Need Help With Watercooling

[anderdav001]

Good morning!

This is my first time watercooling and Id like to get a great watercooling build, but I don't know how / what to start with...

I am hoping someone could help me out with configuring a watercooling build for https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7ZTcP3

I've tried using https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/ but I have no base knowledge to go off of

 

[Eximo]

You should start here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

You should use an M.2 NVMe drive for that system. Will save you the trouble of having to route another pair of drive connectors. Honestly for this budget, you could just go out and buy a 2TB SSD.

You have a wide open canvas with that case, are you thinking one massively thick radiator mounted at the 'back' of the case.

EK should sell the right radiator. Then all you need is a CPU block, GPU block, pump/res, fittings and some type of tubing.

 

[Eximo]

Their marketing image is a bit over the top when it comes to fittings, they used hard tubing with no bends. But they more or less built what I first considered when looking at it.

https://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=c_00002732

Though I might have mounted the pump/res to hang off the radiator. Also not a huge fan of vertically mounted GPUs. Basically wide open space though, so really anything is possible.

Would be funny to stack a whole bunch of 120mm/140mm radiators with a fan every layer. Stupidly inefficient but it would be unique.

 

[anderdav001]

Their marketing image is a bit over the top when it comes to fittings, they used hard tubing with no bends. But they more or less built what I first considered when looking at it.

https://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=c_00002732

Though I might have mounted the pump/res to hang off the radiator. Also not a huge fan of vertically mounted GPUs. Basically wide open space though, so really anything is possible.

Would be funny to stack a whole bunch of 120mm/140mm radiators with a fan every layer. Stupidly inefficient but it would be unique.

Is there a general rule to how big my pump/res should be per item cooled? Also, I plan on having a radiator on the far right of the case, almost identical to the link you provided before.
I forgot to mention, I plan on watercooling my GPU , CPU and possibly Mobo.

 

[Eximo]

If you going for motherboard cooling, I suggest a full coverage block. Simplifies things. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fb-msi-z270-gaming-rgb-monoblock-nickel

Most pumps you can buy for PC water cooling are powerful enough for anything you can probably come up with. But the common D5 pumps with the cylindrical reservors that EK and others sell are pretty much the de facto standard. Reservoir size is irrelevant. Just helps with filling, and it can look cool. Mine is quite tiny and is part of my radiator. Though I have a relatively simple loop. Pump/Res/Rad -> CPU -> GPU -> Rad and back to the pump/res/rad input.

General rule of thumb is 120mm of radiator for every component you cool. So in your case a 480mm radiator is just about perfect. You can make it thicker for more cooling. With only a single radiator, flow restrictions will be minimized. Since it is going top to bottom a cross flow radiator would be ideal, but a standard one would also work.

 

[anderdav001]

If you going for motherboard cooling, I suggest a full coverage block. Simplifies things. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fb-msi-z270-gaming-rgb-monoblock-nickel

Most pumps you can buy for PC water cooling are powerful enough for anything you can probably come up with. But the common D5 pumps with the cylindrical reservors that EK and others sell are pretty much the de facto standard. Reservoir size is irrelevant. Just helps with filling, and it can look cool. Mine is quite tiny and is part of my radiator. Though I have a relatively simple loop. Pump/Res/Rad -> CPU -> GPU -> Rad and back to the pump/res/rad input.

General rule of thumb is 120mm of radiator for every component you cool. So in your case a 480mm radiator is just about perfect. You can make it thicker for more cooling. With only a single radiator, flow restrictions will be minimized. Since it is going top to bottom a cross flow radiator would be ideal, but a standard one would also work.

Would this be an ideal radiator ? https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-coolstream-se-480-slim-quad-5022
paired with this pump/res https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-pwm-incl-sl-pump

 

[Eximo]

That would certainly work. As for the ideal radiator, I would have to take some measurements to see, mostly for aesthetics. Really though if you want more cooling capacity you can get a thicker radiator, the cost difference is relatively minor. Better to err on the side of caution, though the system shouldn't produce that much heat. Maybe 500W worst case. If you go by the old chart for the EK Coolstream 360mm, that 480mm should be able handle roughly 700W.

If you increased the thickness up a level, probably looking at 1000W or more. More radiator means you can run the fans less, though with the pump noise you might actually want a little to help drown it out.

I guess the question there is are you doing this for appearance sake, or do you plan on going for very high overclocks?

 

[anderdav001]

That would certainly work. As for the ideal radiator, I would have to take some measurements to see, mostly for aesthetics. Really though if you want more cooling capacity you can get a thicker radiator, the cost difference is relatively minor. Better to err on the side of caution, though the system shouldn't produce that much heat. Maybe 500W worst case. If you go by the old chart for the EK Coolstream 360mm, that 480mm should be able handle roughly 700W.

If you increased the thickness up a level, probably looking at 1000W or more. More radiator means you can run the fans less, though with the pump noise you might actually want a little to help drown it out.

I guess the question there is are you doing this for appearance sake, or do you plan on going for very high overclocks?

The only OC i plan on doing is bringing the cpu up to 4.5 or so ( base of 3.7 ). I dont plan on OC the gpu, however I am understanding that the 2080TI is hot to begin with, hence the watercooling. The MoBo doesnt need to be watercooled, but I am worried about the temps of it if it is not.

 

[Eximo]

So in my build I turned the rear exhaust fan into a filtered intake to blow on the motherboard. You could do something similar if you don't want to get a more or less one use motherboard block. Depends on how long you want to keep the computer, I guess. And if you want any fans not mounted to a radiator. That case makes everything visible. Why I think the motherboard block makes sense. Then you don't need a fan there.

Once watercooled no reason not to overclock the GPU a little. Temperature is basically gone as a concern, so you can just set the power and temperature thresholds to max and see how high it will clock. Running my GTX1080 at 2100Mhz and it is basically a reference model from EVGA. Now out of the box it boosted to 2012Mhz, so it wasn't a huge difference, but the real gain is in consistency, basically doesn't ever come off that maximum clock speed. On the air cooler it bounced around 1900-2012Mhz depending on when it hit its 83C limit. Now I am lucky to see 60C after a furious test, and I am not all that aggressive with the fans.

 

[anderdav001]

So in my build I turned the rear exhaust fan into a filtered intake to blow on the motherboard. You could do something similar if you don't want to get a more or less one use motherboard block. Depends on how long you want to keep the computer, I guess. And if you want any fans not mounted to a radiator. That case makes everything visible. Why I think the motherboard block makes sense. Then you don't need a fan there.

Once watercooled no reason not to overclock the GPU a little. Temperature is basically gone as a concern, so you can just set the power and temperature thresholds to max and see how high it will clock. Running my GTX1080 at 2100Mhz and it is basically a reference model from EVGA. Now out of the box it boosted to 2012Mhz, so it wasn't a huge difference, but the real gain is in consistency, basically doesn't ever come off that maximum clock speed. On the air cooler it bounced around 1900-2012Mhz depending on when it hit its 83C limit. Now I am lucky to see 60C after a furious test, and I am not all that aggressive with the fans.

Thanks for the amazing answers / help. I think with all this info im going to go choose some parts and see whats I like. Thanks for everything!

 

[Eximo]

Yeah, nearly guaranteed to make a mistake on the first attempt at water cooling, usually some fitting arrangement. Don't get discouraged. When in doubt draw it and make a note of every component.

There are plenty of people around who can solve issues that pop up. Just make sure watch a video or two of someone filling and draining a loop so you have some indication of how it will go. My first watercooling build was a nightmare to fill (kind of still is, but now it has a drain port at least)