Water cooling custom loop - Request part selection

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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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Hello!
For my build, I want to go from air cooling to water cooling, mainly for the astetics, but also to get those slight fewer degrees in temps.

I'm wanting to go for a complete EKWB overhaul on my system, getting the best of the best, even if it does nothing for performance (like getting the bay spin reservoir xD)

Oh, and I'm not looking for the liquid nitrogen Extreme stuff they do, just plain ol' liquid cooling. And I want soft tubing instead of hard, but thats only until I can learn and be confident in my tube-bending skills.


So, my request is that I wish for you brilliant guys an' gals to pick out the best items for me to buy and use in my system, and if you wish to ask me anything, go ahead!


Now, here are my system specs that I think will be useful:


  • CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K

    Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII EXTREME

    Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (2 x 16GB)

    Storage: Intel 750 Series 1.2TB PCI-E SSD

    Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Extreme (x2)

    Case: be quiet! DARK BASE PRO 900 | BLACK ATX Full Tower Case

    Power Supply: Corsair AX1500i

Oh, and I guess I should add some sort of budget... £3,000 will do as a maximum, but try not to go crazy


Many thanks community!
~Catalyst
 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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Mostly, I'm unsure about what I am able to buy and use in my system - I'm a water cooling noob.
As far as I know, there are of course,
the tubes (TUBE PrimoChill PrimoFlex™ Advanced LRT™ 15,9 / 11,1mm - Crystal Clear RETAIL 3m),
the reservoir (EK-DBAY Spin Reservoir),
the pump (EK-XTOP Revo D5 PWM - Plexi (incl. pump)),
the fittings (EK-ACF Fitting 12/16mm - Blue),
and liquid (EK-Ekoolant EVO UV BLUE (premix 1L))

Oh, and for the fans, I'm looking for 6x 140's (1x back, 3x top, 2x front)

I hope that helps
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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Have you read through the watercooling sticky? What is your loop TDP you intend to cool and what delta-T are you trying to achieve?

What is your watercooling budget? - not necessarily the the entire budget total.

I want to help you as much as possible, but you will need to know a lot of these things so you can make the best decisions for your build and budget and so that you don't end up buying something that you shouldn't or omit something you need.
 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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Yeah... Urm... I tried reading through the following page, however, I couldn't understand anything.

Money for me... Isn't exactly an issue, so thats why I gave that random budget of £3,000. As long as it's not pathetically stupidly priced, then I'll take it.

With water cooling, I have no idea what I'm doing, thus I came here
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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If you are watercooling the 1080's, you might want to make sure you find something that is nVidia reference PCB so that full cover GPU blocks will fit. According to the EK site, your cards above are not slated to fit full cover/reference PCB blocks.

For a CPU block - you're looking for something that fits socket LGA 1151 which should be the same physical size as 1155/1156, I believe.

If watercooling your GPUs and CPU your loop TDP looks something like the following:

180w+180w+65w = 425w TDP at stock speed. If you plan to overclock, you might want to use my spreadsheet (linked below)

A good radiator will dissipate around 130-150w per 120mm of space, but this is easily the biggest unknown simply because not all 120mm rads are the same thickness, have same FPI or same tube count or construction. A good 240 (2x120mm) rad can dissipate around 300w to maintain a 10C delta between 0.5 and 1.0 GPM flow rate using 1600+ RPM fans. Your config above at stock speeds could work on a single 360 rad with good fans and good flow rate. If you overclock, you need to reconsider and account for the additional heat being dumped into the loop.
 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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For the GPU's, there are the Zotac Arctic Storm 10 Year Annirversary or the EVGA Hydro Copper - both of these come with their own custom water blocks installed, so does that help if I chose one of them? Plus it would mean that I wouldn't have to do it myself.

For fans, I have room for 140mm's - 1x back, 3x top, 2x front and possibky 2x bottom
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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I guess you could. Not sure why you would go that route when there are much better blocks out there. Thermaltake isn't exactly the best name in the marketplace for watercooling and that's apparently who makes the block on that card.

Never really understood buying a card with the block already on it - sacrificing performance and extra cost for not doing it yourself. Many of those pre-installed blocks aren't as good as others out there. It isn't very difficult to install a water block on a GPU, if that is your fear.
 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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I have looked at reviews of the Zotac card, and it's cooler seemed pretty good, not letting the card go above 40 degrees while overclocked (source - Jayztwocents video)

However, if you recommend just getting a GPU with a PCB the same size as the founders and then install a custom block on to it myself, then I willl do do, since you know what you're talking about
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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I would say it is up to you. Honestly it isn't very difficult to install a waterblock on a card, but if the block supports G1/4 fittings, then you should be able to use any fitting you want with it. I just know that several people have bought cards with pre-installed blocks to find out that the thermal paste used was poor quality or that the fitment of the block was not done very well or did not make good contact - perhaps these are instances of the few and not the many. You will likely pay a bit more for a card with a block installed vs. buying a card and block and doing it yourself.

 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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As I said before, money is not an isssue for me, thus why I decided to go for the limited edition 10 year anniversary edition of the cooler instead of the plain original.

I do want to get the most out of my cards, so I shall do as you reccomend.

So for getting a full block for the GPUs, I should get one that is standard size? (Founders size) And then from there, get the waterblock and install it myself. I know how to install them, I've seen many a video in my time, but I've never actually done it before, 'tis all.

__

So moving on from just the GPU's, can you help me pick out everything for my system from EKWB?

I know that I want the highlights to be blue, so the water (UV) and fittings, but everything else, I'm not sure
 
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rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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You want a block that fits your CPU which is socket 1151 - I have the same CPU. EK makes some really good blocks, so you aren't really going to go wrong with your selection. Most of them are a version of the Supremacy lineup, so you should be fine.

You're going to want at least a DDC or a D5 pump, you'd do yourself better to get dual pumps if money is no object.

Reservoir is up to you - it mainly just holds extra water and allows filling of the loop to be easier.

Get fittings that work for your tubing size. If you're going to run 3/8"ID, 7/16"ID or 1/2"ID, make sure your ID/OD of your tubing are correct for the compression fittings you choose, unless you are choosing barbs, then you really only need to determine tubing ID vs. barb size. G1/4 fitting applies to the fitting threads, not the part of the fitting that the tubing fits over...also be aware that there are G3/8 and G1/4 threads, among others, so check before buying.

Buy thick walled tubing when you can. Thin walled tubing usually is easy to kink when making bends. Wall size is as simple as determining OD minus ID whether that is in inches or millimeters.

 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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Looking to confirm a few things...;

For the GPU, is this okay?
GPU
Cooling Block

And for the CPU (the i7-6700k) - This

__________

You mention dual pumps, which two do you recommend? If it was up to me, I would buy the really expensive ones... 2x Revo Dual D5's.

I will be getting the reservoir, I know about it and kinda what it's for, but i have the money, so even if it doesnt do anything directly, it just has that ease of use factor for refilling the loop.

For tubing, I was planning on going for the acrylic hard tubing, and then both cutting it and using a bunch of 90 degree fittings to work it (I'm not sure how to use the heat gun, plus, I dont even have the equipment nor knowhow anyway, so I'll leave it for now), and the fost tubing, while it is much easier to use, I both want a challange, and a cool looking set-up for £10,000 ;)
 
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l187l

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Just use a single D5 pump. If money isn't an issue, bitspower sells them with some awesome covers. Make sure it's adjustable.

Don't overthink it. You may think you want something you can tune and mess around and stuff, but simplicity is always best. Get a pump with adjustable flow on it, no need for PWN. Just set it and leave it.

Why exactly are you wanting EK? They're not bad, but they're not the best, and there are a lot better looking blocks than there's that perform just as well or better. The Bitspower 1080 blocks look amazing, and I really like the Heatkiller Pro IV look.

modmymods.com sells Barrow glass reservoirs which look amazing as well and they're incredibly cheap(price, not quality).

If you REALLY want EK, then w/e... I just hate when people base their purchases based on branding. I'm pretty sure EK spends more time/money on branding than they do on their R&D lol...

EK also has a thing on their site that allows you to put in your specs and it gives you all the compatible parts that you need. https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/
 
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CatalystGamez

CatalystGamez

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Honestly? I have no idea what I want.

I have a brilliant set-up, and all I need now is a flashy, efficient and amazing water cooling loop, however, i have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to it.

Thus, I came here.

This is my current parts list, however, I am constantly upgrading...;

(NOTE: I am only listing the internal hardware components, everything else from my set-up are in different lists)


PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8wcCD8
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8wcCD8/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£316.98 @ Novatech)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII EXTREME EATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£319.99 @ Novatech)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£223.12 @ Novatech)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 120GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Intel 750 Series 1.2TB PCI-E Solid State Drive (£681.22 @ BT Shop)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Extreme Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£667.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 8GB AMP! Extreme Video Card (2-Way SLI) (£667.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£189.98 @ Novatech)
Other: MAGNUM STH10 Customized case (£787.35)
Total: £3914.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-05 20:24 GMT+0000

-----------------

Now tell me, what should I get? I go for EKWB because I know they're a relatively premium company, I see them a lot in high spec builds, and they seem to be a pretty solid company to go for, especially when I have conductive liquids in a £10,000 set-up.

I looked at bitspower... And they seem rather... Tacky.
But the modmymods.com site doesn't look too bad.

However, after doing a bit of research, it does seem that Ek do better blocks than Alphacool, and with the rads, well, they're just rads, same with the reservoirs.

So what would you recommend me get for my full system? (Mobo, CPU, dual GPU's, Rads (bottom 1x 480mm, 1x280mm, top 2x 480mm, front 1x360mm).
For the fans, I'm going with the Thermaltake Riing 12 RGB 48.8 CFM 120mm Fans, that's definitive.
 
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l187l

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www.performance-pcs.com is a good site to look at all the options.

I'm not sure if anyone makes a GPU block for that GPU. When I put it in the EKWB configurator it only gave me the option for a universal block which only covers the GPU die and not the memory/VRMs. If you want a custom PCB card, it'd going to have to be G1,STRIX, or GAMING X. Other than those 3, make sure it's reference PCB(doesn't have to have reference cooler).

I don't really know your taste, so it's hard to give you a suggestion. Some other brands to consider for CPU blocks are Watercool Heatkiller Pro IV, XSPC raystorm pro, and koolance 390

and rads aren't just rads... You want to make sure it's copper with no aluminum. If you want silent, you want a low FPI, if you wanna get away with 1 rad, you want a thick 360/420/480 with a high FPI. My favorite is the HW Lab Black Ice Nemesis GTX 360. It's massive, but it works as good or better than most setups with a 240 and 360 rad. It doesn't have the weird paint any more. It's just a smooth matte black.

These pumps are probably the best looking pumps IMO. It's just a normal D5 with a bitspower kit already installed. D5's are also extremely reliable and have amazing flow. I can't speak for the EK one(pretty much ALL D5's are just rebranded, so I'm sure the EK one is as well), but if you choose the MPC 655, it puts out pressure like a water hose...

 
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Splas0rr

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I have comment on the pumps concernimg D5 variants EK has their own designed D5 and several models gen2 PWN pumps so now you have the correct information and the EK D5 gen2 PWN edition rewiev here http://
And the new Pump has awesome performance and much improved speedcurve and silient EKs D5 PWN pump is many including my choice.
 
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l187l

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The differences in pump tops are not going to make any difference in cooling ability. All D5 pumps are the same(literally made by the same manufacturer), the only difference is the tops, which might vary in flow/pressure performance a tiny but, but won't really have an effect on cooling performance. Also, pwm pumps are pointless. You're better off just getting a manually adjustable one and leaving it at one setting. I have one and even at the highest setting it's almost silent.

If you like the way the EK pump looks, then go for it, but there are better looking pumps out there imo.
 
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Splas0rr

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I'm using 1 EK-XTOP Revo Dual D5 PWM Serial pump and I'm running my current loop with
3 HWLabs GTX 480 rads
1 alphacool XT 45 420 rad
1 EK XE 360 rad
2 EK-RES X3 400 reservoirs
1 EK-FB ASUS R5-E10 Monoblock RGB Edition
2 EK-FC1080 GTX FTW - Acetal+Nickel full blocks
In 1 loop and everything concerning pump fans is pwn controlled working really sweet but the Rampage V extreme edition 10 has excellent pwn support like fanheader for waterpump with high amp and a Qhamp header with high amp .
I have push/pull config on the GTX rads and the EK rad.
And i have an aquaaero 6LT with 4 ports all with 1 Swiftech 8 Way PWM Splitter-SATA powered .
I would recommend getting a aquaaero 6 XT or LT its magic.

Tubing im using 16mm hardtubing for display inside the case back on the backplate i went with 19mm soft tubing for connecting all the components in the loop.
Advice conserning fans i use corsair ML pro 120mm and 6 ML pro 140mm for 420 rad and exhaust etc i my opinion the 120mm ML pro is the best 120mm fan today it has high static pressure and high airflow with magnetic levitation bearings and they can perform just as good in peak as the vardars noctua 3000 industrial fan but less noise.


 
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l187l

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You might need 2 pumps for that setup.
 
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Splas0rr

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I have a EK-XTOP Revo dual D5 serial pumps PWM pumps in a dual pump volute Got head pressure equally to 2 D5 pump plus a nice insurance if 1 pump dies I got redundancy highly unlikely that both pumps die at the same time.
 
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l187l

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lol I missed the dual part... saw the 1 and just read it as one pump lmfao
 
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Splas0rr

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it's ok m8 not hard to miss lol:)

 
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