First Liquid cooling build, product recommendations?

cdjuda

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I'm wanting to cool my CPU which is an Intel I7 5930K and 2 MSI Geforce GTX 970's in SLI.

Everything is sitting on a Asrock Extreme4 x99 motherboard, the chassis is a Corsair 900D so I'll have plenty of room to work with.

I only have a few questions.

The first is what are people's preferences as far as water blocks are concerned? I know I want full cover blocks for the GPU's but other than that I don't really know where to start looking.

The second question is how many radiators do I need, I have enough room for a quad 120mm. and maybe another dual 120mm. But I want to conserve as much space as possible.

I would like the piping or fluid to match the theme of the build which is blue, so whether that's through color additives or colored fluid or just colored piping, so what are people's tubing and liquid additive brand preferences.

I'm assuming a single Swiftech MCP655 will move the liquid well enough.

I already have a reservoir picked out.

and I guess my last and probably most important question is about the loop configuration, will I need multiple loops for this because of the second video card or can I pull off using a single loop because of the large radiator.

Apologies from the extensive post. :bounce:

 

cdjuda

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yikes, just realized that I've got an EVGA video card.
Would the link you just provided me with still work for that card or do I need to pick something from this list?

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SuperClocked ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 (04G-P4-2974)

http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1_complist

appreciate the help!

gpublocks_zps98dd8d82.png
 

cdjuda

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EVGA only carries a block for the titan z and the 980 at the moment. Hopefully I'll see an appearance here in the next few months from either manufacturer.

You've been a huge help! appreciate the information!
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
You can use universal GPU blocks...they are fine. You just *NEED* to account for the additional components on the GPU PCB that absolutely need to be cooled...this will require RAMsinks or something similar and good airflow. The stock cooler accounts for this cooling, but once it is removed, you remove the cooling capability of these components. Just be sure that you don't skimp and use a universal GPU block and leave the rest of the card naked...this is a bad thing. Also make sure you have good airflow to cool any components not being actively watercooled on the board.

I used Swiftech universal blocks for years on many different cards...they worked great. Again, don't shortchange your cooling solution by going cheaper with a uni-block and skip the rest of the cooling needs on a GPU. See the watercooling sticky for considerations and discussion on cooling with RAMsinks and universal GPU blocks. (my signature below)