Very quick hydrolux questions

First - PRO vs lite. What is easier for the customer to go around if he decides to upgrade in the future? I'm assuming lite, since they are flexible tubes?

Also, if I get the setup for 1 CPU and 1 GPU, if I decide to SLI another card at a later time, would I have to send it back to digital storm for them to setup the cooling again?

Edited by Moritsuna - 05 Jun 2016 at 9:26am

So the additional cost on the hydrolux with 2 GPUS is just for labor and not adding more tubing?

EDIT: That's perfectly fine by me, I'll be sticking with a 1 GPU setup for awhile. But "just in case" if I decide to SLI/crossfire its easy to DIY then that's fine!

Edited by Moritsuna - 05 Jun 2016 at 9:28am

Wait so even if I stick with a single GPU setup, if I get a new card the (1080 ti or 1180 hypothetically) I have to get it converted as well? Seems like a hassle so I might just get the regular 240 mm radiator

Originally posted by Moritsuna So the additional cost on the hydrolux with 2 GPUS is just for labor and not adding more tubing? EDIT: That's perfectly fine by me, I'll be sticking with a 1 GPU setup for awhile. But "just in case" if I decide to SLI/crossfire its easy to DIY then that's fine!

I'm pretty sure there is more of a difference between the pro and lite. From what I'm tracking the lite is like an AIO cooler but somewhat modular as to allow for expansion. I'm not sure if it has a dedicated reservoir or what size radiator it uses.

I know my Hydrolux pro setup has two radiators in the loop.

AS far as adding new cards to a loop like previously stated, unless it is a card from the factory that has a waterblock already on it(ie. Hydro-copper or Poseidon)a water block will need to be installed. I'm pretty sure EK blocks for the 980ti run any where from $115-$150ish.

Water cooling is definitely more maintenance and more money when you start to get into the realm of custom loops. Unless you are planning on OC'ing your cards there isn't much of a reason to go with a custom loop unless it is just for aesthetics.

There are lots of little parts that go into building a custom loop also. If you want to learn some more about watercooling the Subreddit "watercooling" has a lot of information.

Edited by SnowandSand - 05 Jun 2016 at 1:36pm

By regular 240mm radiator I assume you mean for the cpu only? If so then there is no issue swapping out the graphics card since it is air cooled only. If the graphics card is liquid cooled and you change it or add another for sli you will need to add a waterblock to it (unless it comes with one).

Originally posted by Moritsuna Ah yes, I'm learning alot today haha. Many of the default builds for digital storm desktops come with this option "H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex 240mm Radiator Liquid CPU Cooler". Then, maybe hydrolux lite for CPU only isn't such a bad decision especially if you plan to overclock it. I am not sure I want to overclock it though, I am reading 2 things saying that it won't affect the longevity of the CPU and that it will.

That is a CPU only closed loop cooler.  It works great for just the CPU.  If you are planning on eventually cooling a gpu  also I would go with the Hyrolux lite since it is designed to allow for some expansion.  As far as the longevity of the CPU I did alot of research and basically what I got from it was that it mainly comes down to what temp your cpu is running at.  

Currently I 'm running my 6700k at 4.6GHz and when I ran Adia64 on it overnight it never went above 65 C. Which is just fine. My rig is mostly used for gaming and my wife's accounting HW lol.  The Digital storm Vortex cooler is also maintenance free unlike the Hydrolux pro setups.  Hope this helps man.  Either way you go you can't really go wrong with DS.  I bought a laptop from them back in 2013 and it is still going strong, and I absolutely love my Hailstorm II (although my wife hates it's size lol).