Completed Meshify C, 8700K - my journey to a custom loop

[lowfat]

eh , this was a long time ago. like Nexopia long time ago and I had really no idea what I was doing. Even tho I was using petra nuke , I would always have algae building up in my loop . Where do you buy your stuff these days?

What do you think of this rez : https://www.lian-li.com/o11d-distro-plate-g1/

Personally I haven't bought anything in 4+ years as I went back to air cooling. But I was buying everything @ Performance-PCs generally. But likely only because they also had the modding stuff I also needed.

I think the acrylic distribution plates look great. But I can't comment on how they'll work out long term.

 

[JD]

I looked at doing a simple loop for my cpu and I'm looking at 600-700$ in parts alone lol.

I think it's more like $400 for a "simple" 360 radiator setup. Something along the lines of this: https://www.dazmode.com/shop/waterc...ervoir-combo-complete-watercoling-kit-rev-10/ or https://www.dazmode.com/shop/watercooling/ek-classic-kit-s360-d-rgb/. Obviously price increases as you move towards more "pretty" things

But I'd say custom loops have become more a thing of looks rather than performance. If you just want your CPU to be cool, a good heatsink/AIO is sufficient. If you want a quiet GPU, buying one that comes with a large heatsink or AIO cooler would do.

 

[implosion222]

Personally I haven't bought anything in 4+ years as I went back to air cooling. But I was buying everything @ Performance-PCs generally. But likely only because they also had the modding stuff I also needed.

I think the acrylic distribution plates look great. But I can't comment on how they'll work out long term.

Any issues with dazmode ? Ordering from Performance-Pc might be a little dicey with covid.

 

[implosion222]

I think it's more like $400 for a "simple" 360 radiator setup. Something along the lines of this: https://www.dazmode.com/shop/waterc...ervoir-combo-complete-watercoling-kit-rev-10/ or https://www.dazmode.com/shop/watercooling/ek-classic-kit-s360-d-rgb/. Obviously price increases as you move towards more "pretty" things

But I'd say custom loops have become more a thing of looks rather than performance. If you just want your CPU to be cool, a good heatsink/AIO is sufficient. If you want a quiet GPU, buying one that comes with a large heatsink or AIO cooler would do.

I'm doing a pretty flashy build this time around with an O11 XL. Probably not doing a loop on the gpu tho as I'm not confident enough to install a block on my 2080ti.

Something like this minus the gpu block :

Also - Sorry Lysrin I've kind of hijacked your thread haha.

 

[sswilson]

Any issues with dazmode ? Ordering from Performance-Pc might be a little dicey with covid.

The only issue with Daz is how expensive his CP shipping is.

edit: And just to be clear, that's not really Daz's fault. He probably doesn't do enough volume to get any kind of bulk discount from the private couriers.

 

[Lysrin]

I bought most of my parts from Daz, great service and support, maybe a couple things direct from EKWB (?), and one used item. All my tubing, fittings, rads, GPU block, coolant additive, etc. all came from Daz.

And as lowfat said, absolutely don't need to drain a custom loop that frequently. When I had to do this block replacement I had been running my loop for a year or close to it. Just distilled water and the cryofuel additive. The fluid when I drained looked exactly the same as the new stuff I refilled with.

I agree about the custom loop being more for the looks. It is great cooling for sure, and I love how quiet it is, but the cost/performance doesn't really add up. It's more about the fun of creating the loop really. For me, I wanted to see if I could do a custom loop as it was a part of the hobby I had never tried. I'm happy with it and it certainly gets attention when people see my PC for first time! Next big upgrade, will I do it again? It'll depend on how fat my wallet feels I think

About the GPU block, that turned out to be one of the easier parts of the build for me.

 

[implosion222]

I bought most of my parts from Daz, great service and support, maybe a couple things direct from EKWB (?), and one used item. All my tubing, fittings, rads, GPU block, coolant additive, etc. all came from Daz.

And as lowfat said, absolutely don't need to drain a custom loop that frequently. When I had to do this block replacement I had been running my loop for a year or close to it. Just distilled water and the cryofuel additive. The fluid when I drained looked exactly the same as the new stuff I refilled with.

I agree about the custom loop being more for the looks. It is great cooling for sure, and I love how quiet it is, but the cost/performance doesn't really add up. It's more about the fun of creating the loop really. For me, I wanted to see if I could do a custom loop as it was a part of the hobby I had never tried. I'm happy with it and it certainly gets attention when people see my PC for first time! Next big upgrade, will I do it again? It'll depend on how fat my wallet feels I think

About the GPU block, that turned out to be one of the easier parts of the build for me.

Did you ended up having to bend your tubing at all ? I watched a couple videos on it yesterday but that's another part where I'm not sure I would feel super confident.

 

[Bartacus]

Did you ended up having to bend your tubing at all ? I watched a couple videos on it yesterday but that's another part where I'm not sure I would feel super confident.

Just buy extra tube. It's not too expensive to pick up a few extra lengths to learn on. Considering the price tag of most water cooling stuff, tube is usually the cheapest part of the loop. So buy lots, and throw yourself in the deep end! All you need is a heat gun and silicon insert. You pick up the 'bendy / melty point' pretty quick, and that's the trickiest part. Once you ruin your first bend, you get over it pretty quick. Especially if you have extra tube, so there's no pressure to get it right the first time.

 

[Lysrin]

Did you ended up having to bend your tubing at all ? I watched a couple videos on it yesterday but that's another part where I'm not sure I would feel super confident.

Yes I did all the bends for my build. And no, you don't feel at all confident when you first start!

Just as Bartacus said; buy extra and practice I also bought a cheap set of mandrels for common angles, cutter, reamer, etc. Those things add to the cost of your first hard tube build but then you have them. I didn't do anything too crazy with bends but I had a couple that were tricky and the Meshify C is a relatively small case for a first custom loop build. Several times I thought I was in over my head for a first go but I made it.

The bending part is fun though if you just take your time, plan out your runs, and ... be prepared to wreck some bends along the way!

I'd also echo the good advice I got in this thread; buy extra fittings, spacers, etc. to give you flexibility in how to do your loop. Best laid plans and all that...

 

[implosion222]

Yes I did all the bends for my build. And no, you don't feel at all confident when you first start!

Just as Bartacus said; buy extra and practice I also bought a cheap set of mandrels for common angles, cutter, reamer, etc. Those things add to the cost of your first hard tube build but then you have them. I didn't do anything too crazy with bends but I had a couple that were tricky and the Meshify C is a relatively small case for a first custom loop build. Several times I thought I was in over my head for a first go but I made it.

The bending part is fun though if you just take your time, plan out your runs, and ... be prepared to wreck some bends along the way!

I'd also echo the good advice I got in this thread; buy extra fittings, spacers, etc. to give you flexibility in how to do your loop. Best laid plans and all that...

Ugh , I went through your whole thread and now I'm beginning to think I need to do a full cpu/gpu loop. damn you Lysrin ! haha. I'll have to start a build log once I get my hands on a cpu/mobo.