Any Fail safe recommendations for liquid cooling (NZXT X31)

[sr2002]

I'm new to Liquid cooling so I decided to buy one of the NZXT X31 kits.
I won't be overclocking and will be running my system at stock speeds (its a Xeon).

My current problem is, that my stock dell chasis doesnt have the best ventilation and the heat from the GPU often heats up the stock heatsink and causes the fans to ramp up.

I tried the Cooler master EVO, but it was too tall for the side panel to close. I was thinking of the low profile heatsinks, but they require me to install a custom backplate. In my case the Dell motherboard alreayd comes with threaded mountings for the heat sink (Which I'm assuming will hold the liquid cooling block, i might need to make a run to home depot to get some other screws that will match, instead of the standoffs)

So I thought I might give the X31 a shot.
My question, is has anyone ever done something like this on a OEM motherboard? Anything I should look out for?

Also, with liquid coolers, in case if something fails, is there any monitoring software that I could use to shut the computer down? ( I'm assuming Dell's bios has something built in, but just to feel safe I wanted my PC to shutdown if the temperature ever reaches 80degrees, instead of the usual 90+)

By the way, I have a 1150 socket Xeon 1225v3 processor and Dell T20 Server chasis

Also, any good/bad experiences with the X31 over the Corsair H80i ?

 

[computers_are_freaky]

for liquid cooling custom loops, you should not have any hardware plugged in for at least 2 days. Run the loop constantly. Put paper towels on top of the graphics card and under any fittings, so on the bottom of the case or where ever you can. This way, you will not fry anything because there is no power in the hardware, and if it leaks you will know, because the towel will be wet, then it's just a matter of fixing it. just check on it every now and then to make sure there are no leaks, and check that everything is completely dry before plugging things in.
to run the loop with nothing plugged into the psu other than the cooling system, you need to use a jumper (paper clip will do) to connect the green wire to any black wire on the 24 pin, that will fool it into thinking it's plugged in. Good luck and be carefull. (I presume this is a custom loop, not an AIO, if it is, then you are fine period, unless it has leaked in the package)

 

[sr2002]

Yea, like I mentioned I'm using nzxt x31 it's a sealed AIO. Thanks for the advice though

 

[computers_are_freaky]

Sorry, thought it was a custom loop, because you said kit. Oh well, if it is an AIO, then as long as the place you live isn't ridiculously dry and the thing didn't arrive with a leak, then no, I don't think there are any long term preventative measures you can take. Most will not leak, the chance is incredibly small if it is from a trusted company and gets good reviews. In short: if it's not already leaked, it won't for a long time (a few years, minimum). Good luck.

 

[computers_are_freaky]

Usually, if an AIO fails, the pc won't overheat, it will fry your graphics card almost immediately, forcing the pc to shut down. Some guy also had the baseplate erode away, frying the cpu.
Non of these happend in the first year though.
(Sorry for the horror stories, not saying it will happen to you, just it happend to a few guys).

 

[rubix_1011]

Even with a custom loop, you don't need to leak test for 2 days. You will know within an hour or so for 98% of your issues (likely within minutes). With custom loops, the majority of leaking comes from user installation error, not from component failure.

Closed loop coolers like this one don't need any of that - you install like a normal heatsink and away you go.

If a pump fails in any liquid cooling setup, your hardware has thermal shutdown built in so it doesn't overheat and cause damage.

 

[sr2002]

Thanks for the reply guys.
So I actually hooked up the pump to a two pin power connector and the fans to the connectors that the pump comes with (PWM).
Even with the two pin connector and internal USB connection the pump is running fine and I can even switch from high RPM to Silent mode on the fan and the pump RPM using NZXT's CAM software.

It seems the pump has a built in sensor that it works off of, incase it doesnt get anything from the motherboard.

Also, surprisingly DELL's backplate threading was a perfect match for the standoffs to mount the block (quite surprized DELL used a standard heatsink mounting spec)

I'm waiting on the 5pin to 4pin converter cables so that I can actually hook up the pump the motherboard connector.