eXtreme Liquid Cooling - Build Log + Overclocking

Update 8:
Parts have started to arrive YAY!
So I didn't have time yesterday to take the photo's make a post but the postman knocked on the door at 7.30am Saturday! to drop a few things off!

Water Cooling:
2 x XSPC Laing DDC Tops - these are going on the two pumps that are going to be in the hot loop on the heat exchanger..

4 x Thermochill PA120.2 Shrouds - to go on the four 120.2 Radiators that are going to cool the hot loop



Heat Exchanger:
8 x TEC Units!



Water Cooling Configuration:
The case is pretty big but I started to plan out the liquid loops in more detail last week with some cardboard mock-ups in the case and realised I may not have as much room as I thought!

The current plan therefore is for the following water loops:

Loop 1 - Heat Exchanger Hot Side:
Components:
4 x Thermochill PA120.2 radiators with shrouds
2 x 250ml passive cooling reservoirs mounted on the case roof (will have two 120mm blow hole fans underneath to give some extra cooling).
2 x Laing DDC-1T Ultra with XSPC pump tops
1 x Fill Port
1 x Heat Exchanger Unit

Loop 2 - Heat Exchanger Cold Side:
Components:
1 x Heat Exchanger Unit
1 x Laing D5 Vario (probably with an EK top if I can get one)
1 x CPU Water Block
1 x Fill Port

Loop 3 - Graphics Cards
Components:
2 x XSPC 4870x2 Graphics Blocks
1 x Laing DDC-1T Ultra with XSPC reservoir top
1 x Thermochill PA120.3 radiator

Loop 4 - Motherboard & RAM
Components:
2 x RAM Cooler
1 x EK Asus Crosshair Formula III Full Board Block
1 x Thermochill PA120.1 radiator
1 x Laing DDC-1T Ultra with XSPC reservoir top

TEC Power Supply Unit Update:
I continued with the destruction of my Corsair 850w PSU, I have decided to mount it in a new housing as I can save room and keep a lot of the wiring inside the new housing rather than have it looking messy in the case.

So after cutting the old wires down to size and insulating and heat-shrinking off wires I won't be using I got the unit mounted into the new housing.



Following that the +12v and Ground wiring has been sorted, I will only have two +12v wires and two Ground wires leaving the unit. The wiring that will be running to the PWM controllers is rated at 45AMP's @ 12v and therefore should be more than capable of carrying the current. Each of these wires is running of 8 contact points on the PSU (so 16 contact points for +12v and 16 for ground), this should spread the load of the TEC units nicely and avoid any unfortunate mishaps.



The only remaining jobs for the PSU housing are to drill out a 120mm fan hole (waiting for a hole saw) and to drive and grommet the holes for the +12v / Ground / On+Off / 120mm Fan wires & Mains Power wires to leave the unit.

Looks good Pneumonic! Your project has inspired me to look into purchasing one of Ultrasonics 62mm waterblocks! Hopefully be able to drop my load temps from 40's down to <20.

Update 9:
More Bits!
Well the poor old postman arrived this morning carrying this:





Is 5m * 1m * 3mm of black silicon rubber which I found for the very reasonable price of £25 on a certain auction site. It will withstand temperatures of down to -60c whilst still maintaining all of its 'normal' properties... its also an excellent insulator ..

I also received the two reservoirs that I am going to be using in the hot loop and free of charge (I do like that) two replacement 4870x2 tops for my XSPC water blocks (thank you very much Paul at XSPC), as the thread had gone on one block and the other block wasn't looking as healthy as it could... will teach me to pull my loop apart every four - six weeks







My phone camera doesn't do the reservoirs justice they are very nice

Case Modifications
The next stage of modification to the case involves drilling two 120mm blow holes in the top and then mounting the passive reservoirs over the top.. I will also need to drill some holes for the tubing.. so I drew up a template and have mounted it all up.. just waiting for my 117mm hole saw bit to arrive now..



A couple of reviews I have seen of the reservoirs suggest that with some active cooling they can knock around 2-3c off the loop temperature... so with two a 4-6c drop in water temperature with a couple of low RPM fans underneath is well worth it.. along with the 1/2 litre or so capacity they provide. Should help to achieve my goal of 'quiet' if not necessarily passive.

I still have a load more stuff to turn up before I can really start putting everything together.. notable some electronics and the heat-exchangers but with some luck... and some snow this week should have plenty of time to move the project forward

looking good so far, and loving the white grill

SUbscribed!

nice friend has 2 of them res's and they work great with active fanage

Looking great, keep it up

Update 10:
Some More Deliveries!
Well most of the 'bits' are here now.. have some hardware to arrive but just a little update of what turned up today.

6mm Silicon Closed Cell Silicon Foam:

I am going to use this to insulate behind the motherboard and inside the housing where the heat exchangers are going to be placed. Will also make some nice 'pads' to place pumps on.

Tubing Insulation:

What it says really to insulate the cold loop tubes

Cable Braid & Heatshrink:

Nice thick white cable braid to ensure the wires don't show through, have miles of various sizes (you can never have to much).. unfortunately I feel a mental braiding session coming up over the weekend at some point!.

Case Modification
All the modification to the top of the case is now complete. Two 120mm fan holes drilled, along with two tube holes and the mounting holes for the radiators. Case has now gone back into painting for its final few coats.. Once these are complete I can start to add components and hopefully not to far off some test runs (Just waiting for the heat exchangers to turn up and the last few pieces of hardware)







Bit close there between the fan cut and the tube hole but seems solid! I can pick the case up on the slither of steel going between them.. bit irritated its slightly out of line.. but I guess you wont notice once its painted and everything is mounted.

That's it for now

Looking good buddy.

Update 11:
Board Insulation
Well the girlfriend has a headache so I have been banned from painting in the basement because the smell sets it off apparently! So... I have amused myself today starting to sort the insulation for the motherboard... Hopefully some of the more experienced phase / LN benchers can have a look at this and let me know its all-right

First job was to cut out a piece of the 6mm closed cell silicon foam to act as a 'back plate' for the motherboard... then cut out the holes for the board mounts to poke through.. Once I done that I then cut back around 2mm of foam for the area under the CPU so that I could use the silicon rubber here as the putty eraser stuck to that much more readily.

Back Insulation:


Silicon Rubber Insert:


With Backplate on:


Art Eraser Added:


Side View:



I then cut another piece of the silicon rubber to go between the back plate and the rubber to stop it digging into the silicon foam:



All mounted up:


And everything 'off' just to make sure that it all connected, as you can see the back of the CPU socket has left an indent in the art eraser.. and the board looks untouched once its all off





Next Stage was to add the art eraser around the CPU socket:





Just need to just some more silicon foam pieces to go around the water block and add some kitchen towel between the eraser and foam to absorb any condensation

Update 12:
Getting somewhere...
Well finally started to get some components into (or onto) the case today.. an hours work feels like I have actually achieved something now!! Have to say am pleased with the results...

Warning... lots of pictures!!

Top (Back View):


Top (Back View) Close Up:


Side View:


Reservoir Back (Left):


Reservoir Back (Right):


Mounting:


Fan (Close Up):


Edit: Correct Image Linked

Looks bad arse mate.

That looks amazing, keep it up

Im liking this

Update 13:
Thanks for all the comments so far.

TEC Power Supply Complete?!

Finished off the supply for the TEC units.. is a bit like spaghetti junction inside the housing but now it is all in there and the lid is screwed on I don't need to worry about it any more! No blowing up or burning smells so must have done it right

Just waiting for the DC PWM units to turn up.. then that will be the electronics complete..

Photo Time:

Housing:


Wiring To The PWM Units... can handle 90amps... so no melting wires for me!:


Power On:


Power On - Lights Off!:



Edit: Spelling!

This is not only a huge *experimental* project, it's a really really professional job too. Big kudos Pneumonic, loving reading and looking at all the new posts

Pneumonic - can you explain why the PWN unit is so big / requires that much cooling?

EDIT: Perhaps I need to research about them more / read your past threads

beh* said:

Pneumonic - can you explain why the PWN unit is so big / requires that much cooling?

EDIT: Perhaps I need to research about them more / read your past threads

Click to expand...

I think he meant PWM
Anyway the MOSFETS in the PWM controller to handle those sorts of currents/power loads will get very hot. Think PWM controllers on a motherboard but the TEC ones will probably be handling 3 (?) times the power.
Hope you don't mind me chipping in OP

really nice work mate - very impressive

The unit above is the PSU for the TEC's (basically a 'standard' 12v computer supply that I have modified a bit) which will run at around 80% load and therefore will need active cooling..

I did mean PWM units.. they will be housed in there own enclosure and will also require active cooling.. I will have two units each handling around 40AMP's.. now I am no electronics expert! but simply put as I understand they rapidly vary resistance on and off.. this gives the effect of reduced voltage.. however you don't just lose energy so the rest has to be dissipated as heat

Love this, when are you building me one?

You're going to need a new sig too, Pneumonic - Liquid Cooling Legend 2010.