Custom loop in the works

[Aaron Jessome]

Good morning all. I am soon to be upgrading my cooling to a custom loop and am thinking of getting the bulk of supplies from EK. My current setup is;

 

Fractal Design Meshify S2

Mobo - Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master

CPU - i9 9900k

Memory - GSkill Trident Z RGB 3200MHz

AIO - ASUS ROG Ryujin 360

GPU - EVGA RTX 2080 ti FTW3 Ultra

PSU - EVGA Supernova 1000W P2

 

The first question I have is if I should go with a 200ml or 300ml reservoir? I am also thinking on going for soft tubing.

 

Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Aaron Jessome
forgot to put ram specs in original post.

[mbntr]

I would choose the bigger reservoir, it will have higher thermal capacity, so it will heat up more slowly.

Also, I have soft tubing in my build and it gets yellowish pretty fast ( at least the ek tubing) i'd suggest using another manifacturer or hard tubing

[Enderman]

Use bitspower fittings not EK.

[Mick Naughty]

Res won’t matter unless you like the look. 
A real build is gonna heat up all the same. I get what’s best for my case or build. 
I use everyone’s fittings as they are the exact same when it comes to barbs. Aside from the multi barb fittings. 
Using the matte ek tube as I got tired of my primoflex looking so bad. 

[Mamonos]

For the reservoir you have to do measurements to see if both of them will fit.

 

-Where are you going to mount it?

-Will you have a radiator on top of it? (-> less space)

-Will you use a combo unit or separate reservoir and pump?

-How are the connection to the other parts of the loop?

 

Those question should help you figure it out. I had ordered an EK 250 (440ml) for my personal loop but had to change to an EK150 (240ml) due to lack of space.

 

I suggest you also buy a passtrough temperature sensor (they are fairly cheap and don't take much place on the loop) so you can set your fan curve based on the coolant temperature.

 

Regarding other post I used EK fluid, both the normal and solid types, and personally had no noticeable problems with EK Duraclear tubes, but I must admit I use a big one (12/16mm).

 

Aside from esthetical preference, hard tubing means harder crafting (and more tools required to bend and cut them) and slightly harder maintenance, also in my experience more risk of leaks. Also, PETG is also going to stain. For great looking tube there's Acrylic but that's even harder to craft and breaks easily.

 

[Aaron Jessome]

I appreciate the feedback! I purchased a cpu/vrm monoblock also a gpu block from EK. I went with the larger size as it will fit(corsair xd5 330ml res/pump combo), Bitspower fittings(6x45s, 6x90s, and 10 straight fittings.) also a triple rotary and 2 metal handled ball valves. I just went with 2 360x30mm corsair copper core rads and have 12 corsair ml120 pro's on the way(non rgb). 12ft of ultra clear soft tubing.I also purchased a EK leak tester so i can see if it holds 0.5 bar before I actually put any liquid into the loop. Mick Naughty it's always good to see other veterans on here! I'm still serving and am a Submariner posted to Halifax, NS.

Again thank you and I'll definitely be messaging with questions when all my parts arrive. 

[Aaron Jessome]

it was a tight fit but its going.

[louisssss]

how well does a single 360 rad cool a cpu + gpu these days?