Noob Question - Am I missing anything?

[VenomSnake]

Hello there, 

Tldr version: Need suggestions on CPU block, manifold, radiator and reservoir for following components. Also need to know if I missed anything important. 
 

Long version: 

 

I am building my first water cooled PC with a custom loop. I have built many PCs here and there for family and friends before but never ventured into the world of liquid cooling. I have gone over the FAQ already and wanted to know if my list is missing anything important. 

 

This is definitely going to be an overkill machine for my standards but I have decided to take the plunge at this point. All things considered, I care most about the aesthetics of the PC, and then the performance and then the noise level. I do want to run games in 4K and also run occasional video compression and encoding. I have never experimented with overclocking before; may be I will give it a try with this one. My budget is flexible. This is what I have so far:

 

Intel Boxed Core I7-6700K 4.00 GHz 8M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700K

 

ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII GENE LGA1151 DDR4 M.2 SATA 6Gb/s USB3.1 Type A Type C Intel Z170 mATX Motherboard

 

 

Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB DDR4 DRAM C13 Memory Kit, CMK64GX4M4A213​3C13R

 

 

I am debating whether to go with 32 or 64GB; I usually get an itch if something is under utilized.

 

EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti HYDRO COPPER GAMING (X 2)

 

One might be enough for my needs, but with 2 I don't have to worry about upgrading in the near future. 

 

 

Corsair RM Series 1000 Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Gold-Certified Power Supply - CP-9020062-NA RM1000

 

Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case CC-9011030-WW - Black

 

I have bought the case already at a discount price so I am pretty much stuck with it. I do like the boxy look of it though. 

 

I also have 2 4TB Seagate SHDDs (will run in RAID 1) and will get 3-4 Samsung pro SSDs (not sure about the capacity yet - this is for dual/triple booting).

Now the water cooling components:

If I understood FAQ correctly, a system like this would need at least 3X240mm of Rad space (when counting CPU + 2 GPUs whose accumulative TDP comes to just under 600W). 

​I wasn't sure where to start on Radiators, so a quick Google search yielded a review site that compared relevant radiators of 2015. Their overall best contender was EK’s XE 360 in thick category (60mm) and Hardware Labs Nemesis GTS in slim category (21.2 mm).  If I decide to mount the reservoir in the drive bay slot then I can probably get away with 2 thick 360 mm radiators in the front; If I mount it with rest of the components then I will have to go with the slim one. Feel free to make suggestions here. I don't even know if I need a thick radiator or if an average or slim size will be sufficient. 

 

I have had my eyes on the Liquid Fusion X4 Quad Spiral Reservoir for a while but I was always afraid that my case may not have room for it; so I was delighted to find Liquid Fusion Dual Bay Reservoir, which sits in the dual bay drive. 

 

If I use the dual bay drive reservoir this leaves me more room for thicker radiators. The question is, do I need thicker radiators for my setup? I prefer the quad spiral but I will settle for dual bay reservoir without any complaints. 

I will be using six of these fans in pull configuration: 

 

Thermaltake Riing 12 Series High Static Pressure 120mm Circular LED Ring Case/Radiator Fan with Anti-Vibration Mounting System Cooling CL-F038-PL12RE​-A Red

The pump I picked is Performance-PCs Über 655 Fully Modded (D5) 12 VDC Water Pump - Red. Most forums say make sure it's a D5 pump and nothing else matters. 

I want to have a red/black theme on there and will add UV reactive red liquid to hard acrylic tubes. The loop will probably go like this: Reservoir > Pump > CPU block > GPU 1 block > GPU 2 block > Rad 1 > Rad 2 > Reservoir. I will be using the Primochill 1/2" hard acrylic tubes that are available from Amazon. 

I haven't yet decided what fixings I will need. The FAQ page also recommended getting a manifold to drain acrylic tubes but I couldn't find much info on it anywhere else. I also haven't looked at which CPU blocks are available right now - I would prefer one with a red LED. There are many other areas where I want to modify things in but I can discuss them later. Sorry about the long post but I am pretty detail oriented   .

[Guest]

Corsair RM Series 1000 Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Gold-Certified Power Supply - CP-9020062-NA RM1000

 

Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case CC-9011030-WW - Black

 

 

I am not teh water cooling dude so I won't say anything about that but you should get a better PSU. 

[airdeano]

welcome to the Linus Tech Tips forums!

 

for a CPU/2xGPU i recommend a 360 and 240 radiators. this will keep the needed

fan speed down and temperatures down as well to promote low noise usage.

 

usually for no overclocking (voltage changes) a 280x60mm radiator can handle it

all, but once you start to mess with voltages, all bets are off. a 240 for a CPU for

voltage overclocking and a 120 per device afterwards (again with voltage mods).

 

any radiator with a low fin-per-inch (FPI 5-15) you can get away with low fan speeds

while obtaining a comfortable temperature. usually 70°CPU/55°GPUs. but all

depends on overclocking abilities.

 

problem in the 540 case is that there are limitations due to size/location of devices.

most use a 360x30 in the front with a single fan set and a 240x30 in the roof with

a single fan set. most are pretty happy on those terms. i prefer 60mm thick rads

from this build (not mine - FX/2x7970 heater):

[VenomSnake]

Thanks airdeano for the suggestions. So you think a thick 360 mm (front) + 240 mm (top) is enough to dissipate the heat for this build? I was leaning more towards using the same 360 mm radiator for both the top and the front, but now that I think about it, it might make the routing of  tubes a nightmare. 

 

CaptainGunny, why is that PSU not good enough? Do you have any recommendations?

[airdeano]

it'd be plenty. the advent of the cooler GPUs, it'll be fine.

[VenomSnake]

I took some measurements last night and realized a 60 mm rad with a fan won't fit in the front without blocking the cut out holes. I am now thinking of placing a 240 X 60 mm on top and a 360 X 30 mm in the front. The build in that picture doesn't have any fans in the front from what I can tell so it looks likes like a snug fit. I will be blocking the cut out holes on the top with a thick rad but the front cutouts should be sufficient for both the tube and the cable routing.