Tips First Custom Loop

[cedge206]

So yeah, this is my first custom water loop build and looking for tips and if you have used those parts. Just your idea on the build. Show me da way.

 

Taking current build and upgrading keep psu, cpu, mobo, ram. i5 7600k-32gb Gskill Trident Z-Msi Gaming 7. Current case corsair 570x wont fit top rad.

 

New build parts.

*EK
**PCCG
***PLE

 

  CPU Waterblock: EK Velocity D-RGB Nickel+Acetal $135***
  Case                 : Lian Li PC011 Dynamic           $190***    
  Radiators          : EK CoolStream SE 360 Slim       $ 80**
                           :EK Coolstream PE 360            $108*
  Tubing        : EK TubeZMT matteblack3/8 5/8 3m $ 22***
  Fittings : EK Torque STC 10/16mm black     $100*
              : EK AF Ball vavle                $ 20***
              : EK AF X Splitter                $ 12***
              : EK CSQ plug G1/4 x4             $  20*
  GPU Waterblock: EKVectorRTXRE RGB nickelAcetal  $190*
                            : EK Vector RTX Backplate         $ 50*
  Pump/Reservoir : EK XRES 140 revoD5 RGB PWM      $219***
  Fans          : Corsair Ll120mm 3 pack x2       $280
                    : Corsair commander pro           $ 95
  GPU : EVGA RTX 2070 Super Black       $870  (all prices AUD)

 

Havent looked at coolant yet. I know thats a lot of money for fans. Budget no issue. Looking for reliable parts.

 

Plan is. Slim rad on side as intake. then other rad on top exhaust. then loop res>pump>gpu>rad(top)>cpu>rad(side)>res.

 

 

[Faisal A]

Tip (controversial) : Fluid with colours or anything apart from distilled water can cause long term damage. Over time, the particles build up and sometimes clog the CPU. Sometime the particles get all over your loop. Arguably, distilled water with biocide is the best solution, but you should still change your coolant every year or so. Some people argue that it isn't the coolant, but you can make your own decision. If you do use opaque coolant, make sure to regularly check your temps via software, and if they're high, the loop might need cleaning.

 

People who's systems got clogged from coolant : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8YHtq0iOTU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJnTrXKgVk0

And many more. 

 

Also, avoid mixing metals in your loop as it can cause corrosion to occur faster

[For Science!]

33 minutes ago, cedge206 said:

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Would either suggest you avoid EK's slim rads, so go for PE if you can, or alternatively something like HWlabs would be a better choice. Probably need a male-to-male fitting here and there and you should probably also consider a temperature sensors if your motherboard has a 2-pin probe.

[cedge206]

2 hours ago, For Science! said:

Would either suggest you avoid EK's slim rads, so go for PE if you can, or alternatively something like HWlabs would be a better choice. Probably need a male-to-male fitting here and there and you should probably also consider a temperature sensors if your motherboard has a 2-pin probe.

Why not use the slim rad? Any particular reason. Cause i have seen many people having issues fitting two pe rads in there. Especially top and side. Also where would the temp sensor go in the system? Like what temp to look at? 

[For Science!]

54 minutes ago, cedge206 said:

Why not use the slim rad? Any particular reason. Cause i have seen many people having issues fitting two pe rads in there. Especially top and side. Also where would the temp sensor go in the system? Like what temp to look at? 

the SE series are just a bit crappy compared to other 30 mm radiators. the PE ones are fine though. The temp sensor can go anywhere, it is to monitor fluid temperature which is constant for all intents and purposes since the water is moved around by the pump rapidly.

 

https://www.xtremerigs.net/2015/02/11/radiator-round-2015/10/

 

 

 

[cedge206]

Been looking around and the Corsair 500D SE comes with commander pro and 3 Ll120 fans. Might save some money there if i get that. Then change the slim rad to a EK 240mm PE rad. Still checking to see if will fit tho.

 

For coolant going to get distilled water and ad EK cryofuel clear to it.

[cedge206]

On 7/22/2019 at 4:42 PM, For Science! said:

Would either suggest you avoid EK's slim rads, so go for PE if you can, or alternatively something like HWlabs would be a better choice. Probably need a male-to-male fitting here and there and you should probably also consider a temperature sensors if your motherboard has a 2-pin probe.

Hey. For the probe im looking at ek temp probe (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-cable-temperature-probe-10k-ntc-100cm) where and how to install in loop. Most other ive seen are plug temp probes. But cant get hands on those. Theres this inline one but bit on pricey side. Can get if a must tho. 

[Tonberry]

On 7/22/2019 at 6:58 PM, For Science! said:

the SE series are just a bit crappy compared to other 30 mm radiators. the PE ones are fine though. The temp sensor can go anywhere, it is to monitor fluid temperature which is constant for all intents and purposes since the water is moved around by the pump rapidly.

 

https://www.xtremerigs.net/2015/02/11/radiator-round-2015/10/

 

How about the EK CoolStream SE 240?

What is the recommended slim 240 mm rad?

[For Science!]

3 hours ago, PotatoCanDo! said:

How about the EK CoolStream SE 240?

What is the recommended slim 240 mm rad?

Although I strictly don't know of any extensive tests for 240 mm radiators, there is no reason for me to believe the results for the 360 mm to differ for 240 or 120 mm radiators since they should be linear scales in terms of performance. I personally go for the HWlabs GTS as the article points towards.

 

7 hours ago, cedge206 said:

Hey. For the probe im looking at ek temp probe (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-cable-temperature-probe-10k-ntc-100cm) where and how to install in loop. Most other ive seen are plug temp probes. But cant get hands on those. Theres this inline one but bit on pricey side. Can get if a must tho. 

I prefer them in a fitting style (either stop plug or inline), but you could just tape this one to the radiator itself and this should be an alright measure of the temperature.

[Tonberry]

47 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Although I strictly don't know of any extensive tests for 240 mm radiators, there is no reason for me to believe the results for the 360 mm to differ for 240 or 120 mm radiators since they should be linear scales in terms of performance. I personally go for the HWlabs GTS as the article points towards.

I checked the HWlabs 240 GTS in the official site, it only has 16 FPI in 29mm thick compared to EK's SE 240 which has 22 FPI in 26mm thick.

 

How does this properties compare?

 

A 16 FPI 29mm thick rad still better than 22 FPI 26mm thick one?

[cedge206]

1 hour ago, PotatoCanDo! said:

I checked the HWlabs 240 GTS in the official site, it only has 16 FPI in 29mm thick compared to EK's SE 240 which has 22 FPI in 26mm thick.

 

How does this properties compare?

 

A 16 FPI 29mm thick rad still better than 22 FPI 26mm thick one?

was reading this on EK`s website.

 

The cooling process is basic physics. The bigger the surface area, the better the cooling. That is why thicker radiators and denser fins can bring more cooling performance. But! There is always a „but“. Thicker radiators and/or radiators with greater FPI value need adequate air flow so that their performance is properly exploited. High static pressure fans, and fans that are properly designed to be used on radiators, always have an advantage, as we already discussed in the “Fans for Liquid Cooling” blog post.

[For Science!]

10 hours ago, PotatoCanDo! said:

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Furthermore , there are additional factors such as the liquid channel restriction, how well soldered the fins are to the tubes. FPI means nothing if the contact between the fins and the coolant tubes are poor. FPI in my opinion are really only comparable within a product series within a brand.

[Tonberry]

1 hour ago, For Science! said:

Furthermore , there are additional factors such as the liquid channel restriction, how well soldered the fins are to the tubes. FPI means nothing if the contact between the fins and the coolant tubes are poor. FPI in my opinion are really only comparable within a product series within a brand.

I did a further research. I found that the old version of HWLabs 240 GTS has 30 FPI in same thickness, 29mm. While the new version of 240 GTS has 16 FPI 29mm thick. I guess your initial judgement on how the GTS performs relatively to the EK SE referred to the old GTS with 30 FPI. CMIIW.

 

So I guess that the EK SE is better compared to the new GTS but worse than the old GTS.

 

What do you think?

 

I'm also looking a slim 240mm rad atm and I'm hitting the wall when I read your post said that the GTS is better than SE but when I see the FPI difference they're like in the opposite situation to what you said.

 

So I'm still indecisive here. Please advice..

[AngryBeaver]

1 hour ago, PotatoCanDo! said:

I did a further research. I found that the old version of HWLabs 240 GTS has 30 FPI in same thickness, 29mm. While the new version of 240 GTS has 16 FPI 29mm thick. I guess your initial judgement on how the GTS performs relatively to the EK SE referred to the old GTS with 30 FPI. CMIIW.

 

So I guess that the EK SE is better compared to the new GTS but worse than the old GTS.

 

What do you think?

 

I'm also looking a slim 240mm rad atm and I'm hitting the wall when I read your post said that the GTS is better than SE but when I see the FPI difference they're like in the opposite situation to what you said.

 

So I'm still indecisive here. Please advice..

So this is going to get overly complicated fast lol. Anyways the more surface area you have HxWxL the more heat you can dissipate in total. The FPI also adds to this, but I use it as more of reference to the purpose of that radiator. Lower FPI radiators are meant for lower RPM fans and aim at being quiet. So if you add a say 3000rpm fan to a 12FPI radiator you won't see much gain over a 1200rpm fan... there will be some but it won't be as drastic as say a 30 FPI radiator. So on a high FPI radiator you see much better returns on high rpm fans, but will see less cooling on lower rpm fans.... that is due to the restriction of the air.

 

So when looking at FPI... just look at it as a way to determine what it is geared for. 16FPI is for the 1000-1800 range and it will be the most efficient at those ranges. A 30FPI radiator will need fans in the 2000+ range to operate at the same efficiency, but can also remove more heat at the cost of sound. You need to figure out what you want. Do you want a loud solution with high rpm fans or one that runs at a much less audible level, but has less overall cooling capacity. 

[cedge206]

Isnt taking something simple and making a complicated the bread and butter, heart and soul,  of PC Gaming Enthusiast.

[Tonberry]

38 minutes ago, AngryBeaver said:

So this is going to get overly complicated fast lol.

Seeing that chart @For Science! shared is from 2015, then I think that GTS is the old model with that denser FPI than the newer model, so more surface area, assuming the fans which used to test are the same across the rads.

 

How if we use the noctua NF-A12x25 between new GTS vs SE?

 

New GTS has 16 FPI/29.6mm vs SE with 22 FPI/26mm.

 

Which will be the better choice, thicker and lower FPI or thinner and denser FPI with specs NF-A12x25 has (it's a high pressure high RPM with low noise magic fan)?

[cedge206]

1 hour ago, PotatoCanDo! said:

I did a further research. I found that the old version of HWLabs 240 GTS has 30 FPI in same thickness, 29mm. While the new version of 240 GTS has 16 FPI 29mm thick. I guess your initial judgement on how the GTS performs relatively to the EK SE referred to the old GTS with 30 FPI. CMIIW.

 

So I guess that the EK SE is better compared to the new GTS but worse than the old GTS.

 

What do you think?

 

I'm also looking a slim 240mm rad atm and I'm hitting the wall when I read your post said that the GTS is better than SE but when I see the FPI difference they're like in the opposite situation to what you said.

 

So I'm still indecisive here. Please advice..

You cant compare FPI between radiators. FPI is not a linear curve so 16fpi vs 32 fpi dont mean it cools twice as better. It is also affected by design and how air flows through.

[Tonberry]

1 hour ago, cedge206 said:

You cant compare FPI between radiators. FPI is not a linear curve so 16fpi vs 32 fpi dont mean it cools twice as better. It is also affected by design and how air flows through.

So how that chart compares between each rads then? What is the parameter is used as a normalization in that rads raw performance shootout?

I'm curious as to educate myself more in-depth about CLC.

 

Like you said, basic physics, more surface area is better, if we use the mentioned fan like NF-A12x25.

 

So with the same fan same RPM, let's say 1700 RPM, and same liquid flow rate and others. Those 16/29.6 vs 22/26 FPI/thickness rads, which will be the better choice?

 

I didnt say 32 fpi is twice better than 16 fpi. But do you think the 30fpi old GTS vs 16fpi new GTS performs the same?

 

If we compare same properties 2 slim rads like the HWlabs new GTS vs Bitspower Leviathan SF, which has same 16/29.6  fpi/thickness, then we are comparing the quality of their fins to tubes structures? Cmiiw

 

But this 16/29.6 vs 22/26, I'm facing these 3 options for my build, the GTS, Leviathan SF and EK SE. I can tolerate the noise of NF-A12x25 at 1700 rpm max.