New to Watercooling, few Q's

Just had a quick scour around the internet, and I see what you mean about the San Ace being hard to find! hah, I think I'll look at getting the Scythe Gentle Typhoons, found them on-line for around £11, which doesn't seem to bad if they're as good as you say. I'll most likely end up using some sort of fan controller to alternate speed on the radiators so I can slow them down when needed.

No worries about the NF-S12B either, once I get my kit, I'll be flogging my H50-1, and I'll sell them with them fans most likely, or at least one, as they well out performed what Corsair provided with it.

Regarding the 140 rads too, I actually had a quick look around but couldn't see anything, and I'm sure the 120s will do me fine. But it could be an interesting option in the future when I end up upgrading components in the system, as I'm planning on keeping this case for quite some time. And I can't wait to see how heavy it'll be once all the kits in there, and filled up with water haha :D.
 
Put together what I think will be my final purchase list, can you just check it over and see what you think? Anything I've forgotten, or anything you'd change? Cheers dudes :D.

EK-Supreme HighFlow CPU Block - Acetal - £53.12
2 x EK-FC5870 5870 CF - Acetal - £155.28

XSPC RX360 Black - £71.09
2 x XSPC RX120 Black - Barb Size None - £71.06
5 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM Cooling Fan - £54.95

12V Laing D5 Vario Pump - £71.51

EK Multioption RES 250 - £35.76

12 x Bitspower 1/4" BSPP - 1/2" ID Hose Tail - Matte Black - £34.20
6 x Bitspower 1/4" BSPP 45 Degree Rotary Fitting - Matte Black - £55.14
3 x Bitspower 1/4" BSPP Blank Fitting - Matte Black - £7.65
2 x 1/4" BSPP Variable SLI VID Connector 1/2/3 Slot Pack £16.34
1/2" - 1/2" Highflow Y Splitter - Nickel Plated - £2.23
1/4" BSPP Ball Valve - £2.49

7/16" ID - 5/8" OD Clear Hose (XSPC) - Hose Length 5 Meters - £9.93
PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils 5/8"- Clear - £5.50
Black PVC Hose Clip 5/8" OD (10 Pack) - £4.29
4 x Black PVC Hose Clip 5/8" OD - £1.96
Thermochill EC6 Non Conductive Coolant - Clear/UV Blue - £18.38

Hose Cutter (10-40mm) - £8.99

12" Quad CCFL UV Light Kit - Sharkoon - £12.25

PTFE Tape - £0.99

Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus - Black £27.58


Total - £720.69
 
Ok just my take on the above.

The supreme is a great block BUT not for multi block loops - Get the HK instead or new swiftect XT (same price ish)
Add the D5 EK Xtop to your list and 1/2 barbs for it (extra)
or a DDC ultra with top (saving)
What are the Y's for - you can run your gpu's parralel withouth them (just need 2 sli kits)
5 meter of hose is excessive - 2 is usually more than enough inc wastage
distilled/di-ionised water + some pure silver (or nuke) is better and cheaper than 'coolant'
sharp kitchen scissors are just as good as a cutter

And the black Bitspower barbs are REALLY nice :D
but 700+ is silly imho - for that money you can get an extreme chip
 
When you say the HK, I take it you mean HeatKiller? Or is it some block from EK?
Had actually forgot to add the XTop, I'd seen it the other day but forgot to add it to my list.
Got the Y so I can add a drain line at the base near the pump.
As for tube length, I had no idea tbh, just added loads so I could have plenty in case I made too many screw ups and end up with not enough left lol.
Is it OK to use dyes in distilled water? I'm ideally looking for it to be either clear or UV blue you see. How much does a loop usually take too? The ones I listed are actually 2x1Litre bottles of coolant.
Regarding the cutter, I don't have any shops scissors, or knives or anything lol.
 
Regarding the cost, Yeah I know it's quite steep, but I suppose that's more because it's an initial set-up cost, where I'm getting everything in one go, where as I'm sure most people do it in stages over years, upgrading this or that, getting new blocks for new chips and what not.

As for phase, I don't think it looks quite a cool, even though it's 'cooler' lol :p, I won't lie, this is partially for aesthetics as well as performance.
 
I probably wouldn't drop £100 on barbs but then the black bitspowers are very nice so if you can afford it then why not..

Why the D5? I still think a DDC is better and cheaper.

Also why the swiftech rads?

But ultimately you're bang on, I have the same pump, rad, res, barbs and fans I've been using for years so assuming you'll stay in watercooling you're making an investment.

I think my first setup was £350 but that was before the days of blingy barbs and before full cover gfx blocks so it was a bit cheaper :)

Just never ever expect to get even a fraction back of the cost of the gfx blocks, they're the biggest non recoverable cost because invariably you only sell them when the cards are old.. I paid £100 for a 7950gx2 block, then sold it for £15. painful.
 
I don't know if I'm honest. I think it's because it was the first one I saw and have seen in so many builds. What makes the DCC better over the D5? I'm also wondering what's the best one to get between the Pro and Ultra for my set-up? Plus there's quite a few different tops available. Is there any real difference besides the looks between them?
And what Swiftech rads? I've not chose any, planning on getting 1x360 and 2x120 XSPC ones, still not sure on what depth 120's to get though, need to do some measuring in the case.
Just to add, would there be any performance difference between a EK Multioption RES 250 and a 150? Just the extra 50mm space could be handy, and I'm not sure if the ammount of fluid in the system would effect performance at all seen as it's nto really being cooled in the res.
 
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Ghosteh said:
Unfortunately, after looking at my credit card statement, and my payday, and after a bit of calculation, I won't be getting this in about 3 months as planned :(.
Totally going to end up getting it at the end of this month, or very beginning of February, my calculations came out better than expected haha, can't wait :D.
Click to expand...

I'm so crap at even keeping to my own plans!

I've just heard a weep from my debit card as I placed the transaction for all the parts :D. Hopefully will be here soon enough, just waiting for the CPU Block to actually be released by EK, then all the parts should be dispatched in one go :D, can't wait.

Many thanks to all you guys for your help, has been fantastic. I'll post a build log most likely, that is if I don't get too excited and throw it all together with out taking pictures lol. Again, cheers fellas :D.
 
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Nice one. Sorry for failing to see your last post. Bit late, but..

60mm thick radiators tend to perform better than 30mm, but 60mm feser/thermochill/xspc rads all perform about as well as each other.

The DDC is not as good a pump as the D5, but it generates a higher head pressure. The 18W would be better than the 10W, but either 18W ddc or D5 would be good here. Hope you remembered the aftermarket top, it's worth it just to be able to thread barbs into. Performance increase is about the same with any of the ddc ones, excepting the xspc built in reservoir one which does better. Don't know about the various D5 tops, think they're all about the same.

Reservoir size doesn't matter, bigger is more convenient when filling, but just a T line will do by itself. I'm looking forward to the build, strongly recommend putting it together slowly though. Ideally put it all together outside the case and leak test for a day, then put it together inside the case and leak test again. Wet circuit boards suck.

Have fun man :D
 
No worries about the late reply mate, you've been more than helpful in helping me choose what parts to go for :).

In the end I went for the DDC-1T Ultra, which is the 18W one, with the XSPC Top(Not the reservoir one) as I actually thought about the smaller dimensions helping me sort out my 120 60mm rad I'm going to have at the base of the case, just gives me that bit extra room to play with :).

Went for the EK Multioption 150 in the end too, as said before, to just give me that bit of extra room to play with. And I will most certainly be doing plenty of leak testing prior to putting it in my system, and yet further testing once it's in hah. I take it it's a simple case of jump-starting the PSU to keep the pump going to actually do the leak test?
 
The D5 tops are simular (ek rev2 is the best) but all of them are only a 8-12% improvement.
unless you class the T3 as a 'top' - that shows a 85-95% improvement (almost as good as two pumps)
where as the DDC tops are more like 25-40% improvement

Enjoy the build ghosteh
 
Is this an OK option for the EK res to be set up?
Most of my parts have arrived, except my blocks, so I'm just getting an idea of how it all will fit in my case :).

ek150.jpg
 
Ghosteh said:
Is this an OK option for the EK res to be set up?
Most of my parts have arrived, except my blocks, so I'm just getting an idea of how it all will fit in my case :).
Click to expand...

I've seen some use that type of res as you have pictured it but personally I wouldn't. If you think about it, if there is any air left in the system it won't naturally settle in the top of the res as it should do, it will just go back up the pipe into the rad or whatever else is above the res. When you switch the loop back on some of the air, by no means all, will start churning round again. When you switch off the air will filter back up into the rad, assuming some hasn't gone back into other parts of the loop, thus making it even worse. You can avoid this by either putting a tube inside the res, selaed around the top and open at he bottom, much the same as the xspc restop thus preventing air going back up the inlet tube, OR somehow bleed ALL the air out, if it is even possible with a setup like that. Or put up with your fluid frothing and bubbling whenever you use your pc.
 
Bleeding with that arrangement features rotating the case such that the fill line is higher up than the other exits to the radiator and letting it run for a while. Not particularly easy, but not that hard either.

Depending on the thickness of the fill cap, it may be possible to screw a barb into both sides of the return, making for a (short) tube like Bubo describes which would trap some air at the top. Or put tubing onto this barb, increasing length increases amount of air that can be caught while making it less effective at catching said air. I still suggest res intake and pump intake at opposite ends of the cylinder and just tilting the case when bleeding.
 
I think you may have said this somewhere in this thread yourself already, but if you do have it set up like the pic, without doing the tube mod, then the res is simply doing nothing worthwhile and you may as well just have a T line. The primary function of a res for me will always to be to collect and trap air which remains in the system, even after you think you've bled it all out. Also I have witnessed the water level drop in my own EK150 reservoirs by about and inch and a half over twelve months. Now I haven't taken the plug out of the top yet to see if the air gap which is now in the res is actually a vacuum, or whether the missing water has been replaced by air, but either way it could do funky things if you were relying on totally bleeding all air out of the res so you could have the inlet at the top.
 
This is a good point. I believe I suggested mounting the reservoir horizontally though, so water still continues through linearly yet air is able to accumulate.

Otherwise I'd guess air will accumulate in radiators, which isn't very good news really.
 
After a bit of fiddling(and guessing seen as I have no blocks yet :P) I think I'll just be attaching to the two front connectors. I know it's not ideal, should really do top and bottom, but I don't think I'll have the space due to my bottom rad being a 60mm deep one, not leaving loads of room to play with lol. Cheers for the advice though guys :). Hopefully I'll have a build log going soon, well, within two weeks, damn blocks being out of stock everywhere I've looked lol.

I'll also have a look into horizonal mounting once I've got all the stuff in there, see how I can work it :).
 
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