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Esmea · ‎03-31-2015

I was going to ask for opinion on case, since there are thousands of full towers to choose from these days. I was restricting choice to a case that's modest, designed for builders (cable management, removable HDD trays, etc), and works with my Ikea Galant desk.
That's not on the table anymore. One thing led to another and I was settled on a 750D, but then I saw the T81 and was 1 click from buying that before a review pointed me at the cheaper V71. (honestly, the lack of a door was the decision maker; I don't like impeded air-flow)
So, Thermaltake V71has been ordered, along with a SeaSonic SS-1050XP3 (It's more efficient, provides more wattage, and more modular than what I have)

My question for the collective opinion is whether I just take the plunge into custom water cooling, stick with AIO, or revert back to high-CFM air cooling. This H80i is pathetic.

Concerns I have:

I'm a perfectionist, if I go into custom WC, there's a chance I will go too far. I know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to give any advice to someone. I'm worried this will become more of a project than I'm prepared for.
AIO is all fine and great... if you don't know how to build/repair a computer. I was raised by parents who insisted I rely on nobody for repair skills; plumbing, electrical, carpentry, automotive, computers... so it feels wrong to be able to completely overhaul an engine and settle for an AIO cooler.
CM212Evo could outperform my H80i easily, but it's far less elegant. With my setup, I'm likely to see the ceiling of air-cooling potential rather quickly.

When WC became more affordable, instead of looking into it and keeping up with developments, I held out for phase-change. Eventually I settled for AIO, figuring it was a decent starter to something I knew I should've adopted >10 years ago. I've always kept at least some eye on things people do for modding; such as the L3P desk, RH Cross desk, and many other less-extreme builds.

drop4205 · ‎03-31-2015

AIO Cooler like the thermaltake water 3.0 ultimate 360 or a corsair h105 would be nice. There are a few xpsc kits that allow you to expand later on also so you can get into it somewhat cheap and add as you wish

Maximus XI Formula, I9-9900k, Phantex Evolove X, Seasonic Titanium 850W, Custom loop PE360+SE360 Rad, G.Skill Trident Z F4-3200C14 32g, Nvidia Reference RTX 2080 TI, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1Tb, Windows 11

Esmea · ‎04-01-2015

Deon017 wrote:
Here is a great write up by Chino on the EK kit - great place to start

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?54578-i7-5960X-Watercooling-Results-With-EK-KIT-X360

Seeing that and the replies pointing out that the X360 is such a fantastic starter kit is very reassuring. I may just end up going with that. The largest perk I see with an open loop system is that it is always modifiable and upgradable. This was another of my stances against AIOs - they felt like buying a dell >.<.

drop4205 wrote:
AIO Cooler like the thermaltake water 3.0 ultimate 360 or a corsair h105 would be nice. There are a few xpsc kits that allow you to expand later on also so you can get into it somewhat cheap and add as you wish

I hadn't really ever heard of xspc before your mention, but a quick search revealed some neat info.

Thank you, everyone, for your input. I feel you have helped me stifle my doubts and make a concrete decision. This is definitely going to be an exciting adventure.

Deon017 · ‎03-31-2015

Here is a great write up by Chino on the EK kit - great place to start

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?54578-i7-5960X-Watercooling-Results-With-EK-KIT-X360

Korth · ‎03-31-2015

I know you chose another case (for now, at least), but I have an Obsidian 750D:

It can accommodate 3x120mm or 3x140mm top fans, 2x120mm or 2x140mm front fans, 1x120mm or 1x140mm rear fan, and 2x120mm bottom fans, up to 420x140mm top rad (<85mm/3.3" total internal thickness for fans+rad), up to 280x140mm front rad (any thickness, assuming you move the drive cages away from front), another 240x120mm bottom rad (with no drive cages), CPU cooler up to 170mm/6.7" tall. Full ATX/EATX mobo and PSU form factors, nine card slots, and GPU card lengths up to 275mm/10.7" or 360mm/14.2" or 450mm/17.7" (with middle, front, or no drive cages). The mobo tray is not removable, but it has over 25mm/1" of underside clearance, and it has a large cutout for oversized CPU coolers. There is plenty of room for lots of everything, including heavy cooling. It has great airflow, comparable to a HAF, at least when the front panel door is opened - but you need to add fans because the Corsair stock pieces are pretty weak.

Note that online specs for the 750D appear a little obsolete; my unit is obviously a newer revision with proper mobo standoffs, added fan-mounting capacities, and a few extra convenience features. But it requires a little case modding to become perfect, it has a few minor design flaws and disappointing wiring problems out of the box.

"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others." - Douglas Adams

[/Korth]

Perko · ‎04-01-2015

I gotta say this.

I got a EKWB XTX360 kit and it was a dream work with. I added a 2nd 360 and a 240 to it ... the hardest part was planning the loop but once installed and tested not ONE drop of seepage ANYWHERE. Expensive yes, but the parts are top notch in my book and well worth the future expandability.

SS

Case Labs S8
ASUS X99 Rampage V Extreme
i7 5960X
EKWB XTX360 kit +1 XTX360 & XTX240
10x MassCool fans on a Lamptron FC5 6 Channel 30W LED Fan Controller V3
32GB Geil Potenza 3000Mhz
2x Samsung 840 EVO 1TB
WD 7,200 Hybrid 2TB
ASUS Blu-Ray RW
Gigabyte 980Ti G1 EKWB full block
Acer XB270HU monitor
EVGA 1200 P2
Razor 7.1 phones, Death Ader & Ultimate KB
Madcatz Panther XL SteveO modded

kkn · ‎04-02-2015

custom cooling = loose warranty in case of leakage and its expensive.

closed coolers = the maker of the cooler have warranty in case leakage and shorting out parts inside your pc.

for each OC'd part think 2x 120 fan slots of radiator cooling.

you need extra fittings then the ones in the kits you buy, you need drainage point in the loop in case of leakage or changing coolant. ( this is alpha and omega ) witch is not included in the kits you buy.

you need fans whit high MMH2O and NOT RPM/CFM...............

if you dont want the motherboard to controll the fans, you need a fan controller of some sort.

i could post mutch more but in the end its your desittion on what you want to go for.

Esmea · ‎04-02-2015

I used to mind the leak-risk 15 years ago... my skills with high pressure systems has vastly improved since. I'm not installing on brand-new components; if I screw up, oh well, maybe it was time. If this pushes longevity of my system through 2016, I'll be happy.

Full tower=I have plenty of fan slots to sacrifice.

I may just pick and choose parts based on what is offered in the X360 kit. I have a ton of Cougar CF-V12HPB fans, which have an equal Pa rating to the EK-Vardar F3-120 fans, for less dBA and higher CFM... and they're HDB, not ball bearing (300,000 MTBF vs. 50,000MTBF... it makes a difference)
I'm fine controlling fans through motherboard.

My delay in adopting custom water cooling until now was a decision based entirely upon circumstance and not skill or other direct factors. (e.g. I had been looking into it in 2004, even considered phase-change, but went with a custom Clevo laptop since I was active military)

and I forgot what else I was going to say because my new case just arrived.

Tapping into collective opinion: cooling