Water cooling - where to put it all?

Jargy

Jargy

Jargy

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Tamworth, Staffordshire
OK, here goes another thread by someone starting out on their road to water cooling. I'd read the other threads and took note of enough advice to allow me to draught a shopping list:
Pump = 12v DDC Laing Pro
Reservoir = Swiftech Micro Res
CPU block = EK-Supreme (Acetal)
Radiator = Thermochill PA120.3 (the main reason for this thread, which I will get to eventually)
Tubing = Masterkleer 7/16"
Liquid = Distilled Water with anti-algae

My plan is to initially only water cool the CPU, and add a GPU block once I've decided if upgrading to a 9-Series Nvidia card is worthwhile or not.

Quick question, as I'm using a reservoir, would a plexiglass cover for the pump have any benefits, i.e noise reduction?

For reference, my current system is:
Asaka Mirage 62 case
Corsair HX 620w PSU
Asus P5K P35 motherboard
Intel Core Duo E6700 CPU @ 3.05GHz
Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro HSF
2GB OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper HPC DDR2 memory
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC2 320Mb GPU with Thermalright HR-03-PLUS

Images of current system:
DSCF2224.jpg

Yes, it's a mess currently, but that's because I've been removing bits of the case, etc and not sorted the cables yet. I've just been clearing space in preparation for water cooling.

OK, the reason for this post is I'm wondering if I could fit a Thermochill PA120.3 in the case base. According to my tape measure, it'll fit now I've removed the hard drive cage.
I'm thinking of cutting 3x 120mm holes in the base in line with the 3 fans I'd fit to the rad, blowing down and out of the case. As you can see from the above pic I've fitted the wheels giving me the ground clearance I'd need.
With the fans blowing down through the rad, I'm hoping that I wouldn't get too much dust on the rad.

I am aware the best place for a rad is at the top of the case as heat radiates up and I will have a warmer case temp, but with the key components water cooled (so less affected by internal case temperatures) and the attatched radiator fans, I thought I might get away with it.

What do people think?
 
Radiators are always better being being fed air from outside the case, according to Marci from Thermochill.

Can't fault your choice of parts though mate, a PA120.2 should be enough for your set up, I had an E6600 @ 3.6Ghz, X1900XT and a RD600 NB all on a PA120.2 and I believe it's Street who had/has a Eclipse/Mirage and a PA120.2 in the roof.

If you want a PA120.3, the floor option is fine - plenty of CM Stacker owners use this method.

The after market tops offer performance increases and the option to use different barbs as the stock DDC top is moulded from plastic including the barbs. No difference in noise reduction comes from using an after market top although some have found the plexi tops from Alphacool/XSPC/OCLabs to be quieter than the Delrin Petra's top. This isn't proven though.
 
i have the same case and the same idea but im going for either a 120.1 or a 120.2 rather thatn a 120.3.

take out the fdd + hdd caddies gives you a hell of a lot of roomand when you tidy the cables up your case will look a lot more spacious :)
 
Should be fine to mount the radiator in the bottom of the case.

This is my current set up:

dscf0118zd0.jpg


The only thing i would change is the way your fans blow i currently have mine sucking air into the case.
 
Thanks for the feedback!

Mekrel - Glads you like my kit selection, though I think some of my choices were actually suggestions you gave on other threads!;)
I agree that a PA120.2 would probably suffice for my current system, but I'm looking forward, and wanting a futureproof system. It may need to cope with SLi or NB cooling in the future.
Think I will add a plexitop for my pump to my shopping list, based on what you and others have said.

SGWills - Your planning to mount the rad in the bottom of this case? Be interesting to here about how you get on. Are you going to cut holes in the base?
As I said in my initial post, the cabling hasn't been sorted yet as it's pointless if I'm then going to mess with it again for water cooling. From my original pic you'll see I've removed the additional 3.5" cages, and you're right, loads of space!

Chris19 - Nice setup! Reassuring to see my idea in practice, and to such a good standard. Few questions though..
Is that the thermochill rad?
What fans are you using and would you recommend them?
How do you prevent excess dust clogging the rad with the fans pulling air through it?

Anyone else got any thoughts/suggestions?
Plan to start ordering bits over Christmas, so they (hopefully) get delivered between Xmas and new year, when I've got the time to do something with them! Will post pics as things develop.
 
my rad will be placed where the current front fan is (120.1 rad) with a aftermarket fan to get a decent amount of air movement.


i got my case on here with a little on going worklog :) shows a bit of cable tidying and what my plans are, havent done much as i keep waiting on people to lend me tools or help out and they dont turn up :p but like you mine will get more done over the xmas hols

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17797373
 
I have my watercooling kit external to the case. I really did'nt see the point of removing the hot air from the cpu just to dump it back inside the case with the radiator exhaust fans. My case is big enough to take it all (Thermaltake Armour) but i chose not to. I built a soundproof box to mount my pump and the watercooling systems own psu in. On the outside of the box is mounted my 250mm passive reservoir. My triple rad is mounted in a seperate box in a windowsill. The window side of that box has been cut out and i made a filter sandwiched between two large pieces of mesh to stop any dust etc getting sucked in. This has worked brilliantly for me and my quad never goes over 50 degrees while running Prime. Mostly it is down around the mid 20's. Have'nt started it up yet today but i should see some interesting temps as it's -8 degrees outside. I also have the NB and graphics card in the same loop.
 
Its an XSPC rad im using there, they prefrom well for their price and its Xilence red wing fans i have. I got them mostly cus they were a nice cheap option but they are pretty much silent and push a good amount of air.

The dust isnt a big problem at all, it all get caught in the rad so just hover it out every month only takes a few mins.
 
Chris is that a northbridge cooling block?

What happened to your GPU?
Nice air bibble by the way.lol. Not that I can talk at the min
 
pastymuncher said:
I have my watercooling kit external to the case. I really did'nt see the point of removing the hot air from the cpu just to dump it back inside the case with the radiator exhaust fans. My case is big enough to take it all (Thermaltake Armour) but i chose not to. I built a soundproof box to mount my pump and the watercooling systems own psu in. On the outside of the box is mounted my 250mm passive reservoir. My triple rad is mounted in a seperate box in a windowsill. The window side of that box has been cut out and i made a filter sandwiched between two large pieces of mesh to stop any dust etc getting sucked in. This has worked brilliantly for me and my quad never goes over 50 degrees while running Prime. Mostly it is down around the mid 20's. Have'nt started it up yet today but i should see some interesting temps as it's -8 degrees outside. I also have the NB and graphics card in the same loop.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hijack, but it would be interesting to see you whole setup.
 
SGWills, will a 120.1 be enough to cool your loop?
Bikerz, that mothboard has a pre-installed NB water block, and costs about £180.
Chris19 - have looked at those fans. Is there really any significant difference in the main quality fans?
 
Jargy said:
SGWills, will a 120.1 be enough to cool your loop?
Click to expand...

should be, it will only be cooling the cpu, maybe northbridge for now, looking to get a 160.1 on the cheap and replace my 120.1 with that.

This rig is just for me to have a decent PC to mod about with and try watercooling, next stop is to get a Lian Li V series case :)
 
DeadMan said:
I would double check those temps, either that or your using a water chiller in the loop somewhere :)
Click to expand...

"My triple rad is mounted in a seperate box in a windowsill. The window side of that box has been cut out and i made a filter sandwiched between two large pieces of mesh to stop any dust etc getting sucked in"

Not a water chiller as such.

He is using the cold air from outside.

Very interesting really, thats why I have asked for some pics.
 
Here we go. Should have made my own thread really i suppose but here's the piccies.

My rig(s).

MyPC001.jpg



Inside the pc.

Aquaextreme MP-05 Pro limited edition on the cpu. Aquaextreme MP-01 on the gpu and XSPC X20 on the NB.

MyPC005.jpg



W/C psu/Pump/Res box.

Pump is a Aquaextreme 50z, Res is a XSPC 250mm passive res and the psu is just a AT switching psu rated at 150w and rewired to use the Arm/Disarm switch at the bottom.

MyPC007.jpg


Inside the box.

Normally the wires are tie-wrapped up but i removed the tie-wraps so you could see the pump better. The lid gets bolted on with hex screws.

MyPC006.jpg



Radbox.

XSPC Xtreme lll triple rad with 3x Xinrullian 0.4A 120mm fans (105CFM each :eek: ) quite noisy but they are not in my pc room so it does'nt matter. Fans are mounted on a shroud to get rid of any possible dead spots.

MyPC002.jpg


Radbox showing the filter.

MyPC003.jpg


All pvc hose is 7/16" and the flow is Res>Pump>CPU>NB>GPU>Rad. To get to and from the rad there are two 6 foot lengths of 15mm copper pipes. The tubing is jined to the copper pipes by some 15mm/10mm brass stepdowns bored out to 13.5mm internally so as not to restrict the flow too much. From the Box holding the pump/psu/res to the pc and back to the copper pipe to the rad is just 7/16" tubing. I know all the purists out there say that it's far too long a loop but it really works superbly for me. Much better than if it was internal to the pc. Because the pc has no CPU/GPU/radiator exhaust fans inside it, the case temp is very stable at around a maximum of 27 Degrees. Unfortunately, the temperature outside is above zero today (first time for a week) and is 5 degrees so i have to put up with a rise in CPU temperature to mid 20's at idle and mid 30's while gaming. What a bummer. :D:D:D
 
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Ok Pastymuncher, after looking at your post I feel suitably humbled and the I need to be running off to another thread with my tail between my legs!
Nice set-up. Like the idea of a radiator well away from the computer, and the noise of those fans not being an issue. I know that people say that keeping the loop short is best, but surely if the pump can handle it, it no longer becomes an issue. In fact, wouldn't the connecting copper pipes absorb and radiate some additional heat from the water, improving cooling? Do they get warm at all?

Unfortunately, I have a guest room where I also use my computer as opposed to an independent computer room. Would be nice though. Problem is, I can just imagine my wifes reaction when she comes home from work to find me inserting copper piping through some freshly drilled holes in the wall and me saying "I'm just tinkering with the computer". It'd take me days to extract all that copper piping that she had inserted somewhere else. :eek:

Anyway, I've just ordered some water cooling bits, though not the pump or tubing yet, and have asked Overclockers to let me know when they're going to have those items back in stock.
What attachments, apart from jubilee clips, do I need?
Considering ordering some additional tubing, and using in to sleeve some cables. Perhaps I should do this and use UV tubing, and add some lights...:cool:
I hope this thermochill triple rad will fit in the base. If it doesn't, I'm wondering about mounting it externally on the roof of the case without fans and sticking a "Warning, high temperature" sign by it.
 
Jargy said:
Ok Pastymuncher, after looking at your post I feel suitably humbled and the I need to be running off to another thread with my tail between my legs!
Nice set-up. Like the idea of a radiator well away from the computer, and the noise of those fans not being an issue. I know that people say that keeping the loop short is best, but surely if the pump can handle it, it no longer becomes an issue. In fact, wouldn't the connecting copper pipes absorb and radiate some additional heat from the water, improving cooling? Do they get warm at all?

Unfortunately, I have a guest room where I also use my computer as opposed to an independent computer room. Would be nice though. Problem is, I can just imagine my wifes reaction when she comes home from work to find me inserting copper piping through some freshly drilled holes in the wall and me saying "I'm just tinkering with the computer". It'd take me days to extract all that copper piping that she had inserted somewhere else. :eek:

Anyway, I've just ordered some water cooling bits, though not the pump or tubing yet, and have asked Overclockers to let me know when they're going to have those items back in stock.
What attachments, apart from jubilee clips, do I need?
Considering ordering some additional tubing, and using in to sleeve some cables. Perhaps I should do this and use UV tubing, and add some lights...:cool:
I hope this thermochill triple rad will fit in the base. If it doesn't, I'm wondering about mounting it externally on the roof of the case without fans and sticking a "Warning, high temperature" sign by it.
Click to expand...

The copper pipes do get warm to the touch when the pc's worked hard but it is satisfying to feel the return from the rad to be quite a bit cooler than the delivery line. My graphics card by the way, has never been over 30 degree's, even overclocked as it is and under load. The copper pipes could dissapate some of the heat but it is probably small. That's one of the reasons i went for the passive reservoir as it has fins and provides some extra cooling. I am lucky in that there is a large cupboard at the top of the stairs which i claimed as soon as we moved in here. The window in the piccie is at the top of the stairs outside my computer room. I did the neccessary modifications while she was out so she could'nt object. She is quite understanding really. Either that or she thinks i am a little eccentric and just humours me.

Really there is no reason why you could'nt mount the 120.3 externally on the roof of your case anyway. If you could raise the rad clear of the top of the case so that the air could get sucked through freely it would work quite well with the fans mounted on top of the rad sucking the air through like mine do.

Aside from the jubilee clips you should'nt need anything else. The barbs should come with your blocks, res, pump and rad. I really would source them from a dedicated watercooling retailer as you may be waiting a long time for OCUK to get them in stock. They started on the W/C side about a year ago but to my mind they have never really been serious about it. There are always items out of stock and i remember that not too long ago that just about everything was out of stock. At least if you get it from a dedicated watercooling shop you can get everything in one go and tap them for some advice as well. It's how most of us on here get our stuff.
 
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