Water Cooling 101 - A good place for newbies to start

[Artemiis]

thank you for posting this! helped so much in my first build

[Mikedin]

Very imformational and a great read! Will be eventually trying a water loop down the road they look sick in a nice rig!

[GuNjAX_3030]

On 1/13/2013 at 5:33 PM, Gmac said:

Where to start

Now that you have an understanding behind the theories of Water cooling. This is a good place to really start understanding what is in Custom water cooling loops. But more importantly how do you get one built. My guide here should only be half the story of building a loop. I won't go into detail about the finite processes of putting together a loop. Linus has already done a great job of really showing you how that process works; far better than I could in a forum post. I will hopefully be able to help when it comes to picking out the right components that go into a water cooling loop. Please check out his 4 part guide on Water cooling. This should be what you refer to when you are actually putting a loop together. These Guides are much better at showing how things fit together then I could even type out.

 

Ultimate Water Cooling Guide Part 1 - Preparation Procedure NCIX Tech Tips

 

Ultimate Water Cooling Guide Part 2 - Block & Component Installation NCIX Tech Tips

 

Ultimate Water Cooling Guide Part 3 - Tubing, Liquid & Conclusion NCIX Tech Tips

 

Guide Part 4 - Maintenance and Upgrades for your Liquid Cooled System NCIX Tech Tips

Wow this is very imformative to me. I am new to the custom water cooling scene and am planning to do my first wc setup in the future, but want to do as much research as possible until i completely understand the functions of Water Cooling and how it works. And when im ready i wouldn't want to skimp out on quality parts or do a "budget" wc build, but pick the highest quality of parts. But yes, it would most likely cost easily over 1k! Honestly i dont quite understand this 100% but will keep studying this until i do. Awesome content though, very precise. Thank you =)

[THFourteen]

Didn't want to start a new thread but I've been running a leak test with distilled water and ready to drain it and load in some Mayhems X1 coolant.

 

How drained / dry does the system need to be?

 

I had a leak during the leak test and had to drain it so I could refit one of the tubes, and I couldn't for the life of me drain the entire system no matter how much I tilted and turned the case around there was a bit of water left in various parts.

[charlieT]

I've Recently retired my dual loop 900D System an down graded to a 750D whilst i decide what case i wanna use for my next big build, in the next build i am moving to dual

e5-xeons and dual 1080's (or titans haven't decided if i really need the extra vRam yet) do you think that a gpu loop and separate cpu loop would be any less efficient as i have always enjoyed doing them as separate loops ?

[DELTAprime]

I'm in the middle of moving from my air cooled mITX build to a full ATX that I'm thinking of going AIO on using an NZXT Kraken X62. The one thing that gives me pause is knowing that the tubes can fail and come off the block and radiator making for an expensive replacement. How common are incidents like the time Kyle at Awesome Sauce had the tube come off his AIO and kill his X99 setup?

[sl06bhytmar]

One last tightening intensifies:

 

 

 

[CoolMarquis97]

Ok, stupid question but why/how exactly is water cooling better than air cooling?

[sl06bhytmar]

10 hours ago, CoolMarquis97 said:

Ok, stupid question but why/how exactly is water cooling better than air cooling?

With same area for heat exchange (radiator fin area) nothing else but usually you can dump all the heat generated in case outside thus reducing ambient temperature inside case a few degrees compared to air cooling. But water cooling can easily have more surface area thanks to its distributed fin area across the area, there is a limit how big air cooling heat sinks you can make without destroying the motherboard due torque applied to socket area by leveler mechanism.

 

Thus we can conclude that single radiator 120mm all in one cooling units are no better than similarly sized 120mm fan tower air cooler.

[CoolMarquis97]

31 minutes ago, sl06bhytmar said:

With same area for heat exchange (radiator fin area) nothing else but usually you can dump all the heat generated in case outside thus reducing ambient temperature inside case a few degrees compared to air cooling. But water cooling can easily have more surface area thanks to its distributed fin area across the area, there is a limit how big air cooling heat sinks you can make without destroying the motherboard due torque applied to socket area by leveler mechanism.

 

Thus we can conclude that single radiator 120mm all in one cooling units are no better than similarly sized 120mm fan tower air cooler.

So essentially its more so of a cosmetic choice rather than having any massive advantage? 

[sl06bhytmar]

2 hours ago, CoolMarquis97 said:

So essentially its more so of a cosmetic choice rather than having any massive advantage? 

You get more advantage when you add more radiators where heat is dumped to ambient temperature trough much larger area than conventional air cooling units. Down sites of course are increased weight, leak risks, pump failure etc. 

 

Does it help you achieve better overclocks for instance? yes but not truly a lot because you're still limited by ambient temperature thus cost for increased overclocking potential is not recommended because money you dump into loop you can buy better components to get more bang for your money.

Things might change how big players like evga are rushing to market with pre-filled parts that you can hook up more easily and with much bigger manufacturing volumes costs go down also thus prices become lower also with increased competition so in future we might have very cheap 'custom loops'. 

So to finally answer you question completely: It is more cosmetic than overclocking potential increase. Also it technically increases lifespan of components because delamination happens underside ball grid array (BGA) chips when it goes trough heat cycles and how big the heat cycle delta T is. 

 

But ultimately both systems will heat up your room same amount

[GrantW]

This guide has helped me a lot, thank you!

 

I have a question though, what water cooling components could I get for a $300 budget?  

[Ithanul]

On 9/23/2016 at 3:50 AM, THFourteen said:

Didn't want to start a new thread but I've been running a leak test with distilled water and ready to drain it and load in some Mayhems X1 coolant.

 

How drained / dry does the system need to be?

 

I had a leak during the leak test and had to drain it so I could refit one of the tubes, and I couldn't for the life of me drain the entire system no matter how much I tilted and turned the case around there was a bit of water left in various parts.

Usually the trick I do is once I got a good amount of the water out.  I slowly start at the bottom and take parts out one by one.  I also ensure the power connections are off and unplugged.  It requires taking one's time and being mindful of were the water is in the parts.  Also, I keep small bowls and paper towels at hand.

 

Though, you could just add the X1 into the system.  If you know how much liquid is in the loop, then you can easily use the ratio of the 250mL to 1.75L distill water to figure out how much of the bottle to put in.

Figure out a ball park of the liters of water in the loop then use that ratio (250mL/1.75L) to find out how many milliliters of X1 to put in.

[9volt_battery]

are pump res. combos any good?

[0ld_Chicken]

2 hours ago, 9volt_battery said:

are pump res. combos any good?

yup, it's mostly an aesthetic choice imo.  

[SamtheMan101]

Does anyone know if a AIO liquid cooling kit is okay for a first time PC Build? I've searched the forums and have seen a split of both positive and negative aspects to AIO. Of course, I have no experience in it but it seems to be okay. What's everyone's opinions on this? In the long run could it corrode and reduce cooling or is it okay to replace an AIO every few years? 

[THFourteen]

Setup question for folks, ordered a new case, (Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass) and radiator, going to shift my setup from my S340 to this, will give me a little more room and cooling bandwidth.

 

My two radiators will be a Black Ice GTS 280 (with 2x Noctua NF-A14 PWMs) and a Black Ice GTS 360 (with 3x EK Vardar F4-120ERs)

 

I'm thinking of setting up the 280 at the front, with the noctuas pulling air from outside and pushing them through the rad into the case, and the 360 at the top, with the vardars pushing air through the rad, out of the case.

 

Is this going to be balanced enough? should i add an extra 140mm exhaust fan at the back? Or do i need another intake somewhere? Feel like the exhaust is > intake at this point, and i might get dust coming in

[michaelwantstoDIYdesk]

On 1/13/2013 at 5:33 PM, Gmac said:

Where to start

Now that you have an understanding behind the theories of Water cooling. This is a good place to really start understanding what is in Custom water cooling loops. But more importantly how do you get one built. My guide here should only be half the story of building a loop. I won't go into detail about the finite processes of putting together a loop. Linus has already done a great job of really showing you how that process works; far better than I could in a forum post. I will hopefully be able to help when it comes to picking out the right components that go into a water cooling loop. Please check out his 4 part guide on Water cooling. This should be what you refer to when you are actually putting a loop together. These Guides are much better at showing how things fit together then I could even type out.

 So this is really awesome, but I am from australia, I have a lot of trouble with getting the right parts. Last year I did a small practice of water cooling however i got the wrong gpu block. Can any please tell me where to find gpu water blocks that ship to Aus. 
Thanks

[daimonie]

On 26-2-2017 at 9:52 AM, GrantW said:

This guide has helped me a lot, thank you!

 

I have a question though, what water cooling components could I get for a $300 budget?  

It depends a bit. I'd certainly would say that going for a KIT is the best bet. It's complete and usually quite a bit cheaper than separate components. e.g. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/kits/gaming-series

You also have access to fluid gaming (https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-kit-a240g, maybe even upgrade with a radiator extra https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-fg-240-expansion-pack). That's full aluminium (don't mix!). I don't know if it will survive (i.e. you might not be able to reuse in the case where they stop the aluminium lineup. That's pure speculation, but it is why I'm going with copper.)

NB: I'm only familiar with EKWB's stuff. There might be better value options out there.

[ScarletFuryX]

Just asking is it recommended to put different brands of components in the same loop (e.g. water blocks, reservoirs, radiators etc.)? I like Primochill's wide variety of fluids and tubing options but EK provides the water blocks, radiators and reservoirs compatible with my future build.

[andrewmp6]

On 8/28/2018 at 10:07 AM, ScarletFuryX said:

Just asking is it recommended to put different brands of components in the same loop (e.g. water blocks, reservoirs, radiators etc.)? I like Primochill's wide variety of fluids and tubing options but EK provides the water blocks, radiators and reservoirs compatible with my future build.

As long as your not mixing metals,Whatever brand parts you use don't matter.A lot of people use different brand parts to meet their liking its fine as long as you don't mix aluminum with copper/copper nickel.

[Guest]

I thought about another Device might be able to be intergrade into the top of a liquid cylinder shape reservoir, the part that is filled up with coolant liquid, at a company called Sunpower a company that deals in cyrocooler, Ametech.  I descovered one called CyroTel MT 5W Cyrocooler, the Length of the Cyrocooler MT mesurement is in mm,  242.8mm from cold tip to top of Cyrocooler, and its not very massive, and comes with controller as well, specifications are as follows: nominal Lift @77K,  nominal imput 80W,   Cooler mass is 2.1 Kg,   Temperature stability +0.1K,   power supply DC 24V,   Overall Length   242.8 mm,   outside diameter 73 mm,   Lowest Temperature 40K minus 233 Celcius,   Orientation any,   operating frequency 60 Hz,   MTTF 200,000 hours,  so how that Cyrocooler can be installed as a CPU cooler get a Reservoir tube wide enough and long enough to slide the shaft of the Cyrocooler with cold tip into the reservoir, allowing for the tip of Cyrocooler to be submerged into the reservoir PC coolant liquid, make sure the reservoir tube which holds the coolant, always holds the same amount of coolant liquid to able to make it through the PC coolant pump down to the CPU for constant World records Overclock, and cyrogenic, back to the reservoir, the volume has to allow for Cyrocooler shaft, as well as the same amount of coolant eg, lets say 1Ltr estimate, and 8 x 2", if try to put shaft of Cyrocooler it Liquid will spill evey where, so make sure PC reservoir tube long enough to fit Cyrocooler shaft in.  As sliding Cyrocooler shaft in Liquid coolant will rise, also need to add a attachment to screw reservoir tube to the the Cyrocooler housing above the mounting vacuum flange to get good seal, also need to allow for inlet from CPU back in the reservoir and also allow for outlet tube to CPU using the required Cyrogenic hoses, being mindful right size cyrogenic Transfer hose from reservoir to pump and to CPU, then attach the Cyrocooler controller to somewhere in the PC ATX, EATX, then find away to contact the PC Corsair 1200W power supply to the Cyrocooler controller allowing for 80W 24V thats if Corsair 1200W power supply is DC, i give a link.    https://sunpowerinc.com/cyrocoolers/         when click on link go down to MT.

[Guest]

Don't use Liquid like water in the reservoir using a Cyrocooler is because the Cyrocooler will turn water in to a solid block of ice, because the Cyrocooler operating at a Low temperature of Kelvins = -233.15 degree celsius. Fomula: 40K minus 273.15 = minus 233.1 degree Celcius.  What the Cyrocooler is designed to do is to create Liquid oxygen, Liquid nitrogen, if you fill reservoir up with that beautiful green, blue Liquid water, to keep the CPU cool and then turn on the Cyrocooler oh yeh ready to go lets play a game then all that liquid in the reservoir PC cooling system will eventually become solid ice, then that wonderful pump spent so much money on will start to fail because the liquid cannot go back in to the reservoir after the liquid has been through the CPU because the reservoir will be ice, then eventually then the pump will start to ice up as well then it will malfunction because it will start to try and pump solid ice through, no i think Cyrocoolers job is to convert oxygen the air we breath into super cooled liquid Oxygen at minus 233 Celcius and still get the same flow as water at room temperature without the Liquid oxygen being turned to ice.  A Cyrocooler is a air Liquefier hear is a you tube clip i have seen.

so this gave me a idea to a PC cooler modification. 

[Guest]

Now you can see how it works perfect for a CPU Cyrocooler, as you can see from the YouTube clip, apparently you know how PC CPU water coolers the reservoir is that clear plastic tube shape, if using a Cyrocooler the reservoir would as have to be like a metal thermos style the same shape PC gamers, developers use to keep there CPUs cool, also it would be quite to, and can still use case fans for air circulation, also a bonus using a Cyrocooler part of a CPU cooler, it will get incredibly cold around the CPU cooler block so when the case fans circulate air around inside the PC case the air will blow over the icee cold CPU block where the CPU is the air inside the PC case will become very cold air, while playin games, also if PC gamers, game developers, architects use this, there should be no problem in Overclock CPUs at world records, reducing CPUs wear as well due to CPU over heating, also reducing the also RTX GPUs could also incorporate this in there GPUs cooling system to reducing the risk of fire due to the RTX 2080 Ti over heating, now that GPUs are becoming more advanced, so what is going to happen when series 30 GPUs become available, it will have to be benchmarked.  I came up with a idea could revolutionize CPU GPU cooling system thinking about the future of PC gamers and game developers 3D renders, if i don't come up with it someone else will.  

[Tim B]

Hi all. I have dipped my toe in the world of watercooling on a very tight budget. So here's my experience so far...

I found a Coolermaster Seidon 2400V AIO for £44.96 and free shipping here in the UK.

I only have an i5 2400 but it works a treat! My CPU temps never go higher than 39oC average (102.2) or thereabouts.

The reason I went for it was the noise in my system, and the fact that any decent air cooler was going to cost about as much? (Noctua, etc..)

I had to get a new case to take the rad, in the front in mine, with the fans mounted to the front of the rad and the rad bolted to the case chassis with the front panel on that.

I have a nice quiet PC now, except when I'm playing a game, but watercooling an RX570 GPU card is neither cheap nor straightforward...

The Case I got to take the AIO cooler is an AeroCool Aero 300 Mid Tower Case - Black USB 3.0 from Ebay for £25.85 also free shipping....

So, yeah given my budget I'm happy with the outcome