Water cooling beginner
Water cooling beginner
Hi everyone!
I’m looking for some advice on a custom watercooling project I’m planning.
A friend recommended EKWB, and I used their setup configurator.
I’m running an Asus Maximus VII with an Intel i7 4790k processor and two GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards (model GV-N970WF3OC-4GD).
I chose the following items from the list:
http://oi68.tinypic.com/2u5wbnm.jpg
I added a pump reservoir combo and a radiator.
My main concerns are:
Do all the components I selected fit properly?
Is everything suitable for my current build?
Will 3 meters of cable be sufficient to complete the loop?
Should I add any additional fittings beyond those ten, and would it be worth getting more?
Can this entire setup fit neatly into a Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ATX case?
Should I consider a different pump reservoir type or a new radiator?
Is a 620W PSU enough to power everything?
And I think these are the main points I need clarification on right now.
I’m aware I can check some details myself, but I want to be sure before starting this project, as it’s my first time with water cooling.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I’m eager to hear your suggestions!
P.S.: My budget is around 900/1000€ for the case and water cooling parts.
Ps: It’s quite late, and English isn’t my first language, so please forgive any grammar mistakes.
Karadjgne: Begin here. Grasping open loop cooling and its requirements isn't straightforward until you've had experience, but unlike air or aio systems, you shouldn't simply pick components assuming they're sufficient. As I mentioned in my first post, it was quite late when I tried to locate that information. Now I’ve reviewed most of the article and calculated the TDP of my setup at around 340/346. If I’m interpreting the radiator estimation sheet correctly for a delta T of about 10°C, do I need a radiator that can fit two 120mm fans with a flow rate of 1.50GPM? Am I interpreting the table accurately?
i thought it too, but that's the information i could locate
cpu: intel i7 4790k with tdp=88 according to the official intel site
gpu: GeForce GTX 970 mentioned in an article with tdp=145x2=290w
cpu+gpu=290+88=378 plus a dummy pump load of 30, which equals 408w
but this calculation then multiplies by 0.85 because the numbers are at full load and "heat dissipation can never be 100% efficient of power consumption"
(CPU watts @load + GPU watts @load + GPU watts @load+ pump watts) x 0.85 = Loop TDP watt estimate
which results in 408x0.85=346,8w
so i adjusted the figures slightly in my previous post
am i doing everything correctly?
then i used the numbers from the pump manufacturer and it shows a lphmax of 1000lph and a max head pressure of 5.2m
and reviewing their graph should give around 3.75lpm at about 370 mbar but these unit differences are confusing me quite a bit
here is the graph from the site
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/media/wysiwyg/..._small.png
ps: i don’t plan to overclock, just wanted to switch to a better cooling solution and improve performance while cutting down noise
edit: i’m unsure how to determine the pressure I’ll get in the loop or the flow rate without knowing the pressure—i chose a point on the graph near the intersection of power and pressure lines, assuming that’s the average working range for that pump.
I plan to rephrase my initial post now that I’ve learned a bit more.
My current setup is as follows:
MOBO: Asus Maximus Hero VII socket with Intel LGA 1150 chipset Z97
CPU: Intel i74790K
GPU: Two GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards
RAM: Corsair CMY16GX3M2A2400C11A Vengeance Pro, 16GB total (8GB per card)
Storage: Two Samsung SSDs 840PRO in RAID0 plus a 3TB WesternDigital WD3003FZEX black drive
Cooling: Two 120mm intake fans, a Noctua NH-D14 with two additional 120mm fans, and one 120mm ExaFlow fan (the case only supports that configuration)
PSU: Antec HCG-620 620W
I’m considering an upgrade to a better case for improved cable management. The Coolermaster Silencio550 is getting smaller, and it hasn’t significantly reduced the noise lately. Since I don’t leave the PC on all night, I opted for the Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ATXcase, which is larger and has a sleek design. Noticing its “water cooling ready” features, I thought about moving to a custom water cooling loop.
A friend suggested checking out EKWB products, and I liked their offerings. I used their configurator and selected the following components:
CPU Waterblock: EK-Supremacy EVO-Nickel
GPU Waterblock: EK-FC970 GTX WF3 (Nickel) and EK-FC970 GTX WF3 Backplate (Nickel)
RAM Waterblock: EK-RAM Monarch X4 (Nickel)
Pump and Resevoir: EK-XRES 100 DDC MX 3.2 PWM
Radiator: EK-CoolStream SE 240 (Slim Dual)
I’m unsure if a MOBO block exists for my specific chipset or the entire setup, as I’d like one for that too. The main concern is whether all these parts will function well together—specifically, if the pump is powerful enough and the radiator is sufficient. If the table indicates compatibility with a temperature drop of over 10°C, I believe it should work. I just need someone more experienced to confirm before spending around 800€ on something that might not be reliable.
The sheet should handle the estimation for you after you enter all your values—you won't need to do much math at all...I took care of everything for you.
According to that, you'll likely need a VERY good 2x120mm rad or a 3x120 rad...or something comparable like a 2x140mm.
Taking those results as valid, I'm getting a 2x140mm radiator now. What's left?
I need to design the loop carefully. I was thinking: the first tube from the pump goes to the GPU, the output from there goes to the other GPU, then to the RAM, and finally to the CPU. The CPU output goes to the radiator, and from the radiator back to the reservoir. Is that correct? Or should I split the pump output for each component and then reconnect the results to the radiator?
The loop order has minimal impact on temperatures, usually only a couple of degrees at most. Splitting the loop isn't advised, though a multi-GPU link waterblock could be worth thinking about for better integration. I'm currently using one for my 970 2-way SLI setup. If not, it's still acceptable. You should feel free to set things up however suits you. Custom loops provide great flexibility for creative solutions.