First Water cooled build

[Guiltnazan]

I'm planning a water cooled build using acrylic tubing with a a dual loop setup and I'm slightly overwhelmed with the how many fittings i need  and if i need any plugs, if a pump top is required... just basically being a beginner.

The build will be running sli with gigabyte g1 gaming 970s for one loop and another loop for cpu in a caselabs sth10 .

 

[Maxwit44]

@Guiltnazan,

 

Also with the 970's being a low TDP card, One loop for all would been ok.  2 x triple 140 rads, or 2 quad 120's will do you fine.

 

Also pending on how you do you tubing will depend on how many fittings you will need. If you going to bend the tubing, you should only need a few tee's and rotary fittings, plus two compression fittings per item in your loop. If your not going to bend the tubing, start saving............ you need heaps of those 90 degree adaptors and heaps of compression fittings.

 

I'd just buy heaps of tubing and go at it with a heat gun, acrylic is cheap, the fittings, not so much........

[Guiltnazan]

@Guiltnazan,

 

Also with the 970's being a low TDP card, One loop for all would been ok.  2 x triple 140 rads, or 2 quad 120's will do you fine.

 

Also pending on how you do you tubing will depend on how many fittings you will need. If you going to bend the tubing, you should only need a few tee's and rotary fittings, plus two compression fittings per item in your loop. If your not going to bend the tubing, start saving............ you need heaps of those 90 degree adaptors and heaps of compression fittings.

 

I'd just buy heaps of tubing and go at it with a heat gun, acrylic is cheap, the fittings, not so much........

 I was planning on being a noob and buying a monsoon pro hardline bending kit to take the need of many fittings out, and then struggle with what color coolant i'm going to use

[Maxwit44]

 I was planning on being a noob and buying a monsoon pro hardline bending kit to take the need of many fittings out, and then struggle with what color coolant i'm going to use

 

Good move, very smart. Like I said before, buy heaps of tubing, to allow for mistakes. I think Frozencpu had a 12 x 48 inch pack of clear tubing for pretty darn good price............Yep still doo. Look Here.

 

If you want some color in there, you could use some Dyes or pre-made PC coolant.

[Guiltnazan]

Good move, very smart. Like I said before, buy heaps of tubing, to allow for mistakes. I think Frozencpu had a 12 x 48 inch pack of clear tubing for pretty darn good price............Yep still doo. Look Here.

Alright thanks,and also do any fittings work with rads, res, and pumps. I was looking into getting some primochill rigid ghost compression fittings for the entirety of the loops

 

i was thinking about mayhems pastel blood red but i heard red is the worst for staining

Edited November 8, 2014 by Guiltnazan

[Maxwit44]

Alright thanks,and also do any fittings work with rads, res, and pumps. I was looking into getting some primochill rigid ghost compression fittings for the entirety of the loops

 

i was thinking about mayhems pastel blood red but i heard red is the worst for staining

 

All water cooling components have the same thread size, G1/4. The difference lies in the fittings, so 1/2 inch OD tubing gets used with 1/2OD fittings etc.. Primochill are good fittings to use, they have a great set up and tools to use with the fittings.

 

I heard the same thing about most red dyes staining blocks. But if your not using blocks with acrylic tops, don't think it'll be too much of an issue, cause you won't really see it. Stay away from Mayhems Aurora stuff. It looks cool, but its not really that good for day to day use. If you wanted red, I'd go with EK's Blood red premix stuff. Then you don't have to worry about bio-cides and kill coils too much.

[Guiltnazan]

All water cooling components have the same thread size, G1/4. The difference lies in the fittings, so 1/2 inch OD tubing gets used with 1/2OD fittings etc.. Primochill are good fittings to use, they have a great set up and tools to use with the fittings.

I heard the same thing about most red dyes staining blocks. But if your not using blocks with acrylic tops, don't think it'll be too much of an issue, cause you won't really see it. Stay away from Mayhems Aurora stuff. It looks cool, but its not really that good for day to day use. If you wanted red, I'd go with EK's Blood red premix stuff. Then you don't have to worry about bio-cides and kill coils too much.

Okay,and I most likely will sTay away from acrylic blocks then. Anything else I should know before diving in?

[Maxwit44]

Well, @Guiltnazan

 

1. Plan, draw out, replan , etc. you loop. Make it easy as possible, less bends the better. This will all depend on your case and where you can mount what size rad. Don't forget to add thickness on the rad and fan together for correct clearances.

 

2. Radiators - Fit as many as can and afford into the loop. Something from XSPC, EK, Alphacool, Darkside etc, and wash them out with distilled water first. The last thing you want is bits of dust, sand and dirt in you loop clogging up blocks etc.

 

3. Pumps - I will always recommend a D5 Vario pump over anything else. They can be in a res combo, it doesn't matter. I find they are easiest to bleed the air out with. And always put the pump inlet (middle port on a D5) to the res bottom port. This is the ONLY part of the loop that has to be in this order.

 

4. Reservoirs / water tanks - Choose your design that you like mount it and test fit everything around it. Most people like tube res's in there case, a good bay res can look nice too. Always keep an eye on this when bleeding, don't let it run dry.

 

5. Blocks - Always make sure you get the correct block for you CPU / GPU. Most Blocks for CPU's come with both AMD and Intel 115x and 2011 mounts. Graphics cards, Make 100% that it is the correct card for the block. Check CoolingConfig if your unsure.Back plates help with GPU blocks and card sag, but you don't have to get one.

 

6. When planing your components, Check double check and check again, to ensure you have enough of everything. Basic I know, but we all forget things........... like drain ports!!! I'm guilty of this. a few times actually

 

7. Get good Static pressure fans with High fin count rads. Low FPI rads, isn't too much of a worry.

 

8. Lastly, enjoy the build, relax, don't force things. Try and do everything you want to water cool in one hit. Takes the hassle of draining the loop to add stuff in.

 

Don't be surprised if you loop costs $700 USD or more, Custom loops are expensive and are more eye candy than anything. But a well thought out loops and good size rads, can let you overclock the crap out of your GPU's and CPU. My 570GTX (old yes I know) now run in the mid 40's degrees C, whilst being over clocked and over volted. Stock 742mhz clock. OC 1054mhz core clock speed Happy days!!

[Guiltnazan]

Well, @Guiltnazan

1. Plan, draw out, replan , etc. you loop. Make it easy as possible, less bends the better. This will all depend on your case and where you can mount what size rad. Don't forget to add thickness on the rad and fan together for correct clearances.

2. Radiators - Fit as many as can and afford into the loop. Something from XSPC, EK, Alphacool, Darkside etc, and wash them out with distilled water first. The last thing you want is bits of dust, sand and dirt in you loop clogging up blocks etc.

3. Pumps - I will always recommend a D5 Vario pump over anything else. They can be in a res combo, it doesn't matter. I find they are easiest to bleed the air out with. And always put the pump inlet (middle port on a D5) to the res bottom port. This is the ONLY part of the loop that has to be in this order.

4. Reservoirs / water tanks - Choose your design that you like mount it and test fit everything around it. Most people like tube res's in there case, a good bay res can look nice too. Always keep an eye on this when bleeding, don't let it run dry.

5. Blocks - Always make sure you get the correct block for you CPU / GPU. Most Blocks for CPU's come with both AMD and Intel 115x and 2011 mounts. Graphics cards, Make 100% that it is the correct card for the block. Check CoolingConfig if your unsure.Back plates help with GPU blocks and card sag, but you don't have to get one.

6. When planing your components, Check double check and check again, to ensure you have enough of everything. Basic I know, but we all forget things........... like drain ports!!! I'm guilty of this. a few times actually

7. Get good Static pressure fans with High fin count rads. Low FPI rads, isn't too much of a worry.

8. Lastly, enjoy the build, relax, don't force things. Try and do everything you want to water cool in one hit. Takes the hassle of draining the loop to add stuff in.

Don't be surprised if you loop costs $700 USD or more, Custom loops are expensive and are more eye candy than anything. But a well thought out loops and good size rads, can let you overclock the crap out of your GPU's and CPU. My 570GTX (old yes I know) now run in the mid 40's degrees C, whilst being over clocked and over volted. Stock 742mhz clock. OC 1054mhz core clock speed Happy days!!

I apologize for taking so long to reply back. But thanks for you help. You have me even more excited to start my build.