Watercooling loop in a Lian-Li DK-Q2 "desk" case

Hi guys. I'm about to attempt my first watercooling setup in a slightly unconventional case! I have the DK-Q2 and as such my setup will be all horizontal. Here is a picture of the case. The tray which houses all of the components pulls out. There is a certain amount of space around the outside of it where the cooling components could be located. the vertical clearance is 14cm from the base to the top of the case.


I already have a Corsair H100i which I could use for the CPU, but I need to put the GPUs under water ideally because of their proximity to each other and to get the best from them.

Do you guys think I should just build one large loop to include the CPU and two GPUs or stick with the H100i and a separate loop for the Titans? Any advice and product recommendations gratefully received!

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Ill give him a little hand there

With that level of case and hardware it deserves a nice custom loop. Can you fit rads behind those fans on the left and right?

I run a single loop with a overclocked 4790k and 2 780ti's on 2 240mm rads so i imagine you will be fine with 2 360mm or even 480mm rads.

Thanks Bio, not sure what I did wrong there!

@Samsung, yes there is enough clearance to fit 480mm rads behind left and right and also removable panels at the rear of the case which would mean room for another 480mm rad.

You would have more than enough cooling to allow you to run your fans nice and low.

Do you have any recommendations for a good pump/reservoir which would be powerful enough to run the system? Bearing in mind that I'm limited to a max height of 14cm inside the case unless I wanted to run the reservoir outside of it which wouldn't be ideal. Are there such things as horizontal reservoirs?

A d5 would be fine and there are some nice tops. The reservoir horizontal is also fine as long as the the outlet is below the water level.

Make sure to consider how you are going to fill and drain your system when you design it!

Be interesting to see how this progresses as I am thinking of going this route myself. I would be ditching my lovely caselabs though, but could have a desk and pc all in one - which appeals.

Mark

minicle said:

A d5 would be fine and there are some nice tops. The reservoir horizontal is also fine as long as the the outlet is below the water level.

Make sure to consider how you are going to fill and drain your system when you design it!

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The filling/draining was what I was slightly worried about if I just turned a reservoir which was designed to be vertical on its side. I should probably rephrase slightly and ask whether there are any reservoirs or reservoir/pump combos which have been designed to have a more horizontal orientation?

tipes said:

Be interesting to see how this progresses as I am thinking of going this route myself. I would be ditching my lovely caselabs though, but could have a desk and pc all in one - which appeals.

Mark

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I'd be happy to keep this thread updated or create a build log for you Mark. Please bear in mind that I'm a total newbie when it comes to water cooling, so it probably won't be the best you've ever seen, but it might give you a decent idea about what's involved!

You could try the new Monsoon modular res and place one of these between 2 shorter tubes. Would give you 2 ports half way along a horizontal reservoir.

Mark_D said:

I'd be happy to keep this thread updated or create a build log for you Mark. Please bear in mind that I'm a total newbie when it comes to water cooling, so it probably won't be the best you've ever seen, but it might give you a decent idea about what's involved!

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Many thanks buddy. if you need any help or advice re the watercooling give me a shout, would be glad to help as others here are.

Mark

24 hour leak testing finished successfully. Turning it on for the first time was scary!



This has been by FAR the hardest build I have ever done because of the added complications of my first ever custom loop and the unusual dimensions of the case. I hope it pays off

More pics and updates to follow.

Subbed.

Looking good!

I like the colour

That sideways res actually looks kind of cool, I like it

Thanks a lot

That T fitting you can see in the foreground is leading to a tap fitting with a length of spare tubing tucked away which I can trail outside of the case for draining. The desk doesn't exactly lend itself to being easily manoeuvred!

Mark_D said:

Thanks a lot

That T fitting you can see in the foreground is leading to a tap fitting with a length of spare tubing tucked away which I can trail outside of the case for draining. The desk doesn't exactly lend itself to being easily manoeuvred!

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I bet! Have you thought about multiple drain points to make sure you get all of the coolant out?

Yes definitely, but that's a job for when I next do some maintenance on the loop. Ideally I'd like to have something in all four corners so I can just lift the desk slightly in each direction to make sure I get everything out. The back of the case has a hole in each corner for rubber grommets for cables so the rear will be easy. I think I might have to go Dremel crazy for the front corners and buy some extra grommets when the time comes!

Here's a few more random pics of various stages of the build.

This is the rear of the case where you can see four removable plates. I HAD hoped that I'd be able to mount a 480mm rad there and had based my original case layout on that.



When the time came to try it out though you can see that it wasn't even close to lining up!