EK Watercooling kit

Minibiker

Minibiker

Minibiker

Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2016
Posts
7,748
Location
Bristolian living in Swindon
Hi all

I've really wanted to get into Watercooling for ages and was planning to have a weekend away with my wife and collect some watercooling bits from a forum member from MM while up in London but with all this Corona stuff it's messed my plans up :p

I've been watching a few videos of the EK Watercooling Kits you can buy and have been considering buying one on payday...

Are they a good stepping stone for first timers like me and do they have all i need to get it up and running

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £168.65 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
​


Cheers
 
If you buy that kit just remember it's full aluminium, hence the cost. Aluminium isn't as conductive nor as expensive as copper. Also bear in mind if you introduce any copper components you'll increase the chances of galvanic corrosion.
 
Bossman said:
If you buy that kit just remember it's full aluminium, hence the cost. Aluminium isn't as conductive nor as expensive as copper. Also bear in mind if you introduce any copper components you'll increase the chances of galvanic corrosion.
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Ahhh I see, so will it give decent temperatures and do me for the time being? until I'm able to afford a copper based loop which I'll buy the bits separately and not a kit
 
Minibiker said:
Ahhh I see, so will it give decent temperatures and do me for the time being? until I'm able to afford a copper based loop which I'll buy the bits separately and not a kit
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I'd recommend waiting until you can get better, more permanent products to minimise re-purchasing it that's already in your plans. These are fine for those that want something a bit better than AIO watercooling, i.e. Simple, relatively cheaper than custom and don't plan to upgrade.
 
Bugbait said:
I'd recommend waiting until you can get better, more permanent products to minimise re-purchasing it that's already in your plans. These are fine for those that want something a bit better than AIO watercooling, i.e. Simple, relatively cheaper than custom and don't plan to upgrade.
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Cheers bud, I am considering using my current air cooler and saving a few £££ to get something a bit more permanent like you say... Can you recommend anything for an AM4 SOCKET
 
Most CPU blocks are either universal or broadly Intel or AMD. The rest is very dependant on your case and how much you want to stuff into it. Pumps, it's usually either a DDC (smaller) or a D5 (larger) which are rebranded and/or repackaged by various retailers. If you're not after every single degree then focus on known brands and get what's available and affordable. The extra cost is usually more about cosmetics or what suits your case and layout.
 
Bugbait said:
Most CPU blocks are either universal or broadly Intel or AMD. The rest is very dependant on your case and how much you want to stuff into it. Pumps, it's usually either a DDC (smaller) or a D5 (larger) which are rebranded and/or repackaged by various retailers. If you're not after every single degree then focus on known brands and get what's available and affordable. The extra cost is usually more about cosmetics or what suits your case and layout.
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I was looking at Pump/Res combos in the smaller sizes, the thing I get confused with is what size fittings and tubing I need or what's best... When looking for tubing does it need to be the same measurements as the fittings or is it slightly different?
 
Minibiker said:
I was looking at Pump/Res combos in the smaller sizes, the thing I get confused with is what size fittings and tubing I need or what's best... When looking for tubing does it need to be the same measurements as the fittings or is it slightly different?
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Tubing should match fittings. For some soft tubing and some fittings (usually barb) some prefer to get a slightly smaller tubing compared to the fitting so it's a very tight fit. For compression you should generally match the sizes.

Pick tubing size based on what suits your case and needs, routing and cosmetic wise. I use 13/19 since I have a very large case and it looks better. It doesn't add anything to cooling performance though. After maybe 8/10 the difference from moving to a larger tubing size is maybe 1-2C at best. Thinner walled tubing will tend to loose more water over time but it's very slow so not really a big concern.

The brand is the most important since many on the market leech plasticizer into the water which is both ugly to view and contaminates the water (white, powdery like residue everywhere). I like Mayhems Ultra Clear, zero plasticizer leech in over 18 months while still being bendy for its size and reasonably resistant to kinks. Also relatively cheap compared to competitor products.
 
Bugbait said:
Tubing should match fittings. For some soft tubing and some fittings (usually barb) some prefer to get a slightly smaller tubing compared to the fitting so it's a very tight fit. For compression you should generally match the sizes.

Pick tubing size based on what suits your case and needs, routing and cosmetic wise. I use 13/19 since I have a very large case and it looks better. It doesn't add anything to cooling performance though. After maybe 8/10 the difference from moving to a larger tubing size is maybe 1-2C at best. Thinner walled tubing will tend to loose more water over time but it's very slow so not really a big concern.

The brand is the most important since many on the market leech plasticizer into the water which is both ugly to view and contaminates the water (white, powdery like residue everywhere). I like Mayhems Ultra Clear, zero plasticizer leech in over 18 months while still being bendy for its size and reasonably resistant to kinks. Also relatively cheap compared to competitor products.
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Thanks for all this info it's very helpful and I appreciate it... I think I will create a thread for speccing a few parts and see what people think would be ideal, feel free to pop in and recommend some bits mate
 
Minibiker said:
Thanks for all this info it's very helpful and I appreciate it... I think I will create a thread for speccing a few parts and see what people think would be ideal, feel free to pop in and recommend some bits mate
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Sure, have fun pondering it all. I love WC. All my main PCs for the past 20+ years have been watercooled.
 
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