Custom water loop parts aid.

[Inception9269]

I don't know if I am going to do a custom water loop, but I've been heavily debating it lately.

 

It probably isn't essential since all I do is just game, but I think it would be a fun project to work on.

 

I have an idea of the installation process, for setting most of the stuff up.

 

One thing I'm not too sure on is the parts. I know I need a pump, reservoir, radiator(s), distilled water. One thing I'm not entirely sure on are the fittings and whether or not to do hard line or soft line. I kind of want to try a hard line cooling, I don't remember which youtuber it was, I think it might have been Jayztwocents, but one of them said it actually isn't too hard to do a hard line setup, saying that the hard line tubing is cheaper than buying softline tubing, and it was easy to get the hang of.

 

The things I'd cool would be the cpu and a single gpu. I made a list of all my components (These parts are in the build I already have, so I own them all)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 7 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($202.85 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card  ($499.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Arc XL ATX Full Tower Case  ($114.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter   
Total: $1586.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-20 23:31 EDT-0400

 

One thing I'm not entirely sure on is Gigabyte's policy on removing the cooler, I'll check it, and honestly even if it isn't allowed I might just do it anyway.

 

As for preference on the custom loop parts, I'd prefer a reservoir+pump AIO, the tubing dark red. When it comes to distilled water I'd get pre-made red dyed and not dying it myself. I also heard there's chemicals you need to add to the loop to prevent shit growing inside the loop, and was wondering what chemicals those were?

 

Also as for the planned radiator setup, I was thinking about doing a triple radiator setup at the top of my case and a single radiator to the left of the cpu area.

[Enderman]

if this is your first watercooling build dont do hard tubing

 

buy a preset watercooling kit from EKWB, XSPC, or alphacool

then build it

[Fgtfv567]

if this is your first watercooling build dont do hard tubing

 

buy a preset watercooling kit from EKWB, XSPC, or alphacool

then build it

I agree, if this is your first time custom watercooling, definitely do soft tubing or maybe AIO if you don't want to do the work. Bending metal for WCing takes EXTREME PLANNING AND EXPERIENCE

I also think you should get a kit, as planning the parts for a loop is worse than putting a build together for a general computer, hell even Jayztwocents admitted that after a decade of custom WCing, sometimes he forgets a part or gets something incompatible

[Inception9269]

I agree, if this is your first time custom watercooling, definitely do soft tubing or maybe AIO if you don't want to do the work. Bending metal for WCing takes EXTREME PLANNING AND EXPERIENCE

I also think you should get a kit, as planning the parts for a loop is worse than putting a build together for a general computer, hell even Jayztwocents admitted that after a decade of custom WCing, sometimes he forgets a part or gets something incompatible

 

Soft tubbing probably is the better choice. Although not sure if it was metal tubing he was using, looked more like hard plastic to me.

 

Do you have any links for kits? looking on alphacools website and don't really see where that would be

[Inception9269]

if this is your first watercooling build dont do hard tubing

 

buy a preset watercooling kit from EKWB, XSPC, or alphacool

then build it

 

 

I agree, if this is your first time custom watercooling, definitely do soft tubing or maybe AIO if you don't want to do the work. Bending metal for WCing takes EXTREME PLANNING AND EXPERIENCE

I also think you should get a kit, as planning the parts for a loop is worse than putting a build together for a general computer, hell even Jayztwocents admitted that after a decade of custom WCing, sometimes he forgets a part or gets something incompatible

 

One thing I was hoping to get answers on is when it comes to my gpu, would a waterblock fit it? cause i found a section on alphacooling that only shows the stock nvidia cooler

[Fgtfv567]

One thing I was hoping to get answers on is when it comes to my gpu, would a waterblock fit it? cause i found a section on alphacooling that only shows the stock nvidia cooler

http://www.xs-pc.com/watercooling-kits/

You'll have to find your own water block for the GPU (and 2 extra fittings!)

If you're going to take off the Windforce cooler for WCing, why not just buy a water block made for the reference card? (Price? Power compatibility?)

[Inception9269]

http://www.xs-pc.com/watercooling-kits/

You'll have to find your own water block for the GPU (and 2 extra fittings!)

If you're going to take off the Windforce cooler for WCing, why not just buy a water block made for the reference card? (Price? Power compatibility?)

 

Like i said I'm new to custom loops and wasn't sure if it would work on a non-reference card, sounds like a stupid question, but I just want to make sure I got all my facts straight.

[Enderman]

One thing I was hoping to get answers on is when it comes to my gpu, would a waterblock fit it? cause i found a section on alphacooling that only shows the stock nvidia cooler

the kits dont come with a GPU block

every GPU model from each brand is different so you need to find and buy the right one yourself + 2 extra fittings

the kit comes with the rest

[Inception9269]

I was hoping someone could help me with a soft tubing part list. I am sure I could do the build, I'm just not sure entirely on what all parts. I would greatly appreciate if someone could do that.

 

I was looking at rads and pumps/reservoirs on alphacool's site, and these are the two radiators I'd probably prefer,

http://www.alphacool.com/product_info.php/info/p971_Alphacool-NexXxoS-ST30-Full-Copper-120mm.html

http://www.alphacool.com/product_info.php/info/p979_Alphacool-NexXxoS-ST30-Full-Copper-360mm.html

 

As for the pump/reservoir I was thinking about the one this guy has in this video, but not sure the name of it

https://youtu.be/xDI49FXXMhk?t=7m55s