An EK-focused, hard-tubing water-cooled PC based on the Hyte Y60. This is my first ever custom liquid cooled build, and was quite a learning experience. I'd long wanted to do a custom loop, but for various reasons stuck with tried and true air coolers and AIOs. But with video cards getting hotter and heavier, I though that water-cooling a GPU was not just going to be beneficial, but practically a requirement if I didn't want super loud fans and a sagging GPU. I watched how my 2080 Ti would trap hot air in my Orange Crush build, and I wanted to avoid that.

I considered the O11, but the fact that, well, everyone used it made me want to consider something unique. I've really liked Fractal cases, but I lamented the fact I couldn't see my orange front panel on my Meshify C due to the angle it was at. But when I saw the Hyte Y60, I knew where it was going. It was perfect for that space. I was worried a bit when Steve at GN complained about the amount of plastic, but when he gave it case of the year, that sealed the deal. To my delight, my worries about rigidity were unfounded; the top and side panels are actually quite solid and build quality is fantastic. He really doesn't give it enough praise.

I'm a big cyberpunk fan (the genre, not just the game), and I settled on violet as my main color. This varied a bit as you see, though the coolant and accent rings on the fittings are violet. I really liked the look of EK fittings and blocks, and I settled on those as a standard. Trying to decide on where and how to mount the pump and reservoir was a big challenge, and I looked at other builds here on this site for inspiration. But ultimately I went with a different direction, and opted to remove the rear exhaust fan in favor of an FLT120. I opted for the DDC as I was going to be pushing water through two rads and two blocks, and figured the static pressure would be helpful there. I mounted an EK's aluminum cover for the DDC pump to help with it's cooling, but it only gets warm to the touch.

I'd never bent hard tubing before, but I gave it my best shot with silicone inserts, mildly soapy water, a heat gun and patience. I didn't ruin too many tubes, and ended up adjusting a bend or two. The 180* bends were the hardest as it was really difficult to nail the spacing. I kept eying the thing from different angles, tying my brain in knots visualizing this in 3D. Ultimately I ended up eyeballing it and adjusting as needed.

Speaking of visualizing, I used chenille sticks/pipe cleaners stuck in various fittings to try and map out where I wanted the tubes to go. I ran a few different schemes before settling on this one.

Fittings! It was really hard to figure out at times which fittings I was going to need. The different tube size options don't help matters any, and I still don't understand the different benefits they give. I opted for 16mm because, well, seemed alright. Measuring offsets was a pain. I did my best with my set of calipers.

Radiators are the new EK Quantums. The side mount sports the thick version, while the thin version is up top. Now EK's configurator will tell you it fits, while Hyte's specifications suggest it shouldn't. The truth is that it takes the height just fine, but the length makes it snug. The holder wants to really nudge against the ports, and you'll need to "snap" it in place unless you want to let it bend a bit. Ultimately I didn't need to do any case modifications, but watch when screwing in the top radiator holder, as the length of the EK unit means the holes will be slightly offset, and you'll need to persuade it to line up a bit to avoid driving the screws in at an angle an stripping the holes.

I ran EK's Superflush through after a day of straight distilled water for testing. Unfortunately, I think the latter put a slight discoloration on one spot of my GPU waterblock, and there's one nagging spot where a little bit of orange is showing. My fault.

Worse though, is after I did the SuperFlush, I got a weird fogginess on in the reservoir and GPU waterblock. I've no idea what it's from. I ran the SuperFlush, then rinsed it out with distilled, then filled with EK Violet Cryofuel (Distilled + concentrate). I can live with it, but it's not quite the "crystal clear" look I was hoping for and that I saw with straight distilled. If anyone can suggest what I should have done differently, let me know.

Otherwise, it's been a long project, made longer by a lot of reading, watching, measuring, cutting, heating, sanding, etc. Thanks to the Builds.gg community, Reddit /r/Watercooling, Jay's Two Cents, Designs by IFR, and others for insight.

Got questions, ask away below, and I'll do my best to answer. Thanks!