A watercooling question - XSPC or EKWB ??

[GuruNot]

Having recently replaced my case, PSU and GPU, I am now looking in to the watercooling side of things.

Now I dont need to watercool, but need and want are two very different things It is a little bit of a project.

Initially it is just going to be the CPU, but there is the potential it could expand to the GPU in the future.

Yes I could go with the all in one solution like a NZXT Kraken or a Corsair Hydro but I want to do something a little more.

So it basically comes down to using XSPC or EKWB. Having done a little homework, two very good solutions seem to be either:

This one by XSPC

or

This one by EKWB

Any comments about either?

[herulach]

Why are you putting a 240rad in an enthoo primo? Budget wise I'd go for the ek kit and a GPU Block. The xspc kit will do better if you end up with 2 rads and a couple of GPU blocks simply because it has a stronger pump. That being said, I have the 360 version of the ek kit which has bags of flow through 2 rads at about 8v.

[GuruNot]

That is actually a good point.

Which brings me to this and this .

[Macadee]

From the kits selected the Raystorm block mounting is hit and miss, the EK pump is OK but not a patch on the mighty D5.

£300 will get the following delivered, stick with Alphcool rads for the Primo as they are the only ones that are narrow enough to fit inside the bottom section without modding the drive bay area.

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK...tal_38076.html
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Al...0mm_22846.html
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Pr...-1m_38447.html x 2
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK...0ml_28126.html
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/16...el-_18960.html x 6
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/EK...rio_42175.html

[herulach]

You really need to pick a budget, and a performance level, then go from there. If you want the full thing cooled massively overclocked and silent, you're spending £300 just on rads. If you're happy with quiet then you can spend less. I'd be more tempted by 2 360s than a single 480, but I've not had enough handson time with that case to make a judgement.

Macadee's suggestion is good, but unless you have them already you need to budget another £10/15 per fan, as you may as well get decent ones if you're not getting them in a kit.

I'm plenty happy with the EK kit I have as a base, as it fit my budget and (for me) the impact on performance from increased flow wasn't worth the additional cost, especially as most of the time its turned right down. Having a pump I could happily run off a board header was also a plus point.

[GuruNot]

You really need to pick a budget, and a performance level, then go from there. If you want the full thing cooled massively overclocked and silent, you're spending £300 just on rads. If you're happy with quiet then you can spend less. I'd be more tempted by 2 360s than a single 480, but I've not had enough handson time with that case to make a judgement.

Macadee's suggestion is good, but unless you have them already you need to budget another £10/15 per fan, as you may as well get decent ones if you're not getting them in a kit.

I'm plenty happy with the EK kit I have as a base, as it fit my budget and (for me) the impact on performance from increased flow wasn't worth the additional cost, especially as most of the time its turned right down. Having a pump I could happily run off a board header was also a plus point.

Ok, so I have been doing some homework and revised a few things. I recently changed my GPU so I may as well get that cooled at the same time, went for an EVGA GTX 780 Ti SC ACX.

Shopping list now looks like:

• Pump - EK-D5 PWM Motor (12V DC PWM Pump Motor) x1
• Pump Top & Reservoir - EK-D5 X-RES 140 CSQ - Acetal x1
• Radiator - Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 480mm x1
• CPU Block - EK-Supremacy - Acetal+Nickel x1
• GPU Block - EK-FC780 GTX Ti - Acetal+Nickel x1
• GPU Backplate - EK-FC780 GTX Ti Backplate - Black x1
• GPU Bracket - EK-FC780 GTX Ti Reinforcer - Black x1
• Tubing - TUBE PrimoChill PrimoFlex™ Advanced LRT™ 15,9 / 11,1mm - Crystal Clear (PFLEXA-758) x3
• Couplings - EK-CSQ Fitting 12/16mm G1/4 - Black Nickel x8
• Coolant - EK-Ekoolant UV BLUE (premix 1000mL) x1

Now assuming that no-one knows of any fundamental issues with any of those bits, the last thing to sort is fans. By my reckoning I need 8 x 120mm fans for the Rad. As this is shaping up to be around £500 of watercooling kit, what fans are worthy?

[piggin23]

Don't purchase EK nickel as they still have issues with the electroplating process
My blocks developed this issue even though they were the EN version & I had EK coolant

[GuruNot]

Don't purchase EK nickel as they still have issues with the electroplating process
My blocks developed this issue even though they were the EN version & I had EK coolant

Thank you, I had read about this but I thought it was all sorted. I have no real reason to have the Nickel Variant and to be honest the normal copper ones are cheaper.

[piggin23]

ALL my blocks were nickel on my first build & they ALL had this issue.
I also thought they had solved the problem but when I removed the blocks off my 680GTX's last year, they had the same issue (not as bad but still showing copper)

Personally, I would go with any other manufacture instead of EK (after sales are terrible & the products are ‘not fit for purpose’)

[GuruNot]

ALL my blocks were nickel on my first build & they ALL had this issue.
I also thought they had solved the problem but when I removed the blocks off my 680GTX's last year, they had the same issue (not as bad but still showing copper)

Personally, I would go with any other manufacture instead of EK (after sales are terrible & the products are ‘not fit for purpose’)

Sorry to hear about your issues, but nickel plating aside, I consider EKWB still pretty good kit.

Revised shopping list is now:

• Pump - EK-D5 PWM Motor (12V DC PWM Pump Motor) x1
• Pump Top & Reservoir - EK-D5 X-RES 140 CSQ - Acetal x1
• Radiator - Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 480mm x1
• CPU Block - EK-Supremacy - Acetal x1
• GPU Block - EK-FC780 GTX Ti - Acetal x1
• GPU Backplate - EK-FC780 GTX Ti Backplate - Black x1
• GPU Bracket - EK-FC780 GTX Ti Reinforcer - Black x1
• Tubing - TUBE PrimoChill PrimoFlex™ Advanced LRT™ 15,9 / 11,1mm - Crystal Clear (PFLEXA-758) x3
• Couplings - EK-CSQ Fitting 12/16mm G1/4 - Black Nickel x8
• Coolant - EK-Ekoolant UV BLUE (premix 1000mL) x1

Now just to sort the fans , any recommendations? I was considering http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm...ling-fan-quiet

[tamzzy]

i'd go for corsair sp series, cheaper and just as good.
i would have recommended gentle typhoons, but you can't get them anymore ;p

[Noxvayl]

The kit looks really good, I'm jealous of that radiator. I could only fit the UT60 240mm rad in my 550D, I had to do some mods for it to work as well. I prefer the XSPC Photon reservoir and pump combo myself, you can get it over at SpecialtechUK: http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-19205.html

Is there a specific reason for using coloured water in your loop? I prefer to use de-ionised water and buy coloured tubing. I would also suggest getting 2 litres of water for the loop, I have less volume in my radiators and they suck up 1 litre of water along with my Maelstrom reservoir.

I bought myself those Noctua fans and they are second to none, well except their new PPC fans which are black with some industrial strength features but I don't think they are available in the market yet. No-one can beat their 6 year warranty and included extras, their Y-cable has proved to be very useful for me and I make good use of the Low.Noise.Adaptor.(L.N.A.) I wouldn't buy any other fan after using them.

[GuruNot]

The kit looks really good, I'm jealous of that radiator. I could only fit the UT60 240mm rad in my 550D, I had to do some mods for it to work as well. I prefer the XSPC Photon reservoir and pump combo myself, you can get it over at SpecialtechUK: http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-19205.html

Is there a specific reason for using coloured water in your loop? I prefer to use de-ionised water and buy coloured tubing. I would also suggest getting 2 litres of water for the loop, I have less volume in my radiators and they suck up 1 litre of water along with my Maelstrom reservoir.

I bought myself those Noctua fans and they are second to none, well except their new PPC fans which are black with some industrial strength features but I don't think they are available in the market yet. No-one can beat their 6 year warranty and included extras, their Y-cable has proved to be very useful for me and I make good use of the Low.Noise.Adaptor.(L.N.A.) I wouldn't buy any other fan after using them.

I looked at the Photon res as well. The pump in that combo is the vario , not the PWM variant, do xspc do a PWM one ? With regards to the Coolant / tubing, never really thought about it to be honest. Is there any benefit of water / coloured tubing or is it a preference thing? Surely you would need additives for the water which are already included in the coolant ?

[Macadee]

Dye looks good but will clog up micro-fin channels in blocks and can stain parts after time. I Use EK clear coolant now with coloured tubing.

[GuruNot]

Dye looks good but will clog up micro-fin channels in blocks and can stain parts after time. I Use EK clear coolant now with coloured tubing.

Thank you , with that in mind I shall be adjusting my parts list.

[Macadee]

For fans, these are decent for a low cost option when controlled: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...=2331&subcat=4
I use a mix of Gentle Typoons and Corsair SP Low Noise, but have some of the above fans to try on my next build.