My first attempt.

Hi all.

I'm about to take delivery of my new EVGA DG-87 case and will do my first watercooling build in it.

To start with it will just be the CPU (i5-6600K) but this will expand to the motherboard (If applicable, waiting for 200 chipset) and eventually GPU.

The colour theme will be a deep blue with red accents.

So with that said I have been looking at the XSPC RayStorm Pro Photon D5 AX360 WaterCooling Kit mainly because the blue glow caught my eye out of all the kits and will go with my theme.

First is this a good kit and do you recommend it?

Ideally I would have liked a 420mm radiator but none of the kits seem to have that size.

It has to be AX (Maybe EX) as it need to be around 40mm thick.

Ideally I would like to stick to around £285-£300 but bear in mind I have absolutely nothing, no tubes, fittings, coolant e.t.c

If the XSPC RayStorm Pro Photon kit is there anything else you would recommend I get? I know I need coolant but anything else?

If not the kit, any recommendations that comes in at a similar price (Must be tube res)? I've tried the configurator here but it keeps coming out way too expensive.

Thanks

Kate.

Are you prepared to build a custom loop? Your budget would cover a loop for your cpu and you could always add to it?

Edit, actually no you would probably be a bit over budget. Ignore.

A custom loop is exactly what I am intending to build, it's just whether I go with a kit, specifically the XSPC RayStorm Pro Photon D5 AX360 WaterCooling Kit or individual pieces.

Thanks.

If you like the look of the parts in that kit then why not. I cant say ive seen any 420 rads in a kit as they are not that popular as so large.

I have two of their AX240 rads in my system and the quality seems good.

Both EK and XSPC or even Aphacool make some good quality bits.

The EK kits are pretty good and well within your budget. They come with everything you need.

Prices go up when you want to add extra components to the loop like GPU and motherboard or get a bit more crazy on the pump/res/rad front.

Coolant is cheap - so don't go with the colour of the kit to make your decision and I would pick EK over XSPC as I think they have a slightly better build quality. But XSPC are still good.

Perhaps if you stretched your budget a little, you could do something like this to give you a 420mm rad:

EK Supremacy EVO CSQ = £52
EK EK-D5 XRES 140 (pump and res) = £112
Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTX 420mm = £115
3m 13/10mm hose = £15
Blue coolant = £8
Moonsoon Black Chrome compression fittings = £30

Total = £332

Not including fans.

That combo will give you a cooling capacity far beyond the custom kits available. You could add a single gpu and motherboard into the loop with only a few more fittings and fresh coolant on top of the block cost as the radiator is especially efficient.

That small increase in upfront cost can save you money in the long run by being able to add more components or just generally improve your cooling capacity by a large amount.

Thank you.

I have considered EK as I know they are very popular here but as I have this massive window on my new case that's been designed to be the front I keep edging towards the Photon setup with the led's in both the reservoir and waterblock that can also be easily replaced with different colours.

I guess if I do get the kit there is nothing to stop me getting a second radiator later on to add to the loop if the AX360 isn't cutting it but for a single CPU first time setup it should do me for now.

So if I get the XSPC RayStorm Pro Photon D5 AX360 is there anything else I should consider getting?

Thanks guys.

Kate.

I'm about to hit buy on the XSPC RayStorm Pro Photon D5 AX360, before I do:

Is there anything else I should add to the kit, extra fittings, tubing e.t.c

Coolant. How much do I need? Which brand do I choose? Additives? Silver Coils? How many? e.t.c

I would prefer clear tubing with clear coolant. The case itself will have quite a lot of lighting, LED strips, graphics card, sound card, water block, reservoir, fans so I don't think I need coloured coolant, maybe clear reactive though (UV?)

Initially I am only going to cool an i5-6600K.

Any suggestion you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Kate.

Just had a quick look at the kit:

1. Have you got enough tubing, that case is massive is it not? 2m Is probably enough but you will have more flex in your route if you have a bit more and its cheap to add a few meteres.
2. There's some pretty cheap tube cutting tools on the site, using a knife is a bit annoying i'm told but not tried myself.
3. Coolant you wont need too much as you only have one rad and that res to fill so a few litres should do it, brand i'm not so fussed and I would suggest a ready mixed fluid so no need for kill coils etc

Thank you.

1, With the hose. The kit comes with 2 Meters of Clear 7/16? Hose. looking at 7/16 XSPC hose brings up this XSPC HighFlex Hose 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD, 15.9/11.1mm, 2m, Clear.

Is that the correct size as the kit doesn't specify whether the 7/16 is inner or outer diameter.

2, Thanks, I'll get one.

3, Would simple distilled water and a biocide be recommended over say a pre mixed fluid? e.g Mayhems Ultra Pure H2O 5Ltr + Mayhems Biocide Extreme?

Thanks again.

Just grab some distilled water from the petrol station and buy either the biocide or a silver kill coil. My system uses less than 1 litre so 2 litres will be fine allowing you to flush your radiators.

Excellent, Thank you.

Oh and is that hose the right size?

I am afraid I get very confused with the tubing side of things so I wont offer advice.

Totally agree with Samsung thou, go the distilled water route and a kill coil and it means you can make sure to flush your rads and change it as and when you wish to for little cost.

Otherwise I think your good to go

So kill coil over the biocide?

And how many coils? The mayhems one sold here states "We recommend you use one coil per ½ a Ltr of water. So two coils for 1 Ltr of water" 2,3,4?

And yes that hose is annoying, it's all that's holding me up really from pressing buy.

I decided to get 2 kill coils and no biocide.

I hope I made the right decision.

Thanks everyone.

My loop holds about 4 litres (Don't ask)

I use 3 Kill coils, seems to be fine

VKleita said:

My loop holds about 4 litres (Don't ask)

I use 3 Kill coils, seems to be fine

Click to expand...

4 litres? I HAVE to Ask