Coolant Advice: Loop Planning

[Aereto_Compuru]

With the possibility of AM5 being in the next year or two, and having the ASUS TUF 6900XT, the plans to build a case and watercooling loop is slowly being worked on. Due to the card I have on hard, the waterblock conversion is currently limited to EKWB. I have taken note that coolant concentrates are becoming more available than the more reliable silver + PT Nuke, but because the loop I drafted, what may work for their cases may end up destroying the whole loop, waterblock and all.

 

I am asking for everyone's input on the coolant mixes, but I can provide the details about the loop draft. The draft is based from my previous thread regarding loops and fittings.

 

• Build planned to be in a custom-built case and loop extending beyond the case. Expecting case to use wood as base construction material.
• Build expected to be a permanent fixture, making tubing replacements a challenge in event of precipitates, and requires coolant replacement in the span of years than months.
• CPU and GPU share the same loop, but CPU is the first to receive the coldest point of the water.
• Build expected to run 24/7 under multiple tasks, including multiple game server hosting while 3D Modeling or Audio/Video Editing. 2 pumps are planned for redundancy.
• Build case interior expected to use only 200mm fans for intake and exhaust for both motherboard and storage compartments.
• Radiators, Reservoir, and 2 pumps placed in a separate platform, significantly increasing loop coolant volume.
• Build planned to be in an small closet room with windows on one side; AC units are not allowed due to historic house, and expected heat contribution with pc case mounted radiators in the market may result in heating the entire floor to 90+ F in daytime summer if the door is left open while sunlight contributes to overall floor heat in certain hours.
• Soft temper Copper hardline tubing with 14mm OD as the target diameter; a hardline tubing cutting and bending kit is purchased in anticipation without the need for heat guns for soft copper tubing.
• .999 silver coil in inventory to affix in the the reservoir.
• An automotive transmission cooler, fin and tube model/low fin density, is used for outdoor passive cooling in cold hours while pc radiator(s) with 140mm fans perform indoor active cooling in hot hours (or normalize coolant temperature in freezing hours). Making sure the internal plumbing is copper and the fittings are brass or nickel is my responsibility, as does adding any necessary insulation to resist freezing. The radiators inner tubing would need to be flushed and protected in some way.
• EKWB offers Nickel waterblocks for the graphics card in question. Have yet to find alternatives.
• Nickel fittings are more prevalent than Brass.
• Coolant concentrate significantly diluted by distilled water due to large expected loop volume, resulting in higher costs buying premix or concentrate coolants in comparison to the PT Nuke + Silver Coil solution.
• Slim radiators are considered for the active cooling platform, while taking advantage of cost savings.
• There are almost no transparent components to be used in the loop. Plexi waterblocks have a greater risk of cracking or stress fractures than acetal. Copper tubings are opaque, and the reservoir is effectively unexposed to sunlight at any time.

I have yet to purchase the waterblocks because of the coolant conflict, not to mention EK CryoFuel taken note as having issues that result in precipitates and residues forming in waterblocks.

[For Science!]

Why you think playing DIY chemist/metallurgy using a silver coil as a good idea is beyond me, they have no place in modern custom loops. Also diluting a coolant beyond what is 1x concentration is just asking for trouble since the active ingredients may not be in its effective concentration range, rendering them ineffective. Just use clear 1x (or concentrate diluted to 1x) EK-cryofuel and call it a day.