Large Reservoir Stability?

[Keiron]

Upfront Admission: It's been 15 years since I was into watercooling (seriously - my last WC build was an AMD XP-M with an EHEIM pump), but I got bit by the bug again and am back.

I picked up a Thermaltake 900 Snow, am planning to build a custom loop, and really like the large reservoir look they have going on in this build:


Has anyone had issues with pumps holding the weight when mounted with such a large reservoir? Based on the forums, the D5 seems to be the current hotness, so am thinking to go that route with the reservoir on top, and wondering if I should find a way to stealth-in a stabilizing arm for the reservoir or if it'll be fine. Open to any input...

 

[Blaylock]

The D5 pumps have been around longer and have a higher flow rate. The DDC pumps have higher head pressure. For that much volume of water I would consider a DDC pump, but either will likely work. If you are looking at two large reservoirs like that and more than one GPU (or adding a VRM block) I would definitely use dual pumps of either type.

 

[Keiron]

Planning on two separate loops, so it sounds like 2xDDC's are the way to go. I'll poke around to try and find a reservoirs in the 350-450mm height range that are compatible - thanks.

 

[godevskii]

Be aware that ddc's usually make a lot more noise.

 

[Blaylock]

Most DDC pumps are quieter than the fans once the speeds are adjusted. At full speed they can be annoying but I don't know anyone that runs them full out 24/7. That's just a horrible thought LOL.

With that said many people do pick up the heatsinks for them as they do get a little hotter than the D5 counterparts.

 

[DaPoets]

I think if you're doing 2 loops then 2 D5 pumps would work just fine honestly and be quieter. You would be fine either way.

 

[godevskii]

Most DDC pumps are quieter than the fans once the speeds are adjusted. At full speed they can be annoying but I don't know anyone that runs them full out 24/7. That's just a horrible thought LOL.

I did, but it was on a secondary rig that was mostly for the racing sim, so not much harm there. It was an old swiftech mcp355, there was no pwm on pumps back then, the only way we had was to plug it on a fan controller and turn the voltage down, but for me it wasn't worth the trouble.

 

[Keiron]

I think if you're doing 2 loops then 2 D5 pumps would work just fine honestly and be quieter. You would be fine either way.

That helps, there seem to be more reservoir options for the D5.

On the topic of reservoirs, has anyone seen issues with the pump frames supporting reservoirs as large (read: heavy) as the one in the picture, or are the current generation not mounted in such a way that the pump ends up bearing the weight (or the frames are just beefy)? Also, have reservoirs evolved any in the last 1.5 decades, other than RGB additions & anti-vortex?

 

[ShrimpBrime]

With that said many people do pick up the heatsinks for them as they do get a little hotter than the D5 counterparts.

Too bad they don't make a waterblock and just add the dang pump to it's own loop.

 

[maxfly]

That helps, there seem to be more reservoir options for the D5.

On the topic of reservoirs, has anyone seen issues with the pump frames supporting reservoirs as large (read: heavy) as the one in the picture, or are the current generation not mounted in such a way that the pump ends up bearing the weight (or the frames are just beefy)? Also, have reservoirs evolved any in the last 1.5 decades, other than RGB additions & anti-vortex?

the frames are generally very durable. ideally you want your pump to simply screw into the res without any kind of case mounting. something like this is what i mean
https://www.performance-pcs.com/pum...k-top-kit-for-d5-mcp655-pump-matt-silver.html
helps keep it quiet. the res is going to be screwed into the case or some are mounted to 120 or 140mm fan mounts. the biggest issue is probably going to be if you need to drill mounting holes into your case.

most res are pretty much just like they were back in the day. the only real differences in tube reservoirs are the ability to mount pumps directly to them and some have glass tubes(xspc).

 

[Keiron]

Based on the below, does it seem like I'm missing anything critical besides coolant (looking at PrimoChill's Opaques due to color options for gold/silver).


Still need to sort out which fans are going to be a good fit along with sourcing hard tubing (is there a general consensus over acrylic vs PETG?).

 

[Zerileous]

Ahh yes with that setup, the pump top/pump appears to be supporting the entire res. Many setups have the res itself mounted to the case with rings, as maxfly described. However I'm sure you could contact EK and ask if they recommend additional support with the tube 400.

I'm sure all of the new coolant options are attractive, however it is important to notice that there are a lot of maintenance concerns with them. Although the Vue seems to be performing well. However this would not be a coolant that would be appropriate to skip or delay a maintenance session.

For tubing, I think PETG is much easier to work with.

 

[DaPoets]

I like the walnut look! Are you adding any exterior wood to match it?

 

[Keiron]

I like the walnut look! Are you adding any exterior wood to match it?

Not sure yet, still planning out the build, but am toying with building wooden cylinders (drilled out dowels probably?) to encase portions of the reservoirs. Should solve any potential stability issues due to vertical mounting by tossing some extra contact points in there, hides the LED's I want to embed, and helps the build theme out.

I'll try and draw something out in the next week to showcase the concept.

 

[AnimeMania]

Cooler Master creates a new type of vortex reservoir, prototype at Computex.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cooler-master-vortex-ml240p-mirage,39493.html

 

[DaPoets]

Cooler Master creates a new type of vortex reservoir, prototype at Computex.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cooler-master-vortex-ml240p-mirage,39493.html

The video I saw a youtuber do on it said that the vortex was just for show and in actual use there wouldn't be a vortex as it only creates problems for the loop.

 

[AnimeMania]

The video I saw a youtuber do on it said that the vortex was just for show and in actual use there wouldn't be a vortex as it only creates problems for the loop.

It wouldn't be that hard to add a vortex if you had an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder. The inner cylinder is a regular reservoir and the outer cylinder has a small pump to create the vortex. You could even add color to the water of the outer cylinder because it never interacts with the inner cylinder's cooling fluid. They could even add an OLED screen to the outer cylinder, so i could add some animated fish or mermaids.

I think the reservoir it the most beautiful part of a liquid cooled system and usually they show very little creativity in how they are designed.

 

[Keiron]

It seems like I'm creeping in on ordering parts (fans, psu, and M.2 SSD are already here), mostly waiting for the 7/7 AMD hardware release, and hoping EK is going to run a sale before I pull the trigger. I'm planning to fill with a fill bottle (should have plenty of space) rather than putting in fill ports and use the ball valves + splitters for drain ports.
Am I missing anything obvious in the below for the two separate loops other than some soft tubing and whatever coupling I need to join hard -> soft with EK?

 

[Silver Surfer]

Keep in mind a very large tube reservoir has not only zero cooling aid, but can actually work against your radiator absorbing available case heat.

So they are only for looks, and serve zero usefulness relating to cooling, the least amount of coolant in the reservoir the better for radiator cooling efficiency.

Also if the case is in direct sunlight no matter what coolant you use, those large reservoirs are a breeding ground, as sunlight can eventually break down literally anything.

 

[Keiron]

Keep in mind a very large tube reservoir has not only zero cooling aid, but can actually work against your radiator absorbing available case heat.

So they are only for looks, and serve zero usefulness relating to cooling, the least amount of coolant in the reservoir the better for radiator cooling efficiency.

Also if the case is in direct sunlight no matter what coolant you use, those large reservoirs are a breeding ground, as sunlight can eventually break down literally anything.

Totally understood that it's just for the look, I'm hoping with 4x140's on each loop, I should be about as low temperature-wise as I can reasonably achieve.

The breeding pool was partially why I'm thinking to encase a chunk of the res in wood. Since that'll sound weird, some project explanation (once I get the WC parts order in, I'll spin up a proper build thread). I'm planning to design this rig based on the Telperion and Laurelin, the Two Trees of Valinor (kudos to whoever gets that reference off the top of their head), so will be trying to get one loop glowing silver and the other gold. I've been wavering between these two ideas (open to any others folks might have as well) for the res:

• Some carving onto a wood veneer, then wrapping the veneer around the res.
• Hollowing out two chunks of wood and leaving the res visible/backlit in areas as-if someone split open a tree (read: after Morgoth and Ungoliant slew them)

Thoughts?