Water Cooling

[D@ve]

Hey guys, well my case moddin is going well and i'll post some pics soon but I am having problems with the cooling of the PC! I am thinking of going for a water cooling kit, will it make my PC run a lot cooler and are there any pitfalls with a watercooling kit??????

[NooNoo]

Only leakage.... remember to seal the case carefully with silcone before filling it up with water

[Platypus]

NooNoo is wicked...

[ephmynus]

Watercooling is a great solution and isn't just for the "crazy people" anymore. There are plenty of great WC kits available but they're going to cost you. Expect to spend upwards of $150-$250 on a decent kit. If you want to piece it out, you can go a little cheaper on the radiator by going to a junkyard and getting a radiator off a heater core. These are the same things included with WC kits but you'll just have to clean the one from the junkyard up a bit. Make sure you use all like metals to prevent corrosion. Also, when you initially set up the kit, be sure to run it outside of your case for atleast 24 hours and run it over something like paper towels so that you can see even the slightest of leakage. Good Luck!

[firemonkey]

I think you should check out Maximum PC they just had a big article on water cooling. Its really cool (parden the pun)

[D@ve]

Will the Water Cooling Kit keep my CPU cooler??

[Ya_know]

Originally posted by D@ve
Will the Water Cooling Kit keep my CPU cooler??

That's like asking will a NOS make my car go faster!?! If applied correctly, F'n A it'll be cooler!

[PacMan]

How often do you have to refill the liquid (what is the liquid?).

[ephmynus]

Water and a small amount of coolant is used. As long as attention is paid to using the same types of metals as to prevent corrosion, liquid should only have to be drained and replaced every 6 months or so.

[ilovetheusers]

Not to be a nay sayer. Well, actually I'm being a negtive nay sayer (is that how you spell sayer - looks funny)?

Anyway -why? Why put something in your case that will potentially spill liquid out that will ruin everything, build up condensation and potentially ruin everything and/or go to all the work of water cooling? I understand the alure of doing things for the heck of it but this is one that never apealed to me at all.

If you do build a water cooled system, know it only cools the CPU. The rest of the system is still nice and hot. If this is what you are looking to cool down, make some blow holes that accept 120mm fans and make sure one blows right on the mobo (another vents air out the top). I have a case like this and it's a good 5 degrees F cooler than without it. Of course my computer sounds like a jet engine with all 7 cooling fans running... There are options for cooling the CPU like decent heat sinks and/or heat pipe coolers coming out that "promise" the benefits of cooling without the watery mess and thay only cost the same as a really decent HSF. I have no idea how effective these things are though. http://www.taisol.com/heatpipes.html

There is an excelent article in the February edition of MaximumPC. You might want to grab it.

[JungleMan1]

If you use quality tubing (Tygon or Clearflex), some hose clamps, and a copper or aluminum top waterblock (Avoid lucite top! known to leak), you should not have any problems. Also, inline waterocoling setups (no reservoir) reduce the risk of having a possible reservoir leak...because there is none

I'm looking to get my first watercooling setup working soon. The best idea is to go to www.dtekcustoms.com and get some equipment there.

For a pump, I have a Via Aqua 1300, it's good but requires a few mods to stop vibration. If you can afford it, get the Eheim 1250...expensive, though. Hydor L30 also works good

The D-Tek Heatercore is good, remember a shroud and a 120mm fan to go with it. Enermax adjustable is a great fan.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about the TC-4 Rev 2 waterblock, which I also have and I'm waiting to set up. Supposedly beats the Maze 3, and is second only to the $100 White Water Rapids block.

If you have questions, just ask and one of us will help you..

[Rojacks]

Originally posted by NooNoo
Only leakage.... remember to seal the case carefully with silcone before filling it up with water

A few things to consider aswell, the floppy and HDD will not take kindly to water. I advise moving these items above the water line. The PSU is a little dicey as well, For safety move this above the water line.

Disconnect the CPU and Videocard fan.

YOU MUST USE 99.9% pure water as a minimum. You should add ALFLOC to it to avoid corrosion. ALFLOC will attack tin but not copper.

If the shellac seal on the motherboard is substandard/damaged liquid will leach into it, this is a slow process but it will kill the board in the long term.

SO whats the life, I would guess ~12 months before damage to components due to water ingress cause failure.

Posibily you could use silicon fluid or glycarine if 99.9% pure water is too hard to get and this might solve the corrosion issues

[Duke of Rezin]

Route your hoses into a small dorm fridge and keep the radiator and pump/reservoir inside. You can even keep a small fan inside for convection. Very silent, relatively inexpensive, and knocks about 50 deg F off your cpu temps. Am using the Maze 3 with great results.

[Speed Racer]

Athlon XP 2600
2x 256MB Corsair XMS PC3200CL2
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Fluid Cooled (-21F)
RocketRAID 404
4 Seagate 40g 7200rpm


I have been watercooling/overclocking for years now and have learned tons about it... and in the process have ruined two complete systems experimenting with new ideas... lol, but I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. Nowadays, I have a commercial freezer that goes down to minus 41 F but stays constant at minus 21 F with an elaborate copper tubing setup and twin Eheim 1260's (1060's) pumping away, and have shelved my pelts and radiators. (too much fan noise) I finally figured a way to insulate and completely avoid condensation. I use DangerDen's blocks http://www.dangerden.com/mall/water_block.asp and consider them to be among the very best, having tried all kinds. Tubing, also is quite important.. the stuff they sell at Home Depot is garbage and will leak like crazy. Tygon and ClearFlex tubings work great unless you go below freezing and then they get as stiff as a board and will crack. Only silicon stays flexible even below 0 degrees F. Also, another trick I use is to completely coat all of my boards with conformal coating http://www.overclockershideout.com/M...egory_Code=TPE which is kinda like a polyurethane but does not transmit electricity. Just remember to mask off those heatsinks and anywhere else you might connect an LED, etc.. And don't spray it in your house or your wife will go nutz...hehe That way if something does leak, no big deal. If you use silicone, use conformal silicone also to avoid static, etc. FRY's sells it and I have seen it online as well: http://www.octools.com/index.cgi?cal...orningkit.html For fluid, I recommend using WaterWetter http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Service/WaterWetter.htm instead of glycol-based antifreeze as it will allow your fluid to flow better (thinner).. Antifreeze is thick; even when dilluted with distilled water, I have still noticed less gpm thru my pumps. Only use antifreeze if you go below freezing. I use a 70/30 mix now after 60/40 froze in my freezer; first number being antifreeze. It did not freeze solid, but was like this really,really thick SLURPEE stuff that just would not pump at all. I have also added a second power supply to my system and hotwired it to a switch that I put in my side panel so that the pump as well as the fans come on first and drop the temp well enuf before I fire up my system. This keeps those overclocked AMD processors from roastin' up to a delicate crisp. " I love the smell of napalm in the morning"... Remember too, that no matter how watertight your entire system is, evaporation will still take place; don't think you can go 6 mos. w/o checking the fluid level in your reservoir. You may find a burned up pump, or even worse, a roasted CPU... NEway, if I can help you in anyway, email me [email protected]. Good LUck !!

[ilovetheusers]

Originally posted by Speed Racer
Athlon XP 2600
2x 256MB Corsair XMS PC3200CL2
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Fluid Cooled (-21F)
RocketRAID 404
4 Seagate 40g 7200rpm


I have been watercooling/overclocking for years now and have learned tons about it... and in the process have ruined two complete systems experimenting with new ideas... lol, but I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. Nowadays, I have a commercial freezer that goes down to minus 41 F but stays constant at minus 21 F with an elaborate copper tubing setup and twin Eheim 650's pumping away, and have shelved my pelts and radiators. (too much fan noise) I finally figured a way to insulate and completely avoid condensation. I use DangerDen's blocks http://www.dangerden.com/mall/water_block.asp and consider them to be among the very best, having tried all kinds. Tubing, also is quite important.. the stuff they sell at Home Depot is garbage and will leak like crazy. Tygon and ClearFlex tubings work great unless you go below freezing and then they get as stiff as a board and will crack. Only silicon stays flexible even below 0 degrees F. Also, another trick I use is to completely coat all of my boards with conformal coating http://www.overclockershideout.com/M...egory_Code=TPE which is kinda like a polyurethane but does not transmit electricity. Just remember to mask off those heatsinks and anywhere else you might connect an LED, etc.. And don't spray it in your house or your wife will go nutz...hehe That way if something does leak, no big deal. If you use silicone, use conformal silicone also to avoid static, etc. FRY's sells it and I have seen it online as well: http://www.octools.com/index.cgi?cal...orningkit.html For fluid, I recommend using WaterWetter http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Service/WaterWetter.htm instead of glycol-based antifreeze as it will allow your fluid to flow better (thinner).. Antifreeze is thick; even when dilluted with distilled water, I have still noticed less gpm thru my pumps. Only use antifreeze if you go below freezing. I use a 70/30 mix now after 60/40 froze in my freezer; first number being antifreeze. It did not freeze solid, but was like this really,really thick SLURPEE stuff that just would not pump at all. I have also added a second power supply to my system and hotwired it to a switch that I put in my side panel so that the pump as well as the fans come on first and drop the temp well enuf before I fire up my system. This keeps those overclocked AMD processors from roastin' up to a delicate crisp. " I love the smell of napalm in the morning"... Remember too, that no matter how watertight your entire system is, evaporation will still take place; don't think you can go 6 mos. w/o checking the fluid level in your reservoir. You may find a burned up pump, or even worse, a roasted CPU... NEway, if I can help you in anyway, email me [email protected]. Good LUck !!

So what do you have the AMD chip clocked up to? I'm wondering?

Oh, btw - you can get eheim pumps and a lot of others at www.thatpetplace.com - sells at wholesale prices below what you will pay in other aquarium shops.