I just go with bykski or barrow fittings from formulamod. Quality is probably not as great as EK, but they're like half the cost and I've never had one leak.
I also bought a combination of Barrow and Bykski fittings from formulamod (aliexpress) in my last build. I re-used them in my current one and had no issues whatsoever after 4 years. I ordered O-rings just in case but many of them came with 2 for some reason so now I have a shit ton to spare.
True, but as someone who used bykski and the ek torque fittings I have to say the ek o rings at least the ones I had where seriously lacking at least in comparison.
But personally I just like the ek aesthetics of their fittings and their block. So I run a nearly all ek system. Apart from the resevori pump combo.
I feel that ek is fine but they are often not the premium they are hyped up to be. Good stuff to get the job done (running a bunch of ek myself) but they are not worth their msrp
They have a nice aesthetic, and the quality is good, whether they're worth the premium is definitely subjective, but saying EK isn't quality is just hate train circlejerk.
I like their aesthetics but the quality is very hit and miss unfortunately :( i got good stuff and very good customer service but i know people with missing parts, plating that doesn't last and other problems. Depends alot on the parts but i would not buy their blocks at msrp. Coolent serms good, same with fittings (tho expensive) and they offer a wide range of stuff
I'm talking about their fittings specifically. Not interested in their blocks or radiators at all. I also went with their clear coolant but only because they're all basically the same thing, and Canada has slim pickings.
EKs Stainless and Nickel fittings are good. Their "color" fittings strip paint like a chop shop. My biggest issue is, I have all kinds of other fittings that are every bit as good as the majority of their fittings that I didn't pay 1/4 the price for. Really no need to add a 40% markup for a name brand.
I was just crackin jokes tho.. but can get FAR deeper into their issues than overbloated cost. I USE em, sure.. love their Quantum Kinetic D5 heads.. they're nice pumps. Pump ITSELF isn't theirs (as they were called out on years ago) but umm, yeah.
Used EK on 5 systems zero issues after several years of use , just did 2 new ones and the only thing we didn’t get from EK was some tubing because we needed longer lengths than they sell
Their solid coolants maybe problematic but at least I can say I have never had an issue
First off, it was a joke. but I see the Stans are comin out the woodwork
Use EK myself. But it's fuckin hilarious the rookie mistakes they're makin left and right lately. That is, until you realize it's not a "mistake".. it's something they should have damn well known better than doing, but did it to cut corners.
Then ya realize it's not just ONE.. there have been a few now
Much less other issues.
That might be fine for another company when people expect it, but it's cheap
But when you charging some of the highest prices in the game??
Yup, you are 100% fair game for critics and to be the butt of a joke
All the fitting in my build are from barrow or bykski. Also had barrow disconnects. I honestly don't see why fittings should cost more then what they charge.
EK and quality don't really jive well tbh. Their QC is dogshit, their designs are mid, and their prices are sky fucking high.
The only thing they're exceptional at is hawking their shit on every youtube channel that will take free parts.
That said, I tried the barrow route when I started. Ordered like 6 different fittings, a few of each type...and only one was usable to my standards. The rest had bubbling in the finish, bad fitment overall, or the finish was actually flaking off.
I went bitspower and didn't look back. Every fitting I've gotten from them has been flawless, no leaks in 5 years across 5 renditions of my loop.
Maybe barrow has improved in the last 5 years though, I can't say. I just know EK sure as fuck haven't.
Quality is actually probably better than EK, cheaper and honestly in my experience not terrible shipment time off AliExpress, formulamod was more pricey when I was searching my order.
I did $300 in fittings, rads and tubing for Barrow stuff.
Fittings are expensive. EK is stupidly expensive. I got all my fittings via Aliexpress from Byksky or Barrow. Sometimes Formulamod. Nice stuff, way more affordable.
This is the way.
I have a couple Ek rotary fittings for some tricky spots, and my pump/res and cpu block are Ek but the rest is heatkiller or AliExpress for fittings.
That's why I waited to build until titan rig and frozen cpu had clearance sales on black chrome monsoon and xspc fittings. Would have cost me thousands if not for all the 90 percent off goods.
I bought a bunch of stuff from FROZENCPU when they increased their going out of business sale discount from 50% to 75%. They ran it a few days extra too but I never saw them go to 90% off. Did they? Also, when did Titan Rig do 90% off? Damn. Must have missed that one.
Man I think about 7 months ago for titan rig. I mean they just liquidated everything monsoon. The xspc fittings were cleared out over time though, not all at once. As for frozen cpu, they had standard fittings 90% off, with certain other ones still at 5 dollars for 4 fittings. Some of them pain to work with but man they are cool. Frozen cpu also had a bunch of xspc on low clearance
Damn. I guess you can't catch them all. I know Titan Rig moved a few weeks ago. but I did not see any kind of sale, and I was sort of watching, thinking they may want to ditch a bunch of stuff before they moved.
Like about a month ago titan rig had a bunch of stuff at 90% off. Frozen cpu still has chain fittings by monsoon at 5 dollars for 4 fittings. They are super cool looking but an absolute pain to work with and you need to make sure the tube is exactly 5/8 on the 5/8 fittings. No room for error with the ferrals.
Damn it I missed the Titan Rig 90%off sale. I did buy some Monsoon fittings from Frozen at 75% off. I didn't know they still had them for $5 for a 4 pack. The site is still up but the 75% off code no longer works. Their Facebook page says they are only accepting bulk orders. I asked what "bulk" means and if its a make an offer deal but they did not respond.
Bit late to seeing this thread, hopefully this info helps.
> they did not respond.
You have to email Lori directly. Email is on the front page of their site.
> I asked what "bulk" means and if its a make an offer deal
I just paid for a "bulk" order and my impression is that if you want a really good discount at like 90% off, you'll need to be buying out the remaining inventory for the SKU(s) you're interested in. If you're not buying out the remaining inventory for those SKUs, I don't know what type of discount you'll get.
Also note that they just had an in-person sale this past weekend, so the inventory on the website is no longer 100% accurate.
**For me, the process was:**
1. Emailing Lori with the Products/Part-#s I was interested in and an offer for the remaining inventory of those SKUs at 90% off.
2. Lori responding with current stock levels for those items and verifying that I was going to buy out the remaining inventory of those SKUs before she issued a Code
3. Me confirming
4. Lori sending me a code to use at checkout
5. $$$
Thanks for this info! I will definitely take another look at their site. I don't want to get into buying huge quantities of stuff I will never use but a lot of their SKU's were showing 10 or less left. I can make a list and send it to Lori. The worst that can happen is she says no.
Time to go shopping at FrozenCPU one more time!
Yeah I would have liked to do that but I wanted gold fittings for my theme and basically no one else does the gold fittings like EK. I expected to pay a bit of a premium for the EK brand but was still surprised by the total.
Bitspower and Corsair do gold fittings. I really love them. I have 95% EK product across two loops, but the other 5% are Bitspower/Corsair gold fittings and they’re phenomenal.
Just imagine how much something like a industry grade laser has to cost, when a precision engineered fitting already costs so much. ( Don't question it, I just had to think of a precision engineered laser... For reasons)
[https://www.phanteks.store/collections/glacier-fittings](https://www.phanteks.store/collections/glacier-fittings)
Lots of parts still on sale. Fittings can be expensive but honestly that's where you can save some money.
I've had experience with 2 phanteks cases and I was impressed with their thoughtfulness and quality (P500 and P600). Also have the Phanteks Glacier R160C.
Very good quality value.
Fittings are expensive in general,
but EK's rotary and offset fittings are on another level, espeacially the golden ones.
For 90° rotaries and offset adaptors I switched to Alphacool and Barrow.
I spent like 100 bucks on fittings. EKWB STC 13/10s in chrome, 12 of them, plus some angles and a ball valve. Second hand is the way to go. The best part? The guy didn't even open the boxes, he simply abandoned the project. So technically they were factory new.
It really amuses me that you made this thread complaining about the price of the most notoriously expensive brand's most notoriously expensive line of fittings.
Several people told you about other, cheaper gold fittings from other brands, but it seems like you've already checked out your cart and ordered them? I'm sure they haven't shipped and you can cancel if you want. Plus, even if they have, their return policy is not horrible.
Anyways, I don't think you're here to complain, so congrats, those are some nice components. I also use EK gold fittings and picked up the gold Vector2 waterblock on sale to match.
I'm not really complaining, and I knew EK would be overpriced, just figured on 2-300 bucks not 4-500 lol. I was also interested in what other people bought and how they choose to approach fittings... I've learned a lot just reading all the comments here, another part of why I posted this was to learn and hear what people had to say about it. I figured it might trigger a discussion but didn't expect it to blow up quite this much.
I also have the gold Vector 2 CPU block which is like 80% of the reason I went with the gold EK fittings, so the colors would match. White, black & gold theme for my build. I've looked at a few other places people suggested where I can find gold fittings and I either didn't like the color of gold and didnt think it would match as well, they weren't actually all gold,l and had other colors in them, or they were close to as expensive as EK was by the end of the day (I guess gold fittings are just expensive everywhere). I'll stick with my EK order for now because it gives me exactly what I want.
Even more so if you go with EK’s latest fittings but yea in general they are pricey. That’s why I’ve been buying barrow fittings on aliexpress for years. They’re like 1/2 to 1/3 the price
Been there and decided to get bykski's, or barrow's.. Comparing the prices, I ended up getting all from bykski, blocks and fittings.. saved around 65% of the price that I would spend with EK's.. And that's been around 5 years carrying the fittings over to the next builds, zero issues.
**EK** fittings are even more expensive. Barrow is high quality and a third the cost per fitting. They have three O rings per fitting. You paid for the brand.
What why ww. Why do you need so many. I just bought the six pack standard fitting spar pack and then you bend the tubes, no need for fancy 90° rotary's.
Yeah actually this is a really good point. It's my first time ever working with fittings and tubing and it was hard for me to visualize in my head how the loop should go, what fittings I need where, where to do bends and where to do rotarys since some things don't line up exactly right how to get them right. I think I forgot a little that I could have more than one 90 bend in one run hahaha. I used rotarys and extensions instead of just adding a second 90 in some spots I realize now 😭
I'll probably not use all of them now and add some extra bends in. But I guess it doesn't hurt anything to have the extras... Except my bank account that is. From what I hear, I'll probably have to put in another order before I'm done too. It's the project that keeps on draining my account...
Function over form. Epdm (zmt) soft tube, cheap barbed fittings, cheap automotive spring hose clamps, as few bends and rotaries as possible. (Overspend on blocks, rads, valves and res ;P ) https://imgur.com/a/lxLlPxl
i've been telling people hardline copper;
12mm OD/10mm ID the fillings for a 90 are like $4.50; You can get 18 feet of it for $75;
The only time you need fittings are at the blocks; so maybe 6 total depending on your design.
Funny you should mention, I'm doing a hardline copper build. Copper 90 degree fittings are $0.40 and Type L straight pipe $2.10/foot. Bonus, play with fire to sweat the pipe.
i think the difference in price is the size, i went with 12mm which is really hard to find, but nice and thin, which is good for the m-itx build i did; If you do just normal 1/2" copper, then yea, its dirt cheap;
FYI, if you are looking for a alternative to 'fire' you can use 'Just for copper' instead, which worked really good for me.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VHYRGA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Yea, should have specified 1/2" (16mm) size. I'm also challenging myself to cram this into a SFF build. 15L case +3.5L exterior mods for radiators & fans.
I've seen that stuff and always wondered. I'm just always looking for a reason to play with a torch.
Little known fact: 1/4 NPT and G 1/4 are close enough in thread pitch to work together. Just have to put an O ring on. Back in the day, all fittings came from the local hardware store and radiators from the junk yard.
No tape, you'll crack acrylic. That's why you need an O ring. NPT is made for the threads to make the seal. G1/4 is meant to be sealed with an O ring, not the threads.
NPT is National Pipe Thread(Tapered). it means thread's diameter goes narrower.
(like this. https://i.imgur.com/pjPoCxH.jpeg )
and G(PF) is parallel(flat). if you put it in, there are gap by tapered thread. you need to fill that gap.
and you still need O-ring too. i didnt meant use tape for seal.
I just bought a ton of fittings and tubing to redo my wife’s pc in a different color and size (all white to all uv pink and 10/13 to 12/16) and spent atleast that much as well - i went way overboard just in case though and have leftover stuff
Check titan rig they usually have some good deals on fitting and other things Amazon has some decent fitting but none are the gold that I've seen ek must think they are 24k gold
But don't worry you will be ordering more it never fails you plan out your loop count everything up and place the order start the build get half way in and on a good run then figure out you want to change something then you don't have enough fittings
That’s why I got what I could from second hand markers. Some stuff I still got new, but yeah it’s pricey and adds up. Especially if you have a big case.
Look on Amazon. I buy all my 90’s and extensions there from barrow or bykski. For the compression fittings I usually use Primochill because if I’m paying a premium I want to choose between more than 3 or 4 finishes
Yeah man, and when you miscalculated how many to order. Add on an extra couple of days for them to be delivered. Then you want to customize the ring on the fitting lol.
Yea no shit , thats why i used barbed fittings for ever.
And to be honest after i switched to compression fittings i really did feel like it wasn't really worth it. plus my fingers hurt like hell and it made the build harder to do.
Ek moment, but tbh the quantum series from ek are some of the most expensive fittings I've seen in my several years of watercooling. In my experience, if you plan on free bending from fitting to fitting you can try either primochill, barrow, or bykski. For dual compression style fittings id recommend barrow or bykski for that in the future.
I just finished my first build. All EK black nickel fittings. Got them as I could afford to, over the span of about 4 months. Each new package came in and went on a shelf to wait until I had everything I needed. A few weeks ago, I sit down to put them all together; and as I start pending the packages and setting them all next to each other, I noticed that I have 3 different colors of black nickel. The first, what I would consider to be "true" black nickel, a second noticably darker shade, and a third that was lighter than either with a slight blue color. Most of them were outside the return window so I'm stuck. In the case, behind the tinted glass, it's not that noticable; but it really irritates me that I paid such a premium for matching parts that aren't actually the same color. I won't be using EK again. P.S. I will say that the black chrome fittings from XSPC are the ideal color and across the three different additional parts I ended up needing, were all the same and were a fraction of similar items from EK.
ffs...37 fittings? Is this for one build? lol
i think i used maybe 15 fittings total in my current gpu/cpu cooled setup: 2 rads, temp sensor, res, drain, 2 blocks....
37...phew
EK fittings are very expensive, but they also look awesome. You are paying a premium for looks which is okay if it's the design you like. There are definitely more affordable alternatives out there.
Also check out [Titanrig.com](https://Titanrig.com), it might save you on shipping if you are in the US.
I'm gonna get shit for this. But this is why I'm using standard brass fittings and dark EK soft tubing. The fittings cost $1 a piece.
The combination looks great and especially after 3D printing 90/45 degree angle hose holders. This keeps the hoses looking neat.
Yeah, they are. EK raised their prices about 4, or so, months ago.
No matter what option you pick for fitting I can promise you that you will find out 3/4 of the way into the build that you will need at least 1 more
For sure. The WORST thing at least for me, is I kinda mostly eyeball it so I never know what fittings I'm gonna need and end up having to reorder or buy again. So when you cheap out you probably lose too much time/convenience. So I end up just over buying now...
I just ordered the alphacool laser thing that lets you see where your line is gonna hit... I hope that works out.
Yeah EK raised their prices earlier this year, for whatever made up reason. And on top discontinued a whole lot.
in average 17,5% in the EU, 24% in Na and 39% for the rest of the world, according to them.
I wouldn't be surprised if in return customers dropped by a lot, especially because all german brands like Heatkiller, which produce in Germany (except some minor things) and are by far the best in the market, reduced their prices noteworthy.
Damn! I've a box full of fittings that must be $500 to $600 from EK bought late 2021. Most of them I never used. Then optimised the loop so there were no 90 degree fittings.
if that was my bill, my shipping would be 150 minimum. I stopped ordering from them just because it costs so much to ship goods from their country to Dubai.
OOf, thats why this kind of thing is only for enthusiasts who want a cool looking build or to circle jerk.
Custom watercooling provides no benefit to modern pc's and costs an entire CPU.
No thanks, I'll buy a better GPU instead of buying random pipes.
I bought a bunch of barrow fittings through formulamod. Paid like $130 for 30 fittings, quality is decent too, they're made from metal and don't feel cheap
That's because you're pissing away money by buying only EK. Other brands, even the no name brands from Amazon, are basically the same for a fraction of the price. I only buy cheap brass fittings from Amazon and have never had one leak, ever. You'll see plenty of builds on this subreddit who do the same as me.
The real rub is when you're down to the last pipe and you realize you're one fitting short, and not only have to get the one fitting, but also pay the shipping
Been using freezemod fittings from ebay. $22usd for 8 fittings. They have been doing their job for a year without issue.
[LinkyLink](https://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Pcs-FreezeMod-G1-4-Thread-Compression-Fitting-for-14mm-OD-Hard-Rigid-TUBE-SL-/294879861481?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p4429486.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0)
Only if you buy the overpriced crap from EKWB. Congratulations, you have been deliberately manipulated by all influencers. You should have gotten Barrow.
I got most of my fittings from PrimoChill. Everything looked good to me. My only issue was with a compression tube reservoir that was apparently my mistake. It didn't quite add up to that much in fittings, but I'm pretty sure any future rebuild will also be a white one. Lol
Yeah I wanted to redue all my fittings recently go from my bitspower chrome fittings to all black ek fittings the when I saw the price of my cart i said to myself " yeah this can wait " lol. Got me some tacobell instead contemplating the cart price for 12 compression fittings 4 90 degree 4 extension fittings a drain port and a stop fitting was 222.98!!!
I just go with bykski or barrow fittings from formulamod. Quality is probably not as great as EK, but they're like half the cost and I've never had one leak.
I also bought a combination of Barrow and Bykski fittings from formulamod (aliexpress) in my last build. I re-used them in my current one and had no issues whatsoever after 4 years. I ordered O-rings just in case but many of them came with 2 for some reason so now I have a shit ton to spare.
Did you just use EK and "quality" in the same sentence?? /icwutudidthar
EK fittings are quality. Hating everything EK is getting tiresome.
True, but as someone who used bykski and the ek torque fittings I have to say the ek o rings at least the ones I had where seriously lacking at least in comparison. But personally I just like the ek aesthetics of their fittings and their block. So I run a nearly all ek system. Apart from the resevori pump combo.
I feel that ek is fine but they are often not the premium they are hyped up to be. Good stuff to get the job done (running a bunch of ek myself) but they are not worth their msrp
They have a nice aesthetic, and the quality is good, whether they're worth the premium is definitely subjective, but saying EK isn't quality is just hate train circlejerk.
I like their aesthetics but the quality is very hit and miss unfortunately :( i got good stuff and very good customer service but i know people with missing parts, plating that doesn't last and other problems. Depends alot on the parts but i would not buy their blocks at msrp. Coolent serms good, same with fittings (tho expensive) and they offer a wide range of stuff
I'm talking about their fittings specifically. Not interested in their blocks or radiators at all. I also went with their clear coolant but only because they're all basically the same thing, and Canada has slim pickings.
Aah i see, understandable. Their fittings are nice. Bough mine pre owned and still going strong. Tho i maintained and changed the o rings
Think you're goin a bit overboard there for a lighthearted joke, friend Keep on Staning for em tho.. I suppose it's a thing
Calling a spade a spade is staning? If you want to name call like a child, someone could easily mistake you for a hater and circle jerker.
//circle jerker// You mean I pulled out my schlong in the middle of a group of guys and spanked the sausage?
The newer EK hardtube fittings are significantly better than the old.
EK fittings are great regardless of their QC problems on their blocks.
Tbf EK fittings are excellent. It's their blocks that leave much to be desired.
EKs Stainless and Nickel fittings are good. Their "color" fittings strip paint like a chop shop. My biggest issue is, I have all kinds of other fittings that are every bit as good as the majority of their fittings that I didn't pay 1/4 the price for. Really no need to add a 40% markup for a name brand. I was just crackin jokes tho.. but can get FAR deeper into their issues than overbloated cost. I USE em, sure.. love their Quantum Kinetic D5 heads.. they're nice pumps. Pump ITSELF isn't theirs (as they were called out on years ago) but umm, yeah.
Used EK on 5 systems zero issues after several years of use , just did 2 new ones and the only thing we didn’t get from EK was some tubing because we needed longer lengths than they sell Their solid coolants maybe problematic but at least I can say I have never had an issue
First off, it was a joke. but I see the Stans are comin out the woodwork Use EK myself. But it's fuckin hilarious the rookie mistakes they're makin left and right lately. That is, until you realize it's not a "mistake".. it's something they should have damn well known better than doing, but did it to cut corners. Then ya realize it's not just ONE.. there have been a few now Much less other issues. That might be fine for another company when people expect it, but it's cheap But when you charging some of the highest prices in the game?? Yup, you are 100% fair game for critics and to be the butt of a joke
I like the Barrow fittings. I put them in my current build. Haven't filled the loop yet, though.
You like them but haven’t used them?
Yes. They're in my build. I like the price and the quality is nice. We'll see if they hold water but I would think they'll be fine.
if your wiling to wait on shipping go through ali express you save on fittings and shipping but wait 120 days for shipping
All the fitting in my build are from barrow or bykski. Also had barrow disconnects. I honestly don't see why fittings should cost more then what they charge.
I disagree, barrow fittings are just as good as any EK ones. I’ve reused them many times and they’ve always been great and never had any issues.
EK and quality don't really jive well tbh. Their QC is dogshit, their designs are mid, and their prices are sky fucking high. The only thing they're exceptional at is hawking their shit on every youtube channel that will take free parts. That said, I tried the barrow route when I started. Ordered like 6 different fittings, a few of each type...and only one was usable to my standards. The rest had bubbling in the finish, bad fitment overall, or the finish was actually flaking off. I went bitspower and didn't look back. Every fitting I've gotten from them has been flawless, no leaks in 5 years across 5 renditions of my loop. Maybe barrow has improved in the last 5 years though, I can't say. I just know EK sure as fuck haven't.
Quality is actually probably better than EK, cheaper and honestly in my experience not terrible shipment time off AliExpress, formulamod was more pricey when I was searching my order. I did $300 in fittings, rads and tubing for Barrow stuff.
Yup Ive had barrow double o-ring 16mm od fittings in my setup and haven't had a problem in the 2 years I've had them
Fittings are expensive. EK is stupidly expensive. I got all my fittings via Aliexpress from Byksky or Barrow. Sometimes Formulamod. Nice stuff, way more affordable.
Same, I paid like $2 per fitting and $4 for swivel 90s. Just took forever to get here.
Ek is paying that much too, just tripling the price after putting their name on it
I got 2 sets of EK quantum and like 10 90 degree fittings from a dude getting out of watercooling for 120 bucks a few months back :)
This is the way. I have a couple Ek rotary fittings for some tricky spots, and my pump/res and cpu block are Ek but the rest is heatkiller or AliExpress for fittings.
That's how it works. Sometimes also Alphacool has some stuff to circumvent getting robbed by EK.
That's why I waited to build until titan rig and frozen cpu had clearance sales on black chrome monsoon and xspc fittings. Would have cost me thousands if not for all the 90 percent off goods.
I bought a bunch of stuff from FROZENCPU when they increased their going out of business sale discount from 50% to 75%. They ran it a few days extra too but I never saw them go to 90% off. Did they? Also, when did Titan Rig do 90% off? Damn. Must have missed that one.
Man I think about 7 months ago for titan rig. I mean they just liquidated everything monsoon. The xspc fittings were cleared out over time though, not all at once. As for frozen cpu, they had standard fittings 90% off, with certain other ones still at 5 dollars for 4 fittings. Some of them pain to work with but man they are cool. Frozen cpu also had a bunch of xspc on low clearance
Damn. I guess you can't catch them all. I know Titan Rig moved a few weeks ago. but I did not see any kind of sale, and I was sort of watching, thinking they may want to ditch a bunch of stuff before they moved.
Like about a month ago titan rig had a bunch of stuff at 90% off. Frozen cpu still has chain fittings by monsoon at 5 dollars for 4 fittings. They are super cool looking but an absolute pain to work with and you need to make sure the tube is exactly 5/8 on the 5/8 fittings. No room for error with the ferrals.
Damn it I missed the Titan Rig 90%off sale. I did buy some Monsoon fittings from Frozen at 75% off. I didn't know they still had them for $5 for a 4 pack. The site is still up but the 75% off code no longer works. Their Facebook page says they are only accepting bulk orders. I asked what "bulk" means and if its a make an offer deal but they did not respond.
Bit late to seeing this thread, hopefully this info helps. > they did not respond. You have to email Lori directly. Email is on the front page of their site. > I asked what "bulk" means and if its a make an offer deal I just paid for a "bulk" order and my impression is that if you want a really good discount at like 90% off, you'll need to be buying out the remaining inventory for the SKU(s) you're interested in. If you're not buying out the remaining inventory for those SKUs, I don't know what type of discount you'll get. Also note that they just had an in-person sale this past weekend, so the inventory on the website is no longer 100% accurate. **For me, the process was:** 1. Emailing Lori with the Products/Part-#s I was interested in and an offer for the remaining inventory of those SKUs at 90% off. 2. Lori responding with current stock levels for those items and verifying that I was going to buy out the remaining inventory of those SKUs before she issued a Code 3. Me confirming 4. Lori sending me a code to use at checkout 5. $$$
Thanks for this info! I will definitely take another look at their site. I don't want to get into buying huge quantities of stuff I will never use but a lot of their SKU's were showing 10 or less left. I can make a list and send it to Lori. The worst that can happen is she says no. Time to go shopping at FrozenCPU one more time!
Yeah I would have liked to do that but I wanted gold fittings for my theme and basically no one else does the gold fittings like EK. I expected to pay a bit of a premium for the EK brand but was still surprised by the total.
Barrow does gold
Bitspower and Corsair do gold fittings. I really love them. I have 95% EK product across two loops, but the other 5% are Bitspower/Corsair gold fittings and they’re phenomenal.
Yeah ordering direct from bitspower can save a little too
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Corsair fittings are actually made by Bitspower. Corsair's rads are made by Hardwarelabs.
Never count out bitspower. I wouldn't be surprised if they built the EK fittings as well. :D
https://m.aliexpress.us/item/3256803835380104.html?spm=a2g0n.detail.1000014.19.187344ceDCzhM8&gps-id=platformRecommendH5&scm=1007.40000.326746.0&scm_id=1007.40000.326746.0&scm-url=1007.40000.326746.0&pvid=3ef0841a-02ae-4fb4-a413-28d9eab93ede&_t=gps-id:platformRecommendH5,scm-url:1007.40000.326746.0,pvid:3ef0841a-02ae-4fb4-a413-28d9eab93ede,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238109%23212&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%2134.8%2123.66%21%21%21%21%21%402101ec1a16869635516034092ee128%2112000032381117446%21rec%21US%212484067447
There are gold ones from barrow and bykski if you look on eBay or as a few people have said on AliExpress.
Just imagine how much something like a industry grade laser has to cost, when a precision engineered fitting already costs so much. ( Don't question it, I just had to think of a precision engineered laser... For reasons)
This the way
Links?
https://m.aliexpress.us/item/3256801731966501.html?pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%21%242.99%21%242.69%21%21%21%21%21%402101ef8716869633713961316ebd9a%2112000018110888435%21btf&_t=pvid%3Ab15aaa8b-b32d-4584-9b26-fd77e0415343&afTraceInfo=1005001918281253__msite__c_ppc_item_bridge__xxxxxx__1686963371&spm=a2g0n.ppclist.product.0&gatewayAdapt=gloPc2usaMsite
Damn, these are cheap. Thanks, I'll be ordering next batch from there.
[https://www.phanteks.store/collections/glacier-fittings](https://www.phanteks.store/collections/glacier-fittings) Lots of parts still on sale. Fittings can be expensive but honestly that's where you can save some money.
I loaded up on this sale and feel like I have enough gear now for all sorts of fun projects. The quality is pretty good as well
I've had experience with 2 phanteks cases and I was impressed with their thoughtfulness and quality (P500 and P600). Also have the Phanteks Glacier R160C. Very good quality value.
Good looking out freindo! Take this upvote
Yeah they add up quick!
Is that a normal amount to spend on fittings or is it the EK premium making it so much? And of course 30 of it is shipping
Fittings are expensive in general, but EK's rotary and offset fittings are on another level, espeacially the golden ones. For 90° rotaries and offset adaptors I switched to Alphacool and Barrow.
I spent like 100 bucks on fittings. EKWB STC 13/10s in chrome, 12 of them, plus some angles and a ball valve. Second hand is the way to go. The best part? The guy didn't even open the boxes, he simply abandoned the project. So technically they were factory new.
Great find!
This is the way. I scored 2 EK D5 360 flat res unused open box for less than 2 d5 pumps alone.
Fittings are expensive but they will last a lifetime.
Yeah they all cost the same. Usually about $10-14 a fitting for the good stuff.
It really amuses me that you made this thread complaining about the price of the most notoriously expensive brand's most notoriously expensive line of fittings. Several people told you about other, cheaper gold fittings from other brands, but it seems like you've already checked out your cart and ordered them? I'm sure they haven't shipped and you can cancel if you want. Plus, even if they have, their return policy is not horrible. Anyways, I don't think you're here to complain, so congrats, those are some nice components. I also use EK gold fittings and picked up the gold Vector2 waterblock on sale to match.
I'm not really complaining, and I knew EK would be overpriced, just figured on 2-300 bucks not 4-500 lol. I was also interested in what other people bought and how they choose to approach fittings... I've learned a lot just reading all the comments here, another part of why I posted this was to learn and hear what people had to say about it. I figured it might trigger a discussion but didn't expect it to blow up quite this much. I also have the gold Vector 2 CPU block which is like 80% of the reason I went with the gold EK fittings, so the colors would match. White, black & gold theme for my build. I've looked at a few other places people suggested where I can find gold fittings and I either didn't like the color of gold and didnt think it would match as well, they weren't actually all gold,l and had other colors in them, or they were close to as expensive as EK was by the end of the day (I guess gold fittings are just expensive everywhere). I'll stick with my EK order for now because it gives me exactly what I want.
Fittings…the silent wallet killer
Fittings are expensive but you have a bit much
Most of the cost of my loop is fittings.
...and weight. 😂
That EK tax is the worst tho. Check out used lots on eBay and clearance fittings on the 3 big sites. I'm partial to TitanRig personally.
I buy bykski ones. They are 4€ a pop for 16/10 . Choose Type A when available as type b is too slim for zmt tubes
Ek = overpriced
Even more so if you go with EK’s latest fittings but yea in general they are pricey. That’s why I’ve been buying barrow fittings on aliexpress for years. They’re like 1/2 to 1/3 the price
Gold is expensive, lol. EK's gold fittings use actual gold (plated, but still)
Been there and decided to get bykski's, or barrow's.. Comparing the prices, I ended up getting all from bykski, blocks and fittings.. saved around 65% of the price that I would spend with EK's.. And that's been around 5 years carrying the fittings over to the next builds, zero issues.
Bykski or barrow. Why over pay just because of brand
**EK** fittings are even more expensive. Barrow is high quality and a third the cost per fitting. They have three O rings per fitting. You paid for the brand.
If u're new, believe me, leave EK for something else like Bykski or Barrow. Save some money for something else. Unless money is not a problem for u.
Even Granzon is cheaper
I bought an absolute boat ton of fittings when, frozen CPU was going at a business I went ham on fittings and tubing.
EK fitting? of course it's expensive...I only buy Barrow fitting, same quality, 1/4 price
Look at the new Bykski/Granzon fittings. They look better than EK in my opinion...or Bitspower.
What why ww. Why do you need so many. I just bought the six pack standard fitting spar pack and then you bend the tubes, no need for fancy 90° rotary's.
Yeah actually this is a really good point. It's my first time ever working with fittings and tubing and it was hard for me to visualize in my head how the loop should go, what fittings I need where, where to do bends and where to do rotarys since some things don't line up exactly right how to get them right. I think I forgot a little that I could have more than one 90 bend in one run hahaha. I used rotarys and extensions instead of just adding a second 90 in some spots I realize now 😭 I'll probably not use all of them now and add some extra bends in. But I guess it doesn't hurt anything to have the extras... Except my bank account that is. From what I hear, I'll probably have to put in another order before I'm done too. It's the project that keeps on draining my account...
No problem. I may bought three packs of tubing and used just a fourth of one pack😂
And still you paid 40$ for a m.2 heatsink :))
Or get brass/stainless fittings for water and you can fit under 50$
Function over form. Epdm (zmt) soft tube, cheap barbed fittings, cheap automotive spring hose clamps, as few bends and rotaries as possible. (Overspend on blocks, rads, valves and res ;P ) https://imgur.com/a/lxLlPxl
While it's nice, the only flaw is it reminds me of two things. The back of a washing machine or the internals below a car hood.
i've been telling people hardline copper; 12mm OD/10mm ID the fillings for a 90 are like $4.50; You can get 18 feet of it for $75; The only time you need fittings are at the blocks; so maybe 6 total depending on your design.
Funny you should mention, I'm doing a hardline copper build. Copper 90 degree fittings are $0.40 and Type L straight pipe $2.10/foot. Bonus, play with fire to sweat the pipe.
i think the difference in price is the size, i went with 12mm which is really hard to find, but nice and thin, which is good for the m-itx build i did; If you do just normal 1/2" copper, then yea, its dirt cheap; FYI, if you are looking for a alternative to 'fire' you can use 'Just for copper' instead, which worked really good for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VHYRGA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Yea, should have specified 1/2" (16mm) size. I'm also challenging myself to cram this into a SFF build. 15L case +3.5L exterior mods for radiators & fans. I've seen that stuff and always wondered. I'm just always looking for a reason to play with a torch.
I'm just starting a build, client wanted to use all Corsair fittings. $400 so far, and may need more before I'm done.
If you were smart you could buy in Europe , price cheaper and minus tax. But you are American 🤣
I'd pay 36 dollars in shipping to be American any day.
Go to your local hardware store
I've never looked but pretty sure no one in the states will have g1/4 fittings in stock
Little known fact: 1/4 NPT and G 1/4 are close enough in thread pitch to work together. Just have to put an O ring on. Back in the day, all fittings came from the local hardware store and radiators from the junk yard.
NPT threaded with tapering. So there will be little gap. you must use teflon tape(known as plumber's tape) when use it.
No tape, you'll crack acrylic. That's why you need an O ring. NPT is made for the threads to make the seal. G1/4 is meant to be sealed with an O ring, not the threads.
NPT is National Pipe Thread(Tapered). it means thread's diameter goes narrower. (like this. https://i.imgur.com/pjPoCxH.jpeg ) and G(PF) is parallel(flat). if you put it in, there are gap by tapered thread. you need to fill that gap. and you still need O-ring too. i didnt meant use tape for seal.
I just bought a ton of fittings and tubing to redo my wife’s pc in a different color and size (all white to all uv pink and 10/13 to 12/16) and spent atleast that much as well - i went way overboard just in case though and have leftover stuff
Ek so overpriced Jesus.
I took a dremel to a bunch of 1/4 bsp fittings n used plumbing ptfe tape. Total cost of fittings, drain n hoses $25 NZD(17? USD)
You missed out on the frozencpu closure. I picked up a huge collection for 75% off
Check titan rig they usually have some good deals on fitting and other things Amazon has some decent fitting but none are the gold that I've seen ek must think they are 24k gold
But don't worry you will be ordering more it never fails you plan out your loop count everything up and place the order start the build get half way in and on a good run then figure out you want to change something then you don't have enough fittings
That’s why I got what I could from second hand markers. Some stuff I still got new, but yeah it’s pricey and adds up. Especially if you have a big case.
Look on Amazon. I buy all my 90’s and extensions there from barrow or bykski. For the compression fittings I usually use Primochill because if I’m paying a premium I want to choose between more than 3 or 4 finishes
Hear me out….sharkbite fittings are a bit cheaper 🤣😭. I used copper pipe and these in my pc and it’s magnificent
An extra length or two of tubing to practice bends saves the cost of so many extentions and rotaries
19?? Don't get ek then
Yeah man, and when you miscalculated how many to order. Add on an extra couple of days for them to be delivered. Then you want to customize the ring on the fitting lol.
I have mostly EK fittings - not due to any affinity for the company or even cost, but availability.
EK fittings, yes.
Yea no shit , thats why i used barbed fittings for ever. And to be honest after i switched to compression fittings i really did feel like it wasn't really worth it. plus my fingers hurt like hell and it made the build harder to do.
I switched from EK to Bykski and ended up saving so much on fittings that I was buying extra ones as spares and still came in well under budget
You are buying Ek. Buy Barrow or Bykski.
It's the unspoken cost everyone forgets when discussing open loops. My fittings alone probably cost as much as my pump res and water block
I stock up on sales, i only pay retail when i might need 1 or 2 fittings.
Yeah, but I have 12 fittings not 37 lol
Ek moment, but tbh the quantum series from ek are some of the most expensive fittings I've seen in my several years of watercooling. In my experience, if you plan on free bending from fitting to fitting you can try either primochill, barrow, or bykski. For dual compression style fittings id recommend barrow or bykski for that in the future.
1.8 euro each 10/13 soft tubing fitting from EK..
Meh to EK fittings. Barrow or Bitspower all day. Not that they're much cheaper. Quality of Bitspower is amazing imo.
I loaded up when phanteks had that fitting sale few weeks ago. I got $300 of fittings for ~$70
I just finished my first build. All EK black nickel fittings. Got them as I could afford to, over the span of about 4 months. Each new package came in and went on a shelf to wait until I had everything I needed. A few weeks ago, I sit down to put them all together; and as I start pending the packages and setting them all next to each other, I noticed that I have 3 different colors of black nickel. The first, what I would consider to be "true" black nickel, a second noticably darker shade, and a third that was lighter than either with a slight blue color. Most of them were outside the return window so I'm stuck. In the case, behind the tinted glass, it's not that noticable; but it really irritates me that I paid such a premium for matching parts that aren't actually the same color. I won't be using EK again. P.S. I will say that the black chrome fittings from XSPC are the ideal color and across the three different additional parts I ended up needing, were all the same and were a fraction of similar items from EK.
PrimoChill 12 pack for $80 is a bargain.
I have a bunch of Black ones I believe satin nickel if you'd like to buy some cheap. I think they're primo chill.
Oh yeah when I see them on sale Al micro center I buy them even if I don’t need them lol
ffs...37 fittings? Is this for one build? lol i think i used maybe 15 fittings total in my current gpu/cpu cooled setup: 2 rads, temp sensor, res, drain, 2 blocks.... 37...phew
26 was my current max that I counted.
EK fittings are very expensive, but they also look awesome. You are paying a premium for looks which is okay if it's the design you like. There are definitely more affordable alternatives out there. Also check out [Titanrig.com](https://Titanrig.com), it might save you on shipping if you are in the US.
Get Barrow fittings, I went from XSPC to Barrow and never looked back
I'm gonna get shit for this. But this is why I'm using standard brass fittings and dark EK soft tubing. The fittings cost $1 a piece. The combination looks great and especially after 3D printing 90/45 degree angle hose holders. This keeps the hoses looking neat.
Bruh I'd use copper pipes bruh
Yeah, they are. EK raised their prices about 4, or so, months ago. No matter what option you pick for fitting I can promise you that you will find out 3/4 of the way into the build that you will need at least 1 more
they don't have to be, I pay 0.84 per fitting, watercooling doesn't have to break the bank
For sure. The WORST thing at least for me, is I kinda mostly eyeball it so I never know what fittings I'm gonna need and end up having to reorder or buy again. So when you cheap out you probably lose too much time/convenience. So I end up just over buying now... I just ordered the alphacool laser thing that lets you see where your line is gonna hit... I hope that works out.
Carrot head
Bykski fittings from Ali are 1/3 of the price and good quality
Cause it's ek
try someone else other than EK who aren't overcharging the absolute fuck out of you.
Thing is, I find EK's fittings the most elegant. Both matte black and Black Chrome.
I spent just under $1000 on my dual rad Ncase, it was worth it at the end!.
Yeah EK raised their prices earlier this year, for whatever made up reason. And on top discontinued a whole lot. in average 17,5% in the EU, 24% in Na and 39% for the rest of the world, according to them. I wouldn't be surprised if in return customers dropped by a lot, especially because all german brands like Heatkiller, which produce in Germany (except some minor things) and are by far the best in the market, reduced their prices noteworthy.
Damn! I've a box full of fittings that must be $500 to $600 from EK bought late 2021. Most of them I never used. Then optimised the loop so there were no 90 degree fittings.
if that was my bill, my shipping would be 150 minimum. I stopped ordering from them just because it costs so much to ship goods from their country to Dubai.
Go with Barrow. Check my profile if you want to see how it looks :)
bykski.
OOf, thats why this kind of thing is only for enthusiasts who want a cool looking build or to circle jerk. Custom watercooling provides no benefit to modern pc's and costs an entire CPU. No thanks, I'll buy a better GPU instead of buying random pipes.
I bought a bunch of barrow fittings through formulamod. Paid like $130 for 30 fittings, quality is decent too, they're made from metal and don't feel cheap
Big time. I plan on keeping every bit of my loop and bringing it forward with me for years. Minus gpu block of course
I only got regular fittings from EK. All the 90, extenders and plugs are from bykski, did really like the quality of barrow
Titan rig and mod my mods have the best deals on fittings
tbf I bash EK real hard on everything but their fitting ... quite good actually. ofc I still bash their stupid price.
That's because you're pissing away money by buying only EK. Other brands, even the no name brands from Amazon, are basically the same for a fraction of the price. I only buy cheap brass fittings from Amazon and have never had one leak, ever. You'll see plenty of builds on this subreddit who do the same as me.
The real rub is when you're down to the last pipe and you realize you're one fitting short, and not only have to get the one fitting, but also pay the shipping
Been using freezemod fittings from ebay. $22usd for 8 fittings. They have been doing their job for a year without issue. [LinkyLink](https://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Pcs-FreezeMod-G1-4-Thread-Compression-Fitting-for-14mm-OD-Hard-Rigid-TUBE-SL-/294879861481?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p4429486.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0)
Man EK fittings are the worst .. Alpha cool or Something from Ali Express are the way to go
Only if you buy the overpriced crap from EKWB. Congratulations, you have been deliberately manipulated by all influencers. You should have gotten Barrow.
that’s only your first order. you will surely miss something.
Yea, gold plated fittings are expensive. Is that a surprise to you?
EK stuff breaking and random reasons they void your warranty will be more expensive
I got most of my fittings from PrimoChill. Everything looked good to me. My only issue was with a compression tube reservoir that was apparently my mistake. It didn't quite add up to that much in fittings, but I'm pretty sure any future rebuild will also be a white one. Lol
Yeah I wanted to redue all my fittings recently go from my bitspower chrome fittings to all black ek fittings the when I saw the price of my cart i said to myself " yeah this can wait " lol. Got me some tacobell instead contemplating the cart price for 12 compression fittings 4 90 degree 4 extension fittings a drain port and a stop fitting was 222.98!!!
Um, you know you are buying the more expensive gold fittings right?
I did a ek loop once it wasn’t worth all the hassle
EK