Help Building a Loop into a Fractal Define R4

[AngryGoldfish]

I've been asking around for some advice on building my first custom loop and thought maybe you folks could offer another set of opinions. I have no experience with liquid cooling—but have been reading and watching build logs on YouTube and other forums. I was initially going to construct the loop in stages by incorporating the GPU block later on and adding a second radiator to cool it, but I was advised against this and have decided to wait until later next year when I can afford it all in one go. I'm hoping to pay no more than £450/€550/$600. I'm based in Ireland and would rather shop from a UK stockist or European dealer. My specs for the build are below (some parts have yet to arrive).

Case - Fractal Define R4 Black
Motherboard - ASRock Z87 Extreme4
PSU - Corsair AX760 with custom sleeved cables
Graphics - Gigabyte G1 Gaming 970 (hoping to achieve 1550Mhz 24/7 @ around 50°C)
CPU - i5-4670K (hoping to achieve 4.5Ghz at around 1.3v & 75-78°C under OCCT)
HDD - WB 3TB Black (storage & games), WD 3TB Green (backup)
SSD - Samsung EVO 840 (boot & programs), Crucial MX100 512GB (games)


The colour scheme will be black with white accents (fans, memory modules, sleeved cables) and subtle red accents (PSU, sleeved cables)

I will probably be using clear coolant as I like the look of it and don't want the tubing to be the main visual focus. I am also hoping for a more subdued and subtle build. I know white and black are starkly contrasting colours, but they also blend together well and don't have to be gaudy like yellow and black or red and white would be. However any advice otherwise or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

The build that has inspired me to go with this project is one I found while Googling Define R4 water cooled builds. I found a build log for it and can copy much of the layout and specifications, but I don't want to copy it without understanding it first, and maybe making a few alterations to best fit my budget, components and aesthetics. This is where I'm hoping you folks can help.




Some components I have been looking at are below:

EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy EVO - Acetal x 1 (best looking and not too expensive)
EK Water Blocks EK-FC970 GTX WF3 - Acetal+Nickel x1 (only one currently available)
Alphacool NexXxoS ST35 x 2 (for low FPI and thinness)
Swiftech Helix 120 PWM x 6 (for white fan blades, high static pressure and decent dB range)

I will need, from my count, ten fittings. Four for the two radiators, two for the CPU block, two for the GPU and two for the pump/res. I won't be cooling the memory or motherboard chipset. I am thinking of either using the XT45 as there should be enough space in the front for it, or I might even be able to fit a ST30 in push/pull (hence the six Helix fans instead of four). Which would provide the best performance-to-noise ratio? As far as tubing, the build above uses PrimoChill Advanced LRT 3/8 x 1/2 Clear tubing, which I like the look of, and EK-CSQ Nickel Compression Fitting x 4, which I also like the look of. However, on EK's website there appears to be no right-angled fittings available, which I am going to need a couple of [Edit: Found them]. I'm trying to do this build on a budget, with aesthetics, performance and silence being given equal importance, so maybe Bitspower fittings will be too expensive. Any alternatives should I be considering?

Also, can anyone offer an opinion on a pump/reservoir that will fit in the same position as the one in the build above? I was looking at the EK Water Blocks EK-DDC 3.2 pump/res combo, but I have no idea how good it is or whether combos should be considered at all. I don't know how I'm going to be mount it to the floor either.


I'll have more questions to ask in the future, but for now, thanks a lot for any help you can give.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

First and foremost to OCFs!

I can tell you've done your homework and understand the needs to get it started. Honestly, your list looks good as I know you're sometimes limited in europe but the parts you picked look just fine. I would take other's ideas from their projects since they did the pain staking work of figuring out what works and what doesn't. Gives you a more peace of mind if you will.

The only positive thing for cooling the RAM and MB is for aesthetics really. It will give a negative impact to the performance of the loop in general as it adds more restrictions.

Have you thought about what fluids and biocide you'll be using?

 

[AngryGoldfish]

First and foremost to OCFs!

I can tell you've done your homework and understand the needs to get it started. Honestly, your list looks good as I know you're sometimes limited in europe but the parts you picked look just fine. I would take other's ideas from their projects since they did the pain staking work of figuring out what works and what doesn't. Gives you a more peace of mind if you will.

The only positive thing for cooling the RAM and MB is for aesthetics really. It will give a negative impact to the performance of the loop in general as it adds more restrictions.

Have you thought about what fluids and biocide you'll be using?

Thanks for the welcome!

I love the look of RAM and motherboard cooling, but I really can't afford it. Plus, like you say, it further heats the water up and would require additional radiators and fans to keep the temps at worthwhile levels, something my case just isn't set up for. I could invest in a whole new case, but I like the R4 and get a kick out of working with what you've got and creating a unique build—though, ironically, I'm copying someone else.


I have not given much thought to what fluids to use, but I have decided against distilled water with a biocide. I am basing this less on experience and knowledge and more on the words of others, which I recognize is not the wisest approach. Maybe you could offer the pros and cons of both distilled water and a proper pre-mixed coolant? I was watching a Singularity Computers build log on YouTube and the guy spoke at length on why he advised against distilled water with a biocide to keep harmful organisms at bay and advised using a pre-mixed coolant like Mayhem's X1 instead. Because I won't be using any dyes, it shouldn't degrade the soft PrimoChill Advanced LRT tubing.

What do you think?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

The guy was giving a marketing pitch to scare the noobies to water cooling out of their socks and order their or their affiliates fluids. All you need is a silver kill coil for biocide and distilled water. Change fluids every 6 months and do a complete tear down annually to keep your stuff performing and looking good as new. The kill coil will kill growth and distilled water is the purest form (inc chemists) that I know of that has the best heat capacity. There's people that have run distilled water and kill coil for years and everything is just fine. Don't have the rig around sunlight is all I would advise other than the distilled water and coil. Just make sure you don't mix aluminum in the loop. That will cause massive galvanic corrosion.

Case closed.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

The guy was giving a marketing pitch to scare the noobies to water cooling out of their socks and order their or their affiliates fluids. All you need is a silver kill coil for biocide and distilled water. Change fluids every 6 months and do a complete tear down annually to keep your stuff performing and looking good as new. The kill coil will kill growth and distilled water is the purest form (inc chemists) that I know of that has the best heat capacity. There's people that have run distilled water and kill coil for years and everything is just fine. Don't have the rig around sunlight is all I would advise other than the distilled water and coil. Just make sure you don't mix aluminum in the loop. That will cause massive galvanic corrosion.

Case closed.

Dang it! I thought I had actually found someone who I could leech information from that wasn't talking through their *** (or their wallet).


When you say do a complete tear down, do you mean I have to replace all the components and start afresh, or do you simply mean tear it down and put it all back together again after a clean up and a new leak check?

The system won't be in direct sunlight, don't worry. I'm a bit of a hermit, anyway.

If you say don't mix aluminium, would that exclude this radiator since it has an aluminium enclosure?

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/radiators-.../coolstream-pe/ek-coolstream-pe-240-dual.html

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Dang it! I thought I had actually found someone who I could leech information from that wasn't talking through their *** (or their wallet).

When you say do a complete tear down, do you mean I have to replace all the components and start afresh, or do you simply mean tear it down and put it all back together again after a clean up and a new leak check?

Just a clean up.

If you say don't mix aluminium, would that exclude this radiator since it has an aluminium enclosure?

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/radiators-.../coolstream-pe/ek-coolstream-pe-240-dual.html

The internals are brass with copper fins. Just the external housing it all is aluminum so you're fine. Most modern reputed water cooling companies don't use aluminum internally.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

OK, so I have a few more questions if that's cool?

Can radiators be returned if have not been used? I want to see if a thicker 38mm EK radiator will fit in my case and clear my motherboard as they look fantastic and I want to keep as many components EK—just beacuse. I have low profile RAM, but unfortunately my motherboard's heatsinks are right on the edge of the board unlike others where it is lower down and smaller in general. I could make a cardboard mock-up or something like that, but I'd rather have the radiator in hand to thoroughly test it and be sure. And do you think the Helix 120mm fans posses enough static pressure and air flow to keep a EK PE 240 cool with its greater fin density without becoming loud? Or should I just go the safe route and pick up the ST30 from Alphacool? It's 30mm thick and should fit in the roof and will allow me to keep the Helix fans running slower. If a 30mm radiator won't fit in the roof then this whole build is completely screwed up and I'll have to change everything or buy an entirely new case. The R5 is out and fits the bill, but it would be such a pain in the *** if I have to spend €110 on another case just for offset holes in the roof.

Also, what are a few methods to simplify the build and maintenance of the loop, such as draining, bleeding, etc?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

What radiators were used in other builds in that same case? I'd suggest going with those or doing yourself the actual measurements and figuring out how much room you have to play with.

Well for bleeding, you just need to bump the pumps and make sure you don't run them dry, ever. A dry pump is a dead or soon to be dead pump.

As for draining, setup a drain at the lowest loop that will make your life easier during maintenance.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

What radiators were used in other builds in that same case? I'd suggest going with those or doing yourself the actual measurements and figuring out how much room you have to play with.

Well for bleeding, you just need to bump the pumps and make sure you don't run them dry, ever. A dry pump is a dead or soon to be dead pump.

As for draining, setup a drain at the lowest loop that will make your life easier during maintenance.

The EK PE 240's. Although the user said it was a tight fit, they did it. However, compare his mobo to mine:

Mine:



His:




You can see in a build log image that the fans actually clear the heatsinks entirely:




But look at the ridiculous size of my mine:




I'm starting to worry whether ANY radiator in the roof will fit.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Radiator should fit up top. The tops of the MB are the same. Its the bottom and right side that would extend out. Only thing I would worry is the height on those heatsinks. Other than that you should be good.

 

[AngryGoldfish]

Yeah, it's the top heatsink I'm worried about. Out of curiosity, what is that top part cooling? Is it the power phase?

Although I can't measure properly until I remove the sound dampening material on the top panels (which I don't want to do as it could be months before I have enough money for the loop) and my current CPU heatsink (which I also don't want to because of laziness), I was able to roughly measure and it looks like I might be able to clear it. I need to find a tiny ruler to get a better idea.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

The heatsinks up top are cooling the VRMs.