Planning a first time custom loop - please check out my component list!

TangoEchoAlpha · 5 Jan 2019 at 11:03

Hi all -

I am a complete newbie when it comes to anything PC water cooling related - in fact I have never used an AIO :eek:

, having always gone for premium air coolers instead. I decided that this year I would give my first ever custom loop a go and I am just starting to work out what I think I want to buy.

At the moment my Ryzen 2700X (on a X470 Gigabyte Gaming 7) in a Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic is air cooled so I am in absolutely no rush to buy components and get them fitted quickly so I have a working system. If I do the buying and assembly over the next couple of months, that's absolutely fine with me. Being a newbie, I have elected to use flexible tubing for my first build, to try and keep things simple for me!

As part of the existing air cooling, I currently have 3x Noctua Chromax NF-F12 120mm PWM fans (apparently excellent static pressure) bringing air into the case. I will use these on any 360mm radiator I buy.

I am restricted in the depth of the radiator that I put in the side of the PC-O11D if I want to leave the bottom of the case free for 3x 120mm fans or another radiator. If that’s the case, the maximum radiator depth is 50mm including a fan. I can't see anything in the AlphaCool radiator line up that is less than 30mm deep, so I will blow that limit by 5mm....?

I have a 12 port PWM fan hub to put in the case so am not restricted by the number of PWM headers on my motherboard in any way.

I would ultimately like a radiator in the roof and in the side of the PC-O11D, with just fans on the bottom of the case bringing in cold air from below. At the moment, I am likely to use some more Noctua Chromax fans to achieve this, unless I go for an RGB option instead. In the short term, I'm just going to go for a radiator in the side of the PC-O11D.

Having had a bit of a read up/watch of videos over the last couple of weeks, I think I am leaning towards AlphaCool as my brand of choice. I've knocked up a parts list of what I think I need/want, would appreciate opinions from those more experienced with water cooling that I! Thanks

Eisblock XPX CPU waterblock black
Eisbecher 250mm reservoir
EisPumpe VPP755 pump
NexXxoS ST30 full copper 360mm radiator
AlphaTube HF 16/10 clear 3 metres
HF 16/10 compression fittings G1/4” deep black 6 pack
Ball valve G1/4” black nickel
Pure Water coolant 1 litre
XSPC EC6 UV blue dye
Possibly a kill coil?
Hose cutters
Possibly a filling bottle?

Or instead of mixing using the XSPC dye, buy the Eiswasser crystal blue ready mixed coolant?

I have a SeaSonic Prime 850w Platinum PSU, so I don't expect to have any issues powering pumps etc.

Fanks!

TangoEchoAlpha · 5 Jan 2019 at 22:57

Thanks chaps, especially @LuckyBenski for the advice about the kill coil!

TangoEchoAlpha · 6 Jan 2019 at 00:09

Jokester said:
Unless you know what you’re doing with additives for water I would recommend using a premix.

I'm a total newbie, so it's decided - will go for a premix!

TangoEchoAlpha · 6 Jan 2019 at 01:26

Safetytrousers said:
You may want an EK-CSQ plug to go on the end of your drainage port.

Thanks for that, sounds like a good plan to have a blanking plug on the drainage port

TangoEchoAlpha · 10 Jan 2019 at 21:07

And the water cooling journey has started, albeit with nothing glamourous. But I will need these!

TangoEchoAlpha · 21 Jan 2019 at 11:13

So my purchasing has been moving on nicely

I've now bought a XSPC TX360 radiator, got most of the fans I will need (going Noctua Chromax NF-F12s all round), my tube cutters, PSU jumping tool, Mayhems 16/10 fllexible tubing, XSPC EC6 UV blue coolant, lots of XSPC 16/10 compression fittings, a couple of G 1/4 blanking plugs and a fill bottle.

I've just ordered a D5 pump from OCUK - after reading the forums a bit, I decided on the Aquacomputer Laing D5 pump, the vario model with tacho signal as opposed to the PWM version. After my thread about reservoirs and having the Singularity Computers kit mentioned, I looked at it and just fell for it/fell in love with it :eek:

The fact it's a bit more expensive probably means I won't get all the parts this month and will wait until next month before finishing off the purchasing.

I've ordered the Singularity Computers reservoir brackets and D5 pump cover, so that's the reservoir combo underway - will get the pump top and reservoir when I've worked out what size reservoir I would like. That then leaves the CPU waterblock as the last thing to get

I've never done any custom sleeving, but can see myself sleeving the pump cables at some point

TangoEchoAlpha · 29 Jan 2019 at 16:55

Thanks OCUK - just waiting on the Singularity Computers reservoir tube and then I'm good for coolant to leak everywhere inside my case!

TangoEchoAlpha · 30 Jan 2019 at 19:03

Bah, the reservoir arrived today, but been let down by another retailer whom hasn't dispatched the ball valve and T piece for my draining port.

Should have ordered it from OCUK