Copper pipes for water cooled pcs? Would it work?

marc512 · 20 Dec 2009 at 17:32

I was just thinking, instead of the normal pipes you get for water cooling. Would copper pipes work? Iv never done any watercooled pcs so i dont really know if this is a stupid idea lol but if you used copper pipes instead of normal pipes would it be better for the cooling or no difference? If looks and weight of the pc didnt bother you.

mjones1 · 20 Dec 2009 at 17:39

yes it would work but routing the pipes would be a pain.

marc512 · 20 Dec 2009 at 17:43

Would it give any better temps for the components?

mod1fied · 20 Dec 2009 at 17:46

I would have thought they would give off more heat inside the case than what they would transfer to a radiator.

marc512 · 20 Dec 2009 at 17:51

My thought was the copper would take in most of the heat and with a good air cooled pc it would cool the pipes down + the radiator will cool the water even more.

ecksmen · 20 Dec 2009 at 18:01

marc512 said:
My thought was the copper would take in most of the heat and with a good air cooled pc it would cool the pipes down + the radiator will cool the water even more.

From my experience the best results are from optimising the radiator and flow. You'd be better off spending more time / money on a bigger radiator / fan set up than on soldering copper pipes. Not to mention you need the flexibility of regular tubing to allow cpu upgrades etc...

Sayso · 20 Dec 2009 at 22:51

ive seen this done it looks great but if you want to change anything your fooked

marc512 · 21 Dec 2009 at 00:00

Sayso said:
ive seen this done it looks great but if you want to change anything your fooked

any piccys ? im interested

or was it face to face?

DavyBoy · 21 Dec 2009 at 00:27

Found this on another forum:

I also remember seeing another build where the guy used a mix of clear tubing and copper pipe, it's different, but I don't really like the look of it personally.

Stupot_ · 21 Dec 2009 at 00:29

That looks horrible! But I imagine it could look really cool in a kind of steampunk way

DavyBoy · 21 Dec 2009 at 00:33

Here's the other one:

Just doesn't look right to me, and I imagine it must be a lot of work plumbing something like this..

neo-omega · 21 Dec 2009 at 01:23

Looks like something out of bioshock!

marc512 · 21 Dec 2009 at 10:53

I like the 2nd pic! first pic its mixed with shiney and dirty copper pipes. If i had the money to do it i would get the ultrasonic cleaned before i put them on.

varkanoid · 21 Dec 2009 at 18:21

couldnt you just paint the copper tubing a suitable colour using say radiator paint ? You could then have it black or white or... ?

Al-Ectrician · 21 Dec 2009 at 18:28

Or replace the standard copper with chrome coated, looks much better.

Al

JonJ678 · 23 Dec 2009 at 18:00

Negligible benefit for cooling, it's adding a small amount of surface area to a system with loads of surface area in the radiators.

Very important if running sufficiently low temperatures that normal tubing can't cope.