knock offs yah or nay

[thrasher_565]

so i got some cheap rads from FormulaMod cost $25 usd for a 360 rad. the question is was it a good idea or a bad one. any one have problems with cheap stuff vs the expensive stuff or most people just gues that its cheap so it must cause problems. i have payed $120 for a thin alphcool 360 rad and there painting job is not the best. i also got the really expensive  Aquacomputer airplex 360 rads and found them made cheaply as well. not having protection stoping the scews from going in to the rad, the threads were the fans screw in to can spin, the side aluminum cover is cheaply attached to name a few and i payed like $350 each.... so my question whats your thoughts on the topic what cheap parts have you got and have any problems with them or problems with expensive stuff.

 

also a bonus topic is its head to see aluminum rads soooooooo cheap and was wondering if there a way to use em. i no aio all use em but why not in a custom loop. i no the only aluminum d5 pump and fittings (that i cold find ) are form ek but weird how there nothing els. i guess you could use plastic fittings if you can find them still (seems like they just gone one day?) i no cars use mixed metals and then work just fine why cant we use car coolant in a pc?

[TheSLSAMG]

23 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

also a bonus topic is its head to see aluminum rads soooooooo cheap and was wondering if there a way to use em. i no aio all use em but why not in a custom loop. i no the only aluminum d5 pump and fittings (that i cold find ) are form ek but weird how there nothing els. i guess you could use plastic fittings if you can find them still (seems like they just gone one day?) i no cars use mixed metals and then work just fine why cant we use car coolant in a pc?

Honestly I think most manufacturers didn't bother because no matter what, open loop liquid cooling is a niche and people are usually willing to pay the price. That being said, EK's stuff is well priced, it's just too bad they don't make custom design GPU blocks or a universal GPU block out of aluminum. I'd be all over it personally. Using car coolant in a PC can't be done because it usually degrades the plastics and rubber gaskets in normal loop components.

 

You may be able to get away with mixed metals in a normal PC loop by using a good biocide to prevent (or at least mostly prevent) galvanic corrosion, however I'd not recommend that unless you want to risk destroying a bunch of expensive hardware. Commercially produced CLCs (including those made by Asetek and CoolIT) are usually mixed metal systems with aluminum radiators and copper CPU blocks, but the fluids are also usually more similar to antifreeze than water.

[thrasher_565]

3 minutes ago, TheSLSAMG said:

Honestly I think most manufacturers didn't bother because no matter what, open loop liquid cooling is a niche and people are usually willing to pay the price. That being said, EK's stuff is well priced, it's just too bad they don't make custom design GPU blocks or a universal GPU block out of aluminum. I'd be all over it personally. Using car coolant in a PC can't be done because it usually degrades the plastics and rubber gaskets in normal loop components.

 

You may be able to get away with mixed metals in a normal PC loop by using a good biocide to prevent (or at least mostly prevent) galvanic corrosion, however I'd not recommend that unless you want to risk destroying a bunch of expensive hardware. Commercially produced CLCs (including those made by Asetek and CoolIT) are usually mixed metal systems with aluminum radiators and copper CPU blocks, but the fluids are also usually more similar to antifreeze than water.

oh i forgot about ek gpu block...hmmm. ya your right i guess using car coolant dose degrade the parts that's why every so often you have to replace the hoses. good point. my question is then why is there SO many aluminum rads? there designed around the pc because the use g1/4 and stander fan spacing but if you cant use em why so many? i no aio wil keep w/e coolent they use a secret but is there any good antifreeze that works for pc?

[AngryBeaver]

18 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

oh i forgot about ek gpu block...hmmm. ya your right i guess using car coolant dose degrade the parts that's why every so often you have to replace the hoses. good point. my question is then why is there SO many aluminum rads? there designed around the pc because the use g1/4 and stander fan spacing but if you cant use em why so many? i no aio wil keep w/e coolent they use a secret but is there any good antifreeze that works for pc?

I think you could still go all aluminum. Most pumps are plastic where they touch the water btw.

 

Get a aluminum cpu block (easy and cheap), then you will need to find a universal gpu block in aluminum (also possible amd cheap). Then you can use one of the aio cooling fan setups for the gpu with that block. The fittings are the only thing that can be problematic, but if you are ok with barb fittings this is also doable.

 

I would still use either a good premix with biocide and corrosion inhibitors... or just mix my own with distilled.

 

I mean it comes down to money saved vs time it takes to get everything order and delivered. Some or this will need to come from places like aliexpress.

[thrasher_565]

2 hours ago, AngryBeaver said:

I think you could still go all aluminum. Most pumps are plastic where they touch the water btw.

 

Get a aluminum cpu block (easy and cheap), then you will need to find a universal gpu block in aluminum (also possible amd cheap). Then you can use one of the aio cooling fan setups for the gpu with that block. The fittings are the only thing that can be problematic, but if you are ok with barb fittings this is also doable.

 

I would still use either a good premix with biocide and corrosion inhibitors... or just mix my own with distilled.

 

I mean it comes down to money saved vs time it takes to get everything order and delivered. Some or this will need to come from places like aliexpress.

well i guess lets price out a copper loop first to see if you even save much. (i guess the more rads to the loop the more saving) so i got a 360 copper rad for $35 + shipping say $40-$45, cheapest d5 pump i could find was $40+ say $5-10 shipping, cpu block probly get 1 for $15 or an rgb 1 for $30-$35, and hybrid gpu block is around $15-$20, fittings are $1-2 each, res well you dont need it but say $10-$15. so say around $125 to $150 for a copper loop with 1 360 rad.

 

only cpu i could find is the cheap one around $5 (they do make ones with fins in them but they cost a bit more) , $28 for a 360 rad, and dont no about the gpu block i guess just use a cpu block as well so $5 there, if you got the rad with fittings on it and the cpu block have fittings on it save money. as for the pump i personly only like d5 but maybe there a way to set it up if a cheap pump fails it will shout down the pc or something so i guess as long as its plastic it should be fine. i no the d5 some metal in it and uses an magnet prop.

 

still if you can find cheap aio and hack em up to make a full loop that's probably the better way to go.