Help! First time to build Custom Water Cooling (w/ Trial Layout for your comments)

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
raisonjohn

raisonjohn

Expert
Ambassador
Feb 22, 2015
4,102
90
39,040
I'm eager to try out custom water cooling for my next build (I have not purchased any components for this yet). I have no experience and very limited knowledge on the recommended parts to make this work. In the mean time, I came up with this plan/layout and would want to hear your thoughts.

Generally, my questions are:

  • 1. Water cooling components and fans, overkill / insufficient / just enough?
    2. Pump should I use (DCP? MCP 355? MCP 655? PWM? Vario? etc..) and capacity?
    3. A 50mm-dia. reservoir is my limit due to space constraints of the case (not sure if I can fit a 65mm-dia.), how tall must it be (or does the liquid volume even matter)?
    4. I want to use acrylic hardline/rigid tubes (I know, it's a challenge and for a beginner, it's often suggested to use flexible tubing...). Any tips based on the layout I made?
    5. For the radiators, do I need thicker ones? Would the bottom radiator (intake) significantly contribute to the interior heat?
    6. Where do I put the drain and in-fill line?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

29030674535_95eb25c200_b.jpg
 
Solution
maddogfargo
Lose 3 of the fans on the top and go for a thicker radiator. You do NOT need Push/Pull with good SP fans.

I have a single 480mm x 60mm AlphaCool radiator cooling my FX 9590 + VRMs + NB chipset. It is 8-10 FPI and had 1100 RPM NB eLoops and was outstanding where cooling and noise were concerned. I added 4 x 120mm Phanteks SP fans for a little more performance while still being very quiet.

Scythe Gentle Typhoons (expensive and hard to find), Corsair (SP not AF), NB eLoop (expensive and hard to find) and Phanteks have the best 120mm and 140mm SP fans for radiators. Noctuas are overrated and overpriced.

I have both the Enthoo Primo and Enthoo Luxe cases. Both have room for SP fans mounted on the top and a removable grille for max...
Sort by date Sort by votes
maddogfargo

maddogfargo

Splendid
Nov 28, 2006
3,344
8
22,965
Lose 3 of the fans on the top and go for a thicker radiator. You do NOT need Push/Pull with good SP fans.

I have a single 480mm x 60mm AlphaCool radiator cooling my FX 9590 + VRMs + NB chipset. It is 8-10 FPI and had 1100 RPM NB eLoops and was outstanding where cooling and noise were concerned. I added 4 x 120mm Phanteks SP fans for a little more performance while still being very quiet.

Scythe Gentle Typhoons (expensive and hard to find), Corsair (SP not AF), NB eLoop (expensive and hard to find) and Phanteks have the best 120mm and 140mm SP fans for radiators. Noctuas are overrated and overpriced.

I have both the Enthoo Primo and Enthoo Luxe cases. Both have room for SP fans mounted on the top and a removable grille for max airflow when you need it. You can get a 45mm, maybe even a 60mm, thick radiator mounted on the inside of the case below the fans. Measure it and get the thickest RAD that will fit with a little wiggle room.

Personally, I do not water cool the GPUs. Most 900 series and newer NVidia cards and the new AMD RX 400 series are lower heat cards with very good, very quiet, air coolers. Less hassle and mess if you decide to upgrade your GPU. CPU and Motherboard usually stay put longer so it makes sense to water cool parts you plan to install for the long haul. Not for parts you may need to unplug for an upgrade.

This is what I used, in the 480mm x 60mm version, but the 360mm x 45mm kit might be perfect for you:

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AwJHQ_3L9E"][/video]
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom