Help with custom loop parts.

[Killamain5]

Hi this will be my first Custom loop and would love any insight into what parts you recommend. i have made a PcPartPicker list with my current system and the parts i have picked for my loop. Nothing is set in stone for this loop and any help would be appreciated. I plan on doing a 2nd loop for when EK comes out with a Block for the EVGA 1080 FTW and then 6 months after doing a SLI with a 2nd. My case can support 2 420mm Radiators and i plan on using one for the CPU and one for the GPU/s. I have heard good things of EK so all the parts are from them if there are better parts please let me know.
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Killamain5/saved/#view=GDH999

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Do you already own the CPU/Mobo?DDR combo? If not, why going Haswell when Skylake is out?

100W PSU is totally overkill. A 650W quality one will be enough for last gen CPU+2GPU's overclocked (120W+2x200w).

EK is a good brand. Good customer service as well.

PLaying @4K to need a second 1080?

 

[trents]

I'm curious also why you are going with the older Haswell CPU technology.

Why do you have a Coolermaster V8 CPU air cooler in your parts picker list when you are planning to use two 3 fan water cooling radiators in the system. Is the water only for the GPU or GPUs?

If you want to save some money you go with a less expensive motherboard. The Maximus Hero is a bit of an overkill. You also don't need a 1000W PSU, even for two GTX 1080s. 800W would be plenty and would save you a few bucks.

 

[Killamain5]

I already had the parts an update to my old system. One of the reasons why I'm asking looking at what also outdated and needs to be updated. The funny thing is I built this in jun 2015 skylake came out a few months after never really thought much into it figured it was still relevant.

I know the 1000 is Overkill I wanted the headroom for a 3way SLI if I ever needed it. I got it when I still had my Evga GTX 970 FTW+. The cooler was my first and I'm now looking at Liquid cooling to start getting into overclocking and keep my temp down.

Would you recommend going to skylake before going Liquid cooling? Yes the plan is to go 4K soon right now one 1080 is probably overkill at 1080p

Sorry if I didn't make that clear it was 4am when I made that post...

 

[Lochekey]

I would suggest doing it all in one loop. A 420 rad is more than you need for a single cpu and the second 420 is not enough to cool 2 gpus. By combining them the extra capacity of the first rad will make up for the heat load from the gpu's.

You will also avoid the cost and complications of having dual loops.

 

[trents]

Skylake per se offers no real performance increase over Haswell. But the socket change is something to think about. What comes after Skylake will be using the same socket as Skylake and may offer some meaningful performance increase. Even so, recently produced waterblocks should fit either 1150 or 1151 and it would just be a matter of swapping out motherboards. If you already have Haswell stuff, go with it.

So I take it you really won't be using the Coolermaster V8 to cool the CPU; that it was a carryover from the original list. Correct?

 

[Killamain5]

Lochekey thanks for the advice ill keep that in mind. Trents yes that would be removed no way to have both to my knowledge and i hate the darn thing anyways looks cool but runs my cpu a little hotter than i like. Its also has a bad design on the mounting bracket so hard to get it on and off in the case.

 

[Killamain5]

On that parts picker I have the list of ek parts I want to order for my CPU. Would anyone recommend a different brand for fittings? I have worked with pipe a little bit but not much I like the look or acrylic would that be to hard to start with? I'm not sure what brand this is but so one told me to go with Nano fluid, what would you recommend? Is the water block I picked a good one or should I go with a cheaper one?(it's one of the Intel limited edition ones) would it be better to do a 140 or 280 raidiator on the CPU and a separate 420 and a 140-280 on a GPU if I plan on doing a SLI config latter down the road? I have already researched about 20 hours into liquid cooling and now want to get some info from people actually doing it in a form. Any help is appreciated.

 

[trents]

With all the research you've done I don't think there is much we could tell you that you don't already know. Pipe looks cool but is much harder to install and also makes maintenance chores like flushing more difficult. It also does not lend itself to flexibility in the sense of later modifications or additions. For coolant and antibiotic, I use Swifttech Hydrx PM and a silver coil. Most people here just use distilled water and a silver coil I think. Stay away from powdered dyes that you mix in to give various colors to the coolant. My CPU waterblock is a $15 Chinese knockoff from ebay and it seems to work fine. Don't get OCD over these things. There are a lot of good choices.

 

[Killamain5]

There is always more you can learn, no amount of reading/vids will give you everything. Everything I read was don't go cheap or you will have problems. I hear everyone talk about EK blocks but that's all nothing on the fittings. I'm still confused about raidiators and place ment and what fans to use.

When you do the amount of research I have you get told the exact opposite of someone else. I hear good things about ek fluid then I hear lots of people say do distilled water with killcoil. I came to ask to find out if I was on the right track I was flowting around the forms for a few months.

I want to use a red fluid to match the theme of my build not sure if a killcoil would hurt the fluid or not I figured better safe then sorry?

 

[trents]

I don't think killcoil will hurt the fluid.