Any good guides/sites for custom loop building?

[Chrispy_]

I'm 20 years out of date with watercooling and a lot has changed so would at least like to read an up-to-date guide on what's good and bad these days.

I'm looking for a basic CPU+GPU pair with a focus on reliability and silence rather than aestetics and lighting, so clear acrylic and RGBLED aren't important but good fittings and an all-copper loop.

Also, suggestions on good-value, no-nonsense brands in Europe would be appreciated, Alphacool is looking strong in that regard.

I have room for a 360+140mm radiator and would ideally like to cool 250W with inaudible fans (think 800rpm fixed speed)

Thanks!

So I have a couple of spare 2070S cards that are pretty generic (Palit GP triple-fan) and their fans are pretty quiet but their fan control firmware is pretty terrible (fan panic - inconsistent bursts of high-RPM for no reason, and no firmware updates that I can find to potentially fix that annoyance).

I'm tempted to watercool one since these look to be reference-design cards and their power limit is 116% so there's at least some headroom to tap. I guess I have two questions:

1. Is this card actually going to work with a waterblock designed for a 2080FE?
   View attachment 176760
   (Image courtesy of Guru3D)
   
   
2. I have room for a 280 or 420mm radiator but pump/res space is limited. I guess I could squeeze something into onto a 3.5" HDD tray as long as it's not more than, say, 100mm tall, so what's a decent, cheap AIO or block/pump/rad setup for a GPU only? I'm not a custom-loop newbie but the last time I had a custom loop I was using a Laing D5 and Danger-den were still a fresh startup so I'm pretty out of date.

The 3900X is still cooled by an NH-U12 and I'm not in a hurry to replace that, so treat this as a GPU-only question. Tell me I should stick with the air cooler and why, or convince me that spending money on a GPU that will be obsolete in 18 months is a good idea

 

[jaggerwild]

I'm 20 years out of date with watercooling and a lot has changed so would at least like to read an up-to-date guide on what's good and bad these days.

I'm looking for a basic CPU+GPU pair with a focus on reliability and silence rather than aestetics and lighting, so clear acrylic and RGBLED aren't important but good fittings and an all-copper loop.

Also, suggestions on good-value, no-nonsense brands in Europe would be appreciated, Alphacool is looking strong in that regard.

I have room for a 360+140mm radiator and would ideally like to cool 250W with inaudible fans (think 800rpm fixed speed)

Thanks!

A good place to find water parts/blocks VV

Performance-PCs.com Homepage

Performance-PCs.com Homepage and Website Home

www.performance-pcs.com

 

[Kapone33]

I can speak for Alphacool. I live in Canada and EK is the big thing here but I will gladly pay customs for the Quality of Alphacool. The sheer amount of quality selections are insane and you can get nice prices

 

[Chrispy_]

Useful, thanks, but I'm no beginner so there's nothing new to me in those sorts of introductions - I've built custom loops before and picked up a lot from trial and error about 20 years ago.

I was just looking for a more up-to-date location to ask a whole bunch of probably inane questions like "pwm pump or manual control?", and "what's the best fuss-free coolant these days". I'm also not entirely sure about DDC pumps these days - the last time I used one they were plastic-bodied but now it looks like they're often an aluminium base and mini reservoir on top - does that cause a mixed-metal loop or are they still plastic for any parts that get wet?

A good place to find water parts/blocks VV

Performance-PCs.com Homepage

Performance-PCs.com Homepage and Website Home

www.performance-pcs.com

Thanks, not much use in Europe though.

I have easy/sensible access and pricing to Alphacool, Aquacomputer, Barrow, Bitspower, Raijintek, and XSPC.
EK is available but it's real expensive and very much vanity-build focused.

 

[Kapone33]

Thanks, not much use in Europe though.

I have easy/sensible access and pricing to Alphacool, Aquacomputer, Barrow, Bitspower, Raijintek, and XSPC.
EK is available but it's real expensive and very much vanity-build focused.

Yep agreed on that. If I want bling I get Byiski.