Watercooling High-End Buil In The NZXT H440

Schwartzinator

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Nov 20, 2013
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Hello everyone,

I am ready to expand my system beyond the confines of a single NZXT Kraken X61 as temps are not kind to my system.

System specs are in signature, but I'll post them here anyway:
Asus X99-Deluxe (I)
i7-5960X @ 4400MHz w/ 1.274v
Titan X(P) SLI w/ +225MHz core & 600MHz memory w/ 10% voltage boost
32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum (4x8Gb) 3000 @ CL 15 w/ 1.35v
Corsair HX1200i Platinum Power Supply

What I'd like to do, is mount the EKWB Predator 360 AIO cooler to the front of my case as an intake in push-pull, and place the smaller EK 280 system on the top as an exhaust and install their pre-filled fullcover blocks on my cards. Ive done some measurements, and this should all fit*. The top mounted radiator may or may not need slim fans as there may not be enough clearance for my motherboard's VRM heatsink. I currently have about 16-18mm of additional clearance (hard to measure with everything installed), but the EK unit is approximately 16mm thicker than the Kraken at 43mm and 27mm respectively) though it is 7mm narrower and the heatsink slopes away at an angle. My questions for you all are as follows:

1. Whether or not it would be best to run everything together connecting both units, or to run them separately dedicating the 280 to the CPU, and the 360 to the SLI configuration? Now for those of you wondering why I don't build an entirely custom loop, I don't believe I have the time or skill or space to follow that path. It will be hard enough just fitting the rads with their integrated components into this case; and no, I will not be getting a different case.

2. How would one go about connecting two of EK's Predator series together? Their QDC design seems simple enough, but it's built with a CPU block. Can that be removed easily? If so, I imagine that would cause the issue I've read about with the difficulty in bleeding such a configuration of air bubbles.

3. Any final thoughts? If you've got experience, how would you proceed?
 
Solution
i have 2 pumps in my loop and have simulated 1 pump failing to see if 1 pump can still do the job and the 1 pump--as long as its a good one--and think

even in an all in one since

its from ek not corsair etc will have a decent enough pump--the 1 pump still worked ok for me

yes thats fair enough--most people would say change the case and for the price of 2 ek predators you could do a custom loop

but you have your reasons for your choices and i respect that
1. i prefer to run them together---gives you redundancy should a pump fail the second one will keep your loop going

2. looks like the cpu block uses compression fittings so joining 2 together should be simple

3.even though you said you wouldnt change the pc case its not the greatest pc case but if you think it will all fit in there fair enough
 

Schwartzinator

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Nov 20, 2013
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Redundancy would be an excellent feature; so long as linking the two systems is easily achievable. I recognize that the H440 is not an ideal case for such a configuration, but I am immensely fond of the aesthetic design choices and the tie-in to my Razer peripherals. I'm looking into getting the top panel professionally modded to incorporate a large exhaust vent and dust filter as quite a bit of heat gets trapped up there due to the small ventilation provided by the stock configuration. I may or may not do something similar to the front of the case to allow more air in.
 
i have 2 pumps in my loop and have simulated 1 pump failing to see if 1 pump can still do the job and the 1 pump--as long as its a good one--and think

even in an all in one since

its from ek not corsair etc will have a decent enough pump--the 1 pump still worked ok for me

yes thats fair enough--most people would say change the case and for the price of 2 ek predators you could do a custom loop

but you have your reasons for your choices and i respect that
 
Solution

Schwartzinator

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Nov 20, 2013
193
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10,710


According to their specs, it's a 6w DDC pump that's incorporated which is a pretty respectable unit and seems to be common choice amongst the DIY crowd. The price for the two Predators + blocks comes out to $750 which seems like a fair price for how little effort it should take to install it.
 
yes if 1 pump failed 1 of those should handle it to give you time to sort something out

though i only use 1 gpu not 2 but still think you would be ok

again some people would exclaim $750 would get you a great custom loop--but its your money your choice and if thats what you are comfortable

with i am not going to try to tell you otherwise

only thing i might consider would be adding a reservoir to aid bleeding the air out--never used a predator so not sure how easy to bleed it