3900X Watercooling Case

Rovers Return

Rovers Return

Rovers Return

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Manchester, UK
Hi Everyone

I'm new here - been on OC.net for quite a while but to be honest I've been out of the game for a while and now I'm coming back to it my 3770k/HD7850 is showing signs that I need an upgrade! I've decided now I'm older and have a bit more £££ that I'm gonna watercool it :)

So here's the proposed build and possible loop I've put together. What I really want is a case that the pump/reservoir will fit inside somewhere (possibly with a bracket?) but like I say, not done it before. I'll have the thing built next week and then the loop a few weeks after. I'm also taking the plunge on release day for 3900X - I know I should wait for reviews but I figure that the previous gens have ironed out any issues and everything I've seen (leaked or otherwise) has been mainly positive. I've already got some parts so I'll put a (P) next to them.

Quite long winded - sorry - the case I've been looking at is the Fractal Design Define Series R6 TG Tower but I'd love to know if there's something smaller that I could fit it all into.

Build:

- AMD Ryzen 3900X
- Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Impact X570
- 850W Seasonic FOCUS Plus Gold (P)
- Corsair Vengance LPX 32GB 3200Mhz C16
- Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 SSD (or PCIe 4.0 Gigabyte/Corsair 1TB if available)
- 2 x 1TB Samsung 850 SSD (P)
- MSI RTX 2080 Ti Sea Hawk X (P)

Water Loop:
- EK-Velocity RGB AMD CPU Water Block - Full Nickel
- EK-CoolStream PE 240 (Dual Fan) Radiator
- Corsair Hydro X Series XR5 360mm Triple Fan Water Cooling Radiator
- EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 RGB PWM (incl. pump)
- EK-HDC 12mm Hard Tube Fitting - Elox Black (x10)
- EK-Duraclear Tubing 16/11 - Clear 1M (x2)
- EK-FC RTX 2080 TI / 2080 Classic RGB Water Block
- Mayhems Pastel - Red Coolant 1L

What are peoples thoughts regarding the case, the build and the loop?

Thanks for any help anyone can give!
 
I have a couple of observations from a quick skim.

- EK-HDC 12mm Hard Tube Fitting - Elox Black (x10)
- EK-Duraclear Tubing 16/11 - Clear 1M (x2)

  • Unless I'm being dumb, and that is a possibility, Duraclear is soft tubing isn't it, but you've got hard tubing fittings?
  • I haven't used either personally, and do like the look of them both, but the Lian-Li PC-O11 Dynamic is a smaller case looking at the sizes on their pages here, that should still be able to fit all of that in (pretty sure, anyway, although I'd double check the rad thickness etc. as I haven't looked them up). It is also cheaper than the R6TG (at least on OCUK, anyway, haven't checked anywhere else).
  • You are going to need some fans for your radiators if you haven't got some suitable ones lying around already.
  • Is there a reason you have a Sea Hawk and an additional waterblock GPU waterblock listed? The Sea Hawk should already have a waterblock factory fitted shouldn't it?
 
IntMD is correct, fittings and tubing are completely wrong.

EK HDC fittings are for hard tube only and you only need to match the outer diameter of the tube and fittings. Plus it must be the same unit of measurement, e.g.
  • 1/2 inch tube will not fit in 12mm fittings because 1/2 inch is 12.7mm and therefore too thick
  • 1/2 inch tube will not fit in 13mm fittings because 1/2 inch is 12.7mm and therefore too narrow and will leak
So if you're using Duraclear soft tube then you need EK ACF 16/10 fittings because you need to match inner and outer diameters of the tube. But I wouldn't bother and use Mayhems clear tubing instead as it's great quality and much cheaper. And get more than 2m in case you make mistakes.

Also note that since EK have introduced a new range of fittings the names have changed: HDC is now called HTC (Hard Tubing Compression) and ACF is now called STC (Soft Tubing Compression), both available in the new Torque range and the Classic range.
 
IntMD said:
I have a couple of observations from a quick skim.

- EK-HDC 12mm Hard Tube Fitting - Elox Black (x10)
- EK-Duraclear Tubing 16/11 - Clear 1M (x2)

  • Unless I'm being dumb, and that is a possibility, Duraclear is soft tubing isn't it, but you've got hard tubing fittings?
  • I haven't used either personally, and do like the look of them both, but the Lian-Li PC-O11 Dynamic is a smaller case looking at the sizes on their pages here, that should still be able to fit all of that in (pretty sure, anyway, although I'd double check the rad thickness etc. as I haven't looked them up). It is also cheaper than the R6TG (at least on OCUK, anyway, haven't checked anywhere else).
  • You are going to need some fans for your radiators if you haven't got some suitable ones lying around already.
  • Is there a reason you have a Sea Hawk and an additional waterblock GPU waterblock listed? The Sea Hawk should already have a waterblock factory fitted shouldn't it?
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks. I'll have a look at fittings and make sure that I get soft fittings (don't really want hard tubing).

I'll look at that case - it does look a bit wider so I need to check it'll fit but I do like it has a USB-C port and the look of it and think it'll fit everything.

For fans I was thinking 5 x Ritoro RGB Case Fan & Controller. They look good, have decent reviews and are quite quiet I think.

I got the Sea Hawk X for a good price, it does have an AIO on it but the plan is to remove that and put on the EK-FC Waterblock. I've looked around and so far as I can see the Sea Hawk X has a regular PCB so it is possible. I'm not sure it'll make a massive difference, but it's more for aesthetic than temps (for the 2080 Ti) - I figured I either do all of it, or I'd may as well just get an AIO for the CPU. You think this is the wrong approach?

Thanks again!
 
Also, why are you using EK and Corsair radiators?

The EK radiators aren't fantastic and see if you can find reviews of the Corsair ones (they're made by Hardware Labs but that doesn't mean to say they're as good).
 
LePhuronn said:
IntMD is correct, fittings and tubing are completely wrong.

EK HDC fittings are for hard tube only and you only need to match the outer diameter of the tube and fittings. Plus it must be the same unit of measurement, e.g.
  • 1/2 inch tube will not fit in 12mm fittings because 1/2 inch is 12.7mm and therefore too thick
  • 1/2 inch tube will not fit in 13mm fittings because 1/2 inch is 12.7mm and therefore too narrow and will leak
So if you're using Duraclear soft tube then you need EK ACF 16/10 fittings because you need to match inner and outer diameters of the tube. But I wouldn't bother and use Mayhems clear tubing instead as it's great quality and much cheaper. And get more than 2m in case you make mistakes.

Also note that since EK have introduced a new range of fittings the names have changed: HDC is now called HTC (Hard Tubing Compression) and ACF is now called STC (Soft Tubing Compression), both available in the new Torque range and the Classic range.
Click to expand...

Great thanks, I'll swap them out and post what replacement I decide on. I didn't notice I'd selected wrong fittings. I'll look at Mayhem tubing as well if it's going to save £££.

LePhuronn said:
Also, why are you using EK and Corsair radiators?

The EK radiators aren't fantastic and see if you can find reviews of the Corsair ones (they're made by Hardware Labs but that doesn't mean to say they're as good).
Click to expand...

I just used a Water Cooling build tool to try and build the initial (based mainly on looks tbh) but I've also seen EK have got pretty big so didn't look too much into it. I didn't think radiators would be too different from one to another so I'll check out some reviews. Any particular ones that are well rated?

Thanks again guys.
 
You've got five components and ten fittings but you need to consider a drain and possibly a fill port. Having a drain means having one more fitting, usually male-to-male on the loop at a lowest possible point with a female-to-female ball valve fitting. If you then want to drain your loop, you fit a length of tube with a single fitting to the ball valve.

So that's one more standard G1/4 fitting, one G1/4 male-to-male and a ball valve.

For the radiator at the top of the case, I strongly recommend getting one that has ports facing both up and down. You then use the downwards-facing ports for your loop and the upwards-facing ports can be used for filling or bleeding your loop.
 
MikeTimbers said:
You've got five components and ten fittings but you need to consider a drain and possibly a fill port. Having a drain means having one more fitting, usually male-to-male on the loop at a lowest possible point with a female-to-female ball valve fitting. If you then want to drain your loop, you fit a length of tube with a single fitting to the ball valve.

So that's one more standard G1/4 fitting, one G1/4 male-to-male and a ball valve.

For the radiator at the top of the case, I strongly recommend getting one that has ports facing both up and down. You then use the downwards-facing ports for your loop and the upwards-facing ports can be used for filling or bleeding your loop.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I thought the Pump/Reservoir I picked was how the loop was filled/bled? Or is there another way. I imagine the pump will also be the lowest point - so would that fitting come just after the pump/res or just before?
 
Filling from the pump will work of course but it takes time and constant cycling of the pump to fill the loop. Having a fill-port at the top of the loop is far simpler. You pour in water and air comes out until it's largely full then turn on the pump.

Bleeding from the pump/res relies on all the bubbles getting to the res. Air doesn't like to go downwards in water and tries to stay as high as possible which can leave you with bubbles forming and staying in the top res, in fact in anything above the reservoir. Having a fillport at the top of the loop means you just open it and top up (with the pump off!).

A drain is for emptying the loop which can be very awkward if you haven't plumbed one in from the start. I tend to put a T-piece on the exit form the pump ith the straight-thru being the loop and the 90 angled exit being the drain.

Here is a not very good pic of one of my loops.

IMG_2485.JPG
 
That's great. Glad that come up now and not after I'd put it all together. Which radiators would you suggest?

I think I'm going to go with the Fractal Design Define Series R6 case. I like that the SSD drives can be mounted to the back plate and it's not as wide as the Lian-Li PC-O11 Dynamic which works better for me. It also has great reviews and the new version has USB 3.1.

Anyone got any thoughts on the actual build?

Thanks again!
 
The case above is the Define S. Good case basically the same as the R6. The top radiator in that one is an Alphacool Crossflow and it has ports top and bottom. Also, as you can see it is quite a nice way of going from back to front of the case without using tubing. Some will argue that I should have the top radiator after the GPUs and before the cpu but the overall loop temperature remains remarkably constant once it is on and running.

There is another one I have that uses the non-crossflow where the routing is slightly different as a result.

IMG_2535.JPG
 
As for the build, take your time. Layout all the parts you have and check you're not missing anything before you start. For tubing, avoid Duraclear. I've just used it and noticed that it very quickly became clouded which means it's leeching plasticiser out of the tubing and that ends up in blocks and pumps. Get Mayhems tubing. As for tubing diameter, those two rigs use 10/16 and 13/19. I'm not convinced that it makes any difference other than aesthetics. You decide.

Think carefully about fans. When you look at the potential radiators take note of the FPI (fins per inch) which tells you whether it's high or low air resistance. If a high FPI, you need fans with good static air pressure. If it's low air resistance you can use high airflow fans. Typically high static pressure fans have fewer larger blades, high air flow have more blades. You will likely have more fans than your motherboard has headers so look out for a way to power them all. It's quite easy to get fan cable splitters but get them before you start the build. Not all rads use the same screw size so make sure the rad package includes screws.
 
Thanks guys.

I've pretty much got everything I need for the build now (except the MoBo/CPU for obvious reasons). Water Cooling will be a few weeks down the line. I'll post in a little while the planned loop (so far). Pic attached for those interested in following progress! I'd give you all +rep but there doesn't seem to be the ability on this forum?:confused:

- AMD Ryzen 3900X
- Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Impact X570
- 850W Seasonic FOCUS Plus Gold (P)
- G-Skill TridentZ Red/Silver 32GB (16GB x 2) 3200Mhz C14 (P)
- Fractal Design Define S2 (P)
- Samsung 970 Pro 1TB M.2 SSD (P)
- 4TB HDD
- MSI RTX 2080 Ti Sea Hawk X (P)

2gtn7df.jpg

tinypic.com
 
So I've had a think about the water cooling loop - here's the plan atm but again open (and appreciative) to suggestions!

- Aquacomputer Cuplex Kryos NEXT Vision Copper CPU cooler
- EK-FC RTX 2080 TI / 2080 Classic RGB Water Block
- 2 x Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper X-Flow 360mm Triple Fan Water Cooling Radiator
- EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 RGB PWM (incl. pump)
- Mayhems Ultra Clear Watercooling Tubing (3/8 - 5/8) 16/10mm - 3m
- XSPC G1/4" to 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Matte Black) V2 - 8 Pack
- Alphacool Eiszapfen 16/10mm Threaded Rotatable 90 Degree G1 / 4 Fitting - Black x 4
- EK-AF FillPort G1/4 - Black
- EK-AF Ball Valve (10mm) G14 - Black Nickel
- EK-AF Y-Splitter Rotary 2F-1M G1/4 - Black Nickel

I'm also going with a different MoBo - possibly still Asus but a full ATX board, or the AsRock Taichi X570. All depends on pricing tbh - I don't really want to spend more than £300-350 on a motherboard and even that feels a bit much!

What's peoples thoughts on fans? I want 6 addressable RGB ones for the rads that offer best performance. If I'm spending nearly £3k on a build I don't want to skimp out on the fans!
 
You'll need a joiner (male to male) if you're fitting the ball valve to the splitter.

Also your Eiszapfen 90s look like they're for hard tubing. Consider getting 90° adapters and using the fittings you already have. That gives you the choice of straight or 90 for any given spot (if you get enough 90s).

You'll also need some more fittings as you have 5 components so 10 ports, plus whatever is on the ball valve. Personally I like a soft tubing barb and a length of flexible tube :)
 
LuckyBenski said:
You'll need a joiner (male to male) if you're fitting the ball valve to the splitter.

Also your Eiszapfen 90s look like they're for hard tubing. Consider getting 90° adapters and using the fittings you already have. That gives you the choice of straight or 90 for any given spot (if you get enough 90s).

You'll also need some more fittings as you have 5 components so 10 ports, plus whatever is on the ball valve. Personally I like a soft tubing barb and a length of flexible tube :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. These are the reasons I'm taking my time with the water-cooling because I've never done it before and keep forgetting something. I've added 4 more XSPC G1/4" to 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Matte Black) V2 (so 12 total), a XSPC G1/4 11mm Male To Male Rotary Fitting - Matte Black, and 4 Alphacool 16/10 Compression Fitting 90degree Rotary G1/4 - Deep Black.

Has anyone got any experience with the Aquacomputer Cuplex Kryos NEXT Vision Copper or EK-FC RTX 2080 TI / 2080 Classic RGB Water Block? Are they going to get the job done or is there others to consider?

Update on the actual build:

- AMD Ryzen 3900X (P)
- Asrock Taichi X570 (P)
- 850W Seasonic FOCUS Plus Gold (P)
- G-Skill TridentZ Red/Silver 32GB (16GB x 2) 3200Mhz C14 (P)
- Fractal Design Define S2 (P)
- Samsung 970 Pro 1TB M.2 SSD (P)
- 4TB HDD
- MSI RTX 2080 Ti Sea Hawk X (P)

I decided to switch out the MoBo because I'd chosen a mDTX and hadn't realised! The Taichi I got for £247 so that (relatively) is pretty good although not showing stock atm, neither is the 3900X - I hope I don't need to wait to long :(
 
The EKWB blocks are excellent I have one on my 2080Ti and you are talking 40-45c ish under max load, I’ve always had them and they have been consistently good quality. Don’t forget to also get an EKWB backplate for the card.

Although AC are good and I’d go purely what you think looks best as both will perform almost the same by a degree or two.

Only other thing I could suggest is a multiport top for the res if you are having it on show. The original top only has one hole for filling. The multiport top has 5 so you can use ports for filling and even ports for a return back into the top of the res. If you do this use an Ekwb 40mm acrylic internal tube as it stops splashing, sits inside the water.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-res-x3-multiport-top-wc-831-ek.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-res-x3-internal-tube-12-16-40mm-wc-837-ek.html

And if you plan to attach it to the front rad or 120mm fan then you will also need a bracket for the pump.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-uni-pump-bracket-120mm-fan-wc-913-ek.html
 
Great thanks - didn't think about backplate!

I was going to have some water in the reservoir - but I think the rads I have chosen have 3 ports, one on the other side of the loop 2, so I was going to fill from the top rad using EK-AF FillPort G1/4 - Black. Is that not the right way to go about it? I thought it'd be easier to fill from the top. I plan on having the pump/res at the bottom and there's already holes in the case to attach to the bottom.
 
FYI, OP.
Don't expect a big cooling effect on the 3900X. Due to the design and density, the issue is getting the the heat out of the chiplets themselves.
Just a heads up to help your expectations.
 
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