Need some help speccing up a water loop

Petrolhead

Petrolhead

Petrolhead

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I would like to install a waterloop in my recent build but could do with some help speccing up the components i would need and rad placement.

for instance would one rad do or should i be looking at two as i want to cool the cpu and gpu

this is my pc spec:

Lian Li 011d case
Intel i9-10850 overclocked to 5gig
Zotac RTX 3090
2 x M.2 drives

i was thinking about using soft tube but again there seems to be different sizes.

so any advise would be great
 
I'm no expert but you're going to want atleast 2 rads, a pump, res though I'd opt for a distro plate with pump in the 011D and at least 2 fittings per component of the loop, though by a lot more than you think you'll need as it's very rarely enough... I think the standard size tubing is 10/16 though just get the tubing that matches the compression fittings you buy.

Also invest in a leak tester, they're worth their weight in gold.
 
The gpu is going to offload a ton of heat into the loop so dual 360's is a minimum especially if you're going to overclock the cpu as well.

I'm running a dual loop system so i can avoid dumping heat into the cpu loop which keeps both my cpu and gpu around 50c. I reckon if they were both in the same loop i'd be looking at 60-70c on the cpu and 50+ on the gpu.

On my old system same components but 1 loop running a 2080, it would hit 44c on the gpu and 65c on the cpu. If you can, i would consider a dual loop system.
 
Jay85 said:
The gpu is going to offload a ton of heat into the loop so dual 360's is a minimum especially if you're going to overclock the cpu as well.

I'm running a dual loop system so i can avoid dumping heat into the cpu loop which keeps both my cpu and gpu around 50c. I reckon if they were both in the same loop i'd be looking at 60-70c on the cpu and 50+ on the gpu.

On my old system same components but 1 loop running a 2080, it would hit 44c on the gpu and 65c on the cpu. If you can, i would consider a dual loop system.
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I currently have an AIO on the cpu, would i just be better keeping that and adding a loop for the gpu?
 
cms239 said:
I currently have an AIO on the cpu, would i just be better keeping that and adding a loop for the gpu?
Click to expand...

Whats your temps on the cpu at the moment, also how is it orientated?

Need more info on the case, layout, intakes, exhausts etc please
 
To give you an idea, you could do something like this with the gpu loop while maintaining your AIO on the cpu.
Zf6xY3G.jpg
 
Interesting, so are those two small distro plates feeding each loop

rad in the top and bottom? So is the bottom fans sucking in and top fans blowing out?

so what rad and distro did you use for the gpu?

also notice your gpu card is mounted vertically, but doing this i assume you can no longer use the other pci slots?
 
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Those are EK Waterblocks FLT120's which are small flat pump/resevoir combos... I'm guessing from the image that the bottom rad cools the card and the top the cpu otherwise it wouldn't really make sense to me...

Yes he's got it set up so that cold air is sucked in the bottom and exhausted out the top, it's amazing how well this works to cool everything
 
Vidar said:
Those are EK Waterblocks FLT120's which are small flat pump/resevoir combos... I'm guessing from the image that the bottom rad cools the card and the top the cpu otherwise it wouldn't really make sense to me...

Yes he's got it set up so that cold air is sucked in the bottom and exhausted out the top, it's amazing how well this works to cool everything
Click to expand...
Thanks, so looking at OC website there are two versions, D5 and DDC, which is the one to go for?

Also what rad size and thickness should i bee looking at for cooling the 3090?

i would probably make some sort of mount so the FL120 sit at the front of the case. Based on above should i have the side fans blowing are in, as they are at the moment, or sucking air out?
 
cms239 said:
Interesting, so are those two small distro plates feeding each loop

rad in the top and bottom? So is the bottom fans sucking in and top fans blowing out?

so what rad and distro did you use for the gpu?

also notice your gpu card is mounted vertically, but doing this i assume you can no longer use the other pci slots?
Click to expand...
Hi, yes what Vidar said is correct. The bottom res serves the gpu and bottom rad and vice versa for the top. I'm using the D5 variants for extra control and in general better/quieter pumps.

Bottom fans pulls air through the bottom rad and top fans exhaust it out. I also have a side intake fan that helps serve cooler air for the top rad to balance it out, the whole setup works really well.

If you do not plan on using a vertical mount then go for a thicker radiator at the bottom, it will be a lot quieter and cool a lot better than having a high density thin rad.
 
Jay85 said:
Hi, yes what Vidar said is correct. The bottom res serves the gpu and bottom rad and vice versa for the top. I'm using the D5 variants for extra control and in general better/quieter pumps.

Bottom fans pulls air through the bottom rad and top fans exhaust it out. I also have a side intake fan that helps serve cooler air for the top rad to balance it out, the whole setup works really well.

If you do not plan on using a vertical mount then go for a thicker radiator at the bottom, it will be a lot quieter and cool a lot better than having a high density thin rad.
Click to expand...
Thanks, so which rad should i go for?
 
I highly recommend Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis rads, but ocuk don't stock them as far as I'm aware.
 
@cms239 EK used to be fantastic from what I'm told but they're usually overpriced for what they offer and there seems to be quality control issues.

I myself had the plastic collar on my pump/res bracket snap, rather peel away like warm blue tack, after roughly 6 months of being in use. That could have been very nasty indeed. I only discovered the issue in time because I was doing a rebuild into a new case.
 
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