomer to 'get wet', learn a few things, build confidence, and they are a good platform to build off of.

My few cents anyway.
Click to expand...

I didn't say don't buy pre-assembled kits. I just said know what you're buying when you buy those kits, and know that you aren't getting some super amazing deal that's 50% off their retail price. The cheap kits use cheaper components, and likewise, there are more expensive kits that use high quality components.

To once again use EK as an example, EK has a P240 kit which costs $125 more than the L240 kit. It justifies this cost because it uses the D5 PWM pump, a better CPU block, and Primochill instead of EK tubing (although the EK tubing is thicker, so this might be a bit of a wash).

Additionally, it isn't all that hard to make sure everything fits. Literally the only thing you have to do is buy same size fittings everywhere that fit the tubing. It was a different story in the past when things weren't standardized (some used G 1/4, some used G 3/8, etc), but everything today uses G 1/4. It isn't difficult to know that if you buy 3/8" ID 5/8" OD tubing, you need to get fittings that fit 3/8" ID 5/8" OD.

Forgetting to buy something... yeah, that is a pain. But these kits don't include everything you need unless you're doing a CPU only loop. And quite frankly, a custom loop for a CPU only is mostly a waste, unless you're a CPU bencher, or do something CPU intensive all day long.
 
By the way OP... Since you're talking about adding a quick disconnect and seem to value ease-of-use, have you thought about just picking up an EK Predator 360/240? Not quite the performance of a custom loop of course, but pretty close and you get the option to expand your GPU into the loop with a pre-filled block. Doesn't get much easier than that... Buy the Predator cpu cooler, buy the gpu block, install, done. If you don't plan on adding a GPU into the loop, I see zero reason to go with a custom loop (besides aesthetics) over a well performing all-in-one.

EK-XLC Predator 360 (incl. QDC) – EK Webshop

EK-XLC Predator 240 (incl.QDC) – EK Webshop
 
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alxlwson said:
EK Supremecy MX- $54.99
EK Coolstream PE 240mm rad- $61.99
EK Vardar F3 120mm 1850rpm (x2)- $17.99ea
EK ZMT 15.9/9.5 tubing, (2m)- $5.48/m
EK-ACF Fitting 10/16mm - Nickel (x6)- $6.49ea

Total without pump/res, coolant concentrate, and accessory kit is $202.86.
Add in those remaining items, you're well above the $225 the kit costs.

So, either you didn't do some reaearch and decided to talk out your ass, or you're confused with another product...
Click to expand...

Tsumi doesn't need me to speak up for him but I just had to jump in here and say you were unnecessarily rude. First of all, he didn't say, "don't buy a kit" or "you don't get what you pay for with a kit". He was responding to someone who said, "saved over half the price", which even by your comparison above would warrant someone with custom loop experience to say, "careful when you make that comparison". Was he _really_ out of line for telling the guy that he might do better for himself if he took some time and picked the parts himself? Really?

To add to the discussion, I've used AIO kits, I've built several custom loop systems, and I've used several closed loop systems. My first water cooled system was a Swiftech AIO. I immediately wanted to upgrade but had to just start over because the kit parts weren't really compiled with expansion in mind. Having said that, the EK kit looks like a great choice, if you're dead set on a kit. I'm about to jump back into a custom loop after being on a closed loop kit (because of lack of time at home) for a while.

Kits definitely have their place, as one poster said, for those that lack the confidence to jump into the deep end on their first go.
 
WarlordBB said:
Tsumi doesn't need me to speak up for him but I just had to jump in here and say you were unnecessarily rude. First of all, he didn't say, "don't buy a kit" or "you don't get what you pay for with a kit". He was responding to someone who said, "saved over half the price", which even by your comparison above would warrant someone with custom loop experience to say, "careful when you make that comparison". Was he _really_ out of line for telling the guy that he might do better for himself if he took some time and picked the parts himself? Really?

To add to the discussion, I've used AIO kits, I've built several custom loop systems, and I've used several closed loop systems. My first water cooled system was a Swiftech AIO. I immediately wanted to upgrade but had to just start over because the kit parts weren't really compiled with expansion in mind. Having said that, the EK kit looks like a great choice, if you're dead set on a kit. I'm about to jump back into a custom loop after being on a closed loop kit (because of lack of time at home) for a while.

Kits definitely have their place, as one poster said, for those that lack the confidence to jump into the deep end on their first go.
Click to expand...

Tsumi's comments were about a "kit" that is no longer in production, and hasn't been for a while.
I was the one who made the comment about the pricing, and it is true. Price out the exact parts that come in the kit, and compare the kit price to the individual pricing. It's very considerable.

As for you speaking on his behalf, I think he and I reached a mutual agreement, and it should be left at that. I don't feel I was rude, but perhaps a little harsh, and only due to him referencing the wrong product. An easy mistake by anyone, especially one who isn't a fan of the company.

EK released a new kit a week after I bought my L240 package. Its a great median between the Liquid and Extreme packages. I wish I had known about this pending release, because I would have waited.
EK-KIT P240 – EK Webshop
It is much more well rounded
 
alxlwson said:
Tsumi's comments were about a "kit" that is no longer in production, and hasn't been for a while.
I was the one who made the comment about the pricing, and it is true. Price out the exact parts that come in the kit, and compare the kit price to the individual pricing. It's very considerable.

As for you speaking on his behalf, I think he and I reached a mutual agreement, and it should be left at that. I don't feel I was rude, but perhaps a little harsh, and only due to him referencing the wrong product. An easy mistake by anyone, especially one who isn't a fan of the company.

EK released a new kit a week after I bought my L240 package. Its a great median between the Liquid and Extreme packages. I wish I had known about this pending release, because I would have waited.
EK-KIT P240 – EK Webshop
It is much more well rounded
Click to expand...

There's savings, yes, but not the greater than 50% savings that you claimed. You're saving at most $40, or less than 20%. Like I said, that weak little pump and that reservoir is not worth more than $40, and coolant is not a necessity, easily substituted for distilled water from the grocery store.

Likewise, the other kits are the same. They offer a small amount of savings, but not a substantial amount, and doesn't have the flexibilty of getting possibly superior (or more aesthetically pleasing) components from different vendors. There is no flexibility in buying kits.

@OP: If you're seriously considering custom loops, I highly recommend ditching that case. You're limited to a 2x120 or 180 mm radiator on top, 120 (maybe 140) on the rear, and 120 on the bottom. The case simply was not designed for flexible watercooling.
 
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