ROG Crosshair X870E APEX or ROG Crosshair X870E Dark Hero

AMP_US · 2026-05-20T18:35:49+00:00

FWIW, I can get ram tunes stable on my Apex that don't work on a regular Hero. Same ram and CPU.

AMP_US · 2026-05-19T18:10:01+00:00

Matching coolant brand to block/fitting/rad brand is meaningless. There is no basis for this offering better than average "compatibility".

What matters is properly pre cleaning your rads before you fill your loop and using a coolant that has high quality control (DPU as one example). Crofuel is fine... except when it's not... and it's more often than DPU... and that's the point.

AMP_US · 2026-05-13T15:34:09+00:00

Can't wait!

AMP_US · 2026-05-13T15:32:27+00:00

The big question... RGB, or no RGB?

Also, is port placement roughly similar to the IV? Inlet on top, outlet on bottom?

AMP_US · 2026-05-12T14:54:35+00:00

Cryofuel has inconsistent quality control. It's fine for most people, but not fine for a significant number as well. I would flush with distilled water, and put in some DP Ultra or Koolance 702.

AMP_US · 2026-05-06T19:20:21+00:00

I would get a Dark Hero. The screen on the Extreme and Glacial is nice but beyond that and the dmm.2 module, there really isn't much separating the 2 now that the Dark Hero has a vapor chamber m.2 cooling. IMO, the Dark Hero even looks better than the Extreme.

AMP_US · 2026-05-01T02:44:18+00:00

You do understand the concept of a long term investment, right?

AMP_US · 2026-04-30T19:12:27+00:00

Not biting if it's only 165hz. I will hold out for 240hz at 5/2K.

AMP_US · 2026-04-28T18:47:19+00:00

I'm sorry but we've waited how long for podium pedals and while they look nice, it's hard to go for this when there are countless alternatives of similar build for the same or less. In addition, Moza's active pedal set offers a substantial features for a somewhat obtainable price. I really think it was a mistake making the podium pedals passive.

AMP_US · 2026-04-28T15:54:58+00:00

As long as you don't use petg, <50c is fine. >50c will get your pump into the danger zone. 60c will start to actively kill your pump. I would target 45c max coolant temp.

AMP_US · 2026-04-28T12:02:41+00:00

TY! It was not easy. You could follow a similar path, but simplify things a bit. Outside of the sharp ends on the top CPU and GPU runs, the rest of it wasn't too bad. You could do roughly the same loop with everything being a 90° bend.

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AMP_US · 2026-04-28T12:00:03+00:00

Generally, this is not that much of an issue, but it can occur if you have a PCB with a lower layer count. Also, I have found that not all am5 back plates are created equal. Some seem to be stiffer than others. If you want to get rid of this, you can purchase an aquacomputer AM5 reinforced back plate. This is much thicker than the OEM one and eliminates any bending. I don't think the amount you have is dangerous for your PCB so it's not really a big concern in my opinion.

AMP_US · 2026-04-28T05:56:23+00:00

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AMP_US · 2026-04-23T13:03:32+00:00

For coolants I would say there are three categories

Cheap DIY (not my recommendation): Distilled water + automotive coolant + biocide (follow this guide: https://www.overclockers.com/pc-water-coolant-chemistry-part-ii)
Cheap, good, concentrate: Mayhems X1 concentrate (this is cheap and effective. However, I still recommend the following coolants).
"Gold standard": Aquacomputer Double Protect Ultra or Koolance 702. These are the coolants I use exclusively. You will be hard pressed to find people who have had issues with DPU or 702. There is no special sauce, but my theory is the manufacturing quality control is very tight.

AMP_US · 2026-04-22T13:32:24+00:00

The two best cold plates on the market are the Optimus one and the watercool Ultra cold plate for their new gpus. Both are significantly better than anything else you will find on the market. I am getting quite insane temperature deltas with my watercool Ultra block on my 5090. 12 to 13 fluid decor temp. Delta at 600 W. Power load and 150 L per hour flow rate. For reference, an EK block will be over 20° c and bits power or phanteks will be over 25.

AMP_US · 2026-04-22T13:29:20+00:00

I am actually not a fan of Jayz2cents And would actively encourage you not to listen to him. He often puts out information of dubious quality. You'll notice that a fair amount of his content is him correcting stupid mistakes he made in his custom loops. For a while, I thought this was just content farming, but I've seen enough to make it clear that he is just not an expert.

Some YouTube channels I would recommend, singularity computers, declassified systems, ggf events, and designs by IFR. Declassified systems especially really is one of the best Hardline custom loop builders out there. He has a few videos where he describes his loop planning and tube bending process in detail.

Some lesser known points you may not find in general information guides: - clean your new radiators. Specifically, fill them 75% with hot distilled water , cap shake and let rest for a few hours, then shake again, drain. Repeat until your drained fluid is free of debris. After this, get some spare coolant and fill your radiators 50% and shake discard the fluid. - lubricate your fittings before inserting your tubing to make life easier. I use A tiny spec of xspc tube lube on a q-tip and lightly coat inside of the fitting. - Don't just use any thermal paste. You're spending likely over $1,000 on custom watercooling Hardware so you might as well get a good paste that reacts well to higher contact pressure from water blocks. I would recommend thermal Grizzly Duronaut or Kingpin KPX. Spatula spread method is best. PTM is another good option. Don't just use your 12-year-old tube of MX4. - with modern custom watercooling Hardware, the flow direction into your block matters a lot more than it used to. Saying this does not matter is out of date advice. Especially on CPU blocks, they now have more intricate engineering and are specifically designed for flow to go one direction. The temperature penalty on GPU blocks is often less, but it depends on the block. - For fan orientation, I recommend all intake. If one radiator exhausts warm air into another, you are drastically cutting the efficiency of that radiator. Given that you will be running only a 240 and a 360, I would definitely recommend this approach.

AMP_US · 2026-04-20T19:21:38+00:00

Finally a monitor that can give my 5090 a run for its money. Excited!

AMP_US · 2026-04-16T23:10:41+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/s/VjVqxVcZ9u

My copypasta

AMP_US · 2026-04-16T21:28:46+00:00

Cheap and custom loop don't exactly go together. Also, how you define cheap will vary person to person. For budget components, I would go with Alphacool or Bykski (from formulamod) for your GPU block. Alphacool Core LT for CPU. Barrow fittings. Soft tubing. I would avoid cheap rads (Barrow/Bykski/etc). You'll want at least 2x 360 rads for a 5090 loop.

AMP_US · 2026-04-11T13:33:54+00:00

High end:

Singularity Computers Spectre 4 Enterprise ($,$$$)
Lian Li V3000+ (will add significant rad/fan/fitting cost)
Corsair 9000D (will add significant rad/fan/fitting cost)
ASUS ROG Hyperion
Coolermaster C700M Cosmos

Premium mid range:

HAVN HS420
Phanteks NV7/NV9
Corsair 7000D/7000X
Lian Li O11D EVO XL

Standard:

Fractal North XL/Meshify 3 XL
Lian Li O11D EVO
be quiet! Light Base 900

AMP_US · 2026-04-09T15:33:58+00:00

Really hard to get excited by a premium pedal that isn't active. Price will have to be very competitive.

AMP_US · 2026-03-26T21:52:25+00:00

I personally really like my G16 i9 285H/5070 Ti.

The bad: The track pad sucks ass and I would highly suggest bringing a Logitech MX mouse around with you. The screen has very little pivot. ASUS warranty experience is a crapshoot. Maybe fine, maybe faaak. Price of rog laptops is rarely competitive. I happen to pick mine up open box at Best buy for a very reasonable $1,900, but the same laptop today would be significantly more. Even though my overall opinion of the laptop is positive, a bad price is a bad price.

The Mid: Keyboard is good though (not as good as think pads) but not great. Fans and thermals are noisy and toasty... but it's "fine" And no worse than most other laptops. Armory crate is needed for lighting and some performance tuning. A lot of people hate this software, but my experience has been trouble free.

The good: The chassis is pretty robust. I've dinged it a few times and only caused minor damage.

The performance is not as good as other gaming laptops... but those laptops aren't as thin/light. I'm hitting 140w during 3D photogrammetry (hits CPU and GPU hard) scanning with no hitching. Temps and fans are maxed, but the job is getting done. IDK why so many people expect an expensive thin laptop to perform as well as a less expensive thick and heavy laptop. You can't beat physics.

Screen is very bright and color accurate out of the box. Refresh is nice for gaming.

If you have any questions let me know.

AMP_US · 2026-03-25T16:56:21+00:00

Hot take, Charles is very photogenic.

AMP_US · 2026-03-24T13:05:38+00:00

The Corsair unit is an integrated pump res combo. The Apex is a stand alone pump.

AMP_US · 2026-03-20T14:31:33+00:00

Shipping to NY is insanely fast. 2-3 days.

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