u/JMUDoc

Double bends - does this mean I've finally completed watercooling?

Changes since last time (second pic is the before):

• Clear DP Ultra - I trust it more than the Cryofuel... but I did love that colour😭
• Filter removed - didn't seem to be doing anything, so it's a(nother) flow restriction out of the loop.
• Went back to bigger res - no reason not to, if I've got the room (and I used some giant rubber buffers that completely kill the vibration)
• Alphacool Apex VPP pump. Absolute wizardry.
• Liquid temp sensor moved out of sight (rad side-port)
• DOUBLE BENDS. The goal was a system with no angled fittings whatsoever, but there was no room for the lower turn on the CPU-rad, or the lower turn on the rad-res. The res-graphics card one was easy, but the graphics card-CPU was a complete twat. Luckily, I got it on the first try.
• Right-angled connectors for the ATX, 12VHPWR and CPU EPS - they make such a difference.
• Fractal Momentum 14 RGB for case fans; I don't use the RGB, but by god, these things are quiet.
• Spring-mounted CPU. Wanted correct and consistent CPU mounting pressure, so I put some M4 studs into my derbauer custom mounts and used 14-lb springs on each corner.

Until I get a new card (4080 Super, most likely), there should be no reason to change anything from now on.

... should😁

This was a rush job, so I had to go with cheapos... now, I'm paying the price - rubber has bulged up, and is cracking.

Got a week off work coming up, so I'm going to see if I can swap them for quality ones. BMW originals are out of the question - too dear - but I've heard that Lemforder and Corteco are good alternatives. Anybody with any experience on these, or other brands?

TIA.

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I've got a fan that I would like to increase speed with ambient temp, but decrease with liquid-to-ambient delta. The MIN function will always choose the curve on the left, and the MAX function will always choose the one on the right, because it's driven by whichever fan percentage is currently higher.

Is there any way to have the a mix curve work from temperature, rather than fan%? In the above example, if the reverse delta temp is higher than the case temp, I want the fan to prefer the left curve, not the right.

TIA.

Me, five years ago: "Why do all these people bother with hard tubing? It doesn't make the coolant any faster or colder... just use hoses and send it!"

Me, one year ago: "Why do all these people bother with double-bending hard tubes? Just use angled fittings and send it!"

Me, this week: *sighing, hands over £100 to watercooling.co.uk for bending kits.

Loop re-(re-re-re-re) build coming up, and this is the only mountain left for me to climb... unless you count metal tubing.

(Very proud of that bend in the second picture, by the way - dihedral double 90, down to the degree and the milimetre🤌🏻.)

These are all pretty much at least 3/4 full - I don't think I've ever used the same paste twice in a row🤣

Not pictured are the ones I actually managed to use up - to name a few, NT-H1, MX-4, MX-5, Aeronaut, TF7... I honestly can't even remember them all.

(Loop rebuild coming up in the next couple of weeks, and I think I'm finally going to go LM on my graphics card... which means one more "paste" to buy, because I'm going to try either the LK-128 or the PolarTronix.)

I just put an order in with Amazon, only to find it cancelled a couple of minutes later - tried again, and they won't post to the UK (so, why did it let me do the order the first time...?).

Not even Ali Express has these, and there are no overseas sellers on eBay that will post to the UK😞

Well, those pesky 140 mm T30s just had to make an appearance, so I just had to incorporate them.

Changes since last time:

• 140mm T30 - absolutely incredible fans, no vibration.
• Alphacool 420 XT45 crossflow - completely mental overkill.
• Alphacool Eisbecher 150 res - had to downsize from the 250 to make room for the fatty rad🤣. What I lost in the res, ended up in the rad; still 1L capacity, but an extra 100 ml worth of "work".
• Alphacool Core 1 - in for the LT version, reported to be slightly better, but I just prefer the look of it, to be honest.
• Bykski 4070 Ti block - interesting one, as the last time I remounted my original Alphacool, the temps would shoot up immediately with any kind of load. Removed it and found that the right hand side of the GPU had no contact, and the paste had barely spread (fourth pic). Remounting with softer pads didn't help, and the board bowed significantly when tightened all the way down. Never had a block do this before but, luckily, the Bykski was only £130. Load temps and hotspot delta clearly indicate that I got an excellent mount this time around😁
• Arctic MX-7 (bare dies) and Halyinze P17 (CPU) pastes. Believe the hype - they are phenomenal. I did flirt with using liquid metal on the GPU die, but at low 51/61 under Furmark, I doubt it would have made much difference; I might give it a go if I ever get hold of a card with some more beef.
• 14->16 mm tubing. Alphacool makes 13/16 PMMA, which is the widest bore I could find, so I went for it.
• EK Cryofuel Acid Green (clear) - my favourite colour, where has this been all my life?! Gets enough UV from daylight to glow! Filter added to the res inlet to trap any wee beasties, but I will check every few weeks.
• Front P140 Pro Reverse and rear NF-A14x25 - this latter fan is ridiculously quiet, so I think I'm going to put three more in the front when the Amazon sale is on in June.
• (Third picture) aftermarket front door from ColdZero - looks OEM because the pattern matches the roof, and solves the biggest problem of the Define series: front intake.

5800X 3D + 4070 Ti.

Load temps: CB23 - 62 degrees; Furmark 1 (the real one - power virus) - 51/61 degrees.

Idle temps: pump speed 1,000 rpm, fan speed 450 rpm at idle - 2 degrees liquid delta.

For added fun, I managed to scratch the fuck out of both my Core 1 and my CPU the last time I took it off, so I used the downtime to do some wet sanding and lapping (I'm weird - I've got an actual plate). I have to say that my Core 1's base was complete dogshit, massively concave, combining nicely with the notoriously concave AM4 IHS🤦🏻‍♂️. Wish I'd taken some pics, but the corners were gone half an hour before I got to the middle.

This should be it for quite a long time - currently saving for a 4080 Super for my upcoming 4K monitor, and there's nowhere to go from the 5800X3D on AM4... unless the re-issue is faster, or puts the 3D cache on the bottom...

EDIT - just done some measuring, and it seems my old 250 res would have fit. There goes my next week off putting that back in🤦🏻‍♂️

If your res is leaking inexplicably despite replacement, new o-ring, whatever, try putting a cigarette filter tip into the weep hole - this will let the air pressure equalize as the fluid expands, but should keep any actual fluid from escaping.

If/when it gets saturated, chuck a new one in - they cost peanuts and come in too-big boxes anyway😁.