Would this loop all be compatible?

[pdv789]

Sorry for yet another one of these topics but I'm about to order my first loop but I want to make sure I got it right.

 

I have read the sticky thread a few times to make sure I have all the components listed that I will need. The thing is that I will be using acrylic tubing and I'm not sure if this would all be compatible with the components on this list. Could somebody take a quick look and tell me if everything is compatible and if that's every I need for my loop.

 

My plan right now is to water cool my 970 right now and replace my H100i when I upgrade to a larger case. I already checked the compatibility of the VGA block according to Ek's website and compatibility listings so it should fit. The od of the acrylic tubing is 1/2 but the barb on the pump is also 1/2. Does this mean I need to go with different size tube at least for that part or find a different pump?

 

Also I was looking at pump/res combos but saw that a great deal of them come with a housing of some kind for a pump but do not actually include a pump. Would anyone be able to suggest a combo unit that includes the pump and res in one package?

 

(I used tiny url to keep it a little tidy, if they don't work let me know and I will post full links)

 

http://tinyurl.com/m72y7he

VGA block

http://tinyurl.com/lxuxkzd

Acrylic tube

http://tinyurl.com/ks34vlr

Radiator

http://tinyurl.com/kk76jxu

Pump

http://tinyurl.com/ludgq3p

Reservoir

[MooseCheese]

My plan right now is to water cool my 970 right now and replace my H100i when I upgrade to a larger case. I already checked the compatibility of the VGA block according to Ek's website and compatibility listings so it should fit. The od of the acrylic tubing is 1/2 but the barb on the pump is also 1/2. Does this mean I need to go with different size tube at least for that part or find a different pump?

 

I think you may have mistaken acrylic tube for conventional, flexible tubing. Acrylic tubing is hard, and if you want to use it in your loop, you either have to heat, bend, cut, sand and polish it, using a heat gun, silicone insert, junior hacksaw, wet and dry sand paper and an acrylic polish, or alternatively just cut, sand and polish it, and use several hundred dollars worth of fittings to make the bends. Furthermore, fittings need to be chosen carefully and ideally be manufactured by the same company as the tubing, as even acrylic tubing of the same labelled diameter differs slightly. Whilst it looks absolutely gorgeous and is considerably more durable and lower maintenance than soft tubing, it's very difficult to use and to get a good result, you really ought to build a 3D model of your loop in Google Sketchup, to ensure your tubing runs don't conflict and/or that you've got all the appropriate fittings. Since this would appear to be your first custom loop, I can't say I'd recommend it.

 

Whilst the diameter of soft tubing is personal preference, smaller diameters give greater flexibility, whilst larger ones give greater flow rates. Since your loop only comprises a single VGA block, and you mention you're a little short of space in your case though, I'd recommend 3/8"/1/2" ID/OD diameter tubing:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/22861/ex-tub-2759/Alphacool_AlphaTube_HF_Tubing_38ID_x_12_OD_-_3_Meter_Retail_Pack_-_Blue.html?tl=g30c99s171

 

Furthermore, you'll need at least six fittings, for the radiator, reservoir and block. Given the negligible price difference, but superior aesthetics and ease of use of compressions compared to barbs, I'd recommend compressions. I personally prefer Bitspower fittings above all others, but it's up to you. Here's what I'd get though:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2296/ex-tub-38/Bitspower_G14_Thread_38_ID_x_12_OD_Compression_Fitting_-_Silver_BP-CPF-CC2.html?tl=g30c409s1032

 

Finally, whilst the tubing I've suggested will fit onto the barbs of your D5 pump, when warmed in hot water and lubricated by rubbing a little coolant onto the inside, I'd really recommend a pump-top for the Laing D5; it reduces noise output and turbulence. The best one is the full Bitspower upgrade kit, which mounts the reservoir directly to the pump and looks awesome when combined with their D5 upgrade kit, but it's extremely expensive. Their pump top on its own is also available, but uses G3/8" fittings and isn't particularly well designed as two ports interfere. I'd therefore recommend EK's solution. I'd get their full unit, which includes a reservoir, to simplify your loop and improve its aesthetics, but you could just get the pump top on its own.

 

Pump top and reservoir combination:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17572/ex-pmp-216/EK_D5_X-RES_Top_140_-_Acetal_-_Laing_D5_Swiftech_MCP655-B655655-PWM.html?tl=g30c107s1805#blank

 

Pump top only:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16419/ex-pmp-198/EK_D5_X-Top_Acetal_Pump_Top_CSQ_-_Laing_D5_and_Swiftech_MCP-650655_EK-XTOP_D5_CSQ_-_Acetal.html?tl=g30c107s1805

 

Finally, you'll need a means to mount your pump and reservoir. This is case specific, but by and large, it's easiest to just mount things to radiators using brackets with the same spacing as fans. If you show me a picture of your setup and mark where you intend to mount your radiator, I'm sure we can work something out.

 

I hope this helps you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Charlie

[pdv789]

I do love the way acrylic tubing looks but I was unaware it was such a difficult process. I thought it would be as easy as heating and bending slowly and cutting with a hacksaw or something of that nature. I will do the soft tubing until I get more experience and/or find someone I can have do acrylic for me, thank you for saving me the headache. I actually do like the combo unit you linked not to mention it actually saves me money because I was probably going with complete overkill. I do plan on doing a dual sli with my cpu in the loop with another 2x140mm rad however, would that pump be able to still push through that much or would you suggest upgrading the pump by then?

 

First, sorry for the dark picture but I only had my desktop camera to work with, I have a potato of a phone that can't send pictures.

 

I would mount the radiator in the bottom with 2x140mm fans. I will remove the hdd cage and relocate the hdds, maybe just velcro them on top of my cd drive or the roof of that cage altogether. I could then remove or shift that front fan down to allow for mounting holes to free up for a mounting bracket. The front can house 200mm of fan space, a very ackward amount but it has 4 sets of mounting holes, definitely meant to hold a 140mm but can be mounted more up or down. I chose to mount more up to get air over the hdds and just because I wanted to.

 

I'm not afraid to go as far as cutting out the bottom of my drive bay either if need be to make room for the reservoir since I only use 2 bays but have 4. I did measure and I have 9 inches from the bottom of the bay drives to the bottom of the case, I would think that's enough room. Could you see any way it could be improved upon?

[pdv789]

~snip~

Thank you for all of your help this far. There is a lot of great information that I oversaw and just didn't know.

[MooseCheese]

Hi again,

 

I'm glad to have helped .

 

Regarding the pump top/reservoir combination I've suggested, please know that it doesn't include a pump, it's a sort of housing for the Laing D5, which improves its performance in just about every way and is considerably more convenient to mount. You disassemble the housing of the one you've selected (or can alternatively buy a naked one, as linked below), and insert the pump into the bottom of the reservoir. It's then secured by a bracket of an appropriate diameter. The Laing D5 pump is the absolute best pump for watercooling, it provides by far the highest pressure output and at an appropriate setting (I recommend 2/5), with a good pump top, it's inaudible too. The DDC pumps are also a good option, a fair bit cheaper and combination pump top/reservoirs are also available for them, but the D5 allows for greater expansion and the price difference really isn't all that bad, so I'd recommend just stomaching the cost of the D5.

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13147/ex-pmp-131/Alphacool_VPP655_Variable_Speed_Pump_w_RPM_Monitoring_-_Single_Edition_13122.html?tl=g30c107s1802

 

As for mounting the reservoir/pump top combination, don't worry, no case mods will be necessary. The pump top/reservoir combination includes a mounting bracket, which I believe is designed to be attached to hard-drive cages. You could also get a UN brackets to mount it to a 120mm/140mm fan/fan mounting holes, increasing flexibility. It may for example be favourable to mount it to your rear 120mm fan. It will ensure that one of the most attractive components of your loop is visible and also, from a more pragmatic perspective, puts it in a fairly unobstructed part of your case. I have never owned one of the EK units though, so I'm not entirely sure how the included bracket works.

 

120mm:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8797/ex-pmp-79/UNDesigns_Z2_Pump_Bracket_-_120mm_Fan_Mount.html?tl=g30c107

 

140mm:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16234/ex-pmp-196/UNDesigns_Z3_Pump_Bracket_-_140mm_Fan_Mount.html?tl=g30c107

 

If you have any more questions, just ask, if not, best of luck!

 

Kind regards,

 

Charlie

[MooseCheese]

Thank you for all of your help this far. There is a lot of great information that I oversaw and just didn't know.

 

Tag!

[pdv789]

Tag!

I was not paying attention to how it was built and finally read the description lol. It seems to be an odd pump where the inlet is on the bottom though as 1 is an inlet and 2 are outlets. So to my understanding most normal reservoirs have a return coming in at the top but this one has the return and out port on the bottom and let's you have a third in case you need to drain your loop and a top to fill it. I kind of like that although it would be a pain for me to fill if I mount it on the rear 120. Oh well, I'll just take out the aio radiator and rest it on the side while I install and bleed this one. I do like that pump, and the ratings on it look pretty good when compared to most other pumps. I do like that pump and the reviews i've found so far say it's a pretty good decently quite pump. It's not a bad idea mounting it at the top 120 for now until I go to a new case, thanks for the idea. Not to mention it would allow the loop to be filled before it even powers on.

[MooseCheese]

I was not paying attention to how it was built and finally read the description lol. It seems to be an odd pump where the inlet is on the bottom though as 1 is an inlet and 2 are outlets. So to my understanding most normal reservoirs have a return coming in at the top but this one has the return and out port on the bottom and let's you have a third in case you need to drain your loop and a top to fill it. I kind of like that although it would be a pain for me to fill if I mount it on the rear 120. Oh well, I'll just take out the aio radiator and rest it on the side while I install and bleed this one. I do like that pump, and the ratings on it look pretty good when compared to most other pumps. I do like that pump and the reviews i've found so far say it's a pretty good decently quite pump. It's not a bad idea mounting it at the top 120 for now until I go to a new case, thanks for the idea. Not to mention it would allow the loop to be filled before it even powers on.

 

Yep, your description of the pump-top is spot on.

 

Just some final tips before you start constructing your loop.

1. Before building and filling your loop, you'll want to flush the radiators. On the first couple of flushes, you might get some debris. Flush at least 5 - 10 times after debris stops coming out (if none comes out, just do a total of 5 - 10 flushes); use tap water for the first few (unless you live in an area with 'hard' tap water i.e. tap water with a high mineral content) and then distilled water for at least the last three. Ideally, leave your radiators to dry for a couple of days, in a warm, dust free room; this isn't a necessity, but I'd recommend it, as EK did a study about a year ago which showed even distilled water corrodes far more than high quality pre-mixed coolant and particularly nano-fluids.
2. Your coolant is really up to you and there are many people far more knowledgeable than myself, who I'm sure would disagree with this, but I'd recommend a nano-fluid. I would always recommend Mayhems Pastel fluids as from what I've read, they result in least corrosion and the lowest probability of bacterial growth. I personally use Mayhems Aurora, as I prefer the aesthetics, but Pastel is probably the pragmatists best option.
3. With regard to filling the loop, consider using a large syringe. It will save you some hassle by alleviating the requirement to remove your AIO unit upon filling, but also offers an unprecedented level of control.

These next ones are essential, regardless of a person's experience or of confidence in the construction of their loop:

1. Cover as many of your components as possible with paper towels before filling. The probability of a catastrophic leak is low, but since the dyes, refractive agents and anti-microbial agents in coolants make them sticky, pungent and just generally gross, you really don't want a little drip leak causing them to coat your components. You'll have a lot of difficulty getting them off a PCB and it's such an easy precaution to take, you'd be an idiot not to.
2. Have the power supply you use to fill the loop be disconnected from your other components. Whether this means completely unplugging everything, simply removing modular cables at the PSU end, or buying a dedicated MOLEX PSU like this one (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phobya-Power-Adapter-Molex-Socket/dp/B003TRT7FA), you MUST NEVER fill a loop with power applied to the system. Whilst the probability of a catastrophic short circuit when using a non-conductive coolant is low, charged copper wire on a PCB will act as an electrode and will cause non-conductive coolants to become conductive, albeit not immediately. Nevertheless, if you have a small drip and fail to notice, a major short is inevitable and will likely destroy hundreds of Pounds worth of components. To risk this for the sake of 20 minutes or a £12 dedicated PSU is moronic.
3. Leak test and continuously monitor for at least 30 minutes before powering the system; I personally do this, followed by 8 hours of intermittent monitoring before power-up. This is unnecessary, but a precaution that I think is worthwhile nevertheless. The chances of a leak after this time are low, but check all fittings intermittently over the first 10 hours or so of using your PC.

If you follow these steps, you'll see just how safe and low-maintenance water-cooling can be, when configured properly.

 

Kind regards,

 

Charlie

[pdv789]

Thank you, I will have to bookmark this thread. I really appreciate the detailed instructions. I have seen a few videos and was going to cover my components in some paper towels since most of my computer would be difficult to cover other than the gpu without disassembling it. I was under the impression that I could unplug all components and use 1) not really something I would like to do but a paperclip or 2) a jumper I could buy online for a few pounds that would act as a mobo port that just shorts the power and ground allowing the pump to get power when I plug into the molex. I know that it would probably be easy to get a dedicated power supply to do it with but shipping out here is really expensive and I've already seen a few jumpers in a few stores just down the road from my place.

 

 

I really do like the idea of a return on the bottom as well, it would get rid of that trickle noise I always hear in videos and in other systems I've seen. Would that combo unit allow me to upgrade to a bigger reservoir and change the center piece inside it to something of a different design?

[MooseCheese]

Thank you, I will have to bookmark this thread. I really appreciate the detailed instructions. I have seen a few videos and was going to cover my components in some paper towels since most of my computer would be difficult to cover other than the gpu without disassembling it. I was under the impression that I could unplug all components and use 1) not really something I would like to do but a paperclip or 2) a jumper I could buy online for a few pounds that would act as a mobo port that just shorts the power and ground allowing the pump to get power when I plug into the molex. I know that it would probably be easy to get a dedicated power supply to do it with but shipping out here is really expensive and I've already seen a few jumpers in a few stores just down the road from my place.

 

There's nothing wrong with the paper-clip method at all, nor is there anything wrong with using a jumper, so long as none of your components, other than the pump are connected . As for using paper towels, you'll find it's quite easy when all of your tubing is in and that you can wrap them around fittings quite easily, but all you need to do is to cover what you can. I completely understand about your dilemma with shipping; whilst the UK is pretty reasonable for getting PC parts, I still have to order stuff from the USA from time to time and shipping has occasionally come to more than the item purchased.

 

Regarding altering the reservoir, unfortunately that unit can't really be modded. You could just get the pump top only version, as linked in my first reply and use a reservoir of your choice connected by a male to male fitting such as the one linked below. Regarding your issue with the dripping sound as coolant returns to the reservoir in some videos you've seen, this is actually a serious issue with people's loops. When the coolant splashes back in from the top of the reservoir, air bubbles form reducing its specific heat capacity and density, thereby reducing its lubricating effect on the pump which can cause abrasion and overheating; to prevent this, a fitting such as the Bitspower Aquapipe (linked below) which extends the return into the reservoir can be used. Having the reservoir as part of the flow of the loop like this however results in much faster filling of the loop and a considerable reduction in the time it takes for air bubbles to come out after filling and it's how I personally have my own loop configured.

 

Male to male fitting:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15172/ex-tub-1164/Alphacool_G14_Male_to_Male_Extender_-_4mm_-_Chrome.html

 

Bitspower Aquapipe:

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11863/ex-tub-713/Bitspower_G_14_Silver_Shining_Aqua-Pipe_I_BP-WTP-C17.html

 

Kind regards,

 

Charlie