Water Cooling Newb in Need of Advice

StrifeWolfe · January 24, 2015

So I'm relatively new to water cooling. My only knowledge of the subject is limited to my H100i, which I outright hate. Was it good when I got it about a year or two ago, yes. It has since been a pain. The stock fans were junked immediately because of coil whine, Corsair Link is just plain stupid and under-supported, it now sounds like there's air in the supposedly closed loop, and the idle temps are about 35C at stock clock with a 4790k and 45C idle at 4.6GHz @ 1.3V.

But that's besides the point, long story short, I want to get rid of it for something that performs better.

Long story, not so short. I recently emailed a guy over at FrozenCPU because I ordered my two NB Eloop fans and from there. I told him what I'm looking for, what my restraints are, and he sent me over a list of suggested parts. Now I want someone(s) else to weigh in on this.

My completed build can be seen here: http://pcpartpicker.com/b/zw6XsY

And here's the list of suggested parts for my setup:

Rad: XSPC AX240 Dual 120mm Radiator w/ Aluminum Enclosure - White

Res/Pump: EK DDC X-RES Top 100 w/ 3.2 PWM Pump (EK-XRES 100 DDC 3.2 PWM (incl. pump))

Tubing: PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT Tubing 3/8"ID x 5/8" OD - 10ft Retail Pack - Bloodshed Red (PFLEXA10-58-R) w/ Free Sys Prep

Fittings: Bitspower G1/4 Thread 3/8" ID x 5/8" OD Compression Fitting - Carbon Black (BP-CBCPF-CC3)

CPU WB: Swiftech Apogee XL Extreme Performance Universal CPU Waterblock - Acetal (Intel / AMD)

Water: Alphacool Ultra Pure Water - 1000mL

I'd also need a fan controller to run the pump, and rad fans from one PWM header. Because right now, I have the H100i connected to the CPU header and both E-Loops connected to the controller built into the block. I don't know if I should get rid of the rear exhaust fan and put a Y splitter in its place, or if I should run something like the NZXT Grid+ and connect all my fans to it. Keep in mind, this is a Mini-ITX Bitfenix Prodigy, so space is limited. I plan on completely disassembling it to do this upgrade, so I'll be able to do some better cable management when reassemabling, but space is limited. I don't want to add another radiator to the front. I don't want to take out the bottom drive cage because it keeps both the SSD and HDD secure. I don't want any fluids with dies or such because I don't want to have to worry about stuff like algae and the like. And the reason I chose the white rad is to tie it together with the rest of the build.

I'm asking for advice because this would be my first foray into custom loop liquid cooling and it's on my personal machine that I use daily. So I don't want to end up with a brick, and I don't want to go wild with it. It's either I do this, or I just get a new AIO like the CM Glacer 240L.

soaringchicken · January 24, 2015

Have a look at some of JaysTwoCents' guides and this post: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1755-water-cooling-101-a-good-place-for-newbies-to-start/

Spev · January 24, 2015

So I'm relatively new to water cooling. My only knowledge of the subject is limited to my H100i, which I outright hate. Was it good when I got it about a year or two ago, yes. It has since been a pain. The stock fans were junked immediately because of coil whine, Corsair Link is just plain stupid and under-supported, it now sounds like there's air in the supposedly closed loop, and the idle temps are about 35C at stock clock with a 4790k and 45C idle at 4.6GHz @ 1.3V.

But that's besides the point, long story short, I want to get rid of it for something that performs better.

Long story, not so short. I recently emailed a guy over at FrozenCPU because I ordered my two NB Eloop fans and from there. I told him what I'm looking for, what my restraints are, and he sent me over a list of suggested parts. Now I want someone(s) else to weigh in on this.

My completed build can be seen here: http://pcpartpicker.com/b/zw6XsY

And here's the list of suggested parts for my setup:

Rad: XSPC AX240 Dual 120mm Radiator w/ Aluminum Enclosure - White

Res/Pump: EK DDC X-RES Top 100 w/ 3.2 PWM Pump (EK-XRES 100 DDC 3.2 PWM (incl. pump))

Tubing: PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT Tubing 3/8"ID x 5/8" OD - 10ft Retail Pack - Bloodshed Red (PFLEXA10-58-R) w/ Free Sys Prep

Fittings: Bitspower G1/4 Thread 3/8" ID x 5/8" OD Compression Fitting - Carbon Black (BP-CBCPF-CC3)

CPU WB: Swiftech Apogee XL Extreme Performance Universal CPU Waterblock - Acetal (Intel / AMD)

Water: Alphacool Ultra Pure Water - 1000mL

I'd also need a fan controller to run the pump, and rad fans from one PWM header. Because right now, I have the H100i connected to the CPU header and both E-Loops connected to the controller built into the block. I don't know if I should get rid of the rear exhaust fan and put a Y splitter in its place, or if I should run something like the NZXT Grid+ and connect all my fans to it. Keep in mind, this is a Mini-ITX Bitfenix Prodigy, so space is limited. I plan on completely disassembling it to do this upgrade, so I'll be able to do some better cable management when reassemabling, but space is limited. I don't want to add another radiator to the front. I don't want to take out the bottom drive cage because it keeps both the SSD and HDD secure. I don't want any fluids with dies or such because I don't want to have to worry about stuff like algae and the like. And the reason I chose the white rad is to tie it together with the rest of the build.

I'm asking for advice because this would be my first foray into custom loop liquid cooling and it's on my personal machine that I use daily. So I don't want to end up with a brick, and I don't want to go wild with it. It's either I do this, or I just get a new AIO like the CM Glacer 240L.

Your build seems fine. I also used the same tubing/fittings. Bitspower makes great fittings, and from the research I did PrimoChill Advance LRT seems to be the best tubing around. I also went 3/8ID 5/8OD. The Swiftech block is supposed to be one of the best. I understand your pain with the Corsair AIO. I wanted to go water cooling with my newest build really bad, and did research for months before hand. I discovered so many people having issues with AIOs...mostly Corsair. I decided to go custom loop as I had one in my last PC, but this time I went with CPU and graphics card cooling. Well anyways it looks like you have good parts there, doesn't seem like you have cheeped out on any parts either. Seems like you should have a good build.

StrifeWolfe · January 24, 2015

Have a look at some of JaysTwoCents' guides and this post: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1755-water-cooling-101-a-good-place-for-newbies-to-start/

Your build seems fine. I also used the same tubing/fittings. Bitspower makes great fittings, and from the research I did PrimoChill Advance LRT seems to be the best tubing around. I also went 3/8ID 5/8OD. The Swiftech block is supposed to be one of the best. I understand your pain with the Corsair AIO. I wanted to go water cooling with my newest build really bad, and did research for months before hand. I discovered so many people having issues with AIOs...mostly Corsair. I decided to go custom loop as I had one in my last PC, but this time I went with CPU and graphics card cooling. Well anyways it looks like you have good parts there, doesn't seem like you have cheeped out on any parts either. Seems like you should have a good build.

Thank you both for the quick responses and useful advice. I am currently reading the thread that @soaringchicken linked.

I didn't want to cheap out with components because I expect this to last me a while. I don't have unlimited funds, so building a new gaming rig every year or two hasn't been a very good economical choice. And I have other projects that I want to work on. The only thing I have to worry about now, is how I will route the tubing. I'm already set in terms of res above the pump, it's just a matter of how that's going to go from the top of the 2 bay drive cage, to CPU and then up to rad and back down to res. Also, should I use just the Primochill Bomb bottle, or should I add a kill coil as well. The aforementioned thread doesn't specify if one or the other, or both should be used. I'll be reading up a little bit more, but I'm going to start sketching out the loop and seeing how I want to do this.