Liquid.cool vortex one opinions?

[Eoindude]

Hi guys,
I've been looking at getting into liquid cooling and with Maplin shutting down they have the above water cooling kit for a measly 50 ish euro! I think it normally runs about 150 or so. Has anyone had any experience with this kit or know in terms of quality etc?? Thanks in advance!! Here's a link to the kit in question.

https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Liquidcool-Vortex-One-Advanced-DIY-240mm-Water-Cooling-Kit-Retail-Boxed_65599.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw3cPYBRB7EiwAsrc-uYK_i2jSi02B5BsVRpek4Z0VIUgtbhb1HTB6E4ynCL6Wf3SJyAdgDxoC3yUQAvD_BwE&nosto=frontpage-nosto-2

 

[AlienALX]

Block is Chinese. They are about £8 on Ebay. Rad is apparently copper, which is good. Res is again Chinese (about £12) but pump top is quite nice. Pump is obviously unbranded, so I can't offer you any assistance there. Not sure I would use the flow meter either, as cheap ones are known to fail but YMMV.

For 50 Euro? grab it. BTW I am not saying any of the above is bad, just saying it's cheap Chinese. I've had a lot of fun using that stuff and there's really not anything majorly wrong with it.

 

[Eoindude]

Hi Alien,
Cheers for that it sounds about what I expected for that price! It seems like a fairly cheap way to get into water cooling and I can upgrade bits as I go! Should be a cheap bit of fun anyway! Might pick it up for the fun. I suppose as long as I don't expect EK levels of quality for what I'm buying I should be fine. Time to rewatch some tutorials haha

 

[Warchild]

Hi Alien,
Cheers for that it sounds about what I expected for that price! It seems like a fairly cheap way to get into water cooling and I can upgrade bits as I go! Should be a cheap bit of fun anyway! Might pick it up for the fun. I suppose as long as I don't expect EK levels of quality for what I'm buying I should be fine. Time to rewatch some tutorials haha

May blocks perform the same, you pay for the name. As long as it is good acrylic POM/Acetal in other words, as long as it doesnt crack over time then go for it.

I see nothing wrong with this kit. Liquid cool has suddenly popped up in stores in Norway too. Their coolant selection looks pretty good. I was actually waiting for reviews before trying some.

EK Cryofuel is a definate no go. It is leaving deposits in my blocks and res. Regardless of the fact they say it doesnt.

Anyways... for that price. Go for it! You can upgrade and expand later on.

 

[Eoindude]

Thanks for the advice guys! Took the plunge and picked it up today. Let's see how the build goes!!!! My pc will never be the same again haha

 

[Eoindude]

Quick update for anyone interested, did the install between last night and this morning and all is well! Leak test is going well all dry and bled without issue. Was surprisingly easy to put together too once you watch a few tutorials. Few notes on it so far, the pump isn't very quiet and is not adjustable so it runs at 12 volts all the time. It gives off a high pitched whine when it's running which is noticeable over fan noise. Other than that seems like decent quality for the price. I'd say the first thing I'll be looking to upgrade in the future will be the pump to get an adjustable unit for a bit less noise. All in all im happy enough for now!

 

[NeverBackDown]

I belive there are guides online on how to splice the wires and make it so it runs at a lower voltage. It won't be adjustable but it'll slow it down.

Otherwise yeah you should get a D5 Vario/Variable pump. Legendary reliability. It's pretty much the only thing I ever see people recommend. Nobody talks about DDCs anymore last time I looked into watercooling.

 

[Warchild]

I belive there are guides online on how to splice the wires and make it so it runs at a lower voltage. It won't be adjustable but it'll slow it down.

Otherwise yeah you should get a D5 Vario/Variable pump. Legendary reliability. It's pretty much the only thing I ever see people recommend. Nobody talks about DDCs anymore last time I looked into watercooling.

Nah DDC is still a fantastic pump. It is superior to a D5 when it comes to PSI and head pressure.

My D5 needs to be run at max to pump my loop in its current state. My MCP35x did it easily at just 40% pwm. Only reason i switched was for the cascade reservoir. D5 wins over pump noise though, cant compete with the soft purring sound it makes.

I would say, if going for D5 get the EK variant which has PWM control. Provides more control over the basic vario setings of 1-5 which need to be manually tweaked. EK pump can be done from software.

When i get the 1000D, I'm switching back to my DDC, it whines a little but at least I know I can get a good 1GPM flow without cranking it to maximum.

 

[AlienALX]

Quick update for anyone interested, did the install between last night and this morning and all is well! Leak test is going well all dry and bled without issue. Was surprisingly easy to put together too once you watch a few tutorials. Few notes on it so far, the pump isn't very quiet and is not adjustable so it runs at 12 volts all the time. It gives off a high pitched whine when it's running which is noticeable over fan noise. Other than that seems like decent quality for the price. I'd say the first thing I'll be looking to upgrade in the future will be the pump to get an adjustable unit for a bit less noise. All in all im happy enough for now!

I would either buy a single "twist" fan controller for the pump (PCI bracket type) or wire it 7v. Nobody usually runs any pump at 12v dude. Look up the 7v PSU hack. IIRC (only saying this in case coffee has not had enough effect yet) you use the yellow 12v wire as + and the red 5v+ as the - for 7v. I would not run it slower than 7v as it may "stall" and you end up with no flow.

 

[Warchild]

I would either buy a single "twist" fan controller for the pump (PCI bracket type) or wire it 7v. Nobody usually runs any pump at 12v dude. Look up the 7v PSU hack. IIRC (only saying this in case coffee has not had enough effect yet) you use the yellow 12v wire as + and the red 5v+ as the - for 7v. I would not run it slower than 7v as it may "stall" and you end up with no flow.

D5 is often run at full throttle because its so quiet and less powerful. For pumps, I am against rewiring unless you know what you are doing. I have seen many go wrong.

I would say based on reviews on this kit (which have been positive) Stick with that pump a while longer and upgrade to a D5 or DDC combo later.

EK DDC combo pwm version (cheaper if you opt for non pwm)

EK D5 variant (again, cheaper one available if you go for non PWM)

 

[Eoindude]

Hey guys sorry I'm so late getting back to us been a busy few days. I looked up the 7 volt mod and I think for now I might go with the single fan controller it feels a bit safer rather than using 5 volts as ground. I'll be looking into upgrading the pump down the line the d5 pwm seems ideal! But I'm not in a rush to upgrade anything yet I'm happy out considering the price I paid! I will be picking up a few bits alright like a few extra tube fittings so I can put in the flow meter and an easy way of draining the system. There is only barely enough fittings so you have to make a choice e between installing the flow meter and having a secure fill port so I went with the fill port. I might change the fans out for 4 pin one too since my motherboard can't control any of the 3 pin headers so the fans are just constant at 1000 rpm. Thanks for all the help! I think I'm hooked on water cooling already!