Help me build my first custom loop

Hello all,

As the title states I need help with choosing components for my first custom water cooling adventure. I have done some extensive research but still have some questions that were left unanswered on other forums, so I decided to make a thread for it all and see what the wonderful community here can come up with.

Now the aim for the build is performance while still being silent (or as close as possible without sacrificing too much cooling power).
With that in mind I have chosen the following components:

Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 purchased
Intel i7 6700k processor purchased
Asus Formula VIII Z170 RGB Motherboard purchased
Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB kit (4x8GB) @ 3200mhz DDR4 memory purchased
Samsung 950 Pro 512GB M.2 SSD purchased
Samsung 850 Evo 1TB SSD purchased
EVGA Supernova 1000 P2 power supply purchased
2x EVGA GTX 1080 FE purchased

The water cooling components that I have chosen so far are:

Pump/Res:
Pump: EK Water Blocks EK-D5 PWM G2 Motor (12V DC PWM Pump Motor)
Pump Top: Bitspower D5 / MCP655 Mod Kit V2 - Black Sparkle Finish
Pump Top: Bitspower D5 MOD TOP Clear "S"
Res: Bitspower Dual / Single D5 Top Upgrade Kit 250 (Clear Acrylic Cap)
Res Accessories: Bitspower Z-CAP II With G1/4" x 3 (Clear Acrylic Version), Bitspower G1/4" Black Sparkle Aqua-Pipe II
Coolant: Mayhems Pastel Blue Berry

Blocks:
EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy EVO - Acetal + Nickel CSQ purchased
GPU Blocks - EK GTX 1080


Radiators/Fans:
HWLabs Nemesis GTS 420 purchased
3x NB BlackSilentPro 140mm PK-PS PWM Fans purchased

HWLabs Nemesis GTX 360 purchased
3x NB BlackSilentPro 120mm PL-PS PWM Fans purchased

Fittings/Tubing:
4x Bitspower None Chamfer Crystal Link Tube OD 16MM - Length 1000mm - Clear - BP-NCCLT16AC-L1000
20x Bitspower G1/4 Enhance Multi-Link For OD 16MM - Black Sparkle - BP-BSEML16
Other varios 90 degree fittings from Bitspower in Black Sparkle


- iiNNeX

Sounds like you have done some decent research and everything you have picked out seems fine to me.

Personally I would keep things simple for a first build.

Check all your parts air-cooled outside of the case before building.

One disadvantage of hard tubing is that you can't leak test then fit your components.. So take your time and leak test carefully. Make sure you really understand how the fittings work and how tight they should be.

Have you thought about how you are going to fill and drain the loop. A propper drain port is well worth it.

Holst1981 said:

Sounds like you have done some decent research and everything you have picked out seems fine to me.

Personally I would keep things simple for a first build.

Check all your parts air-cooled outside of the case before building.

One disadvantage of hard tubing is that you can't leak test then fit your components.. So take your time and leak test carefully. Make sure you really understand how the fittings work and how tight they should be.

Have you thought about how you are going to fill and drain the loop. A propper drain port is well worth it.

Click to expand...

Thank you for taking the time to respond mate.

I have already tested all parts using a 212 Evo for cpu cooling and all work well. I ll test the 1080 when I get it too before stripping it for the block.

And yes I agree, it's why I will try to be really careful and invest in high quality rigid compression fittings with preferably double o rings to further prevent leakage.

edit: Oops missed the part about a drain port. Yes I have thought about doing one.

Drainage system:
- Q fitting with blocked off ends
- bitspower minivalve with male to male fitting with blocked off ends
And then some soft tube laying around for the times I ll need it. I ll try to do the drainage at the lowest point in the system (probably the front rad, at the bottom right)

Personally I think and reviews agree the hardware labs black ice nemesis are the best low fan rpm rads but they are annoying wide and don't fit all cases as I found out today when I have to swap one of mine for a different make grrrr.

Honestly there will perhaps be a degree difference so doesn't honestly matter so long as you have enough rads.

Oh and ditto on the drain port. My last two builds didn't have one and it's annoying and messing to drain your system.

And lastly a lot of people esp first timers find Petg tube much easier to work with than acrylic. A lot more forgiveness if you don't quite get things right length plus easier to cut and work with. Added bonus is that it is cheaper too.

Greebo said:

Personally I think and reviews agree the hardware labs black ice nemesis are the best low fan rpm rads but they are annoying wide and don't fit all cases as I found out today when I have to swap one of mine for a different make grrrr.

Honestly there will perhaps be a degree difference so doesn't honestly matter so long as you have enough rads.

Oh and ditto on the drain port. My last two builds didn't have one and it's annoying and messing to drain your system.

Click to expand...

Don't they have that odd texture to them though? I would ideally prefer a flat black look which their SR2 MP radiator offers. But it is pricier than the Nemesis GTS and GTX range.

Go 420 rads over the 360. Bigger is better and like you said there are a great choice of 140 fans now. I went with vardar er fans as from the reviews I have read they are the king of low speed fans, run as low as 280 rpm.

Greebo said:

Go 420 rads over the 360. Bigger is better and like you said there are a great choice of 140 fans now. I went with vardar er fans as from the reviews I have read they are the king of low speed fans, run as low as 280 rpm.

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Yeah that's what I thought as well, and wow really? I knew they go pretty low but wasn't sure what their performance to noise ratio really was at that point. I plan on running fans as fast as possible as long as they don't exceed 20db, which only NoiseBlocker seem to be able to do. At 1400rpm they are 20.5db. So at something like 600-800 they will be virtually silent.

On top of that the case has epic sound deadening from the reviews I watched.

iiNNeX said:

Don't they have that odd texture to them though? I would ideally prefer a flat black look which their SR2 MP radiator offers. But it is pricier than the Nemesis GTS and GTX range.

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I thought they did too until my brand new ones arrived yesterday. They are smooth now. But much wider than the normal rads. My 120 rads are 133mm and the 140 are 155mm so can be a massive pain in a lot of cases.

Nothing wrong with your choice though and if going overkill on number and size of rads there will be little cooling difference.

Mines a similar system to yours and I've got a 420, a 360 (after the 420 wouldn't fit) and a 280 rad. I like the fact that for surfing with you cup and 1080 they will be enough cooling to work with the fans off. Silence is bliss

iiNNeX said:

Yeah that's what I thought as well, and wow really? I knew they go pretty low but wasn't sure what their performance to noise ratio really was at that point. I plan on running fans as fast as possible as long as they don't exceed 20db, which only NoiseBlocker seem to be able to do. At 1400rpm they are 20.5db. So at something like 600-800 they will be virtually silent.

On top of that the case has epic sound deadening from the reviews I watched.

Click to expand...

Check reviews on fans, don't ever go by manufacturers listed db. I'm not saying the noise lockers will be noisy but manufacturers lie ( eg sound measured from different distances etc) there is no legal standard. I have had vardar before and they shift a lot of air for minimal noise.

I always rate this website for their fan and radiator http://thermalbench.com/category/fans/

Really review here http://thermalbench.com/2015/06/29/ek-vardar-f4-120er-120mm-fan/3/

Greebo said:

I thought they did too until my brand new ones arrived yesterday. They are smooth now. But much wider than the normal rads. My 120 rads are 133mm and the 140 are 155mm so can be a massive pain in a lot of cases.

Nothing wrong with your choice though and if going overkill on number and size of rads there will be little cooling difference.

Mines a similar system to yours and I've got a 420, a 360 (after the 420 wouldn't fit) and a 280 rad. I like the fact that for surfing with you cup and 1080 they will be enough cooling to work with the fans off. Silence is bliss

Click to expand...

Oh right I see, do you have the GTX or the GTS? And wow that 15mm extra might be a deal breaker for a lot of people who are tight on space :/

The case arrives on Monday so I will take better measurements then and see what will actually fit. But yes in that case (no pun intended), 2x 420mm and 1x 280mm should do nicely in this system, and won't break a sweat even if i add another gpu later

Greebo said:

Check reviews on fans, don't ever go by manufacturers listed db. I'm not saying the noise lockers will be noisy but manufacturers lie ( eg sound measured from different distances etc) there is no legal standard. I have had vardar before and they shift a lot of air for minimal noise.

I always rate this website for their fan and radiator http://thermalbench.com/category/fans/

Really review here http://thermalbench.com/2015/06/29/ek-vardar-f4-120er-120mm-fan/3/

Click to expand...

Thank you for that site, I have visited it before and totally forgot about it. I will have a look on there

The Noiseblockers were recommended by a youtube channel I follow called Singularity Computers. Dude does a lot of extremely high end builds and seems to use those fans a lot unless the client specifies otherwise, hence my preference. I've always had Noctua fans before.

A mix, the 420 and 360 are gtx and the 280 is a gts.

And yeah the width is a massive pain. Like I said I've had to swap the 360 for another make as its 1mm too wide shame. I thought about taking the angle grinder to it but thought twice lol.

Like I said, noctua are great fans and prior to vardar I used them all the time. I like that vardar will spin at 200 rpm though where's the noctuna won't start to spin till 580/600. At 200 you definitely can't hear them. That was the only reason I swapped brands to be honest

Just noticed in that fan review that there is nothing really to choose betwen the five fans he reviewed including the noctua except the vardars go lower rpm and shift more air at the same rpm as the noctua but more air meant more measured noise.

Go with what suits your colour scheme

Greebo said:

A mix, the 420 and 360 are gtx and the 280 is a gts.

And yeah the width is a massive pain. Like I said I've had to swap the 360 for another make as its 1mm too wide shame. I thought about taking the angle grinder to it but thought twice lol.

Like I said, noctua are great fans and prior to vardar I used them all the time. I like that vardar will spin at 200 rpm though where's the noctuna won't start to spin till 580/600. At 200 you definitely can't hear them. That was the only reason I swapped brands to be honest

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I take it the only difference between the GTX and GTS is the thickness?

Greebo said:

Just noticed in that fan review that there is nothing really to choose betwen the five fans he reviewed including the noctua except the vardars go lower rpm and shift more air at the same rpm as the noctua but more air meant more measured noise.

Go with what suits your colour scheme

Click to expand...

Yeah it's usually the case, the 120mm fans are a bit more competitive but still won't make more than a degree of difference when choosing between premium fans at low rpm.

Before I order any rads I ll wait to measure the case, as ideally I want all 3 big rads I mentioned earlier from HWLabs, but if they don't fit then EK will have to do.

Yeah GTX is thick and GTS is thin.

And yes always a good idea to measure the case before ordering. Unfortunately for me my rads came before my case lol

Greebo said:

Yeah GTX is thick and GTS is thin.

And yes always a good idea to measure the case before ordering. Unfortunately for me my rads came before my case lol

Click to expand...

Have you got any idea why OCUK doesn't stock almost anything water cooling wise?

Like going onto the Rotary and Extension section, everything on the first page says "Sorry this product is not available anymore" :/

To be honest not many other sites seem to stock a good selection of Bitspower parts, and I don't just mean fittings. Might have to make an order from the US and get it shipped here at this rate.

edit: NVM my search result put me in the archive section instead... Found a few more parts but still not as many as US sites seem to stock. Hmm. Might have to convert to a different pump top, like the MOD TOP-S from Bitspower as I can't find the extreme anywhere.

Well I seem to be a bit stuck already... So after watching so many videos on youtube of trusted tech youtubers who show build logs of various hardline systems I have picked a parts list. That is the same one that you can see above in my OP.

The problem is that half the stuff isn't available anywhere in the UK market.

I was able to find the pump and the bitspower pump mod kit (in black), however when I looked for the pump top it doesn't exist. The only sites I found it in are US sites, and again the youtubers I watch are from either the US or Australia.

So I thought ok well it can't be that bad I ll have a look for the other items and perhaps order this one item from the US.

Well the fittings are another problem I came across. After some consideration I decided to go all out on Bitspower only fittings of various types, but sadly the few bitspower fittings we do have on most popular UK sites are almost of no use to me. For one they are not stocked in many colours and two there are a lot missing (extension fittings, rotary fittings and so on). Even most 90 degree bitspower multi link fittings were out of stock lol

Managed to find the res but then couldn't source the aqua-pipe... and just in general headaches like that. Looking at most people's builds in the UK they seem to be primarily using EK, and especially the pump/res combos they do. As much as I like some of them, it is way too overused and I really do prefer the look of bitspower products (apart from CPU and GPU blocks, which EK does do best in).

So I think it's come down to either sourcing half my loop's parts from the US and paying the whatever import fee % is, or change out to mostly EK/Primochill stuff.

I had the same problem with my build. I've gone primo chill Petg but I already have a d5 so sticking with that. Most of the main bits are Aqua computer stuff including a lovely glass reservoir which lights up and you can get adaptor a so it connects to d5 and Dec and their own pump.

But even then, to buy all the items I wanted I ended up buying from.4 sites including a German site for the more specialist Aqua computer accessories. Most uk stockists will have a few items but never the whole massive range. Shame.

Greebo said:

I had the same problem with my build. I've gone primo chill Petg but I already have a d5 so sticking with that. Most of the main bits are Aqua computer stuff including a lovely glass reservoir which lights up and you can get adaptor a so it connects to d5 and Dec and their own pump.

But even then, to buy all the items I wanted I ended up buying from.4 sites including a German site for the more specialist Aqua computer accessories. Most uk stockists will have a few items but never the whole massive range. Shame.

Click to expand...

Thank god I'm not the only one haha. Almost got to the point where I was considering soft tubing just because of the 4x the amount of fittings available in the UK...

Right so I had a chat with Bitspower Taiwan directly and also found a Dutch site which seems to have most of what I need. The import fees are nowhere as bad as I thought so I ll just grab the stuff I do not have here from them, and might as well source all the fittings too as they actually workout slightly cheaper after putting 20-30 fittings in the basket. Again as you said most UK sites only seem to stock a few of each type and it's quite hard to order a system's full of fittings from 1 place, let alone all WC components lol.

I told the Bitspower rep that I will wait till tomorrow before I send him the list of items for a final quote because I need to measure the case and see ideally how many fittings I'll actually need. I will try to bend the tube as much as I can to minimize cost but still, a few 90 degrees will probably be present somewhere. Especially around radiators and the pump/res.

I ll keep this thread updated with any progress.

Because of the difficulties in finding stock ive ended up ordering extra fittins and for some reason I have 7m of tubing

Total spend on water bits so far is £700 :O

I best make a good job of the build.