New to water cooling, need help at choosing parts.

I've finally decided to hop from air cooling to water cooling and i have done a LOT of research on how it all works, how it's installed and what parts i need. But i'm still not completely sure whether or not my parts are compatible, or any good at all. So i thought it would be good to ask people who know what they're doing before i spend 300€ on a custom loop.

My current computer specs are:

CPU: Intel i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150
GPU: Radeon R9 280X 3GB
Case: Corsair Graphite 760T
PSU: 550W 80+ Gold
Memory: Corsair vengeance 8GB DDR3


The parts that i have been thinking of buying for the loop:

CPU Block: Alphacool NexXxoS XP³ Light
Pump: EK - DCP 4.0 PWM (12V DC Pump)
Radiator: Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 360mm
Reservoir: Alphacool Cape Corp Coolplex Pro 25 LT
Fans: 3X Noctua 120 x 120 x 25 NF-F12 PWM
Tubing: 3 meters of PrimoChill PrimoFlex Advanced LRT - 16/10mm - Bloodshed Red
Liquid: Alphacool Ultra Pure Water - 1L
Fittings: For fittings i'll be using various 16/10mm G1/4 nickel compression fittings with one 90 degree fitting and a bleed port.

So, as you might have noticed i'm going for a black and red color scheme (i know my PC parts don't really work with the scheme, but i'll be painting/switching them), so if you have anything in mind that should be switched from here do let me know. But i ask for you to keep in mind the color scheme while choosing the parts. Though if there is a part that is just such amazing value that i should get, i can always try and hide it in the case or paint it. My budget is 300€ (+/- 50€). As i said i'm a complete noob to water cooling (and this forum) so any tips and help is appreciated. Thanks.

Edit: Thanks for all the feedback! I've changed the tubing, fans and liquid as suggested. And i also thought id buy some anticorrosion- and alga liquid, but i still have some questions. Is 3 meters of tubing and 1L of liquid not enough/overkill? Also, i found a thing called "tower stop plug" from Primochill, and i was wondering if that could fix my reservoir coloring issue. I don't exactly know how it works or where it even goes, but i thought you guys could lighten me up on that. Here's a link: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2..._w_5mm_Red_LED_Secure_Hold_-_3.html?tl=g30c97

You won't see much benefit on a quad core. Just get a good air cooler and call it a day, unless you're doing it to look cool.

You want Promochill LRT tubing...

You also want red tubing and not a dye as that can cause clogging of the loop...


Check out the beginner's guide we have in this section.

I'm fully aware that i wont get better results. This is all kind of prep work you could say, because i'm going to upgrade my PC at a later date, might even be adding a GPU block to the loop.

EarthDog said:

You want Promochill LRT tubing...

You also want red tubing and not a dye as that can cause clogging of the loop...


Check out the beginner's guide we have in this section.

Click to expand...

I've heard that adding dyes to the liquid could pose a threat of clogging, but is it really possible with premade liquid? I wanted the red liquid not only because it would look cool in the pipes but also in the reservoir. I feel like the reservoir would look kinda out of place, but i wont risk possibly overheating my CPU just because i wanted my build to look cool.

Do you think there would be a way i could make the liquid red without a risk of a clog? If not i guess i could paint the clear plastic of the reservoir red. Thanks anyways!

Conventional wisdom tells everyone to stay away from dyes (it is in the beginners guide I suggested you take a look at. ). There are horror stories a plenty. That said, some dyes supposedly do not clog. But I wouldn't trust them personally. Just get red tubing.

As said, use colored tubing and if you want, you could add LEDs to light up your reservoir or pick a specific reservoir with built-in LEDs. There are many ways to do this. I would recommend on doing key searches of your case and water cooling to see other projects to get an idea.

EarthDog said:

You want Primochill LRT tubing...

You also want red tubing and not a dye as that can cause clogging of the loop

Click to expand...

Also, I'm pretty sure I've seen on multiple fan Roundup reviews that SickleFlows are just about the worst performing fan for radiators there are. I recommend Noctua fans if it fits in the budget. Their 2000/3000rpm industrial series is amazing. Deltas are fantastic too, I believe. Look for "cooling fan Roundup tests" like http://www.anandtech.com/show/6391/120mm-radiator-fan-roundup-part-2-fan-harder/6.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll be changing the fans, liquid and the piping. I'll be ordering the parts soon, so if anyone has anything else to add, speak now!

Edit: I'm also wondering, do i need the 3 meters of tubing, and is 1L of liquid enough?

Ultrabrite said:

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll be changing the fans, liquid and the piping. I'll be ordering the parts soon, so if anyone has anything else to add, speak now!

Edit: I'm also wondering, do i need the 3 meters of tubing, and is 1L of liquid enough?

Click to expand...

I ordered 10ft of tubing. I don't remember how much I used, but I still have a fair bit of it left. Odds are your first time you're going to cut for a piece more than once (if using scissors) unless you have a cutting tool. At $2.50 a foot for PrimoChill Adv. LRT tubing, why not have a little extra rather than running out mid-project?

Well if you're using distilled water (highly recommended) then it's sold in gallons unless you're outside of the U.S. I'd recommend having more than a liter on hand. It's dirt cheap and again, you don't want to run out mid-filling up!

A gallon of distilled is $1...get that.

The biggest issue for me for my first build was buying fittings and tubing that matched. I ended up with bits of everything so I have lots of each left over which is fine if you have other projects in mind, but if you're on a budget and short of time then its a complete pain. It also doesn't help that a lot of dealers and manufacturers list them in either inches or millimetres and rarely both, and it always seems that the two parts that you need to match are indeed the ones listed in different format. So unless you're buying a kit take time to look carefully and convert everything so you're comparing the same thing. And remember that they'll list both inner and outer diameter for the tubing to add another potential pitfall. I think i went through most of the mistakes its humanly possible to make so if you have a question i probably have first hand failure experience so just ask.

get a closed loop system like Captain 240 or one of the Corsair HI100 - Then you're done and don't have to deal with custom loops.

Prepackaged water coolers don't perform very much better than good air coolers.

NiHaoMike said:

Prepackaged water coolers don't perform very much better than good air coolers.

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True, but they're not pretty (IMHO) compared to AIO or custom, and they're super bulky. Harder to work around, a lot more strain on the MB.
I don't know, I have nothing again people using them, I'm just going to stick with AIO or custom for as long as I can help it.
Good air is less expensive though, and if you like it, power to you. Haha