Water cooling noob takes on another custom loop

[mnewxcv]

*for the latest 2nd build, jump to page 4. The first few pages feature my ITX custom loop. If you want to see the second build with the ATX case, page 4 is where it starts! Enjoy.


So I got it in my head that an ITX build would be cool. Not only that, but I wanted it to be really powerful in as small a form factor as possible. I went with a ryzen 3950x and an rtx 3090 in a lian li tu150.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Cooling is an issue. At first I thought I could mitigate the problem with an undervolt on the GPU, and that worked sort of, but I went with an h80i v2 for the 3950x and it seems that aio is being overwhelmed with the 3950x heat plus the intake temps caused by the 3090 aren't helping. The current setup:

The gpu is plenty cool, no issue there whatsoever, it is the CPU that is choking, and for full system loads (100%+100%) I have to have cpu boost disabled and run it at a locked frequency, and leave the side panel off. So I should have gone custom loop in the first place, but live and learn. (h80i v2 in the for sale forum, one week old )


So I am going to see how I do with a custom loop for the CPU only, with the idea that the loop is upgradable and expandable so maybe down the line I will integrate the GPU into the loop. Anyway, I ordered a bunch of stuff to do a cpu only loop to start and see if it is enough.

In addition to what you see, I added some 90 degree fittings and an acrylic extender to act as a fillport since I am going without a res due to space constraints. Let me know if you see me overlooking something. So I went with a 45mm full copper radiator which should be an upgrade over the aluminum one of the h80i v2, an XSPC copper waterblock, and a DDC310 pump with top and mount. I went with the monsoon free center fittings and 7/16 x 5/8 tubing because they were on clearance, so I think I got a good deal and I should have enough for anything I do with this system.

Do you think the single 120mm 45mm thick copper rad with a push fan is enough for the 3950x? My other thought was if it isn't, after running through the rad in the rear, run through another 120mm rad in the front. Thoughts?

And coming from the AIO, I didn't have to think about pump placement. Now I have to find a spot for the pump, which is roughly 80mm x 80mm x 80mm. I'm thinking mount it to the ceiling of the case to the left of the power supply, basically over the memory so it's inlet and outlet ports face the rear of the case and can 90* down to the cpu block and rad, and use either the top or side inlet for the fillport.

That's all for now, I will post back when I get some parts in the mail and start seeing how things fit together.

 

[pendragon1]

cool story, "welcome" to sff...
i see this over and over. "im gonna jam the highest end stuff into the smallest box itll be awesome!! ahhh, whys it so hot!?!?

 

[mnewxcv]

cool story, "welcome" to sff...
i see this over and over. "im gonna jam the highest end stuff into the smallest box itll be awesome!! ahhh, whys it so hot!?!?

thanks for the welcome. I think part of it is I just tried to get away with an inadequate cooling solution for a 16 core CPU, regardless of the case. Hoping the copper rad improves things!

 

[Epos7]

Nice! I'm in the planning stages of something similar. I'll be using a 3080 and either my 3900X or a 5900X.

You might want to check out Optimum Tech's video's on YouTube. He tried doing a 3090 + 5950X in a custom loop with a 240mm rad, and it didn't work. Not enough cooling capacity:

My Dream PC Build Failed - 5950X + 3090 in 9.5L - YouTube

He had much better luck in a subsequent build using 2 x 240mm rads, which is my plan.

 

[VirtualMirage]

Based on my own small build experience, attempting to put such high power hardware and cooling in such a small space is fun yet frustrating, challenging yet rewarding, and different.

I am concerned that the 120mm radiator is still going to be limited, especially with just a single fan. Sometimes I question whether my 240mm x 54mm radiator is enough (maybe it is just in my head), but that is because I am in a push only configuration and I try to run my fans so that they are quiet. Also, I am a stickler for cool running CPUs, not being used to the Ryzen high core count heat load since I came from just a quad core i7 6700K. I would do a push/pull if I had room, but I don’t. For you, I’d recommend at minimum a push/pull if there is room with a radiators that size.

Also, if you haven’t planned to already, you might want to consider reversing the fans so that it intakes air from the rear and exhausts air out the front. With the front fan being so close to the 3090 fan, you might be able to extract much of the heat it exhausts directly out the front before it even gets a chance to heat up the rest of the case.

My other concern would be the radiator fans sucking the exhausted GPU air from the back and pulling it back into the case, especially since heat rises. But it would probably be cooler than the air it is sucking from within the case. Maybe devise a little divider on the back between the two so that the fan sucks in less of then GPU exhaust.

Keep in mind the pump you ordered puts out heat inside the case, it doesn’t get cooled by the coolant. Also, if you can find the room, a reservoir wouldn’t be a bad idea. It will make filling and monitoring coolant levels easier and will increase your heat soak capacity a little. It won’t make your system run cooler, it just gives more coolant that would need to be heated up. And like a pot of water, 1qt of water in a pot takes less time to reach boiling temps than 2qts of water in the same pot. But it will eventually reach the same temps.

 

[VirtualMirage]

Nice! I'm in the planning stages of something similar. I'll be using a 3080 and either my 3900X or a 5900X.

You might want to check out Optimum Tech's video's on YouTube. He tried doing a 3090 + 5950X in a custom loop with a 240mm rad, and it didn't work. Not enough cooling capacity:

My Dream PC Build Failed - 5950X + 3090 in 9.5L - YouTube

He had much better luck in a subsequent build using 2 x 240mm rads, which is my plan.

I liked his idea of using a reservoir with the quick disconnects to help prime the loop and flush out air bubbles, then reconnect the quick disconnects to the loop without the reservoir when done. I might have to consider that as a method to use if I decide to keep my GPU and CPU on separate cooling loops and there isn’t room for another reservoir (providing I can make room for a second pump).

 

[Endgame]

Nice! I'm in the planning stages of something similar. I'll be using a 3080 and either my 3900X or a 5900X.

You might want to check out Optimum Tech's video's on YouTube. He tried doing a 3090 + 5950X in a custom loop with a 240mm rad, and it didn't work. Not enough cooling capacity:

My Dream PC Build Failed - 5950X + 3090 in 9.5L - YouTube

He had much better luck in a subsequent build using 2 x 240mm rads, which is my plan.

I skipped a few parts of the video - does he ever call out the actual coolant temp? Rads get more efficient as the water temp climbs, so that is working in his favor. The water temp was likely high, but I'd be curious to know how high. I also saw that he was limiting fan RPM to 1500 rpm - if you want to use that little rad for those parts, time to slap some 5000 rpm deltas in there (like these: https://www.performance-pcs.com/fan...speed-pwm-fan-252-8-cfm-fn-pfc1212de-pwm.html). With high power fans, you can just set a target coolant temp and let the fan climb as high as it needs.

 

[Nobu]

If you can fit a 60mm rad and the pump, I would try. Of course, if the 45 isn't enough, you could get the 60 later and have them both (if they fit, that is). Depends on how you want to do it.

 

[Epos7]

I skipped a few parts of the video - does he ever call out the actual coolant temp?

Don't think so. In a subsequent video he mentioned plans to make a video specific to using the coolant sensor to dial in the loop, but I don't think it's up yet.

 

[Epos7]

I liked his idea of using a reservoir with the quick disconnects to help prime the loop and flush out air bubbles, then reconnect the quick disconnects to the loop without the reservoir when done. I might have to consider that as a method to use if I decide to keep my GPU and CPU on separate cooling loops and there isn’t room for another reservoir (providing I can make room for a second pump).

Yeah, that is pretty sweet! I'm borrowing his QD placement from his NCASE loop also - QDs on the side rad to allow removal and access to the motherboard.

 

[Kardonxt]

I would try swapping your rad fans to be intakes and make the front fan an exhaust before anything else.

How bad are your temps exactly, are you experiencing throttling?

A custom loop may get your temps down a few degrees but it isn't going to work wonders. In my experience high end rads don't tend to perform incredibly better than chintzy ones. Surface area is much more important and 120mm may just not be enough. I would plan on adding a second rad from the start or just upgrading to a case with room for a 240.

 

[mnewxcv]

Nice! I'm in the planning stages of something similar. I'll be using a 3080 and either my 3900X or a 5900X.

You might want to check out Optimum Tech's video's on YouTube. He tried doing a 3090 + 5950X in a custom loop with a 240mm rad, and it didn't work. Not enough cooling capacity:

My Dream PC Build Failed - 5950X + 3090 in 9.5L - YouTube

He had much better luck in a subsequent build using 2 x 240mm rads, which is my plan.

Thanks for the link, I just watched. He is really asking a lot of that 240mm rad, I didn't get the specs but curious how thick it is and what size fans as well, since a lot of the 15mm fans have lousy static pressure. IF I integrate the 3090 in the loop, I could then fit a slim 240mm rad in the bottom of the case. There is no way to fit one with the GPU in full form, nor would I consider bringing the GPU into the loop without 240mm of extra rad, minimum.

Based on my own small build experience, attempting to put such high power hardware and cooling in such a small space is fun yet frustrating, challenging yet rewarding, and different.

I am concerned that the 120mm radiator is still going to be limited, especially with just a single fan. Sometimes I question whether my 240mm x 54mm radiator is enough (maybe it is just in my head), but that is because I am in a push only configuration and I try to run my fans so that they are quiet. Also, I am a stickler for cool running CPUs, not being used to the Ryzen high core count heat load since I came from just a quad core i7 6700K. I would do a push/pull if I had room, but I don’t. For you, I’d recommend at minimum a push/pull if there is room with a radiators that size.

Also, if you haven’t planned to already, you might want to consider reversing the fans so that it intakes air from the rear and exhausts air out the front. With the front fan being so close to the 3090 fan, you might be able to extract much of the heat it exhausts directly out the front before it even gets a chance to heat up the rest of the case.

My other concern would be the radiator fans sucking the exhausted GPU air from the back and pulling it back into the case, especially since heat rises. But it would probably be cooler than the air it is sucking from within the case. Maybe devise a little divider on the back between the two so that the fan sucks in less of then GPU exhaust.

Keep in mind the pump you ordered puts out heat inside the case, it doesn’t get cooled by the coolant. Also, if you can find the room, a reservoir wouldn’t be a bad idea. It will make filling and monitoring coolant levels easier and will increase your heat soak capacity a little. It won’t make your system run cooler, it just gives more coolant that would need to be heated up. And like a pot of water, 1qt of water in a pot takes less time to reach boiling temps than 2qts of water in the same pot. But it will eventually reach the same temps.

I'm hoping to see a performance increase with the copper rad and new water block, and also going to get some higher static pressure fans and gaskets. The thermaltake riing fans I have in push pull are supposedly radiators fans, but I'm leaning toward gentle typhoons, one on the rad, one as case intake. I'm not opposed to sticking a fan on the back of the case (outside) to enable push pull of necessary. I took some measurements beforehand, but really I just need to see how this stuff all fits together to decide what I want to do. I don't think push/pull will fit inside the case without interfering with cpu block fittings. I did get a block that is square and therefore can be rotated 90* for this reason, as a last resort. I don't want to have the CPU heat inside the case, mainly because I want to OC it, and 16 cores OCed is a lot of heat applied to motherboard, SSD, power supply, etc, and if not OCing, still a lot of heat to make the smallest fan ramp up, the PSU fan. I know the 3090 dumps a lot more heat than the 3950x, but I set a custom fan curve to run the 'exhaust' fan on the 3090 at 70% while the passthrough fan is at 30%, to reduce heat in the case. It was worth a few degrees of CPU temp. Like you said, I think intaking from the back would be a lot of hot air from the GPU exhaust as well. As for the pump, I'm glad it doesn't dump heat into the loop since it will be less load on the rad. I am planning to mount to the ceiling so that it radiates up rather than in the path of airflow to the rad. If you can find room in my case for a res, please let me know, but with possible plans of a front rad in the future, there isn't a whole lot of space without completely disrupting airflow. Going with 11mm ID tubing instead of 10mm should give me 10% more coolant though, so that is a little more heat capacity. I am using a clear 15mm g1/4 extender as a fillport/res so I can make sure the loop has enough fluid all the time.

If you can fit a 60mm rad and the pump, I would try. Of course, if the 45 isn't enough, you could get the 60 later and have them both (if they fit, that is). Depends on how you want to do it.

I took measurements and without the actual parts some of it was guessing and eyeballing, but I don't think I can squeeze a 60mm rad plus a 25mm fan inside the case, but even if I could, I think the 45mm rad with 2 fans in push pull would be a bit better than the 60mm rad with a single fan. With that, if I find I can fit fans in push pull on the 45 and therefore have room for the 60, I can move the 45mm rad to the front and add a 60mm to the back. I'll have some more insight once the parts show up.

I would try swapping your rad fans to be intakes and make the front fan an exhaust before anything else.

How bad are your temps exactly, are you experiencing throttling?

A custom loop may get your temps down a few degrees but it isn't going to work wonders. In my experience high end rads don't tend to perform incredibly better than chintzy ones. Surface area is much more important and 120mm may just not be enough. I would plan on adding a second rad from the start or just upgrading to a case with room for a 240.

For the reason above, that the 3090 exhausts air outside the case right below the rear case fan, I don't think setting the rear to intake would help much. If temps are still bad with the new gear, I might rework it to be a front mount radiator instead of rear, but at that point I think I would just add a second rad rather than move it. In terms of temps, CPU temps doing something like cinebench were about 85C stock. Doing GPU intensive programs like renders and machine learning, CPU temps increased about 10C. That would be TJMAX with both cpu and gpu fully loaded. Setting the cpu to 3.8ghz at 1.1v dropped temps about 10c or so. I've made a lot of changes so I forget which results were with the side panel before taking it off full time. Right now the rad is completely outside of the case with push pull fans and is about 5c cooler than it was inside the case with the side panel off, so like 70-72C 3.8GHz 1.1v 100% load. I'm ordering some higher CFM/static pressure/RPM fans so they should be better all around at getting fresh air to and from the rad. I'll know soon enough!


Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'll definitely post back with results.

 

[Epos7]

Thanks for the link, I just watched. He is really asking a lot of that 240mm rad, I didn't get the specs but curious how thick it is and what size fans as well, since a lot of the 15mm fans have lousy static pressure. IF I integrate the 3090 in the loop, I could then fit a slim 240mm rad in the bottom of the case. There is no way to fit one with the GPU in full form, nor would I consider bringing the GPU into the loop without 240mm of extra rad, minimum.

Looks like an EK block. From the side profile I'm guessing it's the CoolStream Classic PE (28mm thick). He's using 15mm Noctua fans, which have a surprising amount of static pressure for their size, but not as much as you'd get with a good 25mm fan. In any case, it's obviously too much to ask of the single radiator. It would be interesting to see if a thicker radiator and fans in a setup like that would make a significant difference, or if another radiator is needed to extend the coolant path and allow for more heat transfer.

 

[mnewxcv]

Looks like an EK block. From the side profile I'm guessing it's the CoolStream Classic PE (28mm thick). He's using 15mm Noctua fans, which have a surprising amount of static pressure for their size, but not as much as you'd get with a good 25mm fan. In any case, it's obviously too much to ask of the single radiator. It would be interesting to see if a thicker radiator and fans in a setup like that would make a significant difference, or if another radiator is needed to extend the coolant path and allow for more heat transfer.

I am going ahead and ordering some 1850rpm gentle typhoon fans along with some foam gaskets. I think I can possibly fit push pull if I turn the cpu block 90 degrees so that will be the goal.

 

[VirtualMirage]

The Gentle Typhoons have had a pretty good rep for being decent radiator fans, but I ended up going with the BeQuiet! SilentWings 3 120mm HS fans because their specs listed them as offering a higher static pressure and being a little quieter. The Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 fans looked to offer very good static pressure as well along with some competitive noise levels. I didn't see these until after I ordered the BeQuiet!

As for concern about sucking in hot exhaust back into the case, it can't be much worse than what you have setup now where the front fan is pulling in air and blow the hot exhaust from the front GPU fan directly into the radiator and over the motherboard. And with the case closed, the temps will just continue to increase when under load. I think you would stand a better chance reversing the fans as mentioned before even with hot exhaust coming out the back from the GPU. So long as it isn't butted up against a wall or corner, using a small divider or even crafting a "scoop" to go over the intake fan to suck in air from the top may help. And with the fans reversed, the front GPU fan will exhaust directly out, with very little heat staying in the case to heat up the board. Meanwhile, the radiator fans will help direct airflow through the rest of the case to be exhausted out the front.

The motherboard itself is pretty resilient, so I wouldn't worry too much about it heating up unless you are doing some serious overclocking.

And yes, the pump won't be contributing to the heating of the coolant (which is very little even with the D5), but now you have heat being produced inside the case that you have to deal with. Installing it near the top may help a little, but with no fans at the top, you might risk creating a "hot pocket". The heatsink on the pump should have some airflow to help it stay cool. Now, maybe it doesn't produce a lot of heat and is really a trivial matter, but just something to think about. It's about 18w of power it consumes, so think how much of that will be converted to heat.

 

[mnewxcv]

The Gentle Typhoons have had a pretty good rep for being decent radiator fans, but I ended up going with the BeQuiet! SilentWings 3 120mm HS fans because their specs listed them as offering a higher static pressure and being a little quieter. The Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-2000 fans looked to offer very good static pressure as well along with some competitive noise levels. I didn't see these until after I ordered the BeQuiet!

As for concern about sucking in hot exhaust back into the case, it can't be much worse than what you have setup now where the front fan is pulling in air and blow the hot exhaust from the front GPU fan directly into the radiator and over the motherboard. And with the case closed, the temps will just continue to increase when under load. I think you would stand a better chance reversing the fans as mentioned before even with hot exhaust coming out the back from the GPU. So long as it isn't butted up against a wall or corner, using a small divider or even crafting a "scoop" to go over the intake fan to suck in air from the top may help. And with the fans reversed, the front GPU fan will exhaust directly out, with very little heat staying in the case to heat up the board. Meanwhile, the radiator fans will help direct airflow through the rest of the case to be exhausted out the front.

The motherboard itself is pretty resilient, so I wouldn't worry too much about it heating up unless you are doing some serious overclocking.

And yes, the pump won't be contributing to the heating of the coolant (which is very little even with the D5), but now you have heat being produced inside the case that you have to deal with. Installing it near the top may help a little, but with no fans at the top, you might risk creating a "hot pocket". The heatsink on the pump should have some airflow to help it stay cool. Now, maybe it doesn't produce a lot of heat and is really a trivial matter, but just something to think about. It's about 18w of power it consumes, so think how much of that will be converted to heat.

I'll do a proper test when everything shows up to see. I saw those silent wings fans and the noctua industrials, but $$$! I'm already spending a ton on this even hunting for the best deals. I have some silent wings 135mm fans that are 120mm mounting holes, but don't actually fit in the space between the i/o shield and outside edge of the case. I really liked them, virtually silent and you can feel the air they move. Oh well. The pump I believe is the 10 watt version, so not much heat to dissipate, but I will see how warm it runs with a temp gun to see if I need to move it into the cooler part of the chassis. It is really hard to find reviews on 120mm radiators I've found, I guess since most people can accommodate 240 or bigger and might as well since they usually aren't that much more money. I was able to find a german website/review that tested the xt45 120mm rad though and here are the results.

per review-center.de (translated):

"Basically, all radiators are tested on our radiator test stand . The heating element emits a constant 300 watts (+ - 10 watts) of heat to the water. During the test we use Phobya Nano-G 12 Silent Waterproof 1500rpm fans .

The fans are controlled by the T-Balancer bigNG during the test, so that we can collect results with 5V and with and 12V. At 12V the fans rotate at approx. 1500RPM (+ - 50). In order to be able to present the most accurate results possible, each mode remains activated for 15 minutes, with 5 minutes in between to heat the water again. We start with a test with a fan at 5V, then the same test with 12V, followed by a test with two mounted fans (double equipment) at 5V and 12V, so that you can recognize every configuration that has a radiator is possible. So slow fans, fast fans and both with and without double fan assembly. Each radiator is therefore on the test stand for at least 80 minutes."

single fan 700rpm delta over ambient: 22c
dual fan 700rpm delta over ambient: 21.5c
single fan 1520rpm delta over ambient: 18c
dual fan 1520rpm delta over ambient: 14.5c

Then I found another website, coolingtechnique.com, who also published results. I am sharing their results here. It wasn't 100% clear, but I think these were done with a single fan rather than push-pull.

fan curve to temperature delta curve for a 100w load:

and also, fan curve to watts dissipated for a 10C delta over ambient:

this might bore some of you, don't worry I'll have build pics when the parts show up instead of curves, but I find it interesting! It looks like I should be good with the new rad I think, especially with push pull if I can manage that. Worst case scenario I run the fans at 1850rpm under full load.

 

[thesmokingman]

That's a massive pump for that case. I would have thought you'd opt for a ddc or even a dc-lt instead.

Btw, that case is not ideal for water. Imo you should get block(and ribbon) for the gpu then you can run a 240 on the bottom and push air out with all other holes for intake.

 

[mnewxcv]

That's a massive pump for that case. I would have thought you'd opt for a ddc or even a dc-lt instead.

Btw, that case is not ideal for water. Imo you should get block(and ribbon) for the gpu then you can run a 240 on the bottom and push air out with all other holes for intake.

the pump I got is a ddc I thought?

 

[VirtualMirage]

That's a massive pump for that case. I would have thought you'd opt for a ddc or even a dc-lt instead.

Btw, that case is not ideal for water. Imo you should get block(and ribbon) for the gpu then you can run a 240 on the bottom and push air out with all other holes for intake.

The DD310 pump they mentioned in their original post is a DDC pump.

 

[thesmokingman]

Oh I see, you got a single speed 310 with the massive stand. I would not get that setup. At a quick glance it looks like the typical D5 setup lmao, it looks huge. Like where are you gonna stick that thing and it's single speed ya know? You'll need a manual controller for it, ie. a 30w potentiometer otherwise you gonna go deaf listening to that thing spin out at 4500rpm.

 

[Endgame]

Oh I see, you got a single speed 310 with the massive stand. I would not get that setup. At a quick glance it looks like the typical D5 setup lmao, it looks huge. Like where are you gonna stick that thing and it's single speed ya know? You'll need a manual controller for it, ie. a 30w potentiometer otherwise you gonna go deaf listening to that thing spin out at 4500rpm.

View attachment 307440

If you’re concerned about a ddc making you go deaf, you’ve never tried to sleep in a room with a computer running 5k delta fans.

 

[mnewxcv]

Oh I see, you got a single speed 310 with the massive stand. I would not get that setup. At a quick glance it looks like the typical D5 setup lmao, it looks huge. Like where are you gonna stick that thing and it's single speed ya know? You'll need a manual controller for it, ie. a 30w potentiometer otherwise you gonna go deaf listening to that thing spin out at 4500rpm.

View attachment 307440

that one is a d5 pump. The one I got is a ddc:



hopefully it isn't too loud but I can get a rheostat if it is.

 

[VirtualMirage]

Oh I see, you got a single speed 310 with the massive stand. I would not get that setup. At a quick glance it looks like the typical D5 setup lmao, it looks huge. Like where are you gonna stick that thing and it's single speed ya know? You'll need a manual controller for it, ie. a 30w potentiometer otherwise you gonna go deaf listening to that thing spin out at 4500rpm.

View attachment 307440

Not sure if intentional or not, but that is a pic of the D5 kit. But the dimensions between the two with that mount isn't too far off.

D5 with mount: 83 x 80 x 87mm
DDC with mount: 89 x 85 x 75mm

The DDC is wider by around 1/4" but shorter by around 1/2".

 

[thesmokingman]

that one is a d5 pump. The one I got is a ddc:

View attachment 307448

hopefully it isn't too loud but I can get a rheostat if it is.

Hopefully??? You must have NEVER used these pumps before? We don't buy the cheap PWM pumps anymore because they are harder to control and really PWM is worth the premium, last time I'll mention it. And christ, you guys are hilarious. Did ya not notice I wrote at a glance it looked like...

 

[VirtualMirage]

I am planning to mount to the ceiling so that it radiates up rather than in the path of airflow to the rad.

I was just thinking: Make sure you don't mount the pump upside down, you will kill it. There are only a few different ways it is recommended to mount the pump.

 

[VirtualMirage]

Hopefully??? You must have NEVER used these pumps before? We don't buy the cheap PWM pumps anymore because they are harder to control and really PWM is worth the premium, last time I'll mention it. And christ, you guys are hilarious. Did ya not notice I wrote at a glance it looked like...

I figured as I mentioned the dimensions are similar and the mounting plates are the same. The dimensions and the rest of the comment was more for the OP than for you. I was just getting clarification on the pic for my own curiosity, not that it matters much.

 

[mnewxcv]

Hopefully??? You must have NEVER used these pumps before? We don't buy the cheap PWM pumps anymore because they are harder to control and really PWM is worth the premium, last time I'll mention it. And christ, you guys are hilarious. Did ya not notice I wrote at a glance it looked like...

I never used these pumps before. The only pump I used was an mcp355 about 10 years ago, but noise wasn't really a concern in a case with 80mm high speed fans.

 

[mnewxcv]

I was just thinking: Make sure you don't mount the pump upside down, you will kill it. There are only a few different ways it is recommended to mount the pump.

I'm going to mount it the way in the photo, just with a bracket to mount from the ceiling instead of the floor of the case.

 

[mnewxcv]

Hopefully??? You must have NEVER used these pumps before? We don't buy the cheap PWM pumps anymore because they are harder to control and really PWM is worth the premium, last time I'll mention it. And christ, you guys are hilarious. Did ya not notice I wrote at a glance it looked like...

yeah, honestly I thought I had ordered a PWM pump but I guess that was another one I was looking at. Will see how it goes.

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm going to mount it the way in the photo, just with a bracket to mount from the ceiling instead of the floor of the case.

I dunno if you realize this but you're kind of ignoring everything. I see fiery train crash in this build's future. Using thhat stand mounted to top of case is mounting upside down. That pump will run dry.

 

[mnewxcv]

I dunno if you realize this but you're kind of ignoring everything. I see fiery train crash in this build's future. Using thhat stand mounted to top of case is mounting upside down. That pump will run dry.

I'm not trying to ignore anything, I just can't apply any advice until I have the build going together. I do know I can't mount the pump upside down; I'm either going to make a bracket or mod the one that comes with it to mount it rightside up to the ceiling. The stock mount would work other than that side inlet cutout.

 

[Nobu]

I'm not trying to ignore anything, I just can't apply any advice until I have the build going together. I do know I can't mount the pump upside down; I'm either going to make a bracket or mod the one that comes with it to mount it rightside up to the ceiling. The stock mount would work other than that side inlet cutout.

Yeah, looks like you could flip it if those screws are aligned with the center of that port. If not, you may have to get some spacers or get a plug that sits flush on the side (if such a thing exists). Or I guess you could drill some new screw holes and a larger hole in the center for the plug to fit through.

 

[mnewxcv]

Yeah, looks like you could flip it if those screws are aligned with the center of that port. If not, you may have to get some spacers or get a plug that sits flush on the side (if such a thing exists). Or I guess you could drill some new screw holes and a larger hole in the center for the plug to fit through.

I'm not too worried about mounting it, I'm sure I can make it work. I do plan on using that side inlet as the inlet from the rad and one of the other two for the fill port, so as long as I have access its no big deal. If the pump is super loud, I can get a d5 for $60 from microcenter, but was hoping this small one could tuck up and out of the way, but being the 10 watt version hopefully it's bearable. I bought it based on some brochures I found for ddc pumps being 'whisper quiet'. I just found out laing's definition of whisper quiet is 40db.

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm not trying to ignore anything, I just can't apply any advice until I have the build going together. I do know I can't mount the pump upside down; I'm either going to make a bracket or mod the one that comes with it to mount it rightside up to the ceiling. The stock mount would work other than that side inlet cutout.

You're gonna make the pump the highest part in the loop.

 

[Nobu]

I'm not too worried about mounting it, I'm sure I can make it work. I do plan on using that side inlet as the inlet from the rad and one of the other two for the fill port, so as long as I have access its no big deal. If the pump is super loud, I can get a d5 for $60 from microcenter, but was hoping this small one could tuck up and out of the way, but being the 10 watt version hopefully it's bearable. I bought it based on some brochures I found for ddc pumps being 'whisper quiet'. I just found out laing's definition of whisper quiet is 40db.

Alphacool has drawings with dimensions for most of their products on their website ,which may help in planning layout, placement, and mods, btw.

 

[mnewxcv]

You're gonna make the pump the highest part in the loop.

I'm not sure if the rad will sit higher than the top of the pump yet until I mount it, but I'm running a transparent fill port into one of the secondary inlets to act as a small reservoir after the system is bled. Alternatively, I could see how well it fits under the PSU, which would be below the rad.

 

[mnewxcv]

Alphacool has drawings with dimensions for most of their products on their website ,which may help in planning layout, placement, and mods, btw.

thanks for the tip! that definitely helps me get a sense of the size and placement! They had a 3d file so I can rotate the entire 3d model. You can see the holes for the bracket are not centered in the top from top to bottom, so if I just flipped the bracket over it would be covering the inlet port, but no big deal I will just make something. Whether it goes in the top of the case or under the PSU, there are mounts for 2.5 or 3.5" drives and rubber isolators so if I go with a 'custom' mount, I can make it fit existing holes rather than drilling the case.

 

[mnewxcv]

I took another look inside the case today and after some measuring, I made some changes to the plan. I ordered a reservoir (hopefully it fits!) and after googling a bit, I'm considering returning the DDC pump for a D5. I was considering a D5 initially and went with the ddc because of it's size, not realizing it was a single speed pump with no speed control. So leaning toward a different solution there, thanks for pointing that out thesmokingman . I also pulled the trigger on a couple other little cheap things, you'll see when they get here.

 

[mnewxcv]

I have a question for anyone who might be able to help. One thing I haven't given a ton of thought to is draining the loop in the future. Is it going to be possible to drain from the res at the top of the case by turning the case upside down, or will I need an opening at the bottom to let it "breathe"? Not everyone has a drain valve, right? So what are people doing to drain a loop for coolant replacement?

 

[Nobu]

I have a question for anyone who might be able to help. One thing I haven't given a ton of thought to is draining the loop in the future. Is it going to be possible to drain from the res at the top of the case by turning the case upside down, or will I need an opening at the bottom to let it "breathe"? Not everyone has a drain valve, right? So what are people doing to drain a loop for coolant replacement?

Unless you force air through the loop, you'll need another opening at the other end. And either way, you'll only be able to get most of the water out–there will be some left, possibly a lot.