[D] Custom Water-Cooling Experience

[Ghost]

This is the second weekly discussion topic. This follows on from last weeks discussion but on the opposite end of the spectrum; full custom loops. For more discussions and an explanation of them click HERE

 

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Many new people come to this forum section to ask about building their first loop. Tell them your story of water-cooling. As a general template (,that you don't have to use); list your water-cooling parts and any components you water-cooled and any overclocks at the start of your post in a bullet point list. Try to avoid pictures but if you really want to use them keep them small or just hyperlink them. Here are some things to talk about if you run out of ideas during your post:

 

• How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?
• Was it easier or harder than expected?
• Did you have any issues while building your loop?
• Any advice for someone building their first loop?
• Were you impressed with the result?
• How much did your full loop end up costing you?
• How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?
• How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?
• Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)
• Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?
• How difficult is servicing your loop?
• How difficult is upgrading?
• Would you recommend it to a friend?

 

Thanks for posting and participating in the discussion!

[Whaler_99]

I will start. :)

 

I have been water cooling on and off for years. But never seriously. My first fully custom loop was in a Switch 810...

 

Ok, get some details out of the way first;

• Final bill for all parts, about $700 CA
• Took me about a month and a half from initial order to final output

 

So... being in Canada, stock isn't always there, so got most of my parts from Frozencpu. My Switch currently has;

• XSPC EX360
• XSPC RX240
• XSPC Raystorm CPU block
• XSPC Bay Res
• XSPC D5 vari pump
• Corsair SP120 Performance in Push/Pull on both rads
• XSPC tubing
• EK UV Blue Coolant
• Swiftech Univeral GPU block
• Switech Full Card block for uni block
• XSPC Compression fittings
• Bitspower angled fittings

I spent a lot of time reading up on parts, comparing, etc. I took my time building this. I ordered all the main parts and waited for them to arrive. Then mounting the rads, I did a bunch of test fittings running tubing everywhere. I then ordered the few angled fittings and waited for them to arrive. 

 

DO THIS!! Most stores won't accept returns on water cooling parts and fittings are expensive.I probably saved $75 bucks on what I originally thought I might need by doing test fitting. 

 

I really dislike the universal blocks. They are a pain - but I really liked my 6870's. So... if at all possible, get a full block. If you haven't bought your GPU yet, make sure you check before buying to see if it has a full block. Typically they only make them to fit reference PCB's. 

 

DO a leak test! I think I ran my system for about 36 hours for my leak test. 

 

Now, the results. My systems is a LOT quieter. That was my main goal of this particular build. Primarily the GPU's. What a difference. I brought the load temp on these bad boys down from 80C to 37C. That is a major win. And they are silent! No more GPU fans squealing away.

 

Drawback - with this case, and all this gear, you aren't taking this puppy anywhere. Easily weighs in a 65 lbs+

 

Servicing my loop is pretty easy. With a bottom mount Rad, I am able to unscrew it, and swing it outside the case. Then pop off a compression fitting and away it goes...

 

Would definitely recommend this to people who really have the patience to learn and take their time. As long as you do that, you can do water cooling.

 

I have done a few more other systems, picked up other components since... My next one, not sure... whether to go big, like a Case Labs, or go small... Since they don't move much, probably go big. :)

[Ghost]

Well I am going to talk about my first ever water-cooling experience.

 

I spent about 6 months collecting parts. I was in no rush at all. I was just sitting on eBay waiting to snag deals. Just to give you an idea of the prices I got my parts at I got my dual bay res with a DDC 1T 18W pump for £50. To be honest I could sell it for more now without trying. My loop ended up costing me £120 all in, yes everything. I had all the main components for £100 and then had to pay £20 for fittings, tubing and coolant because you have to buy that new. Time to bring up the parts list:

 

• EK Supreme Waterblock.
• 240mm slim Black Ice Hardware labs radiator.
• XSPC dual bay res with pump attachment
• Laing DDC 1T Plus 18W

Components cooled

• Phenom II x6 1100T @3.3 - 4.2 GHz (Quite proud to still own and use one, they are very hard to buy atm)

This was all done in a ghetto modified CM 690II Advanced Case. A brilliant case I will never throw away.

 

Here's a picture: http://i.imgur.com/LmbVZz9.jpg

 

It was actually quite a nice set-up. Sadly I had to upgrade because my old 6970 was splitting the case in half airflow wise. Literally.

 

I think the best thing I did was ask no-one for help. I built this before I know computer forums existed and the only video on youtube on how to build a loop was (linus' I think) 240p video where he used a t-line (reservoir-less) loop. Doing all the research myself and waiting months to build made every thing work out perfectly.

 

Because I only had one radiator I didn't even have to bleed. I just did a test run for 15 mins and tugged on each fitting individually. That's something that's stuck with me. I never run my loop for 24 hours like some people do, I don't see the point, I don't recommend not testing to for other people in case they blame me for something but it is unnecessary imo. If you tilt spin the case around a few times then all the bubbles will end up in the res. Also starting the pump up like ABS brakes helps. Lastly if you have the main section of your loop (the blocks) going from bottom to top flow direction wise it is much much easier to get the bubbles out.

 

To be honest water cooling was just a bucket list thing for me. I had to do it. I always made excuses like better temps but it was never about that.

 

One thing that I did wrong was fan selection. Oh god the memories are coming back. I got two CM Excalibur fans for my case. Now these fans push a lot of air. But this is because they spin at 2000 rpm and my fans reached 2100 rpm. This is loud, very loud. I couldn't bear my computer for about a week until the fan controller I ordered arrived.

 

They were still quite loud at 1000rpm which was the minimum they under-volted to.

 

Anyways, I've probably started going off topic now so I'll stop. ;)

[Andi]

• How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

Planing itself took quite a while, 3-4 month. wanted to get everything right! The actual building took one weekend. Did nothing else than building my first loop :D

• Was it easier or harder than expected?

installing a loop isn't harder than building a normal rig, but i was afraid i would kill something or flood im PC :D

• Did you have any issues while building your loop?

Everthing went as planed !

• Any advice for someone building their first loop?

I feel a waterloop is more a hobby then anything. Nobody really needs it and you need time if you want to change something.

• Were you impressed with the result?

If you don't know what you get when buying your parts you did something wrong :D So i wasn't really impressed but pleased!

• How much did your full loop end up costing you?

~400€

• How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

The same as before, i really don't want to kill my hardware with to much voltage.

• How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

idle 0 fans are running. Full load is nearly impossible to hear.

• Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

I really like my Aquaero. Best fancontroller ever...but really expensive.

• Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

I gave it up for a while...but learned really fast how annoying fans can be and went back to watercooling....i think if you start with watercooling it's really hard to go back, even with all the time you have to spend on it.

 

• How difficult is servicing your loop?

It's more annoying than anything, if you have no time or just really don't want to. But in the end you can't put it up forever!

• How difficult is upgrading?

Compared to not having do drain and disassemble a loop it's stupid timeconsuming, but not difficult. The biggest downside, i think, is if you are upgrading/servicing your loop you can't use your PC!

• Would you recommend it to a friend?

I would never recommend watercooling to anyone. If you are into hardware you already know what it is and if not you don't care.

 

 

 

So i would say, if you have no passion for hardware, or building something a loop will piss you off really fast :D

[R4STABAN]

• How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

My first loop was an external 9x140mm phobya rad (the shame) setting up took longer than expected because I had to fill this mahoosive rad separate from the loop in the bath in order to bleed it! LOL.

• Was it easier or harder than expected?

As above, although watercooling in general is actually really easy. Waterblocks mount like coolers, radiators screw in like fans, any can run tubing and screw in fittings. It's hard to mess up via your own fault unless you're tired.

• Did you have any issues while building your loop?

Only the filling difficulty due to my choice of parts.

I did have a major issue with tubing and coolant. primochill pro lrt is not compatible with mayhems pastel. my clear tubing furred up worse than any tubing since and genuinely went bright nuclear green. (coolant was pastel red I added blue dye to - to make purple)

• Any advice for someone building their first loop?

Plan properly, the hard bit is the planning to make sure it functions correctly and looks tidy.

Don't worry about direction of flow.

Keep it internal where possible

Get a good watercooling case or get a dremel.

• Were you impressed with the result?

Not my initial loop. My current loop is a modded rv02 with a 80mm thick 240 in the front and a 45mm thick 3x180 rad in the floor, tubing leaves the case via bitspower bulkheads and runs to my folding rig which house my (now dying) d5, bay res and another 60mm thick 240. waterblocks are 2x 680 lightning aquacomputer full copper blocks (hate copper now) and mips iceforce, raystorm for folding rig.

I'm pretty happy but I'm moving the folding rig downstairs to be a shorter run to the router, it's going to be a home server so I'll just put my old h80 in it for now. I have 0 room in my rv02 so I'm going to use an EK d5 xres and mount my d5 on the rear of my rv02 with a 250mm res. /watercooling rant

• How much did your full loop end up costing you?

My first was around £500 and I made poor choices because I was too afraid to mod cases. I had a 600t at the time. The phobya rad also turned out to be cheap tat (seems to be a phobya thing) and developed leaks at the bottom ports.

My current loop costs a massive amount. Every fitting is bitspower shiny silver (my fav) and my fittings alone are around £500. They should last me years though..

• How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

My cpu clocks the same as it did on the h80. My gpus clock the same as on air (overvolted).

• How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

I can't hear it. Except for my busted-ass pump. The GPU noise is the biggest thing you notice (unless you run a rubbishy cpu cooler before I guess..)

• Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

Mips iceforce 1155 waterblock is my favourite watercooling part. Nothing compares.

Even the AMD version looks amazing (in fact I prefer it)

 

EDIT: My first cpu block was the old pre-csq EK supreme HF. not pretty like the mips but EK have the best mounting mechanism for cpu blocks that I have tried (koolance, xspc, mips)

• Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

Not unless I coloudn't afford it. but now I have some basic parts - 240 rads, fittings galore etc, i'd just need new blocks for new builds as long as I'm careful ith everything.

• How difficult is servicing your loop?

Now this is a bugbear of mine. I CANNOT find clear tubing that doesn't cloud. I am about to try primochill advanced lrt. I have re done everything many times to get the fresh tubing look.

It's not hard though, disconnect a compression, drain loop, pull bits out, take to bits, clean with ketchup and a soft toothbrush lawl.

• How difficult is upgrading?

It will be harder than air but not too hard. Loops need regular maintainence anyway so i'd take an upgrade as an opportunity to clean my blocks and change tubing and coolant. I have my build set up to be a black and silver theme so my coolant colour can be anything and it fits.

• Would you recommend it to a friend?

I'd try to reassure them if they were worried about doing it but I wouldn't recommend it - there's no reason to do it unless you make it a hobby imo so you need to want to do it.

[Parkway Drive]

How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

Overall took me about one month. This was mainly due to waiting for parts to be shipped and finding time in between university. This also included researching all the parts, planning out the loop and a few case mods. To put the loop together took about 2 days. Putting it together took about the expected time but it was more the time waiting for parts that I had to get from overseas.

 

Was it easier or harder than expected?

Suprisingly easy as long as you take the right precautions and not try to rush it.

 

Did you have any issues while building your loop?

Nope, did my research and checked what others had done. Learn from others mistakes because when it comes to your own build it could be fatal.

 

Any advice for someone building their first loop?

Approach it in a smart matter and understand that things might not work out exactly how you planned, in saying that. Theres things you learn on the way and things you can change.

 

Were you impressed with the result?

Yes, very. I have a 3770K overclocked to 4.6GHz with temps around 70C at max load. I have 2x GTX670 which never go over 50C. I've got my motherboard and RAM watercooled as well.
I predominantly built my rig for silence, I have an RX480+RX240 in an 800D with low RPM Binfenix Spectres. The sound levels are amazing, it doesn't make a sound which is what I wanted cause I leave my PC on 24/7 and while I sleep.

 

How much did your full loop end up costing you?

All together somewhere close to $700-800. With all the main components it isn't too expensive, the real budget blower is when you start adding in fittings.

 

How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

As I mentioned about, the overclocking was amazing. GPU wise I was up to 1215/3314

 

How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

Sound is non existent.

 

Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

Swiftech MCP655 has great performance and the Apogee HD looks and performs amazingly

EK waterblocks look amazing

I love the XSPC RX series because the performance for the level of noice is amazing, I was worried that the temps wouldn't be as good as high FPI rads but it performed amazingly compared.

Bitspower fittings...wow, just wow, no wonder they're so expensive for each.

 

Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

Nope. Couldn't go back to the noise of only air cooling

 

How difficult is servicing your loop?

Very easy. I've planned it out specifically for this before I bought my parts and put them together, my drain line is at the bottom of my case and taking apart the look is just a matter of taking off fittings. I also have a few disconnects but haven't used them as I was planning on integrating an external rad box but haven't found the need for better performance.

 

How difficult is upgrading?

Haven't yet needed to upgrade but I've thought about the process and it doesn't seem to be difficult. as I've already drained and refilled my loop a few times.

 

Would you recommend it to a friend?

Depends. if they're dedicated and are knowledgable enough with computing than yes. But most of my friends are casual gamers and majority of them don't overclock. So for a majority of them, no.
But if you're someone looking for more cooling performance to overclock and want the quietest rig possible, then definitely.

[Scia]

How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

 

I built it in one night, took a little less time than I initially expected.

 

Was it easier or harder than expected?

 

About as I expected from watching videos on youtube on "how to". But stuff like mounting a GPU-Block for the first time will surely be a little bit harder than it looks.

Well I ran into some troubles, which I guess is normal, because even the greatest planing will not work 100% and you will have to find a way to make "this run" or fit part x to spot y.

 

Did you have any issues while building your loop?

 

Aside from the broken CPU-Block I got sent [twice -.-] none. Bleeding may take a while depending on your setup.

 

Any advice for someone building their first loop?

 

Buy more fittings that you think you need. There is always "that run" or "this turn" that looked pretty easy on paper but will be a bitch. Be sure you get enough angeled fittings as those can be lifesavers.

Thermalpads for GPU are a bitch. Like they make you rage, hard.

 

Were you impressed with the result?

 

My loop is finished since end of january and it still makes me happy looking at it :)

 

How much did your full loop end up costing you?

 

Around 800 Swissfranks [~900$], 2 GPU Blocks + 2 Backplates. Monsta Rad 360, G-Charger 360x60 rad, 9 phobya g.silent fans, pump + pump block, res, tubes, coolant [Mayhems is good but pricy at 20€/L], fittings get expensive really quick, and shipping, especially shipping extra coolant [after leak] and sending CPU blocks there and back again [3x until I settled with a Aquacomputer Kryos HF - awesome quality - after 2 broken phobya uc2-lt], voltage reducer cables for the fans and so on. [bare in mind, stuff is little more expensive than in the US]

 

How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

 

The GPUs run a lot cooler, but it's hard to tell since 600series tend to OC worse when SLIed and the new drivers are not helping [went downhill after 306.97]

 

How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

 

Alot quieter than before, but it's really depending on the fans you are using.

 

Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

 

Aquacomputer Kryos HF. Bitch to mount, but VERY high quality block -> Awesome temperatures, lovely look and feel [heavy!]

 

Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

 

For an office-pc that has to be started and is supposed to be running to get your work done, I'd never consider watercooling, because of the maintenance and the potentially higher risk of something not working.

 

How difficult is servicing your loop?

 

Since I havn't built in a drainport, it's quite a bitch. Get out as much liquid as possible, try to flush the rest, eventually replacing hose [had to tear it appart 2x cause of the broken cpu blocks]. Doing so alone is quite harsh, if you have someone to give you a hand holding some tube and a bucket you will be much quicker.

 

How difficult is upgrading?

 

About the same as servicing the loop since you have to atleast partially drain it.

 

Would you recommend it to a friend?

 

To a techsavvy friend who enjoys working on his rig and doesn't mind some problem here and there, surely.

 

To a sole gamer buddy, who is happy as long as his rig plays his games at a decent performance level, no way.

[Fuzion]

• How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

       Took about 6-7 days figuring out and just quitting at it for a few hours and resuming with it.

• Was it easier or harder than expected?

       It surely was in my head it was really easy, IRL its damn hard again it took a week after every single component arrives, Also this is my 1st time.

• Did you have any issues while building your loop?

       Not at all I saw alot of watercooling builds and guides from SingularityComputers at youtube

• Any advice for someone building their first loop?

      Yes I did from the guy from Singularity Computers

• Were you impressed with the result?

       I really was it got the multiplier really high without having temps being at 70C

• How much did your full loop end up costing you?

       The main components like the Waterblocks,tubing(Crystal Link and Tygon Tubing), Fittings, Pumps and its accesories and other stuff its around 2k-2.5k USD

       but with the extra components that I ordered for extra incase it costed me above 3k(Not exact numbers)

• How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

      It really was a great experience to overclock it to an extent I havent gone through before.

• How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

       Its really silent nowadays because I dont have a case filled with fans for the cooling. maybe I do but its not as loud and to even help the loudness I putted up for low FPI radiators

• Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

       Really loved the EK parts the CSQ design was really beautiful

• Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

       Not at all only when I have limited money and I would rather put the money on more performance instead of watercooling

• How difficult is servicing your loop?

      It worked fine and really secure maybe because of my babysitting on it for its 1st 2weeks but hey.

• How difficult is upgrading?

      I used all new parts and didnt carry any of my components from the last build and gave the whole last build to my cousin.

• Would you recommend it to a friend?

      Probably maybe be able to boast to him on how good at it I am, until he hears how much time I needed to build my 1st one in which is my current PC. hehe.

[mybeat]

> How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

CPU only loop, 1 day building, 1 day leak testing. Haven't had any expectation regarding duration of the build.

 

> Was it easier or harder than expected?

It was harder to drill out fan holes on top of Thermaltake Armor JR than I've initially thought. 

 

> Did you have any issues while building your loop?
Top exhaust fans were right below the table, which caused my case to warm up as hot air couldn't easily escape.

 

> Any advice for someone building their first loop?
Plan ahead, take your time. 

 

> Were you impressed with the result?
No with the first loop, yes with subsequent ones.

 

> How much did your full loop end up costing you?
250-350 euros.

 

> How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?
Till now I've build CPU only loops, I've gained 500 mhz overclock by lowering the temps with watercooling (i7 920)

 

> How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?
About the same, I didn't overclock as much due to temps and loud rig is a no-no for me. 

 

> Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)
D5, it just works.

 

> Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?
Yes. I gave up for a short period of time, when I moved from Pentium D to i7 920, I had no money left for watercooling and I went with an air cooler.

 

> How difficult is servicing your loop?
First loop wasn't difficult, I liked the process.

Another loop with 2 360 rads was kinda of a pain to service as rad placement weren't optimal.

 

> How difficult is upgrading?
Not difficult at all.

 

> Would you recommend it to a friend?

No, as none of my friends are tech savvy enough nor are willing to spend so much money just to improve cooling.

[Rollergold]

• How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?
  • Took a little longer then what I had hoped for but it could have been worse
• Was it easier or harder than expected?
  • Was a little harder than I expected when I came getting the compression collars over barbs, The outside of the Advanced LRT tubing from Primochill made it especially difficult, enough so that I damaged one of the angle fittings and it leaked during the leak test. Not sure why it was so hard maybe because the barbs on the fittings were just a wee too big or maybe its the tubing. I still don't know what the issue was but I swapped the tubing for some Tygon 3603 tubing and its working just fine at the moment, most likely going to replace it come system flush time because it's reported plasticizer issues.
• Did you have any issues while building your loop?
  • As I said before, had some trouble getting the compression collars over the barb. I also had major issues with the Koolance QDC's, mainly the o-rings broke when I connected them for the first time, there goes 60 bucks >_>.
• Any advice for someone building their first loop?
  • NEVER EVER skip the leak test, and always a few more fittings then you actually need.
• Were you impressed with the result?
  • Very impressed, quiet, and cool looking
• How much did your full loop end up costing you?
  • 5-600 dollars CAD. Most of the stuff had to be bought from retailers outside of Canada so those shippings stung.
• How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?
  • I didn't get any extra on the CPU since even at 1.5v  My i7 920 won't stay stable beyond 4.1ghz. To go beyond 4.1 I would need more rad than my HAF 932 can handle. Corsair 900D anyone xD
• How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?
  • Much quieter, the stock coolers on the 680 are not loud but when the cards go under load the coolers aren't quite so silent 
• Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)
  • The GPU blocks The Razor Gen2's from XSPC look amazing, perform well at a reasonable price. The CPU block, the Swiftech Apogee HD is one of the easiest devices I've mounted on my CPU bar-none and the Rad's. The AlphaCool NexXxoS rads are one of the safest rad's to use and install as under each of the screw points is steel plate that protects the fins and tubes underneath from being damaged and its a nearly full copper rad so its got great cooling performance 
• Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?
  • If the system is in a tower case, never. If its got the space it's being watercooled
• How difficult is servicing your loop?
  • I didn't build in a drain line after I found out what happened to my QDC fittings so first flush will be a little tricky but I will be building in a drain line when I do the first flush.  
• How difficult is upgrading?
  • Harder than air cooled parts but if you get the water out and plan the loop out right it won't be too hard. 
• Would you recommend it to a friend?
  • If said friend demands silence and low temps above all else sure, otherwise go for an AiO for the CPU and a GPU with an custom cooler.  

[Ghost]

Hey, we are reaching the end of this discussion topic. I promise the next topic is more of a discussion, just wanted to get the two basic things out of the way int he first two weeks.

 

Thanks to everyone who participated and in fact everyone who viewed the thread.

 

Don't forget you can still post in the thread after it is un-sticky'd!

[Fuzion]

How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

Overall took me about one month. This was mainly due to waiting for parts to be shipped and finding time in between university. This also included researching all the parts, planning out the loop and a few case mods. To put the loop together took about 2 days. Putting it together took about the expected time but it was more the time waiting for parts that I had to get from overseas.

 

Was it easier or harder than expected?

Suprisingly easy as long as you take the right precautions and not try to rush it.

 

Did you have any issues while building your loop?

Nope, did my research and checked what others had done. Learn from others mistakes because when it comes to your own build it could be fatal.

 

Any advice for someone building their first loop?

Approach it in a smart matter and understand that things might not work out exactly how you planned, in saying that. Theres things you learn on the way and things you can change.

 

Were you impressed with the result?

Yes, very. I have a 3770K overclocked to 4.6GHz with temps around 70C at max load. I have 2x GTX670 which never go over 50C. I've got my motherboard and RAM watercooled as well.

I predominantly built my rig for silence, I have an RX480+RX240 in an 800D with low RPM Binfenix Spectres. The sound levels are amazing, it doesn't make a sound which is what I wanted cause I leave my PC on 24/7 and while I sleep.

 

How much did your full loop end up costing you?

All together somewhere close to $700-800. With all the main components it isn't too expensive, the real budget blower is when you start adding in fittings.

 

How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

As I mentioned about, the overclocking was amazing. GPU wise I was up to 1215/3314

 

How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

Sound is non existent.

 

Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

Swiftech MCP655 has great performance and the Apogee HD looks and performs amazingly

EK waterblocks look amazing

I love the XSPC RX series because the performance for the level of noice is amazing, I was worried that the temps wouldn't be as good as high FPI rads but it performed amazingly compared.

Bitspower fittings...wow, just wow, no wonder they're so expensive for each.

 

Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

Nope. Couldn't go back to the noise of only air cooling

 

How difficult is servicing your loop?

Very easy. I've planned it out specifically for this before I bought my parts and put them together, my drain line is at the bottom of my case and taking apart the look is just a matter of taking off fittings. I also have a few disconnects but haven't used them as I was planning on integrating an external rad box but haven't found the need for better performance.

 

How difficult is upgrading?

Haven't yet needed to upgrade but I've thought about the process and it doesn't seem to be difficult. as I've already drained and refilled my loop a few times.

 

Would you recommend it to a friend?

Depends. if they're dedicated and are knowledgable enough with computing than yes. But most of my friends are casual gamers and majority of them don't overclock. So for a majority of them, no.

But if you're someone looking for more cooling performance to overclock and want the quietest rig possible, then definitely.

Hey are you the guy that was on the 1st Build logs of the week if you are I just want to say your build on the 800D was fantastic.

[Parkway Drive]

Hey are you the guy that was on the 1st Build logs of the week if you are I just want to say your build on the 800D was fantastic.

 

I don't think it was the 1st week but it was one of the earlier ones. Thank you so much.

Yep in the 800D. I'm surprised that there aren't as many 800D builds as I thought.

Again thank you for the support, I'm hoping to make my system better and get the loop a bit nicer but just haven't got the time at the moment.

I'm a first timer at watercooling as well so kinda need time to rethink my design. Looking at crystal link but can't find a place in Aus that sells the custom lengths.

Cheers Fuzion

 

 

 

[Akula]

How long did it take you to build your first loop, longer or shorter than expected, how long?

My build's usually take 3+ Months, i tend to drag them out to ensure perfection everytime, normally the sleeving & modding take the most time, in between work & social life.

 

Was it easier or harder than expected?

Very easy, had to work around a few issues early on.

 

Did you have any issues while building your loop?

I had a faulty HWL radiator, leaked :( luckily my radiator was in the front of the case, so no real issues, went rhough about 5 litres.

 

Any advice for someone building their first loop?

Research, Research & more research.

 

Were you impressed with the result?

Yes & No. It didn't turn out how i pictured it, it never does.

 

How much did your full loop end up costing you?

I believe i spent $600+ AU

 

How did your overclocking go knowing temperature wasn't such a big limit any more, especially with GPUs?

Temperature were improved, although it was during a harsh Aussie summer, so you can never really notice the difference.

 

How silent is your loop in comparison to before you water-cooled?

Very quiet.

 

Any parts you specifically liked? (Maybe because they were easy to use, worked well or just looked good)

EK Waterblock's - Fallen in love

 

Would you ever consider giving up water-cooling?

I gave up water for roughly 6 months in between builds, noise became irritating.

 

How difficult is servicing your loop?

Easy.

 

Would you recommend it to a friend?

My friends are idiots, so no.