First water cooled build

Water cooling involves putting liquid inside a computer on purpose. Every instinct says this is wrong. But I wanted to learn.

Honest review: it is hard, it is expensive, and for the performance gains alone it is completely not worth it. A good air cooler gets you 90 percent of the way there for way less money and zero fear of a leak destroying everything.

But I got a really good deal on the parts so I went for it.

Soft tubing is your friend on a first build. Hard tubing looks amazing but you do not need that complexity when you are learning. Leak testing is not optional. Run the pump for 24 hours with the system off and paper towels under every fitting. The anxiety during that 24 hours is worse than any actual leak.

The filling process is actually kind of nice. Watching the liquid slowly work through the loop, chasing air bubbles, topping up the reservoir. Weirdly meditative.

Would I do it again? For a special build maybe. For every build? No chance.