Spec \ Advice needed for Watercooling Loop

ChocolateStarfishRammer · 14 Sep 2018 at 15:13

It'll be my first outside of AIO's! Picked up the beautiful Be Quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 Rev2 the other week, and it's crying out for a proper loop inside.

So, I'm after a pretty simple setup, just want to cool the CPU (Intel) at the moment, but room to expand to GPU at a later date. Also for the moment I think soft tubing is going to be the best bet, then once I'm happy with that after a little while, i'll upgrade it to hard.

I want a 360 Rad, and probably a 250ish Res. Other then that I haven't really got a clue. All I know is after the new case, and a preorder of a 2080.. my funds are limited to sub £350.

As a side note, I'm off to Orlando next week, would it be worth picking this all up out there? I.e is it going to be a chunk cheaper? If so, from where?

Cheers!

Tomson · 14 Sep 2018 at 16:28

Dark base its not a ideal case for watercooling
Poor airflow unlease u will mod top and front of case

ChocolateStarfishRammer · 14 Sep 2018 at 17:10

And yet the temps in it are better then they were in my nzxt phantom. I'll top mount the rad and have it exhaust straight up and out. It's fully inverted, and plenty of fresh air comes in from the front.

Tomson · 14 Sep 2018 at 17:32

U can swap from atx to inverted pro 900

But airflow aint perfect, that mesh frames ar pretty restrictive

ChocolateStarfishRammer · 14 Sep 2018 at 17:48

But lovely and quiet! Anyway.. Back on track..

Tomson · 14 Sep 2018 at 18:46

If u want quiet than stay away from aio, since case its restriictive any way and u going full lc than low fpi rads with resonable static pressure fans its solution

ChocolateStarfishRammer · 14 Sep 2018 at 19:58

Yes as I say I want rid of my current aio.

OK so low fpi rad it is. Any suggestions? What would you consider low?

NMBlack · 16 Sep 2018 at 18:24

ChocolateStarfishRammer said:
Yes as I say I want rid of my current aio.

OK so low fpi rad it is. Any suggestions? What would you consider low?

16 fpi is low enough. As for recommendations, Black Ice Nemesis rads have a good reputation.

ChocolateStarfishRammer · 17 Sep 2018 at 15:36

Ok, so below is what I'm now considering:

Rad: Black Ice Nemesis GTS 480
Res: XSPC D5 Photon 270 / Pump Combo
Blk: XSPC RayStorm Neo CPU

Then with standard 13/10mm flexi tubing, EXPC EC6 coolant (and dye), and possibliy a Silver Kill Coil (needed?).

Thoughts on that? Appreciate the 480 is likely overkill for just cooling my 2600K (at 5ghz), but needs to be something I can expand with in the future.. different CPU/GPU etc.

Couple other questions I don't know.. Do I need\want something to tell me the temp of the coolant?.. Do I need to buy some standard distilled water to flush the rad with first?.. How would I go about draining this in the future?, is there something I can do now to make my life easier?

haszek · 17 Sep 2018 at 17:34

If you are buying coolant you don't need any additives. Only distilled water if buying concentrate.

Temp sensor is nice to have, not needed though. You can control fan speed based on this sensor if you have decent fan controller, it can be also useful to identify any issues with the loop.

Drain port is always good to have, ball valve +some fittings.

I personally stayed away from dye, as I changed multiple times my loop within first two years, so to avoid mess, stains on carpets, loop etc but that's just me.

Some recommend to flush radiator just with warm tap water couple of times and then distilled water (EK's recommendation). no matter which way to flush you pick, you will need some distilled water to clean afterwards.

LuckyBenski · 17 Sep 2018 at 18:37

Definitely flush the radiator thoroughly - I had several litres of distilled available so heated it up and flushed, then added some vinegar to more water and flushed again. More flushing with clean water, then assemble. There IS crud in radiators and you do need to flush until it stops coming out.

Definitely plan and build in a filling/draining method. Make your life easier by measuring your case, drawing sketches of layout, plan components needed based on diagrams of this etc. Planning the loop thoroughly will prevent heartache over parts not fitting in / not having the right fittings etc.

And enjoy it