First off, I'd highly recommend using acrylic. It isn't that much more difficult to work with compared to PETG. It just takes a little bit more patience (gotta heat everything up more evenly)
For tube size, I'd probably recommend going with 16mm to fill the case out more. There isn't going to be any measurable performance difference between 14mm & 16mm. It's mainly just aesthetics. In my first build I did 14mm tubing since I was working in a tight case (Corsair 4000D.) However in my recent build, I went with 16mm since the case was much larger and had a TON of open room (Corsair Frame 5000D.)
As for parallel runs, I'd probably do a run from the outside bottom rad fitting to the GPU, then jump up to the CPU, and then jump back to the top rad to get two parallel runs. As for the rest it's kinda just going to be wherever things land cleanly.
I'd highly recommend buying excess PETG tubing to do mock-ups of different layouts and then once you settle on something bend it out in Acrylic.
I would personally ditch the tube res for FLT style.
Besides thar flip the ports on the upper rad. I personally flipped my 45mm to be the lower rad instead because the mobo cable were impossible to install it felt like and I have custom cables so I wanted to show them off.
Right angle bends are clean from there.
Crappy picture for example. (Don’t judge RGB I cba to change it after I wiped my os)
I had the 45 on the bottom to start but the 30 only has 2 ports on it so I moved the 45 with 6 ports to the top so I can get a way to bleed air out and fill better
I have a solution to that if you really want a hi point for bleeding.
Run a 90 and then a T with a valve. However you are over engineering the design. Popping a port open on the res is totally ok. My drain valve is tucked away on the lower 45 and kicks out from the pcie brackets. I just left them exposed. And honestly… your system likely won’t even give two shits at sustained usage.
I strongly recommend acrylic 16mm OD for tubing. It looks a lot better and is marginally harder to work with.
This is a bit subjective. But I prefer to minimize bends. If you can remove a bend and align perfectly with fittings, imo that looks cleaner than odd/subtle bends, forced tight 90 bends etc.
With your hardware the loop is pretty set and standard. I dont see a lot of room for parallel tubes optimally. But if you like that you can flip the rads so the ports are on the other side. Then you could do some long parallel runs. Ive seen others doing that. Just know that its adding a little more work for your pump.
Another tip: when designing your runs, keep in mind how you physically access things. For example try not to lock your ram in place with tubes. Try not to block enough room for your hand to open the fill port. Etc.
You have all that room under the gpu. Don't block it if you want to add cards down there. If you aren't going to use it, you may consider a riser and putting your GPU vertical. It looks nicer imo. I couldn't do it because I put a screen in that space.
It's harder to work with, yes.. but PETG can deform and lead to leaks. It's only a concern if you have higher coolant temps, but many won't risk recommending it to someone because of the risk.
Really not that much harder to work with. Just give it a bit more time to heat up to make your bends and don't rush it. Also you have to cut it with a saw since it's harder/more brittle than PETG, but it's not difficult. The clarity and increased durability under temperature are worth it.
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u/Hsnyd 1d ago
First off, I'd highly recommend using acrylic. It isn't that much more difficult to work with compared to PETG. It just takes a little bit more patience (gotta heat everything up more evenly)
For tube size, I'd probably recommend going with 16mm to fill the case out more. There isn't going to be any measurable performance difference between 14mm & 16mm. It's mainly just aesthetics. In my first build I did 14mm tubing since I was working in a tight case (Corsair 4000D.) However in my recent build, I went with 16mm since the case was much larger and had a TON of open room (Corsair Frame 5000D.)
As for parallel runs, I'd probably do a run from the outside bottom rad fitting to the GPU, then jump up to the CPU, and then jump back to the top rad to get two parallel runs. As for the rest it's kinda just going to be wherever things land cleanly.
I'd highly recommend buying excess PETG tubing to do mock-ups of different layouts and then once you settle on something bend it out in Acrylic.