First attempt on a custom loop

[Selveste1]

Hey out there, I'm working on putting my first attempt of a custom water loop together, so please bare that in mind, if I say something stupid, since this is also a learning experience for me

 

My system now is:

Case: Lian-Li PC-A7110B

Motherbord: ASUS CROSSHAIR V FORMULA-Z

CPU: AMD FX-8350BE (Is going to be updated to a FX-9590 Black Edition eventually)

GFX: SAPPHIRE TRI-X R9 290X 4GB GDDR5 OC (if my budget holds, I'm probably going to get one more and put it in CrossFire)

RAM: Kingston KHX2133C11D3/32GB

SSD: 2x Samsung 840 pro 512GB

Fans: 8x Corsair SP120 (High Performance Edition/High Static Pressure Edition)

Fan-Controller: Corsair Link Cooling-Kit with two cooling nodes

PSU: Corsair AX1200i

 

My plan is to water cool just about everything that I can do and since I have removed the harddrive bay from the case, I can put rads there instead, which gives me room for something like the following

 

Rads: 2x Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 240mm (or even the NexXxoS UT60) and 1x Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 120mm

Motherbord: EK-FB ASUS C5F-Z - Acetal+Nickel

CPU: koolance CPU-380A

GFX: EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal+Nickel

RAM: EK-RAM Monarch Module with the EK-RAM Monarch X4 - Acetal+Nickel CSQ

The motor and res: 2x EK-D5 Vario Motor, EK-D5 Dual TOP and EK-RES X3 250

Fittings and Acrylic tubs also from EK

 

I have read many places that as a rule of thumb you should have 120mm of rad for every component that you're cooling + 120mm extra, and if that is the case, I have the "correct" amount of space, if I only run with one GFX, but my question is really, would I stretch the limit with this relative small amount of rad-space and still run with relative low fan-speeds and would it be best to opt for the UT60 instead of the XT45?

If it makes any difference, the room temperature that the system is standing in, is a steady 21 deg C

 

Thanks in advance for the help, and best regards from Denmark

/Henrik

[SAV1OUR]

dis gonna be good 

[L.E.D]

I'll be waiting to see this.

[airdeano]

 

Hey out there, I'm working on putting my first attempt of a custom water loop together, so please bare that in mind, if I say something stupid, since this is also a learning experience for me

 

Fan-Controller: Corsair Link Cooling-Kit with two cooling nodes

 

 

Thanks in advance for the help, and best regards from Denmark

/Henrik

 

 

welcome to the LinusTechTips forums and the water cooling section.

 

I've got two early versions and a latest and you should pass on this. it is not close

to being finished. bugged, incomplete, and forgets what it is mid use/idle. cannot

not count on buggy hardware/software for projects like this. it'd be easier to use

the PWM models and a fan hub with mobo control (Swiftech PWM splitter).

 

functionality wise all is good, the RAM is overkill and unnecessary, but only for looks. 

the MOSFET is a must for overclocking past 1.4vCore.

 

not a knock on your case selection, but you realize you are going to hack that case

up to stuff all the radiator support into it, right?

[Selveste1]

welcome to the LinusTechTips forums and the water cooling section.

 

I've got two early versions and a latest and you should pass on this. it is not close

to being finished. bugged, incomplete, and forgets what it is mid use/idle. cannot

not count on buggy hardware/software for projects like this. it'd be easier to use

the PWM models and a fan hub with mobo control (Swiftech PWM splitter).

 

functionality wise all is good, the RAM is overkill and unnecessary, but only for looks. 

the MOSFET is a must for overclocking past 1.4vCore.

 

not a knock on your case selection, but you realize you are going to hack that case

up to stuff all the radiator support into it, right?

 

Thank you very much, I must say that I enjoy both this forum and the YT videos. 

I have been building systems (mostly servers and ofc the occasional gaming rig) for well over a decade now, but never really moved over to Water-Cooling because it was a bit distant for me, to put water together with your expensive hardware, but now I thought I would give it a go, and this site really helped a lot in that process.

 

I'm sorry if I was unclear in my first post, but the HW that I listed, is what I already have, and wants to upgrade into a Water-Cooled solution. 

When that is said, I do know that the case has to be hacked quite a lot to support that kind of rad space, but since I have been with it since 2007, and I quite like the esthetic of it (even though it have rubbish cable management options and is zoned completely wrong imho.) I don't really see any case that I personally like, except for maybe the Corsair 900D, so I'm probably going to stick with it. However I am going to start the mod on the case now, even though I haven't figured out all the WC-parts yet, just to see if it's possible at all, or if I have to go for the 900D right away.

 

I do know that the RAM cooling is irrelevant for the performance of the system, but I do like the looks of it, and since this project is mostly for fun anyway it's something that I have to try out

The MOSFET's on the MB however is going to be WC without any doubt at all.

 

When it comes to the Corsair Link, I do agree, I have not experienced a more buggy and unreliable piece of software in ages, but the controller that I have at least saves to profile, so even when the software dies, it still have the latest profile loaded, I do use this feature when the rig is booted into Debian GNU/Linux. But I might consider to change it out to something else, if it turns out to be to much of a reliability.

All the Corsair fans are PWM fans btw.

 

What about the question of the XT45 vs UT60, is there any reason to go for the UT60 or would it be pointless? and what about if I wanted to go with the CrossFire setup, would that change anything in this regard?

[airdeano]

 

Thank you very much, I must say that I enjoy both this forum and the YT videos. 

What about the question of the XT45 vs UT60, is there any reason to go for the UT60 or would it be pointless? and what about if I wanted to go with the CrossFire setup, would that change anything in this regard?

 

 

honestly, for CPU/2xGPU loop a 360x 60 and 240x 60 should be able to handle all of

thermal needs with a low fan speed profile. using thinner might decrease the efficiency

or raise the speeds of the fans, so a 2x 360x 45 could be an option. adding a single

fan radiator (to me) is not advantageous for the amount of cost, points of failure added,

and tubing look distraction. the UT60 basically adds insurance to allow the system to

stabilize in a longer time duration.

 

another point would be how "on-the-edge" in overclocking are you planning? if moderately

then the XT-series could be satisfying. there really isn't a recipe for the correct setup, just

trials and you'd have to make the end adjustments to tailor to your needs.

[Selveste1]

honestly, for CPU/2xGPU loop a 360x 60 and 240x 60 should be able to handle all of

thermal needs with a low fan speed profile.

The UT60 basically adds insurance to allow the system to stabilize in a longer time duration.

 

another point would be how "on-the-edge" in overclocking are you planning?

 

Okay, I think I will opt for the UT60 than. I do have the space, and the cost is about the same. Thanks

 

About the overclocking. I would start out by testing if I can get my FX-8350 to perform like it was a FX-9590, so that would be from the 4.0GHz to the 4.7GHz (it's the same chip, so with the right cooling it should be possible, but then I do need the mosfet cooling to raise the voltage sufficient). The GFX on the other hand, I'm not sure if I'm going to do much about at first.