Advice, please: Have I made any fatal errors in my hardware choices?

[ElimGarak]

My proposed build -
Case - Silverstone Grandia GD08 with as many fans as I can fit in it
MOBO - ASUS R5E with waterblock
CPU - X99 i7- 5960x
RAM - 64G Corsair Dominator with waterblox
SSD - 1.2 TB Intel 750 with waterblock
512 GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2
HDD - Seagate 2TB
VGA - 2x EVGA TitanX Hydrocopper or TitanX with waterblox
PSU - EVGA 1200W Platinum
Monitor - 2 x Acer 32" G-sync
Sound - Sounblaster Zx
Edit to add - NZXT USB extender


Cooling hardware -
Rad - Aquacomputer Gigant 1680 with 880ml res/pump and 9x140mm fans
Res - EK-SBAY Dual DDC 3.2 PWM Serial (incl. 2x pumps)
PCI passthru - Koolance L-bracket
Tubing - (interior) Monsoon PETG 3/8 x 1/2 , (exterior) Tygon 3/8 x 5/8 with Koolance QD3 at exterior passthru and rad
Fluid - Mayhems Ultra Pure H2O
Silver- Monsoon silver plugs
Control - Aquero 6 with passive heatsink & waterblock, Aquacomputer filter, flow meter


I've been planning this build for more than a year and a half, but since this will be my first watercooled rig, and my first Hardline, I just wanted to check with people who have more experience than I do, which is everyone.

The reason for the HTPC chassis is that I wanted to go with as small of one as I could get away with. I'm tired of a large PC sitting on my desk, and the rad is still smaller than my current monster of a chassis.

Any advice is welcome, and I thank you all in advance.

 

[Conumdrum]

One quick thing I see is it's thin walled tubing inside the case. Only 1/16" each side. It's prone to kinking.

Distilled water is just as good and much cheaper.

Also, with the extra tubing run you might consider 1/2" ID for the setup. But I think you'll be fine with 3/8" ID, just make sure the walls are 1/8" thick so 1/2 to 3/4 is okay, as is 3/8 to 5/8th.

 

[Soulcatcher668]

This is an ambitious project.

The parts look good but shoehorning all that in there is going to be a challenge.

You may want to make your cables to the exact length that you need in order to cut down on clutter.

+1 to Conumdrum on the distilled water. No need for the other stuff.

Buy a good bending kit for that tubing. I would try and figure out some way to mock up the tubes before cutting any tubes. Maybe wooden dowel for the straight sections and crappy home depot tubing for the joints?

For the exterior tubing, there is no reason for Tygon tubing. Tygon is a brand name and they make hundreds of different types of tubes. It is kind of like saying you are going to buy a Mitsubishi. That could mean a solar panel, a dump truck, a car... you get the idea.

Get the Primochill advanced LRT tubing. It is the best stuff you can buy in flexible tubing and you are guaranteed compatibility with common fittings. (The tubing you listed 3/8" ID X 5/8" OD is non'standard in pc water cooling).

We will need a build log of this. Just remember to take your time and have fun.

 

[Conumdrum]

Ohh didn't notice it was the hard tube, my bad, forget the thin walled comment about that tubing. Not a good idea for a first time builder. But, if you are meticulous and read a LOT and can be slow and have no problem taking a week or so, you should be fine. Might order a bit more tubing and please read up on leak testing.

Best of luck!

 

[ElimGarak]

I'm buying extra hardline tubing so I can play with it and test stuff out, before I install for real. Also, the hardline tubing comes in 3/8 x 1/2, or 1/2 x 5/8- I chose the former because I was afraid that the 1/2 x 5/8 compression fittings wouldn't fit the L-bracket (that it would be too tight/no room on the side, for the PCI bracket width.

Will hardline kink? (that's why I was buying it, plus it will stay put and not loosen like soft tubing compression is prone to do...)

On second thought, I'll just go with a kill-coil instead of the plugs.

- - - Updated - - -

I was planning on taking a while to put this together (2 or 3 weeks), and definitely will leak test everything extensively....especially with $8k in hardware.

 

[Soulcatcher668]

The hard line will not kink. You can crack it.
Properly installed good quality soft tubing will not loosen off. I have never had a problem with that. You do have to make sure that your lengths are correct so that the tube is going straight into the fitting.

Both types of tubing have pros and cons but if treated properly both work great. Problems only arise when people use bad parts or are sloppy builders. The sloppy builders are the ones that are the quickest to blame the parts.

I don't see the value in putting a filter on a WC loop. If you need a filter it just means that you did not prep the loop properly before putting it into service. On the other hand, as long as it does not reduce flow, it will not harm anything.

 

[ElimGarak]

A res filling question- I will have a fillport on the external rad/res combo, so I will fill that first. My question is in regards to the internal EK res/pump- if I fill the external res first, and that feeds next to the internal res, do I have to fill the internal and external first, and then pump start, or can I fill the exterior, start pumps, and let it fill the internal?

So, do I fill A and B and pump start, or just A, and let it fill B (because B will be hooked up to hardline, and thus not very mobile, if at all, for filling)?

 

[EarthDog]

However you do it, you do not want the pump to run dry or it will damage it quickly. However you need to accomplish that is what needs to happen.

 

[Soulcatcher668]

Make sure the external rad is above the rest of the system and fill that.
If you do not already have one, buy a cheap PSU. Use that PSU to power the pumps. That way you can turn the pump on and off without starting the system.
Cycle the pumps and then top up. Repeat until the system is full.
I ran my system for about 8 hours to test for leaks before hooking my pump up to system power supply. That way there is no damage if there is a leak. You just have to dry off the component an you are good to go.

 

[EarthDog]

Or just jumper your PSU.........https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=how to jump psu

 

[Soulcatcher668]

Or just jumper your PSU.........https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=how to jump psu

I find it easier to use a secondary PSU so you can leave all the other connections hooked up.

If we were counting pennies with this build I would agree, but I don't think 23-30 bucks is going to push ElimGarak over the edge.

 

[EarthDog]

You have to jump the second PSU the same way. The only connections you need to drop are easy to re-attach (24 pin).

 

[Soulcatcher668]

You have to jump the second PSU the same way. The only connections you need to drop are easy to re-attach (24 pin).

Interesting... I had an old PSU kicking around so it was easy.

Do you not have to disconnect the GPUs? I was under the impression that they would be getting power as well.

 

[EarthDog]

HOnestly, LOL, I am not sure if I unplugged the GPU connections or anything else for that matter!!

If you have a spare PSU laying around, that could be just as easy or easier... but I certainly wouldn't pay money to have one, especially a $20-30 PSU regardless if its not powering hardly anything. But that is just me. There are different ways to skin this cat.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

As you can see, you've gone all in with a tall order when you're trying to water cool the CPU, GPU, MB and RAM in a case like this. Usually helps to see what others have done with a case like that. You don't necessarily need to water cool the MB and RAM. If you're doing it for looks, have it it but they will add more restrictions to the loop.

If you don't like big to mid size towers, have a look at the Corsair Air 540. Great case with ample room for watercooling.

Second, make sure your parts like the GPU waterblocks are compatible with said GPU, etc.

Third, the Aquaero is a big learning curve as I'm still learning it till this day. Its like a project in of its own but once you figured it out, you will enjoy it. Make sure you stick with either the PWM DDC pumps or voltage controlled. If you were to switch to D5 pumps because they run quitter but are bigger in size, the Aquacomputer D5 PWM would be the only one that is compatible with the AQ 6. A 3rd party D5 PWM pump, will not work with the Aquaero because they weren't configured within intel's spec or you'll be forced to mod it yourself.

I almost forgot, make sure you have enough internal USB headers on the MB for your case, aquaero and w/e other devices that will need that connection. A NZXT USB extender might be something to look at.

This project will need time and patience with of course, lots of research.

 

[ElimGarak]

Like I said, I've been picking parts, and reading up, for almost 2 years....but I also know that there is a LOT that I don't know.

As far as I can tell, all of my waterblox are compatible with the hardware I have chosen, thanks to EK's compatibility helper. Also, my pumps and fans, except for the internal chassis fans, are PWM, so that they can all be controlled.

I do have an old PSU, so that won't be a problem. Having the rad/res above the PC makes a lot of sense, along with powering it up so the pumps run, and then turning off so I can top off, also makes a lot of sense.

As for the USB headers, I neglected to add the USB extender that is also on the wishlist.

Any other input is appreciated, and thanks so much for your advice!