Question should i water cool

[Truckerlenny]

Should i Watercool my PC i7 9700k, asus tuf gaming z390 plus wifi, asus dual rtx 2060 o6g, cooler master haf xb evo, corsair hx750i, samsung evo 970 plus m.2 nvme, 500 gb ssd as well. should i water cool it. also for headphones i have a audio technica bsph1, with a focusrite 3rd gen solo, sound i have 2 yorkville c120p, and a yorkville yx10sp sub hooked to a mackie mix 5. i should note i have no clue how to overclock so wont be doing that. cooling wise it is great right now. i dont want to loose anything by only having a 240 and a 120mm rad. i will however then be able to install a 200mm fan on top as cpu cooler wouldnt be in the way. i just built this system and love it specs wise. i dont want rgb just want maybe abit more looks wise.

Question is will i loose any cooling performance from my current setup by installing a 240mm rad, a 120mm rad, and using a 200 mm top fan. with full custom loop including cpu and gpu maybe ram and ssd later?

 

[Gmoney06ss]

If you're happy with temps currently and have no plans to overclock, save your money.

 

[Ralston18]

What temperatures are you seeing?

If all is working and working well within specs then I would apply the old rule "if its not broke, don't fix it".

"Looks wise" - never let form get in the way of function......

 

[Karadjgne]

Your question is an easy answer, yes or no. You are either happy with the way it is, or not. If you are happy, leave it alone, look but don't touch.

If you aren't happy, you just answered your own question. However, be prepared for a seriously hefty price tag. Custom loops including a gpu are by no means cheap. You'll spend $160 just for the waterblock for that gpu, $100 for cpu. $150-$180 just for a pump/reservoir combo. Forget about the 200mm Fan on top, you'll need the space for a second 240mm rad, at $70 each. 4x good rad fans at $20 each. That's about $680 before tubing and fittings and flowmeters and liquid and extras.

Don't forget about research, you'll do plenty on how, what, where, why, expectations, temps, flow, copper vs aluminium, fluids, leaks, do and don'ts, tubing diameters inside and out, fittings and styles and which to use or avoid, maintenance......

 

[geofelt]

Short answer... no.

Longer answer...
What is the cooler that you are using now?
Since you are not overclocking, you do not need aggressive cooling.
The main reason for aggressive cooling is to enable a top overclock.

Your case will support a top air cooler like the noctua NH-D15s.
That will cool as well as any aio that you might choose to install.
Past that a aio cooler is going to dump heat into the case where it will impact your motherboard and graphics cards.

That is perhaps another issue, sli is not usually a good option.
Dual gpu will win synthetic fps benchmarks, but
It is prone to screen tearing, stuttering and non support in some games.
You would have a better gaming experience with a single good card.

 

[Truckerlenny]

Short answer... no.

Longer answer...
What is the cooler that you are using now?
Since you are not overclocking, you do not need aggressive cooling.
The main reason for aggressive cooling is to enable a top overclock.

Your case will support a top air cooler like the noctua NH-D15s.
That will cool as well as any aio that you might choose to install.
Past that a aio cooler is going to dump heat into the case where it will impact your motherboard and graphics cards.

That is perhaps another issue, sli is not usually a good option.
Dual gpu will win synthetic fps benchmarks, but
It is prone to screen tearing, stuttering and non support in some games.
You would have a better gaming experience with a single good card.

please read the full question. second it is not just for cooling it is for looks. i just dont wanna loose any cooling by only having a 240 and a 120 rad in it.

 

[Truckerlenny]

Your question is an easy answer, yes or no. You are either happy with the way it is, or not. If you are happy, leave it alone, look but don't touch.

If you aren't happy, you just answered your own question. However, be prepared for a seriously hefty price tag. Custom loops including a gpu are by no means cheap. You'll spend $160 just for the waterblock for that gpu, $100 for cpu. $150-$180 just for a pump/reservoir combo. Forget about the 200mm Fan on top, you'll need the space for a second 240mm rad, at $70 each. 4x good rad fans at $20 each. That's about $680 before tubing and fittings and flowmeters and liquid and extras.

Don't forget about research, you'll do plenty on how, what, where, why, expectations, temps, flow, copper vs aluminium, fluids, leaks, do and don'ts, tubing diameters inside and out, fittings and styles and which to use or avoid, maintenance......

can someone mount a 240 rad in a 200 mm fan spot? my thought was to have a 240mm a 120mm and a 200mm fan. oh research is so needed lol. i have a few things figured out. id say full setup will cost about $1000 canadian. happy is a very tricky question. i dont really like it but i dont want to have issues either. im satisfied with the performance. 290 fps in cs:go all in highest settings for 1080p (wont go to 1440p) and its at 60 hz which wont change either. so it is basicly for looks. i have far more performance than i need. i also have lots of head room on the psu wise as well. i just dont know if a 120 and 240mm rad will cool everything enough

 

[geofelt]

No accounting for looks. I pass

 

[Truckerlenny]

What temperatures are you seeing?

If all is working and working well within specs then I would apply the old rule "if its not broke, don't fix it".

"Looks wise" - never let form get in the way of function......

function it is fine. temps are great performance is spot on. although i dont want to go to full custom loop and to find out my temps will increase because there is not enough rads etc. that would be $1000 wasted.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Is there a good quality block available for your GPU?

360mm worth of rad space should be sufficient for decent temps, even with mild overclocking.

Building a loop in that case looks like it would be a chore! And if you put the fan up top, without glass panels, it basically a sealed case. How much will you actually be able to see? http://us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/haf-series/haf-xb-evo.html
Is this your case?

$1000 is a lot of money for looks! Yes it would perform well as far as cooling, but cooling equals absolutely zero fps increase. I know you said you don't want to move to 1440 or above 60hz, but maybe take that thousand bucks, and try it. A nice 1080 144hz, or even a 1440/144 monitor would be money better spent, IMO. I enjoy custom loops, but see little point in this build.

 

[Truckerlenny]

Is there a good quality block available for your GPU?

360mm worth of rad space should be sufficient for decent temps, even with mild overclocking.

Building a loop in that case looks like it would be a chore! And if you put the fan up top, without glass panels, it basically a sealed case. How much will you actually be able to see? http://us.coolermaster.com/product/Detail/case/haf-series/haf-xb-evo.html
Is this your case?

$1000 is a lot of money for looks! Yes it would perform well as far as cooling, but cooling equals absolutely zero fps increase. I know you said you don't want to move to 1440 or above 60hz, but maybe take that thousand bucks, and try it. A nice 1080 144hz, or even a 1440/144 monitor would be money better spent, IMO. I enjoy custom loops, but see little point in this build.

i choose this monitor because of looks. samsung c32f391. most of my parts while maybe "good" it doesnt look completely like a "gaming" computer. i know watercooling wont equal to better fps. so on the far left and right sides is a almost wide open space. which is what i look at daily. having a nice cooling loop i think would look great compared to a giant cpu cooler. $1000 is alot of money to spend on look. as for gpu block this is the only one i could find. https://www.bykski.us/products/byks...ock-clear-n-as2060si-x?variant=29400851939426 i havnt heard too much about the brand. actually building in this case is quite easy still a chore but i love the style. htpc and it fits a full atx board heck yea even some water cooling if i want it. most cpu coolers it fits tons of fans fit. lots of building options. i also dont wanna upgrade to many parts and have to replace them in 2 years. lol i mean i know the i7 10700 series is coming out late this year early next. but that is the 1159 socket im told meaning a new board and a new cpu ugh. there goes 1500 bucks. but i have a good setup and i wont need all parts replaced like i did this time for a longgggggg time

 

[Karadjgne]

There are gpu blocks for all the RTX series, but, AIB partners can and do use custom pcb so some high performance cards do not have a block whereas cheaper reference pcb designs do.

Most cases use a variable mount pattern, so generally a case with possibility for a 180/200mm fan will also mount 2x 140mm and 2x 120mm. Sometimes it's a little odd, and you'll see 2x 120mm and only 1x 140mm. It's highly case dependent. There's cases that will mount 2x 200mm, or 3x 140mm or 4x 120mm. There's slightly heavier reinforced holes in the grill at certain points just for fan attachment.

Your cpu/gpu doesn't care about temps under throttle range. It's just as happy at 80°C as at 50°C. That's not important to full custom loop. Only air cooling. A fcl doesn't not exhibit temp behavior the same way as air cooling. Actual cpu/gpu temps are next to useless, liquid temps are highly important. It takes about 15-30 minutes for liquids to acclimate to a load, so temporary spikes do nothing, mean nothing, unless they get into throttle range. Air cooler temps are almost immediate, seconds.

So equating air cooler temps by 'not wanting to lose your temps' to a fcl is pointless. They are 2 different things.

 

[Truckerlenny]

There are gpu blocks for all the RTX series, but, AIB partners can and do use custom pcb so some high performance cards do not have a block whereas cheaper reference pcb designs do.

Most cases use a variable mount pattern, so generally a case with possibility for a 180/200mm fan will also mount 2x 140mm and 2x 120mm. Sometimes it's a little odd, and you'll see 2x 120mm and only 1x 140mm. It's highly case dependent. There's cases that will mount 2x 200mm, or 3x 140mm or 4x 120mm. There's slightly heavier reinforced holes in the grill at certain points just for fan attachment.

Your cpu/gpu doesn't care about temps under throttle range. It's just as happy at 80°C as at 50°C. That's not important to full custom loop. Only air cooling. A fcl doesn't not exhibit temp behavior the same way as air cooling. Actual cpu/gpu temps are next to useless, liquid temps are highly important. It takes about 15-30 minutes for liquids to acclimate to a load, so temporary spikes do nothing, mean nothing, unless they get into throttle range. Air cooler temps are almost immediate, seconds.

So equating air cooler temps by 'not wanting to lose your temps' to a fcl is pointless. They are 2 different things.

i am well aware that air and liquid cooling different and carrying different traits in cooling. im more concerned if a 240mm and a 120mm rad is plenty of cooling for a 9700k and a rtx2060. im well aware that gpu blocks are available for all the rtx series but nvidia has decided to only let aib make the 2060. so i bought a aib one just happened to buy a good one ish. also i know i can get a gpu block for it and from what i researched they are pretty good of a brand. still does not answer my original question of will a 240mm and a 120mm rad with a 200mm top fan be sufficient cooling for the pc there is 2 80mm fans on bottom next to ssd but lets be serious they dont do alot

 

[rubix_1011]

Yes.

I'm running a 9700k and an RTX 2080 on dual 240mm EK PE rads and it's more than I need at stock clock speeds.

 

[Truckerlenny]

Yes.

I'm running a 9700k and an RTX 2080 on dual 240mm EK PE rads and it's more than I need at stock clock speeds.

thank you finally someone with a actual answer.

 

[rubix_1011]

To address your statement, you really didn't ask direct questions. You wanted all the answers to all the things you had floating around and in the middle of inquiring about them, you ended up with tangent thoughts on how things worked, etc.

The majority of the questions you were asking were ones that someone who has done some research in watercooling would normally already know and understand. The really large red flags I started to see were 'does X, Y and Z work in my case, or do I need A, B or C'?

These kinds of things make sense when you've researched watercooling.

please read the full question. second it is not just for cooling it is for looks. i just dont wanna loose any cooling by only having a 240 and a 120 rad in it.

We can tell this is only about aesthetics and not the actual cooling properties, otherwise your questions would be much, much different.

 

[Truckerlenny]

To address your statement, you really didn't ask direct questions. You wanted all the answers to all the things you had floating around and in the middle of inquiring about them, you ended up with tangent thoughts on how things worked, etc.

The majority of the questions you were asking were ones that someone who has done some research in watercooling would normally already know and understand. The really large red flags I started to see were 'does X, Y and Z work in my case, or do I need A, B or C'?

These kinds of things make sense when you've researched watercooling.



We can tell this is only about aesthetics and not the actual cooling properties, otherwise your questions would be much, much different.

yes it is all about looks. once again it has nothing to do with cooling as i wont be over clocking and my current cooling requirements are fully met. how ever looks not quite so. that means going to liquid cooling if possible would make the looks and still meet cooling requirements and maybe abit better not that i need it nice to have head room. that is the goal why spend $1000 on liquid cooling and then the thing over heats.

 

[rubix_1011]

Because I have seen people spend that kind of money not knowing what they are doing or understanding what they actually need and end up with a useless cooling loop.

And then they complain.

And then the tough conversations begin...which they find out would have been better off done prior to spending money, not after.

 

[EndEffeKt_24]

Nobody ever HAS TO watercool. There is no consumer grade component that mandatory needs it. And even with a small case you could always migrate to a bigger one.

But people watercool for noiselevels, aesthetics, bragging rights, overclocks and tinkering. And I think thats totally fine and most people know that you can not justify watercooling with performance/dollar.

I am building my loop in octobre. Not because I have to, because I freakin want to.

 

[Truckerlenny]

Because I have seen people spend that kind of money not knowing what they are doing or understanding what they actually need and end up with a useless cooling loop.

And then they complain.

And then the tough conversations begin...which they find out would have been better off done prior to spending money, not after.

i know theres alot of work to building a full custom loop...there is high maintenance and you should have good parts to lower the risk of leaks. make sure to put a fill port and a drain port (case has a fill port spot) no drain spot so ill make one lol. i know alot of people prefer runs to be a certain way such as pump-cpu-gpu- res-pump blah blah blah. i know people dont like certain types of fluids. i will be using distilled water as the piping will be copper piping. fittings will be from ekwb. cpu wb will be from ekwb, pump will be a ekwb i think its a d5 the good one that almost everyone raves about. res will be the ekwb res that installs into 2x 5.25 in bays. the gpu block will be from bykski. im going to stick with the noctua fans ill have to switch out the 2 140mm for 120's but no big deal. as for rads it wil be ekwb as for thickness i have no clue yet how thick i can go

 

[Truckerlenny]

Nobody ever HAS TO watercool. There is no consumer grade component that mandatory needs it. And even with a small case you could always migrate to a bigger one.

But people watercool for noiselevels, aesthetics, bragging rights, overclocks and tinkering. And I think thats totally fine and most people know that you can not justify watercooling with performance/dollar.

I am building my loop in octobre. Not because I have to, because I freakin want to.

thank you someone who understands my logic my computer is stupid quiet now i cant hear if its on at all. i cant change case as i need a htpc type something that sits alot more planted it is put onto a wire shelf that has wheels and gets moved frequently. and that is what happened to my last pc i had it sitting on it and as going into elevator with the cart the thing fell off. i live in a apartment building and i host movie nights twice a week and use my desktop and sound which is why it is mobile. now as for noiselevels, aesthetics, bragging rights now your talking my language lol. to have it so the fans can basicly be idle and not ramp up very often would be great. aesthetics i want to decluter this thing with a 2.75 thick gpu and a noctua d15s cpu cooler it looks quiet cluttered. im concerned that i may loose cooling power from my current setup by going with a loop i only have space for a 120mm and a 240mm maybe a 280mm but unsure. as for thickness idk but i wanna loop cpu and gpu maybe ram down the road as i bought lpx ram and it doesnt look great but can easily upgrade to 4x16 ram and liquid cool it as well. just because i can. not that i need the power i dont. (i could use 2x16gb now as 2x8 i get to 75% alot compared to 40% on cpu and gpu so abit more ram wont go to waste.

 

[rubix_1011]

Before you get giddy on watercooling being silent - this is entirely dependent on fans used, amount of radiator surface area used and how low you want your cooling delta. Want a nearly silent watercooling loop that cools great? You're going to need more radiators than you're thinking...and slow fans. Don't want that, but want it to cool? Fewer radiators, faster fans, louder fan noise. There isn't a shortcut to great cooling delta and silence when it comes to watercooling. You pick one or the other...or hope you have a killer PWM fan curve (fan yes, pump, no...set that and leave it).

You don't necessarily have to have a 'dedicated fill and drain port' hole in your case. This isn't mandatory. Hopefully you didn't read this somewhere as a requirement. I certainly never wrote that in my stickies, because it isn't true.

Loop order does not matter as long as your pump is only pumping coolant and not air. Air is very bad to pumps, causing the bearings to rapidly wear. In minutes. Or less.

Copper pipe? Why? I guess, sure. Why not setup your first watercooling loop with a 'technically unsupported set of tubing'.

D5 isn't necessarily the best. DDC isn't necessarily the best. Each have their positives and downsides, although downsides are minimal.

 

[Truckerlenny]

Before you get giddy on watercooling being silent - this is entirely dependent on fans used, amount of radiator surface area used and how low you want your cooling delta. Want a nearly silent watercooling loop that cools great? You're going to need more radiators than you're thinking...and slow fans. Don't want that, but want it to cool? Fewer radiators, faster fans, louder fan noise. There isn't a shortcut to great cooling delta and silence when it comes to watercooling. You pick one or the other...or hope you have a killer PWM fan curve (fan yes, pump, no...set that and leave it).

You don't necessarily have to have a 'dedicated fill and drain port' hole in your case. This isn't mandatory. Hopefully you didn't read this somewhere as a requirement. I certainly never wrote that in my stickies, because it isn't true.

Loop order does not matter as long as your pump is only pumping coolant and not air. Air is very bad to pumps, causing the bearings to rapidly wear. In minutes. Or less.

Copper pipe? Why? I guess, sure. Why not setup your first watercooling loop with a 'technically unsupported set of tubing'.

D5 isn't necessarily the best. DDC isn't necessarily the best. Each have their positives and downsides, although downsides are minimal.

i guess with a 120mm rad and a 240mm rad all with noctua nf a12 fans which is not specifically for water cooling but have still a pretty good amount of static pressure should be ok?... i know dont necessarly need drain and fill port but makes life a heck of alot easier when draining and filling. i plan on putting it res-pump-240mm rad-gpu-cpu- to 120mm rad back to pump. ive heard that to set the pump and leave it. fan curve needs work over time. why copper i love the look of the asus tuf gaming board that bronze color and with the brown/beige look of the noctua adding copper pipes will bring out alot of those colors. i hate rgb because its so bright and annoys the heck out of me while gaming. my keyboard has 0 rgb besides the numlock and caps lights to show on and off. i do have a corsair darkcore se mouse but all rgb is off same with mobo. im also wondering if i could fit a 280 instead of a 240mm rad in the front of that case it has space for 2x140 mm fans but the manual only says support for a 240mm and a 120mm

 

[rubix_1011]

You are finding that you are limited to your already-purchased components (case, GPU, motherboard) and trying to wedge watercooling in to fit those needs rather than knowing what you want to watercool, your plan for watercooling (performance & noise level), and then building around that. They way most people approach it is essentially backwards, but it is what it is. When you've watercooled at least once, you start to build from your cooling loop first, then determine what is needed.

i guess with a 120mm rad and a 240mm rad all with noctua nf a12 fans which is not specifically for water cooling but have still a pretty good amount of static pressure should be ok?

So hopefully you don't have an expectation of pure silence.

i know dont necessarly need drain and fill port but makes life a heck of alot easier when draining and filling.

Sometimes, yes. Most of this depends on where they are placed and how well they are integrated in the loop.

why copper i love the look of the asus tuf gaming board that bronze color and with the brown/beige look of the noctua adding copper pipes will bring out alot of those colors

I don't disagree - I've wanted to do a polished copper tube build for a while. I just wouldn't try to do it for my very first watercooling build. Hopefully you have verified the tubing and fittings fit 100%? (and you know what you are doing?)

im also wondering if i could fit a 280 instead of a 240mm rad in the front of that case it has space for 2x140 mm fans but the manual only says support for a 240mm and a 120mm

This depends. Are the mounts for fans ones that work for a 280? I hesitate to think a case manufacturer would list the support of all the other options except the one you are asking about. Did you Google to find out? Did you email the case manufacturer to ask?

 

[Truckerlenny]

You are finding that you are limited to your already-purchased components (case, GPU, motherboard) and trying to wedge watercooling in to fit those needs rather than knowing what you want to watercool, your plan for watercooling (performance & noise level), and then building around that. They way most people approach it is essentially backwards, but it is what it is. When you've watercooled at least once, you start to build from your cooling loop first, then determine what is needed.


So hopefully you don't have an expectation of pure silence.


Sometimes, yes. Most of this depends on where they are placed and how well they are integrated in the loop.


I don't disagree - I've wanted to do a polished copper tube build for a while. I just wouldn't try to do it for my very first watercooling build. Hopefully you have verified the tubing and fittings fit 100%? (and you know what you are doing?)


This depends. Are the mounts for fans ones that work for a 280? I hesitate to think a case manufacturer would list the support of all the other options except the one you are asking about. Did you Google to find out? Did you email the case manufacturer to ask?

yea i had certain criteria that had to be met case wise had to be a htpc and be compatible with a full atx board this is the only one that i could find i knew it limited me liquid cooling but it wasnt a big deal it is for looks after all in my situation. when i bought gpu it was on sale i actually had intended on going in and buying the same but a 1660ti so asus dual gtx1660ti but that was only 10 bucks cheaper in store than a asus rtx2060 o6g so i bought the better one of course. was not thinking about water cooling. it is only now that i have it fully built that looking at it it looks cluttered partly because of my horrible cable management skills if i could hire someone i trust to do a full custom cable setup from cable mod and cable manage it as well i would in a heart beat. that is my weakness. i gotta say this is the first time i installed a cpu last time i paid the computer store 20$ to put it in as if they screwed it then it was covered. i sure hope i can find quality fittings that would fit copper piping. if not i would go with a glass tubing but i would do some research first before diving right in im more conserned about cooling capasity right now and whether a 240 and a 120 mm rad will be sufficient im pretty sure thickness wise i can go as thick as i want so no restrictions there.i would put a 200mm fan on top as a intake and keep the 2 80mm fans on bottom as exhausts. i still wouldnt change the case even if i couldnt water cool it but would be nice. cant have it all. having looked further online it looks like a 280mm rad would work idk why the manufacture doesnt say it but oh well ill give it a shot if i decide to go that way.