Multiple rads

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,270
Location
Aranyaprathet, Thailand
  1. yes, fittings for hardline are different than fittings for soft tubing
  2. tubing diameter has no measurable effect on flow. flow rate is determined by the pump. choose whichever size fits your eye.
  3. PETG is easier to bend and cut but also softens at a lower temperature so high coolant temps need to be avoided with PETG
  4. the screws are for the fans nothing to do with anything other than that.
  5. Quantum fittings are functionally no different. it's just about aesthetics. buy what you like and can afford.
  6. install what fits.

There are no "right" answers. Watercooling is about what you like.

If you bought a soft-tubing kit why not just use it?
 
Soldato
Joined
22 May 2010
Posts
11,686
Location
Minibotpc
some more questions:

I got this soft tubing kit ▷ EK Water Blocks EK-Kit Classic RGB S360 Perfo… | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk)

1. Do I need different fittings if I want to use hard tubing? Yes you do, soft and hard line use different compression fittings.
2. What diameter hard tubing should I use? although EK do 10/12 and 12/16mm, you would think that you get better flow through the wider tubing? but both must reduce down to a narrower (and the same bore) to go through the fitting and therefore the diameter of the tubing is just aesthetic? The general and most common size for hardline tubing is 14mm OD. Tubing width these days is more down to personal taste or more importantly the size of your case and what you have to work with.
3. I hear that PETG tubing is more forgiving, but that Overclockers use Acrylic - which hard tubing should I use? I went from PETG to acrylic and never looked back, PETG is a lot softer and i have seen PETG melt and cause catastrophic leakages. On the other hand, acrylic is a lot harder and more prone to cracking however is treated correctly you should not have this issue. One thing to note, don't mix hardline tubing with different brand fittings. They have slight variances that cause some tubing to not fit into certain fittings.
4. I currently have the EK SE360 (which uses UNC 6-32 screws) but like the look of the white corsair X5 which uses M4 x P0.7 screws - these presumably are different - do I need to use different screws for the different rads? Would it be easier to use EK stuff thoroughout? Yes different rads most certainly use different screws although not always the case. XSPC, Corsair and EK i believe all use different size threads from experience. The Radiators will come with the correct screws though so its not something to really worry about.
5. If I need to use different fittings for hard tubing and if I stick with EKWB then should I pay more for the quantum fittings? Not really, EK also do a variety of different class fittings. You do not need to necessarily buy the most expensive ones. As long as the brand is the same for the fitting and the tubing they should work fine unless stated otherwise by the manufacturer.
6. I think that the thick EK XE rad at 60mm is too practically thick for the top or bottom of the Lian Li 011 dynamic case. Would the PE at 38mm thick and a fan 25mm be more sensible? Until I got a GPU block in say 18 months time for the next gen cards (and when supply and prices have normalised somewhat) then at the moment I dont really need any more cooling for my cpu but I may add another rad to try watercooling a bit more and to give me something to do. Hence I am thinking of adding a 2nd rad. I could move my slim SE rad to the bottom and the new PE rad to the roof (graphics card is too long for me to currently house my pump/reservoir on the floor fan and currently being orientated horizontally wont allow me to put a rad fan inside the main compartmant). You can fit upto a 55mm without issue at the bottom of the O11D if you intend on keeping a horizontal mount for the gpu. If you decide on a vertical mount then the max radiator thickness is 20mm (XSPC TX series), anything thicker and it will foul on the bottom of the vertical mount. Alternative would be to install a custom adjustable vertical mount as mentioned previously.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
16 Jun 2019
Posts
1,143
Location
Leek staffordshire
  1. yes, fittings for hardline are different than fittings for soft tubing
  2. tubing diameter has no measurable effect on flow. flow rate is determined by the pump. choose whichever size fits your eye.
  3. PETG is easier to bend and cut but also softens at a lower temperature so high coolant temps need to be avoided with PETG
  4. the screws are for the fans nothing to do with anything other than that.
  5. Quantum fittings are functionally no different. it's just about aesthetics. buy what you like and can afford.
  6. install what fits.
There are no "right" answers. Watercooling is about what you like.

If you bought a soft-tubing kit why not just use it?

thanks both for the answers.

yes I am currently using the soft tubing kit - which i thought was very good - suprising how much stuff was in there. I will continue to use soft tubing even if I install a 2nd rad shortly. However in 18 months time when I get a new GPU and waterblock then perhaps I may like to have a go at hard tubing.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,270
Location
Aranyaprathet, Thailand
Relative merits of hardline vs soft tubing, a personal opinion:

Hardline looks great if done well
Hardline requires draining for changing anything
Hardline systems are generally more expensive to build and more difficult to build

Softline can look good too
Softline is easier to manipulate when doing maintenance


There is ZERO difference in cooling.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 May 2010
Posts
11,686
Location
Minibotpc
Relative merits of hardline vs soft tubing, a personal opinion:

Hardline looks great if done well
Hardline requires draining for changing anything
Hardline systems are generally more expensive to build and more difficult to build

Softline can look good too
Softline is easier to manipulate when doing maintenance


There is ZERO difference in cooling.
If you plan your loop properly so it doesn't foul any components like ram, you can change them with ease. Alternatively QD's and hardline work well together as well but does make it rather expensive for the sake of convenience.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
16 Jun 2019
Posts
1,143
Location
Leek staffordshire
If you plan your loop properly so it doesn't foul any components like ram, you can change them with ease. Alternatively QD's and hardline work well together as well but does make it rather expensive for the sake of convenience.
what is QD's?

I am basically going down the custom loop route to reduce fan noise (lower fans speeds). And now I have a cpu loop I am thinking that I may as well add the most heat output (GPU).
 
Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2013
Posts
1,831
QD's are Quick Disconnects. Fittings that enable you to detach and remove parts of your loop without spillage. Handy for things like radiators, cpus and gpus, to help drainage and disassembley
 
Soldato
Joined
22 May 2010
Posts
11,686
Location
Minibotpc
QD helps with maintenance but the difficulty with hardline is that there's little "give" in the tube to allow the QD to disconnect.
I plan on using QD's for both cpu and gpu at some point, if you have all the disconnect points at a right angle you can effectively pull the tubing away from the components without the need to bend or require any "give" in the tubing. One thing i need to consider is the tubing run to compensate for this. Anything is possible with some careful planning and thought into it.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
16 Jun 2019
Posts
1,143
Location
Leek staffordshire
whilst I wait for a next gen GPU (with better availability and price) + waterblock - I may have a go at adding a thicker rad to plan/try ahead. I am thinking that when I have a watercooled CPU and GPU that I could benefit from more than my 28mm x 360mm EK SE. It seems like a 45mm rad would fit well in my 011D on the roof and/or floor. I like my pc to white some white inside so that I can see the black components. Hence I see that there is this 45 x 360mm very white alphacool rad:

▷ Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 360mm Trip… | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk) I may try this on my roof with my soft tubing (I may place my slim SE rad on the floor but not necessary just for an undervolted static 4.45 ghz @ 1.29v ryzen 3600XT).

I need to add some more coolant soon and having my reservoir horizontal rather than vertical (due to the length on my graphics card - it did fit vertical if I omit the first floor fan - see the first photo with clear coolant - I am thinking that a GPU waterblock will make the graphics card shorter in future and so wont have this problem in 18 months time).
 
Back
Top Bottom