EK Quantum Kinetic FLT Evolv'd

[Jay85]

oh.. i thought amazon linking was fine especially when OCUK don't sell screens like those

Can be abit finnicky but best not to mate. Don't even hint it. Just write the name of the item and people will google it.

 

[Jay85]

How about a custom enclosure for the external rads like the Caselabs Magnum, or when people used to use chillers, have a separate compartment for them.
So a aluminium box sits underneath the main rig... that way, you can point the QD downwards after the PCI slot and have the enclosure QD upwards, so they just slot in place when you sit the rig on top? I believe Lian Li had a similar variant to this but can't seem to find the pics

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/caselabs-magnum-m8/images/caselabs.jpg

Edit: Found an image
https://www.guru3d.com/miraserver/images/reviews/cooling/vapochill_ls/Untitled-2.jpg

I'm waiting on EK to drop their extension for their lian li o11D. Last i asked them about it, they had no ETA. It's effectively what you have there in your pics. Sits beneath the existing case, would require some drilling out of rivets i think but ive been told the existing feet can be reattached to the new extension.

I'm just hoping it's not a £100 for it... if thats the case i'll pass.

 

[Jay85]

@Jay85 I have been meaning to ask you what resolution you run at on this build?

I run a 4K 144hz monitor and I noticed I get like 5c or more temp decrease at 1440p.

This is in games, as I am sure I could stress test it at a lower resolution with furmark or something and get higher temps.

Just wanted to compare my temps now to the ones you gave a while ago.

Thanks.

1440 ultrawide 144hz. I don't think even at this resolution im letting the 3090 fully stretch its legs, where as in your case it would be.

In most games though i do see the gpu usage up there around 98% in particular cyberpunk.

How you finding the FE block so far? Really wish i had waited sometimes and got the 3090 FE instead of the AIB but im committed so don't wanna go back now lol.

 

[Jay85]

I think it's definitely pushing the GPU in the games I am playing!

I don't mine, so may see higher temps if I did that.

I am actually using the Palit 3090 Gaming Pro OC. Using the reference EKWB. I think that's the same as yours, but you have a different block?

Yeah, I am just like you! I really want the new Lian Li O11D Evo case! and I want the new VRM Cooling EKWB stuff.

Something new is always out there to tempt you with PC building!

Yeah same card different block. Think you'll invest in the active cooling solution from ekwb for yours then? Im not sure if its worth it since my temps are already around 50-60c while gaming and 76-78c mining.

Been haggling Lian li for info on the Evo case but they won't give me anything lol.


I've changed my loop again... the yellow started to fall out of suspense and its probably lodged in the radiator now... Gonna need a full rinse cycle to get it all out. It's gone from a nice bright solid yellow to Urine colour in the space of a few months .

 

[Jay85]

No Fancy pants pics, finished quite late redoing the gpu loop. I've relocated the bottom rad to external now, as much as i liked the thick rad at the bottom it was too close to the cpu. Swapping the bottom rad out has enabled much needed space and allowed for easier and cleaner runs. Cleaned the gpu block out too as it had abit of debris in it, thankfully heatkiller blocks are easy to disassemble, just had to take out a whack ton of screws out. The black fascia lifts off after you remove the inlet/outlet manifold which reveals the screws underneath.

Next up is the cpu loop as the yellow has turned opaque and looks horrendous... gonna be a nightmare cleaning it all out. Sadly its only lasted a few months where as the blue is still going strong.

Awaiting on a few more fittings and i'll get the cpu block down. Gone with Corsair XF Satin black acrylic tubing this time, its lovely stuff! Matches the blocks nicely.

 

[Jay85]

Oh no! That's the problem with coloured fluids I guess! That's why I haven't bothered.

Your colour theme is absolutely amazing though, so worth it in that case I guess.

I figure, if I keep using EK Cryofuel in the same loop then it won't need too much of a flush.

You know what its like. I saw that EKWB active backplate and sighed. It looks beautiful and the pictures are making me want to add to basket, or at least pre-order!

I dno though. I am trying not to fiddle with it too much (that's what she said) If it's not broke don't fix it

That said, I said a similar thing about adding the external radiator. So, I fully expect I will change things around again before too long!

It's weird though, the blue has been fine and continues to work well, no idea why the yellow has done it. Wonder if its a loop problem, might try another route and see if it helps.

From experience the best i've used is halfords distilled battery water. I literally used that for 4 years straight on my 680 sli build and when i flushed it, it was still clean and clear! No corrosion on the blocks either.

Haha im not sure whether paying what is basically another full price for a waterblock on a backplate is worth it. I would have considered a MP5works backplate, pretty much does the same thing for £60 less.

 

[Jay85]

Looking great. Excellent layout now.

I see you have little Noctua fans on the gpu. I flirted with that idea.

They look pretty decent. How did you attach them?

I fancied putting a smaller fan somewhere in the case, close to the the gpu, pointing right at it.

It blows directly between the backplate and vrm chips, helps drop temps down by a further 4c.

I used double sided VHB tape lol, they are sturdy as hell. Takes abit of force to remove them cos the tape is so strong. Was supposed to be a temporary thing but its become more permanent now.

I might consider painting them black one day to match the build, wish they did redux versions of these...

 

[Jay85]

Forgot, I was going to ask you what your temps are currently with the new(ish) gpu hotspot monitoring software?

I read that temp is meant to be around 10-15c above gpu core temp.

As we have the same card (minus the difference in coolers.)

I'm in the 50'c core and slowly creep towards the 80's in gpu hotspot temps.

Figuring that might actually be confirmation of a less than ideal mount.

I have heard differing opinions on that monitor though. Like, perhaps it is another memory or vrm temp that is actually monitored on other cards.

Give you a rough idea. this is during mining so the memory gets particular hotter than usual. Ambient temps on that day was around 21-22c, usually it sits around 19-20c so memory junction temps sits around 76c.

 

[Jay85]

Finally finished my loop on the cpu a few days ago! Need better pics but been so occupied with my Quest 2 , finding it hard to step away from it.

 

[Jay85]

Oh yeah, forgot to say. I sent those Alphacool QD's back to OCUK as faulty.

They accepted that they weren't quite right. Pretty decent service as I had them well over a month.



Hard to really show it but they never really lined up together when connected.

Ah i can see what you mean now, its off center and sags down rather than being straight.

I double checked mine when i did my rebuild again and they're dead straight, definitely defective yours. Are you gonna get another set?

 

[Jay85]

Nice!!!

So, you went with the same colour fluid all round.

I really like the two tone, but if that blue fluid lasts well, then easier to keep both loops the same I guess.

This is one of my favorite looking builds.

I didn't realised you had two flow meters. Guess that makes sense, as you have two loops.

I am itching to change everything again, but it is a real invasive procedure. Like a doctor for a PC lol

You painted the Noctua fans.

How much effort you have gone to ha

I'm sticking with the blue for now until i find another combo i like. I had a green in storage but it doesn't really work with the theme. Yeah the other flow meter has always been at the front of the case haha so you don't really see it. Like it this way as my pc sits next to me on my desk.

haha, it is every time i take it apart my heart skips a beat when i switch it on... thinking if i've borked anything in the process. I've always followed a strict procedure so its worked out okay so far for me. Draining the loop is the most daunting task for me, but i've done it enough times now to find the quickest and safest method even if its a little messy .

 

[Jay85]

Yeah. I will probably try another set next time I drain the loop.

It is a shame as the Alphacool ones seemed like they would be excellent quality! I guess I just got unlucky. May try a different brand next time. Any ideas on other good options?

Before buying these, i was gonna try the Koolance original versions but they're so hard to find in stock. They've had really good reviews from what i've seen.

 

[Jay85]

Hey @Jay85

I got some more Alphacool Quick Disconnects.

The same as yours again. They were the best available when I searched, so I thought I'd give them another try!

I noticed they drip a small amount when disconnecting, which I expected.

One of the connections dripped when I connected them back together though. It was a fair amount but I dried it up and it has not leaked since then.

The pump wasn't running and I was pretty careful.

Is that what yours are like?

I am worried about using them. But the PC is currently running with no water currently under the paper towels by the QD's!

Let me know what you think.

Thanks, Dan.

I'm gonna be honest, mine never dripped when reconnecting them. I align them up and push them together thoroughly and hard and there are no leaks coming from the fitting. If you misalign it, it will squirt out especially if there's pressure in the system. Once they're connected though they are solid and i have never ever had a leak or any issues with them, infact best investment watercooling wise as its saved me so much time draining the system.

I think you'll be okay, if you're worried, disconnect and reconnect again and see if it still leaks when you reconnect it. The drip when you disconnect them is normal though.

 

[Jay85]

Thanks a lot for the info.

I thought it was a good idea to ask someone who actually uses them.

Yes, hopefully I should be OK.

The QD looks correctly lined up and I pushed them together pretty firmly and quickly.

Perhaps a little fluid came out when the connection reopened when I pushed together before it was completely sealed again.

Maybe there was pressure in the system as I am still bleeding the air out after replacing fluid. Perhaps I should have waited a while.

Fingers crossed it stays secure!

Thanks for the help.

You're welcome mate, if you have any issues give me a shout im sure i can help on this end having the same parts and all. Once they're connected though they are solid, theres no way you can physically pull them apart without releasing the locking ring.

 

[Jay85]

Will do thanks.

A day later and there has been no more leakage from the QD. Must have been pressure issue or slightly misaligned as you said. I lined them up a bit straighter by moving the locking mechanism without detaching the QD completely. Looks pretty flush to me.

I'm going to leave it as it is and should hopefully stay OK.

I noticed the flow rate has dropped significantly. Almost half that without the QD!

Temps are amazing though now, so hopefully still enough flow.

I finally reseated my GPU after reading high hot spot temps.

I'm now running in the low 40s after 6 months! Oh well. I am still learning.

Yes QD's are pretty big restrictions, they hammered my flow rate by around a 1/4 making me run the pumps a little harder than usual, wasn't quite half though.

Was you seeing your temps through hwinfo? What were your memory junction temps and hot spot temps?

 

[Jay85]

To be fair, I did put a few more angled fittings in and make a few other changes, so it's not identical.

I now have a total of 11 angled fittings (90s and 45s) ! I only started out with a few at first.

It just worked out that I ended up needing to use them as nothing else seemed to work, how I had the loop set up.

Yes, hwinfo.

Previously: gaming temps were mid to high 50's with hot spot temps in the mid 80's. Memory junction was usually in the mid to high 70's.

Now: gaming temps in the low to mid 40's with hotspot of around 60. Memory Junction seems the same as above so far.

I have only run a few games and Heaven benchmark.

The results seem to point to a much more reliable gpu mount. I read 10-15C higher than core is expected.

When I looked at the thermal paste, it seemed to all get pushed away from the die and missed the middle.

I presume I haven't really done any damage running higher gpu temps. Those hot spot temps are around what the card runs with the stock cooler from what I read.

yeah thats normal haha unless you're confident with doing multi bends in hardline. I've removed a lot of angled fittings on mine purely because it looked messy but the number of turns hasn't really changed so my flow rate is more or less the same.

Seems that way, if theres no contact in the middle i would question whether the surface of the block is flat as well.

The temps before were well within spec still anyway, you're miles off from high temps. I've seen guys running mining 24/7 with much higher temps so you'll be fine.

 

[Jay85]

@0121danwilliams84 Are you near your rig at the moment?

Can you do me a favour and measure the width of your QD fitting please? Need to buy a hole saw but im at work at the moment and can't remember for the life of me the width of the widest part of the QD fittings.

 

[Jay85]

Hi Jay. What are you using the saw for?

The QD is right against the wall behind the PC, so not that easy to measure!

I got a ruler in there and it looks about 2mm to me as a rough estimate.

Dan.

I'm downsizing, mini itx incoming! However i want to maintain the external rad support so will need to make some modifications to the case using pass throughs and QD's again. Will attempt a dual loop in a mini itx form factor... should be fun lol.

20mm you mean?

 

[Jay85]

Sorry I did mean 20mm

That sounds cool. Lian Li O11 mini?

Sure it will be great whatever it is. Look forward to seeing the results!

You can't resist the itch to change things like me.

I played RDR2 today and got into the low 50c on gpu core for the first time, with the high ambient temps.

Water temp was 41c after 2 hours!

Haha yeah i can't the itch overwhelms me and i have to tinker. No not the Mini O11, im going for something a little older, the Phanteks Evolv Shift X. Always wanted to build in one and i think if i don't scratch this now i'll never get round to it.


Same! I was seeing high 52c on the core and nearly 72c on the vrm with heatsinks and fans on it. This heat is driving temps right up there.

 

[Jay85]

Nice.

I had the Phanteks Enthoo Evolve ATX original case.

They are good quality cases.

I want to build in a bigger case one day with room for massive radiators.

I will try and stay with the current set up as long as possible though.

When new tech comes out I always get the itch.

It's a big effort doing a water cooled build.

Think my next venture after this into bigger cases will be in the O11 Evo if and when it gets released. No sign of it yet so im gonna concentrate on this one for the time being.

Yup... hardline redoing all over again... Do enjoy it when it goes right. Proper ball ache when it goes **** up.


New parts list is as follows so far:

Phanteks Evolv Shift X (Gun metal) - Used



Gigabyte Aorus Pro ITX Z390 - Used



Corsair SF750 Platinum SFX PSU - New



Couple of EK Pass throughs to link up with external radiators, will follow the previous theme of externally mounting.

CPU cooling capacity might be slightly reduced but i'll be downclocking from 5.1 to 5.0ghz requiring a lot less voltage to run so hopefully will offset the temp increase.


Running the passthrough will be the most challenging part, finding the right area and making it look clean. The case in enclosed on all 4 sides, 2 by glass panels so thats a no go and the only other option is the rear aluminium panel.

Will attempt a dual loop but with such little space i highly doubt it will be possible and may resort back to tube reservoirs which i have plenty of, its just a matter of finding one that fits neatly.