GPU water block leaked again.

Soldato
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I just had a good reply from Ohlawll off the forum from OcUK. I'm going to take it in tomorrow.

I might opt to pick it up personally rather than let the pallet guy throw it around :) (nothing against delivery drivers!)

This is the good side of OcUK. They do look out for their customers. Let's hope all is good after I get it back. I might be able to sleep easier lol
 
Soldato
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Sadly it seems something is still wrong. Water res is dropping water level an inch per day, and there is a bubble that only grows bigger the longer the machine is on.

It is starting to get very stressful all this back and forth repairing. OC are being good though and correcting things. But it is annoying to buy a £3000+ water cooled computer when its had nothing but issues with it. I think I've only been able to enjoy gaming on it for about 6 months before it developed a (second) fault.

I just want a working PC. I didn't think a water cooled PC would be so delicate. I've just sent a web note to see what we can get sorted.

I like OC and I've bought my new monitor from them and intend to buy more things in the future. I like to support local computer businesses. But my water cooling experience is giving me all the stress I tried to avoid by ordering a pre-made build.

Sorry for ranting guys. It just stresses me out. :(

I'll give you my honest blunt opinion here.

1. OCUK are not local anymore, they are German owned. Their parent company is Caseking.de
2. Watercooled PC's are simply not as reliable as air cooled PC's. They may leak, even if they don't the water will evaporate every day, requiring the user to refill every few months
3. It sounds to me like you'd have been far better off with a nice Noctua air cooler and air cooled GPU (MSI Gaming X for example). Perhaps you can request them to change your PC to air cooling, so that you have no more leaking problems?
 
Man of Honour
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I'll give you my honest blunt opinion here.

2. Watercooled PC's are simply not as reliable as air cooled PC's. They may leak, even if they don't the water will evaporate every day, requiring the user to refill every few months


That is just so wrong and misleading. Watercooling done properly is perfectly safe which is why I will always go custom and build it myself. Since I started watercooling over 11 years ago I have had two very minor leaks. The first was my original build where I screwed a taper fitting into a non tapered poly res and cracked it. I noticed as soon as I started filling so no damage done. Replaced the res and that build went for 2.5 years with no maintenance needed. The second was when both my EK cpu and gpu blocks had a drip due to the O rings being faulty. This was at the same time as the original Predator had problems with similar issues. EK support was completely useless and I ended up replacing all of the O rings myself which resulted in no drips. Problem solved and EK to be avoided in future.

As for topping up every few months. My current loop has been going for 8 months now and I haven't had to top it up at all. If I remember right my first loop that ran for 2.5 years only had a single small top up in all of that time.

A good watercooling setup will always give much lower temps and be quieter than a air cooled system.
 
Soldato
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The first was my original build where I screwed a taper fitting into a non tapered poly res and cracked it. I noticed as soon as I started filling so no damage done. Replaced the res and that build went for 2.5 years with no maintenance needed.
I wish I had your water cooling setup! 2.5 years of no stress :)

Just to bring the thread up to date. The computer went in for repairs and it was found the report said that the cooler failed, component failure, pump failed causing airlocking. They replaced the pump and re-did the layout, and cleaned cpu waterblock.

I like it that they do repair things and get the job done. Unfortunately my opinion can only be based on my experience, and while its a major plus they do make the repairs needed in a timely manner, ultimately the test is going to be how well the system runs.

I'm hoping all problems will be resolved now and I can focus on some gaming and editing. But if things go wrong this time then I'll have to take it further. Fingers crossed though.
 
Soldato
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Well that's just wrong.

I disagree, it's not wrong.

1. You cannot argue that a WC setup is less reliable than an air cooled setup. There are many more components to fail (pump, tubing, each individual fitting, reservoir).
2. Even the best watercooling loop 'professionals' in the world will have occasional leaks. They are unavoidable.
3. WC leaks have the potential to damage other components. I've read countless posts where GPU's, PSU's etc have been damaged as the user hasn't spotted the leak early enough. This cannot happen with an air cooled setup.
4. WC loops do need refilling from time to time. Water will evaporate, no matter what you do (6 months time, there will be less water in the loop etc...)
5. WC loops do need maintenance on an annual basis at least.

Obviously custom WC loops outperform any air cooled setup, look amazing and are generally great fun. It's just simply wrong to not acknowledge that they are more likely to fail or develop problems, compared to slapping a Noctua on your CPU and being done with it.
 
Man of Honour
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I disagree, it's not wrong.

1. You cannot argue that a WC setup is less reliable than an air cooled setup. There are many more components to fail (pump, tubing, each individual fitting, reservoir).

I can and I will. Tubing, fittings and reservoirs don't just fail. I suppose a pump can but I am still on my originals and they are over 11 years old now and still going strong. My setup has been extremely reliable. Of the two minor problems that I have had the first was my own fault and the second was the failure of the crap O rings that EK were using at the time.


2. Even the best watercooling loop 'professionals' in the world will have occasional leaks. They are unavoidable.

No, they really are not unavoidable. Most "leaks" turn out to be the occasional drip. It's only serious if someone has been cack handed when putting the system together, bought inferior parts or a crappy AIO such as Rajinteks effort. A well thought out system using quality components should not leak.


3. WC leaks have the potential to damage other components. I've read countless posts where GPU's, PSU's etc have been damaged as the user hasn't spotted the leak early enough. This cannot happen with an air cooled setup.

I will give you that one but it really shouldn't happen with a well thought out system using quality components. Rajintek obviously didn't use quality components and EK must have cut corners somewhere to have the problems that they have had. It only takes a second to check the level in a reservoir and anybody who can't be bothered to do that has no business running a water cooling loop.


4. WC loops do need refilling from time to time. Water will evaporate, no matter what you do (6 months time, there will be less water in the loop etc...)

Eight months in and I haven't had to top my loop up once so that blows your aguement right out of the water. I have gone much longer than that before without topping up.



5. WC loops do need maintenance on an annual basis at least.

You can but it's not neccessary. I have gone two and a half years before with nothing being done to the loop and I never had any problems.



Obviously custom WC loops outperform any air cooled setup, look amazing and are generally great fun. It's just simply wrong to not acknowledge that they are more likely to fail or develop problems, compared to slapping a Noctua on your CPU and being done with it.
 
Soldato
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This is the bit that is wrong. Where does the water go? Unless you just leave the water open to the environment (which would be a terrible idea) it's got nowhere to go.

Even the best custom watercooling loops suffer from evaporation. It was taught to us in school, water will evaporate unless it's perfectly sealed away (even the most expensive custom watercooling loops are not perfectly sealed).

Even the tubes we use for watercooling let some water evaporate out , albeit at a very slow pace. Room, loop temperature and how often the pump is running affect the evaporation rate also.

If you do a quick google search, you'll see how people have to top up their loops every few months, even if there are no leaks. This is due to evaporation.
 
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I disagree, it's not wrong.

1. You cannot argue that a WC setup is less reliable than an air cooled setup. There are many more components to fail (pump, tubing, each individual fitting, reservoir).
2. Even the best watercooling loop 'professionals' in the world will have occasional leaks. They are unavoidable.
3. WC leaks have the potential to damage other components. I've read countless posts where GPU's, PSU's etc have been damaged as the user hasn't spotted the leak early enough. This cannot happen with an air cooled setup.
4. WC loops do need refilling from time to time. Water will evaporate, no matter what you do (6 months time, there will be less water in the loop etc...)
5. WC loops do need maintenance on an annual basis at least.

Obviously custom WC loops outperform any air cooled setup, look amazing and are generally great fun. It's just simply wrong to not acknowledge that they are more likely to fail or develop problems, compared to slapping a Noctua on your CPU and being done with it.

My loop hasn't been changed since last year and it hasn't evaporated at all and trust me i know, because i've marked the res to where i've put the water in and it's on the exact same line 7 months later....... so no just no when it comes to having to refill after a few months.

Hell i've had my water in for a year straight and i can't say i noticed any water evaporate from my system, the only reason i changed is because i wanted to try putting colour into my system.

I've had my loop for the past 3 years so when you say "People have to top up their loops every few months, even if there are no leaks. This is due to evaporation" That's just not true....

But i must have some magic water in my loop.

I don't disagree with everything but i do disagree with every few months, that's just simply not true.
 
Soldato
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I wish I had your water cooling setup! 2.5 years of no stress :)

Damn your really unlucky, feel bad for ya. I think your delivery drivers need a talkings to. Likes others have said watercooling can be stress free, i had a loop in my last pc i built in 2007 and didnt touch again till 2011, it had 10 water blocks in it so many more places to go wrong and as for leaks i've only ever had one from an old thermochill rad i bought second hand which used plastic barbs with no o-rings.

Hope it all gets sorted for ya quickly.
 
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its a shame you've had such a nightmare with watercooling at least your getting good support from overclockers. I think wc is great my first build is still running 3 years later with no problems I have not done any maintenance in just over a year now & debating with myself if I realy need to. the few leaks or drips I have had have nearly allways been my own fault mostly just needed a touch more turn on a fitting and once when about to drain it I knocked an angled fitting & must have pinched or damaged the o ring but I was about to drain anyway. imo if you have no interest in doing the work yourself a custom water loop is not for you I don't want to be rude but its very hard to ship or move a watercooled pc in traffic without it being shaken & bumped about.
 
Soldato
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The computer arrived this morning. I was extra careful with the packaging i.e. not pulling anything.

The computer is running slightly quieter than before. I guess the test will come after my first and second days use. I'm going to go on gta for a bit later. That usually stresses the comp. Also I usually play black desert online at night for about 6 hours. It's not really an intensive game graphically, though it does use the cpu more. Usually if there is a problem the water will go down. When the water loop was good (before the gpu water block broke) the water level never went down.

This will be my final shot with WC. If I'm losing water rapidly again then me and OcUK will have to come to some agreement.

The funny thing is I was watching a video last night from kitgurutech on setting up a water loop and it did seem kinda easy.. the water bit was the easiest part. The hardest part was physically linking all the loops up. So it seems kinda odd that I'm suffering all these issues. Hopefully I won't be anymore. Fingers crossed.
 
Associate
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hope it works out this time for you . it seems more daunting than it really is its the same feeling as when u build your first pc and press the power button for the first time as long as u prepare well , take your time & double check everything before testing for leaks for a day without power in mobo gpu you cant really go wrong. fingers crossed for ya hope you enjoy it
 
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The computer arrived this morning. I was extra careful with the packaging i.e. not pulling anything.

The computer is running slightly quieter than before. I guess the test will come after my first and second days use. I'm going to go on gta for a bit later. That usually stresses the comp. Also I usually play black desert online at night for about 6 hours. It's not really an intensive game graphically, though it does use the cpu more. Usually if there is a problem the water will go down. When the water loop was good (before the gpu water block broke) the water level never went down.

This will be my final shot with WC. If I'm losing water rapidly again then me and OcUK will have to come to some agreement.

The funny thing is I was watching a video last night from kitgurutech on setting up a water loop and it did seem kinda easy.. the water bit was the easiest part. The hardest part was physically linking all the loops up. So it seems kinda odd that I'm suffering all these issues. Hopefully I won't be anymore. Fingers crossed.
Nice to see some OCUK members also on BDO ;p
 
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