What block?

[ZeroInfinity94]

Hello guys.

Well now I might finally have a GPU that's going to last me a few years and I will be happy with, I want to put both my CPU and GPU under water.
So as a complete novice I don't have a clue what blocks to get.
What blocks have a good track record?
Does is matter if the block is nickel plated?
Correct me if am wrong here but I assume the material of the top of the block makes no difference to cooling.

Now why do this? simple I want to keep my rig as cool and quiet as possible and air cooling while its served me well for a few years can get pretty noisy even using slow spinning fans and a quiet optimized case.

Anyway cheers for reading and thanks for any and all replies and help.

 

[SparkleDJackson]

personally i like ek waterblocks myself. i like the clearness that you can see everything. it makes me happy. you can use the cooling configurator to see what blocks they make suit your application. they dont make dedicated blocks for all cards so some end up only being coolable with a universal block which imo look gash. xspcs raystorm line is dope. the cpu bracket is a little crap as its made of plexi but you can get a aluminium bracket as an alternative i have seen on aquatuning i believe. they are the only two that i have used and i am happy enough with the results.
some said to me once that it is best to have the same material for both blocks. of if you have a cpu block thats raw copper get a gpu block that is also raw copper. if you have nickel plated a get nickel plated b. which i dont understand because i cant imagine the inside of my radiators are nickel plated lol.

 

[ZeroInfinity94]

The graphics card am trying to get my hands on is a reference PCB so black compatibility isn't really a problem.
EK do make so very good looking blocks and I have heard a lot of good things about them through my research.
To be honest I will probably go for copper throughout any way, I like how copper looks and they are slightly cheaper so win win.

 

[SparkleDJackson]

well then sir best of luck. just be ready when it comes time to pay for fittings. obscene price. i have spent hundreds of pounds on fittings and half have ended up in the bin for leaking (rotary fittings).

 

[shambles1980]

i like to check which block keeps the vrm's coolest, barring a 1-2c the blocks them selfs usually perform about the same. so i worry most about the vrm's with ho air flow they need to be cooled down adequatley, and some blocks are lacking in that department.
EK usually do pretty well though, so does xspc..

if they are in the same ball park then its just asthetics.

 

[Asperatis]

I can recommend the ek blocks as I'm using these myself. Nickel&copper can be mixed without problems, as long as you don't add in aluminum anywhere, that'll give you a corrosion party in your loop combined with copper.
Not a fan of rotary fittings myself either as every point where it can turn is an extra potential spot for leaks

 

[ZeroInfinity94]

Well then looks like am going for the EK blocks not a fan of the looks of the XSPC blocks.
I won't be using rotary fittings to be fair, just going to use soft tubing then later down the line I might try a hard tubing set up.

 

[shambles1980]

instead of rotary i use angle fittings, they do add up a bit more expensive as you need 2 barbs/compression + the angle fitting per angle.

like these:

i trust them more than rotary fittings.
as you can see 1 of them has a thread so you can connect it to the block rad pump etc..
and the other one has an inside thread, so you can attach a barb or compression fitting on both ends.
they do help, making the loop work better. (cleaner looking run)

 

[BigDaddyKong]

I use XSPC, but the EK blocks are really nice too.

 

[Asperatis]

Yh shambles indeed sometimes you do need one of those. It's an extra cost but it can save you loads of trouble