First custom water cooling loop! What is a good entry level loop?

[justcallmetom13]

Hi all!

So in the future I want to build a PC with a custom water cooling loop.

What would be the best equipment for a first loop?
I really don't know anything <:[

Thanks in advance!

 

[aatje92]

Knowing what you're doing would be the best equipment.
My basic advice:
Laing D5 pump
Phobia Tube Res
Alphacool rads
PrimoChill tubing
Alphacool / Aquatuning cpu / gpu blocks.

 

[justcallmetom13]

Knowing what you're doing would be the best equipment.
My basic advice:
Laing D5 pump
Phobia Tube Res
Alphacool rads
PrimoChill tubing
Alphacool / Aquatuning cpu / gpu blocks.

Thanks for the reply!

So where do brands like EKWB stand? Are they premium?

Also, what do you recommend for the size of the reservoir for a standard atx/matx build?

Thanks!

 

[jossrik]

I hate to be "that guy", but google is really your friend, and there is a watercooling forum here complete with beginner stickies and what you need to know before you bother the masters. If you ask for the best, and they give you the best, don't say "ya but I really want to cheap out on this.", you asked for the best, they offered. With watercooling, go big or go home. From what I've read, and I may be off, but just to start a water cooling loop is like 200 - 300 USD, and once you start, there are a lot of parts you can use again, so you buy quality because you don't want to buy it again because a part failed, especially when you're playing with water and electricity. I really wanted a custom loop, but for my budget, I was better off going on air, and my little brother bought me an AIO for my CPU. My temps are lower than on my old Hyper 212, but my overclock, is roughly where I'm stuck at. It's not a temp issue, it's that my chip can't handle much more. Here is where a lot of people sent me for Water cooling. http://www.xs-pc.com/. Decent stuff, won't kill you on price. Start there and work up.

 

[justcallmetom13]

I hate to be "that guy", but google is really your friend, and there is a watercooling forum here complete with beginner stickies and what you need to know before you bother the masters. If you ask for the best, and they give you the best, don't say "ya but I really want to cheap out on this.", you asked for the best, they offered. With watercooling, go big or go home. From what I've read, and I may be off, but just to start a water cooling loop is like 200 - 300 USD, and once you start, there are a lot of parts you can use again, so you buy quality because you don't want to buy it again because a part failed, especially when you're playing with water and electricity. I really wanted a custom loop, but for my budget, I was better off going on air, and my little brother bought me an AIO for my CPU. My temps are lower than on my old Hyper 212, but my overclock, is roughly where I'm stuck at. It's not a temp issue, it's that my chip can't handle much more. Here is where a lot of people sent me for Water cooling. http://www.xs-pc.com/. Decent stuff, won't kill you on price. Start there and work up.

Would a "Water Cooling Kit" come with everything I need?

 

[Deuce65]

I second what the above guy said. Really, you need to at least read a little and learn a little before anyone can help you. There are dozens of brands for most components; they wouldn't all exist if there wasn't some amount of subjectivity for a lot of this. For example, one guy suggested a D5 pump. But that doesn't really help you because you don't know what that is. Are you just going to go out and buy one? What if someone else comes along and suggests a DDC pump? Then what do you get? I suggest you read one of the many beginners guides on here and elsewhere, and then come back with specific questions.
One last thing since someone mentioned cost, building a good quality loop is not cheap. On the other hand, imany of the components last a long time. A good quality res for instance will last you pretty much forever; you can use it in future builds as well, or trade\sell it as it will retain a good portion of its value.

 

[aatje92]

I suggest you look at a few work logs others posted on overclock.net