Oh My! First custom loop story

[Edrick]

I have been using AIO's in my rigs since they were first introduced to the market many years ago. Never had any complaints as they worked just as well (if not better) and than most top end air coolers. Never had any leaks and never had any break down (mostly Corsair units). They were easy to re-position and move from case to case. I would have recommended them to anyone........until today.

My current workstation is a 7820X build OC'd to 4.4Ghz (3.6Ghz AVX) I had a Corsair H100i GTX as my AIO and temps were pretty good. Upgraded to Corsair's ML120 fans (super quiet) in a push pull config and was fairly happy. Mid 60s during non AVX stress tests and low 70s during Prime AVX2 stress tests. LinX (AVX512) put me in the 80s however.

I was on the fence for awhile to try my hand at a custom loop. But fear of leaks and fear of me screwing it up always kept me from pull the trigger. But a friend of mine recently completed his and gave me a little confidence. Couple that with how nice and clean these setups can look, I have really been having the itch lately.

So after much research I decided I would try it. I purchased the EK Performance 360 kit along with other parts (90 degree connectors, mounting hardware, etc.) separately. After about 4 hours of careful prep and installation, I was running my leak tests and looking forward to running some stress tests. My expectations were low as I know the 7820X CPU was not soldered which does impacting the effectiveness of water cooling (or so I read).

Fast forward to my stress tests (No leaks). At the same CPU speeds, I was now low 50s for non AVX stress tests, mid 50s for Prime AVX2 stress tests and LinX was pushing low 60s now. On average I was seeing around a 12-14 degree drop across the board. Impressive and very unexpected (for me anyways). I have since turned up my AVX clocks to 4.0Ghz and still only pushing mid 60's. I will be pushing my clocks up higher over the next few days (trying to keep my temps right around 70 max).

Now that I went to a custom loop, I can not imagine ever going back to anything else.

 

[aigomorla]

Now that I went to a custom loop, I can not imagine ever going back to anything else.

congrats..

next time tho, do not get a KIT and piece it out yourself.
You will find out you can get better stuff individually, for relatively the same price.

Example... EK rads are not the best, infact a NeXXXos radiator will blow an EK out of the water as its a full copper rad + thicker.
The EK D5 costs almost double what a XSPC does, and its the same pump. They are both made by Laing.
Also a eK waterblock is not the best block in applications, because it may not fit the "bling" you want.

Lastly get comfortable with LCS, and think of rigid piping in the next build, or a hybrid of it.
I am on a hybrid rigid setup, and i dont think i will go back to a all soft tubing build.

 

[Hendrickson]

Congrats on getting into custom liquid cooling. When is the funeral for your wallet?

I don't think the EK kits are a bad deal at all. I picked up one of their 360mm kits last year for a system I was doing for a friend. Got the kit for $340 on sale, and it included a 360x38mm rad, D5 pump/res combo, Evo CPU block, 3 Vardar fans, fittings, tube, fluid, mounting hardware, etc. Everything you need. Great way for watercooling newbs to get into it without as much worry that they are picking the right parts. Also you would have a hard time getting all the stuff for $340. Not saying you can't, but for a newbie it isn't happening.

I agree that EK isn't the best at everything, but they are good at everything. Any EK part you pick up will be good quality, although it wont be the best value for sure.

 

[Edrick]

next time tho, do not get a KIT and piece it out yourself.
You will find out you can get better stuff individually, for relatively the same price.

I was going to go that route...had everything picked out (ended up being more than the $400 I spent), but decided to go with a kit for my first time. Wanted to have a little experience under my belt before going to my dream loop.

Lastly get comfortable with LCS, and think of rigid piping in the next build, or a hybrid of it.
I am on a hybrid rigid setup, and i dont think i will go back to a all soft tubing build.

Granted, the rigid piping does look a lot cleaner (if done right). But for the same reasons above, I decided to go soft tube for my first loop. Also, I tend to upgrade CPU, MB, and GPU at every generation and hard piping seems less forgiving to changes to one's rig (or maybe that's an incorrect perception). Are there any advantages to hard piping other than looks/design?

 

[Edrick]

Congrats on getting into custom liquid cooling. When is the funeral for your wallet?

I don't think the EK kits are a bad deal at all. I picked up one of their 360mm kits last year for a system I was doing for a friend. Got the kit for $340 on sale, and it included a 360x38mm rad, D5 pump/res combo, Evo CPU block, 3 Vardar fans, fittings, tube, fluid, mounting hardware, etc. Everything you need. Great way for watercooling newbs to get into it without as much worry that they are picking the right parts. Also you would have a hard time getting all the stuff for $340. Not saying you can't, but for a newbie it isn't happening.

I agree that EK isn't the best at everything, but they are good at everything. Any EK part you pick up will be good quality, although it wont be the best value for sure.

I haven't been able to keep money in my wallet since I built my first rig (486DX 25) many, many years ago. I was getting the upgrade itch since the last time I upgraded was a year ago now. So with nothing new from Intel on the horizon, I decided to try my hand at a custom loop. Now if you are asking when I will dump this kit and go "dream loop", I bet it will be soon.

BTW, I think I bought the same kit as you (EK-KIT P360). But I paid the full retail on it. Great kit for a newbie like me. Got some experience that will help me on my next one.

 

[bfun_x1]

A kit's not a bad idea for a first build because it gives you confidence that you have all the right pieces on hand. I doubt you'll buy another kit though. After you've built your first loop you'll know enough that you'll want to pick your own parts for the next build.

 

[EXCellR8]

Some AIO kits can be adapted to custom and semi-custom, or simply added to, but full custom has been my choice for quite some time. I've got a couple of AIO systems too but only where space was a limiting factor like mini ITX tower. I have been impressed by some of the more recent AIO kits over the years but like the custom computer building hobby itself, I like to pick out all of the parts separately and build something that's a one off.

 

[Edrick]

After you've built your first loop you'll know enough that you'll want to pick your own parts for the next build.

That was basically my train of thought as well. I learned a lot from putting my kit together, but at the same time I am looking for ways to improve it (for the next build).

 

[bfun_x1]

That was basically my train of thought as well. I learned a lot from putting my kit together, but at the same time I am looking for ways to improve it (for the next build).

Did you post any pics?

 

[aigomorla]

Just note, EK makes 2 kits.
One is Full Copper, and the other is a much cheaper all ALU.

This is the complete ALU
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...Ynzjz7EQSNiH2RWKEvxoCLboQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

You should NEVER mix ALU with Copper PERIOD.
I don't care what coolant you are running, or that you have a sacrifical metal (thermaltake), just don't do it.

Also note, poor Nickle + Silver will also cause the nickle plating to flake off.
So i would also advise against that as well.

 

[DrMrLordX]

So what are the advantages of rigid piping?

 

[aigomorla]

So what are the advantages of rigid piping?

less pourous then normal tubing, so less coolant loss over time.

With proper bending kit, you can make tighter bends, with no risk to tube kinking of collapsing over time.
Gives you an excuse to tinker with your LCS system.

What i do not like:
Makes servicing more painful, as you will always need to drain your system if you want to resit, or change a component.
Requires extensive planning... you can not just start throwing stuff together in a rigid setup, as you will need to plan for placement, and tube bend exactly.
Gives very little margin of error.... if you cut a tube too short, welps, thats it folks.

This is why i like a hybrid setup, so my CPU will always use soft tubing, as well as my gpu, so i can just move them away if required without draining.