So, curiosity got the better of me and decided to give a watercooled system a go.
I tried to do this on as much of a budget as possible so a lot of the kit is 2nd hand from various sources, mainly the MM.
There are some very helpful and friendly chaps on this forum - so thanks all for that!
I really like the look of the pastel Mayhems dye... especially the blue... it certianly was part of the inspiration for some of the choices, in particular fans and RAM.
The kit is as follows - not cutting edge.... does a good job however:
AMD Phenom II clocked @ 3.8ghz
8gb Corsair RAM
2 x 5850 GPUs
Crosshair III Mobo
875w Thermaltake Toughpower PSU.
1 x 500gb WD Cav Black Drive
1 x 1tb Samsung Spinpoint
Corsair 800D Case
18w Laing DDC pump
2 x EX 5850 waterblocks
XSPC Raystorm CPU waterblock
1 x EK 240 Reservoir
1 x 360mm xspc radiator
1 x 120mm radiator
4 x 120mm alpenfohn wingboost fans
2 x 140mm alpenfohn wingboost fans
Mayhems Pastel Blue Liquid Coolant
Way too much dense weave black, blue and grey sleeving.
So.... the old and the new....
Obligatory nosey cat in the frame shot...
A large part of this was just to have a muck around with a loop - I've never seen/played with one in the flesh.... so I did a few set-ups running the power from a spare PSU.
This was also leak testing. Some of the parts were 2nd hand and so I also wanted to give the system a flush.
The pump is more powerfull than I thought! I really wasn't prepared for how quickly it'd empty the res on the first powerup and suck fluid through the loop!
The above was run for hours with plain distilled water. It all seemed pretty clean.
I then added literally a small amount of white vinegar into the system and look how it changed the colour, almost instantly:
Obviously blue-fluid used in some of these parts in the past!
So.... getting it all in the case....
The Alpenfohn fans are a good match for the Mayhems fluid!
The XSPC raystorm block for AM3 - looks understated.... nice with the brushed metal:
Then Sleeving.... well... probably the biggest PITA and take ages.
And its not without casualties!.... The best thing I could find for popping the barbed connectors out of the casing were staples (pins, tools etc were all too thick). However... I must have drawn blood on 20+ occasions.
This one, the staple went right up underneath my nail about a cm:
Worth it in the end however.... cables all look so much better!
Anyways..... once all the sleeving done, try the fit with the fluid and just the CPU in loop:
The Pastel blue looks really good...
GPU blocks on, in, and leak testing away:
Running some more:
And we are done
All-in-all.... really enjoyed the entire process. Took me about 2 weeks longer than I thought but the time you realise you are missing screws, or got the wrong parts etc... and order more
But the case looks great, temps are far better - most notable on the GPUs. They idle around 30degrees now - about 10 degrees lower than before!
The CPU, which I keep at 3.8ghz is down from roughly 36 degrees idle with the H50 to 32degrees.
I'll have a few bench runs at full load over the Christmas break and see how it does at full wack.
So - some final shots:
If anyone spots any mistakes/has advice for bettering the loop - please let me know.
Am happy with how its turned out at current however!
I tried to do this on as much of a budget as possible so a lot of the kit is 2nd hand from various sources, mainly the MM.
There are some very helpful and friendly chaps on this forum - so thanks all for that!
I really like the look of the pastel Mayhems dye... especially the blue... it certianly was part of the inspiration for some of the choices, in particular fans and RAM.
The kit is as follows - not cutting edge.... does a good job however:
AMD Phenom II clocked @ 3.8ghz
8gb Corsair RAM
2 x 5850 GPUs
Crosshair III Mobo
875w Thermaltake Toughpower PSU.
1 x 500gb WD Cav Black Drive
1 x 1tb Samsung Spinpoint
Corsair 800D Case
18w Laing DDC pump
2 x EX 5850 waterblocks
XSPC Raystorm CPU waterblock
1 x EK 240 Reservoir
1 x 360mm xspc radiator
1 x 120mm radiator
4 x 120mm alpenfohn wingboost fans
2 x 140mm alpenfohn wingboost fans
Mayhems Pastel Blue Liquid Coolant
Way too much dense weave black, blue and grey sleeving.
So.... the old and the new....
Obligatory nosey cat in the frame shot...
A large part of this was just to have a muck around with a loop - I've never seen/played with one in the flesh.... so I did a few set-ups running the power from a spare PSU.
This was also leak testing. Some of the parts were 2nd hand and so I also wanted to give the system a flush.
The pump is more powerfull than I thought! I really wasn't prepared for how quickly it'd empty the res on the first powerup and suck fluid through the loop!
The above was run for hours with plain distilled water. It all seemed pretty clean.
I then added literally a small amount of white vinegar into the system and look how it changed the colour, almost instantly:
Obviously blue-fluid used in some of these parts in the past!
So.... getting it all in the case....
The Alpenfohn fans are a good match for the Mayhems fluid!
The XSPC raystorm block for AM3 - looks understated.... nice with the brushed metal:
Then Sleeving.... well... probably the biggest PITA and take ages.
And its not without casualties!.... The best thing I could find for popping the barbed connectors out of the casing were staples (pins, tools etc were all too thick). However... I must have drawn blood on 20+ occasions.
This one, the staple went right up underneath my nail about a cm:
Worth it in the end however.... cables all look so much better!
Anyways..... once all the sleeving done, try the fit with the fluid and just the CPU in loop:
The Pastel blue looks really good...
GPU blocks on, in, and leak testing away:
Running some more:
And we are done
All-in-all.... really enjoyed the entire process. Took me about 2 weeks longer than I thought but the time you realise you are missing screws, or got the wrong parts etc... and order more
But the case looks great, temps are far better - most notable on the GPUs. They idle around 30degrees now - about 10 degrees lower than before!
The CPU, which I keep at 3.8ghz is down from roughly 36 degrees idle with the H50 to 32degrees.
I'll have a few bench runs at full load over the Christmas break and see how it does at full wack.
So - some final shots:
If anyone spots any mistakes/has advice for bettering the loop - please let me know.
Am happy with how its turned out at current however!
Last edited:
