Anybody other water cooled PC geeks?

[MrFancyPants]

I'm building a new desktop PC as I managed to snag a Ryzen 5950X and RTX 3080 for normal retail, and the GPU has a built in water block, so I'm more or less roped into water cooling. I had initially considered modifying an AIO to water cool just the GPU, but that would require hacking up a closed loop with possible non standard tube sizing, voiding the warranty in the process, and from what I've read AIOs are mediocre regarding performance and pump life. This will be my first foray into water cooling, so I'm interested in other experiences and advice (and pictures!). Of course I've been doing a ton of research on the internet as well, and learned a lot.

So far I've ordered:
Optimus AMD water block
Swiftech MCP655 pump/50mm res combo (rebranded Laing D5 pump, which is supposed to be the best)
Corsair XR-7 360 rad (based on Hardware Labs design, supposed to be top tier)

I'm strongly considering buying a secondary XR7 240 rad for a little more cooling head room, top mounted, just in case. Might be overkill but I don't know. I'm also going to be using Bitspower PETG rigid tubing and fittings, and likely Noctua rad fans. I've never done the tube bending, so that will be the biggest challenge, but as OCD as I am about perfection I'm pretty sure I can pull it off well. The case is a Corsair 4000D airflow, which I kind of got stuck with due to the combo purchase I had to make for the 5950X, but fortunately I think it will work well.

Anyway just looking for input from others who have been down this road.

Side note: the water cooling setup alone is adding $500-$600 to the overall cost of the build.

[Creeping Incrementalism]

I don't have much expertise but in my experience, it can be a hassle down the line dealing with the components as they age and your PC starts to run hot. Like, everything is fine for a few years, you maybe stop paying attention to the temperature, and the pump can start to gradually fail without you realizing it, maybe you notice and you pull out the pump to fiddle with it and then it fails completely. It becomes like dealing with a bad radiator or water pump on a car... replace every 90k miles just in case. I always just bought mine as one complete unit and installed as intended.

I used an Asetek that lasted 5 years before failing as described above. Now I am using a Cooler Master that has run fine for 2.5 years.

[Mute]

The second rad is overkill unless you plan on major overclocking at all times. If you plan on rigid tubing don't overcut, you can always cut more. You can't add back on. Also, make sure to plan for an easier draining solution. You should probably flush the system and put new coolant about once a year to keep everything working in top condition.

[Marauder2003]

[the86d]

In case of leak/burst, water and electronics don't mix.

If you have money to blow, and want it, I say go ahead, but personally still not sure about water in my case...
As I don't have the cash right now to replace an i7 8-core machine, in case of a leak.

I hear water cooled run WAY cooler...?

[Dirtlaw]

In case of leak/burst, water and electronics don't mix.

If you have money to blow, and want it, I say go ahead, but personally still not sure about water in my case...
As I don't have the cash right now to replace an i7 8-core machine, in case of a leak.

I hear water cooled run WAY cooler...?

About 10 years ago I lost a machine due to a leak. It CAN happen.

[MrFancyPants]

The second rad is overkill unless you plan on major overclocking at all times.

I think for some systems this is true. The more I'm reading from others who have similar setups, especially regarding the 3080, it seems having a second radiator allows for a more quiet system as the rad fans don't have to spin as fast to maintain a cooler temp, which in turn means the pump also doesn't have spin as fast, which should prolong the life. I'll probably do it, it's just about another $75 for the second radiator, a drop in the bucket for peace of mind.

The other option I'm considering is only putting the GPU in the water loop with the one radiator, and getting a Noctua D15 for the processor, since that thing apparently cools extremely well and is near silent.

I don't have much expertise but in my experience, it can be a hassle down the line dealing with the components as they age and your PC starts to run hot. Like, everything is fine for a few years, you maybe stop paying attention to the temperature, and the pump can start to gradually fail without you realizing it, maybe you notice and you pull out the pump to fiddle with it and then it fails completely. It becomes like dealing with a bad radiator or water pump on a car... replace every 90k miles just in case. I always just bought mine as one complete unit and installed as intended.

I used an Asetek that lasted 5 years before failing as described above. Now I am using a Cooler Master that has run fine for 2.5 years.

Awesome input, thanks! I chose the Swiftech pump/res since the pump is common and can be replaced by itself, and just the pump is cheap enough. Other than maybe the radiators corroding, that should be the only piece that would need to be replaced over time.

In case of leak/burst, water and electronics don't mix.

If you have money to blow, and want it, I say go ahead, but personally still not sure about water in my case...
As I don't have the cash right now to replace an i7 8-core machine, in case of a leak.

I hear water cooled run WAY cooler...?

Honestly if it wasn't for the 3080 having a water block, I likely wouldn't be going this route, but my hand is forced. I mean I could buy a fan cooler for the card and replace the water block with it, I just don't want to mess with it, would rather run it as is. Besides at this point I'm already committed having bought most of the parts.

Water cooled PCs can run cooler if done right, and it's typically only pursued by those who want to squeeze every last MHz out of their PC, or those who want a completely silent PC, and then of course there are the "LAN party" guys who do it just because it looks cool...

About 10 years ago I lost a machine due to a leak. It CAN happen.

I know that's a possibility. That's why I'm doing all the research I can now to ensure I put together a solid, leak-free loop. Hopefully it doesn't become an issue.

[dm_twilight]

In case of leak/burst, water and electronics don't mix.

If you have money to blow, and want it, I say go ahead, but personally still not sure about water in my case...
As I don't have the cash right now to replace an i7 8-core machine, in case of a leak.

I hear water cooled run WAY cooler...?

Generally distilled water is used. Cleaner and potentially dye is added but nevertheless a leak is often not quite as bad as you'd think.

A water cooled system can run significantly cooler, but it really only helps for a system that demands it. I've mainly dealt with CPU cooling in which the manufacturers tune the CPUs pretty far down for safety. A good fan will almost always negate throttling - if you're not overclocking additional cooling is pretty pointless in that case. I suppose it could extend the life of the unit but I've found even overworked CPUs last quite a while (if they make it past the first month, that is.)

[high_revs]

ymmv.. this is one of the videos i looked at to decide. the other one was that linus youtuber?

https://youtu.be/7VzXHUTqE7E

i went with an air cooler on mine. though i did have "in hindsight" moments seeing some issues if you don't plan the install well, or haven't assembled one in a looong time (so long ide and eide were the cable standards ha!).

i had to remove the air cooler to install the ram. no way it would mount with it on. so had to clean/redo the thermal paste. also i found i'll have to unmount the mobo again if i want to use the fan header on the top left hand side. i barely got my hands thru to put the cpu power (both of them). i had trouble realizing fan headers to connectors (fan headers had 4 pins, fans had 3). so i was stumped for a while but luckily the case had a splitter. i guess it'll be easier if i wanted to change the rear fan to an rgb in the future rather than unmount the mobo to pull the connector.

[ibanezfoo]

We have about 100 water cooled computers here with our CAD guys (Boxx - factory overclocked). Air cooled actually cools better and is quieter if you use a big cooler and a big slow fan. Water cooled I'd say is more consistent though, across the board. There are some caveats... we've replaced a number of burned out CPUs and GPUs... You have to keep the radiator clean, no dust bunnies. Sometimes the pumps fail and you don't have an indication. Sometimes they click, or buzz or make some weird squeak or whatever, but often they don't. You probably know, but they don't actually have water in the coolers. Its some mountain dew looking stuff similar to whats in your car radiator, but it doesn't smell like car coolant.

If you aren't doing some serious overclocking, forget it, just use an air cooler.

I should note in all the water cooled machines we've had over the years I can't remember a single one ever leaking.

[Creeping Incrementalism]

lightning strike fried something. Luckily it was still available. Saved me a reinstall of Win 7, SQL, VS, etc, etc.

When my water pump failed and my computer kept shutting down because the CPU was overheating, after I replaced my cooling system, my PC was still randomly locking up. I replaced the CPU, and the same bizarre lockups happened. I ended up getting a new computer at that point because I figured the CPU socket had been damaged by the heat... at least that was my guess. But yeah, what a pain in the ***. If only I had just done "preventative maintenance" on my cooling system.... because not only did the pump fail, when I went to check it, I noticed the radiator's fan was jammed and had what looked like a year or two's worth of dust on it...

Point of the story is, liquid cooled CPUs is not for lazy people who aren't into preventative maintenance, as I was.

[Uncivil Engineer]

You can get flow meters and temp senors if you are worried about failures getting ignored. As for leaks there are a few pump systems out there that will put a bit of air pressure. It's not that much pressure as it's looking for water leaks and you don't want to cause deal damage but if it holds air for a while it should be good for water.
Noise is usually down to fan quality , size, speed and airflow. Water-cooling allows you to use more fans and larger ones usually directly on the radiator as compared to the one or two you could put on a straight air cooler. So to get the best noise reduction you want the largest fans you can get and possibly more with the hope to run them much slower. You will move the same amount of air but create less noise. A water system also had more heat capacity in the system so variance in heat gets smoothed out. There is nothing wrong with air-cooled but there are a ton of good options for water cooled. I think it mostly comes down to how much work do you want to put into it.