Considering First Custom Loop In New Year

[OliverQueen]

Been a long time coming but seriously considering going down the custom loop route in the New Year on my main rig. I may have to buy a new case as well & if that was the case, I would have to look into options, but for the moment i just need suggestions on the core components required for the loop.

I would be looking at a soft tubing setup to start with as I just don’t trust my precision measuring/cutting skills with hard tubing, although I would not rule it out at a later date so would like the option to swap over to it if I decided to go for it in the future. i don’t need anything fancy as won’t be having any RGB lighting etc in the system (I hate it & I prefer to look at my screens than the insides of the PC). All I am concerned about is the overall cooling of the solution.

CPU - i9 13900K
Motherboard - ASUs TUF Gaming z790 Plus WiFi D4
GPU - PNY Uprising XLR8 RTX3080ti
Current Case - Lian Li lanCool II Performance Mesh-C

What I would like is suggestions for water blocks, radiator (not size as may need to change case so internal space depends on that), fittings (just brand & type of them as obviously would depend on tubing route, case, etc), pump, reservoir, tubing & coolant (as well as anything I may have missed).
I would be reusing my Noctua fans I already have as well as adding any in if needed (4 x 140mm & 3 x 120mm) & have plenty of other fans of both sizes sat on the shelves to use temporarily until i can get any additional Noctua’s should I need them.

If I need to change case, then would prefer one with the least amount of ‘window’ as mentioned, I won’t be looking at the internals & if I do I can take the side off.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as don’t want to fork out on anything to find out that could have done better for less money or if had taken something else in to consideration.

 

[OliverQueen]

If you`re doing it purely for cooling purposes then I` forget a custom loop and stick with air cooling as there isn`t that much difference these days. Water cooling is expensive so I`d save the money you would spend on the water blocks and swap the 3080ti for a 4090FE, they run a lot cooler then the 3080ti and get the best air cooler there is.

Already running a NH-D15 Chromax on the CPU & haven't seen anything that outperforms it on air. I was going to try to push the CPU a bit faster than already getting from it but I can see your point.

Very first thing
Find out if there's even a gpu block
For that model card
There's not a block for every card
And that's not a common one
Unless it's a reference pcb

It is the same card "apparently" as the Palit & Gainward cards so I would assume it is a 'reference' layout but PNY are useless with giving out information on their cards so without taking it apart & comparing it to pictures found online of reference layouts, I could not say for certain.

 

[OliverQueen]

Yeah apparently and maybe reference
Just won't be good enough
Need to know 100%
Have you looked at ek block configurator?

Edited
Looked on ek
Only the xlr8 gaming revel edition is listed
Doesn't mean no block from byski,alphacool,barrow etc
Aren't available
Just means more research needed

From what I have seen with images of the cards the board layout for the Revel & Uprising are the same, just the plastic shroud & addressable RGB on the Revel that is the difference along with the supposed slightly higher stock clocks on the Revel (although looking at the datasheets for the cards they both clock to the same for core/memory/boost even though the cores are supposedly binned better to justify the extra cost of the Revel).

As mentioned may just fork out for a better GPU for myself & give the wife this one (she isn't really going to be stressing it much with what she does). As I need to get her a HSF as well, I may just plump for a decent non-Corsair AIO (largest that will fit in the Lancool II) as having to limit the power draw of the CPU to keep the temps under proper control with the NH-D15 means not getting the most out of the 13900k (it does struggle when the CPU starts drawing close to 275W+ consistently even with undervolt). Talking of undervolt, I should redo the GPU one again after the reinstall as knew I forgot something but that might wait until I get this niggly boot issue sorted.