What is the best coolant?

[CyberFern0]

I’m under the impression that EK-Cryofuel is the best coolant, and I would go for it, if only it had a white one like Primochill, which I would’ve gotten if the reviews were good.

[Crunchy Dragon]

I've heard good things about plain old fashioned distilled water.

[W-L]

Just now, CyberFern0 said:

I’m under the impression that EK-Cryofuel is the best coolant, and I would go for it, if only it had a white one like Primochill, which I would’ve gotten if the reviews were good.

Transparent coolants tend to be the most reliable long term, Cryofuel and Mayhems X1 are both I would recommend if you are looking for a opaque fluid Mayhems Pastel or my personal favorite Ice Dragons would be your best options. 

[Godlygamer23]

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I've heard good things about plain old fashioned distilled water.

I mean, we use it in cars, and them engines produce tons of heat.  

[CyberFern0]

20 minutes ago, W-L said:

Transparent coolants tend to be the most reliable long term, Cryofuel and Mayhems X1 are both I would recommend if you are looking for a opaque fluid Mayhems Pastel or my personal favorite Ice Dragons would be your best options. 

What do you use?

[CyberFern0]

 

Also, Mayhems Pastel has horrible reviews on Amazon.

 

Edit: Wrong person

[CyberFern0]

21 minutes ago, W-L said:

Transparent coolants tend to be the most reliable long term, Cryofuel and Mayhems X1 are both I would recommend if you are looking for a opaque fluid Mayhems Pastel or my personal favorite Ice Dragons would be your best options. 

Also, Mayhem’s Pastel has horrible reviews.

[Enderman]

Cryofuel is rebranded mayhems coolant, which is tried and true.

So yeah, go with EK or mayhems.

Clear fluid is best.

 

28 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I've heard good things about plain old fashioned distilled water.

The problem with distilled water is that even though it is deionised when you buy it, it picks up ions over time from the metals in the loop causing it to become conductive and corrosive. It also grows stuff.

The solution to corrosion is to add an anticorrosive additive.

The solution to growing stuff is a silver kill coil, but that will cause reactions with other metals.

The other solution is a biocide, but that can react with the anticorrosive and cause many bad things to happen.

 

It is far more reliable to simply buy a premixed fluid or concentrate specifically made for PC watercooling because they contain both anticorrosives and biocide, and have been tested in a lab to make sure no reactions or precipitates happen.

 

If you use just distilled water, you will have to clean out your loops every 6 months like linus has to do, and even then you get build up in the blocks and damage to the metal platings.

If you use a premixed fluid, like singularitycomputers does, it lasts years without any maintenance.

He's had client builds come back after like 8 years for upgrades and they only required some cleaning, no damage to the blocks.

[W-L]

Just now, CyberFern0 said:

What do you use?

I've use both Pastel and Ice Dragon's which is the original marker of Pastel's. Your always going to see more negative reviews than positive if someone has a problem but like with all applications you will always have outliers. In general pastel has been fairly good with proper prep and cleaning, I've run it without issue for a good few years now. My preference has gone towards Ice Dragon's fluid though as I notice their fluid is much more heavily pigmented and opaque compared to Mayhems. 

[CyberFern0]

3 minutes ago, W-L said:

I've use both Pastel and Ice Dragon's which is the original marker of Pastel's. Your always going to see more negative reviews than positive if someone has a problem but like with all applications you will always have outliers. In general pastel has been fairly good with proper prep and cleaning, I've run it without issue for a good few years now. My preference has gone towards Ice Dragon's fluid though as I notice their fluid is much more heavily pigmented and opaque compared to Mayhems. 

Does the Ice Dragon fluid have better performance than the Pastel?

[W-L]

Just now, CyberFern0 said:

Does the Ice Dragon fluid have better performance than the Pastel?

With watercooling fluids you will see very little difference in performance, the pastel both Mayhems and Ice Dragon series being a nanofluid is suppose to help marginally, a few degrees from what testing they've shown.

[CyberFern0]

Just now, W-L said:

With watercooling fluids you will see very little difference in performance, the pastel both Mayhems and Ice Dragon series being a nanofluid is suppose to help marginally, a few degrees from what testing they've shown.

Is one easier to maintain then the other?

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, CyberFern0 said:

Is one easier to maintain then the other?

They're essentially the same, you still should be doing maintenance like any other fluid and change it every 12 months max and take apart the loop if there is slight build up.

 

I've pushed a limit of that just to see what happens before with both. Currently I've ran some Ice Dragon fluid for over 16 months, no clogging issue but slight discoloration as I've seen occur before from the fluid aging usually from copper oxidization. 

[CyberFern0]

21 minutes ago, W-L said:

They're essentially the same, you still should be doing maintenance like any other fluid and change it every 12 months max and take apart the loop if there is slight build up.

 

I've pushed a limit of that just to see what happens before with both. Currently I've ran some Ice Dragon fluid for over 16 months, no clogging issue but slight discoloration as I've seen occur before from the fluid aging usually from copper oxidization. 

Do you still use Ice Dragon?

[W-L]

1 minute ago, CyberFern0 said:

Do you still use Ice Dragon?

Yes that's what's been running long term currently, mind you I don't recommend to run it this long I'm just doing this as a trial thing to see how far I can push things. 

[CyberFern0]

Just now, W-L said:

Yes that's what's been running long term currently, mind you I don't recommend to run it this long I'm just doing this as a trial thing to see how far I can push things. 

Can you send me a few pictures if possible, as I haven’t been able to find it on the web. Thanks.

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, CyberFern0 said:

Can you send me a few pictures if possible, as I haven’t been able to find it on the web. Thanks.

This would be the stuff:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/ice-dragon-cooling-nanofluid-coolant-concentate-250ml.html

 

As for a photo of it in action this would be when I first filled my loop, end of 2016 beginning of 2017.

Spoiler

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by W-L

[CyberFern0]

9 hours ago, W-L said:

This would be the stuff:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/ice-dragon-cooling-nanofluid-coolant-concentate-250ml.html

 

As for a photo of it in action this would be when I first filled my loop, end of 2016 beginning of 2017.

  Hide contents

 

Do you recommend 1 liter or 2 liters for a Tower 900 build?

[W-L]

26 minutes ago, CyberFern0 said:

Do you recommend 1 liter or 2 liters for a Tower 900 build?

Depends on the components in the loop but that is a somewhat large case so I would recommend 2L just to be safe, wouldn’t want to run short. 

[AngryBeaver]

From my own testing there is a little gem that most people don't know about. It is called "Blinker Fluid." You can find it at pretty much any auto parts store, just make sure you ask for it at the desk as they usually keep it in the back. It has great thermal properties, will protect your components from corrosion, prevent any algae build up and in general gives you the best temps you could expect out of any coolant.

 

Just remember to ask the guy at the parts counter for some "Blinker Fluid."

[ReaperIsRollen]

Really depends on how much maintenance your willing to put up with. As in every ____ months you have to drain and refill it in order to prevent problems. Pastels are notorious for staining, clogging, and separating in about a month (worst case). Those pretty show builds are not designed to be used months on end like normal PCs. Most colored coolants last a couple of months but can degrade faster then advertised (again worst case).

 

The most surefire/laziest method (the one I personally used), build your loop with only copper interior components, use fresh distilled water, and a 7 buck silver kill coil from amazon. If ya want color, buy good quality color tubes. That's it. My personal computer has run the same water for 4 years straight, not a speck of corrosion, gunk, or even dirt really, just a metallic smell. I eventually drained it since I bought the distilled water anyway, and the loop was removed from the system for dust removal anyway. 

[Ace McPlane]

17 hours ago, CyberFern0 said:

I’m under the impression that EK-Cryofuel is the best coolant, and I would go for it, if only it had a white one like Primochill, which I would’ve gotten if the reviews were good.

Distilled water is the best coolant in terms of performance.

Fancy coolants are really more about aesthetics than anything.

My preference is distilled water with some mayhem dye for colour and a few drops of PT nuke or some silver added to the loop as a biocide.

[AnonymousGuy]

Mayhem X1 Clear.   Or possibly EK Cryofuel although it is no longer rebranded X1 as someone said earlier in  the thread.  I've run X1 Clear in 5 systems now with some of them going 3 years with no maintenance.

 

Anything with "nano particles" is going to clog up blocks or build up in the loop or settle or whatever the fuck.  Just don't bother.

 

Water with PT Nuke will corrode everything, silver will not play nice with nickel plating.