EK waterblocks Basic 360 AIO question before build

[poisonheart]

So...tomorrow I'm taking the giant leap and finally upgrading my old 4th gen i7 4770k system

Into my existing case (Phanteks P600 Eclipse with Revolt 850w psu) I am putting an i7 12700k, MSI mag Torpedo Z690 mobo, 32g ram, rtx 3080 and an EK WB Basic 360 AIO.

Having never used an AIO before and having seen some conflicting info on YouTube etc, which headers would be best for the fan and waterblock/pump?

CPU_Fan for fans and CPU_OPT for block/pump? Or CPU_fan for fans and Pump header for pump?

Many thanks in advance for any help

 

[Parsley]

Pump header for pump. It's likely to run the pump on the AIO at 100% by default, though depending on the motherboard it may be able to control it separately. I've never used an AIO but I think it's pretty normal to run them at 100% all the time? Maybe someone else can answer.

Put the fans on the CPU Fan header. CPU_Opt is often just a "clone" of the CPU Fan and copies its behaviour, so is best used for two fans on a tower cooler. On some motherboards it is an independent header though.

Your motherboard manual should elaborate on the headers behaviour. A look in the BIOS will also show you what settings are available.

 

[Drumroll]

AIO Fans on CPU Fan (Left) and Pump on Pump Fan (Right).
This motherboard allows to set the desired PWM for the pump.
Used a EK Basic before (not RGB) and now using the EK Elite.
Pump at 100% not needed. Maybe for few minutes to bleed some air, but that's all. No gain apart from noise.
My pump runs as follow (don't forget to change from DC to PWM):
60% up to 70C
65% up to 75C
70% up to 80C
100% over 85C
Gaming never had the pump to go higher than 60%. Setting the first temperature, in my case 70C too low would make the pump to spin up and down for no reason and this would cause more unpleasant noise than a constant rpm.
For fans, the supplied fans move a lot of air, but can be loud. I have great airflow, which should be your scenario too.
35% up to 70C
40% up to 75C
45% up to 80C
100% over 85C
Sure you can play a bit and start increasing the fan % to your liking, but you'll notice the fans getting very loud for no reason. You won't see much gains running both at 100%, for example, unless the case have poor airflow (GPU hot air not moving out as it should).
The mounting mechanism is solid, just make sure you follow the correct orientation (Provoked Prawn on Youtube made a mistake first time installing it). Also take your time and secure the standoff screws all the way down, but no need for clippers. As one of them will be very close to the VRM, can be a bit hard to tighten, but take your time.
The instructions provided, even the Youtube video from EK are very easy to follow and pretty much guarantee success at first try.
If the tubing look a bit twisted, depending on where you're installing the radiator, it can be gently twisted, not only the sleeve. Simply hold the tubing (not the "fitting") next to either the CPU block or the radiator, and gently twist it. Most of the time is just a little bit required to make one tubing look more aligned to the other. But don't pull. Is well built but I wouldn't push my luck.
The supplied thermal paste is good, just went with the Thermal Grizzly Hydronaut because is easy to spread, and I had some in hand.
I'm cooling the same CPU, using the auto overclock tool from Intel, no extra tuning, apart from the RAM profile. Cinebench all core, 220ish Watts and the CPU reaches 75C maximum. Room temperature 20-21C. But more often at low 70s. Gaming only one spike here and there at 60C.
Case is the O11 EVO and CPU a 3080 too.