First Loop.

[40Four]

Hey,

I am looking to build my first custom loop, i've added a list of parts below and would like some feedback. Other than fans is there anything else i need or anything anyone thinks i should change.

Your help will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Cpu block - EK Supremacy EVO Alcatel + Nickel

Radiator - Alphacool NexXXxoS UT60 240mm

Pump - Alphacool Laing VPP655 D5

Reservoir - EK-Res X3 150

Fittings - Alphacool 13mm (1\2") barbed with o-ring

Tubing - Masterkleer 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD Red

Clamps - Phobya hose clamp 19 - 22mm

EK coolant and ATX bridging plug.

 

[40Four]

I'm no expert, but a quick google shows that Masterkleer tubing has plastisizer issues. The general consensus is to use Primochill tubing (but then I've taken a punt on Mayhems own tubing for my upcoming build).

Most people go with compression fittings these days instead of barbs.

Thanks think i'll go with the primo tubing instead then.

Is there anything wrong with using barbs, compression fittings are like 3x more expensive and i was hoping to stay around £300 initially as i intend to fit a block to my gpu once they are available for the Msi gaming ti.

What do you think of the kits or is it better to get parts seperately?

 

[40Four]

nothing wrong with barbs, I use them with two cable ties holding the tube tightly onto the barb for piece of mind

I've seen posts from others using barbs as well so i'm comfortable going with them. What do you think of the rest of the parts i've listed, anything i need to change? I want to make the right choices so the more input the better. Thanks.

 

[40Four]

Thanks for all the replies so far i really appreciate the help. I can see that compression fittings are quite popular, still not sure i can justify the extra cost at this time but will definately consider them. I have decided to go for the Primo-chill tubing and have seen people using smaller tubing on the 1/2" barbs to get a tighter fitting and would like to know if anyone who has done this has had any issues like the tube splitting or anything?

What is recommended for draining? I've read about and looked at quick disconnects and will probably go with them unless there is something better and easier.

My only other question at this time is about keeping it free from bacteria buildup. I've seen kill coils and biocide and they seem to be about 50/50 so what do you think is best for a beginner?

Thanks again for those that take the time to reply.

 

[40Four]

For your first time just grab a bottle of premixed coolant,just add that to the loop and your done as it it has biocide in it.


Any particular reason why you are going for a separate pump and res rather than a combo?

Also have you remembered that when separate the pump will reqwuire a pump top,as their isnt one in your parts list

Also out of intrest what case is it going into and what parts are you cooling?

No real reason behind pump and res to be seperate and i am open to using a combo if you have any recommendations.

The case is a Corsair Air 540 and i will be cooling i5 4690k and Msi gaming 980Ti.

It's mainly for the card but the blocks aren't available for it yet so at first i thought i'd get the Cpu sorted first then do the card at a later date but now i am thinking i should just wait and get it all at once.

I only thought about water cooling after i bought the card otherwise i would have got a reference board and just put up with the stock cooler for a while. The things that can happen in a week eh.

 

[40Four]

ahh ok hopefully the blocks for your card should be available at the end of the month

Your gonna want more rad space than 240mm really tho for that combo.A 540 can easily accomedate a front a 360 and a top 240mm at the same time,this should be what you should be considering.

Using a separate pump and res makes for a bit more things to consider, the res has to be positioned above the pump the fed it.I had consdered such a setup in my 540,but mounting the a seperate res in the front was gonna be a PITA,never mind the clutter it would cause having everything in the front compartment.

An EK or XSPC D5 pump/res combo is worth looking at it,will be easier to work with,it is also possible to mount these in the front compartment if you choose to do so aswell.

In a 540 most of us put our pump/res combo above the PSU in the back,as it helps for space and can lead to an extremely clean looking build in the front.

Yeah i know about the Rads and my original list was just for Cpu. I was thinking 2 x 240mm Rads but will go 360 and 240 if it is necessary.

I will have a look at combo pump/res and will also post an updated list once i have established a firm list of parts.

What order should i put the components? I was thinking Res-Pump-Gpu-Rad-Cpu-Rad-Res.

 

[40Four]

i'd go with mayhem's coolant (imo)
and like everyone else has said, primochill tubing.

that's what i have in my loop...white primochill and mayhem's x1 clear coolant. no problems after a year without cleaning the loop =)

also, as the UT60 is fully copper, i'd be tempted to say get the supremacy as copper acetal. the nickel wont be visible behind the acetal.
i know copper and nickel are similar and you wont come into problems mixing it in a loop. but as always, same metals are always better.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-636-EK&groupid=962&catid=1519&subcat=2286

Would that be better then.

 

[40Four]

Loop order doesnt really matter except for the res must always be before the pump.Water temps always equalize throughout the whole loop anyways.Just have loop order whatever way to easiest to work with or looks aesthetically pleasing.

I run Pump/res>Rad>CPU>GPU>Rad>pump/res. Easiest way for me to route tubing,plus it is also the tidiest way

http://imgur.com/IK6EJ1S <==Pic of my 540(its a bit tidier now tho )

Nice, that does look clean. Any reason for only having one fan on the 360 rad, i would have thought dust would be an issue with negative pressure.

 

[40Four]

i think so ;p

Thanks. I feel like i am starting to learn a few things now.

 

[40Four]

I actually removed that fan,it was cool the Mems on the GPU,but it actually wasnt necessary and looked kinda weird.


I have 3 Noctua F12's pushing through the radiator,they are mounted on the outside between the front of the case and the front panel.I done this for spacing reasons.A rad+ fans mounted inside the case takes a lot of space,and you almost always can never use the right hopswap bay with a rad+fans on the inside.

Edit: This means you cant fit the front dust fiilter.You can just stick to the outside of the front panel to block dust.Its a bit ghetto tho,I just bought Akasa 120mm Dustfilters and placed them on the fans before attaching them to the rad/case.

I think i am going to have to go that way because my card is 11" long which also rules out a thick rad. I'm definately going to be pushing it at the front space wise.

I was thinking about what you said with the pump above the Psu but i am going to have to use the 5.25 bays or just below as i have all the SSD racks full. I know there are combos designed for 5.25 bays so i'll have a look at those.

 

[40Four]

As long as the fans are mounted on the outside you could easily fit a thick rad on the inside(60mm), and still have clearance between the rad and your card if you choose to.

Yeah have just been looking at that. I am getting a good idea about how i want to proceed, just need to finalize the parts and wait for the Gpu block to come out. I am also still to decide between barb or compression fittings although i am leaning towards barb to try to keep costs down a little (although with the clamps on top it may not be too dissimilar). One thing i am hoping is i can reuse the back-plate that came with the card as i really like it.

 

[40Four]

I am looking at compression fittings. There are brass-nickel or brass- anodized aluminium that i have seen so far. Which ones would be best? Again thanks for any hhelp.

 

[40Four]

Ok here is an updated parts list

Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 360mm

Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 240mm

EK-ATX Bridging Plug 24 pin

PrimoChill PrimoFlex Tubing

EK-Supremacy EVO - Acetal

EK-XRES 100 D5 PWM with Pump

EK-Ekoolant EVO CLEAR Premix

EK-Msi Gaming 980Ti Water Block

EK-Msi Gaming 980Ti Backplate

EK-ACF Fitting 13/19mm Soft Tube Compression Fitting G1/4, Brass - Black Nickel Plated x 10

Rough price around £450. Still need to look at rad fans and quick disconnects.

Thoughts please

 

[40Four]

This is a good list of parts

A few things to consider

You will want a couple 90 and 45 degree angled fittings.Especially if you do put the pump/res in the back.Following on from this,if you do put the the pump res in the back it may be worth considering a slightly less thick 240mm rad.

I have a 37mm thick rad at the top,with a 90 rotary connected to tubing that goes through the gromet to the pump in the back.This is just enough clearance for the tubing to come straight out the Rotary through the gromet wouth out kinking.With a 45mm rad tubing would have to kink up then back down,it would be extremely awkward.I''d consider swapping to the 30mm thick model of the NeXxos radiator.That entire series of radiators are good tho

Fans,it depends really,are you after silence? or just raw performance.What fans do you already have?

Thanks for all your help. I will def get the 30mm thick rad and some angled fittings.

I've currently got a few 120mm fans about, 2 x arctic f12 3 pin, 2 x CM Jetflo PWM (These are very nosiy when they pick up speed) i also have the 2 stock fans from the H80 i'm currently using (again quite loud) running at the lowest setting. I used to use a Thermaltake Urban S31 that's sat in the cupboard now hence i have a some laying about. Apart from the F12's they are all very noisy which is something i would rather avoid. Would the stock 140's on the 540 be good enough for the 360mm rad? Ive never seen any specs on them so have not idea about cfm or sp. I tend to see people recommend Noctua however i'm not keen on there colour scheme.

 

[40Four]

Cant use 140mm fans on 240/360mm rads,they need to be 120mm's due to the mounting ect.

Noctua make great fans.I use Noctua F12 focused flow fans on my rads,they are fantastic.They are expensive tho(£16 each). They can operate at as low 350rpms.I have mine on a pwm curve that keeps them at 400-500rpm while idling and ramp up to 800-900rpm while under load(Gaming),they can go as high as 1500rpms.At max speed they arnt particularly quiet but no fan is at these rpms.They do excell at performance at lower speeds however,where they are extremely quiet.Also no clicking or odd resonances at low rpms like a lot of other fans.

You could prob use your jetflows on the 240mm rad,and voltage reducers on them to limit their max speed(and thus their noise).I hear they alright for radiator fans.

Bolded- Noob error on my part.

I was just looking at the price of Noctua's, they certainly aren't cheap although i see you do plain black fans now. I will have to think about that. I will probably reuse the stock H80's and the Jetflo's for a while (possibly with a fan controller). I think i have quite a few voltage reducers aswell.

On the 360 rad would it make much difference if i went 30mm with that as opposed to 45mm? I'm more curious than anything as i will probably still go 45 regardless. I figure the more info i can get now the better off i'll be when i finally get round to ordering. I have spent quite a lot of time looking at guides and completed builds the last few days and have got a bug of sorts.

Do you have any more pics of your build, i would especially like to see some of the other side.

 

[40Four]

A thicker rad will give you slightly more cooling capacity,its not gonna be a huge difference however.If you can fit a bigger rad into your build(space ect) theres no reason not to get a thicker rad.

Dont have any other pics handy,im actually gonna be moving my rig on to my desk later 2nite to do some work on it,will grab a pic of the back and post it later on

That makes sense to me, better to have that bit extra. I'm just hoping they release water blocks for my Gpu soon and that i can keep the back plate that came with the card, on the EK site it literally says coming soon so i'm guessing around 2 - 4 weeks.

After that i think i'll be all set to order, just need to pick quick disconnects, some angled fittings and choose some fans (although i may use the ones i have for a while).

 

[40Four]

just get ek vardar fans. they're as good as gentle typhoons (which are arguably one of the best - if not the best - watercooling fan)

What are they like for noise? I really want them to be as quiet as possible and will take a couple of degrees temp hit if i have to.