My first custom watercooled PC?

TechMinerUK

TechMinerUK

TechMinerUK

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Hi everyone, I'm relatively new here but....

I have been looking at a lot of the custom computers in the case gallery and build logs and I've decided to build a "balls to the walls" PC thats fully watercooled.
I'm waiting until mid-year to build but I have an idea on the hardware and watercooling parts but I have come to an issue and have no clear answer (Despite many posts) on if I should use acrylic tubing or soft tubing and if so what kind?

I know it's a while away but I like to make informed decissions as it is an expensive venture.

Soooo. I was wondering if any of you worldly peoples could gelp me ?:confused:
 
TechMinerUK said:
Hi everyone, I'm relatively new here but....

I have been looking at a lot of the custom computers in the case gallery and build logs and I've decided to build a "balls to the walls" PC thats fully watercooled.
I'm waiting until mid-year to build but I have an idea on the hardware and watercooling parts but I have come to an issue and have no clear answer (Despite many posts) on if I should use acrylic tubing or soft tubing and if so what kind?

I know it's a while away but I like to make informed decissions as it is an expensive venture.

Soooo. I was wondering if any of you worldly peoples could gelp me ?:confused:
Click to expand...

I am also making this venture!

Have you found any parts or anything yet?

From what i can see and have been told, for a first build soft tubing would be best otherwise you will have to get precise cuts and make sure all lengths and so on are correct.

This is the thread i made might be some helpful stuff in there regarding different pumps and all that kind of stuff. May help, may not..
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18652567
 
savagesam117 said:
I am also making this venture!

Have you found any parts or anything yet?

From what i can see and have been told, for a first build soft tubing would be best otherwise you will have to get precise cuts and make sure all lengths and so on are correct.

This is the thread i made might be some helpful stuff in there regarding different pumps and all that kind of stuff. May help, may not..
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18652567
Click to expand...

Yep, looking at the range of hardware available I have found my preference is towards EK and I'm trying to do a uniform build.

The loop is probably going to consist of a 360, 240 and 120 radiators with a cylindrical reservoir with pump below.

As for waterblocks they are going to be EK.

Also, I have used your thread as a backbone when looking for parts and tubing :)
 
TechMinerUK said:
Yep, looking at the range of hardware available I have found my preference is towards EK and I'm trying to do a uniform build.

The loop is probably going to consist of a 360, 240 and 120 radiators with a cylindrical reservoir with pump below.

As for waterblocks they are going to be EK.

Also, I have used your thread as a backbone when looking for parts and tubing :)
Click to expand...

What case do you have? And your pc specs?

I'm the same, think i'm going to go EK other than rads, no one can really seem them and they all look the same! Their stuff looks really clean and neat, i really like it.
The only thing i don't like are the GPU water blocks :(
 
savagesam117 said:
From what i can see and have been told, for a first build soft tubing would be best otherwise you will have to get precise cuts and make sure all lengths and so on are correct.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18652567
Click to expand...

also my first time water cooling although i opted to go straight to acrylic tubing
but this was purely as i prefered the cleaner look it offered as mentioned there are a lot of usefull guides out there and flex tubing would be much easier to work with personally i read some of the guides watched a few tube vid's decided on what i like the look of and took it from there

one mistake i did make was i didn't consider how i was going to actualy fill the loop once all the parts are in place i also opted for a tube res so to fix my error i have decided to mount this upside down one port on the bottom and two ports on the top and run a line to a fill port on the top of the case
 
s innes said:
also my first time water cooling although i opted to go straight to acrylic tubing
but this was purely as i prefered the cleaner look it offered as mentioned there are a lot of usefull guides out there and flex tubing would be much easier to work with personally i read some of the guides watched a few tube vid's decided on what i like the look of and took it from there

one mistake i did make was i didn't consider how i was going to actualy fill the loop once all the parts are in place i also opted for a tube res so to fix my error i have decided to mount this upside down one port on the bottom and two ports on the top and run a line to a fill port on the top of the case
Click to expand...

I do agree, Acrylic does look much nicer and would be more rewarding.
That's actually one thing i've never thought of! That's a good idea.

Btw, looking forward to reading the rest of your build log :P
 
savagesam117 said:
I do agree, Acrylic does look much nicer and would be more rewarding.
That's actually one thing i've never thought of! That's a good idea.

Btw, looking forward to reading the rest of your build log :P
Click to expand...

That's the thing, I love the straight pipes and precise bends in acrylic but I'm scared of the issues such as fine cracks or incorrectly sanding it causing leaks :eek:
 
TechMinerUK said:
That's the thing, I love the straight pipes and precise bends in acrylic but I'm scared of the issues such as fine cracks or incorrectly sanding it causing leaks :eek:
Click to expand...

You are totally right, the fact everything is square and straight looks gorgeous.. I'm scared at the thought of watercooling if im honest, that could be one expensive leak!
 
To answer the tubing choice.

Rigid tubing has the benefit of no leaching of plasticizer, cleaner looks, last longer than soft tubes, but they do require a lot of work on bending, and or extra budget for more fittings to accommodate the bends in the route.

Soft tubing have a much larger degree of flexibility as it can flex, but the downside is that you will need to replace the tubes once a year to accommodate for the more-than-likely leaching of plasticizer.

Personally, I went from soft tube to rigid tubing recently.

Despite the better look, I will say soft tubing are really the choice for entry level water coolers. You can always go easy on the fittings first, e.g. go for XSPC / EK, and when you come to the end of life of your tube, then switch to rigid tubing.
 
Just to add there's very little chance of damage to components if leak tested correctly. While you're leak testing there will be no power to anything other than the pump/psu. The liquid doesn't cause damage but it allows electricity to jump places it shouldn't go and that's what causes damage.

As long as you leak test at full pelt for a length of time(is it still 24 hours?) then you won't be risking anything except worst case a few days of drying out the components before trying again.

A well maintained fully tested loop should never sporadically spring a leak.
 
It depends on your confidence as to how long you leak test. I left mine for about 18 hours for my first build as I wasn't experienced and discovered a slowly leaking fitting.

And do you really need to replace tubing after only a year? I had no plans on replacing mine as I bought primochill advanced LRT for it's superior quality.
 
Disco_P said:
It depends on your confidence as to how long you leak test. I left mine for about 18 hours for my first build as I wasn't experienced and discovered a slowly leaking fitting.

And do you really need to replace tubing after only a year? I had no plans on replacing mine as I bought primochill advanced LRT for it's superior quality.
Click to expand...

That's the soft tubing I have been considering. Either Primochill LRT Advanced or EK Rubber tubing.

As for Acrylic tubing there's one bit I can't get my head arround (Is it obvious:confused:) How do people bend the tube so that it fits e.g. from the CPU cooler to a DVD bay res/pump?
 
Cat_J said:
Heat gun and pipe bender I would think. I'm sticking to soft tube for ease of build for now.
Click to expand...

Yes but how do they ensure the measurements are correct, like you say though soft tubing does seem much easier. It just doesn't have the aesthetics though which is what I'm looking for.
 
Hi again, if I was to go acrylic could anyone give me some advice as to the procedures on fitting the tubing. I have a good idea on how to bend it but I could use some help on the fittings and process before fitting the tubing e.g. Sanding, or what needs to be done to the ends of the tubing
 
TechMinerUK said:
Hi again, if I was to go acrylic could anyone give me some advice as to the procedures on fitting the tubing. I have a good idea on how to bend it but I could use some help on the fittings and process before fitting the tubing e.g. Sanding, or what needs to be done to the ends of the tubing
Click to expand...

For fittings, I would say go for compression fittings like Primochill Revolver fittings and use them with Primochill Acrylic tubes.

Like barb vs compression fittings in soft tubes, compression fittings are more expensive to push fittings (like Bitspower C71 etc) but a lot more easy to use and error tolerant. (And more advanced, IMHO.)

As for Primochill Revolvers, you simply unscrew the fitting, insert the tube into the cap, then the O-ring, and then screw the cap, sandwiching the o-ring on the acrylic tube, onto the fitting. The Cap will compress on the o-ring around the tube onto the fitting to form a seal. Easy :D

Monsoon Hardline fittings are harder to use as you need to apply the UV glue around the collar and it has been known to weaken the acrylic tube and crack it.

Hope this helps.
 
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