Gents & Ladies, I am looking to embark on a wondrous journey that I have long fantasized about and am finally ready to make the leap. Watercooling. I've done a fair bit of research but I could use some help from my friends (you). I think I know what I want, but now I need help making sure it makes sense and selecting the parts. The Hardware: ThermalTake "The Tower 900" (aka the mini fridge) Intel i7 5820K 2-Way Evga 1070SC SLI or 1 or 2 1080 Ti (Debating video card setup here) Initial thoughts on setup: I want to run 2 loops, one for video cards, one for CPU (was told ram is not worth cooling, this true?) I want to run the largest radiators I can (Thinking 1x560, and on the other side if I keep one HDD rack not sure what I can fit 420 maybe? 140mm fans) I think I want hard tubes (rigid, don't think I want acrylic (fragile)) Want a decent size res tank same size on both sides, and maybe one that is illuminated? Things I need help with for sure...: Part selection How thick of a rad do I need What rad size I can fit on the right side with a HDD bay in it (holds 2 drives) Bending or use fittings to turn What liquid to use What colors What size tubes Some pics of the current state of my setup:
I don't know if its still true or not - but there was a variation of a much used meme particularly popular amongst the watercooling crowds of old... "friends, don't let friends buy thermaltake" but I see you've got the case already. 4x140? Yea that'll do it. Seriously though, what's your goal? Silence? Powa*? E-peen? Just doing something different for a change? Some combination of the aforementioned? As different goals will seed different recommendations. For example, if you're either not overclocking or only going for a mild daily bump, then yes, one 4x140 radiator will easily cool a CPU and GPU without any bother at all - it'd probably handle two GPUs though I haven't looked into that level of silly in ages. I see you're in the united states of awesome, is it one of the hot parts or one of the cold parts? One of the humid parts or one of the dry parts? Do you use air conditioning? As again, that may change any recommendations someone might want to make. Hell, your case is a fish tank already - mineral oil that sucker! *stable high voltage overclocks
Sounds like you've got a fun build coming! I can throw in my opinion with tubing. Acrylic and bending is pretty straightforward. I wouldn't worry too much about fragility unless you were planning on moving your system regularly. If you are, then you're stronger than me! Whether or not you bend or use fittings is really down to aesthetics or the (small) increased risk of leaks every time you throw in a fitting. If you were really going to split hairs, each fitting will increase the drag by a minor amount compared to a smooth bend, but you don't seem like the kind of person that's likely to use an underpowered pump in their loop.... I wouldn't bother with the opaque liquids unless you really want to clean your rads out fairly regularly. Yes they look good, but they definitely clog your system more than plain old dye. I think Jay and Linus did a good video on the subject a while back.
The only tip I can give (being a water cooling noob) is buy a Dr Drop or some sort of pressure tester.
Goals, so hmm. I want to (and feel obligated to) OC, I've always shy'd away due to heat concerns, but the main goal was to look like a piece of art. Also, I never did proper water cooling before and I've always wanted to do it. I want to design this so that in the future I can do what I want without upgrading (I know i'll have to buy new blocks) but the rest of it I would like to future proof if I can. I want to do this right and proper.
I've seen some digital ones that looked really cool, I'll also look to put in a flow indicator (looks cool and useful)
I've seen some really cool pearl fluids looked like liquid metal, can't recall the brand but it was on xoxide. I watched some videos by "Jaystwocents" and he was pretty anti acrylic and he seemed to know what he was doing which is why I had that thought. Bending tubs honestly is super scary to me, plus I'm not sure yet how to plan it out properly. Still researching on that.
That's what I thought until I did it! A couple of youtube vids (sounds like you're already looking in the right places) and I went for it. I did plan and test my build with flexible tubing first as I bought an EK kit with all the tubing included. The only extra cost was new compression fittings and the rigid tubing - not a lot compared with what the build cost. And if it goes wrong? Try again - tubes are cheap! It honestly took me less than 3 hours as a complete novice to bend and fit the tubes. Worst case - use flexible tubes (which can look great) or use hard tubes with fittings.
Comforting to know actually. Seems like you have to get used to knowing when you can bend. Which size tubes did you go with 3/8?
The pearl fluids you've seen are likely to be mayhems aurora, but they're not intended for long term use, just to look pretty in show builds.
Hmm that makes me sad, they looked cool. Any suggestions here on which fluid? I hear from Jay2Cents distilled water with that algae killer is good.
I'm using the EK dye mixed with distilled water - no issues with it clogging after the first 6 months of use. I think any of the big names in watercooling make their own dyes (or re-brand others) and you should be good with any of those. Like others said, the pearl dyes look great but do tend to clog your radiators etc. Make sure you use good quality tubing/pipes too - the older, cheaper type can break down over time and make your loop cloudy.
I like what you got, good job Then run two loops! I did it a few years ago when I was cooling CPU, 2x GPU, mobo N/B, S/B and Mosfets. I still run two loops now (3x120 for CPU and 3x120 for GPU) which is overkill but allows me to OC and be quiet at the same time. Measure up and fit the largest rad's you can. Ideally look for ones with a lower FPI as they are less restrictive (airflow wise), and will allow you to run cool and quiet. If you we're limited for space I would recommend high FPI rad's and you would have to compromise on noise for cooling. Other people have covered hard tube and I am about to venture into it myself - go for it! To be fair, most of the res's on the market are much of a muchness performance wise now. Pick one you like and that fits the case. Size doesn't really matter that much. Look at some reviews for CPU blocks for your CPU, GPU blocks decide what you like the look of/can get for your cards, Pump's I think most would recommend a D5 or DDC. Thick as you can fit? Somewhere around 50mm? Less fittings = less potential leak points. I use mayhems pre-mix. No issues yet, been in loop for 1 1/2 years so far. Tube size - anything over 10mm ID as most 1/4" fittings are 10mm ID
Yup. The pigment ends up clogging up the pump and you have to take it all apart to clean it out. I would imagine the pigment would also cause wear to the impeller too. The pastel is OK apparently, so long as you use the right pump, right hose/tube and the stars align and it doesn't turn brown. I just use XPSC E6. It's made my Mayhem apparently but it hasn't discoloured or gone bad and I have been using it since last November.
I've had mayhems pastel white in my build for a few days short of 2 years now and still looks great. My XSPC dual DDC res isn't supposed to be good for those types of coolants either.
