|
skylined! posted:Question for anyone with a watercooled 2080 currently. Have you considered the EK MLC Phoenix system? I've found it works great and is significantly less loving around than a custom loop.
|
#
¿
Jun 23, 2019 18:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 5, 2024 17:10 |
|
|
skylined! posted:I'm considering a lot of stuff - will take a look at this as well. I've built almost this entire build out of open-box and ebay stuff to keep it relatively affordable while not sacrificing much performance, and I may be able to get an EKWB combo pump/res/rad/3 fans/fittings for $100 or so this week so kinda starting there. It's pretty much that, but affords you somewhat easier expandability/upgradability over time by linking everything together with QDCs. You could of course do that with a custom loop, but when I costed up doing a custom loop vs the EK MLC modules it was cheaper and less hassle. If you're looking to create something pretty however, the MLC is probably a non-starter.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 24, 2019 08:26
|
|
|
ilkhan posted:Hmm. Question. How do cans and radiators actually mount to the case? Could you mount a 240mm rad to the inside front of a fractal meshify mini c and mount 140mm fans to the outside of the front (inside the bezel) and have that all work correctly? You'd lose some airflow through the rad, obviously. But the mounting is the bigger question for me. Yes, but you'll probably need screws with longer, less aggressive threads. Using the old fashioned fan screws that chew through metal are a big no no when it comes to radiators imo. E: I did this years ago because space inside the chassis was at a premium and I was doing a push/pull setup.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2019 20:00
|
|
|
Shaocaholica posted:Does anyone make a pump/block combo that doesn't need a reservoir like an AIO but probably better than any AIO? I want to do custom tubing in a SFF but instead of cutting up an AIO I thought it would be better to just go custom, no? EKWB canned their MLC Phoenix line, which has the pump/res integrated into the radiator and allows for blocks to be added modularly through quick disconnects. I mention it only because all the components are being sold at like 40% off on EK's web store. I actually bought the 360 rad, CPU block and a GPU block when it was at full retail price and it's really good gear if you're not doing a build for aesthetics.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2020 09:23
|
|
|
dublish posted:I've got a real job after years of being a poor student and figured I'd celebrate with my first completely new build in more than a decade. I've never done liquid cooling before. It looks fun to try but after a couple of hours of research this could get mindbogglingly expensive. Depends on what your goals are, are you looking for maximum performance or a much quieter experience? I'm a big fan of a 360+240mm rad setup for a single GPU and high end CPU PC because you have the flexibility to push for maximum overclocks or run everything bone stock at near silence, but that can easily be overkill for a lot of rigs.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 27, 2020 20:41
|
|
|
The Electronaut posted:Trip Report Time. An easy way around those GPU power limits if you've got that kind of watercooling is to flash a power delimited or voltage unlocked BIOS, especially since you have a reference card. I did it with my 980 Ti and later my 1080 Ti and got much better overclocks once heat is no longer a concern. It's especially easy with Pascal onwards as Afterburner will automatically fine tune the voltage, power and clocks. Overclock.net have an excellent thread filled with information for this exact purpose: https://www.overclock.net/forum/69-nvidia/1706276-official-nvidia-rtx-2080-ti-owner-s-club.html
|
|
#
¿
Apr 29, 2020 09:28
|
|
|
The Electronaut posted:
Ah! That's disappointing, but I guess it's better than having a total dud 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 29, 2020 14:29
|
|
|
CJacobs posted:Well. I just put together my first loop and I have a horror story for the thread to show for it. Ryzen 3700x and a 2080 TI FE went into it. Not a single leak anywhere, setting up the water blocks and the actual loop went perfectly. The pump works, everything connected right, pc booted up to desktop on the first try. loving ouch dude. Though I didn't even realise EK provided two different lengths of screws. Must be dumb luck I haven't done the same in past.
|
|
#
¿
May 27, 2020 15:54
|
|
) and so it had poor contact with the copper.
|
Time Crisis Actor posted:I’ve had an old EKWB AIO sitting in my closet for a few years which I bought on a whim. It has been sitting in the box since 2016 or so, and I’ve only taken it out a few times to look at it. I finally have a case with some room for a big radiator, so I figured that I could finally install this AIO. If it's the Phoenix line you should be able to drain and refill it with a hex key on the radiator. Even though I'm 90% certain the fluid is the EK Cryo clear stuff, I'd absolutely do it for peace of mind.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 26, 2020 17:10
|
|
|
Time Crisis Actor posted:It's the Predator line, so even older. You recommend I still drain and refill it? Personally I would, just because even the clear stuff will degrade over time, even if it isn't being thermally cycled frequently. I have a bottle of it in a cupboard somewhere and it has a suggested shelf life printed on the bottle. I shouldn't think it matters what fluid you use beyond slight performance differences.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2020 08:07
|
|
|
funkymonks posted:Yeah the Lian Li looked OK. I want to try and use a distribution block with integrated pump to reduce tubing bends and EK makes one for that case. My D5 is like 11 years old so it's probably time for a replacement. FYI if you do go down that distro plate route with the O11-D, you *might* just fit a 360 on the roof/floor and you'll only be able to fit a slim 360 rad in the rear chamber. I ended up going for a slim 360 and regular 240. Also, if you're using an EK AMD CPU block, the in/out ports are horizontally level and the CPU in/out ports on the distro plate are vertically level and it's infuriating just how loving dumb a design oversight that is.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2020 13:25
|
|
|
Buy a lot more PETG tubing than you think you'll need would be my #1 tip. Good luck!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 8, 2020 18:14
|
|
|
Riflen posted:Nah, deionized water is absolutely fine for a loop. I've used it for years with no problems. Soft tubing with nickel-plated brass and copper parts and a touch of biocide.  DI is absolutely fine and cheap as piss at Halfords.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2020 11:46
|
|
|
BurritoJustice posted:Deionised is fine, demineralised is not. Which is notable because in Australia loving everywhere wants to sell you demineralised and nothing else Demineralised is the same as deionised isn't it?
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2020 13:24
|
|
|
Ak Gara posted:All the pipes done. Currently doing an air pressure test. I ran out of M-M fittings so am having to use a weird janky telescopic GPU fitting I had laying around to connect the pressure gauge. I'm not confident in it's ability to hold air. If it can hold 0.5 bar for half an hour it's probably water tight.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 12, 2021 16:45
|
|
|
Ak Gara posted:dry location sue only Iirc Phobya were a fairly big brand back when watercooling was way more niche than it is today. quote:Phobya is your Avatar with maximum skills: gently caress yeah. 
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2021 15:16
|
|
|
Warmachine posted:I like the look of the matte black ZMT tubes. What I don't like is clear tubing or glossy black. I think both look tacky. Thin walled clear tubing with a pastel coolant is quite nice imo. Soft tubing all the way.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 9, 2021 09:16
|
|
|
Warmachine posted:I just can't get over how much maintenance pastel coolant has to involve. I mean, maybe it's perfectly fine and I'm just paranoid, but I also don't want my hundreds of dollars of water blocks and radiators gunked up with dye. Fair point, it got a bad rap thanks to Mayhems gluing up everything with their pastel gunk. Having looked at some other manufacturers though, they seem to have managed to avoid the same effect. Does mean your tubing is ruined though. 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2021 10:13
|
|
|
A random musing, but years ago there was a company called Monsoon that made rather ornate fittings that came with a tool that you inserted into the collar of the compression fittings to twist them onto the barb. Shame they presumably went bust because it was a brilliant idea and I can't believe EK haven't ripped it off considering they had the foresight to make the inner part of their barbs hexagonal so you can tighten them up with a hex key.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2021 12:50
|
|
|
I think I have sated my brainworms for the time being with the last replumbing. God bless soft tubing, hardline looks great and all but it's a loving misery to work with. Excuse the obligatory rainbow unicorn vomit.
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2021 09:30
|
|
|
Warmachine posted:If you just pick a theme I wouldn't have to complain about the rainbow vomit Ha! I quite like the all white static LEDs so I may finally decide upon that. The PSU in the back of the case in its own compartment at the bottom. The hardware monitor is just a cheap no-name touchscreen 7" IPS LCD for Raspberry Pis I got off Amazon and its running SensorPanel through AIDA64 connected to a free USB 2.0 header on the motherboard for power and HDMI into the GPU. It's mounted on standoffs where the case is designed to have a mini-ITX second system with a flat brace to line up one of the standoffs with the top right mounting hole on the screen. I know he's marmite, but I basically ripped the idea from a jayztwocents video on youtube. I have previously used EK's ZMT, the only problem I had was that the ID/OD tubing I could get my hands on at the time was too thick to easily route in some of the tighter spots like between the two front radiators.
|
|
#
¿
May 5, 2021 15:11
|
|
|
Warmachine posted:I had that issue in my Ncase, but the solution ended up being just not attempting to take the shortest run in each situation. I have three runs of 16/10 running parallel over the top of the GPU for instance. My tightest run was from the GPU to my bottom radiator, which is basically a 90 degree turn with a 2 inch radius I think? I'm worried slightly about it being a lot of sideways pressure on the fittings potentially causing a leak somewhere down the line, but the alternative is even more Rube Goldberg-style tubing runs. Got any pics? Always interested to see how others have gone about their builds and steal ideas for future!
|
|
#
¿
May 5, 2021 16:28
|
|
|
sarr posted:I recently finished my PC project. I love ZMT and have zero regrets about skipping hard tubing. I really liked the optimus cpu block as well, so smooth. Looks rad as hell, love the aesthetic.
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2021 12:27
|
|
|
Endymion FRS MK1 posted:I'm definitely getting that non-XL version of that. I finally convinced myself that its worth the $300, now to wait until June when my card gives me 5% back on it The non-XL version of the distro plate uses a DDC pump and some people get ultra lovely about "D5 or die" for whatever reason, just FYI. I had one and it worked great, but prepare yourself for random internet weirdos getting obssessively angry about your pump choice*. * a choice made by a company who knows watercooling far better than rando internet keyboard warriors
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2021 20:06
|
|
|
Optimal flowpath is keeping tubing runs as short and straight as possible, loop order really doesn't matter in any practical sense as the loop will eventually equalise as heat is spread around. 2x 280s will be enough. If the top mounted radiator is exhausting air then pull is probably fine as you're working with physics, i.e. heat rises. Your main consideration should be good static pressure fans, beyond that push vs pull is really an aesthetic choice. As long as you have a decent enough pump (D5) I would argue reservoir mounting height doesn't matter. A D5 has enough head pressure and flow to push air out of a loop without issue. Definitely give thought to putting a drain port/T line at the lowest point of your loop though, it'll make your life so much easier when it comes to drain it for maintenance or to add/remove components. For dyes, I'd avoid anything solid/pastel coloured and double avoid any of that weird flow effect crap. EK's don't seem to gunk up blocks, but they definitely stain them and tubes. The more 'watery' coloured fluids don't seem to be quite as bad, but expect discoloration over time. This is the PCIe 4.0 riser I have and it works absolutely fine, not a single issue with it. I've seen people having problems with PCIe 3.0 risers on PCIe 4.0 boards, but issues with them seem to be completely random. The above is based on my experience and I'm sure there are other posters with vastly more experience than me!
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2021 09:14
|
|
|
Turns out the brainworms are still alive and well, just dropped stupid money on EK RAM waterblocks. Pics to follow.
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2021 21:09
|
|
|
Warmachine posted:Stupid and pointless doesn't preclude them from being fun to play with. Looking forward to seeing this boondoggle. Turns out heatspreaders they put on RAM these days loving suck to take off. I miss the old days where it was two clips instead of literal glue that needs to be cooked off  Unscrew the buggers  Get the hairdryer all fired up  Boom, some nekkid RAM. The backside has no chips on it, just some utterly horrible adhesive and I did burn my fingers quite a few times getting the drat things off. The very pretty EKWB heatspreaders are now on but I've got to drive for like 4 hours tomorrow and I'm two glasses of Jim Beam deep so there's no way in heck I'm draining my loop and seeing if I've shagged this RAM in the process.
|
|
#
¿
May 21, 2021 21:21
|
|
|
MonkeyFit posted:So who has the best radiators? It looks like I can get away with a 45mm thick rad on the front and maybe a 30mm up top in a define R6. I'm an absolute whore for EKWB, but I don't think they make any crossflow radiators which is mildly irritating when you need some flexibility with your tube runs.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2021 21:04
|
|
|
sarr posted:This is pretty wild if it works like the video shows: Pretty cool. If I'm understanding it correctly it basically creates a vacuum within the loop? I would imagine that means soft tubing is out.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2021 08:45
|
|
|
I ran a Google translate on their FAQs for it, apparently you can use soft tubing provided that the OD of the tubing is at least 1.5x the ID. So 16/10 would theoretically be fine but 13/10 would not. I imagine quality of the tubing, possible degradation over time and coolant temperature would have an impact too.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2021 12:53
|
|
|
Spacedad posted:Where can I find a tutorial on adding the little system monitor display you got? I hope I can add one without taking up a GPU video output. (Maybe I'd put a gt 1030 in a lower slot? IDK.) I followed this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTdniu3gn3Y USB header power and HDMI is less clean than a rpi over wifi, but I'm lazy as hell
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2021 10:12
|
|
|
Nobody ever says "gee, I sure am glad I went with hard tubing" when it comes to any kind of maintenance or updating their rig. You can just clamp soft tubing to minimise spills without spending extra on QDCs.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2022 14:25
|
|
|
It's not good advice, but tbh I've never flushed radiators from new and never had a problem. Always bought EK though, so I'd be hesitant to recommend it as good advice for watercooling generally.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 18, 2022 16:42
|
|
|
Nolgthorn posted:Second question a lot of people are saying negative things about nickel in their loop. If I buy the Quantum Magnitude sTRX4 water block, it has nickel in it, and it's cheaper than the copper alternative that they sell. I'm pretty sure everything else is copper should I get copper for the water block too? I was under the impression that EK's nickel blocks were the same as the copper ones, just plated with nickel for the aesthetic? I doubt you'd notice any meaningful performance difference and given that nickel and copper don't react with one another, galvanic corrosion shouldn't be a concern either. There is the possibility that the nickel will wear over time and reveal the copper underneath but it's never an issue I've had running clear premixes or straight DI water.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 5, 2022 14:51
|
|
|
Nolgthorn posted:That's what I've heard. Horror stories about corrosion, it's completely hidden inside the block so I have no idea why ek would nickel plate it other than for product shots of the thing disassembled. Which makes me suspicious about the entire company. I can honestly say I've never had it happen on any of my EK gear throughout the years and I've always gone nickel because I like the silver shine. Excluding any manufacturing defects, my belief is that as long as you use high quality components from reputable brands and use DI + additives as directed or a quality premix you shouldn't have any issues. My current loop is just past 12-months since I last drained and refilled and 18-months in total since I put it together. All EK nickel blocks with CryoFuel clear premix and still all fine. I think my PB was something like three years between a fill and drain and that was only because the pump I bought developed a rattly bearing and I had to replace it, learning the hard way why you always fit a drain port. That was straight DI with a silver kill coil in the reservoir and no gunk or corrosion when I took it apart. e: In the interest of balance, I only really ever use EK stuff wherever possible because I really like their style and they're made (fairly) locally to me in Europe. Some of their stuff, e.g. radiators, really aren't as efficient as some of their competitors (I seem to remember their slim rads are particularly bad) but I take a likely misplaced sense of comfort that if I use everything from one brand it has all at least been designed and tested to work together in harmony. Theophany fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Jul 5, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Jul 5, 2022 15:23
|
|
|
Nolgthorn posted:That's reassuring to hear. It's sensible to be skeptical, but given that water cooling is a small niche within an already tiny niche of the home computer market, I'd like to think any company manufacturing water cooling components with shady ulterior motives would be out of business very quickly. EK's reasoning for nickel plating their parts is that it's normal for bare copper to oxidise over time, which ends up looking pretty awful if you've got plexi blocks. The nickel plating protects against that. https://www.ekwb.com/blog/does-copper-oxidation-have-any-impact-on-cooling-performance/
|
|
#
¿
Jul 5, 2022 16:01
|
|
|
Nolgthorn posted:I'm hesitating a purchase for 3 days now all because this one 80 cent item in my cart is out of stock https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-14mm-o-ring-6pcs I probably don't need spare o-rings for my first build right? I made a real hash job when I did hardline tubing and didn't need any spare o-rings. Just make sure you sufficiently deburr your tubes before fitting them. I would give my opinion on the anti-EKWB comments but I feel like I'm solidly out there as a big fan of their products and my opinion should be treated with equal weight. As SpartanIvy said, their stuff just works. Is it any more performant than their main competitors given the higher price? Debatable, I'd even argue not justifiably so on that metric alone. Does their stuff have a far more premium feel? I definitely think so. The worst part of the internet is every dickhead and their dog can make comments and I see a minority of comments moaning about negative user experiences with EKWB and far more being pissy about the price of it, which I kind of understand for prospective customers outside of Europe where they probably eat a bunch of taxes on them. That being said I don't post on motoring forums making GBS threads on a recall Bentley issued for a car I can't afford. 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 7, 2022 23:22
|
|
|
Plug the pump into the CPU fan header? I would imagine without something plugged into that header the system either won't POST or BIOS will constantly moan at you. For short, bursty loads it will be quieter and just as efficient to have the pump speed increase as you'll be passing a greater volume of coolant over heat-generating components, then you can set the fans to spin up to a higher RPM once you hit a certain temperature that it will usually only reach under sustained loads. For example, up to 70'c on my 3900X the fans remain at around 650RPM whilst the pump gradually increases in speed, this means that the fans only ever become noticeably audible when there's a heavy sustained load like a video encode or large file export. Coolant temperature sensors are a good failsafe if you don't have a flow meter, but I wouldn't rely on it for setting fan curves to.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2022 11:54
|
|
|
AutismVaccine posted:Imo it is complicated, cause I was with you until the no true scotsman poo poo at the end. You can take something seriously and not feel compelled to min/max if your needs are straightforward.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2022 18:47
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 5, 2024 17:10 |
|
|
No sweat, I do have a box full of those 45 and 90 degree swivel fittings because I'm an absolute sucker for them lol
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2022 18:56
|
|