[Project] Red, White but not so Blue...

[enigma27]

Hi All.

Thought I would detail my first ever experience into a full custom water loop. Hopefully this will inspire those who have always wanted to step into water cooling but never had the confidence.

So first off the equipment:

Case + PSU + Fans
Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Full Tower Case - Black
Super Flower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold"
Corsair Air Series AF120 1500RPM LED Red Quiet Edition x3

CPU
Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail

Mobo + Memory + HDD
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
Team Group Delta 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Red Light (TDTRD416G2400H
Samsung PM951 512GB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x 4 NVMe Solid State Drive X 2
Some old SSD for OS out of old PC

Graphics
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 SEA HAWK EK X 8192MB GDDR5X Watercooled

Watercooling
OcUK Tech Labs - V12 Watercooling Kit 360
Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear
Mayhems X1 UV Red Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L
EK Water Blocks EK-CoolStream PE 360 (Triple)
EK Water Blocks EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (incl. pump)
EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy EVO - Nickel
EK Water Blocks EK-Vardar F4-120 (2200rpm)
EK Water Blocks EK-AF Ball Valve (10mm) G14 - Black
EK Water Blocks EK-AF T-Splitter 3F G14 - Nickel
EK Water Blocks EK-ACF Fitting 12/16mm - Red
EK Water Blocks EK-ACF Fitting 12/16mm - Nickel

The graphics card is being delivered this afternoon with everything else being delivered Saturday. Big thank you to OCUK who allowed me to modify their V12 water-cooling kit and pick an EK res/pump combo rather than the XPSC.

The theme of the build is going to be red/white to match with the color scheme of the motherboard. Tubing is going to be clear with Mayhems UV red coolant. Hopefully have full pics of equipment and first build shots up Sat/Sun.

One thing i did forgot is the PSU jumper.. so will have to get out the old paper clip.

 

[enigma27]

First part arrived safely this afternoon

Now for the rest of the system coming Saturday

 

[enigma27]

Reserved 2

 

[Benjamham]

Curios as to why you have got a sea-hawk card going into a custom loop? Also i reccomend grabbing yourself a larger res tube, could improve aesthetics a fair bit, and you probably will have the space for it in a case this large

 

[Petelock]

Curios as to why you have got a sea-hawk card going into a custom loop? Also i reccomend grabbing yourself a larger res tube, could improve aesthetics a fair bit, and you probably will have the space for it in a case this large

Have you seen the 1080 MSI Seahawk?

It's a custom full EK block and not a hybrid card.

To OP: seems nice and will be interested to see how the GPU performs.

 

[Benjamham]

Have you seen the 1080 MSI Seahawk?

It's a custom full EK block and not a hybrid card.

To OP: seems nice and will be interested to see how the GPU performs.

my bad, didn't realize that there are two versions. looks like the other board partners are catching up with the EVGA hydrocopper line!

Agreed, should look good. Not sure what I think of the block on the gpu yet. lets wait and see eh!

 

[enigma27]

Hopefully have pictures up tonight of the GPU in the flesh.. To be fair more money than sense came into play when buying it.. really wanted the EVGA ftw but after the delays and even longer delays of EK making and releasing the full block i decided to let my inpatients get the better of me.

i did speak to a guy on the call about the tubing and didnt seem to think it would make a hell of a difference. EK kits actually only supply 13/11 so thought i would go up a little.

 

[enigma27]

Guys I may have a lot of question to ask you brilliant minds as this is my first step in to full water cooling.

First up is order of equipment..

RES>PUMP>CPU>GPU>RAD

or

RES>PUMP>RAD>CPU<GPU

?? I have seen both mentioned but by my own methodical thinking you would want the water to pick up the heat from CPU and GPU and transfer to the RAD to expel it (RAD is going to be top mounted with fans pushing up and expelling air out of the case)

Or is my thinking mad..

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Order doesn't matter, just hook it up all up to suit pipe runs etc. Whatever is easiest, basically.

 

[Benjamham]

A lot of people would recommend putting rad last as it kills pressure. The order of the loop really doesn't affect temperature differences much at all as the temp of the coolant equalizes, may be within one or two degrees but if you have enough flow it wont provide a noticeable difference having either configuration.

 

[enigma27]

Thanks Gents.

 

[enigma27]

Update time:

So everything arrived on Saturday.. obligatory delivery shot below.

As usual my inpatients got the better of my and I started putting everything together straight away of which I will put some shots up tomorrow night.

Although we seem to have landed into a problem.. the tubing OCUK sent me does not seem to be the size they say on the product page. as per the below it looks bigger than 16/11 and although I can get the tubing over the barb of the of the compression fittings the sleeve that screw of to keep it in place and will not screw up (hands have taken a battering trying to get them on) so now have to speak with OCUK customer service to sort out.

 

[enigma27]

Ok new pipe work is here... and with a little lubrication we are all done (apart from forgetting to order a stop plug :|)

A few pictures

CPU Block

GPU

Full shot

Res - The res is hidden away in front of the front fans for which i had to drill holes to mount.. I did not realise the pump/res i bought could not be bottom mounted so had to improvise.. you wont be able to see it but its too late now to sort out.

So next up I need the stop plug for the for the drain hole and then its onto filling.

This is the bit that really is worrying me never doing this before. I cant really tell if i have all the fittings on tight enough and i am sure I will take filling very very slowly... PAPER TOWELS AT THE READY..!! It has dawned on me now I hope I have done everything correct as there is no margin for error once everything is tightened down.

 

[BornEvil]

looks good m8

But my OCD says you should flip the CPU Block symmetrically (rotate 180). It does not effect performance and gets rid of the cross tubing. You can also peel of the EK logo badge to orientate the right way. Just my 2 cents.

edit: filling it is by far the most fun part, enjoy when it comes

 

[enigma27]

looks good m8

But my OCD says you should flip the CPU Block symmetrically (rotate 180). It does not effect performance and gets rid of the cross tubing. You can also peel of the EK logo badge to orientate the right way. Just my 2 cents.

edit: filling it is by far the most fun part, enjoy when it comes

I actually did the crossover on purpose

 

[OJ46]

Looking good

If the horrible green M.2 annoys your OCD as much as it did mine, there's a very cheap solution: Heatsinks bought for a couple of quid from the Bay

Spoiler

 

[enigma27]

Looking good

If the horrible green M.2 annoys your OCD as much as it did mine, there's a very cheap solution: Heatsinks bought for a couple of quid from the Bay

Spoiler

That actually looks pretty cool, may have to invest in a couple of those.

 

[enigma27]

Guys bit of advise.

The pump I purchased has both 4 pin molex style lead and PWM lead.

I understand the 4 pin molex will run the pump at 100% but is there any benefit to using PWM?? the motherboard seems to had a secondary PWM header which in the manual states it can be used to power water cooling equipment but not sure if it means it will regulate the power the pump will get.

 

[Squeeze]

it will do pump speed no?

same as cpu fans do?

 

[enigma27]

I am not sure.

This is what it says in the manual but I have read story's where you should always run the pump at 100%

) CPU_OPT (Water Cooling CPU Fan Header)
The fan header is 4-pin and possesses a foolproof insertion design. When connecting a fan cable, be sure
to connect it in the correct orientation (the black connector wire is the ground wire). The speed control
function requires the use of a fan with fan speed control design