Watercoolling SmallFormfactor: New to the game

[Casper Andersen]

Hello guys,


I have now been a pc gamer for almost since i was 8yr old – 21yr (current age) but now i wan’t to make a better pc in a small form factor. I have watercooled pc with Closed loop, but since my M-atx MB is not allowing my two GTX 970 Gigabyte g1 (SLI) Gpu’s much air, I would like to start custom water cooling.

The things I need from you guys is (if u want to help me)

I would be able to get a single card (980TI, or pescal in the future mid 2016) but fittings and tube size is my concern, and I do not really know if I need to go Soft or hard tube, what size fitting etc? and what the pro's and cons are with them.


I wan’t a similar style like this one I saw on youtube in the “Evga hardon hydro” ()

This is in my opinion one of the most beautiful builds I have seen the small form factor really speaks to me, with the black and white. I have basic knowledge about PC, and cameras, but custom water cooling almost non.


Thoughts and comments are more then welcome


Hope you guys are having a great new year J


Best regards

Casper

 

[wovie]

That build uses hard tubing, which looks better but is more difficult to handle than soft tubing. I'm a newbie to water-cooling as well, but I did most, if not all, my research over at Overclock.net. If you have any specific questions I can try to help but those forums are packed with good info.

 

[|||]

Tubing: You will obviously want to match the fittings with the tubing. There are specific fittings for soft tubing (barbs and soft-line-specific compression) and hard line tubing (push and hard-line-specific compression). Size doesn't matter a whole lot: the larger the diameter the less the flow restriction, but not by a lot. With the water loop I'm looking to install in my computer, I'm using extra length of tubing in place of a reservoir, so in that case, internal volume matters somewhat. If you opt for soft-line tubing, you will want to look for those that have plasticizers that do not tend to leech into the water in the loop (many times marketed as plasticizer-free, but there isn't really such a thing as there must be a highly elastic component to make the tube flexible). Hard line tubes do not have that issue, but as wovie mentioned, they require a fair amount of effort forming and fitting the tubes in your build.

Fluid: If you want to have a look like the "Milk" build, there will have to be something in suspension of the fluid to make it look like that. Users of fluids like that are finding out it doesn't last, so please be aware. Dyed coolants also will stain your components, as well, so another thing to keep in mind. To avoid these issues, you can use colored tubing, but it is up to your preferences. At minimum, you want to only use distilled water (don't use tap or filtered water as they still have dissolved minerals that will deposit and clog up micro-channels and such) with a bio-cide to prevent mold and organic growth from occurring in the loop.

Some places where you can find good reviews of water cooling components:

• thermalbench.com
• xtremerigs.net
• xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?290014-Moonman-s-water-block-roundup-2014
• http://martinsliquidlab.petrastech.com/

When setting up the loop, the only real show stopper is that you need to have any reservoir immediately before the pump. You need to keep the pump pressure up through the whole loop and the reservoir eliminates the pressure while it accumulates the fluid to provide a constant source for the pump to draw from.

 

[jtd871]

I recommend you read @WiSK 's build logs on overclock.net and @QinX 's H2O Micro thread on [ H ] or overclock.net, if you haven't already, to give you an idea of what's realistic/possible with SFF WC ITX builds.

 

[Casper Andersen]

Thanks for all ur reply's guys, i will start building hopefully in this year. have a good one

Br

Casper

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Just a quick thing I'd add to this conversation - expandable AIOs and watercooling "kits" have really come to form in 2015, and for enthusiasts that are new to watercooling components, they remove a lot of the stress and ambiguity and (frequently) cost that's associated with taking custom loops on. Additionally, eAIOs usually combine the pump and CPU block, and/or the radiator and reservoir, which makes installation in SFF enclosures substantially easier.

I personally have never assembled a water loop from parts in one of my own computers - I've only helped others build them in their own rigs. As such, as I myself consider building a desktop later in the year (I love my rMBP, but for gaming it just isn't cutting it), I expect to either use an eAIO or a pre-assembled kit, since it will still provide the experience and benefits of building a loop, whilst keeping volume and cost under control.