Watercooling Kits

[GoogalyMoogaly]

With there now being a thread about the EK Watercooling kits (I'm not going to call them new, cuz they're not! ) in every forum sub-section (OK, I exaggerate!) it got me to thinking...

Are these kits (and XSPC, Swiftech, etc.) considered "Custom" watercooling (or "Custom" water loops)?
I'll agree they are expandable (to some degree), but if you just use the stuff in the kit then they're not really "Custom" are they?

I bought an XSPC kit, but then proceeded to replace each component I didn't like from the kit with something better. I now only have the radiator from that kit in my loop and I hope to remove that soon too.

That's the advantage with a kit, but I would've saved myself the cost of the kit if I'd have just bought each of the parts I ended up with in the first place! (Ironically I bought the kit because it was cheaper...)

Now I consider what I have now to be a custom loop, but I don't really consider the kit to be custom because I didn't pick any of the components I just got what was in the kit, which to me seem to be opposite of custom.

It strikes me the kits are like a halfway house between the closed loop products (like Corsairs H100) and a custom loop where you bought each component individually.

Am I spending way too much time thinking about pointless terminology?
Should we just refer to closed loops, kits and "custom" loop as "watercooling" and not subdivide it any more before we start coming up with names for loops that use a combines pump and reservoir?

 

[rjk]

I'm going to try to respond to this the best I can from my own point of view as an enthusiast rather than from my position at OcUK.
you raise some very interesting points GM
there are certainly a lot of points I would like to raise in addition to your own.

Are these kits (and XSPC, Swiftech, etc.) considered "Custom" watercooling (or "Custom" water loops)?
I'll agree they are expandable (to some degree), but if you just use the stuff in the kit then they're not really "Custom" are they?

in my opinion, yes. they are custom [or what I would describe as 'proper'] watercooling. whilst the box may contain a pre-set list of components, there is nothing stopping anyone from buying the exact same list and doing it without the instructions. This would be classed as custom water surely?
I think the only thing that makes it stand out is the quality of the kit.
EG. the old Swiftech kit uses proprietary hardware which is specific to that kit. whereas the EK HF kits use the best of their components jsut put together to make things easier.

I guess it could be argued that the LT kits that EK make are not considered custom as they use a block specific to that kit to get the budget down.
but in all honesty, expandability is the key point that makes something custom.

I bought an XSPC kit, but then proceeded to replace each component I didn't like from the kit with something better. I now only have the radiator from that kit in my loop and I hope to remove that soon too.

a lot of people do this anyway, I constantly upgrade my hardware and over time have accumulated a lot of watercooling components. I started out by buying budget hardware and used the component list from a kit as a guideline of what to buy.
that is certainly the way to go in my books as it gives all users a 'learn by doing' approach to watercooling thus making it more accessible.
This is something I personally like, the more people that invest in watercooling, the better and cheaper the products will become. It benefits everyone.

That's the advantage with a kit, but I would've saved myself the cost of the kit if I'd have just bought each of the parts I ended up with in the first place! (Ironically I bought the kit because it was cheaper...)

that is entirely because you are an enthusiast. I am the same, I just cant leave something alone. In reality, most people who buy this kit will install it and forget it. Some will obviously catch the bug and immediately start planning GPU inclusions, Rad upgrades, fan upgrades etc.

Now I consider what I have now to be a custom loop, but I don't really consider the kit to be custom because I didn't pick any of the components I just got what was in the kit, which to me seem to be opposite of custom.

but its 'proper watercooling', custom or not.
it really depends on what standard the kit you originally got was. If you replaced it because it was poor quality and through your new education you realised that you could do better, then perhaps it would be wrong to call it custom.

It strikes me the kits are like a halfway house between the closed loop products (like Corsairs H100) and a custom loop where you bought each component individually.

definitely, whilst the performance may be drastically better, the majority of the kits will be made with shoddy components. that is why we [OcUK] only stock the EK kits so far. this was literally a buying decision based on my own expertise and not on what offers the cheapest deal to the customer.
the old saying could not ring truer:
Cheap Watercooling is Never Good
Good Watercooling is Never Cheap

Am I spending way too much time thinking about pointless terminology?
Should we just refer to closed loops, kits and "custom" loop as "watercooling" and not subdivide it any more before we start coming up with names for loops that use a combines pump and reservoir?

I think my previous opinion still stands:
Closed Loop = not really watercooling
Watercooling Kit = a brilliant entry point and something that all manufacturers should consider to encourage growth in their products.
Custom Kit = still a niche point in the market that few invest in.

 

[Kelt]

RJK, the XSPC kits get good reviews here and elsewhere. Do OCUK have any plans to stock them?

I'm thinking about the XSPC Rasa 750 RS360 kit myself. How do you think it would compare to the equivalent EK kit?

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

RJK, the XSPC kits get good reviews here and elsewhere. Do OCUK have any plans to stock them?

I'm thinking about the XSPC Rasa 750 RS360 kit myself. How do you think it would compare to the equivalent EK kit?

I've always thought the XSPC kits were pretty good.
I mean the RX (at least) Rads are considered amongst the best around arn't they?
I think the Rasa CPU block is also one of the top blocks around.
This basically leaves the pump, which I think OcUK list anyway.

So are OcUK not stocking the XSPC kits because you don't like the included fittins, tubing and/or fans?

Thanks rjkoneill, I think you made some good points. I think my perception of kits has been affected by my experience with a kit. I had done enough research to know what I needed and didn't need to get a kit, I just thought it would be cheaper and I expected better performance than I actually got.

I will say that I wasn't doubting them as "proper" watercooling, just as "custom" (out of the box, and if you're not using it as it is out of the box, why buy the box?)

Also:

Closed Loop = not really watercooling"

I think this is a bit unfair. It may not use 'water' but then some custom loops don't use pure water. They're not expandable or customizable (depending on if you consider changing the fans to be customizing) but they are watercooling. They have a cpu block, a radiator and a pump, it's just all built in to a sealed unit.

 

[rjk]

the XSPC kit is a possibility
my plan is to see how well the EK kits sell [which is very well so far ] and also to assess the popularity of the recently reintroduced XSPC brand.

hopefully the kits will make an appearance very soon

 

[jinxpad]

Im still shocked at how they manage to give all that good stuff at that price. The EK kit is very attractive tbh.

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

To be fair the only thing in the EK kit I'd actually buy out of choice is the CPU block, at least with the XSPC kit the radiator (again, the RX ones at least) and the CPU block are both top quality. With either kit I would (and did) replace the pump, tubing, fittings and fans. My XSPC kit was the previous version and didn't come with the Rasa block, which was a pity, but it was also cheaper than any of these kits.

I think watercooling, as with most computer related things, to a large extent you get what you pay for. As rjkoneill said, I'm probably an enthusiast and so I decided that I pay a bit more to get better stuff, same as when I buy stuff for my PC. I don't get top of the range but aim for above average (then wish I'd bought top of the range ).

I don't think the question is how EK managed to include all this stuff for this price, it more how much profit they make on the items when they sell them individually. I seriously doubt they're losing any money on these kits.
I imagine this will probably help the sales of their pumps and rads too. You don't see too many build logs by people in the know (rjkoneill included) that use EK pumps or rads. Their cpu and gpu blocks on the other handy is a very different matter!

Does anyone do a kit that includes a GPU block too? (Admittedly it'd probably be GPU only, not full cover for compatibility) With a lot of these kits, if you plan to add a decent GPU into the loop you're gonna need to add in another radiator too, and more fittings and possibly more tubing. Which may lead you to question if the pump is up to the job...

Sorry, turned into more of a rant/moan than I'd intended!

 

[Gammawolf]

To be fair the only thing in the EK kit I'd actually buy out of choice is the CPU block, at least with the XSPC kit the radiator (again, the RX ones at least) and the CPU block are both top quality. With either kit I would (and did) replace the pump, tubing, fittings and fans. My XSPC kit was the previous version and didn't come with the Rasa block, which was a pity, but it was also cheaper than any of these kits.

I think watercooling, as with most computer related things, to a large extent you get what you pay for. As rjkoneill said, I'm probably an enthusiast and so I decided that I pay a bit more to get better stuff, same as when I buy stuff for my PC. I don't get top of the range but aim for above average (then wish I'd bought top of the range ).

I don't think the question is how EK managed to include all this stuff for this price, it more how much profit they make on the items when they sell them individually. I seriously doubt they're losing any money on these kits.
I imagine this will probably help the sales of their pumps and rads too. You don't see too many build logs by people in the know (rjkoneill included) that use EK pumps or rads. Their cpu and gpu blocks on the other handy is a very different matter!

Does anyone do a kit that includes a GPU block too? (Admittedly it'd probably be GPU only, not full cover for compatibility) With a lot of these kits, if you plan to add a decent GPU into the loop you're gonna need to add in another radiator too, and more fittings and possibly more tubing. Which may lead you to question if the pump is up to the job...

Sorry, turned into more of a rant/moan than I'd intended!

I just asked a question about the EK-DCP 4.0 pumps included in these kits and and it seems they have enough grunt for double 360 rads so no worry there

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

I just asked a question about the EK-DCP 4.0 pumps included in these kits and and it seems they have enough grunt for double 360 rads so no worry there

Is that the EK-DCP 4.0 that comes with the HF kits or EK-DCP 2.2 that comes with the LT kits?
The 2.2 is only rated at 400 lph which doesn't seem that good, but reasonable. Also I realise that there's more to a pump than just it's lph rating.
The 4.0 does double that (supposedly) but is also rated at 28db which kills off any idea of having a quiet PC.
Plus of course there's the fact that those figures are what the manufacturer states and they may be a little biased.
I've not used either of the pumps though so I'm only speculating based on the XSPC Dual 750 Pump/Res combo. Tests (not mine) showed that the claimed 750lph on that were being quite generous as it was really closer to 650lph. Not sure of the noise rating on that pump but it was quite noisy and more annoying was that it was an annoying noise (but I've noticed that with my other pump too).