Least Risk Watercooling

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Soldato
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I've never watercooled before so I apologise for the newb questions in advance :p

- Why do loops leak if the PC is upside down/horizontal etc? Is there no way to close the loop completely?

- I'd rather do my own watercooling, so this is a question of curiosity; if overclockers do custom watercooling or set it up in the case as they do with the 800D, then how do they ensure it doesn't leak during delivery?

I did have some other questions but my minds gone blank! Will post below if I can remember them again
 
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-Loops only leak if an idiot put them together or you buy cheap tat.

-Don't buy it pre-done or you won't have a scoobies what you're doing when it comes to changing coolant, maintenance, expanding, etc.
 
Faulty parts or not, you would have to be an idiot to break your components over a leak anyway because only an idiot would leak test after a loop is first built, with all the components are powered up.

I personally think being scared of leaks ruining your components is mostly an irrational fear, since they wont short circuit if they don't have power running through them. Also the vast majority of coolant is electronically non conductive when its not contaminated. So even if your not that careful, it is pretty hard to break anything. I've never seen a leak so discrete that a paper towel wouldn't lead your attention to.

Sure over time your coolant will be contaminated and will be able to short circuit your components, but at this point why the hell would it be leaking weeks or months after the loop has been running set up and running fine? If your loop was leaking at this point you would have greater worries to think about, like 'Why is a psycho hiding in my house, waiting for me to go to sleep so he can stab my custom water cooling loop?'

Also i agree with OptimaLnrg on building your own loop. To be honest half the fun is that fact that its your's and you built it! When it comes to maintaining the loop I cant imagine you would feel confident about cleaning it and refilling it if you have never put one together before! Read a few guides and you will find that it's easy and simple and you might even look forward to changing the fluid when it comes up to the time rather than dreading the experience.
 
I was talking about a leak from the reservoir? I was under the impression that stays "open" so you can top it up or something, or am I deeply mistaken?

And yeah, will be creating my own loop as I'd enjoy learning :)

Is it vital that the PC stays the right way up? As I attend LANs occasionally during the year and might have to lay the case flat (unless I buy a new car!)
 
YarwoodUK said:
I was talking about a leak from the reservoir? I was under the impression that stays "open" so you can top it up or something, or am I deeply mistaken?

And yeah, will be creating my own loop as I'd enjoy learning :)
Click to expand...

Res's have fill ports mostly yeah, but they have plugs to cover those fill ports up. Having it left open would be a disaster :p Plus it can dump a fair bit of noise into your ears until everything is sealed.
 
Without faulty components, it doesn't leak. Right way up, upside down, shaking about in a courier van - no leaking.

Broken parts do leak. For example, tighten up a barb too much on an acrylic block and you can crack it. If you put an O ring under ridiculous amounts of pressure it'll probably leak too, though I haven't managed to do so.
 
Haha okay, thanks for the replies, high risk of leak due to moving PC was the only thing putting me off WC'ing tbh.
I'll only be WC'ing the CPU and GFX Card for now,

There's only one part of my motherboard which is noticeably hot and that's the "VRM Coolers" (can somebody confirm - it's in this thread click), so any suggestions on cooling that down or should I look for a new motherboard? (Up to date specs in sig)*

Will be changing case for a 800D (possibly 900D if I can wait that long!), and the 680 for a 690 with a wc block on (or possibly a 7990 depending on which can be effectively used in Vegas Pro for rendering).

Are kits any good and have everything I would need?
i.e this
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-042-OE&groupid=962&catid=1532&subcat=


* Although I suppose in a much larger case with more airflow around that area it'll be more cooler.

EDIT: Another question, where would I find screws that would go in a push/pull setup? they'd need to be 3-4inches long atleast?
 
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The XSPC Raystorm is probably rubbish. If you want to deprive yourself of the fun of choosing new pieces of plastic, I'd suggest looking through the watercooled galleries and copying one you like. Otherwise the kit wont be too far wrong.

I went with whatever was currently available on members market - watercooling hardware is much cheaper second hand but doesn't exactly degrade with time. There isn't that much that can go wrong with lumps of metal.
 
YarwoodUK said:
There's only one part of my motherboard which is noticeably hot and that's the "VRM Coolers"...

...Another question, where would I find screws that would go in a push/pull setup? they'd need to be 3-4inches long atleast?
Click to expand...

That is indeed VRM heatsink. It gets warm because it doesnt have anything actively cooling it, but not to worry, they can take more abuse than CPU's and generate less heat. Unless you've actually noticed any performance drop due to VRM's, there is no point in messing with their cooling unless you fancy the look of motherboard blocks (which i myself do). The MOFSET block for your motherboard is made by EKWB and by Heatkiller. I cant link you the heatkiller block without linking their shop but i can link the list of compatible ek blocks here. The only reasons to replace your motherboard heatsinks with these really are either because your VRM sink get's in the way of something (mine was touching my radiator fan) or because you like the look, there isn't any performance benefit if you suffer from no VRM problems.

As for the screw's, most radiators come with enough screws to fit all the fan's, if not you can just use two screws per fan instead of 4. If your fans are 25mm thick, you need 30mm long ones, which should be supplied with all rad's. The size of the screw thread you need depends on which radiator you get, i think XSPC use m4 and EK use m3 but dont quote me. Google for them, they are quite easy to find.

When i chose my first loop, i looked at EK's kit as a guideline as to what i would need, then i would replace parts to suit me. I replaced their normal waterblock and pump for the high end versions and the tube reservoir to a length i found that would suit the size of my case. I also had to change the radiator to suit the size that my case allowed. In the end the only thing i really kept were the fittings and the tubing. lol

The V12 kit is pretty perfect if you want to include your GPU, the 360mm radiator will be up to scratch. From what i have seen on reviews and posts on this forum, the block is on par with EK's supremacy and dont get much better. The fans are as good as you can get for radiator fans. The only qualms i have about the kit is that they come with normal barbs instead of compression fittings. 1/2 inch barbs with 7/16th tubing are just as secure as compression fittings with matching tubing but are a bit more fiddly to install, on the up side, they are a tad cheaper.
 
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put it together yourself and enjoy a hobby in a hobby.

you need to know all the parts like everyone has said.

having said that it's really quite simple once you know how.
 
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