First Time water cooling looking for opinions :D

[tdot]

Hi, new to the forum and have been doing research about water cooling for a few weeks now, looking to finally begin to finalise my plan for a first time WC set up. Originally I was planning to go CLC, but i decided against it.

System spec:

i5 2500k @ 4.0GHZ 1.25V Aircooled (Planning to take it upto at least 4.5 with WC)
Asrock P67 Extreme 4 Motherboard
8GB of G.Skill Ripjaw DDR 3
512GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD
750W Silverstone strider plus

PARTS
This is the part where I would love some opinion on and I have questions about.

CPU Block: Koolance 380i or EK supremacy Acetal + Copper base (Deciding)
RAD: Alphacool Nexxxos Monsta 360
RAD Fan: 3 x alpenfohn wing boost 120MM or Scythe GT 1850 RPM (Deciding)
RES: EK D5 X-RES 140 Black Acetal (with D5 pump top)
Pump: XSPC D5 Vario
Tubing: XSPC white 1/2" ID 3/4" OD
Fittings:Bitspower compression fittings
Coolant / Additive:Distilled water + additive?? (Need Opinion)

Loop plan:
Planning on a loop of Res -> Pump -> Rad -> CPU -> Res


Questions Time!

1. How are the part choices? Any other recommendation? Slightly worried about the nickel plating of the koolance 380i and the plating of compression fittings flaking off and mixed metals (brass from fittings, nickel from plating on the cpu block and copper rad)causing any form of corrosion. Should I just stick to an acetal + copper EK supremacy all together to avoid the mixed metals?

2. What additive should i use with this set up? I read that Koolance strongly advise against silver with their nickel plated 380i block, so that's out of the question... Maybe Liquid Utopia? PT nuke? IandH Deadwater? What's something that act both as a biocide and anti corrosion additive? (If i go with EK supremacy, Might just use silver coil + anti corrosive??)

3. For the EK Res + D5 pump top, since (I'm guessing) the res auto feeds into the pump top, so the two combined I only require 1 In fitting and 1 out fitting?


Thanks a lot for reading and really looking forward to reading all of the opinions & advice

 

[Conumdrum]

Koolance doesn't flake.

Copper/brass/nickle/chrome are all okay together. It's aluminum you don't want.

Don't worry what Koolance says. Hogwash. Use silver kill coils (.999 pure silver is all it is) or Petras PHN-Nuke ore Deadwater, pick one.

Yes on the fittings. Consider a drain line. We talk about it here look in the build logs and pics. Search for it also.

 

[Anonaru]

Koolance doesn't flake.

Copper/brass/nickle/chrome are all okay together. It's aluminum you don't want.

Don't worry what Koolance says. Hogwash. Use silver kill coils (.999 pure silver is all it is) or Petras PHN-Nuke ore Deadwater, pick one.

Yes on the fittings. Consider a drain line. We talk about it here look in the build logs and pics. Search for it also.

Suggesting also a drain line, and Deadwater is a godsend! I have a kill coil in my custom loop, and I still got green crap (algae) in my lines if I didn't cycle the water often enough. Two drops of Deadwater in conjunction with kill coils = a silent spring

 

[Conumdrum]

New Guy: Use the amount the biocide recommends. Just read the label.

I use silver and PHN myself , Deadwater is good too. The silver lasts foreverrrr. Only add biocide when you drain and refill etc.

 

[tdot]

Loving the ideas so far guys! Appreciate the help! Did some look up on drain lines, people seems to suggest a simple T Line somewhere low on the loop. Since I'm using the EK D5-X-Res that's connected to the pump with I BELIEVE 1 in and 2 outs? Can I simply plug a small short tube into one of the out and put a stop plug at the end and use that for draining? Every other component in the case would be higher than it.

 

[Conumdrum]

Yep, not sure on the res on your exact config. Stop plugs works great. Some go the fancy route with a Koolance self-sealing quick disconnect on the bottom and then have a piece of tubing with the other end of the QD they plug in when it's time to drain. No extra tubing laying around.

EDIT: Yea your res has an extra out, you can attach the drain there.

No matter what it don't drain it all but gets a lot out and you can tilt the case around getting a bit more.

My drain:

 

[Anonaru]

Yep, not sure on the res on your exact config. Stop plugs works great. Some go the fancy route with a Koolance self-sealing quick disconnect on the bottom and then have a piece of tubing with the other end of the QD they plug in when it's time to drain. No extra tubing laying around.

EDIT: Yea your res has an extra out, you can attach the drain there.

No matter what it don't drain it all but gets a lot out and you can tilt the case around getting a bit more.

My drain:

Man is that sexy!

My own loop didn't have a drain of any kind at first-- I had to syphon directly out of the res while things were running if I hoped to get anything at all out of there, which was just stupid. A drain is a fairly easy add-on for the simple, convenient utility it provides.

When I'm home, I'll try to shoot a quick shot of the drain I have-- It is a jury-rigged home-made deal, so it doesn't havet he polished edge that Mr. Conumdrum here has, but hey!

I've even seen somebody have a low-point drain line AND a res drain line before, though I don't think you really NEED to do a full fluid cycle every time you drain..

 

[Conumdrum]

Man is that sexy!

My own loop didn't have a drain of any kind at first-- I had to syphon directly out of the res while things were running if I hoped to get anything at all out of there, which was just stupid. A drain is a fairly easy add-on for the simple, convenient utility it provides.

When I'm home, I'll try to shoot a quick shot of the drain I have-- It is a jury-rigged home-made deal, so it doesn't havet he polished edge that Mr. Conumdrum here has, but hey!

I've even seen somebody have a low-point drain line AND a res drain line before, though I don't think you really NEED to do a full fluid cycle every time you drain..

I drain as much as I can then fill and run for an hour then drain and refill. I also pour the water in a glass bowl and look for gunk.

 

[Anonaru]

I drain as much as I can then fill and run for an hour then drain and refill. I also pour the water in a glass bowl and look for gunk.

Aye, I figured out how to actually do it the right way later on

 

[tdot]

I drain as much as I can then fill and run for an hour then drain and refill. I also pour the water in a glass bowl and look for gunk.

So the "run for an hour" is simply to use some clean liquid to clean the system to make sure everything's good and clean, no gunk and ready to refill, correct?

BTW your res and angle compression fittings look great! What is the blue bit in the middle of the res ?

Edit: Nvm, realise it's just a piece of tubing lol, what purpose does it serve ?

 

[ASUS ROG]

You may need to buy one of this, it will last forever, keep your loop clean too
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._-_Black_MON-PLUG-AG-BLK.html?tl=g30c103s1676

 

[tdot]

So fine silver in loop + some sort of anti corrosion additive is always recommended huh? Biocide + anti corrosion all in one doesn't cut it?

 

[ASUS ROG]

Distilled water and PHN nuke or silver work, but i prefer silver bullet, you may end up losing your little bottle of PHN nuke after 6 to 7 month(i loss my all the time so now, i go with silver bullet cost $2 more but last forever)

 

[skorpien]

Just to clarify, the PHN Nuke is not an anti-corrosive, just a biocide. You only need anti-corrosive if you're using aluminum in your loop, which you are not. The metals you are using are similar enough that you don't need to worry about galvanic corrosion.

 

[Conumdrum]

The blue tubing. Read at martins about the Swifttech x35 pump and the v2 res.
No compression fittings barbs and fancy clamps.

 

[tdot]

Distilled water and PHN nuke or silver work, but i prefer silver bullet, you may end up losing your little bottle of PHN nuke after 6 to 7 month(i loss my all the time so now, i go with silver bullet cost $2 more but last forever)

True! And it also does keep things neat!

 

[tdot]

Just to clarify, the PHN Nuke is not an anti-corrosive, just a biocide. You only need anti-corrosive if you're using aluminum in your loop, which you are not. The metals you are using are similar enough that you don't need to worry about galvanic corrosion.

Ahhh, true that, I was just being extra cautious that's all ;D

 

[RnRollie]

You may need to buy one of this, it will last forever, keep your loop clean too
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1..._-_Black_MON-PLUG-AG-BLK.html?tl=g30c103s1676

or find a real silver dollar and drop it in your res
or find a jewellery store and ask for a (small) lump of the purest silver they've got
.... if they give you weird looks, ask for a pure silver ring then - just don't let the missus find it

 

[Anonaru]

or find a real silver dollar and drop it in your res
or find a jewellery store and ask for a (small) lump of the purest silver they've got
.... if they give you weird looks, ask for a pure silver ring then - just don't let the missus find it

Buddy of mine did the silver dollar deal. Does it actually work well?

 

[RnRollie]

Buddy of mine did the silver dollar deal. Does it actually work well?

i you can find a REAL silver dollar , like from 1803 - worth quite bit more than one dollar, thou or a Silver Eagle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Silver_Eagle

any other "silver" coins might have a way too low silver content to be effective