Custom Water Loop?

[Elegy]

Hello, I was wondering about how much I would need to spend on a custom water loop and also the components needed for the build. If you want, you can also recommend a case for it too. I am going to be getting a 6700k. Would this be worth it? If not, please recommend another cooling option. One last question, would one of the swiftech cpu coolers be better than a custom loop? because then I can upgrade in the future. Thanks

[Moonzy]

5 minutes ago, Elegy said:

Hello, I was wondering about how much I would need to spend on a custom water loop and also the components needed for the build. If you want, you can also recommend a case for it too. I am going to be getting a 6700k. Would this be worth it? If not, please recommend another cooling option. Thanks

custom water cooling parts can cost as much as a budget pc, are you sure you wanna invest in it?

the benefits are great but only if you take advantage of it

but the list of disadvantage is almost just as long too lol

[MadyTehWolfie]

If your in the USA I have some water cooling gear I need to get rid of I can let go for cheap.

[DevilishBooster]

Watch this video and direct your research from there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR9jEczwCZ4&index=20&list=PLOXo4ndvQK79EAJvffFo9bpTkqsJx2QKg

Speaking from experience: asking someone to basically pick everything out for you does you no real favors because then you still don't have the basic knowledge. Do your research, think about what you want and compare the cost of that to your budget.

Your basic WC loop: Reservoir, pump, waterblock, radiator, tubing and fittings, water. You can upgrade/go advanced from there, but I would recommend starting simple and then upgrade once you are more comfortable.

If you have additional questions after the video, feel free to ask here or in a PM and I can help explain/clarify, or direct towards your purchasing decisions. Some good websites to start with (assuming you are in the USA) are AquaTuning and PerformancePC's, and then you can look at EKWB's website. Avoid FrozenCPU like the plague.

[Elegy]

1 minute ago, MadyTehWolfie said:

If your in the USA I have some water cooling gear I need to get rid of I can let go for cheap.

 

[Elegy]

1 minute ago, DevilishBooster said:

Watch this video and direct your research from there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR9jEczwCZ4&index=20&list=PLOXo4ndvQK79EAJvffFo9bpTkqsJx2QKg

Speaking from experience: asking someone to basically pick everything out for you does you no real favors because then you still don't have the basic knowledge. Do your research, think about what you want and compare the cost of that to your budget.

Your basic WC loop: Reservoir, pump, waterblock, radiator, tubing and fittings, water. You can upgrade/go advanced from there, but I would recommend starting simple and then upgrade once you are more comfortable.

If you have additional questions after the video, feel free to ask here or in a PM and I can help explain/clarify, or direct towards your purchasing decisions. Some good websites to start with (assuming you are in the USA) are AquaTuning and PerformancePC's, and then you can look at EKWB's website. Avoid FrozenCPU like the plague.

Would one of the swiftech cpu coolers be good for a start? I've seen people build off of them.

[l_zheng101]

I'm personally interested in custom liquid cooling because I'm a very DIY sort of person. For a 6700k, the only benefits custom water cooling provide besides looking sick, is more overclocking headroom. Cost can vary depending on how complex you want your loop to be and how many blocks you want to use. For the most basic loop, it would cost around 250 to 350 dollars. The best case for a custom water cooling loops would be the Fractal Define R5 because the entire inside of the case is open with options the leave all the hard drives in the back leaving you the most room for your loop. If that's not big enough for you, you can go all out and get a Corsair 900D. If you're worried about which parts to get, EK sells custom water cooling kits that come with everything you need to get started. They start at around 224 dollars. 

[DevilishBooster]

Just now, Elegy said:

Would one of the swiftech cpu coolers be good for a start? I've seen people build off of them.

If you mean the All-In-One coolers (AIO), yes that can be a good starting point. It will allow you to watercool your CPU while taking more time to learn how watercooling works. I am just now working on my first custom watercooling loop and I started researching watercooling years ago while I was still in school. I had heard about it and thought it was really cool, but I knew as little about it as I did about computer systems so I just began to spend every spare minute reading and researching about building computer and watercooling loops. My first one was a Cooler Master Seidon 120M AIO, and I now have a Corsair H100i GTX. After doing some reseach, another option you can look at is the "custom loop in a box" that EKWB offers. I haven't personally looked at them, but I have heard good things.

[Enderman]

liquid cooling is mostly for looks, or if you already have the best parts in the world and still want more performance

the performance gain from custom loops is far from worth the money

its just fun to diy something like that

 

i would suggest you buy an AIO instead, like a H110iGTX or kraken X61 if you dont have $600 to drop on a custom loop

[Elegy]

33 minutes ago, Enderman said:

liquid cooling is mostly for looks, or if you already have the best parts in the world and still want more performance

the performance gain from custom loops is far from worth the money

its just fun to diy something like that

 

i would suggest you buy an AIO instead, like a H110iGTX or kraken X61 if you dont have $600 to drop on a custom loop

what would perform better, one of the noctua coolers or an aio?

[Enderman]

1 hour ago, Elegy said:

what would perform better, one of the noctua coolers or an aio?

one of those two AiOs i mentioned

[Jidonsu]

I wouldn't argue that my custom water loop is somehow exponentially more powerful than it was on air. It is quieter, especially the video card, and the internal components are cooler. It looks way nicer, but it also requires more maintenance and is far more expensive. I would still do it again and probably spend even more the second time around though. I have no second thoughts. 

 

Worth is a relative thing. You have to decide what you want out of it. I had fun building it, and I enjoy tinkering, but I wouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that it's much better than air cooling in terms of performance. It's definitely not if you do consider performance per dollar.