Project ‘WCPGW’ (What Could Possibly Go Wrong) - H9 Elite/G9/7800x3d/Custom Water Cooled Loop

[original poster]

Hi all,

I wanted to start a project thread as I’m about to embark on my first ever custom PC build. I’ve been into ‘tech’ in general for many years (been a member here for 12+) but I’ve never actually built a system. Hell, I’m still fairly new to Windows having been an Apple fan for many years.

Anyway, here’s my list of parts. Some of them have arrived recently, some are due tomorrow and the final pieces to the puzzle arrive on Monday. Very excited!

Monitor 1: Samsung Odyssey G9 49” 240Hz paired with an Ergotron HX arm with the HD mount
Monitor 2: HP 32s 32” mounted directly above the G49
Keyboard: Logitech MX Keys
Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3S (although very tempted by one of the nicer Corsair ones instead)
Desk: Flexispot H7 dual motor sit/stand paired with a 246cm IKEA worktop
Chair: Andaseat Kaiser 3
Mic: Elgato Wave 3 on the Elgato low profile arm

Now onto the standard bits of the PC build:

Case: NZXT H9 Elite in white
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3d
Motherboard: NZXT N7 B650E in white
GPU: MSI RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio 12GB
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB 5600MHz CL36 in white
Fans: 9x Lian Li Uni Fan SL-Infinity 120mm in white
PSU: Corsair RM850e (2023)
SSD: Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Monitoring/Sensor Panel: Elecrow 7” 1024x600 (I’ll create a custom display using AIDA64)

And last but not least, the custom loop components:

Pump/Reservoir: Corsair Hydro X XD5 D5 PWM in white
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro X XC7 Pro in white
SSD Cooler (lol): Corsair Hydro X XM2 M.2 block in white
Radiator: Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTX 360mm in satin white
Monitoring: Barrow Digital OLED display with temp and flow sensor in white
Fittings: Barrow 14mm fittings in various sizes, all white
Tubing: Alphacool 14mm PETG hard tubing - 6.4m
Fluid: Corsair Hydro X purple


Total cost: £5,400


I really enjoy the research element of stuff like this. I genuinely knew nothing about building a custom PC 4 weeks ago - and I still don’t!

It would be a fair argument to say I’ve bitten off more than I can chew by going straight in with not only my first custom build, but also my first custom loop. I’d say the learning curve of water cooling was steeper than building the machine itself - probably because I at least understood the basics of PCs.

I’m fully expecting to end up rowing down **** creek without a paddle on multiple occasions, but I have no doubt I’ll get there eventually.

I’ll update this thread with pictures of all the parts before the build begins and keep it updated with progress as it goes!

I’m also doing this alongside creating a home office in a spare room so it’s definitely going to be a hectic few weeks juggling work, family, the kids and this - but I can’t wait!

Comments/criticisms/tips are all most welcome! Thanks for reading all - I have no doubt I’ll be learning on this place throughout the build!

 

[original poster]

Is this for a gaming build?? - £5k+ total budget and only a 4070 seems insane to me!

If you're gonna spend that much I'd try to trim budget from elsewhere and get up to a 4090 (or at least a low end 4080) - Assuming it's for gaming anyway!

It’s not exclusively for gaming, it’s also my WFH setup. Historically, I’ve always played games on PlayStation but figured I’d give PC gaming a try!

Plan is to upgrade the 4070 if I properly get into it

 

[original poster]

the build is well underway now and I’ve learnt a lot!

Most of the PC is built, just fitting the graphics card to go (once I deal with a minor issue of a stripped screw holding my SSD down!). Then to start on the custom loop!

 

[original poster]

well, things are going much better than expected!

It’s not quite finished yet but I’ve done all the cable management, fitted all but one of the hard tube cooling pipes, and done a quick fire up test to ensure all is working as intended - believe it or not, it fired up first time without fuss, I couldn’t believe it!









Only real bits left to do are:

- Finish up the pipe work for the custom loop
- Install my ball valve for convenient draining

Very happy so far and I’ve had an absolute blast! This is my first time building a PC and also my first time building any kind of custom loop water cooling.

 

[original poster]

Looking great! I've had watercooling for years and still too lazy/scared to go for hard tubing (plus soft tube makes it super easy to swap out a graphics card etc.)

Once the loop is complete it would be a good idea to do a leak test with power to everything except the pump disconnected (you can bridge a couple of pins on the 24pin to make the PSU fire up).
Also, put some kitchen towel or similar around/under all the fittings to catch any potential drips, if you can get your hands on e.g. some of those blue paper towels they're ideal as it makes it very easy to see any moisture!

Hope it all goes well and please post up some more pics once it's all up and running

Thanks bud! Much appreciated.

I got to a point where I leak tested this evening and was actually loosing pressure somewhere.

The needle was going from .46 bar to .4.2 bar in 20/30 minutes. I did some reading and apparently the system will actually run at more like .2 bar so I took a chance and it hasn’t leaked yet.

I’ve got dishclothes down and all electronics disconnected except for the pump so I’ll leave this running for a while and see how it goes.

Fortunately, I work in electronics manufacturing so my appetite for risk is probdbly a little higher than most given that I can get the boards fully dry again should the worst happen (assuming it doesn’t happen when there is power running through the entire system of course!).






In hindsight, I’m really not happy with my hard tubing at all so it’s going to get redone (and probably simplified). I reckon I’m asking for trouble with how the pipes are currently run.

 

[original poster]

Have to agree
You took rather a convoluted path
With the tubing

Please say after all that
Time and effort not to mention cost
That you intend adding the gpu to the loop

And for me personally
Your drain ports too high up
I usually use a multi port radiator at the bottom
And come off that with the drain port
As its lowest point in the loop
Alternatively with only one radiator
You could put the radiator in the top?
Slide the pump a bit lower down
And your drain port would be below everything

And please can we have a straight on
Photo so don't keep having to rotate to look at it

None of these points are intended as criticism though
Still think you've done great
Especially if its first time

And the leak tester should tell you what pressure to use
Can't remember off hand what mine said though
But was definitely a guide in mine
Different pressure for testing a single component
Compared to a whole loop

I wish I could add the GPU to the loop but I couldn’t find a single one compatible with the 4070! Going to check out the Corsair hybrid ones when they come out later this year.

On reflection I got way too carried away with trying to create complex pipe routing. I’m going to simplify it which will likely result in the rad moving to either the top or side