First custom loop - need help shopping

[t0m.-]

Hey guys!

 

I received a Fractal Design Define 7. It looks kinda empty, so I decided that I wanna try building a custom loop. 

 

I have some difficulties picking the right parts. As of now, I just want a small loop for the CPU (Ryzen 5 3600) - BUT I am probably upgrading GPU to RTX 3XXX series. So it'd be much appreciated if it was possible to include it in the loop later.

 

My rig does not at all need a custom loop. But I want to do it for the experience and the sake of doing it. And the looks.

 

I have plenty of space in the case. Just do not really know where to start and what to watch out for. I guess I would start off with soft tubing and switch to hardtubes once the GPU gets included, if that makes sense? I'd love RGB and products that last several years. I am not on a tight budget, but I personally hate overspending. The Corsair Hydro X series looks good but damn, thats expensive.

 

Any help or ideas are appreciated.

 

 

[Bombastinator]

There is a faq I believe

The big one I personally remember is don’t mix metals.  There are unusual electrochemical things that can happen when different metals and flowing water are put together.  Copper and steel is a famous one.  It actually creates a very low voltage battery that corrodes everything very fast. Copper and aluminum apparently has a similar problem though I know less about it.

[Cade25]

If it is your first loop I would go for soft line, but GM if you really want to go hard line than you can but it is vary difficult because you half to use a heat gun to bend the tubes.

 

in terms of parts. If it is your first time, look into a pump/res combos then get a cpu block from “elk” then you should be good

[t0m.-]

Thanks for the messages. I read through the guide quite a lot. I still have several questions -

 

is there anything really bad about the parts I have yet? From the reviews I saw the parts seem to be solid?

 

Can anyone recommend some fittings?

 

How do I ideally create a Loop- Drain point?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, t0m.- said:

Thanks for the messages. I read through the guide quite a lot. I still have several questions -

 

is there anything really bad about the parts I have yet? From the reviews I saw the parts seem to be solid?

 

Can anyone recommend some fittings?

 

How do I ideally create a Loop- Drain point?

I think before picking parts, understanding them is important vs. just asking if the parts you picked are good. Jay has some really nice beginner guides.

 

 

[LukaH]

drain port should be at the lowest point of the loop, but honestly it can be anywhere since you can always tip the case on its side/upside down, to drain it.... the order of the components doesn't matter as long as you can get fluid to the pump (usually a pump+res combo is best). I tried both soft and hard tubing and i found that working with soft tubes is easier since you don't need as many angled fittings, tools to cut/round the edges of the tube and is less prone to leaking. I'd suggest getting a leak testing kit from EK (not aware if any other company has one) since it will save you a lot of hassle if your loop does leak somewhere and you have to drain it and correct the error (you can resell it afterwards). For coolant i would avoid solid/pastel colors and would go for colored soft tubes with distilled water with some kind of growth inhibitor (less maintenance).

[Owen Chief]

I did hard tubing for my first watercooling loop and never looked back, it just looks and feels far cleaner

 

spend a few quid getting the bending tools/kit to do 90's and you can manage most of it by hand if your competent enough, I had to use 1 2x45 degree fitting for one out of sight fitting but the rest I managed to practice and find my way around and with the use of EK leak tester I didn't put my system at any risk. 1 Particular bend was a bit of a pain but managed to pull it off on the 2nd attempt. I could have spun the res around but wanted it to look cleaner with the front facing outward on my desk

 

Get some extra tubes to practice on as that will cost you a shit load less than using lots of fittings which will ultimately look worse than juse using soft tubing to begin with

 

[Ravendarat]

Ok honestly hard line isnt difficult if you take your time. I did hardline on mine, never had done it before and out of all my tubes I had to redo 1 once and thats it. Use fittings if you arent confident you can make a bend somewhere. If you start with soft then switch to hard then you need to replace all the soft tubing fittings with hard when you change which is a waste of money. I used Bykski fittings and never looked back. I ordered them off aliexpress so it took almost a month to get them but I have 26 total fittings in my loop so it was worth waiting for the $$$ savings that I could put else where. Your parts look fine otherwise, and if you wanna do soft tubing thats ok too, just know you will be throwing some of the fittings you are buying into a drawer later as they will be useless

[t0m.-]

Thanks for your answers. 

 

Which tools do you recommend for bending? I understand that I need a heat gun. Any tools to help the bends? I will look deeper into fittings when I fully decide whether I wanna go Hard or Soft. Basically I just need 2 Fittings for CPU block, 2 for Rad, 2 for Pump, right? Maybe for a drain port?

 

The Raijintek Antila D5 Pump/Res combo is super cheap compared to other D5 pump/res combinations, is there any downside?

 

Edit: Deep in german boards I found several users claiming the antila d5 is a "fake" d5 and tends to fail a lot. So.. can anyone recommend a pump res combination? Preferably with a big reservoir as my case has way too much air in it LOL