Custom GPU WC Loop - Advice/Feedback?

[IEC]

Got the following on the way for setting up a custom Radeon 290 Crossfire loop:

Rad/Blocks/Pump:
(2x) XSPC EX420 Triple 140mm Low Profile Split Fin Radiator w/140mm Uni-Holders
(2x) EK VGA Supremacy Bridge Edition Universal Blocks (Acetal + Nickel) w/EK FC Bridge (Triple Z77 + Blank for later expansion)
(1x) XSPC Photon 170 D5 Res/Pump Combo

Fans:
(12x) Swiftech Helix 140mm - may only use 6, but we'll see how cooling is...

Fittings:
(14x) EK 3/8" High Flow Barbs (G 1/4 threaded) - bought more than I needed just in case

Tubing:
DangerDen 3/8" ID 5/8" OD Dreamflex UV Green tubing kit (with tube cutter + hose clamps)

Tubing (Option #2):
Tygon A-60 Norprene

Coolant:
Primochill PC Ice - Clear

All will be going in or on my current Nanoxia DS1 case. I will keep my Swiftech H220 closed loop cooling my CPU inside the case top, while I plan to use the EK Uni-Holders to mount both the EX420 rads to the top of my case. I plan to mount the res/pump combo on the bottom of my case between PSU and hdd cage.

Planned pump flow:
Photon 170 D5 --> EK FC Bridge (2x GPU blocks) --> XSPC 420 Rad --> XSPC 420 Rad --> Photon 170 D5

Any advice on the build? Suggestions for improvement? I'm not new to liquid cooling but this is the first "serious" custom loop I'll be building so I'd appreciate any feedback

 

[nitromullet]

It doesn't look like the EK universal blocks cool the vrm's, I assume you have a plan for that?

 

[IEC]

It doesn't look like the EK universal blocks cool the vrm's, I assume you have a plan for that?

Yup, Arctic F9 92mm fans will be plenty to cool the VRMs. I have heatsinks and thermal pads as well but those are generally unnecessary as long as you have adequate directed airflow over the VRMs.

 

[ghost03]

I would put the pump after the GPU blocks, and the radiator right before the blocks. The pump itself is going to add 10-20 watts of heat. While this probably translates to less than a 1ºC temp swing, it still something for free.

 

[aigomorla]

i dont see any mixing of metals in your setup so im lost in why ur using a premix.

Any addition to distilled water will hurt performance.
I dont care if its a special formulated recipe which NASA uses, if its mixed with distilled, it will HURT your performance.

The only thing which will give u an increased holding potential is nano particulate, however those introduces a new can of worms in the form of sanding, and can leave nasty residue inside your system.

Ditch the aftermarket coolant, and go out to a supermarket, pick up some straight distilled.

Use silver as an antimicrob... kill coils should be available everywhere, and are effective when used in a new system, and its reusable, meaning 1 kill coil should last you almost forever.

 

[IEC]

i dont see any mixing of metals in your setup so im lost in why ur using a premix.

Any addition to distilled water will hurt performance.
I dont care if its a special formulated recipe which NASA uses, if its mixed with distilled, it will HURT your performance.

The only thing which will give u an increased holding potential is nano particulate, however those introduces a new can of worms in the form of sanding, and can leave nasty residue inside your system.

Ditch the aftermarket coolant, and go out to a supermarket, pick up some straight distilled.

Use silver as an antimicrob... kill coils should be available everywhere, and are effective when used in a new system, and its reusable, meaning 1 kill coil should last you almost forever.

I have both kill coil and deadwater coming with my shipments in case I change my mind about coolant. However, the rads are copper/brass while the EK blocks are nickel plated (should have got the plain copper ones - I wasn't thinking...), and I've seen less than stellar reviews online about potential corrosion with the EK blocks if a corrosion inhibitor is not used due to poor plating by EK. Though most of it seems tied to use of copper (II) sulfate based additives like deadwater. The mixing of certain metals and/or metal ions is not good chemistry...

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IMAGES/EKWB_Internal_Report.pdf

Since the molality of the solute in the premix is likely very low, I doubt it will have much effect on temps (maybe 1-2C at worst), but if you have links to some data that would prove otherwise I'd be quite interested.

Edit:

For example, propylene glycol in low concentrations barely lowers the specific heat capacity of the solution:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/propylene-glycol-d_363.html

 

[aigomorla]

proply glycol will clump over time clogging your injectors.
Look up swiftech hydrx horror stories if you dont believe me.
Only thing is with a clear liquid, you will get clear gunk.

Nickle brass and copper are so unreactive to each other it would take serveral centuries for corrosion to occur. im sure you can afford a decade out of several centuries.

EK has been spreading FUD about there poor nickle plating for as long as i remember, which is why i dont even use EK blocks anymore.
Even then it was the plating which pealed off, not the cooper corroding underside.

If EK was correct why haven't i seen ANYTHING in my koolance blocks all the time i used them?
Why do we not see this problem in Swiftech blocks? (probably has the best next tied with koolance on there plating job.)
Why do we not see this problem in Heat Killers?

Because they knew how to plate stuff right and not cut corners like EK did.

I am saving you a tired and long processes of maintenance later on by telling you to go with straight distilled.
And PC-ICE is really nasty stuff.. u can feel the viscosity of the liquid between your fingers. Is near oil like, smells, and leaves a residue if spoted.

Lastly i dont believe any test reports eK did when We have over 1000 hours logged in XS on distilled + silver.
Infact i brought the kill coil to our hobby with kill coils when i asked iandh to construct them for me...
those were my conception which iandh fabricated me, and started a wave of wants which made him make a lot more.

You dont need copper 2 - sulfate if you have silver and your starting the system new...
The only time i suggest u run copper 2 sulfate is if you have a light source which is bright inside your PC, or its sitting in direct sunlight, which can speed the growth of microbs.
But copper itself is a antimicrob and copper resides inside your rad, so EK telling us copper eats there nickle plating, when most of the parts are copper tells me they are trying to push responsibility away from themselves so they dont need to faciliate poor plating.

 

[smackababy]

EK has been spreading FUD about there poor nickle plating for as long as i remember, which is why i dont even use EK blocks anymore.
Even then it was the plating which pealed off, not the cooper corroding underside.

If EK was correct why haven't i seen ANYTHING in my koolance blocks all the time i used them?
Why do we not see this problem in Swiftech blocks? (probably has the best next tied with koolance on there plating job.)
Why do we not see this problem in Heat Killers?

Because they knew how to plate stuff right and not cut corners like EK did.
.

What do you mean like EK did? They still do cut corners. Take a look at any of the EK blocks now. They all have awful tool marks on their copper stuff. =( They just always cut corners it seems and try and either claim it isn't true or spread it about other companies.

 

[IEC]

I'm quite all right with trying distilled + silver kill coil only. Less maintenance is always a good thing

Wish I had done a little more checking on EK's reputation as now I'm tempted to just order some Swiftech MCW82 blocks instead and skip the EK's entirely.

 

[BrightCandle]

I have happily used two EK blocks.

I was lucky enough to avoid the ones that killed cards and the ones that had problems like the coating coming off. Now I use a heatkiller but Ek was a decent cheaper option for a long time. They never milled the metal as accurately as the other guys, you could often see the machine work on the service but where it mattered they were smooth and highly detailed. Its just the standoffs and the coatings they often seem to get wrong.

Copper blocks always, coatings fail.