planning watercooling loop, need *some* pointers.

[MammothJerk]

so i've been wanting to do this for a few years now and now seems like as good a time as any to build a custom watercooling loop.

 

my current build:

 

 

4770K CPU

 

2x GTX 780 in SLI

 

Corsair AX860i PSU

 

G1.Sniper 5 MOBO

 

32GB of Dominator Platinum DDR3

 

All in a CM Storm Stryker case.

 

For now I plan to keep my hardware as is but maybe upgrade to 980 ti's in the future.

 

 

 

To start off the reservoir will fit here RED

then I have a rad in the front with 8 Noctua NF-F12 BLUE

I will put my pump in the bottom marked in GREEN

The tubing will follow the PINK path

The PURPLE lines a quick disconnects which I will talk more about in a bit

lastly the BROWN line is a Y fitting for filling the loop.

Might put a valve in the corner beneath the reservoir for draining, thoughts?

 

 

My plan is to have 2 480 radiators outside of the case for the majority of the cooling whilst the internal one will be used at LANs, however the single 480 might not be enough for overclocking with all of my components so I might just run with stock settings if the temps are too high. the quick disconnects are for that purpose.

 

For the reservoir I've looked at the EK-RES X3 250 which is a bit long so the rear 120mm fan will not fit, but that shouldn't pose any problems I don't think.

 

For the 3 480 radiators the EK-CoolStream RAD XTX (480) seems like a perfect choice.

 

The fans - of course - are Noctua NF-F12 in push/pull for the internal one and in pull on the external ones. I would also need 2 8-way PWM splitters, but because Frozencpu now is MIA I can't find any other place selling the ones from Swiftech, any other tips in that direction?

 

The CPU waterblock is the EK-Supremacy EVO - Green which I hope will look nice in my green themed build. The green in the waterblock is very subdued from the pictures I've seen so it shouldn't stand out too much.

 

 

Now for the fittings, the tubing, the pump and the GPU blocks I'm in a bit of a bind.

 

For the GPU blocks I've looked at a few different blocks but the compatibility has always been a bit confusing, my 780's are Gigabyte 3GB with the reference cooler and I was first looking at the KOMODO-NV-LE but I couldn't for the life of me find them anywhere and it seems Swiftech has stopped production. In the end after looking around all the reseller in my region I finally found a block that fit my tastes and it's the EK-FC780 GTX Ti Acetal+Nickel with a EK-FC Titan SE Backplate.

Now I have no idea if these actually fit the 780's I have, from what I understand the GTX Titan, 780 Ti reference and the 780 reference blocks all fit each other interchangeably. Is this correct and do these items fit my cards?

 

Since this loop has 3 480 thick rads, 2 GTX 780's and 1 CPU block with a lot of tubing will a normal pump be enough to push all that water around? Will I have to get one of the larger pumps to the left in this picture?

 

The tubing I've looked at and like a lot are UV Green tubing.

What I'm planning on doing is using This guide to sleeve the tubing which will give it a nice looking effect I hope.

I'm going to be using normal distilled water with a silver coil in it.

(I've heard that just a silver coil is enough to get rid of any potential bacterial buildup)

 

Fittings I've looked at and like are glossy black ones sort of like this

Any particular brands I should stay away from known to fail?

 

 

Now from what u can tell this is my first CUSTOM water cooling project so I'm still unfamiliar with tubing and fitting sizes from what I've read and seen it seems like the 10/13mm tubing and fittings are the way to go. Is this correct?

 

 

 

For now this is what I'm dealing with so any help at all would be much appreciated.

Link me guides to read, call out the obvious, and slap me with your wisdom stick.

 

Sorry for the long read <3

[airdeano]

have you seen this:

 

http://youtu.be/hGeBxpkDRco?list=PLA0D8CBA9E04C607A

 

two 360 will do anything you throw at it with rather well results. as seen TTL has

a 70° 1.45v overclock (static fan speed) and GPUs are mid 50's and all contained

within the chassis (no exterior rads needed).

 

one pump the Laing D5 is plenty to deal with 3 waterblocks.

 

not aware of a "gloss" black fitting, usually a satin or matte finish. there is a black

sparkle (tinted black chrome). 

 

10/13 (3/8" x 1/2") is very popular and readily available at most shops.

[MammothJerk]

have you seen this:

 

http://youtu.be/hGeBxpkDRco?list=PLA0D8CBA9E04C607A

 

two 360 will do anything you throw at it with rather well results. as seen TTL has

a 70° 1.45v overclock (static fan speed) and GPUs are mid 50's and all contained

within the chassis (no exterior rads needed).

 

one pump the Laing D5 is plenty to deal with 3 waterblocks.

 

not aware of a "gloss" black fitting, usually a satin or matte finish. there is a black

sparkle (tinted black chrome). 

 

10/13 (3/8" x 1/2") is very popular and readily available at most shops.

 

 

I know that a D5 is enough to deal with 3 blocks just fine but what I'm worried about are the 3 Radiators and the extra tubing from moving the radiators to about 1m away from the case.

 

 

Sorry i didn't really mean glossy that was my mistake, did a bit more browsing and found some that i quite like from Bitspower are they a good brand?

http://www.bitspower.com.tw/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=155_165&products_id=2828

http://www.bitspower.com.tw/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=155_165&products_id=555

http://www.bitspower.com.tw/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=155_165&products_id=3791

http://www.bitspower.com.tw/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=155_165&products_id=594

 

for below the reservoir in the corner of the case I'd like one of these but with the logo being a G1/4" opening for draining, any idea where i can find one of these?

 

 

I'm going for this PrimoChill LRT 10/13 Atomic UV Green tubing, Linus seem to recommend these and I've decided for the 3/8" x 1/2" dimensions good choice?

 

 

 

Also i've looked at some quick disconnects i've found some from koolance and some from bitspower, any reccomendations?

 

The 8way pwm splitter from swiftech i have not found another seller for so i've found the phobya-pwm-8x-4pin-splitter, is this a good choice?

[airdeano]

radiators of today have little reflection on the D5.

 

bitspower prolly is the premium fitting manufacturer/distro (barrow fitting is similar).

 

PC LRT tubing is great. 3/8"x 1/2" is common and fine.

 

not a fan of QDC fittings.

 

look to gelid also for the PWM powered splitter.

[MammothJerk]

radiators of today have little reflection on the D5.

 

bitspower prolly is the premium fitting manufacturer/distro (barrow fitting is similar).

 

PC LRT tubing is great. 3/8"x 1/2" is common and fine.

 

not a fan of QDC fittings.

 

look to gelid also for the PWM powered splitter.

As in it doesnt really matter?

 

i shall go with the bitspower fittings then =)

 

good tubing =)

 

how come youre not a fan of qdc fittings? in my case it would get really messy if i didn't use them?

 

i shall look for a gelid pwm splitter and see what i find.

 

 

Any comments on the VGA waterblocks? do they fit my cards and are they fine?

[airdeano]

As in it doesnt really matter?

Any comments on the VGA waterblocks? do they fit my cards and are they fine?

 

correct, the water pump is not affected with amount of radiators only the water blocks.

i do not use EK products. since they are reference cards, it'll come down to what you

find aesthetically pleasing.

[MammothJerk]

correct, the water pump is not affected with amount of radiators only the water blocks.

i do not use EK products. since they are reference cards, it'll come down to what you

find aesthetically pleasing.

Ah i see, what i am wondering on the waterblocks and backplates for my card is that i cannot find confirmation on wether they actually FIT my reference 780's.

 

to reitterate - the blocks are EK-FC780 GTX Ti Acetal+Nickel (for reference 780 Ti) and the backplates are EK-FC Titan SE Backplate

 

Do these fit my reference 780's?

[airdeano]

Ah i see, what i am wondering on the waterblocks and backplates for my card is that i cannot find confirmation on wether they actually FIT my reference 780's.

 

to reitterate - the blocks are EK-FC780 GTX Ti Acetal+Nickel (for reference 780 Ti) and the backplates are EK-FC Titan SE Backplate

 

Do these fit my reference 780's?

 

yes, those will fit.

[MammothJerk]

yes, those will fit.

you sir have answered all of my questions thank you very much for the help

 

i shall return when i need more advice =)