Best Water Cooling Kit
Looking to jump into the realm of water cooling? These liquid cooling kits are a great place to start.
When you are about to embark on your first-ever water cooled PC build, the whole process can be a little daunting. Not only do you have the challenge of physically building the custom loop without any damage to your components but you have to ensure you buy compatible parts for your specific loop. All this can be achieved after plenty of research but to make your life a bit easier we have hand-selected the best water cooling kit on the market, along with a few alternatives, to kickstart your new icy-cool build!
A water cooling kit brings you everything you need to make a start, often coming with a CPU block, pump/ reservoir combo, radiator, tubing, and the necessary tools to cut, bend, and deburr your tubing. For beginners, a water cooling kit provides a lot of reassurances, so let’s take a look over the best available.
Our Top Picks
How We Choose
First, we scour the web to find the best water cooling kits for the job while checking out online reviews for each kit. Once the selections are whittled down based on features and value, we finally purchase the kit.
How We Test
We like to base our recommendations on personal experiences, so naturally, we get hands-on with each kit. We feel in order to truly test out one of these kits is to see how easy they are to put together, how well they work as a cooling solution, and how versatile they are.
Things To Consider
Whether you are sourcing the parts for your water cool build individually or opting for a water cooling kit, there are still a few things to consider. The loop needs to fit in your chosen case, you need to consider whether to go for soft or rigid tubing and also plan ahead for any extra components you may want to cool in the future.
What Comes With A Water Cooling Kit?
Water cooling kits tend to have everything you are going to need to set up a basic custom loop. They tend to only give you the components to water cool your CPU, so bear this in mind if you are looking at building a full loop.
Inside you will often find:
- CPU block
- Pump/ reservoir combo that is conveniently combined to give you less tube runs to create.
- Radiator with fans to dissipate heat
- Tubing
- Fittings
- Coolant
Where some water cooling kits differ is on the additional tools, with some giving you everything you need like a saw/ cutter, bending kit, rubber insert, and deburring tool.
Please note that you will need to purchase a heat gun separately if you are planning on buying a water cooling kit with rigid tubing.
Do I Need A Water Cooling Kit?
If you are a beginner and can find a kit that suits you then the only question is whether or not liquid cooling is worth it? For most, water cooling a PC is purely an aesthetic decision as many will not need to run their components at such a low temperature.
Water cooling is not a cheap hobby and is often reserved for the enthusiast with a bit of extra cash in their pocket. If you’re going to go for a kit rather than source all the separate parts yourself, ensure you plan ahead and get one that ties in with your overall build lighting scheme, overall looks, and fits in with your planned PC build.
Benefits Of A Water Cooling Kit
A water cooling kit can be viewed as a gateway to your water cooling future. These kits take away the stresses of trying to find multiple different parts that are all compatible and enable you to focus on the challenging physical side.
Kits are getting bigger and better as gaming PCs continue to grow in popularity and, in a way, offer decent value as you know that most of the kit is going to be utilized in your PC. The main brands that offer these kits also have huge catalogs of extra parts, meaning you can always add to your loop in the future when needed relatively easily.
Don’t Forget About The Case
If you are planning on simply water cooling your current setup, you need to ensure the case is big enough to accommodate your loop and the other components like the reservoir. You also need to ensure there is sufficient radiator support too.
If you currently have a mini-ITX case, don’t worry, you can water cool in a lot of these but be prepared for a tricky build process as limited space only makes things harder. A lot of modern mid-tower cases make a point of having high-end features such as water cooling support, so keep your eye out for one of these if you are on the market for a new model.
The The Best Water Cooling Kit
In-depth Review
The Corsair HydroX XH305i is the perfect water cooling kit to get your new elaborate custom loop underway. This kit comes with everything you are going to need to not only watercool your PC.
This kit comes with:
- 1 x XC7 RGB CPU Water Block
- 1 x XD5 Pump Reservoir Combo
- 1 x XR5 360mm Radiator
- 1 x XL5 Clear Coolant
- 3 x QL120 RGB Fans
- 1 x CORSAIR RGB Fan LED Hub
- 1 x iCUE Commander PRO
- 2 x Hydro X Series XF Hardline 14mm OD Fitting Four Pack (Black)
- 1 x Hydro X Series 90° Rotary Adapter Twin Pack
- 3m Hardline 14mm Tubing
- 1 x 10mm Silicone Cord 30 cm
- 1 x Bending Tool
- 1 x Deburring Tool
- 1 x Hacksaw
- 1 x Cutting Jig
The included radiator is 30mm thick and 360mm in size so make sure you check your PC case has the clearance for this. Additionally, the included RGB fans not only look great but will dissipate the heat from your loop.
One of the main draws to the Corsair water cooling kit is its RGB components. The CPU block looks absolutely stunning and is one of the best looking currently on the market.
Considering how much easier this is going to make the whole physical building process for you, the value isn’t bad at all and you can rest assured knowing every part of this kit is high-quality.
Thermaltake is yet another well-known brand that has been producing water cooling components for quite some time now. This kit, like the one before, comes it everything you are going to need to create something special. It is worth noting that this kit doesn’t come with a hacksaw and cutting jig though.
This kit comes with:
- x1 Pacific W5 CPU Water Block
- x1 Pacific PR15 DDC Pump/Reservoir Combo
- x1 Pacific CL360 Radiator
- x6 Pacific G1/4 PETG 16mm OD Compression fittings (Black)
- x2 Pacific G1/4 90° Adapter (Black)
- x3 Riing Duo 12 RGB Radiator Fan
- x1 Thermaltake T1000 Coolant Pure (Clear)
- x8 V-Tubler PETG 16mm OD 500mm Tubing
- x1 Silicone Insert 900mm Tt Premium Edition
- Intel and AMD Universal Backplate and Mounting Kit
- x1 24pin ATX Bridge Tool
- x1 Thermaltake Thermal Paste
- x1 Refill Bottle
The Thermaltake Pacific water cooling kit performs exceptionally well and while you can’t see the liquid inside the CPU block as you can with Corsair’s, the design one I quite like.
Unfortunately, you won’t get a hacksaw with this but Termaltake’s included tube cutter works well enough to get you those straight cuts. The included bending kit also has an excellent variety of mandrels, meaning you can achieve more than just 90 degree bends with this kit.
EKWB’s Quantum Power P360 water cooling kit is one of the better-known ones out there with EKWB often at the forefront of innovation in this market. This kit provides excellent aesthetics and performance, making it ideal for those who are leaning more towards a soft tube loop.
This highly versatile kit will work with a variety of lighting software and includes:
- x1 EK-Velocity D-RGB
- x1 EK-CoolStream PE 360
- x3 EK-Vardar EVO 120ER D-RGB (500-2200rpm)
- x1 EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE 200 D5 PWM D-RGB
- 2m Soft Tubing: EK-DuraClear 9,5/15,9mm (3/8” – 5/8”)
- x6 Compression fittings: EK-Torque STC-10/16 – Black
- x2 Angled adapters: EK-Torque Angled 90° – Black
- x1 EK-CryoFuel Clear Concentrate (100mL; for 1L of coolant)
- x1 EK-Cable Y-Splitter 3-Fan PWM (10cm)
- x1 AMD mounting bracket and AMD AM4 backplate
- x1 EK-D-RGB 6-Way Splitter Cable
- x1 EK-Loop Uni Pump Reservoir Bracket – 120mm
- x1 EK-RES X3 – Holder 60mm
- x1 ATX bridging plug
- x1 EK-Loop Multi Allen Key
- x1 EK-Loop Soft Tube Cutter
- x1 Foldable Filling Bottle
- x1 EK-CryoFuel Dye Pack
As this is a soft tubing kit, there is no need for a lot of tools here and the included cutter is going to be more than enough.
The CPU block features EKWB’s trademark nickel/Plexi aesthetic and it is absolutely stunning when water is running through the loop. The beefy radiator and three RGB fans are going to dissipate heat very effectively at all times and the included filling bottle is slightly bigger than other brands.
The Best Water Cooling Kit frequently asked questions
Which water cooling kit is the best?
- Best Overall: Corsair Hydro X Series XH305i Hardline Water Cooling Kit
- The Next Best: Thermaltake Pacific DIY Water Cooling Kit
- Best For Soft Tubing: EKWB EK-Quantum Power P360 Water Cooling Kit
Is a water cooling kit worth it?
A water cooling kit gives you everything you need to start but you will find that most kits don’t come with a GPU block. A kit will usually give you a CPU block and enough tubing to create your runs from the reservoir to the CPU block to the radiator and back to the res. Some water cooling kits also come with the necessary tools to cut and deburr your tubing and others with mandrels for you to bend the rigid tubes.
Water cooling kits do not come with heat guns though, so if you are planning on buying a kit with rigid tubing you are going to need to purchase a heat gun or extra fittings.
Final Word
Aside from all the inherent risks around water cooling your PC, there is no better way to maximize performance in such an aesthetically pleasing way. A great route into this for anyone new to the hobby is going to be picking up the best water cooling kit. These kits may not allow you to complete a fully custom loop but they certainly start it off and will give you the confidence to take things much further the next time you plan a loop.
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