Water cooling advice?

[Craftable124]

Hey guys, this summer I'm planning to upgrade my GPU, and while I'm at it I'm thinking about doing some custom water cooling. I was just wondering if anyone had an advice for a first time custom loop, or any suggestions on what stuff to get. I also wanted to make sure i'll be able to fit a dual 140mm rad in the top of the CM 690 III. Thanks in advance.

[Lays]

It's quite easy honestly, just very tedious and time consuming to do it and make sure it's leak free etc.

 

 

this belongs in the watercooling section a mod should move it soon.

[Craftable124]

It's quite easy honestly, just very tedious and time consuming to do it and make sure it's leak free etc.

 

 

this belongs in the watercooling section a mod should move it soon.

I forgot that existed when I posted this apparently. fail. Anyway nice avatar

[Flyguygamer]

@Slick can you please move this thread. It looks like you are the only one online that can do it. 

To answer the OP I wouldn't do a closed loop unless you want the looks and are willing to put in the money and time. It is not a cost effective cooling option. If you want water for less money and headache just get a dual 140 aio for the cpu and use a NZXT G10 with a 120/140 single aio on the gpu. It will cost less and do almost the same in cooling. All you lose is the beauty of water cooling.

[Craftable124]

@Slick can you please move this thread. It looks like you are the only one online that can do it. 

To answer the OP I wouldn't do a closed loop unless you want the looks and are willing to put in the money and time. It is not a cost effective cooling option. If you want water for less money and headache just get a dual 140 aio for the cpu and use a NZXT G10 with a 120/140 single aio on the gpu. It will cost less and do almost the same in cooling. All you lose is the beauty of water cooling.

Yeah, but I really only want to do it for the fun, and to make my PC look cooler.

[Flyguygamer]

Yeah, but I really only want to do it for the fun, and to make my PC look cooler.

In that case it is a lot of fun but it is also a lot of work. Both in building the loop and maintenance. If the case supports 2*140 fans it should support a 2*140 rad. For a cpu+gpu loop I would go for a min of 3 by 120/140. Do you have somewhere to mount another rad? A place for the res and pump? If so I recommend ek blocks, the swiftech mcp655 pump, and preimochill primoflex 5/8 od 3/8id tubing in whatever color you pick.

[Joshua Ondangan]

well good advice might be a 655 vario pump if you can fit it in your budget.

prolimatech primochill advance lrt uv something tubes would be good. they say its the best one out there.

[helping]

Hey guys, this summer I'm planning to upgrade my GPU, and while I'm at it I'm thinking about doing some custom water cooling. I was just wondering if anyone had an advice for a first time custom loop, or any suggestions on what stuff to get. I also wanted to make sure i'll be able to fit a dual 140mm rad in the top of the CM 690 III. Thanks in advance.

No taking short cuts for first build unless you've read the first 10 pages of google's worth of water cooling guides.

 

Don't buy kits, avoid aluminium, pure distilled is best, barbs work just as well as compressions, the only thing you can cheap out on without suffering is the res. 

[Craftable124]

In that case it is a lot of fun but it is also a lot of work. Both in building the loop and maintenance. If the case supports 2*140 fans it should support a 2*140 rad. For a cpu+gpu loop I would go for a min of 3 by 120/140. Do you have somewhere to mount another rad? A place for the res and pump? If so I recommend ek blocks, the swiftech mcp655 pump, and preimochill primoflex 5/8 od 3/8id tubing in whatever color you pick.

I think I can fit another dual 120 in the front, or a single 120 in the bottom. My plan was to get the swifttech micro res and stick it in the front where the HDD cage would be. I could probably fit the pump there, too.

[Flyguygamer]

I think I can fit another dual 120 in the front, or a single 120 in the bottom. My plan was to get the swifttech micro res and stick it in the front where the HDD cage would be. I could probably fit the pump there, too.

That should work. I would go for the dual 120 because the more rad space you have you can maintain temps with slower fan speeds and therefore be very quiet if not silent.

[Leonard]

Hey guys, this summer I'm planning to upgrade my GPU, and while I'm at it I'm thinking about doing some custom water cooling. I was just wondering if anyone had an advice for a first time custom loop, or any suggestions on what stuff to get. I also wanted to make sure i'll be able to fit a dual 140mm rad in the top of the CM 690 III. Thanks in advance.

My advice it to not skimp on the pump, a D5 would do nicely. When buying fans make sure to look for high static pressure, any thing above 1.7 mm H20 is good. Make sure your fittings are properly tightened but not over tight. Make sure the tubing used has no kinks in it when you have finished your loop, the straighter the run the better. Use a monsoon silver bullet in your reservoir to help prevent any growth in your coolant. Make sure you buy the proper sized tubing for your fittings or you may have leaks, one tip for leak prevention with tubes is to buy  a smaller tube than the outer diameter of your fitting. I use 1/2 barbs with 3/8 tubing. Buy a PWM fan splitter because you never know if you will need it to route your cables neatly.

 

As this is your first time water cooling, dry fit your loop in your case then disconnect it and leak test it out side your case for 24hrs. After this you will feel more comfortable with what is the needed tension to prevent any leaks with your clamps and if your loop leaks you will not damage any parts. After a year of using your water loop you will need to clean/de-oxidize all blocks for best performance. Remember your first leak test will have flux in it as it is use to seal the radiators so you should throw that water away and fill up with fresh coolant after you leak test and feel confident with your loop. Remember dyes stain some reservoirs and the can cause gunking of your blocks so run at your own risk. The thicker  and wider the radiator, the stronger the pump and the higher the static pressure the fans produce the better the cooling. Make sure that you use the proper fitting screws for the radiator so the fins are not punctured. Watch as many water cooling videos as possible so you fully understand what is needed, the risks and the performance gains and you will also get ideas on what would suit your case and needs.

 

Sorry this is plenty reading but i feel it is worthy. There this is all i can think of that i wish i would have known before i did my first loop. 

[zombie93]

My advice it to not skimp on the pump, a D5 would do nicely. When buying fans make sure to look for high static pressure, any thing above 1.7 mm H20 is good. Make sure your fittings are properly tightened but not over tight. Make sure the tubing used has no kinks in it when you have finished your loop, the straighter the run the better. Use a monsoon silver bullet in your reservoir to help prevent any growth in your coolant. Make sure you buy the proper sized tubing for your fittings or you may have leaks, one tip for leak prevention with tubes is to buy  a smaller tube than the outer diameter of your fitting. I use 1/2 barbs with 3/8 tubing. Buy a PWM fan splitter because you never know if you will need it to route your cables neatly.

 

As this is your first time water cooling, dry fit your loop in your case then disconnect it and leak test it out side your case for 24hrs. After this you will feel more comfortable with what is the needed tension to prevent any leaks with your clamps and if your loop leaks you will not damage any parts. After a year of using your water loop you will need to clean/de-oxidize all blocks for best performance. Remember your first leak test will have flux in it as it is use to seal the radiators so you should throw that water away and fill up with fresh coolant after you leak test and feel confident with your loop. Remember dyes stain some reservoirs and the can cause gunking of your blocks so run at your own risk. The thicker  and wider the radiator, the stronger the pump and the higher the static pressure the fans produce the better the cooling. Make sure that you use the proper fitting screws for the radiator so the fins are not punctured. Watch as many water cooling videos as possible so you fully understand what is needed, the risks and the performance gains and you will also get ideas on what would suit your case and needs.

 

Sorry this is plenty reading but i feel it is worthy. There this is all i can think of that i wish i would have known before i did my first loop.

Good information here, same for me in that last sentence.

[Craftable124]

My advice it to not skimp on the pump, a D5 would do nicely. When buying fans make sure to look for high static pressure, any thing above 1.7 mm H20 is good. Make sure your fittings are properly tightened but not over tight. Make sure the tubing used has no kinks in it when you have finished your loop, the straighter the run the better. Use a monsoon silver bullet in your reservoir to help prevent any growth in your coolant. Make sure you buy the proper sized tubing for your fittings or you may have leaks, one tip for leak prevention with tubes is to buy a smaller tube than the outer diameter of your fitting. I use 1/2 barbs with 3/8 tubing. Buy a PWM fan splitter because you never know if you will need it to route your cables neatly.

As this is your first time water cooling, dry fit your loop in your case then disconnect it and leak test it out side your case for 24hrs. After this you will feel more comfortable with what is the needed tension to prevent any leaks with your clamps and if your loop leaks you will not damage any parts. After a year of using your water loop you will need to clean/de-oxidize all blocks for best performance. Remember your first leak test will have flux in it as it is use to seal the radiators so you should throw that water away and fill up with fresh coolant after you leak test and feel confident with your loop. Remember dyes stain some reservoirs and the can cause gunking of your blocks so run at your own risk. The thicker and wider the radiator, the stronger the pump and the higher the static pressure the fans produce the better the cooling. Make sure that you use the proper fitting screws for the radiator so the fins are not punctured. Watch as many water cooling videos as possible so you fully understand what is needed, the risks and the performance gains and you will also get ideas on what would suit your case and needs.

Sorry this is plenty reading but i feel it is worthy. There this is all i can think of that i wish i would have known before i did my first loop.

Why not test it inside the system, with only the pump and fans powered?

[Leonard]

Why not test it inside the system, with only the pump and fans powered?

Custom water cooling is very unpredictable and there are a number of things that can go wrong at the same time and most of those things can lead to wet PC parts that end up destroyed. As this is your first time i doubt you are prepared for the amount of water that can spew, drip and run out of the various water cooling parts at the beginning, midway of a leak test, not to mention how your hand will fit fast to get to tighten a fitting, clamp or port plug and this is why i am recommending that you do it outside as it can be almost impossible to trap water from a leak with a whole roll of bounty paper let alone a few sheets covering a few things.

 

When you do it outside of your case and a spill happens you can fix the problem easier than if it is in the case and you do not have to worry about where the water is going to fall. It can fall on the ground and you would be cool and not panic. My first time i had three fittings leak at the same time and a tube leak as well. If i did not take off my jersey and use it i would have lost a GPU before i used it.

 

This is just my precautionary recommendations to you that i wished someone told me about before i did my first water loop.

 

If you want to see how things can go bad quickly check for a youtube video from Ronsanut call the "Leak Show" then tell me if i am leading you wrong.

[FluffyNuggets]

My advice is get a new case. Sure it can be fun modding stuff to make it work but often you end up spending more doing it then just buying a case that does what you need it to do. I guess if you have personal attachment to the case then by all means keep it. 

 

For a first timer, it might be too much to deal with squeezing stuff in trying to make it all fit. 

 

 

Custom water cooling is very unpredictable and there are a number of things that can go wrong at the same time and most of those things can lead to wet PC parts that end up destroyed. As this is your first time i doubt you are prepared for the amount of water that can spew, drip and run out of the various water cooling parts at the beginning, midway of a leak test, not to mention how your hand will fit fast to get to tighten a fitting, clamp or port plug and this is why i am recommending that you do it outside as it can be almost impossible to trap water from a leak with a whole roll of bounty paper let alone a few sheets covering a few things.

 

When you do it outside of your case and a spill happens you can fix the problem easier than if it is in the case and you do not have to worry about where the water is going to fall. It can fall on the ground and you would be cool and not panic. My first time i had three fittings leak at the same time and a tube leak as well. If i did not take off my jersey and use it i would have lost a GPU before i used it.

 

This is just my precautionary recommendations to you that i wished someone told me about before i did my first water loop.

 

If you want to see how things can go bad quickly check for a youtube video from Ronsanut call the "Leak Show" then tell me if i am leading you wrong.

You make it sound a lot harder than it is. Assembling it outside the case and leak testing is pointless because when you go to install everything in the case you're essentially starting all over again. Just because it didn't leak outside the case doesn't mean something wont change when you install everything in the case. 

 

My advice when filling, do it slow. Fill the reservoir to the top, check the fittings going into it and make sure there's no leaks. Start the pump and let the water level go up to the next thing and make sure it's not leaking. Keep doing this every step of the way and tighten or fix whatever issues come up. You'll know there's a leak pretty quick and it's not a big deal if some water gets on stuff. I'm had a ton of water leak into my PSU and on top of my GPU and both are working perfectly fine. Granted neither was on when that happened but that's why you leak test with everything off. 

 

If you want to avoid the possibility of leaks then don't cheap out and buy cheaper blocks, fittings, reservoirs, etc. Not saying to buy the best of the best but you shouldn't buy the bottom of the barrel stuff either. There's a reason why Bitspower fittings are so expensive, because they have proven themselves to be reliable over the years and they look awesome lol!

 

OP, It's gonna be scary your first time but just think about stuff logically and you'll be fine. I'm sure we were all scared our first time, if somebody says otherwise they are straight up lying to you. Once you get past that fear you'll find something else to try to do and probably be scared of that! That's how you learn new things, by getting past the initial fear.