Cheapest Decent quality custom waterloop

Hello, all. 

In addition to redoing my cables and getting custom sleeving, I would also like to get a custom waterloop going.

So here is my question. What is the cheapest, not crap configuration I could go wth for a decent watercooling setup?

 

It will be for intel. Haswell. I would like 1/2 inch tubing, at least. 

The rest is up to whomever is helping me :P.

Brennan. I would appreciate your help on this as well. 

(Also, I would like the pump and res to be good enough to handle perl/gold coolant. I know it has to be powerful to mix it well enough not to clog) - Hydra Gold preferred

In regards to starter custom kits, I'd look at XSPCs offerings.

As for coloured coolant. I highly advice against it. It will discolour the tubing and stain the blocks and potentially, as you've mentioned, clog the loop up. You'd be better off to use coloured tubing instead.

XSPC Rasa

and buy some XSPC Xinrulian fans, near noctua quality for $7-9

Or build you own @ www.frozencpu.com

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g30/Liquid_Cooling.html?id=5QSXSw44

I would, but I dont know what parts are decent, lol. I put a cart together at Xoxide, but it was nearly $400.

Xoxide.com is more reliable imo, but a lot less parts to choose from.

make sure to buy some XSPC fans from frozen or www.koolertek.com

http://www.xoxide.com/xspc-rasa750rs240-watercoolingkit.html

This one decent? If I get 1/2 inch fittings and tubing, could I use those? Can I upgrade to bigger fittings/barbs without replacing the res/radiator/pump?

I like your ghost avatar the best

and http://www.koolertek.com/computer-parts/pc/XSPC-Xinruilian-120mm-2000-RPM-Fan-184p2557.htm

I know more about fans than custom LC, did some research but never made the jump into custom LC

Lol, thanks. 

I already have 2 of these fans, currently on my Dark knight, haha.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

Crazy loud. But not as loud as my A/C unit, so its alright.

Throwing them on a Rad would probably be pretty nice. If I can fit 1/2 inch tubing on one of those loops, Ill either get the rasa, or the raystorm. Both look very nice.

Well now, let's get to business.

Are you going for CPU and GPU? If so, a single 360mm radiator is more than enough. If your case can't hold a  single 360, either get the Dremel out, just buy a total of 360mm of radiators. I'd personally go for an Alphacool NexXxos Full Copper 360, which is at a great price over on Frozen CPU right now.

If you have your GPU and CPU in a loop, and the pump and res combined in one unit, either by a bay res with pump, or just a tube res, pump, and d-plug, then you will need 8 fittings; two per "unit". Go cheap; straight compression fittings. 1/2" tubing OD is pretty massive, and 1/2" ID is huge! I'd get 3/8" by 5/8" tubing if I were you, looking for a nice sized tubing, but still as large as you want. I prefer a thin wall, personally, so 3/8 by 5/8 is your best bet. Get 8x of these XSPC chrome compression fittings and a 10ft pack of this Primochill Advanced LRT 3/8 by 5/8, in whatever color you want.

As for coolant, I do recommend using distilled, di water, but if you reall, really want a coolant that is colored, I don't recommend going for anything thicker that Mayhems Pastel.

You want cheap, so I'll give you cheap. The CPU blocks all perform pretty close, but there are some clear winners; the Heatkiller CU 3.0 and the Kolance 380i are some of the best thermally performing blocks out there, but if you are on a budget, the XSPC Raystorm is where it's at. Everyone uses them, though; you might want a Koolance 370i, Mips Ice Force, or anything you can find used instead. 

If you are putting your GPU in the loop, the blocks are so incredibly close that I get them to match my CPU block; Koolance CPU block? Koolance GPU block. EK CPU block? EK GPU block. In some cases, though, like mine, only one company, if any, makes a GPU block for your GPU, in my case, EK. If you have a reference PCB, though, you will have tons of options. You can always use a universal GPU block too, but I think they're pretty ugly.

Pump time. You have two real options; Laing DDC and D5 Vario. Both are pretty expensive, but if you get a small pump, you might not have that much expansion room in terms of flow. Still, a single MCP355 or 655 will handlo whatever the hell you throw at it, in 99% of cases. Quad 560mm rads, quad SLI, dual CPUs, would be fine, despite what a lot of people think, when they buy two, three, four, or in some cases, 6 D5s for their tiny loop. Wasting money for fun, really. I'm getting an MCP3355 with Petra's top for my loop, but if you can't afford the higher-end DDcs or D5s, much of any 12V pumps will do.

For the res, the size doesn't matter much. You can do a loop without a res, if you need to, it just makes bleeding really difficult. I'm a huge fan of Aqualis glass tube reservoirs, but they are generally massive and expensive. Bitspower Multi Z tubes come in lots of sizes, and aren't too expensive. Really anything will do. However, my favorite way of connecting the pump and res is with either a male-to-male header, or d-plug, so you save two fittings and tubing. Anyone will do; I'm a fan of Bitspower rotary d-plugs, but even an Alphacool male-to-male connector will do.

Need cheaper?

Also, for fans, get Yate Loons.

Wow. A+ post as usual, lol. I'll either go with the raystorm and upgrade later, or go with all of the parts you listed. Not sure if I want to include the GPU yet, depends on my total budget and how much everyting will cost. 

(Hint: Probably will go with your suggestions, Brennan.)

Good deal; if you need any help later, just shoot me a PM.

Ill hit you up on steam if I need anything. Thanks, man.

Hi Phantom

Here is a link to a very good Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling. Also there is a link to a forum which there is a large number of very exprenced water cools, http://www.overclockers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=71 . This is not a quick weekend project, I sent over two months think about my setup. So take your time and get it right first time that will save you a lot of money.