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PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
I used to have an absurd amount of drives in this system. I'm cutting down on them, but iirc I should still have 2x 3.5" HDDs, 1x 2.5" HDD, and 3x 2.5" SSDs in it.

My next computer upgrade is a bunch of 4TB HDDs to replace the 2TBs in my NAS, so I can get rid of all the drives in my personal computer. Hoarding gets expensive :negative:

e: Looks like the EKWB DDC 3.1 pump draws 6W, according to their rep, which puts its maximum at half an amp of draw. I might not have to worry about consumption off the CPU fan header, actually.

PerrineClostermann fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Nov 29, 2016

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PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Looks like my EK coolant concentrate didn't work. Got growth everywhere. What's the best way to clean a radiator and pump?

e: actually... This stuff is looking particularly fine and evenly spread. More like a powder residue. Any idea what it might be? Copper CPU block, ZMT tubing, EK PE radiator.


PerrineClostermann fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Dec 3, 2016

originalnickname
Mar 9, 2005

tree
I'm assuming you mixed it with distilled water, right? Looking at your loop, it looks like you've got pretty much all copper, so that should in theory cut down on ionization.. I mean to me, that looks like oxidization, what does your cpu block look like?

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Yep, used distilled. My best guess is that it's some sort of leeching from the tubes, but these EK ZMT tubes claim to have no plasticizer to leech. CPU block doesn't look corroded at all. Every part in the loop is from EK's L360 kit as well. I don't get it.

I cleaned up the loop and put it together with new ZMT tubing and added another radiator and GPU block to the system. I'm going to keep a close eye on it for now.

What other tubing do you guys recommend, in case I need to go with something else? I'd prefer to stick with 3/8" 5/8" so I can retain my fittings.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.
I use Primoflex LRT.

MaxxBot
Oct 6, 2003

you could have clapped

you should have clapped!!
I've been waiting for a few months and there's still no word on the EVGA hybrid cooler for the Titan X Pascal. Are there cheaper solutions than the EK waterblock and full custom loop that would work for this card? I've heard of people putting other CLC models on the card but I'm not sure how the VRMs and stuff would be cooled if I did that.

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
I believe they slap little heatsinks on them and let them cool via air.

I wonder if EKWB would ship their predator with a GPU block?

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.

MaxxBot posted:

I've been waiting for a few months and there's still no word on the EVGA hybrid cooler for the Titan X Pascal. Are there cheaper solutions than the EK waterblock and full custom loop that would work for this card? I've heard of people putting other CLC models on the card but I'm not sure how the VRMs and stuff would be cooled if I did that.

The EVGA hybrid cooler works on the titan X

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2568-titan-x-pascal-hybrid-results-clock-throttling-on-reference

just not as pretty as there is no shroud.

But honestly, custom loop is the way to go.

I mean, you are buying a $1200 video card and you wanna cheap out on cooling?

GutBomb
Jun 15, 2005

Dude?

MaxxBot posted:

I've been waiting for a few months and there's still no word on the EVGA hybrid cooler for the Titan X Pascal. Are there cheaper solutions than the EK waterblock and full custom loop that would work for this card? I've heard of people putting other CLC models on the card but I'm not sure how the VRMs and stuff would be cooled if I did that.

Mine's a 1080 not a Titan, and I'm using a nzxt g10 adapter to hold an nzxt x31 to the GPU and I bought some little heat sinks for all of the ram and vrm chips and stuck them on with thermal epoxy. Works great. I had some instability without them.

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless

GutBomb posted:

with thermal epoxy.

Not planning on going back then, huh?

GutBomb
Jun 15, 2005

Dude?

PerrineClostermann posted:

Not planning on going back then, huh?

Nah, if I ever sell it I'll just sell it with the cooler.

Even if I wanted to, someone broke into my garage where I keep the boxes for all of the components that I built my pc with and stole all of them including the box with the cooling shroud for the card. I bet they got really excited when they finally opened a box with something other than foam, random cables, and twist ties in it, only to discover it was an empty shell.

GutBomb fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Dec 7, 2016

redeyes
Sep 14, 2002

by Fluffdaddy
I may/probably need to cool a ASUS ROG Strix RX480 overclocked out the wazoo along with a 6800K at 4.0-4.2Ghz. Any help is appreicated. I am very new to water cooling but handy and was a plumber (a real one) if it helps my build.

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless

redeyes posted:

I may/probably need to cool a ASUS ROG Strix RX480 overclocked out the wazoo along with a 6800K at 4.0-4.2Ghz. Any help is appreicated. I am very new to water cooling but handy and was a plumber (a real one) if it helps my build.

Well, if you're going to do a proper custom loop, expect to spend some money. They're fun projects, and do a pretty good job of cooling (my 1070 never gets over 35c), and it's easier than ever to put one together.

I read a little bit about what you were doing in the other thread, but just make sure you actually "need" to watercool. Most scenarios don't require watercooling. That said, it's easy to end up enjoying doing it.

There are main two options for water cooling. All-in-one/Closed loop coolers, or a custom/open loop. Most consumers go with AIOs. These are ready to use, prefilled/assembled coolers that tend to integrate a pump into either the water block that sits on a component or the radiator. They're dead simple to use and generally don't have much of a leak issue. One of the more popular examples of an AIO is the Corsair H100. Most of these are CPU only coolers, though some GPUs feature "hybrid" coolers that use an AIO to cool the GPU and VRAM, and use a small fan to cool the VRMs. The AIO's radiator mounts to a typical fan mount, and come in several sizes.

Open or Custom loops are classical water cooling. You use discrete parts to create your own loop, adding radiators and waterblocks as you see fit. This can get pretty pricey, especially if you go with a high quality/premium manufacturer like EKWB. This is also where you have the highest chance of leak problems, but generally you won't have any issues. I've done tubing twice as a newbie with no issues. Your major components are the Pump, Reservoir, Radiators, Water Blocks, Tubing, and Fittings. The pump is pretty self explanatory. Your Res can come in multiple forms, including combined with your pump in one unit. They provide an easy place to fill/bleed your loop, and ensure the pump is always fed with fluid. Radiators generally come in sizes corresponding to various fan mounts. 120mm and 140mm variants are the most common, with their width described as a multiple of those numbers. A 3x 120mm radiator, for instance, is generally referred to as a 360mm radiator. A good rule of thumb for cooling without worrying about excessive fan speeds is 120mm of radiator surface for every component, an additional 120mm for every overclocked component, and another 120mm just for some headroom. I don't know how an overclocked 6800k ranks up against more typical CPUs, but you'd probably be fine with this rule. My own system uses a 240mm and 360mm radiator for a 2600k and GTX 1070 SC.

Your water blocks are the actual physical component that transfers heat from the PC to the fluid. Their design is important, so it's a good idea to make sure you get a quality one for whatever you're trying to cool. CPU blocks are often designed so that they cool the area directly above the CPU die most efficiently. GPU blocks come in two types. Universal ones are nice, since you can use them for multiple types/generations of GPUs, but they usually only cool the GPU itself, and the VRAM. Like the previously mentioned hybrid coolers, you'd have to cool the VRMs another way. The other type is a full cover block, which fully covers the entire GPU and cools it. They're aesthetic and awesome, and you should totally get one if you can justify the price.

Tubing and Fittings work together to connect every part in your loop. Each part needs at least two fittings, one for an input, and one for an output (unless it's a combination unit, like a Combo Pump+Res, in which case you need only two fittings for the combination). For the most part, order of your parts doesn't matter too much, as the absolute temperature difference in your fluid from one point in the loop to another isn't large. You just want to have your reservoir before your pump, to make sure it's kept fed. You may also want to put in a drain port, to make maintenance easier. The two major types of fittings are barbed fittings and compression fittings. Google them to get a proper idea of what they look like. Compression fittings are considered better, and they're what I use. The size of your tubing determines what specific fittings you need. Just make sure they match. Tubing can be soft or hard, usually some sort of plastic or rubber for the former, and glass or similar for the later. Hard tubing is a bit of a pain to work with, while soft tubing can sometimes have their plasticizer leeched into the fluid, depending on the material. iirc, Primochill LRT is one of the go-tos for soft tubing. I recommend soft tubing for practical purposes, though hard tubing looks pretty sweet.

As with computers, the major difficulty with water cooling is part selection. Putting it all together is surprisingly simple, once you have the right parts. Luckily a lot of manufacturers make cooling kits that give you everything you need for a basic loop. I bought an EKWB L360 kit, which set me up for a pretty decent CPU loop. Add a GPU block, an extra radiator, and four more fittings, and you're set.

Oh, and there's an increasing demand for "semi-custom" loops, which function/are sold like AIOs, but are expandable. They're kinda neat, but I don't know too much about them.

I hope this overview is detailed enough to help you figure out what you need/want to do, without getting overly detailed.

Shrimp or Shrimps
Feb 14, 2012


I keep wanting to get back into watercooling and build my own "semi-custom" loop by putting quick disconnects on everything and then driving it all with two DDCs in serial to get past the flow restriction.

But I know it'd be a huge waste of money since I don't swap out components nearly as often as I used to when QDCs would actually have been useful. That was over 6 years ago, and I'm now regrettably far too gunshy to drop serious dosh on watercooling anymore.

I like EK's semi-custom expandable loops with the QDCs where you can add in a GPU to the CPU loop.

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
EKWB also offers to pre fill any block you want, so you could theoretically create a semi custom loop without touching the fluid.

Sidesaddle Cavalry
Mar 15, 2013

Oh Boy Desert Map
They could offer to prefill/QDC standalone radiators and reservoirs and then people would be free to go nuts on lego-block custom loops


E: Hah!

Sidesaddle Cavalry fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Jan 16, 2017

BurritoJustice
Oct 9, 2012

Sidesaddle Cavalry posted:

They could offer to prefill/QDC standalone radiators and reservoirs and then people would be free to go nuts on lego-block custom loops

Crazy timing man

Shrimp or Shrimps
Feb 14, 2012


Heck it wouldn't be difficult to prefill your own radiator with quick disconnects. I mean, if you're starting from scratch may as well buy the prefilled stuff, but if you already have components just slap QDCs on them and prefill using a fill line.

You won't fully bleed the system that way, but it's a heck of a lot quicker than doing it the traditional, turn on pump for 2 seconds, stop, fill res, turn on pump for 2 seconds, stop, fill res, method.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.
Filling and bleeding a traditional loop isn't exactly hard or time consuming.

Collateral Damage
Jun 13, 2009

Thought experiment, how viable would a water cooled system that trades a radiator for a large buffer tank be for a system that's only on for a couple of hours per day?

A Kaby Lake i7 has a listed Thermal Design Point of 91W and a GTX 1080 about 180W, so 271W for CPU+GPU. Let's say an even 300W of heat that needs dissipating, and that we want to shut off at 70C to be on the safe side.

Someone tell me if this math is correct.

Water has a specific heat capacity of 4.184 Joule per gram, meaning it takes 4.184 watt to heat one gram of water by one celsius in one second. A litre of water is 1000 grams, so to heat our buffer from an ambient of 24C to 70C it would take 46*4184/300 = 641 seconds per litre of water in the system. So you would need a buffer of about 5-6 litres per hour of run time, and that's assuming we have no natural convection of heat from water to air.

Deuce
Jun 18, 2004
Mile High Club

Collateral Damage posted:

Thought experiment, how viable would a water cooled system that trades a radiator for a large buffer tank be for a system that's only on for a couple of hours per day?

A Kaby Lake i7 has a listed Thermal Design Point of 91W and a GTX 1080 about 180W, so 271W for CPU+GPU. Let's say an even 300W of heat that needs dissipating, and that we want to shut off at 70C to be on the safe side.

Someone tell me if this math is correct.

Water has a specific heat capacity of 4.184 Joule per gram, meaning it takes 4.184 watt to heat one gram of water by one celsius in one second. A litre of water is 1000 grams, so to heat our buffer from an ambient of 24C to 70C it would take 46*4184/300 = 641 seconds per litre of water in the system. So you would need a buffer of about 5-6 litres per hour of run time, and that's assuming we have no natural convection of heat from water to air.

I'm not sure your CPU will properly dissipate heat if the water is that hot but I am not a science man.

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...

Collateral Damage posted:

Thought experiment, how viable would a water cooled system that trades a radiator for a large buffer tank be for a system that's only on for a couple of hours per day?


Expensive and pointless. Full stop.

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Unfortunately this is where passive radiator towers make sense*

*Don't get a passive radiator tower unless you're going full hilarity. In which case take pictures.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.

Collateral Damage posted:

Thought experiment, how viable would a water cooled system that trades a radiator for a large buffer tank be for a system that's only on for a couple of hours per day?

A Kaby Lake i7 has a listed Thermal Design Point of 91W and a GTX 1080 about 180W, so 271W for CPU+GPU. Let's say an even 300W of heat that needs dissipating, and that we want to shut off at 70C to be on the safe side.

Someone tell me if this math is correct.

Water has a specific heat capacity of 4.184 Joule per gram, meaning it takes 4.184 watt to heat one gram of water by one celsius in one second. A litre of water is 1000 grams, so to heat our buffer from an ambient of 24C to 70C it would take 46*4184/300 = 641 seconds per litre of water in the system. So you would need a buffer of about 5-6 litres per hour of run time, and that's assuming we have no natural convection of heat from water to air.

But why?

Numinous
May 20, 2001

College Slice

Collateral Damage posted:

Thought experiment, how viable would a water cooled system that trades a radiator for a large buffer tank be for a system that's only on for a couple of hours per day?

A Kaby Lake i7 has a listed Thermal Design Point of 91W and a GTX 1080 about 180W, so 271W for CPU+GPU. Let's say an even 300W of heat that needs dissipating, and that we want to shut off at 70C to be on the safe side.

Someone tell me if this math is correct.

Water has a specific heat capacity of 4.184 Joule per gram, meaning it takes 4.184 watt to heat one gram of water by one celsius in one second. A litre of water is 1000 grams, so to heat our buffer from an ambient of 24C to 70C it would take 46*4184/300 = 641 seconds per litre of water in the system. So you would need a buffer of about 5-6 litres per hour of run time, and that's assuming we have no natural convection of heat from water to air.

I think you should extend this thought experiment to heating a freshwater fish tank. Assume something moderately large like a 30 gallon. What kind of system can you run to achieve equilibrium with tropical freshwater fish requiring 73-78 deg F temperature.

Full hilarity indeed.

Collateral Damage
Jun 13, 2009

Deuce posted:

I'm not sure your CPU will properly dissipate heat if the water is that hot but I am not a science man.
Good point, I didn't think of the heat transfer efficiency.

And I realized after posting I basically just said "Reserator" in more words.

Icept
Jul 11, 2001

Numinous posted:

I think you should extend this thought experiment to heating a freshwater fish tank. Assume something moderately large like a 30 gallon. What kind of system can you run to achieve equilibrium with tropical freshwater fish requiring 73-78 deg F temperature.

Full hilarity indeed.

Are you sure you want to quit? Your fish will die if you don't game hard enough (y/n)

poverty goat
Feb 15, 2004



I'm thinking about buying a 4-5 year old used sperg chariot ~gaming workstation~ to use as a home server and it comes with a corsair H60. What's the life expectency on those things? I don't know if it's been run 24/7 or not but my gut tells me surely that surely the pump or seals or tubes are on the way out and I should replace it with a big cheap heatpipe monstrosity before i stick it in a closet and expect it to run 24/7 indefinitely

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
General rule of thumb is five years, I think? That said, my H50 still works fine.

Don Lapre
Mar 28, 2001

If you're having problems you're either holding the phone wrong or you have tiny girl hands.
Fluid also evaporates out over time.

Status_Surge
Sep 9, 2009


I need ya, Surge. This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the old blade runner, I need your magic.
so for my new build im thinking of doing water cooling for aesthetic/silence purposes, however i notice every build i see they don't have a cd/dvd drive in their system. is this just the norm for space constraints and something i'll have to get used to if i use water cooling? also should i go with a tower reservoir or a bay reservoir, and is there a difference between the two?

poverty goat
Feb 15, 2004



Status_Surge posted:

so for my new build im thinking of doing water cooling for aesthetic/silence purposes, however i notice every build i see they don't have a cd/dvd drive in their system.

It's just that nobody uses optical media anymore so If you don't have some specific use case that requires it (like watching blurays) you might as well just keep a usb one in a drawer somewhere for emergencies

Status_Surge
Sep 9, 2009


I need ya, Surge. This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the old blade runner, I need your magic.

poverty goat posted:

It's just that nobody uses optical media anymore so If you don't have some specific use case that requires it (like watching blurays) you might as well just keep a usb one in a drawer somewhere for emergencies

I figured as much, i do actually have a portable blu-ray drive for that purpose. thanks for clearing that up for me though.

Dr Cheeto
Mar 2, 2013
Wretched Harp

Status_Surge posted:

? also should i go with a tower reservoir or a bay reservoir, and is there a difference between the two?

So long as the reservoir is above the pump it doesn't matter. It's about what fits in your case and what you like looking at.

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...
Found a tiny drip of water coming off my CPU water block, an EKWB Suprrmacy Evo with an acetyl top, sigh.
Also, the water and everything is a bit brown and I just cleaned this thing from a gross infection a month ago.

After cleaning everything pretty thoroughly I replaced the tubes and ran primochill sysprep for a day and then filled with primochill utopia. After emptying the loop the water looks clear but there's a brownish film on everything. I don't really see anything in the fins or small places algae would grow. Anyone have any ideas what this might be?

I've got two EKWB rads, the EKWB copper/acetyl cpu block and a main seahawk ek x (Nickel plated copper block)

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...

rage-saq posted:

Found a tiny drip of water coming off my CPU water block, an EKWB Suprrmacy Evo with an acetyl top, sigh.
Also, the water and everything is a bit brown and I just cleaned this thing from a gross infection a month ago.

After cleaning everything pretty thoroughly I replaced the tubes and ran primochill sysprep for a day and then filled with primochill utopia. After emptying the loop the water looks clear but there's a brownish film on everything. I don't really see anything in the fins or small places algae would grow. Anyone have any ideas what this might be?

I've got two EKWB rads, the EKWB copper/acetyl cpu block and a main seahawk ek x (Nickel plated copper block)

I took some stuff apart and it's like a brown powder, rubs off instantly

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
What kind of tubing are you using?

rage-saq
Mar 21, 2001

Thats so ninja...
Primoflex advanced lrt clear

PerrineClostermann
Dec 15, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
I honestly have no idea. It sounds like you've got growth, but you've done a lot of work to remove growth, it seems.

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Scarecow
May 20, 2008

3200mhz RAM is literally the Devil. Literally.
Lipstick Apathy
Do you have a chunk of 99.98% silver in there? Ive never had a issue with gunk build up with it in

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