NZXT S340 Custom loop

[kzanadylan]

Hello everyone!

I would like to get some advice and tips to plan out my first custom loop inside my nzxt S340. 

My specs of the system are:

I7-6700k

16 GB CORSAIR DDR4 RAM

GIgabyte Geforce GTX 1070

ASUS MAXIMUS VIII HERO

currently using the LEPA EXLUSSIONS 240 AIO CPU COOLER.
I was thinking about a 240mm rad in the front and a 120mm in the rear, i have seen some builds with this configuration, 

So my questions are wich pump and res and what fittings do i need and where do i mount these? do i need to drill extra holes or are they mountable on the red bracket on the case.

For the components i was thinking about these:

Alphacool NexXos ST30 120mm Radiator

Alphacool Nexxxos ST30 240mm Radiator

EKWB EK-Supremacy EVO 

EKWB EK-FC1070 GTX - Nickel

I put some pictures of how the system looks right now

 

[W-L]

3 hours ago, kzanadylan said:

-SNIP-

Welcome to the Forums!

 

For that system I would recommend to go for a 280mm rad in the front if you want to try and maximize cooling performance as it's not the most watercooling friendly case. As for mounting the pump res unit if you want it to be on the red plate you will will to drill some mounting holes to bolt a res/pump combo unit onto if it that's what your after. In terms of fittings you will need two fittings per watercooling component and adapters depends on the design of the tubing runs.

[kzanadylan]

50 minutes ago, W-L said:

Welcome to the Forums!

 

For that system I would recommend to go for a 280mm rad in the front if you want to try and maximize cooling performance as it's not the most watercooling friendly case. As for mounting the pump res unit if you want it to be on the red plate you will will to drill some mounting holes to bolt a res/pump combo unit onto if it that's what your after. In terms of fittings you will need two fittings per watercooling component and adapters depends on the design of the tubing runs.

alright 280mm rad in the front it is, i want to go with a tube/pump combo which one can you reccomend? not too big, and wich fittings do i use on these PETG tubings https://www.alternate.be/EKWB/EK-HD-Tube-12-16mm-500mm-19-5-Waterkoeling/html/product/1276851?tk=7&lk=7712

Thanks already

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, kzanadylan said:

alright 280mm rad in the front it is, i want to go with a tube/pump combo which one can you reccomend? not too big, and wich fittings do i use on these PETG tubings https://www.alternate.be/EKWB/EK-HD-Tube-12-16mm-500mm-19-5-Waterkoeling/html/product/1276851?tk=7&lk=7712

Thanks already

I would recommend the D5 combo unit it's one of the best regarded pumps as for the fittings you will require hardline compression fittings of the same OD, just to mention though that is hardline acrylic and not PETG:

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-16mm-g1-4-black-4839

 

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-pwm-incl-pump

[kzanadylan]

Thanks alot for the help already! apprciate it and i meant the same tube diameter took the wrong hardware  definitly going for PETG tubing, should i put the drain switch on the res aswell? and what loop order do you think? i was thinking about Res-280mm-CPU-120mm-Gpu-Res

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

I would recommend the D5 combo unit it's one of the best regarded pumps as for the fittings you will require hardline compression fittings of the same OD, just to mention though that is hardline acrylic and not PETG:

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-16mm-g1-4-black-4839

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-pwm-incl-pumpds

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, kzanadylan said:

Thanks alot for the help already! apprciate it and i meant the same tube diameter took the wrong hardware  definitly going for PETG tubing, should i put the drain switch on the res aswell? and what loop order do you think? i was thinking about Res-280mm-CPU-120mm-Gpu-Res

Loop order doesn't really make a difference as the fluid moves around at a very quick pace only thing is to have the pump always below and right after the res but in this case it's a combo unit so nothing to worry about. As for a drain that would be a good idea on a hardline loop, usually having it placed in the lower point of the loop or res to drain the bulk of the fluid is a good choice. 

[kzanadylan]

8 minutes ago, W-L said:

Loop order doesn't really make a difference as the fluid moves around at a very quick pace only thing is to have the pump always below and right after the res but in this case it's a combo unit so nothing to worry about. As for a drain that would be a good idea on a hardline loop, usually having it placed in the lower point of the loop or res to drain the bulk of the fluid is a good choice. 

alright btw i got the maximus viii Hero motherboard the back 120mm radiator is gonna fit right?

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, kzanadylan said:

alright btw i got the maximus viii Hero motherboard the back 120mm radiator is gonna fit right?

Having it on the back shouldn't be an issue as I've see many 120mm AIO units mounted there. 

[THFourteen]

Are you buying a new radiator? I am doing a very similar build in this case, although it will take me a few months as I just don't have the time! Plus it's my first wc build so want to do it properly in terms of planning hard tubing etc.

 

Done quite a bit of research so far though, the mod zoo managed to fit a black ice 280 GTS in the front which is slim enough to use 25mm fans without removing the (red) cable cover bar in your case :

http://themodzoo.com/2014/11/nzxt-s340/4/

 

In terms of the 120mm rear radiator, i have ordered an alphacool 45mm thick 120mm radiator. I know its not the best brand of radiator, but its 124mm wide in total, and when i measure the back of the case, i don't think a 130mm wide radiator will fit and the side panel go on. Take a look and see what you think. Most of the decent radiators are 130mm wide.

 

I also think anything more than 45mm on the back plus a fan (=70mm) will obscure the CPU on my motherboard, meaning i cant put the watercooling tubes and fittings on

 

Interested to know how you proceed (so i can learn too!)

 

Oh also there is not that much space to mount the pump / res with a GPU in altho your 1070 is shorter than my 980ti

 

What are the rules on linking to other forums here? I found a forum for this case with 180 pages of people doing similar custom loops its really useful

[kzanadylan]

22 hours ago, THFourteen said:

Are you buying a new radiator? I am doing a very similar build in this case, although it will take me a few months as I just don't have the time! Plus it's my first wc build so want to do it properly in terms of planning hard tubing etc.

 

Done quite a bit of research so far though, the mod zoo managed to fit a black ice 280 GTS in the front which is slim enough to use 25mm fans without removing the (red) cable cover bar in your case :

http://themodzoo.com/2014/11/nzxt-s340/4/

 

In terms of the 120mm rear radiator, i have ordered an alphacool 45mm thick 120mm radiator. I know its not the best brand of radiator, but its 124mm wide in total, and when i measure the back of the case, i don't think a 130mm wide radiator will fit and the side panel go on. Take a look and see what you think. Most of the decent radiators are 130mm wide.

 

I also think anything more than 45mm on the back plus a fan (=70mm) will obscure the CPU on my motherboard, meaning i cant put the watercooling tubes and fittings on

 

Interested to know how you proceed (so i can learn too!)

 

Oh also there is not that much space to mount the pump / res with a GPU in altho your 1070 is shorter than my 980ti

 

What are the rules on linking to other forums here? I found a forum for this case with 180 pages of people doing similar custom loops its really useful

Hey mate i want to see you're progress aswell i'm gonna order all my stuff next week and i'm just making of list of what i need and letting the veterans check this place here if i get everything right, are u going to do hard tubing aswell? i saw some nice custom loops inside the nzxt s340 and i think they look great!

[kzanadylan]

On 26-7-2016 at 2:41 AM, W-L said:

Having it on the back shouldn't be an issue as I've see many 120mm AIO units mounted there. 

Hey man

i'm ordering everything next week can u quickly check if i have everything?

Pump+res https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-pwm-incl-pump

Radiators https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-120-slim-single

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-240-slim-dual

Cpu Block: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-supremacy-evo-nickel

Gpu Block https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1070-gtx-nickel

Gpu backplate https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1070-gtx-backplate-black

Fittings:

10x https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-12mm-g1-4-black-nickel

PETG TUBING

2x https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hd-petg-tube-10-12mm-500mm-2pcs

Did i miss someting? and what do you think?

 

[NoobCase]

1 hour ago, kzanadylan said:

Hey man

i'm ordering everything next week can u quickly check if i have everything?

Pump+res https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-pwm-incl-pump

Radiators https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-120-slim-single

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-240-slim-dual

Cpu Block: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-supremacy-evo-nickel

Gpu Block https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1070-gtx-nickel

Gpu backplate https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1070-gtx-backplate-black

Fittings:

10x https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-12mm-g1-4-black-nickel

PETG TUBING

2x https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hd-petg-tube-10-12mm-500mm-2pcs

Did i miss someting? and what do you think?

 

When looking at your list im almost certain you did not plan for a drain port in the loop? 

[kzanadylan]

31 minutes ago, NoobCase said:

When looking at your list im almost certain you did not plan for a drain port in the loop? 

A friend of mine gave one so i don't need to buy one !

and follow this topic i'm gonna post some pics of the progress

[kzanadylan]

38 minutes ago, NoobCase said:

When looking at your list im almost certain you did not plan for a drain port in the loop? 

Besides from the drain Port, is all the hardware compatibele? And what do you think?

[NoobCase]

19 minutes ago, kzanadylan said:

Besides from the drain Port, is all the hardware compatibele? And what do you think?

Yer it will all fit together.  Maybe get an extra pack of tubing...  You will mess up bends

 

Some times having a few 90 rotary  fittings at hand makes it easier to do the loop as some bends can become to tight to do with bends. 

 

And you need 2 fittings per wc component making your total 12 not 10

 

Edit: sorry..  Counted your back plate by mistakes.  10 is all you need. 

[kzanadylan]

15 minutes ago, NoobCase said:

Yer it will all fit together.  Maybe get an extra pack of tubing...  You will mess up bends

 

Some times having a few 90 rotary  fittings at hand makes it easier to do the loop as some bends can become to tight to do with bends. 

 

And you need 2 fittings per wc component making your total 12 not 10

 

Edit: sorry..  Counted your back plate by mistakes.  10 is all you need. 

Will do and thanks alot, Keep an eye in the topic Will post updates along the way?

[W-L]

4 hours ago, kzanadylan said:

-SNIP-

Yeah all of that looks good one thing to note what fluid are you planning on using. 

[kzanadylan]

9 hours ago, W-L said:

Yeah all of that looks good one thing to note what fluid are you planning on using. 

Thinking about ekwb evo Blood Red or mayhems pastel Red , what do you recomend?

[W-L]

1 hour ago, kzanadylan said:

Thinking about ekwb evo Blood Red or mayhems pastel Red , what do you recomend?

If your going with PETG go with mayhems X1 or the Pastel series over the EVO as both of those aren't ethylene glycol based which isn't best recommended for PETG. 

[kzanadylan]

Just now, W-L said:

If your going with PETG go with mayhems X1 or the Pastel series over the EVO as both of those aren't ethylene glycol based which isn't best recommended for PETG. 

Alright thanks alot for all the Help i Will Keep u all posted gonna order everything next week! Exited ?

[kzanadylan]

9 hours ago, W-L said:

If your going with PETG go with mayhems X1 or the Pastel series over the EVO as both of those aren't ethylene glycol based which isn't best recommended for PETG. 

Watching some reviews of the pump and reservoir and i saw that it has 1 out and 2 inlets can i use one for my drain?

 

 

Alright thanks alot for all the Help i Will Keep u all posted gonna order everything next week! Exited ?

[THFourteen]

On ‎27‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 6:43 PM, kzanadylan said:

Hey mate i want to see you're progress aswell i'm gonna order all my stuff next week and i'm just making of list of what i need and letting the veterans check this place here if i get everything right, are u going to do hard tubing aswell? i saw some nice custom loops inside the nzxt s340 and i think they look great!

 

So i did a test fit of the radiators yesterday, looks like we have enough room! Couple of things, the fan on the top of the case will prevent any routing of hard pipes across the top i think, hence i might have to mount the rear radiator with the fittings at the bottom.

 

Also the width of the alphacool (124) is pretty much the max width 120mm radiator i think will fit in the case without cutting.

 

My 980TI is 280cm long which only leaves 5cm between the radiator and graphics card. I think i might have to do something like reservoir at the top of the cable bar, and then a tube running past the graphics card to a pump on the bottom of the case. Otherwise i'm looking at a small (<18cm) pump/res combo above the graphics card, and the bottom of the case will have no tubing in it, and look a bit empty.

 

Colours wise, i'm now thinking at the front, paint the fans white, the radiator red so i get white red white using the cable bar.

At the back i'll paint the pcie slot covers red, and swap the radiator and fan round so it will be white case, red radiator, white fan. It is a shame the inside of the case is black but hell i don't have time to take it apart and paint it (and probably not the skills either!)

[kzanadylan]

9 hours ago, THFourteen said:

 

So i did a test fit of the radiators yesterday, looks like we have enough room! Couple of things, the fan on the top of the case will prevent any routing of hard pipes across the top i think, hence i might have to mount the rear radiator with the fittings at the bottom.

 

Also the width of the alphacool (124) is pretty much the max width 120mm radiator i think will fit in the case without cutting.

 

My 980TI is 280cm long which only leaves 5cm between the radiator and graphics card. I think i might have to do something like reservoir at the top of the cable bar, and then a tube running past the graphics card to a pump on the bottom of the case. Otherwise i'm looking at a small (<18cm) pump/res combo above the graphics card, and the bottom of the case will have no tubing in it, and look a bit empty.

 

Colours wise, i'm now thinking at the front, paint the fans white, the radiator red so i get white red white using the cable bar.

At the back i'll paint the pcie slot covers red, and swap the radiator and fan round so it will be white case, red radiator, white fan. It is a shame the inside of the case is black but hell i don't have time to take it apart and paint it (and probably not the skills either!)

hey men looks good, how thick is that front rad? the one i am getting from ek is 25mm thick,

what motherboard an cpu is that if i may ask?

i hope i get my stuff from ek next week i'l keep u posted!

[THFourteen]

16 minutes ago, kzanadylan said:

hey men looks good, how thick is that front rad? the one i am getting from ek is 25mm thick,

what motherboard an cpu is that if i may ask?

i hope i get my stuff from ek next week i'l keep u posted!

The front rad is 29.6mm so you should be absolutely fine.

 

I am 1 generation behind you, motherboard is MSI Z97 Gaming 5, and the CPU is Pentium Anniversary G3258 (just for testing!).

 

Don't worry I am swapping it out for an i7 4790k, but I got that CPU in my current main PC as i need it for games and work, and i think this project will take me a long time, especially as i can't afford to order the fittings, pump, res and tubing until after i get paid in 3 weeks :-)

[kzanadylan]

24 minutes ago, THFourteen said:

The front rad is 29.6mm so you should be absolutely fine.

 

I am 1 generation behind you, motherboard is MSI Z97 Gaming 5, and the CPU is Pentium Anniversary G3258 (just for testing!).

 

Don't worry I am swapping it out for an i7 4790k, but I got that CPU in my current main PC as i need it for games and work, and i think this project will take me a long time, especially as i can't afford to order the fittings, pump, res and tubing until after i get paid in 3 weeks :-)

Ah good to know

 i'm waiting for my paycheck next week aswell to order all the parts i'm so exited to build this loop.

btw there is a smaller version of the res i am going to use wich is 15cm tall 150ml but why not go as the same one i'm gonna use it's 19cm tall? and i think it looks better with a bigger reservoir 

saw u on the nzxt s340 club on overlock.net some sick custom loop builds there