Hi all, I am planning my first full custom loop and have already purchased all the parts with the exception of fittings. I've read through the guides and the general consensus is the less angled fittings the better. However, my case is going to be cosy to say the least so can anyone advise if this loop would be ok or if there are any improvements I could make to order or fittings? The case is a Jonsbo RM1 (with a 120 fan hole in the side panel for the extra radiator). and this is the layout plan I have (to scale within a couple of mm). Any help would be appreciated. The GPUs are both RX480s the CPU is a i7 5820K and pump/res is an XSPC Ion. I have worked out I will get approximately 0.9GPM and a delta T somewhere around 12 degrees. The fans on the radiator are shown as 30mm wide as I plan on adding a shroud to aid performance. My main concern is really how much the angled fittings will affect loop performance and if there is any way I can neaten the loop as it is a very compact case.
Don't worry about the effect of angled fittings too much. Basically you would need A fair few to make a difference. Each one of your blocks/rads will cause more restricton than all of your angled fittings combined.
Ok thanks, Are there any improvements that can be made to the above in terms of layout, I am a bit paranoid that some of the tubing bends I will need to make are going to put a strain on the loop. My other option is to have the 240 rad mounted with fittings at the top as I have around 50mm clearance at the top of the case, but that doesn't really save me anything, just might make tubing runs slightly easier. Edit: Are koolance QD3s still the least restrictive quick disconnecs? I plan on adding a pair between the 240 rad and cpu block as a drain point but not really sure how at this stage, but would like to add it to be futureproof for maintenance.
being perfectly honest, I plan a loop purely based on aesthetics (Hey, I do show builds, I have too!) but only once have I ever actually had any issues with the temps and that was because I rushed and mounted the CPU block the wrong way so the flow plates caused a few issues. Don't overthink the loop too much, technically you're correct about the issues you are mentioning but in real situations they make negatable differences. It has actually given me a good idea for an article though The loop looks like it should be fine and looking at the case I think probably one of the better options. With tight cases like that, you sometimes have to sacrifice what would be ideal for what is possible
