Tips for a New Build!

[yooniball]

Budget: None as of now
Theme: Black/White
Uses: Everyday Use/Overclocking/Gaming/Hobby

Purchased Main Components:

CaseLabs Case STH10

ASUS Maximus V Extreme Z77 E-ATX Motherboard

Intel Core i7- 3770K 3.5 GHz

EVGA 680GTX PCB

Crucial 512GB SSD

Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB 1600MHz

Corsair AX 1200 (Planning for future additions of GPU)

Watercooling Products for SINGLE loop:

1 XSPC Raystorm CPU Block

1 Heatkiller GPU Block

1 XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo

1 XSPC RX 480 Radiator

1 XSPC EX 480 Radiator

16 Yate Loon D12SM-12

10ft PrimoFlex Pro LRT 3/8 Tubing

Silver Bezel Wire, .999 Fine Silver 12" strip

10-12 Compression Fittings 3/8

Feser Aqua Ultra Pure Non-Conductive Water


My questions are:

1) Will those Yate Loon fans work well on an EX480? Should I just purchase another RX480? I didn't think it was necessary even though I have no budget constraints.
-I may add one more GPU to this build if I feel that one 680 is not sufficient.
2) Where's the optimal locations for my radiators? I was planning to have them on the sides of the bottom to draw in colder air through the radiators. I will most likely have exhaust fans on the top for the rising hot air.
3) Are the two radiators listed above adequate to plan ahead for an extra 680 in the loop?
4)Should I try running things in a particular order? I was planning to put them in this order: Pump/Reservoir => 2xRAD => CPU => GPU
5) Is that D5 Pump going to be sufficient for the 2x480 radiators?
6) Would it be okay to add distilled water with that Feser fluid?
7) All the parts I purchased are copper, but I don't think the fittings are and I'm worried about corrosion in the long run. What about that silver? Would it cause corrosion?

Thanks guys for taking the time to read this! Hopefully all you guys can chime in with any constructive criticism/advice/feedback!

***This is the same exact post I made on XS as well. I wanted the most input I could get from both of these forums. As questions get answered, I will edit them out of the posts.

 

[Conumdrum]

Why two different rads? Get the RX for very best low fan speed performance. If two of them side by side on the bottom is tight, get the EX ones with more fannage. The RX one is better and is what I would get for both.

I agree with this post from another forum.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1152481/how-are-the-xspc-ex-series-radiators/10

"A member did a review of EX vs RX and others and to sum it for fans above 1500 rpm you'll see better results with ex and below 1500 you'll see better results with rx."

Those fans are fine

Putting the rads on the bottom on each side is a valid way of doing it.

And one 480 is enough for even the dual 680's, but for really quiet fans two would be awesome and good for dual 680's/CPU. You'll be able to keep the fans at 800 rpm, silent.

You should get the Swiftech 35x. The D5 is enough but if you see what we like to buy and recommend and why, the 35x wins easily. There are dual bay 35x resses also.

Feser Ultra pure water is lab grade water and we don't need that pure of water. It's marketing hype also. Just use distilled. Remember you need to replace your liquid every 6 months, distilled is very cheap vs marketing magic liquid.

Copper/brass/nickle/chrome/silver are similar enough that corrosion isn't an issue, that's why all good parts are made from those.

10' of tubing will prolly be enough, but it's a big tall case and your going to have long tubing runs. As a just in case, get an extra 5' if you mess up.

Lastly, you'll be wanting some 90 degree rotaries for the tubing runs for sure. That might have to wait till you start building. A good start is 6 90's, 4 45's. That will prolly be enough.

Make sure your 680's will hold the GPU block, the cards change over time. Be sure before buying the GPUs and the blocks.

 

[yooniball]

1. Should I purchase fan controllers? I bought a pin convert that has one 3pin going to 9 separate 3pins. Would I be able to connect 8 fans used on each radiator to that 3pin converter to one 3-pin slot on a fan controller?

2. How are the Enermax Cluster fans? I see the Magma ones in many reviews, but I like the white color of the Cluster fans.

3. I cancelled 12 of the YL fans to get some different fans, any suggestions? Would the YL D12SL-124W fans work well? They are at about 1350rpm I believe. I'm also looking at the noiseblocker 800rpm fans that are white.

4. I also plan on returning the D5 res/pump combo for the swiftech maelstrom 35x like people have advised.

 

[Conumdrum]

You won't need 8 fans per rad, 4 in push or pull is fine. I run 3 fans off one 30W knob, the controller has 4 knobs. Two for radiators, two case fans, one HD fan, so I use all 4 knobs. I set them and havent touched them in a year.

Your rad is 120x4 right? Want good fans? Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850 RPM AP-15.

 

[yooniball]

I ended up getting some Zalman 120mm fans. The ZM-SF3. I chose it because it had great reviews and was compared to the GT AP-15 and many said that they were both similar in overall ratings. I also wanted the fans for the color because it will be visible through the bottom sides of the case. Few more questions I had.

1. I purchased 1 radiator mount for the ST10 for only one of my radiators. (http://www.caselabs-store.com/120-4-radiator-side-mount-st-smh10/) The product description says "with 15-20mm fan spacings." Does that mean the 120x25mm Zalman fans that I ordered will not fit on the radiator mount? I'm slightly confused and I didn't want to find out the hard way that I ordered a wrong part because I rather return it right away and get the correct part if I ordered the wrong thing.

Loop Questions:

2)Any ideas for how I should set up my loop? I will have the Maelstrom res/pump combo mounted to a 5.25 drive bay in the front and will be running that straight through the radiators, both of which will be sitting in the bottom of my case (hope it all fits!).

3)Should I run the radiators back to back or in some other way? From the bottom of the case, I was planning to have it go straight to the CPU, then the two GPUs (I couldn't resist getting another 680..). And from there, it will go back to the res/pump combo.

4) I was thinking maybe I should get another reservoir or res/pump combo? Which if I went with the latter, I could just keep my D5 pump that I have yet to return and run those two back to back as well? What do you guys say? Would it not be worth it?


Thanks Conundrum for the insight! Also, could a mod move this thread to the Liquid Cooling section of this forum? Thank you very much!