Custom Watercooling [Recomendation]

[kurui_]

Hihi,

Had looked, wanting to have a watercooling loop. Have some questions perhaps pros here can help me out in picking the parts.

• How much is the lowest amount needed to have a custom watercooling loop (CPU only)? Say soft tubing with d5/Ddc pump vs hard tubing d5/ddc pump. (*Considering to try soft tubing with CPU only before moving to hard tubing with gpu in loop)

• Which ddc or d5 pump / pump combo to choose from? For D5 I see there are a few brands like Laing, xylem, lowara and china barrow/oem ones. Are they all the same?

•Are pwm control nessary? Or it is enough to just use the pump at the lowest pump speed settings of non pwm pumps? (CPU and gpu in loop)

•Is it adviceable to buy 2nd hand parts like pump, radiator, fittings?

•Are the much differences between the 30mm, 45mm and 60mm thick radiators? What brands of radiator will you all recommend?

•is it nessary to match the brand of the tubings(hard and soft) to the fittings? (E.g. If buy bitspower fittings have to buy bitspower tubes if not won't fit or not compatible?)

• Is it a good starting point to get the custom water cooling kit from say ekwb or thermaltake?

Pardon my poor English..
Thanks in advance!

P.s.
I'm very sorry for the wall of text..

 

[sglords]

it will be helpful if u could at least read up some of the basic stuff

 

[royfrosty]

Hihi,

Had looked, wanting to have a watercooling loop. Have some questions perhaps pros here can help me out in picking the parts.

• How much is the lowest amount needed to have a custom watercooling loop (CPU only)? Say soft tubing with d5/Ddc pump vs hard tubing d5/ddc pump. (*Considering to try soft tubing with CPU only before moving to hard tubing with gpu in loop)

• Which ddc or d5 pump / pump combo to choose from? For D5 I see there are a few brands like Laing, xylem, lowara and china barrow/oem ones. Are they all the same?

•Are pwm control nessary? Or it is enough to just use the pump at the lowest pump speed settings of non pwm pumps? (CPU and gpu in loop)

•Is it adviceable to buy 2nd hand parts like pump, radiator, fittings?

•Are the much differences between the 30mm, 45mm and 60mm thick radiators? What brands of radiator will you all recommend?

•is it nessary to match the brand of the tubings(hard and soft) to the fittings? (E.g. If buy bitspower fittings have to buy bitspower tubes if not won't fit or not compatible?)

• Is it a good starting point to get the custom water cooling kit from say ekwb or thermaltake?

Pardon my poor English..
Thanks in advance!

P.s.
I'm very sorry for the wall of text..

I try to answer everything. For a simple CPU wc. Lets take all EK pricing.

- EK supremacy evo Full Nickel ~ S$146
- EK D5 Pump combo with EK Res ~ S$225
- EK Coolstream XE 240 ~ S$111
- Bitspower straight fittings x6 ~ S$79
- Primochill 3/8" 5/8" tubes 2.1m ~ S$27
- Distilled water ~ S$1

Total $589 without shipping. Should be around $670 include everything.

Pumps are all OEM. They follow the Liang design pump. Unless like aquacomputer has some other pumps.

Pwm is not a must. Some pumps have flow control knob. You can adjust accordingly. Anyway pwm or not, dont really matters much. Even at the minimal its already quite fast.

Buying 2nd hand really depends on individual.

The thickness of the radiator does affect the cooling performance. A thicker rads actually perform slightly better. But however not much. You probably shaving off 4-5degC at most from a slim to thick rads. The only thing that matters most is the radiator surface area. The larger it is, 240mm to 360mm there is a big difference. So thickness < surface area. There is no way a thick 240mm will beat a 360mm slim rad.

Tubings not necessary for soft tubes. There are many standard soft tubing size. Only hard tubings may need to follow the brands.

Lastly. Starter kit may not have all the best cooling performance packed in one package. But if you are not aiming for the best temps, then may be why not?

Hope that answered most of your questions.

 

[kurui_]

I try to answer everything. For a simple CPU wc. Lets take all EK pricing.

- EK supremacy evo Full Nickel ~ S$146
- EK D5 Pump combo with EK Res ~ S$225
- EK Coolstream XE 240 ~ S$111
- Bitspower straight fittings x6 ~ S$79
- Primochill 3/8" 5/8" tubes 2.1m ~ S$27
- Distilled water ~ S$1

Total $589 without shipping. Should be around $670 include everything.

Pumps are all OEM. They follow the Liang design pump. Unless like aquacomputer has some other pumps.

Pwm is not a must. Some pumps have flow control knob. You can adjust accordingly. Anyway pwm or not, dont really matters much. Even at the minimal its already quite fast.

Buying 2nd hand really depends on individual.

The thickness of the radiator does affect the cooling performance. A thicker rads actually perform slightly better. But however not much. You probably shaving off 4-5degC at most from a slim to thick rads. The only thing that matters most is the radiator surface area. The larger it is, 240mm to 360mm there is a big difference. So thickness < surface area. There is no way a thick 240mm will beat a 360mm slim rad.

Tubings not necessary for soft tubes. There are many standard soft tubing size. Only hard tubings may need to follow the brands.

Lastly. Starter kit may not have all the best cooling performance packed in one package. But if you are not aiming for the best temps, then may be why not?

Hope that answered most of your questions.

Thank you very much for the advice, have a better picture of buying the parts now .

Considering to cheap out getting barrow fittings for the 6 x straight compression fittings and perhaps a china d5 barrow pump & res combo or a 2nd hand ekwb ddc pump & res combo.

Considering similar fpi, copper fins, size and thickness, do radiator brand matter? Or it's just asthetics?

 

[sglords]

Configuration
Always plan first before u buy any parts

Fitting and Tubing
Know wad is ID and OD
ID = Inner Diameter
OD = Outer Diameter

Common for soft = 3/8 (ID) x 5/8 (OD)

Common for rigid = 12mm and 16mm
China enthusiast use 14mm instead

You can get mix different brand but never ever mix inch and mm together!
Tips: Thicker tubing looks nicer for bigger rig

Radiator
FPI = Fins per Inch

Higher FPI = require higher rpm fans
Lower FPI = can use low rpm fan for silent build

Do not buy aluminum radiator!

 

[kurui_]

Configuration
Always plan first before u buy any parts

Fitting and Tubing
Know wad is ID and OD
ID = Inner Diameter
OD = Outer Diameter

Common for soft = 3/8 (ID) x 5/8 (OD)

Common for rigid = 12mm and 16mm
China enthusiast use 14mm instead

You can get mix different brand but never ever mix inch and mm together!
Tips: Thicker tubing looks nicer for bigger rig

Radiator
FPI = Fins per Inch

Higher FPI = require higher rpm fans
Lower FPI = can use low rpm fan for silent build

Do not buy aluminum radiator!

Thanks for the tips man

Something like this? (12.7mm id and 19.95mm od fittings with 12.7mm id 19.7mm tube) They seems to be 0.25mm different. Or should I do 10mm id and 16mm od? The tube and fittings fit on discription.

Fitting:
http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=35228323356

Soft tube:
http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=542874268569

 

[Donten]

just get a ek kit will do. everything needed comes properly.

 

[XcoldstarX]

A full custom kit for CPU only loop from Taobao with high quality parts like Barrows and Bykski can be done within S$300. EK is just too overpriced and quality lose to Bykski.

 

[kNiGhTseVen]

A full custom kit for CPU only loop from Taobao with high quality parts like Barrows and Bykski can be done within S$300. EK is just too overpriced and quality lose to Bykski.

It depends where the cooling company outsourced their milling jobs to. For those US and EU brandings, milling are done within their own country. If people want cheap, buying from China is one alternative.

 

[kurui_]

Thanks for the input man!

Pumps will be better to use ddc or d5 right? Seen a few cheaper pumps around. In the less than 300$ barrow and bykski watercooling kits.

 

[joshuaho]

See your needs. Both have their strengths. DDC has better flow rate, while D5 has better pressure

Thanks for the input man!

Pumps will be better to use ddc or d5 right? Seen a few cheaper pumps around. In the less than 300$ barrow and bykski watercooling kits.

 

[kurui_]

See your needs. Both have their strengths. DDC has better flow rate, while D5 has better pressure

Hmm.. think I'll try whichever one that I can get it cheaper. Thanks man

 

[joshuaho]

If u want cheap u can consider ddc pumps by barrow, cause EKWB's prices for DDC and D5 quite close actually

Hmm.. think I'll try whichever one that I can get it cheaper. Thanks man

 

[freakerknoid]

I am really interested in the custom water cooling route too. It the hard tube (petg) difficult to work with, as in for beginners?

 

[XcoldstarX]

It depends where the cooling company outsourced their milling jobs to. For those US and EU brandings, milling are done within their own country. If people want cheap, buying from China is one alternative.

I bought an EK block for my GTX1080 FTW only to sell it off a week later when I found that the machining marks are so obvious. EK didn't seem to bother polishing the block before the plating process. I got a Bykski block for half the price of the EK block and the finishing was much better. I plan to do a photo and video comparison very soon.

 

[CurryRice999]

I am really interested in building a custoom loop as well. Can anyone help with choosing parts for a full loop with a 360mm radiator? Planning to go for china brands due to the cost.

 

[Op_Valkyrie]

I bought an EK block for my GTX1080 FTW only to sell it off a week later when I found that the machining marks are so obvious. EK didn't seem to bother polishing the block before the plating process. I got a Bykski block for half the price of the EK block and the finishing was much better. I plan to do a photo and video comparison very soon.

U got email to ek for exchange? I also noticed their cnc milling like more cui these days... u should see the nickel plated backplate for gpu... the marking very obvious and fugly....

 

[kNiGhTseVen]

I bought an EK block for my GTX1080 FTW only to sell it off a week later when I found that the machining marks are so obvious. EK didn't seem to bother polishing the block before the plating process. I got a Bykski block for half the price of the EK block and the finishing was much better. I plan to do a photo and video comparison very soon.

Can understand that. Their customer service are a big minus. I have a similar encounter. However, i think your case is like an one off thing.

 

[sglords]

I just shipped some MIC watercooling parts to revamp my rig. No comment on MIC brand till complete my rig

 

[kurui_]

Thanks for the tips~ Now looking at barrow d5, ddc pumps and some 2nd hand pump plus res combos.

Also looking at the bykski waterblocks, it is almost a copy and paste of ekwb supremacy evo nickle.

Can't find bykski waterblock for my evga gtx1070 sc card too..

Fittings and tube more or less finalized with a magicool 360mm radiator

Been awhile since I read so much mandarin..

If u want cheap u can consider ddc pumps by barrow, cause EKWB's prices for DDC and D5 quite close actually