Phantek's Watercooling Build - My 1st Build - Critics Wanted!

iRon_Man22 · Apr 13, 2016

Ok all, I have been waiting a while: doing my research, planning, waiting for prices to come down (they haven't really), and waiting until i had the money and wife's permission. I am building my dream PC. I have built many PCs in the past but this will be my first time watercooling and heavily overclocking (I've OC'd a tiny bit). Anyway, Here is the pcpartpicker link to my build with all of my intended parts:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/iRon_Man22/saved/#view=JDxJ7P

Basically, I am looking for all of the opinions, critiques, suggestions on my build. I am including a picture (hand drawn so be kind) of my tube routing design. Ignore the colors, I did those just to help distinguish parts from one another. My questions that I am looking for answers:

1) Do you see any problems with my design?
2) Do you think I will have room to add another 240 rad in push/pull config. behind the dual tube reservoirs? I calculated the with of the reservoirs, rad, and fans compared to the width of the case and I should have enough room. Tell me if I'm wrong.
3) Do you see any improvements that I should make?
4) I want to plan for easy filling and draining of my system, that is why I am including a bay res. Is this the best way to plan for a draining/filling system? How can I plan this better?

Please also keep in mind a few notes about my drawing/design:

1) I am planing to mod my Primo case by cutting out the rectangular section where my two tube reservoirs are going so they show. Here is an example of what I mean.
2) I plan on having two D5 pumps on this system, one in the bay res and one on the pump mount the case provides in the back.
3) My flow pattern: Bay Res -> CPU -> 480 Rad -> GPU1 -> GPU2 -> 240 Rad -> Tube Res 1 -> D5 Pump -> 240 Rad 2 -> Tube Res 2 -> Bay Res ---Is this well planned? Any changes?
4) My color theme is going to be Black and Blue.

Let me know if you have any questions, thank you for taking the time to read this through!

cdabc123 · Apr 13, 2016

i would almost build your own case from scratch instead of modding one it can look better and fit a rad design like that abit better. the one i built is acrylic and pvc looks nice and preforms great.

iRon_Man22 · Apr 13, 2016

cdabc123 :

Thanks for your feedback! So I have thought about that, but to build a case from scratch would be a huge undertaking. I LOVE the look of the enthoo primo, it is absolutely gorgeous in my opinion. I thought about maybe a casemods case or something more "higher end." I have really fallen in love with the Primo. Each time I consider changing I revisit the ModZoo/Bill Owens review they did on it and I fall in love with it again

. Good suggestion though, any tutorials on how to design build a case from scratch?

cdabc123 · Apr 13, 2016

iRon_Man22 :

any reason you are trying to do this all on one loop? and idk if their are any tutorials but i would be more than willing to help if you wanted to go down that path.

iRon_Man22 · Apr 14, 2016

cdabc123 :

I will let you know if I decide to make my own case, for sure. I am doing one loop only because I don't know what the benefit to two separate loops would be, also I want there to be a lot of tubing (well placed tubing, not sloppy looking) and I thought one loop would look good. Also, isn't one loop easier for filling and draining the loop?

rubix_1011 · Apr 14, 2016

1) Do you see any problems with my design?
2) Do you think I will have room to add another 240 rad in push/pull config. behind the dual tube reservoirs? I calculated the with of the reservoirs, rad, and fans compared to the width of the case and I should have enough room. Tell me if I'm wrong.
3) Do you see any improvements that I should make?
4) I want to plan for easy filling and draining of my system, that is why I am including a bay res. Is this the best way to plan for a draining/filling system? How can I plan this better?

1. Why 3 reservoirs for a dual loop system? I'm assuming just for looks? Edit: your flow plan is a single loop. So, 3 reservoirs for a single loop.
2. Doubtful.
3. Make it a dual loop. What radiator is cooling the CPU and which is cooling the GPUs? CPU or GPUs overclocked at all? If so, what TDP?
4. Bay res isn't going to make your loop easy to fill...it will make it harder as they can be difficult to prime correctly. You're better off filling from the tube reservoirs and allowing them to feed a pump.

Please also keep in mind a few notes about my drawing/design:

1) I am planing to mod my Primo case by cutting out the rectangular section where my two tube reservoirs are going so they show. Here is an example of what I mean.
2) I plan on having two D5 pumps on this system, one in the bay res and one on the pump mount the case provides in the back.
3) My flow pattern: Bay Res -> CPU -> 480 Rad -> GPU1 -> GPU2 -> 240 Rad -> Tube Res 1 -> D5 Pump -> 240 Rad 2 -> Tube Res 2 -> Bay Res ---Is this well planned? Any changes?
4) My color theme is going to be Black and Blue.

1. OK
2. OK
3. This is a single loop, not a dual loop
4. OK

iRon_Man22 · Apr 14, 2016

rubix_1011 :

Great feedback, thanks! alright, that's what I was looking to hear. I will take out the Bay Res and just put a D5 pump there instead. I will consider making these two separate loops, I guess I just don't understand why, can I not have 2 pumps on 1 loop? Do they have to be separate? . This is what I got when using the eXtreme PSU Calculator:

http://outervision.com/b/RbJtJW

I used your radiators.xlsx from your watercooling sticky and looked up TDPs for my CPU and GPUs and Pumps (calculated about 23 TDP for these). I will post a pic of it below:

Does that look right? What should I adjust? Thanks for your help!

iRon_Man22 · Apr 15, 2016

cdabc123 · Apr 15, 2016

i would look into dual pump its nice to have cpu and gpus on dif loops because gpus get hotter and can get to a higher temp than a cpu. what you have could work but it has a chance of heating up the cpu more then it should

rubix_1011 · Apr 16, 2016

Please do not bump in the forums.

You can run 2 pumps in a single loop, that is fine. It just isn't a dual loop setup, it's only a single loop. Dual loops are when you have two completely separate watercooling setups and the coolant from one never touches the other.

You don't really need a 480 rad for a CPU loop, but that's up to you. Your TDP estimate looks a little high - I wouldn't expect a 6-core CPU to push over 250watts or be certain to take a 1.3ghz stable increase - are you certain the voltages and speed you have are achievable yet, or are you simply doing some hopeful estimation? Either way, your estimate is correct with the values you've put in...which like I said, still seems a little high.

4Ryan6 · Apr 16, 2016

iRon_Man22 :

Wrong!

Never mount a D5 above the reservoir always mount below the reservoir, a D5 is a circulating pump not a priming pump, the coolant has to be directly supplied to the pumps intake or you will burn out the pumps bearing surfaces very quick.

Zerk2012 · Apr 16, 2016

I would do a single loop with one res using dual D5 pumps. The rads you have picked will work a bit of overkill but no biggie.

iRon_Man22 · Apr 16, 2016

cdabc123 :

I will look into it for sure, I expect that my Rad space (480, 280, and 240) would be more than enough for the CPU to maintain a nice temp even with the 2 GTX 980 Ti's on the same loop.

rubix_1011 :

Sorry for the bump! Won't happen again. I understand the difference between a dual and single loop, just wondering (if you were me) if you would do two separate loops in my situation. Could I do a 240 rad for my CPU loop and maintain a low temp? Mt TDP figures are all estimates from what I have read/seen on other forums and sites. I calculated high to be on the safe side.

4Ryan6 :

Calm down, I never intended to put the pump in the 5.25 drive bays. I was saying I will swap the bay/res combo idea for just a 2nd D5, that is all.

Sprados :

I can barely read this one for all the typos it has, but from what I gathered you say I should do an air cooling build and wait a few months for AMD to release their "new" line of CPUs and GPUs? Were you high when you wrote this?

Zerk2012 :

Thanks for the suggestion! Yeah, I'm planning on dual D5s but I LOVE the look of those dual tube reservoirs and I am sticking to that design

. Haha and if you haven't noticed, this whole system is a "bit" overkill so whats a bit more rad space, huh? haha

iRon_Man22 · Apr 16, 2016

Also, I have this same question/thread posted on overclock.net and I wanted to see what @rubix_1011 @Zerk2012 @cdabc123 @4Ryan6 thought about their suggestion of not running push/pull config and just running a push, as these rads have a lower FPI and "since I am at the point of diminishing returns with my rad space, P/P fans would do little if anything for performance and will certainly add a ton more noise and wiring and cost."

http://www.overclock.net/t/1597525/phanteks-watercooling-build-my-1st-build-critics-wanted#post_25080676

4Ryan6 · Apr 16, 2016

iRon_Man22 :

I am calm, the bold type was to get your attention, I quoted exactly what you wrote, and responded to what you wrote, Thanks for the clarification!

iRon_Man22 · Apr 16, 2016

4Ryan6 :

Cool no worries! Thanks for the input

rubix_1011 · Apr 16, 2016

iRon_Man22 :

PULL is usually a more effective fan orientation for radiators.

cdabc123 · Apr 16, 2016

iRon_Man22 · Apr 18, 2016

Sprados :

I appreciate your input and thoughts, however, there is no way in hell that I would ever choose AMD over Intel or Nvidia for an ALL high end, no price limit, PC build. AMD (in my personal opinion, after experience and research) will never match the performance and stability of an Intel processor or that of a Nvidia GPU. AMD is for budget builds, where the builder is looking for the best price per performance they can squeeze out of their wallet. I can appreciate and respect your love for AMD, however, I will not ever use AMD over Intel/Nvidia when I have the choice.

And I apologize if I seem harsh, but I cannot understand a lot of your messages because of the lack of grammatical correctness.

So, all in all, I am NOT air cooling my PC. I am NOT using AMD. Period.

PS: the Cosmos is a nice case but I love the Phantek's Enthoo Primo and will not use the Cosmos. Thanks anyways!

cdabc123 · Apr 18, 2016

amd and nvidia trade blows and at higher res a amd card can be the better performer. however on cpus they are WAY down the totem pole. however. i do agree you might need some decent airflow throughout the case to keep the non watercooled parts cool

iRon_Man22 · Apr 18, 2016

cdabc123 :

Yeah I can respect that, high end AMD gpus are more comparable to high end Nvidia cards, but I highly favor Nvidia over AMD (I have had so many bad AMD experiences). And yes, AMD CPUs are nowhere near as good as Intel. And yes, I will have case flow with 3x 140mm fans that the Primo comes with for RAM, MoBo, and SSDs.

iRon_Man22 · Apr 19, 2016

Sprados :

I am sorry but I don't think you know what you're talking about here. I do not need air blowing directly on my voltage regulators in order to OC my cpu. They do not produce that much heat to the point where I need to directly blow air on my MoBo. 2x 140 mm fans at the front and one in the back is quite enough. I respectfully will not take your advice about what I should do for this build.

iRon_Man22 · Apr 19, 2016

Sprados :

LOL, Where to start with this one:

First of all, I have told you: I WILL NOT USE AMD. I WILL NOT AIR COOL. Why in the hell would I then care about your AMD Wraith cooler?

Second of all, the test you linked above is in SO MANY WAYS not applicable to my situation: The motherboard being tested is an MSI Gaming 970, I will be using an ASRock X99 Extreme 6/3.1 motherboard. COMPLETELY different. The MSI is a 6+2 power phase design, my ASRock motherboard is a 12 power phase. And as said by @Sakkura, "More power phases is a good thing because then the load on each power phase is reduced. That means they generate less heat, and that's great because heat makes them less efficient and stable. And in the worst case scenario, the VRM (Voltage Regulator Module, with X number of power phases) can even overheat and be damaged." My system is not a worst case scenario, far from it.Therefore, your MSI voltage regulator results are not comparable to my ASRock board.

Third, the test above was built on a test bench. NO case fans, meaning NO airflow that we know of. I, on the other hand will have three 140 mm case fans for ariflow. The air from the fans will be MORE THAN ENOUGH.

Fourth, the article above is meant to compare the new AMD stock cooler to the AMD Wraith cooler. And the mention of the voltage regulators show them ranging from 91 - 104 degrees Celsius! Keep in mind this is on a test bench with no air flow/case fans. And what does the article say? "The 93 degrees C measured right next to the voltage converters isn't great, but it's acceptable." And I highly doubt I will even reach 85 degrees with my three case fans and my 12 power phase design motherboard.

The funny thing is that you really think you know what you're talking about, but what you don't seem to realize is you cannot just throw an unrelated article on here and expect to sound smart. It makes you look kind of stupid, actually. So do us all a favor and take your uninformed, AMD, air cooling fanboy opinions elsewhere, they have no reason being in a watercooling, Intel/Nvidia build thread.

4Ryan6 · Apr 19, 2016

@ Sprados,

iRon_Man22 plainly listed Intel in his PC Parts list, He does not want AMD, what you are doing is disrupting the thread, and that is breaking the Rules of Conduct.

If you continue you will force a moderator to get involved, so it is best for you to just move to another thread, preferably an AMD thread to share what you have to share.

OK.

iRon_Man22 · Apr 19, 2016

4Ryan6 :

Thank you for stepping in!

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