soooo AIO or DIY Bundle

went for the EK tubing in the end and have the bending insert on its way too. it's the damn bending tool for 16mm OD tubing that I'm having trouble sourcing. think I may just have to go with a set of mandrels
 
You don't need a bending tool really, although the mandrels can be useful for when you have two bends in the same length of tube and you need to measure more precisely. Otherwise, hand bending is quite straightforward for a 90. Helps if you have a square surface just to check it against though. I found the Barrow insert to be the best fit for the EK tubing, but I'd advise you use olive oil or washing liquid to lubricate the insert beforehand. Makes things a whole lot easier! If you want mandrels I'd get Barrow's also. The Monsoon ones are OK but I think are for imperial size tubing so aren't actually a PERFECT fit. Plus they are more expensive.
 
Did you go for EK fittings too?

What Legend said about mandrills is spot on, you really don't need them at all. Just go with hand bending and use something like a tin of paint if you really want a precise curve.
 
Legend;30482957 said:
You don't need a bending tool really, although the mandrels can be useful for when you have two bends in the same length of tube and you need to measure more precisely. Otherwise, hand bending is quite straightforward for a 90. Helps if you have a square surface just to check it against though. I found the Barrow insert to be the best fit for the EK tubing, but I'd advise you use olive oil or washing liquid to lubricate the insert beforehand. Makes things a whole lot easier! If you want mandrels I'd get Barrow's also. The Monsoon ones are OK but I think are for imperial size tubing so aren't actually a PERFECT fit. Plus they are more expensive.
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Bluntwrapped;30483047 said:
Did you go for EK fittings too?

What Legend said about mandrills is spot on, you really don't need them at all. Just go with hand bending and use something like a tin of paint if you really want a precise curve.
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cheers for the info as always! so i'll just go with hand bending then.

@ blunt yea - going with the EK fittings
 
What makes you say that? :o You could section off a piece to heat as much or as little of the tubing as possible. Would be evenly heated every time, no cool spots.
 
Bluntwrapped;30488198 said:
What makes you say that? :o You could section off a piece to heat as much or as little of the tubing as possible. Would be evenly heated every time, no cool spots.
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think i'll stick to the heatgun! :p

so got some minor parts in today - uv strips, coolant, dye, tubing etc. just tried a test mix to see if i'd like the colour and uv effect. all I can say is - oh my!!

even the wife went 'that looks cool!!'

so guess i'm on to a winner!

I might start a new thread shortly as I'll have a few more questions and probably even more as I progress through the process!

again, I can't thank you folks enough for you help and advice, and to think I nearly bought an AIO.
almost certainly i'll be replacing the gpu sooner than I expected (can't find a block for an R9 380x) and including a full cpu/gpu loop if I can get this right the first time!
 
Bluntwrapped;30488198 said:
What makes you say that? :o You could section off a piece to heat as much or as little of the tubing as possible. Would be evenly heated every time, no cool spots.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't be able to heat all around the tube, and I don't see how you'd be able to heat enough of the full bend radius using that device. Besides, using a heat gun isn't hard with a bit of practice.
 
so just a little update (told you it was going to be a 'work in progress'!!)

in my possession I now have

1 x EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (incl pump)
1 x Black Ice Nemesis 360 GTS Xflow
2 metres (massive overkill but I expect to banjax the first couple of attempts at bending!) of EK 16/12 PETG Tubing - (+ chamfer tool and cutting tools etc, still trying to decide whether I really need bending mandrels)
4 x EK-AF 90° Nickel Rotary Adapter Fittings (bought from MM)
EK-Supremacy EVO Waterblock, Plexi top (just need am4 backplate - think) (bought from MM)

Mayhems X1 Clear Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L
UV Yellow Green 15ml
UV - 12" (30cm) DarkSide CONNECT Dimmable Rigid LED Strip x 2

so I think the only thing I'm missing is the HDC compression fittings (and fans for the rad)

oh and of course an actual system to cool - (hurry up AMD and sort the ryzen ram issues!)

does the above look ok or is there something glaringly obvious I've missed out?
 
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You may need more than x4 90 degree fittings, but it's impossible to know until you start building. I have 9 in my current build, but that's just how it ended up with wanting to run my tubes a certain way. You could feasibly do a build with none, but that would be trickier and take some careful planning (not to mention some genius bending lol!). I also find the 8mm extenders incredibly useful.

Are you cooling CPU + GPU? If so, I'd suggest more than one rad. It's do-able on one 360, but your temps won't be great, and nor will noise levels if you want them to be, as fans will need to work pretty hard. What case are you going with?

It's good to have more tubing than you need, it can be tricky to start with. Do you have correct sized silicon insert for the tube, and a heat gun?
 
Just the cpu being cooled for now. Gonna be in the InWin 303 (you're build was my inspiration ;)) 8mm extenders - I'll have to have a look for them. OcUK stock them?

Heat gun, bending insert and all other miscellaneous paraphernalia sitting and waiting :D

Edit: found the extenders on OcUK
 
well, finally bought the main pc components,

R5 1600
Gigabyte Gaming 5 motherboard
2x8gb Corsair lpx Ram

should arrive on Wednesday all being well - then the fun begins!!
 
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