a240 EKWB A240 with a custom water cooled GPU

[Nigh74ury]

Hey folks,

 

I was planning to go with fluid gaming EKWB A240G, but my GPU Aorus 1080 Ti is not yet compatible.

So, I was wondering if I could use a EK A240 for my CPU, and go with a different custom loop (preferably EKWB GPU Fullcover Water block) and TT / XSPC rads.

I have a ThermalTake Tower 900 case, so a dual loop would go nicer, and was wondering if I could use EKWB A240 on one loop and a separate PETG loop for my GPU, or would it lead to galvanic corrosion by using a non-aluminium block for the second loop?

 

Answers and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

Best,

 

Nigh74ury

 

P.S: Adding @EK Luc @EK_Derick for expert opinion.

[LienusLateTips]

DON'T MIX METALS

[ImNotThere]

6 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

Hey folks,

 

I was planning to go with fluid gaming EKWB A240G, but my GPU Aorus 1080 Ti is not yet compatible.

So, I was wondering if I could use a EK A240 for my CPU, and go with a different custom loop (preferably EKWB GPU Fullcover Water block) and TT / XSPC rads.

I have a ThermalTake Tower 900 case, so a dual loop would go nicer, and was wondering if I could use EKWB A240 on one loop and a different PETG loop for my GPU, or would it lead to galvanic corrosion by using a non-aluminium block for the second loop?

 

Answers and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

Best,

 

Nigh74ury

 

P.S: Adding @EK Luc @EK_Derick for expert opinion.

if they are 2 seperate loops itll be fine, otherwisd no

[Nigh74ury]

1 minute ago, JDE said:

DON'T MIX METALS

I'm with you there.

But would it really be "mixing" metals if they're on two different loops?

I would assume that "mixing" happens when a non-aluminum GPU block is used with the EKWB A240 loop, so water flows through the aluminum block, ionizes, and then goes through the non-aluminium block.

In that case, the entire case would have to be of the same metallurgical grade, which it never is!!

[For Science!]

8 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

-snip-

Agree to the others as above, flat out no, unless you plan out a full dual loop (i.e. the GPU loop uses copper radiators, brass fittings, and a seperate pump). But this won't save you money (probably? I haven't done the maths) but I suspect if you do a dual loop, then a cost of a radiator + supremacy block is less than the dual loop.

[unknownmiscreant]

1 minute ago, Nigh74ury said:

I'm with you there.

But would it really be "mixing" metals if they're on two different loops?

I would assume that "mixing" happens when a non-aluminum GPU block is used with the EKWB A240 loop, so water flows through the aluminum block, ionizes, and then goes through the non-aluminium block.

In that case, the entire case would have to be of the same metallurgical grade, which it never is!!

You're right there. Running them in two separate loops is fine. You only get an issue when the same water is flowing over aluminium and copper.

[Nigh74ury]

2 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Agree to the others as above, flat out no, unless you plan out a full dual loop (i.e. the GPU loop uses copper radiators, brass fittings, and a seperate pump). But this won't save you money (probably? I haven't done the maths) but I suspect if you do a dual loop, then a cost of a radiator + supremacy block is less than the dual loop.

When you say a full dual loop, does that include one of the loops as EKWB A240, and the other one a separate dual-loop for GPU?

I want to stress the point that, I would be against this too, because I prefer not to have different MET grades of metals. But the cost of a separate loop for a CPU (ideally: CPU Block + rads + pump res combo + fittings = ~350) would cost more than the CPU itself (paid ~300 for 7700K).

[For Science!]

Just now, Nigh74ury said:

-snip-

Getting slightly confused but here is the nuts and bolts:

 

Okay --> A240 (Alu CPU Block, SPC Pump, Alu Radiator) + Full copper GPU loop (Copper GPU block, D5/DC/SPC pump, Copper radiator)

 

Probably cheaper:

Copper CPU block, copper GPU block, 2 copper rads, 1 pump

[Shiv78]

DUAL LOOP:

 

One loop - all copper/nickel/brass for GPU

and 

One loop - all aluminum (EK A240) for CPU only.

 

Neither has any connections to the other.

 

ANYTHING ELSE:

Single loop, galvanic corrosion, and many other problems.

[For Science!]

7 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

=snip-

and FYI, all Thermaltake radiators are aluminium, so you would not want to use it with a copper GPU block, same issue.

[Nigh74ury]

4 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Getting slightly confused but here is the nuts and bolts:

 

Okay --> A240 (Alu CPU Block, SPC Pump, Alu Radiator) + Full copper GPU loop (Copper GPU block, D5/DC/SPC pump, Copper radiator)

 

Probably cheaper:

Copper CPU block, copper GPU block, 2 copper rads, 1 pump

I'm slightly confused with this; How could one ever use 2 rads with 1 pump?

[Shiv78]

1 minute ago, Nigh74ury said:

I'm slightly confused with this; How could one ever use 2 rads with 1 pump?

In one loop? You can use lots of radiators with only one pump, only thing is if you use like 4 or 5 rads you might need more pumps for more flow.

[Nigh74ury]

5 minutes ago, For Science! said:

and FYI, all Thermaltake radiators are aluminium, so you would not want to use it with a copper GPU block, same issue.

I thought most rads were aluminium, but I see a lot of copper rads too.

Would the ThermalTake rads work better with a PHANTEKS GPU block rather than an EKWB block?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-glacier-gtx-1080-ti-gigbayte-aorus-gpu-full-water-block-with-rgb-lighting-chrome-wc-01j-pt.html#tech_specs

 

[For Science!]

2 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

I thought most rads were aluminium, but I see a lot of copper rads too.

Would the ThermalTake rads work better with a PHANTEKS GPU block rather than an EKWB block?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-glacier-gtx-1080-ti-gigbayte-aorus-gpu-full-water-block-with-rgb-lighting-chrome-wc-01j-pt.html#tech_specs

 

Edit: There should be a line going from the 2nd rad back to the pump viva la ms paint.

 

 

Avoid thermaltake rads all together, they should not be used with any copper/nickel blocks

 

Radiators from EKWB, Hardwarelabs, Alphacool are all copper/brass, there are many more too, thermaltake is an outlier.

[Nigh74ury]

6 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

In one loop? You can use lots of radiators with only one pump, only thing is if you use like 4 or 5 rads you might need more pumps for more flow.

I can't say I've ever thought of it.

I have seen many builds with one loop, going through CPU & GPU block, then through a rad and back to the pump. What would the loop look like if one uses two rads with one pump?

Edit: Looks like @For Science! already answered it.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Nigh74ury
Already answered.

[For Science!]

1 minute ago, Nigh74ury said:

I can't say I've ever thought of it.

I have seen many builds with one loop, going through CPU & GPU block, then through a rad and back to the pump. What would the loop look like if one uses two rads with one pump?

Edit: Looks like @For Science! already answered it.

Looks like any other build to be honest, just more fittings and tubing

 

[Nigh74ury]

6 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Edit: There should be a line going from the 2nd rad back to the pump viva la ms paint.

 

 

Avoid thermaltake rads all together, they should not be used with any copper/nickel blocks

 

Radiators from EKWB, Hardwarelabs, Alphacool are all copper/brass, there are many more too, thermaltake is an outlier.

lawl.

Can't believe you did that!! 

[Nigh74ury]

4 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Looks like any other build to be honest, just more fittings and tubing

 

That is a sweet build!

 

Doesn't this affect in cooling the CPU temps down since you're already pushing in warm water to cool the CPU down?

I can easily say I'm not as experienced as you are at water-cooling, and though your loops look great, I don't think I could pull it off. 

 

[Damascus]

Here, I have a great solution for ya.  Get the cheapest copper starter kit EK sells and the copper gpu block you were looking at (plus 2 extra fittings)

[Nigh74ury]

Any opinions on using the PHANTEKS water block with the ThermalTake rad? @For Science! @Shiv78 

Source / links:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709091

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-glacier-gtx-1080-ti-gigbayte-aorus-gpu-full-water-block-with-rgb-lighting-chrome-wc-01j-pt.html#tech_specs

[For Science!]

4 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

lawl.

Can't believe you did that!! 

I'm bored before going to sleep, so I did some maths for you too

 

Basically for the full copper loop you need: 

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-p240 - 325.19 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1080-gtx-ti-aorus-nickel - 116.83 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-acf-fitting-10-13mm-nickel x 2 - 9.12 euro or x4, if you want the extra rad

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-pe-240-dual - 67.07 euro (optional)

 

Totalling: 527.33 euro for a 2x 240 rad setup with a nice D5 pump. 451.14 euro if you opt not to get a second radiator

 

You can get the slim variant if you don't have space, it'll be a bit cheaper but you only get an SPC pump (same as the Fluid Gaming pump) its ok, but not great

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-s240 - 203.27 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1080-gtx-ti-aorus-nickel - 116.83 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-acf-fitting-10-13mm-nickel x 2 - 9.12 euro or x4, if you want the extra rad

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-240-slim-dual - 55.85 euro (optional)

So 394.19 or 329.22 euro 

 

The equivalent for the dual loop would be....(going for cheap now)

https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-kit-a240 - 172.73

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc1080-gtx-ti-aorus-nickel - 116.83 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-240-slim-dual - 55.85 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-acf-fitting-10-13mm-nickel x 6 - 27.36 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-100-spc-60-mx-pwm-incl-pump -77.19 euro

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-duraclear-9-5-12-7mm - 15.19 euro

 

465 euro

 

[For Science!]

8 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

Any opinions on using the PHANTEKS water block with the ThermalTake rad? @For Science! @Shiv78 

Source / links:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709091

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-glacier-gtx-1080-ti-gigbayte-aorus-gpu-full-water-block-with-rgb-lighting-chrome-wc-01j-pt.html#tech_specs

Nope, dont do it. ThermalTake radiator is aluminium and phanteks water block is still nickel plated copper. 

[For Science!]

12 minutes ago, Nigh74ury said:

That is a sweet build!

 

Doesn't this affect in cooling the CPU temps down since you're already pushing in warm water to cool the CPU down?

I can easily say I'm not as experienced as you are at water-cooling, and though your loops look great, I don't think I could pull it off. 

 

With a powerful pump like a D5 or DDC, the water goes through the system so quickly that there are no temperature differences (major ones, anyway) in any segment of the watercooled loop. The whole loop gradually warms up and gradually cools down. This is why order of the loop doesn't matter and you don't need to have a radiator between each component.

[Nigh74ury]

16 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Nope, dont do it. ThermalTake radiator is aluminium and phanteks water block is still nickel plated copper. 

I'm surprised at this!

I've seen so many builds with ThermalTake radiators & EK Blocks.

Edit: I wonder which GPU Block even goes well with TT rads. I've rarely seen any aluminium GPU blocks so far.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Nigh74ury

[For Science!]

Just now, Nigh74ury said:

I'm surprised at this!

I've seen so many builds with ThermalTake radiators & EK Blocks.

I suppose if you pump your coolant with anti-corrosives, then you are at the same level as AIOs. But it really is like "I wouldn't recommend you to jump a red light" you'll probably be okay for a while, but one day you may get hit by a car.

 

 

TT tried to address it by putting a sacrificial layer of zinc on it, but that caused some more problems with Pastel fluids. 

 

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=1188197

 

Just don't do it, is my recommendation.