Water cooling advice for a water noob.

[angelus0w]

SKIP TO BELOW THE LINE FOR THE POINT....

WARNING, WILL BE WRITTEN AS I THINK IT SO NO STRUCTURE...

 

Well, Been building computers for a while (18 years), all air based. Have had most running silent as a ant.

 

I've recently had my wife purchase me 2 r9 290x matrix cards as a gift, and WOW are they loud and WOW are they hot! 94c on 3 screens or 85c on single display!

 

I have decided to add a water loop into the system, If anything just to reduce noise.

 

My case is a corsair carbide air 540

My psu is a seasonic ss-1050w platinum.

My motherboard is a asus maximus vi hero.

My cpu is a i7 4770k delidded and thermal paste (shin etsu) reapplied

and the two r9 290x matrix cards.

 

The bottom 2 HDD bays are empty.

I currently have a corsair hydro h110 cooler in the system and noctua redux 140mm pwm fans.

My cable management is up to scratch

 

 

Now to the point

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

 

Budget is a massive thing!! But I understand you need to spend a little more, get what pay for etc.. All parts need to be purchasable from the uk.

 

Now i'm New to water concept but have decided I want to do it once and do it right.

I want hard line pipes but I don't want to bend them myself so will use connectors for bends (unless I can be convinced otherwise).

I want the best option for a res and pump without going over the top. 

 

Do I need 2 different loops or can I run the cpu and gpus off same loop? do I need the cpu on the loop at all with the h110? 

What rads does my case allow?

Where can the res go other than side panel? does it need to be below the pump? can I use a tube res sideways where the hard drive bays on the bottom are?

can I make a hole in bottom of the case for a drain port?

If a single loop do I need 2 pumps in series to increase flow?

What connectors do I need?

How do people do the gpu blocks with both pipes entering the bottom rather than top and bottom?

Ultimately, What do I need to buy to get all this up and running? I've seen some 290x matrix ek blocks for 89.99 a pop, this is fine but my overall budget is around 400-450gbp.

Are these alphacool etc kits worth their salts or do I pick and choose? 

I don't want any fancy colours, clear pipes are fine, black or clear blocks are fine. I have plenty of deironized or distilled water.

 

I will add more if I think of it.

 

thank you for any help/advice etc you can offer. Please feel free to either educate me or send me where I can educate myself. your welcome to compile a list for me (but please explain why I need those bits) or send me where I can compile my own (but will need to know the basics at least)

 

I apologize for spelling mistakes and grammar including the general structure. 

 

Have a good day.

Peace be with you.

[C0LL0SS0S]

If you use fittings for bends prepare for 100$+ just for them, for rad info please look up on the corsair site, it doesn't matter where the radiator is as long the pump is under the res,if the tube res fits you can use it laying down,if you can operate a drill you can make a hole, 2 pumps are surely not needed, molex or sata for pump, otherwise possible fan splitters,I would recommend a set from EK + those gpu blocks and maybe another rad, maybe a case swap is needed,

[angelus0w]

If you use fittings for bends prepare for 100$+ just for them, for rad info please look up on the corsair site, it doesn't matter where the radiator is as long the pump is under the res,if the tube res fits you can use it laying down,if you can operate a drill you can make a hole, 2 pumps are surely not needed, molex or sata for pump, otherwise possible fan splitters,I would recommend a set from EK + those gpu blocks and maybe another rad, maybe a case swap is needed,

 

Thank you, I didn't realise fittings where so much. I shall take this into account seeing as a pipe bending kit is only £25-30, I have looked for rad info about my case, the information in this area is rather confusing as it states it can take a 360mm in front at same time as a 240 in the top but reports else wear state that the fans of the 360 stop the use of fans on the 240. Would a 360 mm with double the thickness compensate and allow me to eliminate the use of the 240 or doesn't it work this way? 

 

The drilling of the case, I appreciate I worded that wrong, I meant is it possible to have a permanent pipe with a tap or pipe terminator on the end passing into this hole or is it recommended to have a flex pipe so that it can be drained further away from the case?

 

I have looked at some sets from ek, I noticed there are multiple sets that seem the same but vary in price, I assume it's due to better parts used but it leaves me wondering If I will notice a difference being a standard user just looking to be cooler and quieter rather than serious overclocks.

 

I noticed the LN50168, LN64516 and the LN58774.

EK-KIT L360 is currently at £178.03 inc vat

EK-KIT L360 R2.0 is currently at £232.21 inc vat

EK-KIT X360 is currently at £283.03 inc vat

 

 

EK-KIT L360

- universal CPU water block: EK-Supreme LTX UNI CSQ 2013 (incl. mounting- & thermal material)

- radiator: EK-CoolStream PE 360 (Triple)

- radiator fan: EK-FAN Silent 120-1600 RPM (3pcs)

- water pump / reservoir combo unit: EK-DCP 2.2 X-RES incl. Pump

- tubing: EK-TUBE ZMT Matte Black 16/10mm (2 meters)

- compression fittings: EK-CSQ Fitting 16/10mm - G1/4 Nickel (6 pcs)

- coolant concentrate: EK-Ekoolant UV Blue (100mL; for 1L of coolant)

 

EK-KIT L360 R2.0 

• Universal CPU water block: EK-Supremacy MX (incl. mounting- & thermal material)

• Radiator: EK-CoolStream PE 360 (Tripple)

• Radiator fan: EK-Vardar F3-120 1850rpm (3pcs)

• Water pump / reservoir unit: EK-XRES 100 DDC MX 3.1 PWM

• Tubing: EK-Tube ZMT Matte Black 15,9/9,5mm (2 meters)

• Compression fittings: EK-ACF Fitting 10/16mm Nickel (6 pcs)

• Coolant concentrate: EK-Ekoolant EVO Clear (100mL; for 1L of coolant)

• Additional pump holder (120mm fan hole pattern)

• Y-cable splitter: EK-Cable Y-Splitter 3-Fan PWM (10cm)

• ATX bridging plug

 

LN58774EK-KIT X360

• Universal CPU water block: EK-Supremacy EVO Clean CSQ (incl. LED diode, mounting- & thermal material)

• Radiator: EK-CoolStream RAD XTX 360 (Triple)

• Radiator fan: EK-FAN Silent 120-1600 RPM (3pcs)

• ater pump: EK-DDC 3.2 PWM Elite Edition (incl. pump holders)

• Reservoir: EK-RES X3 150

• Tubing: PrimoChill PrimoFlex™ Advanced LRT™ 13/10mm (2 meters)

• Compression fittings: EK-CSQ Fitting 13/10mm - G1/4 Nickel (8 pcs)

• Coolant concentrate: EK-Ekoolant EVO Clear (100mL; for 1L of coolant)

• Y-cable splitter: EK-Cable Y-Splitter 3-Fan PWM (10cm) 

• ATX bridging plug

 

The gpu block I'm looking at is the EK-FC R9-290X Matrix

 

Now what is the recommended pipe type and size for this whole system, would I need different thickness between different parts to allow better flow? is there any recommended fitting for hardline pipes or is it pretty universal in terms of reliability. 

 

Finally I noticed many systems on their gpus have a pipe enter the top card, pipe between cards (or block) then pipe from bottom of card. I also noticed other builds have pipe go into bottom card, then from bottom card to top card, then back from top to bottom then out the bottom card again to rest of loop. Do I need any special setup for this? aesthetically it looks better in my opinion but I cant seem to grasp how its flowing correctly? 

 

Also a case swap would be great (I love the 900D but unfortunately not a current option to me (my wife has the mini version of my case and would be upset should we break this)

 

Thank you again for your advice.

[C0LL0SS0S]

those kits are kinda the same, mostly the fans and the CPU block is different, though for you as a normal user I would get the L3602.0, a thicker rad won't get you the same performance as a 240 rad, but its way better, maybe you can squeeze two fin rads into the case, fans are mostly 25mm, the way you connect the parts is not that important since the temperature only gains about 2 degrees, so you can really forget that part, its mostly cosmetic. Fittings from EKWB, Bitspower are all fine, but you can never know if yours is a fault one so leak test before you run it normally. So your wife would be upset if you change case ? really recommend the Fractal Design Define S for the first WC since its so easy to build in

 

greets

[angelus0w]

those kits are kinda the same, mostly the fans and the CPU block is different, though for you as a normal user I would get the L3602.0, a thicker rad won't get you the same performance as a 240 rad, but its way better, maybe you can squeeze two fin rads into the case, fans are mostly 25mm, the way you connect the parts is not that important since the temperature only gains about 2 degrees, so you can really forget that part, its mostly cosmetic. Fittings from EKWB, Bitspower are all fine, but you can never know if yours is a fault one so leak test before you run it normally. So your wife would be upset if you change case ? really recommend the Fractal Design Define S for the first WC since its so easy to build in

 

greets

 

What I can do is order the L3602.0 and test how it fits along side the aio's rad in my case and if the rad fits I know its good to go ahead with the other 240 rad order as its next day anyway on all purchases. In that case I shall go with EKWB fittings just to keep it all EK and the size that comes with the kit as standard, I shall make sure I run the loop at least 24 hours from separate psu before powering system on, Ill use tissues for drip tests. Yea she seems to like the idea of having a mini version of my gaming case, its the weird quirks we love haha. Perhaps I can persuade her to allow me to get a new case like the Define S If I order her a miniature version of it! (weird as that seems, its been a thing since we met due to me being 6ft4 and her only 4ft11). 

I do like the define s, we use the define R4 case on our home server (fitted a dual xeon e-atx with some minor mods).

 

Thank you for advice, I shall order the parts now, I will update thread as progress is made before marking as solved in case further advice needed. 

[C0LL0SS0S]

The Problem you could get is that the 360 could be relativly thick and because of that he blocks the 240, but your method should work. I see your point with the case, its your decision ^^