Two seperate loops vs. One Loop

[Loch]

Hello everyone! I'm on today to ask about the benefits of having one loop or two loops. My main thing is half performance and half looks. They reason why I want to go liquid cooling is because my closed loop (Corsair H60 and Powercolor's own GPU closed loop) are slowly starting to go hot. I've done well maintenance and seems like in a span of several months, the temperatures have been going up slowly. I haven't overclocked cpu or gpu. For an example, CSGO used to run around 50C on high settings (gpu). CPU ran about 55C. After about 2.5 + years of owning both, the temperatures on the gpu have now risen to 80C?! I haven't changed any settings or noticed at differences after game updates or anything like that. Cpu is going up to 60-65C... So, yea I think I might need to upgrade cooling before I upgrade anything else. I've noticed temperature spikes on all game ... (duh). So, enough of that, here is the list. I am debating on whether to make a separate GPU and CPU loop, or just stick with one and upgrade another time. The reason I want to get separate loops is that I feel like the gpu might interfere with the cpu or visa versa. Unless someone knows from experience, please let me know if it's worth it! Yes, I would like all RGB! The list:

:One loop:

CPU Block: Ek-Supremacy EVO RBG Nickel

GPU Block: A gpu block I found on Ali Express. (My gpu which is the Powercolor Radeon r9-390x only has one full gpu block...) (yes, it's rgb)

Ram: Possible upgrade in the future. For now, I will use the RGB fan coolers (Corsair Dominator Platinum Airflow rgb led memory fan cooling).

HDD: Future possibility.

Pump: 1X Enermax NEOchanger ELC 400ml reservoir & pump

Radiator: 1X Thermaltake Pacfici CL-W010-ALOOBL-A DIY LCS 360mm

Fittings: Alphacool G1/4 3/8" (10mm) barbed fitting with O-ring "fatboy"- Black

Tubing: Primoflex advanced LRT Flexible Tubing- 3/8In.ID X 1/2in. OD- crystal clear

Liquid: Some cooling looking glow in the dark anti corrosion liquid I found on ebay.

Fans: More LEDess fans that I got from Amazon.

::::

For the two separate loops:

Adding: One more Enermax pump/ reservoir and one more 360mm Thermaltake Radiator.

::::

Other Items: USB hub from nzxt. Possible empty or drain valve for easy cleaning.

Thanks for reading this long post. I just wanted to know if one or two loops would work. Also, if there are anything I can improve on price wise or compatibility wise, please let me know. Thank you very much!

 

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

-SNIP-

First thing first for those selection of watercooling components I would not recommend to build a loop with them. Your mixing aluminum and both copper in the same loop which is not recommend since it's just asking for trouble, the Neochanger uses an aluminum cap and those thermaltake rads are also aluminium based.

 

As to answer the question vs one or two loop you will get more cooling potential by going with a single loop since you share the total rad space between all the heat generating components.

[Loch]

7 minutes ago, W-L said:

First thing first for those selection of watercooling components I would not recommend to build a loop with them. Your mixing aluminum and both copper in the same loop which is not recommend since it's just asking for trouble, the Neochanger uses an aluminum cap and those thermaltake rads are also aluminium based.

 

As to answer the question vs one or two loop you will get more cooling potential by going with a single loop since you share the total rad space between all the heat generating components.

Is see, is it the cpu block that's the copper based? If so, would an aluminum cpu block make it compatible? I know it's a stupid question, it's just that I've never done a custom liquid cool build and totally forgot about the issues of using copper and aluminum in one build.

[W-L]

Just now, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Is see, is it the cpu block that's the copper based? If so, would an aluminum cpu block make it compatible?

You have a fair number of copper (brass) based components, your CPU and GPU block would be the main concern, another the fittings. What is block that your looking at exactly? 

 

You would be much better to start off with getting good quality components to get going on the right foot, I would personally recommend to look into the P series kit from EKWB and to add in a compatible GPU block.

[Loch]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

You have a fair number of copper (brass) based components, your CPU and GPU block would be the main concern, another the fittings. What is block that your looking at exactly? 

 

You would be much better to start off with getting good quality components to get going on the right foot, I would personally recommend to look into the P series kit from EKWB and to add in a compatible GPU block.

So, I just found out that the Gpu block is copper (Bykski A-DL39X-X Full Cover VGA Water Cooling Block with RGB LED Light Kits for Powercolor R9 290 290X 390 390X Series). What I'll do is, I'll go back and make it an all copper based loop, since the gpu block is copper and the cpu block will be as well. The cpu block was a EK-superemacy EVO RBG Nickel, but that wouldn't work would it?

[IAnthonyFX]

1 minute ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

So, I just found out that the Gpu block is copper (Bykski A-DL39X-X Full Cover VGA Water Cooling Block with RGB LED Light Kits for Powercolor R9 290 290X 390 390X Series). What I'll do is, I'll go back and make it an all copper based loop, since the gpu block is copper and the cpu block will be as well. The cpu block was a EK-superemacy EVO RBG Nickel, but that wouldn't work would it?

have you though on a240g kit? it is much cheaper if you want to save some cash. You can use their gpu fittings to make it a hardline system if you wish. 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

So, I just found out that the Gpu block is copper (Bykski A-DL39X-X Full Cover VGA Water Cooling Block with RGB LED Light Kits for Powercolor R9 290 290X 390 390X Series). What I'll do is, I'll go back and make it an all copper based loop, since the gpu block is copper and the cpu block will be as well. The cpu block was a EK-superemacy EVO RBG Nickel, but that wouldn't work would it?

Nickel, copper and brass are all pretty compatible with each other, but you will want to get a decent quality fluid since the one from ebay has origins unknown. For a UV fluid Mayhems's X1 make a good selection of products. 

 

2 minutes ago, IAnthonyFX said:

have you though on a240g kit? it is much cheaper if you want to save some cash. You can use their gpu fittings to make it a hardline system if you wish. 

There isn't a block for the 390X other changing up the GPU itself. 

[IAnthonyFX]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

Nickel, copper and brass are all pretty compatible with each other, but you will want to get a decent quality fluid since the one from ebay has origins unknown. For a UV fluid Mayhems's X1 make a good selection of products. 

 

There isn't a block for the 390X other changing up the GPU itself. 

oh yes,I overlooked his gpu

[Loch]

3 minutes ago, W-L said:

Nickel, copper and brass are all pretty compatible with each other, but you will want to get a decent quality fluid since the one from ebay has origins unknown. For a UV fluid Mayhems's X1 make a good selection of products. 

 

There isn't a block for the 390X other changing up the GPU itself. 

Okay, cool. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it! I'm on the correct track now and I've gotten a good build together that has no copper - aluminum issue. The reason why I want to stay away from the pre-built or ready-to-go loops is that I want RGB's everywhere.

[Loch]

14 minutes ago, IAnthonyFX said:

have you though on a240g kit? it is much cheaper if you want to save some cash. You can use their gpu fittings to make it a hardline system if you wish. 

Yea, I have. It's just that I want RGB and a "cooler" looking loop.

[Bananasplit_00]

dont get EK blocks - not the best performing, mine came coroded, the plexi seems to want to crack. i am extremely unsattesfied with this pice of shit tbh

dont get shitty scetchy blocks - could be aluminium which would speed up corotion or it could leak and kill stuff. 

dont get scetch liquid - you have no idea if it will hold up or if it it will drop shit in your loop or maybe even eat your tubes.

 

good choice of tubing but im unsure about the quality of the fittings and i generally keep of Alphacool because they can be kinda dicks at times IMO. 

 

id recomend Heatkiller for blocks, the heatkiller IV pro is AFAIK the best performing CPU block on the market beating the like old as shit Supremacy evo by a coupple degrees and i love the Heatkiller IV GPU block i got for my 1080 because everything just felt higher quality than what i got from EK. I do really like the EK fittings for soft tubing and would recomend them even though i hear they are not the best, got black ones for my loop and i think they look really nice  

 

as for the separate loops thing, it can keep the parts cooler in some scenarios but i would personally take a single loop for convinience and space but dual loops can look awesome if you run diffrent colored fluids, like one pastel and one clear or just two diffrent colors of the same type.

[Enderman]

Separate loops will actually perform worse than a single loop.

If you only stress one component, CPU or GPU, then it will only get half of the available cooling.

It doesn't matter if the idle component gets hotter because it's in the same loop, there is no downside to having it get to 40 or 50C because the other component is running.

If both CPU and GPU go under load it would get the same temps as a single loop, assuming the cooling is well distributed.

Two loops are purely for aesthetics.

[Loch]

3 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

dont get EK blocks - not the best performing, mine came coroded, the plexi seems to want to crack. i am extremely unsattesfied with this pice of shit tbh

dont get shitty scetchy blocks - could be aluminium which would speed up corotion or it could leak and kill stuff. 

dont get scetch liquid - you have no idea if it will hold up or if it it will drop shit in your loop or maybe even eat your tubes.

 

good choice of tubing but im unsure about the quality of the fittings and i generally keep of Alphacool because they can be kinda dicks at times IMO. 

 

id recomend Heatkiller for blocks, the heatkiller IV pro is AFAIK the best performing CPU block on the market beating the like old as shit Supremacy evo by a coupple degrees and i love the Heatkiller IV GPU block i got for my 1080 because everything just felt higher quality than what i got from EK. I do really like the EK fittings for soft tubing and would recomend them even though i hear they are not the best, got black ones for my loop and i think they look really nice  

 

as for the separate loops thing, it can keep the parts cooler in some scenarios but i would personally take a single loop for convinience and space but dual loops can look awesome if you run diffrent colored fluids, like one pastel and one clear or just two diffrent colors of the same type.

I see what you're saying. A couple of degrees isn't a big issue for me, plus I want RGB everywhere since that's the new fad. I decided Mayhems X1 due to the overall things that people of said about it. I'll make sure to not mix aluminum and copper.

[Loch]

3 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Separate loops will actually perform worse than a single loop.

If you only stress one component, CPU or GPU, then it will only get half of the available cooling.

It doesn't matter if the idle component gets hotter because it's in the same loop, there is no downside to having it get to 40 or 50C because the other component is running.

If both CPU and GPU go under load it would get the same temps as a single loop, assuming the cooling is well distributed.

Two loops are purely for aesthetics.

Ah, I see.

[Loch]

Also, are there any copper pump/reservoir combos with led lighting? I can't seem to find one. Like I see aluminum housing ones (thermaltake Pacfici DIY LCS PR22 D5).

[Bananasplit_00]

3 minutes ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

I see what you're saying. A couple of degrees isn't a big issue for me, plus I want RGB everywhere since that's the new fad. I decided Mayhems X1 due to the overall things that people of said about it. I'll make sure to not mix aluminum and copper.

if you really want RGB blocks then Phanteks makes blocks with RGB LEDs intergrated in them that are pretty good if you dont want to just max performance.

 

[Loch]

Th

2 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

if you really want RGB blocks then Phanteks makes blocks with RGB LEDs intergrated in them that are pretty good if you dont want to just max performance.

 

Oh, thanks. I already have a RGB CPU block, it's just I can't seem to find a pump/reservoir combo allowing RGB Leds.

[Bananasplit_00]

2 minutes ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Th

Oh, thanks. I already have a RGB CPU block, it's just I can't seem to find a pump/reservoir combo allowing RGB Leds.

you could get a separate small strip of RGB LEDs and stick it behind it maybe?

 

 

*edit*

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-rgb-pwm-incl-sl-pump

 

ek sells RGB reservoirs it seems and so do several others

[Loch]

3 minutes ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

you could get a separate small strip of RGB LEDs and stick it behind it maybe?

 

 

*edit*

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-rgb-pwm-incl-sl-pump

 

ek sells RGB reservoirs it seems and so do several others

Eh, I can, but I can't find an single pump/reservoir combo that is copper based and looks somewhat good.

[Bananasplit_00]

1 minute ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Eh, I can, but I can't find an single pump/reservoir combo that is copper based and looks somewhat good.

why do you want a copper based pump/res? is that even a thinng? almost all pumps are 90% plastic and reservoirs are generally acetal/acrylic sometimes with anodies aluminium holders

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Eh, I can, but I can't find an single pump/reservoir combo that is copper based and looks somewhat good.

The EKWB one will not have any compatibility issues with the loop, the main problem with the neochanger unit was the aluminium top cap. 

[Loch]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

why do you want a copper based pump/res? is that even a thinng? almost all pumps are 90% plastic and reservoirs are generally acetal/acrylic sometimes with anodies aluminium holders

Oh, sorry. I have no knowledge about what pumps are made from. Would this work with an all copper build? Thermaltake Pacific DIY LCS PR22-D5 5-Speed Adjustable D5 Pump/Reservoir Combo 3-Port G 1/4" Thread Tt LCS Certified POM PMMA CL-W082-PL00BL-A

[Bananasplit_00]

2 minutes ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Oh, sorry. I have no knowledge about what pumps are made from. Would this work with an all copper build? Thermaltake Pacific DIY LCS PR22-D5 5-Speed Adjustable D5 Pump/Reservoir Combo 3-Port G 1/4" Thread Tt LCS Certified POM PMMA CL-W082-PL00BL-A

yah that should be no problem, pumps you can generally just go with anything from a major brand, would not buy Thermaltake as they have a pretty shitty trackrecord with their watercooling stuff(and stuff in generall really beyond cases) leaking

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Oh, sorry. I have no knowledge about what pumps are made from. Would this work with an all copper build? Thermaltake Pacific DIY LCS PR22-D5 5-Speed Adjustable D5 Pump/Reservoir Combo 3-Port G 1/4" Thread Tt LCS Certified POM PMMA CL-W082-PL00BL-A

That will work perfectly fine, the pump top is stainless steel and the rest of the construction is acrylic and delrin (POM)

[Loch]

8 minutes ago, W-L said:

That will work perfectly fine, the pump top is stainless steel and the rest of the construction is acrylic and delrin (POM)

Cool, thanks W-L for all the help!