Semi Custom vs Full Custom worth it?

[Manos]

Hey

I am a total newbie in watercooling so show some mercy..  My goal for my next build is total silence (some oc will be nice though) and i was looking for a custom  water loop to achieve that includes cpu + gpu waterblocks. For my dissapointment it seems that the cost well beyond that i imagined. Fortunately I found some solutions and i would like your opinions on that.

Alphacool does those semi io coolers and i am interesting in those two

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/new-products/21588/alphacool-eisbaer-420-cpu-black

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/gpu-cooler/amd-fullsize/24848/alphacool-eiswolf-240-gpx-pro-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2070-black-m05

i know they arent the best perfomers in temps (from what i read the problem is that the lil pump is terrible, pun intented) however the cost in 350 for a full build and i got 2 copper rads for future builds that cost 170ish euro to buy stand alone and some ugly tubing for future use

 

a full custom build that i did with alphacool was in 550 euros and without tubing fans and fiitings

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/new-products/24150/alphacool-eisblock-gpx-n-plexi-light-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2070-m02 

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/radiators/active-radiators/23677/alphacool-nexxxos-xt45-full-copper-280mm-radiator-v.2?c=20543

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/reservoirs/tubing-reservoir/eisbecher/21542/alphacool-eisbecher-d5-250mm-acetal-reservoir-incl.-1x-alphacool-eispumpe-vpp755-v.3?c=20557

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/cpu-cooler/intel-amd/23897/alphacool-eisblock-xpx-pro-1u?c=20571

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/radiators/active-radiators/23672/alphacool-nexxxos-st30-full-copper-420mm-radiator-v.2?c=20543

 

I am thinking to buy the aios for now and have the capability to expand letter for a full custom water loop however it keeps me wandering how much more perfomance and silence can i get with the custom build if any?

Thanks for your time

[Enderman]

Either get a sealed AIO or save up $500+ for a full custom loop.

Don't go with exapndable AIOs.

[OtterlyDumb]

Sorry for the probably less useful comment, but I would get a cheap air cooler first, then upgrade to a decent quality custom cooled system, since from what I've heard air coolers provide similar cooling for cheaper compared to an AIO, then save up for a custom loop that is using reliable brands. Better safe then sorry, and I feel like that would be better in the long run. However, if you want it to be water cooled from the start, I would probably just wait a little longer and save up a little more to get stuff from reliable brands (Not saying the parts provided in the links are untrustworthy, my internet is too slow to check :() so that nothing is leaking/failing.

I have no experience with water cooling other than some videos covering it, so correct me if I messed up so I don't make the same mistake

[Manos]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

Either get a sealed AIO or save up $500+ for a full custom loop.

Don't go with exapndable AIOs.

Thanks for the input but can you provide some reasons?

 

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, Manos said:

Thanks for the input but can you provide some reasons?

 

More chance of leaks, and expanding them makes you end up with crappy components like underpowered pumps, aluminum components instead of full copper, non-standard tubing sizes, etc...

 

Sealed is next best to a heatsink in terms of reliability.

If you want to do a custom loop you need to save up lots and buy good quality components so that you don't get leaks or other problems.

[For Science!]

9 hours ago, Manos said:

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While I think that the Eisbaer series are actually quite good, if you take the view that you will be doing a custom loop in the future, I would resort to stock aircooling until the time is right. I think this is a classic case of "buying cheap twice", and would urge you to just save the money for the real custom loop later. In terms of performance I would not imagine there to be a huge difference (assuming similar radiator capacity) but two small pumps would likely contribute towards some noise and are more points of failure to consider.

[cluelessgenius]

id have to agree with everyone expanding an aio is not ideal. AIO especially the cheap once (which this is consider all the things you get ) dont use the best parts. duhh. obviously theyre going to try and cut down cost as much as possible. a sealed AIO is fine nowadays since they have matured alot. 

expanding an AIO youre gonna end up with a frankenstein system and not gonna be hapy with the result at least i wouldnt. plus sealed AIOs just as normal heatsink have a better resell value should you ever want to ditch it and go custom loop.

speaking of which. 550 plus tubing fitting and fans usually means more like 750. seeing as you are looking at a 2070 block id much rather get a 2080 before punpin that kinda cash into the cooling of things. 

i know im not the one to speak here i just pumped way more than that into watercooling parts for my 7700k and 1080ti but he when i started planning the loop those where top of the line

anyway if you want a custom loop go for it but dont think its gonna be worth the money. you really need to want it. else get a fat heatsink or AIO something closed unit so you can easily flip it in the future if and when you do decide to do custom looping

[SolarNova]

If you want a 'cheap' custom loop, consider a Aluminium kit form the like of EK and such.

 

They are not copper, so you cant easily add/upgrade in the future unless u find Aluminium parts, BUT they are significantly cheaper than your average copper custom loop.

 

In the UK for example a fully custom 360mm rad loop bought piece by piece can cost around £500, but you an get a 240mm 'rad kit' for CPU and GPU from EK for about £250, it is however Aluminium ando nly 240mm, though since its a proper loop you can easily grab another rad and 2 more fittings and 2 more fans to add to it.

 

Whilst it will come with fans, if u want super quiet operation i would suggest spending extra on some NF-A12x25 noctua fans, they are expensive but damn near silent even at 1200 RPM.

[Olaf6541]

10 hours ago, Manos said:

My goal for my next build is total silence

You're going to need radiator fans and a pump, so a waterloop is not total silent.

If you plan the airflow correctly and use quiet fans (preferably large and low rpm) you can get really good temps at low noise.

 

I agree with the above comments that expandle AIO's are not the way to go, the pump are usually compatible with standard cpu fan headers on the mobo meaning that they are not as powerful as something like a D5 pump and can cause problems if you start expanding it. I've had an AIO that made an aweful high pitched noise and now I'm using a D5 pump at 33% RPM that is barely audible compared to the fans and it still pumps through a cpu block, a gpu block and two triple radiators.

 

So I would suggest buy a decent air cooled solution and go full custom when you have the $$$.

Also you haven't specified your pc case so that would be helpful info as well.