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Looking for insight, recommendations and a sanity check for my first custom loop.  Items already purchased are non negotiable, everything else is open to change.  Do radiator pairings matter much performance wise?  Like do I want similar rads as far as flow/fpi?  I'm sure we are at way too much radiator, but visually I want a 360 at the top and front.  Front rad has lots of room, top the biggest I want to go is 45mm.  The hd120's will be mounted on the inside of the rads for visual effect, open to adding fans.  Running quieter is probably more of a concern than perfect, extreme performance.  Would like to use white rads/res/fittings as there will be a lot of RGB, but the only white top rads im seeing that will fit are the ax/ex360 or nemesis 360 gts.  Was hoping for multiport for flexibility if I want to reuse them in a different system later or change routing or add sensors or whatnot.  Planning to drain/fill from bottom of front rad via quick disconnect and have bleed valve or another QD on the top back of top rad.  Im new to the dynamics of water cooling and I have this habit of over complicating things...  Pointing out glaring flaws, simpler methods or better hardware is appreciated.  Thanks!

 

These items are already purchased:

strix z270e mobo

1080ti fe

thermaltake view 71 rgb(black)

6x hd120 rgb

 

these are what im leaning towards buying:

front rad: alphacool ut60 360 (was leaning towards the sr2 360 as I want to drain/fill from the bottom of the front rad out the bottom of the case with a quick disconnect.  The ut60 has the extra ports plus a drain/fill on the opposite side.  Was thinking the rad mounted with the ports towards the top would make for easier bleeding/filling)

top rad: alphacool xt45/xt45 xflow (chosen for multiple ports for flexibility, brand continuity, will choose xflow or not after i figure out tube routing)

pump: ek d5 pwm (chosen for sale price)

res:  koolance 200mm w/ cov-rp450 (friends recommendation, open to others.  I visually prefer a decent size reservoir.

monoblock: ek 270e strix

gpu block: ek fc gtx fe

 

 

 

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2 360mm rads should handle silent overclocking sufficiently, rad performance is a matter of surface area via rad thickness and fpi, and rad pairings shouldn't matter much, as long as you aren't using different metals in the same loop, looks like you're looking at copper parts so stick to copper, and make sure you flush your rads before you use them to make sure they're all cleaned out, I think the standard method is a 10% vinegar and distilled water solution then flush with distilled water.

desktop

Spoiler

r5 3600,3450@0.9v (0.875v get) 4.2ghz@1.25v (1.212 get) | custom loop cpu&gpu 1260mm nexxos xt45 | MSI b450i gaming ac | crucial ballistix 2x8 3000c15->3733c15@1.39v(1.376v get) |Zotac 2060 amp | 256GB Samsung 950 pro nvme | 1TB Adata su800 | 4TB HGST drive | Silverstone SX500-LG

HTPC

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HTPC i3 7300 | Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H | 16GB G Skill | Adata XPG SX8000 128GB M.2 | Many HDDs | Rosewill FBM-01 | Corsair CXM 450W

 

 

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Thanks for the input, guys!  I agree with Matt on the sr2.  It's my understanding that in industrial settings, bottom fill is the "right way".  I was thinking fill from the bottom QD and push air out the top QD.  This way I can fill until fluid is up past the vent and when I disconnect the piece of tube used to extend the vent line, zero spill.  Is prioritizing the bottom fill a worthwhile venture or just solving a problem that I'm creating/exaggerating? 

 

 

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