Advices on my first custom loop.

[Veehxia]

Greetings everyone,

 

I've been building my own PCs for a long time but I never had a custom watercooled one.
I've used AIOs on my CPUs, but since I'm building a completely new rig as an upgrade to my actual 5950x / 3090 one, I've decided I wanted to build a watercooled one.
I'm looking for advice on parts, compatibility, common issues and what to look out for since, as I said, it's my first watercooled one.
I'll split my parts list into two sections, the main PC ones and the watercooling part.

 

So, as for the PC, this is going to be the build.

• CPU: Intel i9-13900KF

• GPU: ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4090 Trinity

• RAM: Corsair Dominator RGB DDR5 2x16GB 6200MHz CL36

• MOBO: Asus ROG Strix Z790-A DDR5

• CASE: LianLi O11 Dynamic Mini Snow White

• FANS: LianLi UNI SL120 v2 x9

• PSU: SilverStone SX1000

I'll recycle the storage from my current PC:

• SSD: Crucial P5 Plus 500GB

• SSD: Crucial P5 Plus 2TB

• HDD: WD Blue 4TB

• HDD: WD Black 6TB

 

A few questions about my choice of parts before moving forwards to the watercooling section..

 

For the GPU, this was the cheapest one I could find that is compatible with an EK waterblock, I found some waterblock from Alphacool for the Manli / Palit / PNY ones and a Bykski one for the Gainward, but those block are all out of stock where I can buy them and to be honest, they wouldn't really fit my aesthetic concept.

There is also a version called Trinity OC, which is around 100€ more expensive.. Is it worth it or I can basically achieve the same performance once the card is under WC ?

 

For the fans, I've yet to decide if I want to go with the LianLi ones or I want to use Corsair ones, I've always used Corsair ones in all my setups and I really like the lighting options they can do.
What are the best performing ones between the SL120 v2 from LianLi and the LL120 or ML120 from Corsair?

 

Here comes the watercooling list:

• CPU Block: EK Quantum Velocity2 LGA1700 Nickel + Plexi

• GPU Block: EK Quantum Vector AMP/Trinity RTX 4090 D-RGB Nickel + Plexi

• Rads: 2x EK Quantum Surface S360 - White

• Tube: 12x EK Loop Hard Tube 12mm 0.5M Acrylic

• Fits: 12x Ek Quantum Torque HDC 12 - Satin Titanium

• Rings: EK Quantum Torque Color Ring HDC 12 - Blue

• Pump: EK Quantum Kinetic TBE 200 D5 PWM D-RGB Plexi

• Drain: EK Quantum Torque Drain Valve Satin Titanium

• Pump Mount: EK Loop Uni Pump Reservoir Bracket - 120mm

• Fluid: Ek CryoFuel Clear 1L

I'll also buy a bunch of tools to work with tubes, but this is what makes the loop.

 

Since it's my first one, I have a few questions.

 

First of all, is two S360 rads enough to cool my loop or should I add a 3rd one, a S280 on the side?
My idea is to put one on the bottom and one on the top, both in a intake pull fan configuration.
I know my case doesn't support a top 360 rad with fans but I found some plates to slide the radiator out a bit to make clearance for it.
If the side panel will not be used by a 280mm rad, I'll put 2 exhaust fans to push the hot air out of the case, and a 3rd one on the back of the case if it will fit.
My main concerns about the 3rd radiator is that it will be too much for a single pump to handle without being under stress, plus it would end up just use the hot air that already went thru the other 2 radiators so I doubt it'll make a difference in performance, if not just make it worse by putting some heat back in the loop.

 

For the GPU waterblock, would it be better to go with an ABP one?
I dont think it's necessary, the few videos I saw about it shows that there are improvements to the temps of the memory modules with only the main waterblock and the classic back plate.

About the pump, would it be better to mount it on top of the bottom radiator or vertically on the side fans ?
I was thinking about going vertical to block less air from the bottom air, but I doubt it makes a difference.

I'll probably add some more 45° / 90° fittings and spacer once I figure out the visuals of my loop, also some splitter for the drain valve and a one STC for the drain tube, but other than that this is my part list.

 

My idea for the loop is something like that:
Pump > Bottom Rad > GPU > Top Rad > CPU > Pump
I know it doesn't really make a difference to go to a rad after the GPU and before going to the CPU but the extra tubing would fill a bit more the case so this is purely for aesthetic reasons.

 

About the tubes, is 10/12 a good size?

I went with the smaller ones trying to have more pressure inside the tubes, so that the flow would be faster.

Also the lower thickness compared to a 12/16 will probably make them easier to bend, correct?

 

I'd also love to get frosted tubing instead of clear ones, probably the Corsair ones?

 

For context, I'm in Italy and I'd like to avoid to import parts from outside of the EU, so I kinda went with what I can find around me.
My budget is around 5-6k€.

 

 

I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions, thank you very much to whoever will take the time to read this post and share some wisdom with me

[ChrisLoudon]

1 hour ago, Veehxia said:

I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions, thank you very much to whoever will take the time to read this post and share some wisdom with me

Hi buddy,

 

A few thoughts / notes as follows:

 

You mentioned the o11 Mini DOESN'T support a top 360 rad with fans however, from looking at a number of builds online, I can clearly see top and bottom fans on dual 360 rad configurations.

 

I would go with 14mm tubing especially if you want to use EK Torque fittings. These are chunky fittings and 12mm tubing looks a bit lost imho. I would actually recommend 14mm pipes for all builds. Its just personal preference but its a nice halfway house size and works just as well inside SFF ITX builds as it does in a larger case. I've just done a little and large build using both the TT Tower 100 and 500 and it looks great. Pay no attention to the pipe sizes and flow rates. Doesn't make a difference to cooling performance!

 

If this is your first crack at a custom loop then I would recommend using clear PETG as its just so easy to work with. Acrylic or PMMA requires a fine hack saw and a bit of patience whereas PETG just needs easy cutting tools and something to clear up the sharp edges.

 

Buy double what you think you'll need. If this your first water cooling build then your gonna botch it a few times and just when you think you've cracked it, a single run will be a few mm out and it will drive you crazy! lol.

 

All of the o11s have a distro plate option instead of the separate pump /res combo. Personally, I would use that instead. I tried both the front and side versions on my regular o11 and decided the side G1 version from EK looked best. The o11 mini and XL though I think work better with the front mounted plate. Just check that both rads fit with the distro plate in place. The regular o11 DOESN'T allow for a bottom 360 rad to be fitted with the front plate as its steels too much space inside the case. It looks like Lian Li have addressed this in both the mini and XLs. It isn't the cheapest thing in the world but keeps your pipe bending to single 90s and makes the whole build look really slick. I'm not sure if its even possible but if you can squeeze in a 3rd 240 rad in the side then your pretty much maxed out on rad capacity but it would be a cool challenge. if it doesn't fit then a couple of fans to help exchange some fresh air is helpful. That's one of the drawbacks of the side distro on the regular o11. With 2 rads taking up the top and bottom spaces and glass front panel, there's not space for fresh-air-only fans.

 

Loop order doesn't matter. If you go down the distro plate option everything is sorted for you anyway.

 

Cooling capacity looks good and you shouldn't have any issues with 2 x surface S360s. While its not an exact science, see link below from EK regarding rad sizes, fan speeds and watts dissipated.

 

https://www.ekwb.com/blog/radiators-part-2-performance/

 

And lastly, water cooling is just as much about the fun of the build or the challenge of squeezing as much out of a case as possible as it is about performance. For me its the challenge. A triple 240 rad Corsair 280X, dual 120 rad Tower 100 or a custom loop in an old Corsair 250D, great fun! Your 13900KF paired with a 4090 is about as balls-to-the-wall as you can get so even at stock your not going to run out of steam so any OC you apply is really just gravy.

 

Good luck.

[ChrisLoudon]

This is what I would go for!

[Veehxia]

Thanks for your reply @ChrisLoudon

 

29 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

You mentioned the o11 Mini DOESN'T support a top 360 rad with fans however, from looking at a number of builds online, I can clearly see top and bottom fans on dual 360 rad configurations.

I saw that and I also already found the mountings for it, thanks.

31 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

I would go with 14mm tubing especially if you want to use EK Torque fittings. These are chunky fittings and 12mm tubing looks a bit lost imho. I would actually recommend 14mm pipes for all builds. Its just personal preference but its a nice halfway house size and works just as well inside SFF ITX builds as it does in a larger case. I've just done a little and large build using both the TT Tower 100 and 500 and it looks great. Pay no attention to the pipe sizes and flow rates. Doesn't make a difference to cooling performance!

I was also thinking about a different size of tubing, and I'd also love to go for Corsairs frosted tubes.

32 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

If this is your first crack at a custom loop then I would recommend using clear PETG as its just so easy to work with. Acrylic or PMMA requires a fine hack saw and a bit of patience whereas PETG just needs easy cutting tools and something to clear up the sharp edges.

I know PETG is easier to work with, but acrylic looks cleaner so I'm willing to risk my sanity to make it look as good as possible 

As for the tools, I have pretty much everything I should need in my workshop, the only thing I'm buying is a bending frame and the silicone cord.

33 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

Buy double what you think you'll need. If this your first water cooling build then your gonna botch it a few times and just when you think you've cracked it, a single run will be a few mm out and it will drive you crazy! lol.

I've got like 8 meters of tubing just for that, but I also avoided any crazy bends in my planning and used 90° fittings for some others, I'll probably make everything a little bit longer than it should be and then sand it down over and over until it's perfect.

 

35 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

All of the o11s have a distro plate option instead of the separate pump /res combo. Personally, I would use that instead. I tried both the front and side versions on my regular o11 and decided the side G1 version from EK looked best. The o11 mini and XL though I think work better with the front mounted plate. Just check that both rads fit with the distro plate in place. The regular o11 DOESN'T allow for a bottom 360 rad to be fitted with the front plate as its steels too much space inside the case. It looks like Lian Li have addressed this in both the mini and XLs. It isn't the cheapest thing in the world but keeps your pipe bending to single 90s and makes the whole build look really slick. I'm not sure if its even possible but if you can squeeze in a 3rd 240 rad in the side then your pretty much maxed out on rad capacity but it would be a cool challenge. if it doesn't fit then a couple of fans to help exchange some fresh air is helpful. That's one of the drawbacks of the side distro on the regular o11. With 2 rads taking up the top and bottom spaces and glass front panel, there's not space for fresh-air-only fans.

I saw many distro plates and my original plan was to go for a O11D Evo with a side plate, but then I decided a wanted a smaller rig so I choose the mini.

Sadly, almost all the plates I could find for the Mini Dynamic are front mounted and I really dont like that look
I know it's the easiest way, I could just buy the front plate, 2 rads and the pre bent 90° tubes, but I want a side plate.. Or a normal pump/res combo.

38 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

Cooling capacity looks good and you shouldn't have any issues with 2 x surface S360s. While its not an exact science, see link below from EK regarding rad sizes, fan speeds and watts dissipated.

My main concern is that even if I added a 3rd rad it would still suck hot air, would probably ended up being useless.
I think I'll go for only 2 rads and if it ends up being too hot, I can always add the other one in future.

[MaratM]

use the fattest rads you can fit, bigger is better