Question First Time Water Cooling - Custom Loop - help?

[Vinnietou]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for bothering, but I really want to make sure that I make it right and I could use some help. For the first time in like 23 years I will be building my own PC and I was able to decide on all of the components apart from the cooling. Now, the cooling needs to be water as the first piece I got was the Aorus RX 6900 XT Waterforce for a very, very decent price. Only then, I realized that it's a watercooled piece and I have no idea about watercooling. This wasn't really an affordable option over 20 years ago. I would really, really appreciate all the help I get from you.

In terms of high-level assumptions:

• I would like to strike a nice balance between performance and price. I've already spent more than I was willing to spend, but hell, when you get to realize your childhood dream, you go for it. If we're going to have to choose though, I would choose performance over 10, or 20 EUR.
• Not sure EK is very popular in my country (Poland), so please if you provide EK as your suggestion, provide an alternative as well.
• I'm not building it to be shiny, couldn't care less about RGB. I mean, I have nothing against it, just don't really care for it.

The build:

Box: Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus Z690 Pro
CPU: i5-12400 (I know, but I just couldn't walk past the affordability, this will be the first thing to upgrade)
GPU: GIGABYTE Aorus Radeon RX 6900 XT Xtreme WaterForce WB 16GB
RAM: Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 5200 2x16GB
Drive: SAMSUNG 980 Pro 1TB
Power: GIGABYTE UD1000GM 1000W 80 Plus Gold

So, I know I need a CPU block for LGA 1700, some tubes, radiators, a reservoir (potentially), a flow sensor (?), pump and obviously some fans. Was thinking about 2x360 (say side and top) with additional 3x120mm fans for intake.

I would like to ask for your advice with regards to the brand and make of the components and also maybe a pointer or two with regards to air flow (what should be installed where and should it intake, or output the air):

CPU Block:
Radiators:
Reservoir:
Pump:
Fans: (how many, which company)

I really, really appreciate you.
Thanks,
Artur.

 

[Zerk2012]

Hi everyone,

Apologies for bothering, but I really want to make sure that I make it right and I could use some help. For the first time in like 23 years I will be building my own PC and I was able to decide on all of the components apart from the cooling. Now, the cooling needs to be water as the first piece I got was the Aorus RX 6900 XT Waterforce for a very, very decent price. Only then, I realized that it's a watercooled piece and I have no idea about watercooling. This wasn't really an affordable option over 20 years ago. I would really, really appreciate all the help I get from you.

In terms of high-level assumptions:

• I would like to strike a nice balance between performance and price. I've already spent more than I was willing to spend, but hell, when you get to realize your childhood dream, you go for it. If we're going to have to choose though, I would choose performance over 10, or 20 EUR.
• Not sure EK is very popular in my country (Poland), so please if you provide EK as your suggestion, provide an alternative as well.
• I'm not building it to be shiny, couldn't care less about RGB. I mean, I have nothing against it, just don't really care for it.

The build:

Box: Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus Z690 Pro
CPU: i5-12400 (I know, but I just couldn't walk past the affordability, this will be the first thing to upgrade)
GPU: GIGABYTE Aorus Radeon RX 6900 XT Xtreme WaterForce WB 16GB
RAM: Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 5200 2x16GB
Drive: SAMSUNG 980 Pro 1TB
Power: GIGABYTE UD1000GM 1000W 80 Plus Gold

So, I know I need a CPU block for LGA 1700, some tubes, radiators, a reservoir (potentially), a flow sensor (?), pump and obviously some fans. Was thinking about 2x360 (say side and top) with additional 3x120mm fans for intake.

I would like to ask for your advice with regards to the brand and make of the components and also maybe a pointer or two with regards to air flow (what should be installed where and should it intake, or output the air):

CPU Block:
Radiators:
Reservoir:
Pump:
Fans: (how many, which company)

I really, really appreciate you.
Thanks,
Artur.

Custom Cooling Configurator | Custom Loop Configurator

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/custom-cooling-configurator/

Good places to start.

Edit. Make sure to plan how your going to drain the system to clean it.

 

[Vinnietou]

Custom Cooling Configurator | Custom Loop Configurator

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/custom-cooling-configurator/

Good places to start.

Edit. Make sure to plan how your going to drain the system to clean it.

That is great, thanks for that, so just one question around all that:

I decided to go with what the configurator proposed which is Corsair 360x30 on the bottom and 360x45 on top. I'll use 9 total fans, 3 on each of the radiators and 3 on the side. Top and bottom should be used for air output and side for air intake? Top for intake and side and bottom for output? How much space between the side and the wall should be provided to ensure proper ventillation if side will be used for intake?