Spec me my first loop!

Deehjay

Deehjay

Deehjay

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So after some thinking, I've decided that instead of going for a simple,boring AIO cooler for my CPU, I want to give a custom loop a try! Please bare in mind I'm a bit of a noob with this and don't actually know that much about it, but I have seen some absolutely gorgeous builds with custom loops which have given me inspiration to do my own (obviously a bit more basic at this point in time). The loop for now will be only for my CPU, but I'd like to add a loop for (probably) 2 970s in the future, so the expandability needs to be there. I have a budget of around £150-£175 maximum, so no going over please. Colours don't really matter since they can be easily changed at the shopping cart anyway.

I was thinking of maybe starting out with one of the XSPC kits that they have available, such as this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC Raystorm 750 EX280 WaterCooling Kit £154.99
Total : £163.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).




What else would I have to buy alongside this (tubing, coolant etc.)? And is there anything better that I can get for the budget?

Thanks
 
Also, is there a reason why that specific kit is more expensive than the version with a 360 radiator seen here?

YOUR BASKET
1 x XSPC RayStorm 750 EX360 WaterCooling Kit £144.95
Total : £154.55 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Also, forgot to mention my case. It's a Phanteks Enthoo Luxe.
 
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I started out with one of the xspc kits - no regrets as such but if I had factored in what the longer term was i.e. adding 2 7950's to the loop I would have approached the matter a little differently.
First concern would be that the Bayres solution is not one that I would go with again because:-
1) Mine was noisy , to me.(I could hear it) - others say that theirs are silent!
2) Running a loop comprising a cpu + a gpu's , ok but to run 2 gpu's might be a bit much for it as the pump is not that powerful.
3) it takes up a lot of space in the front of the case.

When I added my 2 gpu's I had to get a new pump/res combo (D5 pump is great - more powerful, adjustable speed and for all practical purposes 'silent' - but it is sited inside the case!) and an additional 120mm rad to the 360 that came with the kit, as it is probably stretching it to assume that one 360 rad is enough to cool 3 items - maybe ? but might not be enough?

If you decide to go with a kit then dependent upon the case and it's space I would go for the 360 rather than the 240 kit BUT would probably go for different fans (Silverstone sst watercooling pack of 3 looks good) .

You will need fluids i.e. a large container of de-ionised water to flush the rad/s before installing ( supermarket / garage) and fluid to fill the loop - I would go with Mayhems , just check that such contains the necessary inhibitors, anti- algy etc so that you do not need to add a killcoil or if you go for one without such also add a killcoil.

Hopefully the above will help - if I 've missed anything then I am sure others, much better qualified than I , will be happy to correct me. :)

Overall - enjoy !! ( Yes it's a faff but the pleasure that it gives once complete makes it worth it:D)
 
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Looking at your case - but subject to comments from others who actually own/use it - a 360 rad at the top with the addition of a 240 in the bottom later would provide more than enough cooling (rad) for your purposes and would give room for expansion later :)
 
Thanks for the help peeps. Would I be better off going with parts that are not part of a package at this price-point? To be honest, from the pictures I've seen around I'm not really a fan of the tubing suddenly almost disappearing in the case where it has to go into the bay/res, so would I be better off getting one of the ones that hang up inside the case that are mounted? The Enthoo Luxe came with a bracket to help with mounting that. One of these for example:

YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-XRES 100 D5 PWM (incl. pump) £84.95
Total : £94.55 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Scratch that, think it'd be too expensive if I were to go for something like this. I'll probably end up replacing the res bay later on down the line when I feel comfortable adding GPU loops. AgedIdiot if you don't mind me asking, what sort of temps were you getting with that specific kit on your cpu? And also exactly what specific liquids would you suggest? Say I wanted to go with a white (not clear) fluid for the loop, what would you recommend? As for de-ionising the rads, is this simple to do? And is that absolutely everything that I'd have to buy to get the thing set up? Thanks again
 
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I have a case and loop for sale on here, not sure if you're interested in second hand but it's all good quality stuff.
 
Ok, no worries... It's no hard sale, just thought you might be interested cos the whole lot is up for less than your looking at spending and it's a full custom loop in a corsair 700d
 
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I much prefer buying things new, and I also don't need the case :)
How much liquid am I going to need? Would 1 litre of the coolant be enough? Definitely don't wanna have to splash 30 quid just on a liquid!
 
Deehjay said:
Also, do you know why the 360 kit is cheaper than the 280? is there something I'm missing?
Click to expand...
If you print off the spec sheet of each and compare, the main difference is that the 280kit is using 2 x 140 fans whereas the 360 uses 3 x 120 fans. The 280 is very useful if you do not have the space etc.
Why is it more expensive - simply, I think, supply and demand - if I interpret correctly ,as there are only a few 280 kits about a premium is not too surprising.
(There may be a few reviews about - so if you wish to be sure see if you can find and check for yourself)

5 litre of de-ionised. Inexpensive and keeps. All one does is pour it through the radiators etc to make sure they are clean before setting up and filling with the actual fluid you intend to use. i.e. it is just to clean through.

I would think that one litre of Mayhems fluid would be enough - it does depend on how long a run , how many rads , blocks etc BUT I found that 1litre was more than enough to run a loop in an 800D case i.e. Pump>Top (triple) rad > cpu>gpu>pump.

I did go for the concentrate (which if memory serves makes up to 2 litre) and bought 2 litre of Mayhems pure water but I overdid it - one litre was more than enough and I would expect it to be enough for your cpu alone loop (although until you build who knows:()

If you decided to go for either kit - and I would go for the 360 kit if I were you (better bang for buck- provided it will fit:))- then assuming that xspc have not changed their approach then the kit will contain a very useful guide!

Extra's needed apart from the fluids - I would change the fans but you could leave that till later :) - I was not keen on the plastic hose clips that the kit came with (but they did work and no failures!) so I might treat myself to some metal hose clamps (if I could find them I would link you:() Def need a sharp knife/scissors (to cut the hose) and some funnels (so that you can get the fluids in without disaster!) - Offhand nothing else comes to mind apart from mentioning the fact that if you want all 3 rad fans to run at same speed then you will have to link them to the same power point .

I did not keep records of cpu temps. to compare before and after when I moved to the 360 kit as I had been using a Corsair H60 so it was cool already - my main reason was to cool the gpu , which it did:)
I ran the rad fans on PWM and as I was also cooling the gpu it would be unfair to compare before and after anyway BUT the loop certainly kept the heat in check. Running an i2700k @ 4.5 it did not go above 60c even using IBT :)

I would mention that in my experience moving to full water from a sealed unit for the cpu alone was not worth it - might be if you wanted to try for as high a speed as possible (more volts etc) but only marginal gains otherwise.
I do not regret moving but the cpu was already overclocked and quiet - the gpu however was awfully hot and noisy (with 2 unbearable) and water tamed it.

Sorry if rambling :D Hopefully some of this is of use
 
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Thanks for the help, very thorough! Yeah I was thinking about that, but the reason why I want to do my own loop is that I really want to give it a go and as said before do expect to expand it in the future to a multi-gpu setup with adding more rads etc, and eventually trying to make it look as sweet as possible. With the AIO I'd have to replace the whole thing once I got around to doing the loop, whereas in the future I'll only maybe have to ditch the res/pump with this.
 
I have a Luxe with a custom loop and if you really want to get a kit then you could go for the 240 and put it in the front or bottom of the case. Then when you get 2 GPUs to add you have the choice of a 420 or 360 in the top.

Another thing to note is that there is not much room for a tube res if you have long graphics cards. Personally I have two of the tiny PCB 970s so it is not an issue :)
 
stooeh said:
I have a Luxe with a custom loop and if you really want to get a kit then you could go for the 240 and put it in the front or bottom of the case. Then when you get 2 GPUs to add you have the choice of a 420 or 360 in the top.

Another thing to note is that there is not much room for a tube res if you have long graphics cards. Personally I have two of the tiny PCB 970s so it is not an issue :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I could do that, but for now I think I'd put it in the top and see what happens in a couple of months when I add a loop for the gpu. I want it to look as nice as possible after spending that kind of money, but having the tubing stretched all the way to the front for the cpu loop will look kind of meh in my opinion.

Yeah I was thinking about the tube res space limitations, but they just look so damn good. I guess I'll have to wait and see, but I think I'll open up my case later on today and see how much clearance there'd be with my current card. I do have my heart set on a tube res though, they just look all that better imo.

Is there anything else I'd need to buy aside from the kit and the fluid with this one?
 
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