Looking to dab my toe into watercooling, can I have some advice please

Soldato
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Hello all!

Looking for some advice and opinions on what to do regarding watercooling.
I currently have a 5800x and a RTX 3070 TI, would love to put them both under water, but getting a block for the 3070 TI is proving difficult.

SO, I'm thinking if doing just the 5800x on its own as a starter. It's currently under control via a EK 280 AIO, would I see a large drop in temps moving to the custom loop?

I'm using a lancool 215 case and not looking to change it out really unless absolutely necessary.
I don't have a budget really but would rather keep the cost down.
I like the EK and bitspower blocks
A Res/pump combo that's silent

So yeh, what would you guys advise I do? Go for it and hope EK do a 70 TI block in the near future?
Cheers
 
Soldato
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Parts these days are much of a muchness, it's more about what fits, and looks good for you.

For pump I'd recommend a D5 if you want quiet, DDC's a very powerful little pumps, but they have a buzzy sound profile I do not like. As for keeping costs down, I'd strongly recommend going second hand. Whenever I need to add a new part, I just lurk on the MM until what I want comes up.

As for temp drop, probably some, but you've already got 280mm of rad space, so I doubt it's going to be drastic; modern AIOs are pretty good.

The beauty of watercooling is the flexibility; you can transfer from case to case, update individual parts as necessary, and the components last for years.

Where you're going to see real benefit is a full custom loop, fans universally controlled achieving high overclocks for very low noise. It's also extremely enjoyable if you're into it as a hobby. Just bear in mind there will likely be some swearing, and you're going to need to maintain the loop. For just a GPU, frankly I don't think it's worth it. Were I in your situation I'd sell one of the cards and get a full loop, but horses for courses etc.

Good luck :)
 
Soldato
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Hey, thanks for the advice.

I've found a couple of parts in the B grade section at the moment.
Its the GPU that's bothering me really, as changing it for another RTX dosent seem to be a option unless it's to a 3080 or another 70ti, which is highly unlikely either way.

I might grab the CPU waterblock while it's £40 and see if I can get rad and Res/pump combo used, what about fittings? Used also?
 
Soldato
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Which EK aio do you have? I doubt you will see a huge difference. But depending on how old it is there may be an updated mounting systems to offset the block that gives a decent improvement in temps if it's anything like my arctic AIO
 
Soldato
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Which EK aio do you have? I doubt you will see a huge difference. But depending on how old it is there may be an updated mounting systems to offset the block that gives a decent improvement in temps if it's anything like my arctic AIO
It's the EK 280 AIO D-RGB cooler, hoses are a pain too, as they go horizontal on the block if your looking at it from outside the case, literally just misses my FE fan lol
 
Soldato
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I might grab the CPU waterblock while it's £40 and see if I can get rad and Res/pump combo used, what about fittings? Used also?

Yep, the lot mate. Every fitting I have is second hand, and has been running in my system for a couple of years minimum.

I actually prefer stand alone pump and res, but many people go for combos.
 
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Overclockers own B-Grade under Offers/Clearance is a good start.
If you're picky about noise, go with a D5 pump.
Radiator area is king, just avoid silly thin radiators, unless they are the only option. Going with very thick radiators is tempting, but not always the smartest choice.
The EK PE is a very good radiator, as is the Alphacool XT, but not as readily available. If you have the chance, I would go with the alphacool because of the multi port design, making it much easier to work with and also easier to fit temperature sensors in unused ports, but if you plan well, the EK still a good choice.
Tried the Corsair 30mm which should be good but, at least in my system, was very poor and restrictive.
 
Soldato
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just get high quality parts and fittings, i never had a single leak or issue with EK cpu block and fittings so would vouch for that brand
 
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A cursory google looks like there are some options for 3070ti blocks but they aren't particularly good. There's a reddit thread which seems pretty comprehensive if you just search for '3070 ti fe waterblock', but the advice seems to be just wait for blocks from the big players.
 
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I have contacted EKWB, they have told me in response about the 3070ti Fe block that the R&D department are working on it now, but no ETA on when it will be ready.

Would it be foolish to get everything except the GPU block now? Or do CPU only and add another rad plus GPU later?
 
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There's absolutely no reason you can't get started now if you're going custom loop, that's exactly the point! You can customise as much as you like, whenever you want.

The only thing to be aware of is that you will have to drain the loop to add the new components which can be a faff, but if you prepare for it with a drain port etc then you can minimise the time it will take when the day finally comes. If you've got the cash now, there's also no reason to wait for the second rad in the case. Unless you're going to go down the 2nd hand route, in which case it gives you more time to wait and see what comes up.
 
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As for parts and brands, for slim rads the Hardwarelabs Nemesis GTS range is superb, and what I run. AquaComputer, EKWB, AlphaCool etca LL make good kit.

No reason at all you can't do a CPU loop first. You could even add in a couple of QDCs and just plug in the GPU block when you're ready.
 
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keep in mind in terms of radiators.

Corsair and Bitspower are rebranded Hardwarelabs radiators but a higher cost... essentially a fancy name stuck on a turd.. like Apple. Go with the cheaper Hwlabs rads
 
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Cheers guys, going to start planning I think.
May even add a different case more designed towards water-cooling.

As much as I like my lancool 215, it has areas that I would rather had better features.

I'm thinking maybe a Corsair 4000 or 5000D or even p500A or 011D (mid not mini)

Saying that my 215 could take a 280 in the roof and a 360 in the front, would be plenty of rad capacity for the two components I would have thought, but how would I go about mounting a pump/Res combo in such case? Where would it go?
 
Soldato
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keep in mind in terms of radiators.

Corsair and Bitspower are rebranded Hardwarelabs radiators but a higher cost... essentially a fancy name stuck on a turd.. like Apple. Go with the cheaper Hwlabs rads

A turd? Hardware labs rads are excellent. One of the best performing slim rads around.
 
Soldato
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Cheers guys, going to start planning I think.
May even add a different case more designed towards water-cooling.

I'd stick with what you have and spend the money elsewhere. 360 and 280 is great for a 2 component loop. I currently have a 360 and 240, great temps on overclocked hardware.

A new case is going to cost the equivalent of a block, rad or pump/Res. And getting one second hand is much trickier; people don't tend to post them.

In my opinion I'd stick with your case, do your loop, and then if you really enjoy it you can do a transplant later on and expand :)
 
Soldato
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What about the EK SE rads? I haven't looked into them yet, found a chap selling a rad plus pump/Res combo.

From looking at my case and mobo, 27mm thick rad is the best I can do otherwise fans won't fit, this is for a 280mm by the way, 240mm I'm not sure.

I'm going by my current EK aio rad thickness which says it's 27mm rad, I'm assuming it is the same rad my aio is using lol
 
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