Getting into Custom Watercooling

[MasterMAV]

Hello folks!

I have heard and seen people making custom watercooling loops in their PC's. It sounds interesting and looks really awesome! So I wanted to make my own loop, and have done some research on some parts that I think look great, should perform good and don't break me down money wise. I want to hear your opinion on the parts I have chosen and afterwards I would like you to answer my questions down below if possible.

Radiator
Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 360mm Radiator
Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 240mm Radiator

Fans
EK-Vardar F2-120 (1450)
I have chosen five of these bad boys.

CPU Waterblock
EK-Supremacy EVO - Nickel

GPU Waterblock
EK-FC1080 GTX Strix - Nickel
I have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Strix 8G OC

Reservoir
Alphacool Eisbecher D5 250mm Acetal reservoir (VPP655 pump)

Fittings
I have chosen some fittings from EK, but I guess these comes down to own preference. Am I right? If not, can you please list down below which fittings you thinks would be a better choice? (I have looked at Bitpowers fittings. DAAAMN, they are sexy, but I'm not gonna place my money into these as they are just too expensive.. Max 5 euro per fitting, and I'm looking for compression fittings).

Valve
EK-AF Ball Valve (10mm) G1/4 - Black
I've heard that it's a lot easier to drain your loop by adding a draining port.

Extenders
EK-AF Extender 6mm M-M G1/4 - Black
I need two of these, as I'm going to connect a T-splitter to my reservoir with one of the extenders and the other one is going to connect the Valve to the T-splitter.

Tubing
PrimoFlex Advanced LRT Flexible Tubing - 3/8 x 1/2
I have chosen 3 meters of nice quality tubing as I'm a newbie to watercooling and I have heard that this tubing model is free of this plasticizer crap (sorry for my bad language). Also, I want to have atleast one succes with my build, if you know what I'm saying 😉

Biocide
PT Nuke Concentrated Biocide (10ml)
I'm using distilled water, and heard this should work just fine. If there are any better solutions to this, please comment down below. Also, if there is any better fluid, please recommend.

Key for fittings
Allen key 8mm from EKWB
I don't know if this is nessecary.. If not, tell me

Sorry if there are any typos. English is not my native language.

Thanks in advance!

 

[1LiquidPC]

Looks like you've done your homework. I've used the same Primoflex LRT Advanced myself in the past. Worked well with no plasticizer. Tight bends could be challenging, However, I was using 3/4 OD 1/2 ID. Also, I run with distilled water and killcoils. Folks argue the coolant method all the time. For me, I went with colored tubing. Some of the premixes were known to break down and clog blocks, discolor, ect. However, this likely has gotten better over time.

They do have corrosion inhibitors in premixes but generally with copper, nickel, brass, certain stainless types( no aluminum) should be ok. Again, this is always an argument point.

EK and Alphacool are good brands to go with, and generally have loyal buyers from quality. Regarding fans, are you running them full speed? With your planned cooling capacity, should get great temps at low RPMs.

On a side note, custom WC is addicting. If done correctly, you can have low noise and low temps on top of looks

 

[MasterMAV]

Looks like you've done your homework. I've used the same Primoflex LRT Advanced myself in the past. Worked well with no plasticizer. Tight bends could be challenging, However, I was using 3/4 OD 1/2 ID. Also, I run with distilled water and killcoils. Folks argue the coolant method all the time. For me, I went with colored tubing. Some of the premixes were known to break down and clog blocks, discolor, ect. However, this likely has gotten better over time.

They do have corrosion inhibitors in premixes but generally with copper, nickel, brass, certain stainless types( no aluminum) should be ok. Again, this is always an argument point.

EK and Alphacool are good brands to go with, and generally have loyal buyers from quality. Regarding fans, are you running them full speed? With your planned cooling capacity, should get great temps at low RPMs.

On a side note, custom WC is addicting. If done correctly, you can have low noise and low temps on top of looks

I plan on running my fans at 700 - 1000 RPMs!

Thank you for your kind answer.

 

[1LiquidPC]

To me, looks like a solid parts list. Fans should be very quiet at that RPM. The drain valves are quite useful, similar use myself. I know what you mean about Bitspower. They were highly recommended when I got back into watercooling. Very high quality, yet very expensive. I was using their compression fittings, and tons of adapters. I've since switched to Primochill Rigid Revolver compression and rigid tubing, though still use Bitspower for angled fittings, adapters, ect. I run my radiator fans around 1200 RPM, and case fans around 900RPM. What is the full PC spec you're building? Case? A build log would be interesting to see. For an example on what you can see, when I got my 1080 FE, stock boost would max around 1911 Mhz for a minute or so, and after 5 minutes would be down to 1700s. With fan speed increase, closer to low 1800s though added noise. Temps would always go to 80C and float around there. After switching to full-cover WC block, temps never been higher than about 41C in summer, no extra noise, and clockspeed stays solid at 2050 with my adjustments based on logfiles from gameplay.

 

[MasterMAV]

To me, looks like a solid parts list. Fans should be very quiet at that RPM. The drain valves are quite useful, similar use myself. I know what you mean about Bitspower. They were highly recommended when I got back into watercooling. Very high quality, yet very expensive. I was using their compression fittings, and tons of adapters. I've since switched to Primochill Rigid Revolver compression and rigid tubing, though still use Bitspower for angled fittings, adapters, ect. I run my radiator fans around 1200 RPM, and case fans around 900RPM. What is the full PC spec you're building? Case? A build log would be interesting to see. For an example on what you can see, when I got my 1080 FE, stock boost would max around 1911 Mhz for a minute or so, and after 5 minutes would be down to 1700s. With fan speed increase, closer to low 1800s though added noise. Temps would always go to 80C and float around there. After switching to full-cover WC block, temps never been higher than about 41C in summer, no extra noise, and clockspeed stays solid at 2050 with my adjustments based on logfiles from gameplay.

My PC specs are following:

MOBO: ASUS Maximus VIII Hero Alpha
CPU: I7-6700k (running at 4.6 Ghz, but I guess I will be able to push it to 4.7 if as I'm going the "Custom Loop" route)
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro 80i v2
GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 Strix 8G OC (Stable in Valley, Heaven, Time Spy and BF1 at 2101 Mhz. Sometimes it boosts itself to 2126 Mhz )
RAM: G.Skill TridentZ 16GB 3000Mhz CL14 (Overclocked to 3200 Mhz CL14)
PSU: Corsair HX750i Platinium Approved Power Supply
CASE: Thermaltake View 31 TG (Very sexy case in my opinion )

I don't have the money right now, so I will be saving them and buying parts over the next 6 months or so...

By the way, do you know if the Alphacool reservoir comes with the so called "Light tower" effect?

 

[1LiquidPC]

Looks like it should be a great build w/ custom loop route. Not sure on reservoir question. Their website should clarify if there is that option.