Hard tubing vs soft tubing vs hard and soft

[N99024]

So, I need some help deciding what i want to do for water cooling my planned PC, however it is becoming harder than i thought. So the question im posing to this forum is what should i do for routing the tubes in the Phanteks Enthoo primo when it comes to the loop? I you dont know what the case looks like, i recommending pulling up some images to get an idea. or even watch Linus's review of it:

 

I've created a AutoCADD visual to help paint a picture of what it will somewhat end up looking with the components installed like. Water cooling layout Layout.pdf the X's on the drawing represent enter/leave points for the fluid in the blocks and radiators 

 

Now, if you know what the case features, there is a spot for the pump near the power supply however the mounting points for the reservoir are limited depending on how long your GPU's are. which in my case it happens to be that they are too long, so im left with mounting the reservoir in the rear of the case. however the perk to mounting the pump near the power supply is the fact there is a grommet near the top allowing for a tube to enter on top. however the tube that needs to return from the pump is more tricky. So im coming to the forum in hopes of collaborating with some people to find out whether or not to go with hard tubing, and have either connectors that do the bends that only need me to perform cutting, or just go to soft tubing. However my view on soft tubing may be skewed a bit(unless this is a common issue), as im seeing quite a few videos where soft tubing has turned a disgusting color because of whatever was running in the loop. I dont know if the same issue occurs with every clear soft tubing or if its just dependent on what was running in the loop. But I would prefer to try and get as clean as a loop as possible without getting discoloration in the tubes im running. the fluid is excusable because im going to be honest, there is no way(that i know of) to keep a loop the same color without changing it every few months.

 

Summing up mostly what I need help working out:

-How should i Route the tubing in my system and would the Pump be fine if the Reservoir is in the back instead of on the mount?

-Should i use soft tubing or hard tubing?

and a few other minor things:

-What pump should i use for a 3 GPU block, 1 CPU and 2 480 rad loop?

 

Price should be reasonable, hopefully less than $1,200. The blocks, rad, and res will all cost roughly ~$800

 

If you have some questions of your own. feel free to ask. other than that all help is appreciated.

 

[pagani123]

if its your first custom loop i would say go with soft tubing. or if you really want hard tubing you might want to go with a mix a bit of soft tubing for the complex bends but hard tubing for the rest of the system.

[RedWulf]

Hard tubes need more planning or skill but i think it looks much better. If the pump can pump and the tubes fit the reservoir could be in another room. I'll leave the recommendations to someone more accustomed 

[W-L]

16 minutes ago, N99024 said:

-SNIP-

Hard tubing doesn't really degrade like soft tube but as mentioned it takes more time to get things right with hardline and I would say it's doable as a first time loop as long as your fairly handy and know your way around tools. 

As for the res you could mount it onto the right hand side of the motherboard tray by making a plate or with an adapter to the front intake fan or mount.

[N99024]

Just now, W-L said:

As for the res you could mount it onto the right hand side of the motherboard tray by making a plate or with an adapter to the front intake fan or mount.

it is originally an option in the case, but the way the designed it was not really meant for 3 dual slot GPU's, however cutting off only some of the mounting bracket may allow the cards to still fit and have the reservoir on the mounting plate.

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, N99024 said:

it is originally an option in the case, but the way the designed it was not really meant for 3 dual slot GPU's, however cutting off only some of the mounting bracket may allow the cards to still fit and have the reservoir on the mounting plate.

The case can house triple GPU's if you need them for compute power fairly comfortable but what I meant by the pump plate was to make one to hold the res in the front section, not the premade slots that are beside the GPU but those can be used also if you want to see the res. 

[N99024]

So if i understand correctly, the way the res would be placed is in the front of the case. however I'm not 100% sure if the 480 rad in the bottom that is 60mm thick in push/pull will have space to allow it in there. the reason im saying this is because I've never really seen a 480 in the bottom and gotten a view of what the front looks like through the back.

[W-L]

9 minutes ago, N99024 said:

So if i understand correctly, the way the res would be placed is in the front of the case. however I'm not 100% sure if the 480 rad in the bottom that is 60mm thick in push/pull will have space to allow it in there. the reason im saying this is because I've never really seen a 480 in the bottom and gotten a view of what the front looks like through the back.

Yeah I was thinking of putting it near the front as that would be where you would have the most space, also that case does have a built in plate/cover for the right hand side which you can mount your res on.

 

This is just a special edition with the green interior but it shows that plate quite clearly: