First time water loop, final thoughts?

[hfcobra]

Hello, first post and this will be my first water cooling loop. I am basically done selecting parts but I would like to get some final opinions before I buy. Also looking for a double check that all my parts are compatible and I have not missed anything. I have checked quite a bit myself, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I am still a little on the fence with my compression fittings. I definitely want to stick with black, but I don't know how quality varies from one brand to the other. The ones I have selected I picked because they look good. I wouldn't mind some opinions about another good tube res/pump combo to consider either.

 

[m0r7if3r]

Any reason you're going with 3/8" tubing over 1/2"?

 

[hfcobra]

Any reason you're going with 3/8" tubing over 1/2"?

I was told that it would offer the most compatibility. I did a lot of reading about it and nothing really said a certain ID or OD was better than another. Due to the fact that bigger ID means slower flow and smaller ID means faster flow, the overall temps would not change. The size that I picked leaves the tubes with the thickest walls so that will help stop some kinking, but I don't plan to have the issue in the first place.

I don't mind getting 1/4 ID though. Would you recommend it? How come?


BTW, I forgot to mention that this is going in a 750D and I am going to be getting some Noctua NF-A14 fans for the rads.

 

[m0r7if3r]

Personally, I like 1/2"id 3/4"od tubing. It has the same wall thickness as the tubing you picked, but I think it looks better. My question was more targeted at making sure you had done your research. You understand that tubing size doesn't really affect performance, which was all I wanted to confirm.

FYI: I'm not current on rads, so I can't tell you if those are any good.

 

[iLoki]

I'd need to double check the specs on the 750D but are you sure a 3x140 and 2x140 rad will fit? I believe there's room for a 2x140 or 3x120 in the top, a 2x120 in the bottom and a 2x140 in the front. I'm worried you won't have room internally for those (unless your intention is not to run them both internally, in which case, ignore me )

What CPU are you running? I can see you'll be running a 780ti as well. A 3x120 and a 2x120 should be plenty and allow for overclocking headroom.

Also, I'm partial to the Monsoon compression fittings, based on looks more than anything though. Also, they come with neat tools if you buy the 6 packs

I have heard good things about the Photon res/pump combos, There's also the various pump tops for either the Laing D5 (swiftech MCP655) or Laing DDT 1T (Swiftech MCP355) that are reservoirs. I ran an XSPC res top on my MCP355 for quite a while, I really like them.

 

[hfcobra]

Personally, I like 1/2"id 3/4"od tubing. It has the same wall thickness as the tubing you picked, but I think it looks better. My question was more targeted at making sure you had done your research. You understand that tubing size doesn't really affect performance, which was all I wanted to confirm.

FYI: I'm not current on rads, so I can't tell you if those are any good.

I believe that since it the walls are larger relatively means that they will be a little more resistant to kinking although the difference is probably small. I'm just not sure how they will look nor do I really have a way of really telling without setting up my own loop (photos are too inaccurate for size comparisons). I just hope that they don't look too thin and make me regret not getting 1/4 ID when I get everything set up.

I know my rads are good for what I will be using to push air. Low RPM paired with low FPI and full copper rads will make sure I still lose a lot of heat even with slower fans. I am trying to keep this loop quieter if possible and the NF-A14's going at 1500RPM have above average static pressure while still being very quiet. If I need to I'll lower them to 1200RPM but I don't think that will be needed.

Overall I am pretty sure about my rads. I am not so sure with the fittings and res/pump combo (and recently the water blocks ). The combo looks very nice but I have heard that the motor is not as nice as a standalone D5. I tried to read up on it but I could not find any tests comparing the pump to others since the product is relatively new.

I'd need to double check the specs on the 750D but are you sure a 3x140 and 2x140 rad will fit? I believe there's room for a 2x140 or 3x120 in the top, a 2x120 in the bottom and a 2x140 in the front. I'm worried you won't have room internally for those (unless your intention is not to run them both internally, in which case, ignore me )

What CPU are you running? I can see you'll be running a 780ti as well. A 3x120 and a 2x120 should be plenty and allow for overclocking headroom.

Also, I'm partial to the Monsoon compression fittings, based on looks more than anything though. Also, they come with neat tools if you buy the 6 packs

I have heard good things about the Photon res/pump combos, There's also the various pump tops for either the Laing D5 (swiftech MCP655) or Laing DDT 1T (Swiftech MCP355) that are reservoirs. I ran an XSPC res top on my MCP355 for quite a while, I really like them.

With just a little bit of modding I'll be able to fit the 420 in the top of the case. Nothing major at all. All I have to do is cut off the stabilizing fins (what hold your CD drive's weight) for the top 5.25" bay (ruining the slot) to allow for the rad to pass through.

I am going to be using the i5 4670K for my CPU but I might get the i7 instead. I am undecided but either way it will not affect my other part choices. I know that this is a little over the top for just 2 parts but I am going to have to buy 2 rads either way if I want to use low RPM fans and keep my rig silent so I figure I might as well get as big of ones as I can fit.

I was recommended those by someone else on another forum and they do look nice. I like how both type of fittings look so I can't really decide between the two. Perhaps since there are 2 votes for the Monsoon fittings I may go with them. The red tube popping through the black fitting would look pretty awesome.

I'm glad that you have heard good things about the pump combo. I read somewhere that the pump does not perform as well as a standalone D5 and it made me worry a little that they dropped the quality a little for the combo. Since I really like tube res' and I definitely want one in this build it made me very sad lol. I don't want to get the res/pump combo from EK because of the square base. Looks awful IMO. Plus the LED potential for the Photon res is very cool with the frosted glass in the center of the res.



Lastly, I have heard that EK have not completely solved their problem with nickel plated blocks, but I have not seen any proof that they are still having problems. I really like how these look and the performance is awesome. Is there anyone who can vouch for EK that has bought a block in the last year and run it for a good amount of time? I don't want to settle on another block that doesn't look or perform as nice as what I have selected. A high risk of corrosion is completely out of the question though. Especially for my first water loop.

 

[hfcobra]

Bump. I'd really enjoy hearing done more opinions or suggestions if anyone wishes to offer theirs. Specifically on the subject of fittings, water blocks, or the quality of EK's nickel plating recently.

 

[iLoki]

I haven't heard anything but positive after EK fixed their nickel plating process, so I think you're safe there.

There are lots of different styles in the Monsoon fittings now, the ones I've ordered for my build have a carbon fiber accent ring instead of the open spaces, and they also make a 'chaingun' style that looks really nice. I've used EK compression fittings in the past and were really happy with those as well. As long as you go with a reputable brand, and make sure your tubing matches the dimensions the fitting is designed for, you won't have any issues.

yea, 420 and 280 is a bit overkill for what you're cooling, but you'll have tons of headroom should you want to add another GPU (maybe even two!) later

 

[hfcobra]

Awesome! I'm really pumped for this! The only thing that isn't perfect is my fans aren't black but I can hide most of them lol.

 

[MongGrel]

I'm still nervous about putting H2O anywhere near my computer, but held off a long time on SSD's

Good luck and have fun

 

[hfcobra]

Oh I almost forgot. Does anyone recommend anything other than PT Nuke for biocide? As you can see from my parts list I am going to have copper and nickel in my loop but I heard that PT Nuke can have some problems with corrosion. Is there something else I should use or are those stories exaggerated?

 

[m0r7if3r]

PT Nuke or a silver kill coil (or both)

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Welcome to OCFs.

Your list looks good. I don't know why you will mod such a nice case. If you want to add extra heat surface just use the standard 120mm rad and fans. It's easier to find nice rad fans @ 120mm than 140mm but again that is all up to you.

As for fittings my personal preference is Bitspower rotaries but those are going to be more expensive.

As for some of your questions, me thinks you haven't read up intro to water cooling to understand the some of the basics and what is needed to maintain a loop. Please read the yellow stickies before continuing.

Good luck and hope you share some pics with us when all is said and done.