SFF water cooling

J0hnb0y

J0hnb0y

J0hnb0y

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Joined
25 Oct 2006
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587
Location
London
Hi all,

I have a Coolermaster 130 case, with 280, i5 and SSD. I know I can use a closed loop CPU cooler but I am really interested in watercooling the gfx card. If I'm correct, this will essentially transform a dual slot card to single / 1.5 slot, freeing up a bit of space. Question is, are there any radiators on the market with SFF in mind? I see I can get a 5.25" reservoir, but not sure where to look in terms of rads. Anybody on here watercooled a CM130?

Cheers,

John
 
There are plenty of slim rads, but I don't see how you'd manage to fit any in there with fans and have anything approaching adequate rad space and room for airflow.

Would you consider running an external rad?
 
Absolutely. I would only get away with a single fan rad and not so sure this would have enough juice to cool cpu/gpu. I want to put my case inside an AV cabinet and the cooling isn't nearly good enough on air. Is it possible to have an almost entirely external radiator/pump/reservoir? I have plenty of space on the back of the cabinet to mount components. I'd have to modify the case to feed the acrylic but it doesn't need to look pretty, the idea being it is out of sight!
 
You could look into a Swiftech MCR320 Drive Rev3 if you can find one for sale in the UK.
I haven't checked any reviews tbh.

Other than that, a pump/res combo and a 360 rad on a stand with a couple of quick disconnects should suit your needs.
 
Could you post a picture of your PC with a bit of your desk?
Are you willing to use external radiator?
If you don't mind and can do a little DIY, maybe cut tube openings in back of your case etc let me know and I can spec you a loop.

Edit.
Actually I had a look at the case and I see a possible solution.
You'd still need a pump/res/block AIO like Prestige Jetstream, 240mm rad and 120mm rad if you can fit one in front.
You would need to mod your left panel a bit, cut 2 x 120 mm circles to allow air from rad to go into case and 2 more holes for pipes.
Loop would look like this:

AiO - GPU block - 240 rad - 120 rad - back to AiO.
I am not sure how effective that would be, but I asked OCuk customer support before and Prestige Jetstream is strong enough to handle small loops with cpu, gpu and 2 rads.
Problem is, is it really worth it?
Because as I see it, with so luttle space there, temps may just stay the same as they are now or drop very little.
 
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Uncle Petey said:
Would you consider running an external rad?
Click to expand...

J0hnb0y said:
Absolutely. I would only get away with a single fan rad and not so sure this would have enough juice to cool cpu/gpu. I want to put my case inside an AV cabinet and the cooling isn't nearly good enough on air. Is it possible to have an almost entirely external radiator/pump/reservoir? I have plenty of space on the back of the cabinet to mount components. I'd have to modify the case to feed the acrylic but it doesn't need to look pretty, the idea being it is out of sight!
Click to expand...
 
Ummm, sorry lol :-)
I am reading this on a tablet with tiny letters :-)
I'll post a picture tomorrow morning, when I'm back from work.
 
I'll definitely have to use external WC components because as you say, there is very little airflow in that space. A far cheaper alternative would be to hide the PC behind the cabinet, but I have a bit of an itch!

I propose to but a 120.2 radiator and strap it to the back of the shelf. The reservoir I'd like to make all flashy and keep on the middle shelf, running the pipes through the cable holes at the back of the shelf. Next question is, will the length of tube mean I'll need a powerful pump? The setup looks quite jazzy in my head and with a few led's should provide some nice ambient light behind the TV.

Thanks for your help guys. I've been reading through passive radiators in fish tanks etc etc and keeping it simple with external hardware is the way to go :)
 
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Can't hotlink images here. You'll have to upload it to imgur/photobucket or something :)

I'd recommend at least a 120.3 rad and you'll be fine with a D5/DDC/DCP 4.0 pump running that lot.

If you want a reasonably flashy res/pump that'll easily sit on the shelf, grab one of these and stick an led in the back (comes with a blue one). They do look nicer in the 'flesh'.
Btw, it's cheaper to buy the pump and res separately.
 
If you want to run it passive you will need a larg rad with good flow, this epwill be more expensive than smaller rad with weaker pump.
Example of good rad for passive is Phobya 1080/1260 + D5 pump.
You could use a XSPC Photon 270 + D5 combo if you are going for visuals, or any other tube reservoir and attach a led strip behind it?
It would be better if all components were at about dame height i.e top of the desk, because you eill have to use D5 and not different weaker pump, if you put OC on the desk, res somehere else and rad somewhere out if sight.
I tried a mod like that and it wasn't the best solution. It may look nice on paper but in reality you would have to spend more money that it is worth it.
My idea would be:
Get a Phobya 1080 + a cage mod for it. It allows mounting the rad with pump/res combo attached on the side, then attach it to the side of the desk or on the wall next to PC, so you won't need very long tubing. Cost-wise, you are looking at around 500£ for everything. Rads, blocks, pump/res, tubing, fittings. Or do what Uncle_Petey said, might be cheaper :-)
 
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That'll do for me :)
So I'll need a 120.3 radiator and some sort of box to mount it on? I'm on the hunt for some plans.

Thanks again. Will post some pics when it's finished. The internals of my PC are a mess which doesn't help with airflow but hopefully this will sort it out and be a nice Steambox
 
Bart_Hunt said:
If you want to run it passive you will need a larg rad with good flow, this epwill be more expensive than smaller rad with weaker pump.
Example of good rad for passive is Phobya 1080/1260 + D5 pump.
You could use a XSPC Photon 270 + D5 combo if you are going for visuals, or any other tube reservoir and attach a led strip behind it?
It would be better if all components were at about dame height i.e top of the desk, because you eill have to use D5 and not different weaker pump, if you put OC on the desk, res somehere else and rad somewhere out if sight.
I tried a mod like that and it wasn't the best solution. It may look nice on paper but in reality you would have to spend more money that it is worth it.
My idea would be:
Get a Phobya 1080 + a cage mod for it. It allows mounting the rad with pump/res combo attached on the side, then attach it to the side of the desk or on the wall next to PC, so you won't need very long tubing. Cost-wise, you are looking at around 500£ for everything. Rads, blocks, pump/res, tubing, fittings. Or do what Uncle_Petey said, might be cheaper :-)
Click to expand...

That's an expensive itch! I could drill holes through the shelf to run the piping, effectively making it no longer than a full-size tower in theory...Decisions decisions!
 
J0hnb0y said:
That'll do for me :)
So I'll need a 120.3 radiator and some sort of box to mount it on?
Click to expand...

Look at the XSPC AX radiators. There is/was a stand available for these radiators to have them vertically mounted outside your case. You should also plan for some Koolance quick disconnects so you can move your case and radiator independently, should you need to move it in the future
 
How about something like this to get the ball rolling? I picked the colour at random :D

You could save a little by dropping to a 360 and losing a fan.
You'll also need a couple of angled fittings. At least one 90° and probably a 45°.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Watercool Heatkiller GPU-X³ 79X0 Ni-Bl £89.99
1 x XSPC EX480 120mm Radiator - Black £66.95
1 x XSPC D5 Vario (Body + Screwring) £56.99
1 x Aqua Computer Cuplex Kryos Delrin for 775 / 1155 / 1150 / 1156 / 1366 - G1/4" £39.98
1 x XSPC Acrylic Tank Reservoir for Laing D5 £28.98
4 x Akasa AK-FN058 Apache Black Super Silent 120mm Fan - 4 Pin PWM £9.98 (£39.92)
2 x Mayhems X1 UV Blue Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L £7.99 (£15.98)
4 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - UV Blue £5.99 (£23.96)
8 x XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting (Chrome) £3.19 (£25.52)
Total : £388.30 (includes shipping : FREE).



Oh yeah, forgot the qdc's...
 
Depends on whether he wants the rad standing upright or mounted to the back of the desk/lying horizontally.
Still, the silver AX360 for £53 is pretty decent. I have two myself, though I do think they're a slightly overrated tbh.
 
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