Is Building a watercooler from scratch worth the trouble?

[Mugsy]

I'm in the middle of a new build and I'm debating whether or not to give it some "Wow" factor with a home made watercooler that includes tubes of neon coolant and LED lighting. But I don't want to spend more than what a good top-of-the-line AIO cooler would cost me (maybe $150?)

Is it worth the trouble anymore to build a flashy cooler from scratch or are the high-end AIO coolers impressive enough now w/o breaking the bank? Are there any that use clear tubing with brightly colored coolant? TIA

 

[neeyik]

Not sure you'd be able to make a water cooled loop for $150 - you'll need a CPU waterblock, radiator, pump, reservoir, tubes, connectors, coolant, and fans. If you're missing the bulk of that, then you're not going have enough funds.

On the other hand, $150 will get you a very good AIO - I currently use a Corsair H115i Platinum for an i7-9700K, and it does a very nice job, although the tubing isn't transparent; I previously used a H150 Pro, which is very quiet, but doesn't cool anywhere near as well as a 360 mm radiator should do.

 

[Mugsy]

Thanks. I guess "wow" requires a "wow" amount of money.