Spec me my first loop

Ashley Jordan

Ashley Jordan

Ashley Jordan

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Joined
12 Jun 2012
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517
Hi Guys,

This will be my first custom loop which at the moment will only include two GPU's in SLI.

I currently have a sealed h100 for my CPU which in the near future i will get rid of and add my cpu to this custom loop.


Case: 650D

I am looking to upgrade my current graphics to 2x 980ti's once they are released so the loop will be for both of these cards, I know the cardis not released yet, and along with that the blocks for the 980ti either so lets leave the VGA blocks out of the loop for now, i just want to have everything ready prior to the release, so i can just buy the VGA blocks and be ready to go.

So what i am looking for is everything i will need for a decent, reliable loop for my two future 980ti's and a possible expansion for my cpu ( in sig )

Please could you spec me everything apart from the two vga blocks.

I would personally like to set my budget at around 200-300 or so. But to be honest i am relatively new with custom loops so unsure of pricing..

Would it also be smart to just have a single loop for 2 GPUs and a CPU, or would i need two loops?

Thanks in advance!
 
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I'm new at this myself, but I think one question you need to ask yourself initially is have you got the room for the required radiator space, or willing to mount it externally. For a CPU and 2xGPU you will want 4x120mm worth. e.g. 2x 240mm or 1x 240+ 2x120mm.

To give you a quick idea of pricing:
YOUR BASKET
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-D5 Vario X-RES 100 (incl. pump) £105.95
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy MX £34.99
2 x Hardware Labs Black ICE Radiator GTX-Lite 240 £29.99 (£59.98)
1 x Mayhems X1 Clear Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99
4 x Akasa AK-FN057 Apache Super Silent 120mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM £6.66 (£26.64)
2 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear £5.99 (£11.98)
12 x EK Water Blocks EK-ACF Fitting 12/16mm - Nickel £3.79 (£45.48)
Total : £302.63 (includes shipping : £8.00).



I've assumed 2x240 rads. 1x240+2x120 would be more expensive, plus you need 2 more fittings.

You could go a bit cheaper on the pump/res, and you can obviously go more expensive on everything. You'll also want to be budgetting something like £100 each per GPU (for block and backplate).

I've not actually done my own loop yet, so don't trust me too much :) I'm sure the more experienced bods here can give you better advice.
 
I think that acrylic tubing and fittings are slightly more expensive, but you'll need to consider tooling for bending it (and spare tubing for practice and mistakes). People tend to recommend using normal tubing for a first build, but I agree that the rigid stuff does look nice.
 
Acrylic builds ends up a lot more expensive due to the fittings required.The parts list posted above is good tho and seems to be at the set budget :)
 
Hi Guys,

Just bringing this back up again,

The 650D only has room for a 240mm top rad, a 200mm bot rad, 140 back rad.

Do you think a 240 + 140 will be enough for 2 GPU's and possibly 2GPU+CPU in future?

The 200mm rads don't seem to have good reviews due to the bad fans on them.

Any ideas?
 
Mod it to fit a 240? I don't know the case so this probably isn't possible.

But from what i've been told/read it's recommended that you have 240mm per component, obviously you can run it on less but the temps would increase due to not enough airflow being passed over the coolant.

I'm sure you'd be fine with 2 gpu's or a gpu and cpu, but i wouldn't do 2 gpu's + a cpu in that personally.
 
A 240mm+140mm will be fine for any 2 gpu's.,If you got a particularly thick 240mm rad (50/60mm) you would probily be fine with adding a CPU to the loop aswell aslong as you dont go crazy overclocking your cards.
 
Okay thanks, i won't be OCing the cards straight away so that shouldn't be an issue. the CPU will be clocked once under custom water though. could you recommend me decent 240 + 140, i don't mind spending a bit more to make sure it'll be able to support the 3 *pu's

Thanks
 
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