Biggest lesson I learnt from watercooling builds... Buy lots of adapters, extenders and multi pivot 45/90 fittings. Basically overspend on fittings because things don't go as "planned." When you cheap out on "basic" fittings, you end up getting pissed off cause things don't go as smoothly as you'd hoped. Coloured coolant looks cool but isn't worth it. Distilled water + clear additive is ideal. Try deep clean your blocks and get colour staining out and then tell me I'm wrong. RGB lights up clear tubes/coolant anyway. Also, adding a drain fitting off a T-piece at the lowest point in the loop is a very convenient idea!
I installed a drain in the bottom of each of my rads and both my reservoirs. The res/pump combo's are the lowest point in the loop, but having those extra drain valves makes is so much easier to drain every last bit out of the loop.
good job Chris on the vid :) some additional tips - clean up your rads = aka flushing your rads to remove manufacturing debris - running rad fan curve base of coolant temp sensor is good (i believe Leo did this before) - d5 pumps have 2 connectors, sata/molex power & rpm control - clear coolant will typically not cause gunk build up on waterblocks - watercooled components will typically last longer from less heat - fittings can get expensive real fast
@Cre8 Modding thanks bud :) oh i forgot to mention this, watercooling higher end cpu+gpu make sense for me as my all year ambient temps is higher than 30c all year round (tropical climate)
CPU: Ryzen 5900x GPU: 7900 XTX Taichi I had my loop like yours at first.... Pump to GPU to CPU... Great GPU temps(45 C full load) Air cooled temps on CPU(75 C full load) I changed it to Pump to GPU to radiator to CPU to other radiator back to pump. Both are now in the 50s
Positive pressure in the case is my guess, negative pressure builds dust very fast. If the fans at the top exhaust he'd have 3 intake fans and 6 exhaust, his way he has 6 intake and 3 exhaust. He could've added a fan in the back for intake but still 4 to 6 if the top is exhaust.
I am really new to this whole pc/water cooling stuff so this comment may not make any sense but it’s something I was curious about….those cpu temps looked really high for a 12900k being water cooled with its own 360mm rad. The only thing I can think of for that is….1. Most water cooled builds I have seen with 2 rads they usually go from pump to gpu then to the first rad then cpu then to the second rad then back to the pump. This loop went from the pump to the gpu then straight to the cpu then to the rad then to another rad then to the pump. Again I am new to this but that doesn’t seem like the best way to cool the cpu. That or…. 2. the fact that preapplied thermal paste and lga 1700 mounting seems to be known for bad contact. I have seen a lot of people actually add extra thermal paste even when it’s preapplied on their aios/water blocks. Once again I am new to this so if someone could chime in and correct me or just tell me I am wrong that’s would be appreciated but just from what I have picked up so far it seemed like that cpu was running wayyyy to hot, even for a 12th gen intel i9 lol.
Hey nice build, I just want to make you aware there is a mistake in the inlet/outlet ports, you have put the tubes from GPU Waterblock to XC7 CPU Waterblock into the incorrect outlet port. In the XC7 CPU Waterblock Manual the inlet is on the right side marked by a horizontal slit, you can see it clearly at 11:47 in the video, you can also see in the reference from corsair at 05:24 in the video that they go into the right side of the XC7 Waterblock to the inlet as well. Just wanted others to also be aware in case anyone follows this exact build. Looks good though and some great tips thank you!
@Cre8 Modding I suspected it may be flipped, but because it wasn't mentioned in the video I could not tell, thank you for the clarification! Well done looks good!
Just a random question. We have 2 radiators? So is that better idea to configure the cooling loop flow like this: from pump to video card, from video card to radiator, from radiator to cpu, from cpu to second radiator and then from second radiator to the pump? Isn't that more efficient?
Always wanted to run water cooling on my PC but I just got put of with the amount of variance in the components. It’s the loads of different fittings that ruined it for me. So much choice it got too complicated thanks for producing this video.
I do not have much experience with building Computers and especially less experience with custom Watercooling, However (watching 12:30) i was wondering if it makes more sense to mount the fans of the radiator on the other side to push the Heat OUT of the case. The way you mounted it, i would think you blow the hot air into the case and heating up all components. My idea was to push the hot air as fast as possible out of the case. Am i missing something here?
Late response but you want to pull fresh air into the radiator to cool the water and the components. The reverse would push hot air from the PC into the radiator and lower the efficiency of the cooling. Intake for radiators exhaust for other fans. Less important for all water cooled systems but really makes a difference if you only water cool the cpu or gpu and not both.
BRILLIANT video, thank you! Would love to see another, this time with hard tubing and see you build the ULTIMATE high end water-cooling PC, using a Cooler Master HAF 700 EVO or "The berserker", with FOUR 420mm radiators at the SAME TIME, as a single water loop, with water cooling blocks on the: CPU, GPU, M.2 drive and on the RAM! This would be the ultimate dream setup for next gen hardware (like the intel 13th gen CPU, RTX4090ti, PCIe gen 5 M.2 drive and even hot DDR5 RAM). Very interested to see if M.2 and RAM water-cooling is worthwhile, and what kind of tube setup you would need to do. Also, curious just how cool the components could get with that much over the top cooling. I'm planning this setup myself for my new rig around November, but very nervous. Thanks!
I found this video so interesting and informative that I immediately started doing research on the pricing of these water blocks, tubes fitting etc., and I gotta say that it just doesn't make sense to me financially. The waterblock for my gpu alone was $230, and most places were out of stock. It looks like it would cost $500 to cool my system. That's just wild.
Surprising if 500 does it. I would expect a full build to cost much more than that. That being said, with any luck you'll only need to change the GPU block once you upgrade. CPU blocks are often usable on new sockets and of course pump and radiators have a long life. You may need to replace tubes after a few years, but the initial cost is the main issue - after that phase the costs do settle a lot.
For the graphics card and the cooler, there is a high change someone has made a video about removing the cooler for the model you have. Or i have just been lucky everytime.
Nice build and colour choice 😉 But why did you choose to intake air from the top? It is okay for the looks maybe, but for a high end daily driver I had better experience with natural convection and the fans enlight the interieur of the case... And one little thing: You talk so fast and without a breathing pause. Take your time, man 😉🥳 Rock on! 🚀
Sorry for the late answer: On modern CPUs you have over temperature protection (OTP), if that gets triggered the system just turns off. In my loops I always have a simple flow indicator like the Alphacool 17350 Eisfluegel so you can tell at a glance you still have flow. There are more high-tech flow indicators too if you want a readout on your actual flow rate but the simple ones do the job just fine.
You can do that but money wise you'd be better off with an AiO solution. The components don't really change, you need a CPU water block, a reservoir, a pump, a radiator, tubing and fittings. If you already spend this much on a loop then 100 bucks more for a GPU water block doesn't weigh in on the price anymore.
@@ark66 The durability depends on a few factors, mainly materials used. For example Coolermaster had a few faulty AiO's because they mixed metals which later caused corrosion and gunk buildup. the most common reason why AiO's fail is usually wrong installation, it should be installed either in the top of the case or in the front with the radiator tubes facing down. Those that failed were installed tubes facing up. AiO's loose coolant over time through dissipation (Custom loops as well) but since it is a closed system you can't easily refill, thus when the coolant level drops below the point where it can't leave the radiator it runs hot and the pump fails because it's not cooled anymore. Everything that is mechanical can fail at some point in time, I had one faulty D5 pump after a few years where the bearing was damaged butr thankfully that was all of the faults I had in my near 10 years of watercooling. Mixing metals can happen to you if you build a custom loop as well, copper and aluminium don't play ball and will cause leaks due to corrosion after a while. Also I would never buy a waterblock or reservoirs where you screw your fittings into acrylic or plastic threads, they break too easily. If you want to stay safe you should use copper radiators and nickel plated waterblocks.
LQ is sooo stupid... all this for an additional 100-200MHz OC... that does nothing meaningful in terms of performances. Now only this, but you can't carry your case anywhere, and leaks can kill your GPUs... oh yeah, and I forgot... it cost about 500$ for something decent while barely dropping your CPU or GPU by 5C max over top Air cooling... Totally worth it!
Thank you for doing a soft tube build. This is what I was looking for as a first time custom loop planning.
Biggest lesson I learnt from watercooling builds... Buy lots of adapters, extenders and multi pivot 45/90 fittings. Basically overspend on fittings because things don't go as "planned." When you cheap out on "basic" fittings, you end up getting pissed off cause things don't go as smoothly as you'd hoped. Coloured coolant looks cool but isn't worth it. Distilled water + clear additive is ideal. Try deep clean your blocks and get colour staining out and then tell me I'm wrong. RGB lights up clear tubes/coolant anyway. Also, adding a drain fitting off a T-piece at the lowest point in the loop is a very convenient idea!
I installed a drain in the bottom of each of my rads and both my reservoirs. The res/pump combo's are the lowest point in the loop, but having those extra drain valves makes is so much easier to drain every last bit out of the loop.
good job Chris on the vid :)
some additional tips
- clean up your rads = aka flushing your rads to remove manufacturing debris
- running rad fan curve base of coolant temp sensor is good (i believe Leo did this before)
- d5 pumps have 2 connectors, sata/molex power & rpm control
- clear coolant will typically not cause gunk build up on waterblocks
- watercooled components will typically last longer from less heat
- fittings can get expensive real fast
@Cre8 Modding thanks bud :)
oh i forgot to mention this, watercooling higher end cpu+gpu make sense for me as my all year ambient temps is higher than 30c all year round (tropical climate)
CPU: Ryzen 5900x
GPU: 7900 XTX Taichi
I had my loop like yours at first....
Pump to GPU to CPU...
Great GPU temps(45 C full load)
Air cooled temps on CPU(75 C full load)
I changed it to Pump to GPU to radiator to CPU to other radiator back to pump. Both are now in the 50s
Lot’s of really great tips in this, love the advice on the connectors, tightening and tubing thanks.
Why is your top radiator drawing air in?
Hot air rises. So it's better to do outtake at the top
I wondered this as well
Positive pressure in the case is my guess, negative pressure builds dust very fast. If the fans at the top exhaust he'd have 3 intake fans and 6 exhaust, his way he has 6 intake and 3 exhaust. He could've added a fan in the back for intake but still 4 to 6 if the top is exhaust.
I am really new to this whole pc/water cooling stuff so this comment may not make any sense but it’s something I was curious about….those cpu temps looked really high for a 12900k being water cooled with its own 360mm rad. The only thing I can think of for that is….1. Most water cooled builds I have seen with 2 rads they usually go from pump to gpu then to the first rad then cpu then to the second rad then back to the pump. This loop went from the pump to the gpu then straight to the cpu then to the rad then to another rad then to the pump. Again I am new to this but that doesn’t seem like the best way to cool the cpu. That or…. 2. the fact that preapplied thermal paste and lga 1700 mounting seems to be known for bad contact. I have seen a lot of people actually add extra thermal paste even when it’s preapplied on their aios/water blocks. Once again I am new to this so if someone could chime in and correct me or just tell me I am wrong that’s would be appreciated but just from what I have picked up so far it seemed like that cpu was running wayyyy to hot, even for a 12th gen intel i9 lol.
Hey nice build, I just want to make you aware there is a mistake in the inlet/outlet ports, you have put the tubes from GPU Waterblock to XC7 CPU Waterblock into the incorrect outlet port. In the XC7 CPU Waterblock Manual the inlet is on the right side marked by a horizontal slit, you can see it clearly at 11:47 in the video, you can also see in the reference from corsair at 05:24 in the video that they go into the right side of the XC7 Waterblock to the inlet as well. Just wanted others to also be aware in case anyone follows this exact build. Looks good though and some great tips thank you!
@Cre8 Modding I suspected it may be flipped, but because it wasn't mentioned in the video I could not tell, thank you for the clarification! Well done looks good!
I am fond of all these Corsair’s stuff. Love it.
Just a random question. We have 2 radiators? So is that better idea to configure the cooling loop flow like this: from pump to video card, from video card to radiator, from radiator to cpu, from cpu to second radiator and then from second radiator to the pump? Isn't that more efficient?
For practice, and giggles, you can chop up an old AIO cooler and turn it into a custom loop.
Always wanted to run water cooling on my PC but I just got put of with the amount of variance in the components. It’s the loads of different fittings that ruined it for me. So much choice it got too complicated thanks for producing this video.
I do not have much experience with building Computers and especially less experience with custom Watercooling, However (watching 12:30) i was wondering if it makes more sense to mount the fans of the radiator on the other side to push the Heat OUT of the case. The way you mounted it, i would think you blow the hot air into the case and heating up all components. My idea was to push the hot air as fast as possible out of the case. Am i missing something here?
Late response but you want to pull fresh air into the radiator to cool the water and the components. The reverse would push hot air from the PC into the radiator and lower the efficiency of the cooling. Intake for radiators exhaust for other fans. Less important for all water cooled systems but really makes a difference if you only water cool the cpu or gpu and not both.
BRILLIANT video, thank you! Would love to see another, this time with hard tubing and see you build the ULTIMATE high end water-cooling PC, using a Cooler Master HAF 700 EVO or "The berserker", with FOUR 420mm radiators at the SAME TIME, as a single water loop, with water cooling blocks on the: CPU, GPU, M.2 drive and on the RAM! This would be the ultimate dream setup for next gen hardware (like the intel 13th gen CPU, RTX4090ti, PCIe gen 5 M.2 drive and even hot DDR5 RAM). Very interested to see if M.2 and RAM water-cooling is worthwhile, and what kind of tube setup you would need to do. Also, curious just how cool the components could get with that much over the top cooling. I'm planning this setup myself for my new rig around November, but very nervous. Thanks!
It’s super fancy but it’s still not keeping your cpu from thermal throttling in r23. A few changes to the hose routing would help tremendously
I found this video so interesting and informative that I immediately started doing research on the pricing of these water blocks, tubes fitting etc., and I gotta say that it just doesn't make sense to me financially. The waterblock for my gpu alone was $230, and most places were out of stock. It looks like it would cost $500 to cool my system. That's just wild.
Surprising if 500 does it. I would expect a full build to cost much more than that. That being said, with any luck you'll only need to change the GPU block once you upgrade. CPU blocks are often usable on new sockets and of course pump and radiators have a long life. You may need to replace tubes after a few years, but the initial cost is the main issue - after that phase the costs do settle a lot.
For the graphics card and the cooler, there is a high change someone has made a video about removing the cooler for the model you have. Or i have just been lucky everytime.
cant wait to finish uni an build my new pc like this.
great video 👍
Why did you put the pump/res in front of a fan that is restricting the fan's airflow?
Brilliant video as usual Kris. Easily the best Kit-Guru host
Nice build and colour choice 😉
But why did you choose to intake air from the top? It is okay for the looks maybe, but for a high end daily driver I had better experience with natural convection and the fans enlight the interieur of the case...
And one little thing: You talk so fast and without a breathing pause. Take your time, man 😉🥳 Rock on! 🚀
are you going to do a hard loop one? id like an updated one on that, as I plan on moving , and im not great with some techniques id need.
when i go to corsairs website they only have the 4090 block but i have a 4070, are they compatible?
Im new to this what way do you do just cpu watercooling every video has both and cant find any with just the cpu
Did you use rigid tube fittings for soft tubes?
Last experience I had with watercooling was on my G5 powermac with the Delphi cooler that leaked and ruined the motherboard haven’t tried it since.
Really useful video this very informative thanks Kris!
Corsair’s site does make it way simpler to do this although it’s all quite pricey.
What happens if the pump fails do you end up with boiling coolant inside? Is there anyway to detect a non working pump?
Sorry for the late answer: On modern CPUs you have over temperature protection (OTP), if that gets triggered the system just turns off. In my loops I always have a simple flow indicator like the Alphacool 17350 Eisfluegel so you can tell at a glance you still have flow. There are more high-tech flow indicators too if you want a readout on your actual flow rate but the simple ones do the job just fine.
Always been terrified to try water cooling on my desktop just can go so bad so fast…
im done same but i make from gpu to back 120 >to cpu > to 360 top > to reservoir i hope im not wrong :)
awesome, some good tips in there. I tried one a few years ago and honestly made a pigs ear of it
what if u want just a custom loop for cpu not for other components??
You can do that but money wise you'd be better off with an AiO solution. The components don't really change, you need a CPU water block, a reservoir, a pump, a radiator, tubing and fittings. If you already spend this much on a loop then 100 bucks more for a GPU water block doesn't weigh in on the price anymore.
@@albedo9127 isn't custom looping more durable than AiOs??? i heard water loops last up to 10 yrs and AiOs can die between 3-5 years.
@@ark66 The durability depends on a few factors, mainly materials used. For example Coolermaster had a few faulty AiO's because they mixed metals which later caused corrosion and gunk buildup. the most common reason why AiO's fail is usually wrong installation, it should be installed either in the top of the case or in the front with the radiator tubes facing down. Those that failed were installed tubes facing up. AiO's loose coolant over time through dissipation (Custom loops as well) but since it is a closed system you can't easily refill, thus when the coolant level drops below the point where it can't leave the radiator it runs hot and the pump fails because it's not cooled anymore.
Everything that is mechanical can fail at some point in time, I had one faulty D5 pump after a few years where the bearing was damaged butr thankfully that was all of the faults I had in my near 10 years of watercooling. Mixing metals can happen to you if you build a custom loop as well, copper and aluminium don't play ball and will cause leaks due to corrosion after a while. Also I would never buy a waterblock or reservoirs where you screw your fittings into acrylic or plastic threads, they break too easily. If you want to stay safe you should use copper radiators and nickel plated waterblocks.
Not a fan of opaque líquids. It creates sediments and can cause clogs
Cool look! Thanks
Love your channel.
nice looking build there Kris - wish I had the skillz required lolz
That’s such a long shopping list of components!
Is this sponsored by Corsair.... Ekwb. Alphacool, Watercool, Byski, or even Barrow before Corsair....
Water cooled systems look the best.
Watercooling a 4090 for a fisrt build :)
Water loopy nuts are we, we're all water loopy.
It’s amazing how cheap GPUs look without their fans.
LQ is sooo stupid... all this for an additional 100-200MHz OC... that does nothing meaningful in terms of performances. Now only this, but you can't carry your case anywhere, and leaks can kill your GPUs... oh yeah, and I forgot... it cost about 500$ for something decent while barely dropping your CPU or GPU by 5C max over top Air cooling... Totally worth it!
A car oil syringe is so much better than a horrible squeezy bottle.
just buy a heatsink and be done with it, lol
MSI card? 😢😂 he used MSI block on a zotac card lol
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