Need a watercooler for my CPU

[hellenicspartan]

I have a Sabertooth Z97 mark 1 motherboard with a Intel i7 4790k

Looking for something to be used with that "with orange led" lighting to suit my
Aerocool Xpredator X3 Evil Black edition case.

I found a few, although they lack any lighting effects, and i dont want to have led strip lights in my case either.

Money isnt a problem.

Cheers

PS: in regards to watercooling, whats the maintenance for them?? i was told every 4-6 months they will need to be serviced "change coolant etc" and is it possible to get coloured coolant??

Cheers again

 

[gondo]

There are 2 types of water coolers. AIO, all in one, sealed units. They are all sealed and the hoses are fixed. They are less flexible and no maintenance is required.

Then there is the modular system. You buy the water blocks, reservoir, heatsink, fans, pump, and piping. Mix and match to your heats content. For piping there is flexible hoses in multi colors, solid acrylic tubing, and copper tubing. Solid acrylic does a beautiful job and copper is nice if polished. The hoses and solid acrylic are clear so you can use a dye in the liquid. There are also additives, like water wetter, that add corrosion resistance and and enhance the cooling properties. With these systems you can mount the radiator anywhere including on the exterior of the case then run the custom piping as desired. Most cases come with holes on the rear to pass hoses for water cooling. An AIO system can't do this as hoses are fixed and cannot be shortened. Maintenance involves bleeding them to remove air from the system and nothing else and the occasional water change.

AIO systems are in the $125 range or so and are of questionable quality. A modular system will cost you $250+ and can be of extremely good quality.

My personal opinion is a I prefer a good heatsink over a cheap AIO system. And if I'm gonna go liquid cooling I prefer to assemble my own and get something good. I prefer solid acrylic tubing as it's cheap, readily available, fittings and tools are easy to get, and it looks badass. If your gonna spend the money on a nice system you might as well take the time and make a hobby out of it and do it right.

 

[hellenicspartan]

Love your answer, gosh you really helped me there

Ill go more for the "modular system" as i think that will suit me much more.

Plus as you stated i will be able to customise alot of the colours, tubes etc. That sounds fantastic.
Anything i should be weary about will going through with this?? like size of pump, etc ??

Any links to what you used or similar products would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Gam3r01]

Gondo is not entirely correct.
There are three types of water coolers, with a very distinct difference between two of them.
AIOs does not necessarily mean its sealed. That is a CLC (or closed loop cooler). These are coolers such as the Kraken x61, which is a great CLC.
Then there are AIO coolers (All in One). The units are a larger category that include CLCs, but also include other coolers such as the H240x or Predator 360. These units are open loop, and expandable. Essentially a pre-assembled custom loop (that can be expanded).

 

[hellenicspartan]

Gondo is not entirely correct.
There are three types of water coolers, with a very distinct difference between two of them.
AIOs does not necessarily mean its sealed. That is a CLC (or closed loop cooler). These are coolers such as the Kraken x61, which is a great CLC.
Then there are AIO coolers (All in One). The units are a larger category that include CLCs, but also include other coolers such as the H240x or Predator 360. These units are open loop, and expandable. Essentially a pre-assembled custom loop (that can be expanded).

So in regards to that, would i op more for a AIO but in as you said "custom loop" to allow for changing the tubes, dye etc?? what are your recommendations that would suit my rig??

 

[Gam3r01]

For what you describe, I would opt for an open loop cooler, yes.
Take a look at the H240x for example here. It has fully removable and expandable tubing, the waterblock it uses is one they sell for custom loops, and the radiator has the pump build it. Its a great choice for someone wanting to watercool now, but learn to use a custom loop in the near future.
Coolant can be drained an replaced as needed/want.

 

[hellenicspartan]

For what you describe, I would opt for an open loop cooler, yes.
Take a look at the H240x for example here. It has fully removable and expandable tubing, the waterblock it uses is one they sell for custom loops, and the radiator has the pump build it. Its a great choice for someone wanting to watercool now, but learn to use a custom loop in the near future.
Coolant can be drained an replaced as needed/want.

Would it fit in my case??
Ill look into this though

Thanks

 

[hellenicspartan]

well i cant seem to find "H240X" for sale in my country "australia" what about

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/34227/thermaltake-water-3-0-riing-rgb-240mm-aio-liquid-cpu-cooler

as i have 5x 140mm Orange LED thermaltake riing fans and it would match well.

Would love to get one with a internal cpu light too "glowing words/logo"

 

[Gam3r01]

Should fit as the case lists room for 2x140mm fans up top.

 

[Gam3r01]

If the H240x isnt available the only other CLC I recommend is the Kraken X61: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-cpu-cooler-rlkrx6101

You can also consider this: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xlc-predator-240 as EKWB ships worldwide, though it is expensive.
While it may not look good as is, you can swap out all the tubing if you so chose.
Or a kit: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-l240-1

 

[hellenicspartan]

If the H240x isnt available the only other CLC I recommend is the Kraken X61: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-cpu-cooler-rlkrx6101

You can also consider this: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xlc-predator-240 as EKWB ships worldwide, though it is expensive.
While it may not look good as is, you can swap out all the tubing if you so chose.
Or a kit: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-l240-1

In regards to the NZXT Kraken X61, would it be alright to replace the two 140mm fans with 2x http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Cooling/140mm+_Fans/59714-CL-F039-PL14OR-A/?member_pricing=true

as the NZXT fans dont have leds on the.. ahh maybe i should just get an external cooler and have it running internally so i can keep the fans on the top.

 

[cielabel]

fans fans

 

[gondo]

For preassembled systems, the NZXT Kraken and Fractal Kelven systems seems to be very good. Fractal getting my nod. Corsair systems are very popular as well although I've heard a few complaints.

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g30/Liquid_Cooling.html

Check out this site. It's an online store with tons of modding and cooling stuff. You can build up your own liquid cooler. And if yo place the reservoir/pump in the right place, future upgrades involved merely changing the water block or buying new mounting hardware. It's only the initial cost that's expensive. And the pumps are of very high quality so they should last longer than an AIO system.

http://www.overclock.net/lists/display/view/id/5316742

This is a fairly typical example of a custom liquid cooler in a Corsair case. The acrylic tubing is easy to bend and you just make the bend and trim to fit on each end. You can also buy 90' fittings and just use straight pieces. Or go with hose. The 2 reservoirs you see are called tower reservoirs and they are designed to mount a pump right on them so it's all one unit. You can also get a reservoir that fits in a 5 1/2" spot like a CD-ROM, with a window so it looks fancy, but the tower ones are better. Think of it, air rises so it's easier to bleed and maintain a tower reservoir.

That guy used orange dye to match his case look. Also you can get individual LEDs and mount them yourself for custom color. Some acrylic water blocks have a hole to insert an LED. And the LEDs you buy for computers have a lead that you use to plug in, it's all very simple. If you use UV reactive dye then you can use UV lights for an effect as well.

Notice his custom cables for the power supply that also match the color layout of his case. That's easy to do as well using a $5 50' piece of para cord from the hardware store. Or you can buy fancy custom cable sleeving and do it. Either way it's a fun way to get the exact length of cables and a custom color job. You mentioned orange so that's why I showed you the orange Corsair case.

 

[Gam3r01]

If the H240x isnt available the only other CLC I recommend is the Kraken X61: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-cpu-cooler-rlkrx6101

You can also consider this: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xlc-predator-240 as EKWB ships worldwide, though it is expensive.
While it may not look good as is, you can swap out all the tubing if you so chose.
Or a kit: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-l240-1

In regards to the NZXT Kraken X61, would it be alright to replace the two 140mm fans with 2x http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Cooling/140mm+_Fans/59714-CL-F039-PL14OR-A/?member_pricing=true

as the NZXT fans dont have leds on the.. ahh maybe i should just get an external cooler and have it running internally so i can keep the fans on the top.

You can use those fans no problem, just switch out the ones that come with it for whatever you want.