First time builder needs some inputs

So I'm about to order my first ever custom loop. Here is what I've put together so far:

Blocks:
EK-Supremacy EVO X99
EK-FC980 GTX Ti Strix

Radiators:
EK PE 360
EK PE 240

Pump/Reservoir:
EK XTOP Revo D5 PWM
EK-RES X3 150

Fans
EK-Vardar F1 or F2

From what I understand colored water is a no no. So I'm going with colored 12/16 mm PETG tubes. The things I'm not sure of is fans and what colors i want/looks good. The case I'm gonna use is Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Glass (Galaxy Silver color). My goal is to have the longest rad's i can fit. If I understand correct a longer thinner rad is better than a shorter thicker one? And I want the fans to be at a static rpm. As low as possible. I want a dead silent build. For now I've selected EK's Vardar in my shopping list. Either the F1 (1250 rpm) or F2 (1450 rpm). Are these good and silent? I saw a "review" from JayzTwoCent where he said they where dead silent but reading a lot of comments under claiming that that was not the case. So that made me unsure.

The colors have to match my MB (Asrock X99X Fatal1y) which is red for the most part, but I'm thinking of replacing it later with a either a whole black or some tints of white MB. I'm thinking red tubes with either white or chrome fittings. And later going over to icy blue tubes. So I'm leaning towards white fittings, but also thinking chrome goes best with most colors? Don't want to replace them a year later just cause of the colors.

Reading this for myself makes me sounds like a girl deciding her color on a dress or something But considering this **** costs me almost $1200 (I live in a expensive country!) i want to be sure

Aesthetics is second to functionality but it's always nice to look at something that was made by you especially if you have to look at it everyday.

EK makes good stuff. Can't go wrong there.

Make sure the radiators will fit with the fans along with everything else in the loop. Easiest ways to do this are to just find builds other people have used. I like to actually acquire the case first and then measure things out with the motherboard installed before I even order anything else.

If you are aiming for near silent I would get pwm fans so you can run off fan curves from your CPU temp.

Those fans might be just saying in general. I have also used small rubber washers on every thing that has a screw . With good results as well as a bit over sized psu that can run with the fan off.

I have been able to run a decent OC with no fans on my rad's.

First and foremost, to OCFs.

If you haven't, please read up our intro to watercooling stickies to get the basics down.

Once you're done with that, see what water cooling gear you will need to cool your components and what goals you're aiming for. This will give you an idea of the amount of heat surface needed. Than you can go case shopping based on roughly what you'll need and want.

As for the fans, check some roundups as there's plenty over the years. The best fans in the market are still Typhoon's but are limited.

When it comes to fan/pump or any curves really, you want to base them on water or delta temps for a gradual change, not based on a component's temp since it will be too aggressive and a noisy mess.

Thanks for the reply's.

So I've just ordered everything now. I got my case and measured. My plan was getting the most rad surface possible. Unfortunately two 360 rad's would not fit. So I'm going one 360 and one 280 which isn't that much of a difference from two 360's.

To go with the 360 I've ordered 3 Gentle Typhoon's 1850 rpm PWM. The case got delivered with 3 of Phantek's PH-F140SP fans so I'm gonna see how they perform. The GPU block was not on stock so hoping to get everything by the end of next week. I've tried to get some info on the difference between intake/outtake, and from what I've seen the difference doesn't seem to be more than a few degrees ºC. I'm considering going intake on both rad's, top and front with outtake with a single 140 back to get positive air pressure. Not sure yet if that is the best way to go though. If going outtake on the top is better I might go that way. I don't have a problem with cleaning dust often as I got compressed air at work which makes cleaning dust effortless.

I'l have to read up some more on delta t, and how to measure/calculate? I was thinking of maybe having the fans set too a static rpm regardless of the load on the system. So when I'm happy with the noise and temps at full load I'l just leave it be at that rpm. Or is that something I should avoid?

Also since this is my very first build and I'm going hard tube I've ordered 10x500 mm tubes. Would that be enough? I'm afraid it's not enough considering I've got 2 rad's, the pump and reservoir separate.

Tomma said:

Thanks for the reply's.

So I've just ordered everything now. I got my case and measured. My plan was getting the most rad surface possible. Unfortunately two 360 rad's would not fit. So I'm going one 360 and one 280 which isn't that much of a difference from two 360's.

To go with the 360 I've ordered 3 Gentle Typhoon's 1850 rpm PWM. The case got delivered with 3 of Phantek's PH-F140SP fans so I'm gonna see how they perform. The GPU block was not on stock so hoping to get everything by the end of next week. I've tried to get some info on the difference between intake/outtake, and from what I've seen the difference doesn't seem to be more than a few degrees ºC. I'm considering going intake on both rad's, top and front with outtake with a single 140 back to get positive air pressure. Not sure yet if that is the best way to go though. If going outtake on the top is better I might go that way. I don't have a problem with cleaning dust often as I got compressed air at work which makes cleaning dust effortless.

Click to expand...

I would just stick with a 360mm and 240mm since the 120mm are well balanced and most commonly used. If you've already ordered the 280mm, you'll be fine regardless.

As for the fans, I would keep the same fans for all rads otherwise you will probably get different audibles from one another. If you're gonna pay top dollar for GTs, might as well make sure they're all the same but dependent on your radiator size, that might not happen since they only come in 120mm.

Dependent on your case, if it does have a filter up top, have it set as intake along with the front. If not, have it set as exhaust.

Tomma said:

I'l have to read up some more on delta t, and how to measure/calculate? I was thinking of maybe having the fans set too a static rpm regardless of the load on the system. So when I'm happy with the noise and temps at full load I'l just leave it be at that rpm. Or is that something I should avoid?

Click to expand...

Personally preference really. As long as you don't set them too low to the point it effects your temps, you're good to go. You can play with it and see which temps and audibles you like best.

Tomma said:

Also since this is my very first build and I'm going hard tube I've ordered 10x500 mm tubes. Would that be enough? I'm afraid it's not enough considering I've got 2 rad's, the pump and reservoir separate.

Click to expand...

For first time builders, I think soft tubing is the way to go to get the gist of custom watercooling. I can't say much about hard tubing other than just read up on it and watch videos to see what you're suppose to do and not do.

GTXJackBauer said:

I would just stick with a 360mm and 240mm since the 120mm are well balanced and most commonly used. If you've already ordered the 280mm, you'll be fine regardless.

As for the fans, I would keep the same fans for all rads otherwise you will probably get different audibles from one another. If you're gonna pay top dollar for GTs, might as well make sure they're all the same but dependent on your radiator size, that might not happen since they only come in 120mm.

Click to expand...

I had already ordered the 280 but since the GPU isn't on stock I had time to change the order. So I've now gone with a 240mm instead with 2 GT's and 1 GT for back exhaust. I tried the case fans and wasn't really impressed with the noise/performance.

GTXJackBauer said:

Dependent on your case, if it does have a filter up top, have it set as intake along with the front. If not, have it set as exhaust.

Click to expand...

No filter so exhaust then I guess

GTXJackBauer said:

Personally preference really. As long as you don't set them too low to the point it effects your temps, you're good to go. You can play with it and see which temps and audibles you like best.

For first time builders, I think soft tubing is the way to go to get the gist of custom watercooling. I can't say much about hard tubing other than just read up on it and watch videos to see what you're suppose to do and not do.

Click to expand...

Can't wait to play around with the tweaking of it all I thought about starting with soft tubing, but my end goal was hard tubing and seeing that the fittings is different I thought I'd save a few bucks by going hard tubes right away

I just completed my first loop with exclusively EKWB components that were great

A few things however:

1). You may want to make a drain loop. I did and it's really sueful
2). My top 360 radiator covered the CPU power when installed so I could only put two fans on the big radiator (I have the same as you)
3). I needed a fan mount for the pump so had to order again. I didn't want to drill into the case.

It was very fun doing it - you will love it

animalmom said:

I just completed my first loop with exclusively EKWB components that were great

A few things however:

1). You may want to make a drain loop. I did and it's really sueful
2). My top 360 radiator covered the CPU power when installed so I could only put two fans on the big radiator (I have the same as you)
3). I needed a fan mount for the pump so had to order again. I didn't want to drill into the case.

It was very fun doing it - you will love it

Click to expand...

Ye I saw your build. You got one hell of a system! Really impressive! I saw the pump mount too and it looked really smart the way you just mounted it to the rad.

I'l have to measure some more when I get home. I hope I can fit rad + fans. I've seen a lot of pictures online with the case I have where they are going with same rad thickness and fans as I am going for. Seems like it works. So i can only hope.

Thanks for the tips!

Airflow....

Front/sides = intake
Top/rear = exhaust

If you have a filter up top (you don't..this is more towards GTX).. remove the damn thing. Blowing warmed air over components is something I prefer not to do for the sake of a couple degrees cooler on the cpu. You have plenty of rad so you aren't chasing after every degree C.

EarthDog said:

Airflow....

Front/sides = intake
Top/rear = exhaust

If you have a filter up top (you don't..this is more towards GTX).. remove the damn thing. Blowing warmed air over components is something I prefer not to do for the sake of a couple degrees cooler on the cpu. You have plenty of rad so you aren't chasing after every degree C.

Click to expand...

It was mostly due to the concern of dust building up, but I do agree on the warm air going out instead of in over the components.


I got a message today that the parts have been shipped, which is a lot sooner then I thought it was going to be. Thought I might make this thread into a build thread. So changing the title and I'm gonna post some pics real soon. Have also gotten myself a new heat gun, Bosch GHG 660 LCD and some other tools that I might need for this build. Really looking forward to get this build started now

We have a build log section bud. ... but no big deal! We can't wait to see it!

Damn. I thought there would be one and I did look for it, but couldn't find it. I also noticed 2 or 3 other build logs here in this sub-section so figured this was it. Found it, now that I knew there was one though. I'l just link the log then when I get it started

My build log thread Project *Untitle* - My first custom loop, Phanteks Enthoo Evolv