Watercooling components - Advise needed!

[FozzyWig]

Hey guys,

With the release of Nvidia's GTX 980, I've decided to take the plunge, get a reference card and watercool it with a custom loop.

However, I'm a complete novice at watercooling and really need some help with which components to choose.

This is what I've come up with so far:

I'm pretty confident that I've made good decisions on the pump/rad combo, radiator/fans and water-block (let me know if I haven't) but I'm properly confused by fittings and tubing.

My idea with those quick disconnect fittings is to have one on each component like this (forgive the terrible diagram):

(Red circle is a quick disconnect fitting)

So if my understanding of the quick disconnect fittings is right, I'd be able to unplug the GPU block, rad and res/pump without actually spilling any water since either a male or female quick disconnect fitting will always be at the end of a tube.

Would that be correct?

Now onto tubing, I'm totally confused by it, spent a couple hours looking at fittings/tubing etc. but with all the different sizes I'm completely lost! Any chance someone could tell me which sized tubing I'd need with those fittings I've chosen?

Also will 1L of that Mayhems coolant be enough or should I get a 2L bottle?

Thanks in advance

 

[cdburner5911]

The quick disconnect fittings you picked are G1/4, which is the same that all the blocks and such use, so one side would screw into, say, your rad, no prob, but the other one, you would either need to select a different one that fits say, 3/8 by 1/2 pipe (10mmx13mm) or would have to a G1/4 to G1/4 female adapter, and another compression fitting, which would just be silly.

Also, I dont think there is a huge need to go beyond 3/8 by 1/2 tubing, it just makes the fittings more expensive.
Here would be, I THINK, an appropriate QD male fitting

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/22447/koo-390/Koolance_QD3_Quick_Disconnect_No-Spill_Coupling_Male_Compression_for_10mm_x_13mm_38in_x_12in_QD3-MS10X13-BK.html?tl=g30c405s1867

And I personally don't think coolant is a good thing, but if you are set on it for color, then I doubt you will need more than 1L
I believe a better option is distilled water from the store (I can get 2.5 gal for $4.00 at my local supermarket) then some kind of a glycol based additive to prevent growth and such

This would probably do the trick
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/21400/ex-liq-95/Feser_Base_Corrosion_Blocker_-_50mL_-_FB-0055.html?tl=g30c103s186



And, as far as your quick disconnects setup, as far as i can tell, they would work as you envision them (assuming you got one with appropriate sized compression fitting), however, unless you plan to meticulously clean out your system often, I am not sure how necessary they are. They do have a few disadvantages, mostly just they add a fair amount of money to your build, and they do cause a bit more pressure drop (however, I wouldn't think you would ever even notice it), but if you are totally set on them, then i'm cool with that =]




I just recently built a water loop, including GPU/CPU block and an extra 120 rad, I used a EK 360 XT kit (which aren't available any more =[ they were awesome) And it does a PHENOMENAL job. However, they came out with one that is more expensive...of course...
If you had a bit of wiggle room in your budget, wanted to do your CPU too, and had room for a 360mm radiator, then something like this would be awesome, because its a simple setup, includes everything (tho, mine did have a small hiccup, and i needed a few more small plugs, no biggie)

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/24956/ex-wat-318/EK_X360_Complete_Triple_120mm_Liquid_Cooling_Kit_EK-KIT_X360.html?tl=g30c321s1367

 

[Davil]

It's not written anywhere but I've heard a number of times that Koolance fittings are made specifically for koolance parts. So I'm not sure if that means they won't work on other parts. I have definitely heard that if you don't use koolance fittings on a koolance part that it will leak, so I would be careful with that.

 

[cdburner5911]

Pretty much all water cooling parts now days use G1/4 which is a british standard for parallel threads (as opposed to like iron/brass pipe, that use tapered threads) and uses an o-ring to seal (thats why you should never use teflon tape or thread sealant on water cooling fittings)
So as long as koolance follows the standard, there should be no reason that any fitting should fit any hole. Though there is the problem of recessed holes, which I had in my Res (EK res x3), and so a few holes would only really accept a plug, or an extender, as a normal fitting wouldnt fit.

Of course, every manufacturer is going to have a different level of precision in making the parts, so it is possible that perhaps koolance are extra sloppy or extra precise, which lead to sub optimal seating of fittings, which could mean leaks. As far as fittings or parts being designed to work only with koolance brand parts, I am skeptical
I mean, things like res tubes pump tops and that sorta thing, I can see being brand specific.


As far as the quick disconnects, they will ONLY work with the same line of fittings, as all quick disconnects do (even industrial fittings are this way)

 

[FozzyWig]

I've posted this on a couple of forums and you two are the only ones to reply! So thanks a lot

I've decided to ditch the quick disconnect fittings, main reason for me wanting them was if I ever upgraded a part or needed to drain the loop I figured it would be much easier with them.

Is there anything strictly wrong with using premixed coolant? The description makes it sound perfect for any set-up, but to be honest I mostly went for the colour since I'd be using clear tubing and my rig colour scheme is black/white/red.

Here's my final list of pieces:

Thoughts? That coolant is subject to change... maybe Oh and I changed the fittings/tubing to the size you recommended cdburner, they are the same price as the others though. Do you think 2 meters of tubing will be enough?

I'm tempted to include my CPU in the loop after you talking about that kit. As you can see I'll be getting the Corsair 780T as well so I could easily fit a second 240mm rad in the loop, do you think I should do it? I'd much rather have a nice water block instead of my massive Thermaltake Frio!

That's including the CPU in the loop. Another rad, 2 more fans, 4 more fittings, another liter of coolant and another meter of tubing.

Watercooling is so expensive, oh my goodness haha! I'm so nervous about doing this, I'm expecting huge explosions and water everywhere!

By the way, any idea on how you mount a tube reservoir? :3

Thanks again guys!

 

[Davil]

Either it will come with a mounting bracket of some kind, you will have to buy one separately, or you will have to be creative. They usually don't come with hardware and this is pretty much where you get your intro to case modding. You'll either need a drill or a dremel and you'll also have to visit your local hardware store to get some screw's and nuts, or if you want to be fancy just use some thumb screws to screw things in. But yea you'll likely have to put a hole a couple holes in your case.

If you're worried about space I'd check out the thermaltake core v71. It's got a black and blue theme compared to your black and white one, but you can always repaint.

One thing I forgot to mention was those SP120 fans are ok, but they're far from the best. They only move about 60 cfm and you can actually find better fans on frozencpu that move over 100cfm with more pressure and less noise.

2 meters may or may not be enough, but you might as well get extra. If this is your first time you'll probably end up needing a little more. I'd also highly recommend getting some kink coil. All it is basically coiled up wire, but it's awesome at keeping your tubes open no matter how you bend them. http://www.davidsirritation.com/watercooling.jpg

 

[Ellis_D]

I've posted this on a couple of forums and you two are the only ones to reply! So thanks a lot

...

Is there anything strictly wrong with using premixed coolant? The description makes it sound perfect for any set-up, but to be honest I mostly went for the colour since I'd be using clear tubing and my rig colour scheme is black/white/red.

...

...

By the way, any idea on how you mount a tube reservoir? :3

Thanks again guys!

Color dyes are great for reservoirs, waterblocks, and acrylic tubing but not necessarily for soft tubing. There is no such thing as "clear" PVC tubing if that makes any sense. I just built my first system and I feel like I made a mistake going with dyed coolant with Clear Primochill tubing when I actually should have gone with colored tubing. LED lights will help a lot to bring out the color but dyed coolant in clear tubing will always looked washed out and faded. I'd recommend getting white tubing if that's the color scheme you want to go with.

Also, with the reservoir, you can mount it anywhere it fits really and the only rule you absolutely have to follow is that the reservoir has to be mounted above the pump so the pump constantly receives water pressure, even when it's turned off.

This is my rig by the way.

Note, the only reason the tubing looks as red as it is is because of the flash when taking that picture. It looks pretty bad right now without any kind of lighting.

I put my reservoir in that location because it was really the only place for a Tube Res in my loop. I could have possibly gotten a slightly smaller res and put it on top of the pump, used the res and put it next to the pump, or have even gone with a 5.25" bay reservoir (although That was something I did not want to do.)

It's important to have an idea of where you're going to mount your reservoir (All water cooling hardware for that matter) before committing to it so you can be 100% certain it will fit. Where I mounted that reservoir, I only had about 55mm to work with and and since the vast majority of tube reservoirs have a diameter of 60mm, I couldn't just go with any old reservoir. Fortunately, I found a Phobya Res that had a diameter of 50mm that fit that space like a glove.

 

[Davil]

The above is actually a pretty good example of why you should use kink coils. Those are some pretty long tubes, but I can see why. It'd hard to get that diameter of tubing to bend the direction you want it to without getting some kinks in it. You can do some much sharper bends if you throw in some kink coil.

 

[Ellis_D]

The above is actually a pretty good example of why you should use kink coils. Those are some pretty long tubes, but I can see why. It'd hard to get that diameter of tubing to bend the direction you want it to without getting some kinks in it. You can do some much sharper bends if you throw in some kink coil.

You'd think a kinked tube would be a better example for why you would need a kink coil... I get that my two runs coming off my CPU block are long but in regards to the run going from my radiator to the waterblock, it's that long because of how my radiator is crammed into the front of my case and how the run needs to go around my GPU. As for the run going from the waterblock to the res is that long because I liked the symmetry of having it looped around my GPU in a similar fashion. I could have made that run a lot shorter without the need for kink coils.

 

[Davil]

You'd think a kinked tube would be a better example for why you would need a kink coil... I get that my two runs coming off my CPU block are long but in regards to the run going from my radiator to the waterblock, it's that long because of how my radiator is crammed into the front of my case and how the run needs to go around my GPU. As for the run going from the waterblock to the res is that long because I liked the symmetry of having it looped around my GPU in a similar fashion. I could have made that run a lot shorter without the need for kink coils.

This thread isn't about you and I didn't mean to offend you. You could cut out at least a foot of tubing on each of those runs if you used a kink coil though. You really aren't going to get the same degree of bends without one because to use it you put a kink in the tube to start with and then you wrap it and it holds the tube open.

 

[Ellis_D]

This thread isn't about you and I didn't mean to offend you. You could cut out at least a foot of tubing on each of those runs if you used a kink coil though. You really aren't going to get the same degree of bends without one because to use it you put a kink in the tube to start with and then you wrap it and it holds the tube open.

Like I said before, one run is that long because it needed to get around my GPU (which is partially because I brain-farted and installed the hose in the far-side of my radiator when I was originally planning on having the pump feeding into the far-side. I didn't realize I made this mistake until 12 hours into my leak test) and the other one is long because I wanted it that way for purely aesthetic reasons. In fact, I could have made it much shorter with a more direct route to the reservoir. Also, I did deliberately make both runs a little bit long for the sake preventing unnecessary contact with my GPU. If I made these things shorter, they would be pressing up against and putting pressure on my GPU. Frankly, I would rather have too long of a tubing run than a dead GPU and a fubar'd PCI-e slot.

I'm sorry for derailing this topic and causing drama but you're being rather presumptuous. Honestly, how would you feel if I said your Rig was the perfect example for why everyone should be using rigid tubing and angle-fittings?

 

[Davil]

I'm sorry for derailing this topic and causing drama but you're being rather presumptuous. Honestly, how would you feel if I said your Rig was the perfect example for why everyone should be using rigid tubing and angle-fittings?

If I had the tools and money to do it right now I'd totally go all acrylic.