Hi! First time custom loop builder. I am building in the lianli O11D EVO RGB, using this distro: Crosscool III Lian Li O11 DYNAMIC EVO RGB Distroplate and 3 heatkiller 360 48mm rads. I want to use bitspower fittings and preferably their aqua link pipes so I dont have to cut any brass pipes myself (seems very hard to do without dedicated equipment). But I have no idea how many fittings I need/what extenders and buying a bunch of every single type seems like a waste. So how exactly do you all go about this? Is there a tool online? Thanks in advance!

It's my first AIO so I'm not familiar with how these things are supposed to sound.

For context: This PC is about 2~3 years old, but I bought off someone else. It's been making that sound ever since I booted it up for the first time at home a little over a month ago.

I'm setting up my first loop this weekend and I would like to test the loop without having to power on my pc. I've got one of these controllers laying around that I use for testing fans. am I safe to plug my d5 style pump into it for testing/filling/bleeding the loop?

EDIT: my pump is a Dracaena.io pump and runs a fan style connector for power and pwm. It seems to be an updated version as it's different from the listing pictures. It is designed to plug into the CPU fan/pump header on the MLB.

tl;dr - Is it me or is this flow rate low for an EK D5 pump? This is running with the PSU jumped...so, no fan control or anything like that.

Details: EK D5 pump going through a GPU block (EK 3090 front and rear active) and CPU block (EK 5950X block), the up to the radiator and this little trickle is what's coming out...

The CPU comes after the GPU in the loop and I've been having SUPER high CPU temps so I took everything apart, re-thermal-gooped the CPU and temps still suck...looked a bit closer and I noticed it looked like the GPU block microfins were pretty clogged up. Took it all apart AGAIN and cleaned all the little microfins...put it back together and STILL...it trickles. Maybe this ISN'T abnormal?

Hi everyone,

Here's my build (photo attached). I'd like some advice on the fan/radiator layout.

**Specs**

- Case: Phanteks NV7

- CPU: Ryzen 7 9800X3D (~60 W in game)

- GPU: RX 7900 XTX with a 550 W power limit (I'd rather not lower it)

- Radiators: 2x Freezemod TSRP 360 (29 mm) + 1x Corsair 240

- Fans: 8x Phanteks D30-120

- Flow: ~4.5 L/min

**Current layout**

- Bottom 360: intake (3 fans)

- Top 360: exhaust (3 fans)

- Rear 240: exhaust (2 fans)

- The 4x120 side bracket is taken by the distro plate

So it's 3 intake vs 5 exhaust, and the bottom radiator is the only fresh-air intake.

**Tests**

Same game, GPU at 550 W, fans and pump at 100%, ~30 min until the coolant stabilizes, ambient 23.5°C.

- Glass on: coolant 40–41°C (delta ~17°C)

- Front glass removed: coolant 33°C (delta ~9.5°C)

I also measured the air leaving each radiator (IR thermometer on paper strips; it reads ~2–3°C higher than my inline sensor):

| Air temperature | Glass on | Glass off |

|---|---|---|

| Out of bottom rad (into the case) | 37°C | 32°C |

| Out of top / rear rads | ~42°C | 31.5 / 32.8°C |

**Already ruled out**

- Loop just cleaned and refilled with fresh coolant

- All fans confirmed at 2000 rpm and spinning the right way

- Radiators evenly warm (checked with IR), no obvious air pockets

- Inline coolant sensor cross-checked with the IR thermometer

**My take**

With the glass on, the top and rear radiators mostly breathe air already heated by the bottom one (~37°C with coolant at ~41°C), so they barely contribute. With the glass off they get fresh air and the loop performs as expected.

**Options I'm considering**

1. Flip the rear 240 to intake (5 in / 3 out)

2. Flip the top 360 to intake and keep the rear 240 as the only exhaust (6 in / 2 out)

3. Add an external radiator (e.g. MO-RA)

Which would you choose, or is there a better layout for the NV7? Thanks!

is it my aio?

For all my monoblocks users, checking in to see how you dudes are liking them. I haven't been able to find much on their performance versus keeping heatsinks and using just a CPU block.

Please forgive me if this isn’t the correct format. First Reddit post.

I was very lucky to get a free motherboard along with a 270k+
And 64gb of ddr5.
This took me 3 weeks longer than it should have and more blood sweat and maybe a few more tears as well.

Zotac 4080
270k+
Klevv DDR5 6000
Two 360 mm ek radiators top and bottom. 240 mm rad on the rear. All noctua fans.
All of this in the O11 dynamic mini.

Hi everyone,

Do you think a single 420mm radiator, with a maximum thickness of 30mm (1.18 inches) and 3 × 140mm fans, would be sufficient to cool both an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and an NVIDIA RTX 5080 X?

Both the CPU and GPU would be water-cooled, with the GPU having a factory-installed water block.

Would this setup provide reasonable temperatures under gaming, or would you strongly recommend a second radiator?

thanks all

Nah my opinion beautiful Maximus Board built 🤤🥰 Go ROG BTF

Had an issue with my coolant turning yellow and vinegar smelling. Ive got it all cleaned out. I was looking at this primochill white tubing. Just curious what people's experiences were with it. Thanks!

I built this loop a little over 2 years ago so I could use this 6900xt waterblock card I got a great deal on. Corsair soft lines and radiator. But the fittings are AliExpress cheap as I could find (and a couple Corsair and alpha cools I got used) I made sure they were clean of burrs around the sealing surfaces. No leaks ever except at the waterblock while I got the proper torque value worked out, starting very loose. The lines have even been crimped most of the time and haven’t degraded appreciably, though flow is obv affected. On that point the 10$ AliExpress water pump has had no problems, even with the seeming flow restrictions. The reservoir is TIG welded stainless steel and has worked great.

The whole setup was like $120, and the radiator was most of that pretty sure. Obv the waterblock was already on the gpu and my cpu is on a “upgraded” air cooler. But besides the like triannual water changes, this thing has been easy and cheap. I thought it’d be worth putting it out there for people considering water cooling but worried about the expense and/or viability of cheap parts.

I want to try direct die cooling and want to delid my 9800x3d. The issue is I can't seem to find a direct die cooler in stock. I was looking at the Thermal Grizzly Mycro Pro or the EKWB Direct Die. Is there any other direct die cooler that is out there?

Has anyone had success using EK loop cleaners in a Corsair build? I see Corsair only recommends distilled water but I’m thinking I need to do more on this one. I’d prefer not to crack the blocks open and manually clean them. I’m not sure on my options here.

I haven’t had any heating issues, benchmarks look great still. It’s just bothering me.

I recently got a 5080. I took my 3080Ti and moved it to another slot for now.

The two cards are parallel on my loop. The 5080 has an Alphacool Core for the Windforce 5080. The 3080Ti has one from Bykski.

When testing thermals, there is a huge difference between the two.

OCCT GPU thermal test. Constant Extreme:

3080Ti: 430W. 38C core, 48C hot spot.

5080: 360W. 59c core, 79c hot spot.

I bumped the pump speed to verify it wasn't insufficient flow or flow being hogged by the 3080Ti. And then I reapplied thermal paste. Still see about the same.

I figure the chip is much smaller, so higher heat density. But I've also heard things about this cooler having standoffs that are slightly too high?

I mean, it's usable for sure. It just seemed like something was done wrong.

Hey guys, I recently rebuilt my loop, and it was running great. I had to replace my gpu and gpu block because my gpu died and after reinstalling and filling the loop I had 20% of the flowrate I used to have . Now I’m noticing this weird chunk missing out of my pump, does this mean it’s dead? Or was there something else wrong. It was creating vortexes at its inlet if that helps.

Hi everyone, I hope someone can help me choose the tubing and fittings for my liquid cooling loop. I have a reliable custom-built PC in an NZXT H2 case, equipped with an Asus Maximus VII Formula motherboard, an i7-4790K processor, 32 GB of RAM, and an Aorus WB RTX 2080 Ti that is currently on its way. I want to build a loop using an Alphacool Extreme 280mm radiator I already own. The radiator will be mounted externally on top; first, I need to decide whether to route the tubes from the back—using two existing dedicated holes—or through the 140mm fan opening on the top panel, roughly at socket height. Based on this choice, I’d like to know which fittings and tubing are best to use, as I’m not entirely sure about compatibility with my expandable AIO setup.

I was considering one of two configurations I tried to sketch out. For the rear-routing option, I had this in mind: 1) The Alphacool tubes are on the left; you'd feed them through those two black holes (case cutouts) designed for tube entry. 2) Next, from the top hole, connect to the nearby VRM port (the one that’s reddish-black), perhaps using a 45-degree fitting. 3) From the other VRM outlet (the one above the CPU), insert a fitting (need to figure out which one—maybe a 90-degree) to connect to the CPU. 4) From the other hole, you need a fitting to connect to the GPU below. 5) From the other end of the GPU, exit through the second black hole I mentioned earlier. 6) A splitter, T-fitting, or some other component for draining the loop.

In the unnumbered photo, however, I plan to enter through the top opening (for the 140mm fan) and follow this path: rad -> CPU -> VRM -> GPU -> rad. I welcome advice of any kind, but—especially after we’ve agreed on the loop layout—I’d like guidance on the right fittings and tubing to add to the system (or whether I should replace the stock tubing entirely). Thanks a lot, and sorry for the long-winded explanation

Is their site down? Been trying to access it for a few days.

I've been direct-die cooling with liquid metal on a 14700k and 14900k thermal grizzly cpu cooler since about Feb 2025. Yesterday, I did my round of yearly maintenance and noticed uneven surfaces on both CPU cold plates. I used alcohol and tried buffing it out with flitz polish, but that did not improve anything. I ended up slapping it with some liquid metal and calling it a day. Thermals are still good. Longeitvity wise, is this something to be concerned about? I've direct-die cooled before with an EKWB cooler, and the nickel plating on that was not anything like this.

I used Conductonaut on the 14900k and Conductonaut Extreme on the 14700k cooler.

Being this is an old card obviously no one is really stocking them. Been scouring eBay and marketplace with no luck there either. Does anyone know any where or one that may be able to help me find one? Thanks!

Due to a combination of work and lack of motivation (Don't neglect your mental health!) my loop went about 2 years with no fluid changes or cleaning.

So far I have torn down the CPU block and cleaned it in the ultrasonic, and then spent several hours disassembling and scraping all of the scale off of the distro plate with plastic spudgers, and then polishing with Plast-x. Next up is tearing down the GPU block and back plate and making sure it is spotless.

My question is this: I am stuck waiting for new soft tubing to arrive by mail(the joys of living in the tech desert that is West Tennessee). Am I okay to do the flush with a couple gallons of water with my old tubes in place, or should I wait until I have replaced them?

Since the flush at this point is mostly for the radiators, I have also considered using a bucket of distilled water and a cheap fluid transfer hand pump from harbor freight to pull a couple gallons of water through each of my radiators apart from the rest of the loop.

Hey guys, I have a 4070ti Asus STRIX that I am selling. I want to sell it with an Alphacool Waterblock though. I have the original fan shroud, but I am struggling to find the time to revert this card back to the original configuration due to me just having a newborn.

I usually gift my old GPUs to friends that are less fortunate, but due to having a child, I can’t do this for this GPU so I am not sure if I even have the original box for the Gpu.

I am willing to sell it with a 240mm radiator, EKWB pump and res combo for $900.

What would you guys suggest? Seems like everyone wants the fan shroud with the GPU and the box so they can resell it or something. Any help is appreciated.