Hi everyone!
Today I wanted to talk about custom liquid cooling. Liquid cooling is a fascinating are of PC Building and it is becoming more and more common. There are various reasons why people liquid cool their PCs. Some do it for the great cooling benefits it offers and as a result, easiness of overclocking. Some do it because it is a very cool thing to do. Some also do it for the noise reduction it offers. Whatever the case, today I will be listing the parts that you will be generally using in building a custom liquid cooling system. This is not a how to, rather a summation of the parts needed. There are some excellent guides on the net that you can use to help you in building the cooling system of your dreams.
Pros:
+ Lower operating and idle temperatures
+ Decreased noise
+ Increased overclocking ability
+ Coolness factor
Cons:
- Price Factor (Depending on the parts used, you cooling solution may cost as much or even more than your PC
- Difficulty
Onwards!
1. CPU Water Block:
The CPU block is what will cool your CPU instead of the usual air cooler. The price range is rather big and depending on your budget you may find several different kinds. Usually Copper plated though as of late, everyone is coming out with Nickel plates. They are better looking (Copper tarnishes over time) with almost as good heat conductivity as copper offers.
2. GPU Water Block:
GPU blocks come in two different types. Universal which can be swapped from a variety of cards and Full Blocks which provide better heat dissipation but are often restricted to specific card types. With universals, you will have to use RAM sinks or some other after market cooler to cool the VRAM of the card.
Plus you can also get a custom backplate to go with the Full Block resulting in your GPU looking very cool from all sides.
3. Optional Blocks:
You can also get water blocks for the Motherboard, Chipset, Northbridge and Southbridge. Need dependent usage is recommended (Needing to look cool definitely falls under Need Dependant Usage :-p)
4. Reservoirs:
The reservoir is what you will need to fill your cooling loop with water and trap air bubbles as they travel across the loop. Some come with an attached pump for an easier solution. Depending on the area available inside you case, there are a lot of different reservoirs you can consider.
5. Pumps:
Depending on your requirements, you can choose from a lot of different pumps. Some are small, some pretty big and you will have to work out how to fit them in to your case.
On a side note, pumps tend to vibrate quite a bit so it might be a good idea to have some kind of insulation to dampen the vibration and the accompanying noise it will make.
6. Radiator:
Arguably the bulkiest item on your list, The Radiartor is what will give you the most headache when it comes down to fitting things nicely. Most of the times you will end up placing it on top of your case. You also have to figure out which one to get as depending on that, your cooling potential can vary greatly. Research, research, research.
7. Tubing:
Tubing (tubes) is what you will use to connect all the various coolers you have been busy installing throughout the computer. They will carry the water all over the place so it pays to buy a good one. Tubing comes in several different sizes (most often measured by the internal diameter of the pipe.) 1/2" ID (Internal Diameter) is often favored because it is thick enough to resist kinks. Of course depending on your needs, you can opt for a smaller one (e.g 7/16") Tubings also come in a variety of color if you want to spruce up things a bit.
8. Coolant & Other Additives:
What will you use to carry all that heat around the loop? Well you have a variety of options.
You can use good old distilled water which you should be able to find easily (Walmart carries it.) You can further add a Biocide to inhibit algae growth as well as other microbes. You can alternatively use a kill coil which is a 99.9% pure silver coil which should also do the job. You can also use De-Ionized water if you cannot find distilled water though it won't last as long as distilled water.
Alternatively you can use a premix fluid which contains everything listed above and some other things as well. The downside to them is that they often contain dyes which may end up staining a lot of things and make things look unattractive in the long run.
9. Barbs / Other Fittings:
There are a lot of barbs out there in the market. Fortunately most of the liquid cooling hardware uses the same G1/4 thread barbs so you won't have to struggle to find the correct barb. Just make sure the barb that you buy goes with the tubing you have. The Barb Tail should be equal to the ID of your tubing.
Elbows:
You can use these to navigate tight spaces and to make things appear neater overall. Use in place of large arced or extreme bent tubes.
SLI/ Crossfire Fittings:
Best used when you have multiple cards setup in SLI or Crossfire. They are adjustable metal tubes which you can place between the cards to make sure they stay leveled.
10. Other Blocks:
If you so choose, you can also liquid cool your RAM and HDDs.
Final Thoughts:
One thing you should remember. Always avoid mixing metals. If your various blocks have cooper and aluminium as their main metal, they might end up causing Galvanic Corrosion (to prevent you might have to add a corrosion inhibitor in your liquid.) It is the best practice to use the same metal throughout the loop. Research, research, research.
Personally I prefer having everything Nickel. It just looks cool.
That is it for this rather lengthy post.
Kiyoshi Out!
Today I wanted to talk about custom liquid cooling. Liquid cooling is a fascinating are of PC Building and it is becoming more and more common. There are various reasons why people liquid cool their PCs. Some do it for the great cooling benefits it offers and as a result, easiness of overclocking. Some do it because it is a very cool thing to do. Some also do it for the noise reduction it offers. Whatever the case, today I will be listing the parts that you will be generally using in building a custom liquid cooling system. This is not a how to, rather a summation of the parts needed. There are some excellent guides on the net that you can use to help you in building the cooling system of your dreams.
Pros:
+ Lower operating and idle temperatures
+ Decreased noise
+ Increased overclocking ability
+ Coolness factor
Cons:
- Price Factor (Depending on the parts used, you cooling solution may cost as much or even more than your PC
- Difficulty
Onwards!
1. CPU Water Block:
The CPU block is what will cool your CPU instead of the usual air cooler. The price range is rather big and depending on your budget you may find several different kinds. Usually Copper plated though as of late, everyone is coming out with Nickel plates. They are better looking (Copper tarnishes over time) with almost as good heat conductivity as copper offers.
 |
| EK-Supreme LTX - Acetal + Nickel http://www.ekwb.com |
2. GPU Water Block:
GPU blocks come in two different types. Universal which can be swapped from a variety of cards and Full Blocks which provide better heat dissipation but are often restricted to specific card types. With universals, you will have to use RAM sinks or some other after market cooler to cool the VRAM of the card.
 |
| EK-VGA Supremacy - Acetal |
 |
| EK-FC6970 V2 - Acetal + Nickel Fits non-reference Radeon HD 6970 |
Plus you can also get a custom backplate to go with the Full Block resulting in your GPU looking very cool from all sides.
 |
| EK-FC6970 V2 Backplate - Black |
3. Optional Blocks:
You can also get water blocks for the Motherboard, Chipset, Northbridge and Southbridge. Need dependent usage is recommended (Needing to look cool definitely falls under Need Dependant Usage :-p)
 |
| EK-FB ASUS Crosshair V - Acetal Custom created for my motherboard |
 |
| EK-ASUS NB/SB 1 - Acetal |
4. Reservoirs:
The reservoir is what you will need to fill your cooling loop with water and trap air bubbles as they travel across the loop. Some come with an attached pump for an easier solution. Depending on the area available inside you case, there are a lot of different reservoirs you can consider.
 |
| EK-Multioption RES X2 - 250 Basic |
 |
| EK-D5 X-RES 140 CSQ - Acetal Pump-Reservoir Combo |
5. Pumps:
Depending on your requirements, you can choose from a lot of different pumps. Some are small, some pretty big and you will have to work out how to fit them in to your case.
 |
| EK-DCP 2.2 (12V DC Pump) |
 |
| Laing D5 Vario 12V DC Pump |
On a side note, pumps tend to vibrate quite a bit so it might be a good idea to have some kind of insulation to dampen the vibration and the accompanying noise it will make.
6. Radiator:
Arguably the bulkiest item on your list, The Radiartor is what will give you the most headache when it comes down to fitting things nicely. Most of the times you will end up placing it on top of your case. You also have to figure out which one to get as depending on that, your cooling potential can vary greatly. Research, research, research.
 |
| EK-CoolStream RAD XT (480) Contains four 120mm fans |
7. Tubing:
Tubing (tubes) is what you will use to connect all the various coolers you have been busy installing throughout the computer. They will carry the water all over the place so it pays to buy a good one. Tubing comes in several different sizes (most often measured by the internal diameter of the pipe.) 1/2" ID (Internal Diameter) is often favored because it is thick enough to resist kinks. Of course depending on your needs, you can opt for a smaller one (e.g 7/16") Tubings also come in a variety of color if you want to spruce up things a bit.
 |
| TUBE ClearFlex 12/16 1/2" ID |
 |
| TUBE Masterkleer UV - Green 7/16" ID |
8. Coolant & Other Additives:
What will you use to carry all that heat around the loop? Well you have a variety of options.
You can use good old distilled water which you should be able to find easily (Walmart carries it.) You can further add a Biocide to inhibit algae growth as well as other microbes. You can alternatively use a kill coil which is a 99.9% pure silver coil which should also do the job. You can also use De-Ionized water if you cannot find distilled water though it won't last as long as distilled water.
Alternatively you can use a premix fluid which contains everything listed above and some other things as well. The downside to them is that they often contain dyes which may end up staining a lot of things and make things look unattractive in the long run.
 |
| IandH Silver KillCoil |
 |
| EK-Ekoolant CLEAR (premix 1000mL) |
9. Barbs / Other Fittings:
There are a lot of barbs out there in the market. Fortunately most of the liquid cooling hardware uses the same G1/4 thread barbs so you won't have to struggle to find the correct barb. Just make sure the barb that you buy goes with the tubing you have. The Barb Tail should be equal to the ID of your tubing.
 |
| EK- 1/2" G1/4 High-Flow Fitting |
Elbows:
You can use these to navigate tight spaces and to make things appear neater overall. Use in place of large arced or extreme bent tubes.
 |
| EK-PSC Adapter 90 deg. G1/4 Nickel |
SLI/ Crossfire Fittings:
Best used when you have multiple cards setup in SLI or Crossfire. They are adjustable metal tubes which you can place between the cards to make sure they stay leveled.
 |
| DUAL VID Connector, Adjustable 2-3 Slot Spacing http://koolance.com |
10. Other Blocks:
If you so choose, you can also liquid cool your RAM and HDDs.
 |
| EK-RAM Dominator X4 - Acetal+Nickel CSQ Can cool up to 4 Corsair Dominator RAMs |
 |
| Koolance HD-57 Water Block Cools up to two hard drives at once |
Final Thoughts:
One thing you should remember. Always avoid mixing metals. If your various blocks have cooper and aluminium as their main metal, they might end up causing Galvanic Corrosion (to prevent you might have to add a corrosion inhibitor in your liquid.) It is the best practice to use the same metal throughout the loop. Research, research, research.
Personally I prefer having everything Nickel. It just looks cool.
That is it for this rather lengthy post.
Kiyoshi Out!
Corsair Hydro XR7 Cooling Radiator in UAE, Hydro X Series Cooling Radiator in UAE, 240mm Water Cooling Radiator in UAE
ReplyDeletehttps://gccgamers.com/corsair-x-series.html
Corsair Hydro XR7 in UAE, Safe Shopping Multiple Payment Options Express Delivery GCC Gamers Moneyback Guarantee.
1634273420256-7
Corsair Hydro XR7 Cooling Radiator in UAE, Hydro X Series Cooling Radiator in UAE, 240mm Water Cooling Radiator in UAE
ReplyDeletehttps://gccgamers.com/corsair-x-series.html
Corsair Hydro XR7 in UAE, Safe Shopping Multiple Payment Options Express Delivery GCC Gamers Moneyback Guarantee.
1634284986124-9