New to Custom Loops, Any help appreciated

[yoi174]

Hey guys,
So basically I've built a few pc's within the past few years, and its pretty easy for me now, so I've decided that in my next build I want to attempt to do a custom water loop, and hopefully make a sexy looking system. At this point in time, I'm in a sort of planning/part picking stage where I try to put down everything the system will be on paper. However, I'm stuck on the water cooling components side of things. If someone could answer these questions, I'd greatly appreciate it. As I'm brand new to custom water-cooling, I decided to go with EKWB's configurator to choose my parts for me. However, the biggest problem I have with this step is the pump. I decided to go with the EK-XTOP Revo D5 PWM. From what I've researched online, the D5 pumps are pretty good. Anyways, from what I understand, this pump has two connections, a molex connection into the power supply and a PWM 4-pin connector. My question is, would I be able to connect this PWM connector to a PWM fan controller such as the Corsair commander pro? And if so, would I be able to control the pump speed. I don't want the pump running at 100% all the time, so I was hoping I'd be able to change the speed and set it to 40-50% and leave it there. And going off that question, if it is possible to run the D5's PWM connector into a fan controller, what would I put into the CPU_FAN Header? I know that the most PC's will give an error if they don't recognize a cooler in the header. I ask this because I want this PC build to be extremely aesthetic, and having a random fan cable running through the middle of the mobo in the CPU_FAN header looks pretty shitty. I'm hoping to only have to use a one or two fan headers that are located at the edge of the mobo to power my pump, all my fans, and rad fans, therefore i can get the cleanest look. If you've stuck around this far, I'd appreciate any help I can get. Im just trying to get into the watercooling game. 

THANKS GUYS!

[For Science!]

@yoi174

Welcome to the Forums.

 

What you suggest is fine, any genuine 4-pin PWM fan header will be able to control the D5 from EKWB. Plugging it into the CPU_FAN header will give you the advantage that should be pump fail, the pc will not boot - a safe idea.

 

The only caveat is that with boards from ASUS, if your CPU goes above 75 degrees any fan connected to any header is force to 100% duty cycle so depending on how hot your CPU is, the commander pro may not be a bad idea either.

[yoi174]

So what i gather is that the CPU_FAN header is a good fail safe in the chance that the pump fails. Would I be able to attach a extension PWM to the CPU_FAN header so that it can be more easily obscured? I have opted to go with the ASUS ROG strix z370-E board, which has fanxpert on it. Would fanxpert be able to control pump speed in the circumstance that a pump is attached to the CPU_FAN header? Its honestly difficult to sometimes understand how easily people can hide most wires in their build. Like in this build (https://pcpartpicker.com/b/DvfH99) for example. 

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, yoi174 said:

So what i gather is that the CPU_FAN header is a good fail safe in the chance that the pump fails. Would I be able to attach a extension PWM to the CPU_FAN header so that it can be more easily obscured? I have opted to go with the ASUS ROG strix z370-E board, which has fanxpert on it. Would fanxpert be able to control pump speed in the circumstance that a pump is attached to the CPU_FAN header? Its honestly difficult to sometimes understand how easily people can hide most wires in their build. Like in this build (https://pcpartpicker.com/b/DvfH99) for example. 

You can use an extender. You can indeed use Fanxpert, although I would opt to just do it in the BIOS since that is more direct, but ultimately the same.

 

With respect to cable management, you just have to do your best. In fact in the build you linked, the PWM cable for the pump is fairly glaring at you. Personally I wouldn't bother with too many extenders, just manage cables well.

[komo1006]

2 hours ago, For Science! said:

You can use an extender. You can indeed use Fanxpert, although I would opt to just do it in the BIOS since that is more direct, but ultimately the same.

 

With respect to cable management, you just have to do your best. In fact in the build you linked, the PWM cable for the pump is fairly glaring at you. Personally I wouldn't bother with too many extenders, just manage cables well.

 

 

Hello,

 

Just wondering, what case is this?

[komo1006]

Hey,

 

As said earlier, you control the pump from the BIOS, but also i don't think that running the D5 pump at 100% will cause any noise, those pumps are pretty silent. ASUS also recommends 100% constant speed for pumps.

[Crunchy Dragon]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, is don't cheap out on liquid cooling parts and don't mix metals on your waterblocks. You'll have to go either all-copper or all-aluminum waterblocks, otherwise you'll gunk something up.

 

Be prepared to spend quite a bit if you want your loop to last.

[komo1006]

Sorry, one more thing, if you planning to add a GPU block to your water cooling loop then it's definitely not a good idea to reduce the pump speed, or even to run it on PWM, because it will only react to CPU temp and will ignore the GPU temp.

 

Keep this in mind for the radiator fans too.

[For Science!]

53 minutes ago, komo1006 said:

-

This is more or less only true for AIOs. A D5 pump at 100% is completely overkill. For a simple loop even 30-40% is sufficient.

 

The only truly way to set up a loop is to have a pump speed that gives you enough flow and leave it constant (non-reacting to temperatures).

 

To have a 2-pin temperature sensor to measure the fluid temps.

 

and then to have the fans react to the fluid temperatures. The only reason to increase fan rpm on a radiator is if the coolant is getting hot.

 

58 minutes ago, komo1006 said:

Hello,

Just wondering, what case is this?

Lian-Li PC-O11 WX ATX Full Tower

[billstelling]

You just need to put the time in to get it all the way you want. It's a consuming endeavor.. If you can't do custom wires, extensions are cheap and work great for routing. I keep them in stock.. Always seem to run into one or two being a little short for their route.. I just get the black sleeved ones. They are like 2 bucks a dozen out of china.

[yoi174]

1 hour ago, komo1006 said:

 

 

Hello,

 

Just wondering, what case is this?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112556&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker, LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

[yoi174]

56 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, is don't cheap out on liquid cooling parts and don't mix metals on your waterblocks. You'll have to go either all-copper or all-aluminum waterblocks, otherwise you'll gunk something up.

 

Be prepared to spend quite a bit if you want your loop to last.

I was planning on using all EKWB parts since its my first build, so it would simplify things knowing all the parts are compatible.  Is this a good route to go for a first timer? One thing i've noticed is that some of the waterblocks on EKWB are copper but Nickel-plated. Is nickelplating okay in a copper system on the waterblock, or should i go all copper?  I have a large budget, so im not worried much about the price the loop ends up being. 

58 minutes ago, For Science! said:

This is more or less only true for AIOs. A D5 pump at 100% is completely overkill. For a simple loop even 30-40% is sufficient.

 

The only truly way to set up a loop is to have a pump speed that gives you enough flow and leave it constant (non-reacting to temperatures).

 

To have a 2-pin temperature sensor to measure the fluid temps.

 

and then to have the fans react to the fluid temperatures. The only reason to increase fan rpm on a radiator is if the coolant is getting hot.

 

Lian-Li PC-O11 WX ATX Full Tower

How do you suppose a system can be set up so fans react to fluid temperature? Is a two pin temperature sensor just a fitting that has two openings and measures the temp of the fluid running through it?

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 hour ago, yoi174 said:

I was planning on using all EKWB parts since its my first build, so it would simplify things knowing all the parts are compatible.  Is this a good route to go for a first timer? One thing i've noticed is that some of the waterblocks on EKWB are copper but Nickel-plated. Is nickelplating okay in a copper system on the waterblock, or should i go all copper?  I have a large budget, so im not worried much about the price the loop ends up being.

Nickel plating isn't a problem as long as it doesn't touch the coolant at all. Most nickelplating on waterblocks doesn't have contact with the coolant, so it should be fine.

[For Science!]

2 hours ago, yoi174 said:

I was planning on using all EKWB parts since its my first build, so it would simplify things knowing all the parts are compatible.  Is this a good route to go for a first timer? One thing i've noticed is that some of the waterblocks on EKWB are copper but Nickel-plated. Is nickelplating okay in a copper system on the waterblock, or should i go all copper?  I have a large budget, so im not worried much about the price the loop ends up being. 

How do you suppose a system can be set up so fans react to fluid temperature? Is a two pin temperature sensor just a fitting that has two openings and measures the temp of the fluid running through it?

They come usually as either a stop plug or a pass-hrough type. For a very crude solution you co7lf tape a normal one to a radiator 

 

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/neue-produkte/21457/alphacool-eiszapfen-temperatursensor-plug-g1/4-deep-black

 

https://www.inet.se/produkt/5320115/alphacool-eiszapfen-temperatursensor-g1-4-svart?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyemJvJqL2QIVDrftCh0TTATpEAQYASABEgLVWvD_BwE