Help me build a w/c setup

[fastamdman]

So I am getting ready to finish a big deal at work and I will have some extra money.  I am thinking about upgrading from an aio to a custom loop.  I have no experience with custom loops, but I have been building pc's for 20 years now and I am very comfortable with them.

 

My current setup is a 4770k, asus maximus vii hero, gtx 1080, corsair obsidian 900D.  For cooling currently I am using a nzxt kraken x61.  It does the job fairly well, but under higher voltages or with prime95 the temps just skyrocket.  I was going to delid the chip, but decided to just upgrade to coffee lake instead.  With the announcement of when it will be released coming out on Monday, I figured I might as well start grabbing the parts.

 

So in your opinions, what are the best setups for water cooling.  I won't be putting the gtx 1080 under water, but the cpu will be.  I don't mind going over kill for the future.  I don't currently have a budget, but I don't see the point in 3 240mm radiators either lol.

 

If you guys could point me in the right direction of some kits or some of the best parts I would really appreciate it.  Thanks guys.

[RadiatingLight]

EK Has a watercooling configurator.

 

https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/

 

[fastamdman]

Nice, thank you very much.  Hey I have one more question if you have the time.  Until I upgrade, I have some spare scythe ultrakaze fans.  I wanted to mount them in push/pull on my nzxt x61, but I don't have screws long enough.  Do you happen to know what screws I need, or where I can get them?

[fastamdman]

Alright, the setup they recommended is as follows.

EK-Vardar EVO 140ER Black (2000rpm)oc x3

EK-CoolStream CE 420 (Triple)

EK-XRES 100 DDC MX 3.1 PWM (incl. pump)

EK-Supremacy EVO - Nickel

EK-DuraClear 9,5/12,7mm 3M RETAIL

EK-ACF Fitting 10/13mm - Black x6

EK-CryoFuel Blood Red Concentrate 100 mL

EK-ATX Bridging Plug (24 pin)

EK-Cable Pump testing adapter

EK-Cable Y-Splitter 3-Fan PWM (10cm)

 

I assume my Corsair TX750V2 Power Supply will be able to handle all of this right?  Would that setup be considered a "high end" setup, or just average?  I've read a lot about water cooling and understand the concepts, but I am "out of the loop" haha, with name brands and exact parts.  I've read a lot of good things about the supremacy evo blocks, vardar fans so I don't mind going with that setup.  Unless people recommend something else, I will probably go with that kit.  Price is 420.30 which seems reasonable to me, especially since I can sell my nzxt x61 once it comes in and I get it setup.  I will make sure to do a build log as well, I know how much people enjoy builds in the 900D

[PPCs-Matt]

I'd highly recommend checking out some of the kits we have to offer, we have a large variety of CPU only loops, including some rigid tubing options as well. 

You can find all of our kits here: http://www.performance-pcs.com/complete-kits

[fastamdman]

@PPCs-Matt  Thank you.  I am going over some of that now.  Can you help me with something by chance?  If I were to grab one of your complete kits, what screws would I need to bolt on 4 scythe ultra kaze fans?  They are 120mm x 38mm fans.  I have 4 of them that I would love to use, but I have no idea what screws I need for them.  What kit would you recommend to cool my 4790k and when it releases the new coffee lake 8700k's I think they are called.  Whatever the new 6core 12thread unlocked cpu is, is what I will be running the day they release.  I am looking for the lowest temps possible so I can reach the highest overclocks with a lot of voltage.  It doesn't have to be silent, but I would prefer under 50 dba if possible as these scythe fans at 100% HAVE to be louder than 45dba ol.

[Tech22]

What is your budget? Do you want soft or hard tubes? Do you want to buy extra angled fittings in case you need them? Do you want a drain valve (a must in my eyes). How expensive do you want to go? How large tubing do you want? Do you want to cool the GPU? These are some questions you should ask and we can help you from there. A 900D is very easy to watercool so you should be fine. One other thing to note: It will be a new socket for coffee lake (will be announced tomorrow :D) so may have different mounting holes so it may take a while for cpu blocks to have the right bracket to mount them. 

[Tech22]

1 hour ago, fastamdman said:

@PPCs-Matt  Thank you.  I am going over some of that now.  Can you help me with something by chance?  If I were to grab one of your complete kits, what screws would I need to bolt on 4 scythe ultra kaze fans?  They are 120mm x 38mm fans.  I have 4 of them that I would love to use, but I have no idea what screws I need for them.  What kit would you recommend to cool my 4790k and when it releases the new coffee lake 8700k's I think they are called.  Whatever the new 6core 12thread unlocked cpu is, is what I will be running the day they release.  I am looking for the lowest temps possible so I can reach the highest overclocks with a lot of voltage.  It doesn't have to be silent, but I would prefer under 50 dba if possible as these scythe fans at 100% HAVE to be louder than 45dba ol.

I personally would NOT recommend buying a kit. It is better to pick out the parts that you like the look of, because a custom loop is not all about cooling, but also aesthetics. The XSPC Kits with the ION reservoir are very bad. The ION reservoir are notorious for leaking and breaking. 

[fastamdman]

@tech22 As I said above I don't really have a budget, no problem spending 300-400-500 for a nice loop, but I am not looking to cool the 1080 at this point.  I can fit pretty much anything in the obsidian 900D, so that is nice.  I am only looking for soft tubing as this is my first custom loop.  I've got plenty of experience with AIO's, but not custom loops.  If I need extra fittings, I will buy them, if I don't need them than I don't see a point in buying them.  I would like a drain valve to make maintenance a lot easier.  How expensive I want to go, depends on what I am gaining for what I am paying.  I am just looking for great overclocking potential with low temps.  I would prefer it if it could stay under 45-50dba as well.  I don't care what size the tubing is, as long as it works.  Above I already said I have no intention of cooling the 1080, as it gains me nothing.  If coffee lake is on a new socket, which it looks like it will be, that will be fine for me.  I am upgrading from socket 1150 currently, so regardless I will need a new motherboard, ram and cpu.

 

Hopefully this helps shed some light.

 

PS: I still really need to figure out what screws I need to mount my 38mm fans to my nzxt kraken x61 if anyone knows that would really help me out in the short term until I get all of the parts in.

[sun2]

Well a 240 rad would be enough for the CPU only and a overclock. Perhaps 360 if you want really good cooling/OCs. I also got recently got into watercooling and went for a quiet setup. So i went for a quiet pump/res combo. But i think the 900D has more then enough room, your lucky with such a case. I got a 750D, it worked though.. Just plan the drainport position ahead.

 

And if you already got decent SP fans, perhaps keep them and use them for the radiator. Because if your planning on going for EK parts and buying Vardar fans with the loop. They can have a really anoying and weird sound. Some people dont mind, but ive read a lot of people complained about it. And imho bit too loud as well. And the i coudnt set them up properly with fan profiles, while my old noctua's worked straight away. So keep that all in mind, it can save some money.

 

And 45-50dba is way too much imho. You will be far below those numbers, still depends on which fans and pump ofc. But that would be really loud. Most likely your GPU fans are louder then the waterloop.

 

Yeah you're right no need for extra fittings,  they can blow up the budget really fast. Maybe one more for a tube to connect to the drainport.. Just for every port you need one and the drain port combination takes 2 with a T splitter, a valve, and a plug. Not really sure, but you should look it up to be sure. And if your planning on buying 90* angled fittings, for every 90* angled fitting, you need 1 normal compression fitting for on it.

 

Good luck with the building!

[fastamdman]

@sun2 Thanks for the information.  Ya I think the 900D will work out really well.  I am planning on going with the largest single radiator that I can fit, so that way if later on down the line I want to add the gpu to the loop or any other parts I will be able to without having to purchase a second radiator right at that moment.  I'm sure later on though I will end up with multiple radiators and pumps, as I am the over kill type of person lol.  Just looking to dip my feet into the water cooling scene a little more than the AIO's.  As soon as coffee lake information is released tomorrow I will start buying some parts.  I will make sure to update you guys with everything I buy to make sure it's the right decision.  My rig currently has 3 120mm fans in the front, 4 120mm scythe ultra kaze 120mm fans, 4 140mm fans in a push/pull config on the radiator and I am pretty sure I have a spare 140mm somewhere around the house that I need to install as an exhaust fan.  This setup moves a TON of air.  Luckily now that I swapped the radiator fans to push/pull exhaust instead of intake, I will have a lot less dust in my case.  When everything is said and done I will be running the stock dust filters and front/top panels to help keep the dust down.  I recently just cleaned everything up and re applied some noctua thermal paste that seems to be working well thus far.

[THFourteen]

Put your GPU in the loop if you can save the money for the water block. Nothing makes you smile more than seeing your GPU running at 35degrees on full load :-D

[fastamdman]

@THFourteen It's not about the money, I just don't see a need for it personally.  Granted it would make the computer quieter overall, so that is a plus.  The gigabyte gtx 1080 gaming edition or whatever they are calling it, is fairly loud at 100% fan speed lol.  But overall it doesn't really help the pascal cards overclock so I wasn't planning on it.  But who knows, I very well might.  I am so excited to get the information about coffee lake today!!! I want a new build so bad.  I love my 4790k setup don't get me wrong, but I am itching to do a new build lol.

[PPCs-Matt]

On 8/20/2017 at 4:41 PM, fastamdman said:

@PPCs-Matt  Thank you.  I am going over some of that now.  Can you help me with something by chance?  If I were to grab one of your complete kits, what screws would I need to bolt on 4 scythe ultra kaze fans?  They are 120mm x 38mm fans.  I have 4 of them that I would love to use, but I have no idea what screws I need for them.  What kit would you recommend to cool my 4790k and when it releases the new coffee lake 8700k's I think they are called.  Whatever the new 6core 12thread unlocked cpu is, is what I will be running the day they release.  I am looking for the lowest temps possible so I can reach the highest overclocks with a lot of voltage.  It doesn't have to be silent, but I would prefer under 50 dba if possible as these scythe fans at 100% HAVE to be louder than 45dba ol.

No problem. 

Unless you can find ~42-43mm M3 or M4 screws, I would look at these 45mm ones and then use a couple washers or nylon spacers. You will have to check the radiator specs to see if it uses either M3 or M4 size screws. 

I would say any kit with at least a 240mm (30mm thick) radiator would do you just fine. But it's never a bad idea to have more cooling than necessary. And with the fans you want to use, you could easily use a 60mm thick high FPI radiator if you have the room. 

Let me know if I can help any further! 

Thank you!