Newly built wanting to watercool(Sticky has been read)

[jtroutt19]

Hey everyone so here is what I got
Thermaltake view 27 snow edition case
Asus crosshair VI hero
Ryzen 5 1600x
Asus Strix GTX1080 A8G

I am having some trouble deciding on my best course of action here. I want to water cool, For looks of it mainly but also to keep everything cooler.

I've looked into the EK MLC stuff. And with the GPU block I am right under $500. Thing is it comes with black tubing....eww. I want clear, hard line perferably because it just looks amazing, but I would settle for flexible.

So pricing things out by themselves, and I should mention that I have only looked at EK because it is the only place I can find the block for my GPU. Granted I could buy the GPU block from then and everything elsewhere, but I am just unsure right now. So many options and I need help.

Anyway piecing everything out through EK I am at $518. Just for hardware fluid not included in that. I dont mind mixing brands. I've also looked at XSPC kits and then just adding the EKWB GPU block. Opinions on that?

So what can you guys offer advice here? What brands are good brands. With all the option out there is it just mainly looks thats what I see most? Sorry if I seem scatter brained. I am a little right now to be honest. I got my wife telling me to spend as little as possible because Ive already spent $2000 and then I got my brain telling me to spend $1000 more...lol. Realistically I would like to try and keep it under $500 or right at.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me here!

A small update here I really got my eyes on the XSPC Raystorm Pro X4 Photon AX360 kit. Ad a GPU block to it and I got a loop for under 500 bucks.

 

[TehPenguin]

Have you looked into the EK Fluid Gaming kits? They perform well, are really cheap and have clear tubing. The parts are made out of aluminium, hence the lower price, and while they perform well. I would not recommend mixing brands because there is a risk for galvanic corrosion if you mix different metals in a loop. You don't really have to mix brands in this case since the kit comes with everything you need. You can easily fit a CPU and a GPU into the loop and also add a 2nd radiator if you really want to AFAIK.

You would end up at around $350 if you get a 240 kit+one extra 240mm radiator.

 

[jtroutt19]

I have looked but the gpu block that is included in the fluid gaming kit is for reference design cards. My card is not a reference cards. But that would be a great solution if I had the reference based card

 

[Karadjgne]

Try the AlphaCool NexXos complete kit, comes in 240mm or 360mm sizes with everything included with clear tubing. I'd just add a second 240mm rad/fans in line, the D5 pump being enough to cover the job. AlphaCool also sells a matching gpu block that fits the strix 1080 with backplate.