Building my 1st loop ! Oh boi...

[Dariusz]

Hey!

 

So what I plan on cooling...

I work as cgi artist & software developer. I rock from 16 to 32/64 cores. 128gb ram, 3090 etc etc.

Each new build I buy new 100£ cooler+ that works great but with latest cpus the perf is a bit meh. For a loooong time I wanted to go with water but there were issues of leaks and pump failures.

I run system 24/7 no down time so its scary to go with water.

 

In any case... some time ago I found out about Leak shield https://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=4063&language=en which looks to be a win! I also found out about EK REVO DUAL D5 PWM which is dual pump sooo I now have leak protection and 1 pump failure protection! Now this is something I'm happy to accept and go ahead with this work build.

 

So the buy list for now is :

 

1. Protection : Leak shield

2. Pump : EK REVO DUAL D5 PWM

3. Radiator : 2x140mm or 3x140mm, can any1 suggest anything ?

4. CPU block - no idea, which one is  good for 2990wx that maybe would work for ryzen 5000/7000 ?

5. Pipes - soft as I will do a bit of moving/updating over time so need flexibility, not sure about sizing. Not sure which sizing?

6. Reservoir > EK-RES X3 150 Lite + I'll put leakshield on top I think ?

7. Fittings//etc no idea.

8. Coolant ???

9. Fans ??? 

 

I'm UK based btw.

 

Id like to start with cpu cooling only, in future add another 3x140mm for gpu/etc if this proves stable enough.

 

So, can any1 suggest any good radiator? Most of reviews I'm finding are from 2017-18 which is a bit weird...

 

Thanks for help!

 

 

 

[jaslion]

5 minutes ago, Dariusz said:

I run system 24/7 no down time so its scary to go with water.

Dont. Just don't. Get a good cooler and stop right there.

[Dariusz]

2 hours ago, jaslion said:

Dont. Just don't. Get a good cooler and stop right there.

Yeaaa... Im tired of getting coolers and wasting 100-200£ every few years. I'd rather get a block for 50-100£ and get best cooling perf & quiet than a hair blower that I got now with 2990wx  

[jaslion]

7 minutes ago, Dariusz said:

Yeaaa... Im tired of getting coolers and wasting 100-200£ every few years. I'd rather get a block for 50-100£ and get best cooling perf & quiet than a hair blower that I got now with 2990wx  

Why are you wasting the money every couple of years? What cooler do you have now?

[Dariusz]

10 hours ago, jaslion said:

Why are you wasting the money every couple of years? What cooler do you have now?

Well I upgrade pc every few years, every few years I overspend on cooling that is mostly meh/noisy. 

[jaslion]

15 minutes ago, Dariusz said:

Well I upgrade pc every few years, every few years I overspend on cooling that is mostly meh/noisy. 

With watercooling this means its gonna be even more expensive and a lot more work. A block for cpu and gpubis easily over 300pounds. Then comes the maintenance and replacement of consumable parts in a loop.

 

What cooler do you have now? There are a ton of air and liquid coolers that stay silent and cool the threadripper well. If its the gpu just get an aio version and sell it after max 3 years as those loops have a lifetime of 5 years.

 

 

 

[fonzz1e]

if you're not gonna cool your GPU, i agree with going the AIO route or noctua NH-U14S-TR4 (less hassle, less cost)

 

threadripper 2990wx uses TR4 cpu block, it's different than the usual AM4 blocks

AM4 cold plate is way smaller compare to TR4 ones

 

if you still wanna go with custom watercooling

• since yer a beginner, skip the leak shield
• most watercooling ports are g1/4
• don't mix copper/brass with alu, it's ok if alu parts are not touching the coolant
• TR4 cpu waterblock
• minimum one 360mm by 30mm radiator
• if yer case can fit 420mm or 480mm rad grab it instead
• tubing wise go with 10mm ID 16mm OD either epdm or mayhems ultraclear (i use alphacool epdm)
• any soft tube compression fitting that has the same as tubing ID & OD size (i use barrow ones)
• maybe some 45 or 90 degree adapter
• any temp sensor fitting & aquacomputer octo, for fan control via coolant temp
• grab an air leak tester
• grab some qdc (quick disconnects), alphacool & koolance has them
• grab EK drain valve or conventional drain valve setup (t splitter + stop plugs + male to male g1/4 rotary + ball valve)
• d5 pumps uses molex/sata for power; pwm header for rpm control & you can use pwm splitter for this too
• loop order & reservoir size don't matter
• always flush yer rads to clean out its manufacturing debris

checkout this guy

https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/ulfm2b/threadripper_pro_3955wx_6900xt_loop/

 

[Dariusz]

3 hours ago, jaslion said:

With watercooling this means its gonna be even more expensive and a lot more work. A block for cpu and gpubis easily over 300pounds. Then comes the maintenance and replacement of consumable parts in a loop.

 

What cooler do you have now? There are a ton of air and liquid coolers that stay silent and cool the threadripper well. If its the gpu just get an aio version and sell it after max 3 years as those loops have a lifetime of 5 years.

I dont want to go with AIOs, I had one, it failed, it was stress for 2 months as my temps were going bananas and I had no idea there was issue. AIO never reported error. This is why I want to go with custom 2 pump setup + clear tubes/accessories that monitor flow/etc.

 

TR blocks seems to be about 70-100£ from what I can tell.

I'm skipping GPU till I get comfortable. 

I know that water cooling is "scary" but enterprise servers run these things for years. I'm fairly sure there is a way to get it stable-long term "ok".

 

 

2 hours ago, fonzz1e said:

if you're not gonna cool your GPU, i agree with going the AIO route or noctua NH-U14S-TR4 (less hassle, less cost)

 

threadripper 2990wx uses TR4 cpu block, it's different than the usual AM4 blocks

AM4 cold plate is way smaller compare to TR4 ones

 

if you still wanna go with custom watercooling

• since yer a beginner, skip the leak shield
• most watercooling ports are g1/4
• don't mix copper/brass with alu, it's ok if alu parts are not touching the coolant
• TR4 cpu waterblock
• minimum one 360mm by 30mm radiator
• if yer case can fit 420mm or 480mm rad grab it instead
• tubing wise go with 10mm ID 16mm OD either epdm or mayhems ultraclear (i use alphacool epdm)
• any soft tube compression fitting that has the same as tubing ID & OD size (i use barrow ones)
• maybe some 45 or 90 degree adapter
• any temp sensor fitting & aquacomputer octo, for fan control via coolant temp
• grab an air leak tester
• grab some qdc (quick disconnects), alphacool & koolance has them
• grab EK drain valve or conventional drain valve setup (t splitter + stop plugs + male to male g1/4 rotary + ball valve)
• d5 pumps uses molex/sata for power; pwm header for rpm control & you can use pwm splitter for this too
• loop order & reservoir size don't matter
• always flush yer rads to clean out its manufacturing debris

checkout this guy

https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/ulfm2b/threadripper_pro_3955wx_6900xt_loop/

 

Thanks!

 

Its a bit odd to skip leak shield for beginner tho... ? Would that not SAVE MY LIVE if I mess up ?

 

Does it matter which rad? Are there any better/worse ones ?   
https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Alphacool-NexXxoS-HPE-45-Full-Copper-420mm-Radiator_77992.html
https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK-Quantum-Surface-P420M-White_77802.html

 

TR4 cpu block, so its compatible between 2990 and 39XX serries then ? I was wondering if they fit both or not. 

 

Thank you for tube/etc infos ! Will dig in to it all.

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, Dariusz said:

I know that water cooling is "scary" but enterprise servers run these things for years. I'm fairly sure there is a way to get it stable-long term "ok".

 

Actually this is extremly limited and either these are hooked up to a central system or it is small scale. There are only a handfull of integrators that do this and it is limited in fashion. Its not preffered on individual small scale as reliability is just lower.

 

Air is preffered for its reliability and even mineral oil cooling is seeing more use than liquid cooling in enterprise.

 

If you do do a full loop keep it as simple as possible. Get 2 d5 pumps, a 480mm rad, a tr4 cpu block of decent quality (ek is expensive but it does not reflect on their quality), generic soft tubing, an easy to fill reservoir (comptibal with your antileak) double o ring fittings and thats it. For liquid just use a clear liquid with anti corrosion additives and biocide. DO NOT GET OPAQUE LIQUIDS AT ALL. Avoid colored ones if you dont want staining. If you want a colored liquid look get colored tubes.

 

Leave tubing slack for including the gpu.

 

Make sure that all the equipment is of a single type of material

 

 

[fonzz1e]

afaik TR4 cpu blocks is compatible with AMD threadripper & epyc

 

since yer in UK, you can try & source from watercool.de

https://shop.watercool.de/Water-Blocks-CPU__TR4-SP3r2_1

(they don't spend money on marketing, hence that's why u rarely heard of them)

 

why i suggest 10mm/16mm tubing size thicker walls is they're easier to bend without kinking & QDC has compression fittings for them

https://koolance.com/quick-disconnect-couplings-4th-generation-qd3-10-mm-3-8-in

i'm using these https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Alphacool-Eiszapfen-HF-Quick-Release-Connector-kit-G38-Male-with-Reducing-nipple-G14-Chrome_61502.html

 

with QDC u don't have to drain your loop to do part swapping or u can even use it as a drain

they do come in male & female ends

18 hours ago, Dariusz said:

Does it matter which rad? Are there any better/worse ones ?   
https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Alphacool-NexXxoS-HPE-45-Full-Copper-420mm-Radiator_77992.html
https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK-Quantum-Surface-P420M-White_77802.html

^ they are pretty similar, choose which ever fits your budget & your pc case (rads are slightly longer than fans due to their in/out ports)

having more rads more rads are generally better than thicker rads

 

two 30mm thick 360 rad is better than one 60mm thick 360 rad UNLESS u can't fit two 360 rad

 

[jaslion]

9 hours ago, fonzz1e said:

two 30mm thick 360 rad is better than one 60mm thick 360 rad UNLESS u can't fit two 360 rad

*Thick and dense. Just a generic thick rad has low fin density and eill be a lot worse. Still totally enough for the system but not recommended.