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Planning out a Custom Loop

Okay, so lets start, I want to plan out a good cooling loop for my "first time". By this I mean I have done a simple loop with a 5.25 bay res+pump and crappy water cooling parts on a secondary build. 

 

I currently have the Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Tempered edition, I do not plan on changing it out either, I will be doing this loop on an i7-8700k, and hopefully using a motherboard mono block when they come out. I would also like to cool my GTX 1080 but at a later date. So I have a few questions, 1: Pump Selection and Placement, 2: Radiator Compatibility and Placement, 3: Other recommendations.

 

1: So Ive noticed that EK seems to be the better brand when it comes to water cooling and their designs are nice, but im not sure what PUMP to use. I currently have a system with a dual 5.25 bay res and its okay, its older (like intel Pentium 4 days)and t its a pain in the ass to fill, and remove bubbles from not sure if thats changed. Either way I think a classic tube Res+pump might be the best but want some feedback.  As for placement, i have 3/4 options, one spot is to the right of the GPU, but its a really tight fit, another spot is below the HDD cage (there are 2 cages that are removeable, I need to keep at least one for my HDDs but I could remove the bottom one to make room for a pump/res) lastly I could maybe fit something in the 2 extra 5.25bay but this isnt preferable. 

 

2: So radiator was a big concern for me, i currently use an h100i and its okay, but want a nice 360/420mm Rad up top, I know for sure that a 360mm Rad will fit up top but want a 420mm rad just to maximize exhaust and overall cooling but unsure if one will actually fit (EKs tool only shows a 360mm rad not a 420mm but phanteks site says 420mm will fit) Besides that should I have another 120mm/140mm Rad on the backside? 

 

I know its a loaded subject and its a mess haha but any recommendations are highly appreciated, also I do plan on going to my local frys and buying radiators and other parts to test fit etc since they have free returns.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, phongle123 said:

Enjoy your temperature. This is 3 hours on Shadows of War maxed out.59e5c56e85619_Shadowsofwar.jpg.03100b292baaec9d8dc1603f2ec0d149.jpg

Im not quite understanding what you mean by this, I do enjoy low GPU temperatures haha

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1 minute ago, pommedeterror007 said:

Im not quite understanding what you mean by this, I do enjoy low GPU temperatures haha

This is what you'll see when you're done. 3hours of Shadows of War, avg 43C peak 45C. And I only have pump at 2/5 on a D5 pump and fans running as low as possible.

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Just now, phongle123 said:

This is what you'll see when you're done. 3hours of Shadows of War, avg 43C peak 45C. And I only have pump at 2/5 on a D5 pump and fans running as low as possible.

Sweet haha, so I should go D5 then? not another pump? 

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1. A D5 or a DDC pump is what you need. The D5 has a higher flow rate and is pretty silent, but the DDC has better pressure. For a CPU + GPU a D5 would be fine. I think you can easily mount a D5 pump+res combo on the reservoir bracket coming with the Enthoo Luxe 

 

2. The manual says indeed it can take a 420mm rad on top. It can also have a 240mm rad on the bottom or in front if you remove the HDD bays. A 420mm rad can handle a CPU + GPU with medium to high fan speeds. If you want your rig to be silent I would try to add a 240mm rad in front or bottom too. That way your fans can run on a lower rpm.  

CPU: i7-12700KF Grill Plate Edition // MOBO: Asus Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 // RAM: 16GB G.Skill Trident Z 3200MHz CL14 

GPU: MSI GTX 1080 FE // PSU: Corsair RM750i // CASE: Thermaltake Core X71 // BOOT: Samsung Evo 960 500GB

STORAGE: WD PC SN530 512GB + Samsung Evo 860 500GB // COOLING: Full custom loop // DISPLAY: LG 34UC89G-B

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10 hours ago, Limecat86 said:

1. A D5 or a DDC pump is what you need. The D5 has a higher flow rate and is pretty silent, but the DDC has better pressure. For a CPU + GPU a D5 would be fine. I think you can easily mount a D5 pump+res combo on the reservoir bracket coming with the Enthoo Luxe 

 

2. The manual says indeed it can take a 420mm rad on top. It can also have a 240mm rad on the bottom or in front if you remove the HDD bays. A 420mm rad can handle a CPU + GPU with medium to high fan speeds. If you want your rig to be silent I would try to add a 240mm rad in front or bottom too. That way your fans can run on a lower rpm.  

yeah, im trying to see which rads can fit up top, but unforutantely I need at least 1 HDD cage so i can only remove the bottom one, not sure if there is room for a 240mm on the bottom, aswell as the d5 pump on the bracket as the GPU is quite long and im not sure how thick the resevoir is.

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On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 4:02 AM, pommedeterror007 said:

Sweet haha, so I should go D5 then? not another pump? 

Okay, it was late last night so I only wanted to post my most recent gameplay temps at max settings and usage on GPU. CPU Temp isn't on there because it's Ryzen and can only be shown with HWInfo, Ryzen Master, HWMonitor and the likes. MSI Afterburner doesn't support ryzen atm(?).

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I will be listing EVERYTHING in accordance with the parts and try to give you details. So read it all. Reply by to certains parts that you don't understand or want more info on.

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PUMP:

3 types of pumps to consider. Detail is continued into next bolded topic.

DDC: a good pump that requires an additional heatsink to accommodate for the heat.

X4: a sub servant of D5 pump that runs at speed/pressure of 3.5/5 of a D5 pump, I don't know much about this pump.

D5: the strongest pump (as of current), this pump releases the heat it outputs into the loop itself, opposite of a DDC pump.

  1. D5 w/o speed control - will always run at speed 4/5.
  2. D5 w/ speed control - can manually control speed 1-5 on the pump itself. (recommended)
  3. D5 w/ PWM - will change its speed between 1-5 depending on the CPU temperature

But if I were you, I'd save myself from a headache (from first hand experience) and try to get a pump + reservoir combo. Without it, you'd need to tube the pump to the reservoir which never looks pretty. With a combo, it looks nice. If you don't mind used, a D5+reservoir combo used on Amazon is ~105$ down from prices like 150-180$. If the pump is bad (and this could happen to new products also not just used) buzzes or makes any other sort of weird sounds you can return it and try your luck again.

 

I recommend opting for the D5 pump as it is the strongest pump and when bought new is only ~20$ more than the other 2.

 

Pump PSI 1:1 ratio @1.0psi:

Each component in your loop will add what is called resistance. This resistance is what requires you to turn up your pump to match this resistance.

This is not necessary and I will tell you why at the end. The trick to this is that, you want to keep or at least the internet wants you to keep a 1.0 PSI pressure on resistance:flow.

 
A D5 Pump will give you 4.8 PSI of pressure at setting 5 and only 2.8PSI of pressure at setting 4. You can see why I recommended the D5 pump w/ speed control.
 
Approximate Calculation of Component Resistance:
CPU Block = 0.8 PSI
GPU Block = 1.0 PSI
Radiators = 0.2 - 1.2 PSI
and additional resistance is added depending on the amount of 90degree turns your loop has.
 
This is not necessary and I will tell you why. The temps I have above are at running @4.67 PSI of Resistance before including in tube degree resistance.
Components: CPU Block + GPU Block + Hardware Labs Nemesis Black Ice 280GTS U-Flow + 2x Hardware Labs Nemesis Black Ice 420GTS U-Flow.
Calculation: 1.0 + 0.8 + 0.71 + 1.08 + 1.08 PSI of Resistance
 
I am only running at a 2/5 which would be 40/100% meaning 40% of 4.8 PSI meaning 1.92 PSI of pressure against resistance to maintain a 1.0 PSI throughput. However this is not true as setting 4 gives 2.8 PSI. But let's assume I am using 40% of the setting 5 output from setting 2. Meaning I am only using 1.92 PSI of pressure against 4.67 PSI of resistance but am still getting the temperatures I posted in the above picture. Of course you can lower temperature by increasing your pump speed.
 
The Hardware Labs Nemesis Black Ice ###GTS U-Flow is considered one of the WORST Radiators in terms of adding resistance to your loop but is considered the BEST (#1) in performance for thin 30mm thick radiators. You CAN get rid of the restriction and still use this radiator as the best thin radiator if you opt for the Hardware Labs Nemesis Black Ice ###GTS X-Flow which removes this restriction by going a straight line diagonally instead of making a U shape. You can see why this would cause restriction making a U shape in such a thin radiator just from my text.

However, the X-Flow was pretty much non-existent from purchase except from PC-Performance which had it for about 140$ (for the X-Flow) compared to Amazon's 84$ (for the U-Flow) for the 420mm radiator and 130$ vs 72$ for the 280mm radiator. So I went with the U-Flow.
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Radiator:
There are 6 kinds of radiators to mix and match.
  1. Thin Radiator 25-30mm
  2. Medium Radiator 33-45mm
  3. Thick Radiator ~60mm
  4. Low FPI (Fins Per Inch) 8-12
  5. Medium FPI 13-18
  6. High FPI ~30
*The thicker and more FPI your radiator has the more heat it can hold. But this will also require you to have your fan turned higher to accommodate for the additional restriction and enough airflow to actually push the air all the way through the radiator.
 
I highly suggest thin radiators, here why. The POINT of water cooling is to try and have a silent system. Meaning slower spinning fans. And to do this you need thinner radiators so the air can go all the way through and less FPI so there are less restrictions.
 
I highly recommend the Hardware Labs Nemesis Black Ice ###GTS I use above. But if you can get your hands on an X-Flow you will remove all the restrictions and it is around ~0.3 PSI of restriction for the 280mm for the X-Flow vs 0.71 for the U-Flow.
 
**I recommend using a radiator between 30-35mm thick and 12-16 FPI.
I cannot recommend any thick or high FPI Radiators. However, you can ask around.
 
Reading into Radiator Wattage:
Radiators are VERY important. For example, if a radiator says that it can handle 300W and your system runs at 300W, it means that it will run your system just cool enough to keep the system from crashing.
So if a 280mm says that it can support 800W of output that means that it will do nothing more than a 300W Radiator listed above except for lowering your temperature.
But just because 800W is double of your systems 300W output, doesn't mean that you'll be gaining a linear temperature decrease of 250% from a 300W.
120GTS 350W 1 1 X 120mm
240GTS 750W DUAL 2 X 120mm
360GTS 1200W QUAD 3 X 120mm
480GTS 1500W QUAD 4 X 120mm
140GTS 370W 1 1 X 140mm
280GTS 800W DUAL 2 X 140mm
420GTS 1350W QUAD 3 X 140mm
560GTS 1600W QUAD 4 X 140mm
According to this, with 1x 280GTS and 2x 420 GTS. I have 800 + 1350 +1350 = 3500W of available throughput to my system which only uses 300W. And this is how I am getting my low temperature from the picture above.
 
The Hardware Labs Nemesis Black Ice ###GTS is a 29.6mm thick 16 FPI radiator. However, the reason why this radiator is the best thin radiator is because it is WIDER than the rest of the thin radiators giving it more room in width rather than in thickness.
***So make sure you read the dimensions and measure your case to the millimeter.
Not all radiators will have the same amount of throughput, larger and more FPI radiators will have more.
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Reservoir:
DO NOT JUST GO AND PICK THE ONE YOU LIKE!
There are 2 types of reservoirs.
  1. The flow of water goes to the middle or the top of the reservoir
  2. The flow of water goes to the bottom of the reservoir

If you opt for #1, this will help you get rid of air bubbles easier when trying to bleed your system. This is because when your flow ends back at your reservoir it doesn't meet water, rather it becomes a waterfall allowing the air bubbles to escape.

If you opt for #2 especially with a Pump + Reservoir combo. Your system will look nicer. However, it will be harder to bleed as your flow will be released back into the reservoir as flow. Water will meet water and not allow the air bubbles to escape unless you shake your system. Which could have bad effects, I don't know. But I do it.

 

After reading his, NOW you can go ahead and pick the one you like.

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Soft vs Hard line:
Go soft tubing since this is your first attempt.
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Fittings:
Get the standard G1/4 thread meaning the bottom area that screws into the radiator, etc. Any other size won't fit most components.
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Tubing:
Get Primochill Advanced LRT. I won't get into the reasons why, just get it.
 
Tubing Size:
Get 3/8 ID, 5/8 OD. ID = Inner Diameter, OD = Outer Diameter
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CPU Block:
Get what you want. If you get something of high cost ~70$ then they will all be about 1-3C difference from each other. However, the absolute best according to review is the HeatKiller IV CPU Block. I personally own a EKWB Evo Supremacy.
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GPU Block:
Again, get what you like aesthetically. I personally own the Bitspower GPU Waterblock for Nvidia GTX 1080 Reference VGA Card, Clear Acrylic since it is compatible with future cards due to it not covering up the capacitors for just 1 specific card. Meaning future cards with more capacitors or capacitors in different spots won't make the GPU Block incompatible as compared to the EKWB GPU Blocks which are precision cut to fit the capacitors.
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Fans:
Your preference, but get Static Pressure fans only for the radiators.
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If you have any questions give me a reply, but don't reply to the whole thing. Just the part that you have question(s) on.
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2 hours ago, phongle123 said:

 

I do plan on going with the res+pump combo and I will most likely place it beside my GPU on the Bracket, or remove the bottom HDD cage and place it under (it would be hidden but its not that big of a deal for me). As for radiators, i just ordered a thin 420MM (3 x 140mm) off amazon to do a test fit because I hope to do a push pull config as it looks nice in my case (the top fans are actually completely hidden) and it just increases performance, if I do go with a 420mm rad, will that be enough for my CPU/Mono block and GPU? or should I put an additional 140/120mm rad on the rear?.  Again, for the CPU block I do plan on going with EKs M9H block as I like the look plus the fact that it will handle the VRMS etc.

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35 minutes ago, pommedeterror007 said:

Also do I require to get silver coils?

DO NOT GET THIS IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! It is actually bad for your loop. Just get Copper Radiators.

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1 hour ago, pommedeterror007 said:

if I do go with a 420mm rad, will that be enough for my CPU/Mono block and GPU?

It will be enough but you won't love your temperature. I'm sure it will be better than your current temperatures by at least 5C for the CPU and a lot for the GPU.

 

1 hour ago, pommedeterror007 said:

should I put an additional 140/120mm rad on the rear?. 

If it has clearance go for it. The only problem with this is that 120/140mm radiators aren't as cost effective as 240/280mm radiators. Because they can already cost you 50-60$ depending when a good 280 is only 70-80$

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2 hours ago, phongle123 said:

It will be enough but you won't love your temperature. I'm sure it will be better than your current temperatures by at least 5C for the CPU and a lot for the GPU.

 

If it has clearance go for it. The only problem with this is that 120/140mm radiators aren't as cost effective as 240/280mm radiators. Because they can already cost you 50-60$ depending when a good 280 is only 70-80$

Cost isnt a huge factor, as long as the temps are like 50 or so and below. The reason I say the 140mm/120mm as its easier to place on the rear rather than fit one under the HDD cage as Id like to keep the PSU cover on and such, And thanks for the reply. 

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On 10/17/2017 at 4:51 PM, phongle123 said:

It will be enough but you won't love your temperature. I'm sure it will be better than your current temperatures by at least 5C for the CPU and a lot for the GPU.

 

If it has clearance go for it. The only problem with this is that 120/140mm radiators aren't as cost effective as 240/280mm radiators. Because they can already cost you 50-60$ depending when a good 280 is only 70-80$

Does brand matter for fittings? Im looking for some nice white compression ones for now since ima start it out as a soft tubing loop.

 

also how should I include a drain? 

 

apologies for all the questions, I just want to make a complete loop haha, thanks again for all the help.

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On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 11:49 PM, pommedeterror007 said:

Does brand matter for fittings?

No.

On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 11:49 PM, pommedeterror007 said:

how should I include a drain? 

Get a Y, T, or some sort of 3 way splitter as well as a Ball Valve Fitting. This will require you to get 3 additional fittings to make accommodations for the 2.

 

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13 hours ago, phongle123 said:

No.

Get a Y, T, or some sort of 3 way splitter as well as a Ball Valve Fitting. This will require you to get 3 additional fittings to make accommodations for the 2.

 

Sweet, thanks!

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