First custom loop plan, some questions

[GeraltOfNvidia]

I made a rough plan on a loop path for a PC I am making. This is my first time water cooling and I really like the aesthetic of hardline tubing. I have read guides and watched videos and I am just about ready to buy all the things. I just want to make sure I am buying the right things, and enough fittings and tubing.

 

I am going to be using the Fractal Meshify S2 case, I like the way it looks and I've also read that it has really good airflow.

 

For the watercooling parts, I chose to use Corsair's Hydro X series with the exception of tubing, I wanted to use PETG tubes because I heard they are easier to work with and don't break as easily as acrylic. So that is the CPU and GPU waterblock, rads, fans, maybe fittings.

 

So my questions are:

Has anyone personally tried the corsair hydro x, is it good? Is it good for the price? Are there other parts you'd recommend instead that may be cheaper/better?

How many fittings would I need for this loop? I am most confused how to calculate and I don't want to short myself lol

 

Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

18 minutes ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

is it good?

The rads are made by hardware labs, so they are good. From what I have heard the fittings are good too (made by Bitpower?).

18 minutes ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

Is it good for the price? Are there other parts you'd recommend instead that may be cheaper/better?

No, you can get literally the same radiators for much cheaper by buying them directly from Hardware Labs. Look for the L-series.

https://www.performance-pcs.com/water-cooling/radiators/black-ice-nemesis-l-series-360-stealth-radiator-nls360-f2pb.html

 

And Bitspower fittings are very good, but the OEM for Bitpower is Barrow, and Barrow fittings are the same quality but much cheaper.

https://modmymods.com/barrow-g1-4-multi-link-adapter-12mm-od-rigid-tube-black-tykn-k12-v4.html

18 minutes ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

How many fittings would I need for this loop? I am most confused how to calculate and I don't want to short myself lol

Get 2 compression fittings for every 1 tube plus a few extra just in case. You'll also want a selection of extenders just in case.

18 minutes ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

Have a plan for filling and draining?

Edited July 17, 2020 by HairlessMonkeyBoy
Add link to Barrow fitting

[For Science!]

GPU blocks are kinda flawed from Corsair so if you can get them from another company like Watercool (HeatKiller IV) or EKWB you will be better off.

 

Minium of 12 fittings for the loop layout you propose. Plan extra in terms of angled fittings as well as drain port components.

10 minutes ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

I made a rough plan on a loop path for a PC I am making. This is my first time water cooling and I really like the

 

 

[Bananasplit_00]

I'd go with Watercool blocks wherever you can.

 

You will need two connection fittings for each component of the loop, 90s and whatever you're going to have to messure and figure out yourself. As you've drawn it now you need 12 fittings. Two for each rad, two for the pump res, four for the GPU, two for the CPU.

 

The Corsair fittings I've heard are bitspower so those should be good at least.

 

I don't think I would run the CPU and GPU parallel because the blocks are likely not the same resistance but you could be fine i don't know. You could save two fittings if you don't too

[Blai5e]

23 minutes ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

Another option to look into is getting a cross-flow radiator for the top. It'll save you the (possibly ugly) long tube run across to your front radiator. Hardware Labs make them (Black Ice® Nemesis® GTS® XFlow series) although I use the Alphacool offerings in my rig.

[GeraltOfNvidia]

2 hours ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

The rads are made by hardware labs, so they are good. From what I have heard the fittings are good too (made by Bitpower?).

No, you can get literally the same radiators for much cheaper by buying them directly from Hardware Labs. Look for the L-series.

https://www.performance-pcs.com/water-cooling/radiators/black-ice-nemesis-l-series-360-stealth-radiator-nls360-f2pb.html

 

And Bitspower fittings are very good, but the OEM for Bitpower is Barrow, and Barrow fittings are the same quality but much cheaper.

https://modmymods.com/barrow-g1-4-multi-link-adapter-12mm-od-rigid-tube-black-tykn-k12-v4.html

Get 2 compression fittings for every 1 tube plus a few extra just in case. You'll also want a selection of extenders just in case.

Have a plan for filling and draining?

Okay, thanks for the suggestions! Those fittings are so much less expensive. I was thinking about using the corsair drain (https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Custom-Cooling/Fittings/hydro-x-ball-valve/p/CX-9055019-WW), but didn't put it in the diagram because I didn't know where the best place to put it.

 

2 hours ago, For Science! said:

GPU blocks are kinda flawed from Corsair so if you can get them from another company like Watercool (HeatKiller IV) or EKWB you will be better off.

 

Minium of 12 fittings for the loop layout you propose. Plan extra in terms of angled fittings as well as drain port components.

 

Great! 12 seems to be the general consensus. I will pick up a few extras for sure, better safe than sorry. I feel much better about getting extras since the bitspower fittings are less expensive.

 

2 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

I'd go with Watercool blocks wherever you can.

 

You will need two connection fittings for each component of the loop, 90s and whatever you're going to have to messure and figure out yourself. As you've drawn it now you need 12 fittings. Two for each rad, two for the pump res, four for the GPU, two for the CPU.

 

The Corsair fittings I've heard are bitspower so those should be good at least.

 

I don't think I would run the CPU and GPU parallel because the blocks are likely not the same resistance but you could be fine i don't know. You could save two fittings if you don't too

Do you have a link to watercool blocks I can look at by chance? And I like the parallel aesthetic, however, if it's going to be a problem, I'll definitely look into a different loop path. How can I check the resistances on blocks so I don't screw myself? lol

 

2 hours ago, Blai5e said:

Another option to look into is getting a cross-flow radiator for the top. It'll save you the (possibly ugly) long tube run across to your front radiator. Hardware Labs make them (Black Ice® Nemesis® GTS® XFlow series) although I use the Alphacool offerings in my rig.

Ohh, I definitely like this idea. I'll for sure look into it. Thank you!

[MkaiL]

4 hours ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

And Bitspower fittings are very good, but the OEM for Bitpower is Barrow, and Barrow fittings are the same quality but much cheaper.

Any source that confirms this? Afaik, barrow just copied bitspowers design and now everyone seems to blindly claim they are their oem. From what I can find, Barrow fittings are made in China whereas bitspowers production is based in Taiwan. If they were oem, they would just be rebranded, but you see quite a few design differences (dimensions, o-rings, finish).

I've used both brands in the past and even though Barrow makes great fittings, Bitspower still has better quality imho, especially noticeable with rotary fittings. I'm just not sure the price difference is worth it.

 

Directly from Bitspowers website:

 

1 hour ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

Okay, thanks for the suggestions! Those fittings are so much less expensive. I was thinking about using the corsair drain (https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Custom-Cooling/Fittings/hydro-x-ball-valve/p/CX-9055019-WW), but didn't put it in the diagram because I didn't know where the best place to put it.

Put the drain in the lowest point of your loop. You can use a Y or T splitter and add it by the res or somewhere else. Do note that with a U-flow rad in the front, draining the loop is going to be difficult no matter what and you'll have to rotate the case in some weird angles and even then might not succeed. You can get x-flow rads to make it easier or I've seen people put the ports on the bottom and use a drain on both ports to easily empty the loop.

[Bananasplit_00]

8 hours ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

Do you have a link to watercool blocks I can look at by chance? And I like the parallel aesthetic, however, if it's going to be a problem, I'll definitely look into a different loop path. How can I check the resistances on blocks so I don't screw myself? lol

https://watercool.de/en/home

 

[GeraltOfNvidia]

9 hours ago, MkaiL said:

Put the drain in the lowest point of your loop. You can use a Y or T splitter and add it by the res or somewhere else. Do note that with a U-flow rad in the front, draining the loop is going to be difficult no matter what and you'll have to rotate the case in some weird angles and even then might not succeed. You can get x-flow rads to make it easier or I've seen people put the ports on the bottom and use a drain on both ports to easily empty the loop.

Thank you for the input, I didn't even think about this. I are going to be looking into cross flow rads for the top, and I'll just buy one of the front too! Thanks for the input. Thinking about putting the drain by the gpu/res connection, would that work?

 

3 hours ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

https://watercool.de/en/home

 

Thank you!

[MkaiL]

1 minute ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

Thank you for the input, I didn't even think about this. I are going to be looking into cross flow rads for the top, and I'll just buy one of the front too! Thanks for the input. Thinking about putting the drain by the gpu/res connection, would that work?

 

It's best to put it as low as possible, from your drawing it looks like you're planning for a 360 rad in the front? If that's the case, the bottom port on the rad would be the lowest point so placing the drain there would be ideal and also nicely hidden by the psu shroud. With drain valves, you really want to avoid liquid having to go upwards, that's why U-flow rads are also an issue when placed vertically. 

[buyobuyo]

17 hours ago, GeraltOfNvidia said:

 

Surprised no one else pointed out the weird cpu/gpu parallel loop route.

 

Typical is routing is cpu/gpu in series, so into the gpu, the gpu out to the cpu in, and the cpu out to the radiators. Alternatively, you could run into the gpu, gpu out to 1st rad, the rad out to cpu in, and cpu out to 2nd rad.

[For Science!]

26 minutes ago, buyobuyo said:

 

Surprised no one else pointed out the weird cpu/gpu parallel loop route.

 

Typical is routing is cpu/gpu in series, so into the gpu, the gpu out to the cpu in, and the cpu out to the radiators. Alternatively, you could run into the gpu, gpu out to 1st rad, the rad out to cpu in, and cpu out to 2nd rad.

that's because this is a parallel flow layout and is not weird.

[buyobuyo]

2 hours ago, For Science! said:

that's because this is a parallel flow layout and is not weird.

I've seen dual GPUs run in parallel, but the CPU has always been in series with the GPUs. I've never seen a loop that runs the CPU and GPU in parallel. Granted, I'm new to watercooling, as well, so I  haven't seen it all by any means.

[Hairless Monkey Boy]

16 hours ago, MkaiL said:

Any source that confirms this?

Thanks for the info. My only evidence for my claim is others on forums and my own experience. The fittings certainly look very similar but you are right that there seem to be minor differences. I've never used Bitspower, but I have ~50 Barrow fittings in my loop including compression fittings of course but also fill/drain ports, ball valve, adjustable length and rotary extenders, 4-way rotary block splitter, 45 and 90 degree rotary adaptors, dual rotary snake, and flow meter. With all of these I've had absolutely zero issues. No leaking at all despite putting them together and pulling them apart many times to find the ideal layout. And after 7 months now, everything is still working great.

 

So even if Barrow is not the OEM for Bitspower, I am still very comfortable recommending them.

 

Again thanks for the info.

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, buyobuyo said:

I've seen dual GPUs run in parallel, but the CPU has always been in series with the GPUs. I've never seen a loop that runs the CPU and GPU in parallel. Granted, I'm new to watercooling, as well, so I  haven't seen it all by any means.

https://www.ekwb.com/blog/parallel-vs-serial-loop-why-choose-one-over-the-other/

 

 

[Lipe123]

Why not flip your top rad so the tubing is on the right, connect one port of the two rads together with a short run.

Then you only have piping on the one side of your case instead of all over? like a reverse L instead of a full W'ish setup?

 

Also parallel components seem scary to me, the gpu block will be much less restrictive typically and flow rate through the CPU block will suffer.

Also if you get some kinda gunk buildup(worst case scenario) in the CPU block you wont even know the flow stopped because it will all run through gpu until you notice the temp spike.

 

Serial runs are safer in terms of consistent flow and doesn't look any worse with hard tubing