What are your Preferred Fittings and ID/OD Tubing Size?

[RobV]

Out of plain curiosity I wanted to see what the LTT crowd preferred when it came to custom liquid cooling. Let me know what you use, why you use it, or what you would like to use if you were able to. I'm trying to decide on fittings at the moment.

 

I have a 270mm reservoir/D5 pump combo and only am planning to cool the CPU at first. I have 680 SLI non-reference FTW, so I am not going to invest in the EK waterblock (only one available) because I plan to upgrade in the near future. Feel free to throw in any thoughts on products relevant to the subject also.

 

Ordering parts for a my first loop, so provide any other tips you feel necessary. I'm building a custom enclosure for my computer out of an old bureau that I plan to refinish, so space is not really a problem. Thanks! I look forward to your replies! 

 

PS - I was thinking of grabbing primochill's wet bench, anyone have one? or a caselabs tech station and mount the board and components that way, leaning towards the primochill though.

[Flyguygamer]

Fittings depend on the build but I always use 3/8 id, 5/8 od, primochill primoflex tubing.

[Vitalius]

Acryllic Tubing and anything related to it.

I personally dislike soft tubing enough to never use it.

[xToFxREAPER]

Like vitalius i much prefer acrylic but when i use soft tubing its 3/8" id and 5/8" od often primochill much like linus as for fittings typically i grab monsoons free centre compressions, they look amazing and come in soooo many colors

[RobV]

Acryllic Tubing and anything related to it.

I personally dislike soft tubing enough to never use it.

I was leaning towards acrylic as well. Being as I would only have the CPU to take care of initially I thought that would be a plus in order to get comfortable with bending it. Have you ever had any problems with cracks? I was looking at white tubing. Any recommendations on fluid? And has build up from dyes or staining ever been an issue with your acrylic set up? (if you're using clear). Or any word of wisdom aside from what the regular youtube video provides.

The only other component I may cool is the memory, if I can cough up the money for those Koolance blocks. Just for aesthetics of course.

[Vitalius]

I was leaning towards acrylic as well. Being as I would only have the CPU to take care of initially I thought that would be a plus in order to get comfortable with bending it. Have you ever had any problems with cracks? I was looking at white tubing. Any recommendations on fluid? And has build up from dyes or staining ever been an issue with your acrylic set up? (if you're using clear). Or any word of wisdom aside from what the regular youtube video provides.

The only other component I may cool is the memory, if I can cough up the money for those Koolance blocks. Just for aesthetics of course.

Sorry bro, I haven't actually built any water cooling rigs. I just would use Acryllic over soft tubing if I were to (and I do plan to this year). 

I wouldn't bend it myself, I would do what Singularity Computers does and just have all straight runs using angled fittings to redirect the flow. I watch a lot of Singularity Computer's videos which is where I learn what I do know about watercooling because he is very knowledgeable about it.

I would just use distilled water with a kill coil. Colored coolant tends to be annoying or difficult to maintain without degrading other components either by way of residue or staining. I mean, it obviously can be done, but I consider it not worth the effort for thick colors (non-transparent). 

If you are just going for light coloring (the coolant would be transparent), then I can't help you there as I have no experience with colored coolants beyond the problems I've heard of surfing the internet (such as the aforementioned ones).

[RobV]

To be honest everything I've been reading and watching recommends to stay away from it and where I'm not loaded with cash I don't really like the idea of my components clogging up. I'm just trying to make the most informed decision I can, so I appreciate your time. Straight runs look so much cleaner and that's what I will be going for anyways. Thanks!

[RobV]

And I'll check out singularity