Question Looking to do my first custom cooling setup - where to start?

[jamper]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to move from the AIO life to custom cooling and I've started to do my research.

It might be a tad ambitious but I've decided that I want to go with Hard tubing as it looks much better and I'm happy to challenge myself a bit.

I couldn't find too many cooling kits available at my local stores (australia), but I was originally considering the Thermaltake Pacific M360 Plus D5 Hard Tube Water Cooling Kit, however, it seems to have some very bad reviews, mainly in regards to the recommended coolant leaving residue and tubes becoming stained in a matter of weeks etc.

Basically, I'm interested to know what popular custom cooling brands are around that I might've missed and maybe some key things that I should look out for or avoid.

Thanks!

*Goal of custom cooling is not only to make my pc 'cooler' but also to overclock my i7 8700k to 5ghz, I've got a view 71 TT Full tower case so size shouldn't be too much of an issue for any cooling kits (hopefully) *

 

[EndEffeKt_24]

I just finished my custom loop and I personally would avoid any kits. They suggest its easy to get a good result and advocate a one-fits-all approach where there isnt.

There are a lot of reputable brands like: EK, Alphacool, XSPC, Bitspower, Corsair. They are all expensive especially that new Corsair stuff.
Because I was refusing to pay >250 dollars for fittings and angled adapters I bought mine from Barrow via Aliexpress and I am quite impressed with the quality so far. I would consider Barrow a good brand too. Thats also based on the reviews and forum posts I read from other builders.