Hello my fellow Tekheads, I need your help.
So, I'm building a High-End PC for Gaming & Editing. I have decided to watercool my CPU: i7-3770k not with a closed water cooling system. But a watercooling loop you build yourself.
So i've been looking for some good quality waterblocks for the 1155 socket. And i don't know what metal i should choose. Just copper, or nickel plated copper.
I don't want to have any corrosion, and I've read several places that nickel have a tendency to corrode. So if that is true that nickel plating corrode more easily than just copper. I will by a full Copper waterblock. So if you know if nickel plated waterblocks corrode more easily than please say that.
I'm not an expert at all, but I have built a fully water cooled gaming rig for myself nor so long ago.
I know about the nickel plated, but I think the problems are exaggerated, I think a few people have had problems and Then the problem was just blown up..
Anyways, as long as you avoid mixing with aluminium, then you should be fine.. But if you want to be sure I think if you only have copper you are sure.. But shouldn't be a problem..
There's one other thing to consider when getting copper only. If you use a dye in your coolant, that dye can get absorbed by the copper and can cause the rest of your parts to get stained if you ever change the coolant to another collor.
So say you run a system with red dye in it for 6 months, then swap that to clear, you will slowly see red dye seep back into the coolant from the copper that absorbed it. This is usually more prevalent in radiators that are all copper, but making the water block copper as well would add to it I'd imagine. If it's a clear water block, then the copper would change colors to match the coolant it absorbed even when the system is drained making it a pain to swap colors because you'd have to clean out the system which is possible but slightly tedious. That's the purpose of the Nickel plating though, to prevent the copper from changing colors due to your dye.
I think getting a coolant with anti-corrosives in it would be enough to prevent corrosion. That and avoid aluminum like Winther said. Nickel being mixed with copper (and silver if you use a kill coil for bacteria) shouldn't cause corrosion as long as you get a good brand of coolant with anti-corrosives in it.
That, and the coolant you use in water cooling should never be basic tap water. The coolants you can buy are usually de-ionized, which prevents bad things from happening when you mix metals like Nickel and Copper. Using ionized water would basically make a battery, which wouldn't be a good thing.
Disclaimer: I have never built a water cooling system however I have watched tons of Youtube videos and the like explaining the ins and outs of everything to consider when building them by people who build them regularly.
Good luck and have fun with your build. Test everything before putting it together and "jump" your PSU so only the pump is working and not the rest of the computer you build it in so nothing gets shorted out.