Your cooling setup and why did you choose/go that route?

[maxfly]

I use a aquacomputer dr.drop leak tester now. It's simple to use and dead accurate. It'll find even the smallest leak. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years. It's worth its weight in gold in that I know for a fact that I haven't forgotten to tighten anything down. I still paper towel all of my connections juuust in case but it hasn't missed any. I go from the air test overnight to full on.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Once the loop is set up, I will run the pump only from an extra PSU outside the case.

This is what I do as well and keep an old PSU I pulled from an old HP around just for that.

 

[AM4isGOD]

This is what I do as well and keep an old PSU I pulled from an old HP around just for that.

Not a bad idea, i have an old one for just this

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Air pressure testing is an insult to the assembler I'll have none of that

 

[A Computer Guy]

I use a aquacomputer dr.drop leak tester now. It's simple to use and dead accurate. It'll find even the smallest leak. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years. It's worth its weight in gold in that I know for a fact that I haven't forgotten to tighten anything down. I still paper towel all of my connections juuust in case but it hasn't missed any. I go from the air test overnight to full on.

I have the original EK leak tester that was a bit confusing because of the white/green/red gauge readout. Luckily I read the instructions first and managed to avoid breaking anything.
It was also quite clunky and heavy to use but got the job done. It's discontinued now.

 

[AM4isGOD]

Hi,
Air pressure testing is an insult to the assembler I'll have none of that

I have never air pressure tested. I am pretty sure compression fittings with soft tubing cannot leak. The only reason for pressure testers is with inferior hard line setups.

 

[ThrashZone]

I have the original EK leak tester that was a bit confusing because of the white/green/red gauge readout. Luckily I read the instructions first and managed to avoid breaking anything.
It was also quite clunky and heavy to use but got the job done. It's discontinued now.

View attachment 260053

Hi,
Of course it took them years to sell the one you bought
Overkill but you could of made one from local hardware store for cheap.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Hi,
Of course it took them years to sell the one you bought
Overkill but you could of made one from local hardware store for cheap.

I was new to custom loops then and figured I'll stick with one brand for now until I get my feet wet (pun intended) and get the hang of it first before trying more exotic setups.

 

[ThrashZone]

I was new to custom loops then and figured I'll stick with one brand for now until I get my feet wet (pun intended) and get the hang of it first before trying more exotic setups.

Hi,
Yeah think we all have made that mistake freaking garbage ek kits from years ago here

 

[AM4isGOD]

Only think EK in my loop are the 360mm PE and CE radiators, the CE imo is pretty good.

 

[ThrashZone]

Only think EK in my loop are the 360mm EK and CE radiators, the CE imo is pretty good.

Hi,
CE series is barely okay I have a couple not using I swapped for hardware labs gtx-280's
SE is trash tossed a couple
PE is a lot better than both
XE well if you have room is top of ek line

 

[A Computer Guy]

Hi,
CE series is barely okay I have a couple not using I swapped for hardware labs gtx-280's
SE is trash tossed a couple
PE is a lot better than both
XE well if you have room is top of ek line

I'm pretty happy with the CoolStream PE 360 although (as you probably already know from my rebuild thread) I was surprised to find these black ports were extensions. (see screenshot)
I'm really not a fan of that now that I know they exist. At least I know now to be careful if I have to undo my compression fitting or I'm going to have to reseat them again.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yep ek two possible leaks instead of every one else that only sells one possible leak ports
Yep I remember my surprise to when that bugger came off on me

 

[AM4isGOD]

Sorry i am a spud fingers.

I have a XE in the bottom, and a PE in the top.

 

[cvaldes]

I have never air pressure tested. I am pretty sure compression fittings with soft tubing cannot leak. The only reason for pressure testers is with inferior hard line setups.

I have never used an air pressure tester either and I also use soft tubing.

I do validate new components in a simple test loop outside the case for leaks. I've had two defective components: a pump with a cracked port and an acrylic reservoir with a hairline crack.

The only leaks I've had inside the case were due to me not screwing down the fittings tight enough. That happened twice: small leaks, no damage.

I never found a reason to stick with one brand of custom cooling loop components. My primary gaming PC loop is a hodge podge of parts from different manufacturers: waterblocks from Alphacool, radiators from Primochill and Alphacool, reservoir from Bitspower, and cheap Phobya pump (probably cheap Chinese manufacture). The fittings are from 3-4 companies. Some of the tubing is Corsair and other tubing is generic food-grade tubing purchased on Amazon.

There's a second custom loop PC (GPU only) plus some unused parts which include EKWB and XSPC. Apart from favoring Alphacool for the waterblocks I'm pretty open to using parts from competitors.

 

[Mussels]

That's something I don't do.

3-pin and 4-pin RGB cables never seem to grip tightly on their motherboard headers. A little too risky for me to jar one loose by bopping the case.

Perhaps you have a different system configuration that eliminates this hazard.

I use duct tape on those bastards, and cheapo chinese extensions. If needed, i'll damn well glue an extension in place and tape it to the hardwares RGB cable


They really did screw up, we need a 3rd generation thats backwards compatible with a clip connector.

 

[SpittinFax]

I use a aquacomputer dr.drop leak tester now. It's simple to use and dead accurate. It'll find even the smallest leak. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years. It's worth its weight in gold in that I know for a fact that I haven't forgotten to tighten anything down. I still paper towel all of my connections juuust in case but it hasn't missed any. I go from the air test overnight to full on.

I'd definitely want to pressure test before filling a liquid cooling loop, otherwise there's no reliable way to know it's watertight. I haven't done any water-cooled PC's but I've done leak tests on diesel cooling systems and uncovered the occasional invisible leak. Can't say much about it (secret stuff) but the biggest diesel machine I tested held over 250 litres of coolant and it would've been a total disaster if it blew one of the (many) pipes off under pressure. But it didn't.

 

[claes]

?
It's quieter and more secure...

I was hoping to avoid an argument that is almost entirely subjective. Maybe you just aren’t as sensitive to higher frequencies as I am?

Still, I could never bare a hard mount, and not even because of the whine. The resonance to the chassis from the motor is super annoying IMO. I always ended up suspending D5’s :shrug:

 

[AM4isGOD]

Myt pump/res is mounted via 4x rubber isolators, but on 100% i can still hear the pump. I don't think there is any way to make it totally silent above 70% speed

 

[dgianstefani]

Myt pump/res is mounted via 4x rubber isolators, but on 100% i can still hear the pump. I don't think there is any way to make it totally silent above 70% speed

Imo D5 does not need more than 50%, if that's issue, just add second pump. Helps with longevity and redundancy too.

 

[AM4isGOD]

Imo D5 does not need more than 50%, if that's issue, just add second pump. Helps with longevity and redundancy too.

30-40% is what i have mine running at

 

[dgianstefani]

Same, 30% up to 65c, 35 up to 70c, 45 above 70c for spikes.

I have an inline coolant flow/temperature sensor but my idiot motherboard won't control PWM based off it, so it's only useful for monitoring.

 

[Dirt Chip]

Quick Look: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II Service Kit

ARCTIC showcases how to handle a potential quality control issue the right way by being proactive about it. Today we take a look at the ARCTIC service kit for affected batches of its popular Liquid Freezer II AIO CPU coolers and go through the service process ourselves to see how user-friendly...

www.techpowerup.com

A good example way not to choose water, unless you must OR you just love the handling and maintenance process by itself (which is a wonderful hobby IMO).
And this is the best case scenario, where a company take full responsibility. Just think how many cases out there where there is a problem, you just don't know about it...

 

[AM4isGOD]

Same, 30% up to 65c, 35 up to 70c, 45 above 70c for spikes.

I have an inline coolant flow/temperature sensor but my idiot motherboard won't control PWM based off it, so it's only useful for monitoring.

I still have a AQ flow sensor, that is still in the box

 

[dgianstefani]

Quick Look: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II Service Kit

ARCTIC showcases how to handle a potential quality control issue the right way by being proactive about it. Today we take a look at the ARCTIC service kit for affected batches of its popular Liquid Freezer II AIO CPU coolers and go through the service process ourselves to see how user-friendly...

www.techpowerup.com

A good example way not to choose water, unless you must.
And this is the best case scenario, where a company take full responsibility. Just think how many cases out there where there is a problem, you just don't know about it...

In other news AIOs are crap...

Tell me more how this affects "water"