Building Custom Loop in Nzxt Phantom 820

[mattias1172]

Im looking for some ideas/input on creating a custom loop in my phantom 820.  I will be ordering the cooling parts from frozen cpu so they must be accessible there.  I want to include my gpu (msi lighting 290x), mobo (Asus Rivbe), and cpu into the loop.  What i am thinking is a 360 rad on top, 280 rad on the bottom, and a 140 rad on the back.  I was thinking of getting a tube reservoir to mount between the motherboard and the optical drive/hdd cages but not exactly sure how that would be done. I also want to use red tubing for the look, but clear liquid to prevent it from clogging and gunking up.  If anyone has any ideas of how i can route the tubes and what fittings to use to make it as clean as possible, it would be much appreciated.  Thanks

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Im looking for some ideas/input on creating a custom loop in my phantom 820.  I will be ordering the cooling parts from frozen cpu so they must be accessible there.  I want to include my gpu (msi lighting 290x), mobo (Asus Rivbe), and cpu into the loop.  What i am thinking is a 360 rad on top, 280 rad on the bottom, and a 140 rad on the back.  I was thinking of getting a tube reservoir to mount between the motherboard and the optical drive/hdd cages but not exactly sure how that would be done. I also want to use red tubing for the look, but clear liquid to prevent it from clogging and gunking up.  If anyone has any ideas of how i can route the tubes and what fittings to use to make it as clean as possible, it would be much appreciated.  Thanks

EK has waterblocks for your CPU and the 290X, don't know about the motherboard. If you get the res/pump top combo from EK it comes with some of the best mounting clips on the market that you can use to mount the tube res to the case, you can also buy more separately. Skip the 140mm completely, keep your loop and tubing runs clean and simple. The 360 and 280 will be more than enough for your components. For the red tubing, Primochill Advanced LRT, 1/2 ID 3/4 OD. Fittings, compression fittings of the same size, Bitspower, Monsoon or Koolance depending on which on you like and can afford. Only thing that really matters when running tubing is res directly above the pump. Keep the runs short, clean and simple. Something like pump top > GPU > CPU > top rad > front rad > pump top.

[mattias1172]

EK has waterblocks for your CPU and the 290X, don't know about the motherboard. If you get the res/pump top combo from EK it comes with some of the best mounting clips on the market that you can use to mount the tube res to the case, you can also buy more separately. Skip the 140mm completely, keep your loop and tubing runs clean and simple. The 360 and 280 will be more than enough for your components. For the red tubing, Primochill Advanced LRT, 1/2 ID 3/4 OD. Fittings, compression fittings of the same size, Bitspower, Monsoon or Koolance depending on which on you like and can afford. Only thing that really matters when running tubing is res directly above the pump. Keep the runs short, clean and simple. Something like pump top > GPU > CPU > top rad > front rad > pump top.

Thanks for the info.  Just curious, where do people make the images when designing a custom loop? Like this:

 

[FloRolf]

Thanks for the info. Just curious, where do people make the images when designing a custom loop? Like this:

I do these poorly in paint. But its basically the same only ugly as fuck but who cares? ^^

[K_c1n]

Like this?

Thats a tight fit in a 630, if you dont use the 51/4 u could take them out that would give you plenty of room

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Thanks for the info.  Just curious, where do people make the images when designing a custom loop? Like this:

 

There are many ways you can do them. I usually use Microsoft Visio with a good side shot of the case.

[mattias1172]

Like this?

Thats a tight fit in a 630, if you dont use the 51/4 u could take them out that would give you plenty of room

 

Wheres the radiator? i dont see any in the picture. 

[K_c1n]

Its at the top just a single 360, i was showing you how i fitted the tube res between bays and mb so u could get more of an idea of how you want to do urs

[mattias1172]

Its at the top just a single 360, i was showing you how i fitted the tube res between bays and mb so u could get more of an idea of how you want to do urs

 

ok, its hard to see in the picture.  Heres my rough sketch of the blocks, still not quite sure about the tubing yet.