Custom hard line loop help wanted

[ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん]

So as a preface, While I'm fairly new to the LTT Forums I've been watching Linus since back when he did the unboxing of the RC tank, and I'm not new to watercooling by any stretch of the imagination.
HOWEVER

I have not built a water loop in a very long time and am no longer familiar with the market, so I was hoping people here would be willing to help me work out a solution that could meet my needs and wants.

 

While I haven't built it yet, I have parted out a machine here that I'm definitely not moving on (though I may forego storage in the short term to complete the build with disks I already have) and I wanted to build an all-aluminum water loop due to it's slightly better heat dissipation even if it's actual conductivity is a bit worse than copper. however, I ran into a problem. The blocks I'd settled on (EK-AC GEFORCE GTX and EK-SUPREMACY AX individual blocks from the EK A240G kit) do not have any flavor of galvanic resistance, and as per this post will probably never have a decent Hard-tube option, as far as I'm aware.

 

So now I'm in the market for any water loop that strikes a respectable balance of cost per performance. I only have a few stipulations in that I'd prefer to not breach $500, but am willing to go up to $1000 for the loop, and if possible, I'd like to light the piping either in RGB or purple since the case has lighting but is otherwise dark. I will be using this primarily for heat management as I intend to OC out of the box. Anyone willing to help, your effort is much appreciated!

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん said:

-SNIP-

Welcome to the Forums!

 

For building a loop your looking at a starting price of around $500USD for both a CPU and GPU using quality components. For the aluminum Fluid gaming kits as mentioned your only option to complete a hardline build in it is to purchase the GPU connector kits and get enough aluminum based hardline fittings to complete the loop. 

 

[SquintyG33Rs]

you just have to buy the GPU link kit from ek. those are hard line fitttings. it's going to make it hella more expensive than regular fittings but it's hardline and it,s aluminum.

https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-ac-gpu-connector-kit

[ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん]

1 hour ago, W-L said:

...For the aluminum Fluid gaming kits as mentioned your only option to complete a hardline build in it is to purchase the GPU connector kits and get enough aluminum based hardline fittings to complete the loop. 

 

Thanks for the greetings!
I was kinda hoping there'd be a more cost-effective method even if it meant switching to copper or brass, since at the price EK is selling those kits it's effectively $10/fitting, but would I be correct to assume the offset of the cost of copper parts makes it about the same if not more? also, are there any other options for aluminum-core radiators or is it kind of the same deal?

[W-L]

Just now, ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん said:

Thanks for the greetings!
I was kinda hoping there'd be a more cost-effective method even if it meant switching to copper or brass, since at the price EK is selling those kits it's effectively $10/fitting, but would I be correct to assume the offset of the cost of copper parts makes it about the same if not more? also, are there any other options for aluminum-core radiators or is it kind of the same deal?

I haven't calculated the exact costs but I would not see it being too far off as you would need to replace all the fittings. For the fluid gaming series they do have accessories such as extra fittings and rads you can purchase to expand the loop.

https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/parts/

 

If you are wanting to do a full customized hardline a copper based loop would be the solution your looking at if you don't get those GPU connector kits. 

[Limecat86]

4 hours ago, ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん said:

Thanks for the greetings!
I was kinda hoping there'd be a more cost-effective method even if it meant switching to copper or brass, since at the price EK is selling those kits it's effectively $10/fitting, but would I be correct to assume the offset of the cost of copper parts makes it about the same if not more? also, are there any other options for aluminum-core radiators or is it kind of the same deal?

If you're willing to spend $500 to $1000 I don't see why you would go for an aluminium loop. A copper/nickel (and brass for fittings) loop will give you much more flexibility.

[ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん]

5 hours ago, Limecat86 said:

If you're willing to spend $500 to $1000 I don't see why you would go for an aluminium loop. A copper/nickel (and brass for fittings) loop will give you much more flexibility.

Like I said in the OP, I wanted it for material properties of aluminum, thinking the market for aluminum parts wasn't still awful. It is, though. Also like I said earlier I don't have a problem switching to copper, but if I do, I was curious if there's any options that strike a decent balance of performance and price, since as far as I'm aware copper parts cost not-insignificantly more than their aluminum counterparts and I'm not familiar with what's on the market other than EK and Thermaltake. While I'm willing to put up to $1000 into the loop it's obviously in my interest to not go crazy overkill since I'm already dropping 2 grand on the rig itself, and just wanted to know if there's anything I'm missing.

[Limecat86]

17 minutes ago, ドーナツ姫★妖夢ちゃん said:

Like I said in the OP, I wanted it for material properties of aluminum, thinking the market for aluminum parts wasn't still awful. It is, though. Also like I said earlier I don't have a problem switching to copper, but if I do, I was curious if there's any options that strike a decent balance of performance and price, since as far as I'm aware copper parts cost not-insignificantly more than their aluminum counterparts and I'm not familiar with what's on the market other than EK and Thermaltake. While I'm willing to put up to $1000 into the loop it's obviously in my interest to not go crazy overkill since I'm already dropping 2 grand on the rig itself, and just wanted to know if there's anything I'm missing.

Well there some other brands like XSPC, Bitspower, Primochill, Monsoon, HWLabs and a few others. But not every brand has everything you need for a complete water cooling loop. I haven't seen a Monsoon radiator for example. HWLabs makes very good radiators but that's also the only thing they make for water cooling components.

 

So yeah, there is a lot on the market besides EK and Thermaltake