I watercooled a microwave.

Defy Belief

Defy Belief

Defy Belief

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Joined
29 Sep 2010
Posts
6,150
Now that I've got your attention :p everyone I know that's seen this case has said how it looks like a microwave.

I've been doing a bit of a project with a Kolink Satellite case, these are cheap, small mini itx cases which have a great layout, so it was time to put that to good use, baring in mind this case by spec has space for zero radiators, I have managed to cram in 3 :p

I will get better photos tomorrow and create a proper log when I get chance, system is installing windows currently so can't comment on temps just yet but cpu was 23 in bios (Ryzen 1600af)

Next I will be creating a window for the top to really show it off, need to sort cable management, was so difficult to fit the i/o panel cables just, pic below is when I was filling the loop.

Here is a peak :)



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How are you getting air flow over the one that’s next to what appears to be PSU? Also how s the air going into the motherboard to cool things like chipset and VRM and NVMe or SATA drives.

Looks really busy in there. But good work.

is there also a reservoir? That’s quite incredible tbh.
 
pc-guy said:
How are you getting air flow over the one that’s next to what appears to be PSU? Also how s the air going into the motherboard to cool things like chipset and VRM and NVMe or SATA drives.

Looks really busy in there. But good work.

is there also a reservoir? That’s quite incredible tbh.
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120mm fan on the front, which fits behind the stock front panel :) almost like push pull with the psu fan.

Nvme under the board so that should be fine, vrm should also be okay, 1600af on an x470 board. The clear part mounted to the rear rad is a pump/res.

This shows a test fit with an old board:

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BongoHunter said:
More pics needed!!! ITX board in there?
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Yep itx, I'll get some more tomorrow, I was installing windows etc tonight in the garage and it's too dark.

I ran a quick test on furmark and the v56 got to 33 degrees but wasn't a long benchmark, cpu still idling around 27. With the pump (ddc) running silent and the fans too.
 
Sorry for the potato pics, so what I still need to do is:

Cut a bigger hole for the psu cable as It
won't fit behind the rad.

Add rubber edging to the sharper edges.

Probably custom sleeve some cables as they are too long but not the end of the world.

Need to cut a top window, coolant is mayhems uv clear blue so may put a subtle uv light in.

It's not perfect and I'm not happy with the cut to separate the side panel with the top, it's not perfectly straight and I want to also put a rubber seal to make it look neat.

As you can see, other than the 3d printed grill, the case itself is stock, not lost any front i/o support, I could probably fit the ssd cage too but no need right now.

@Vince it's pretty much done :)







 
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That's ban worthy!! I was expecting something very different. :D:p:D

That poor (Silverstone ST45SF-G?) PSU is going to have a lot of hot air going through it and if it is a Silverstone it is only rated to 40 degrees C so it is going to be trying to keep itself cool with hot air. Also, with that NVME drive mounted under the board you should closely keep a eye on it's temps as they do get pretty warm. Just a couple of things to keep a eye on, apart from that well done in cramming so much into such a small space, and luring me in here under false pretences!! :p:p
 
pastymuncher said:
That's ban worthy!! I was expecting something very different. :D:p:D

That poor (Silverstone ST45SF-G?) PSU is going to have a lot of hot air going through it and if it is a Silverstone it is only rated to 40 degrees C so it is going to be trying to keep itself cool with hot air. Also, with that NVME drive mounted under the board you should closely keep a eye on it's temps as they do get pretty warm. Just a couple of things to keep a eye on, apart from that well done in cramming so much into such a small space, and luring me in here under false pretences!! :p:p
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PSU is quite audible under load, easily the most audible in the system, so I'm going to rotate it so the fan faces the motherboard, then have the front fan pull out the front panel I think.

Sorry :p :D
 
Those little Silverstone PSU's are noisy at the best of times let alone having the hot air from a rad forced through it. If Corsair can make very quiet SFF PSU's I can't see why Silverstone (Enhance is the oem if it is the one I thought it was) can't manage it, after all they charge enough for them.
 
pastymuncher said:
Those little Silverstone PSU's are noisy at the best of times let alone having the hot air from a rad forced through it. If Corsair can make very quiet SFF PSU's I can't see why Silverstone (Enhance is the oem if it is the one I thought it was) can't manage it, after all they charge enough for them.
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I've changed the fan to a Noiseblocker one, but it's still obviously an 80mm fan, I *might* see if I can squeeze an sfx-l psu in there but it'll be tight as with the bend from the 240 to the 120 rad
 
pastymuncher said:
Those little Silverstone PSU's are noisy at the best of times let alone having the hot air from a rad forced through it. If Corsair can make very quiet SFF PSU's I can't see why Silverstone (Enhance is the oem if it is the one I thought it was) can't manage it, after all they charge enough for them.
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Not far wrong about these psus.. Flipped it (which was an absolute ballache as I had to bend the tubing slightly but did get it out and back in. Its still very audible, so on the hunt for a corsair sf one now
 
pugheaven said:
Looks super that does, really really nice effort there... yeah let us know temps while you're punishing it hahaha
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Looks like a microwave, performs like a toaster :p ran gears 5 for about an hour, vega 61 cpu 69 with the tubing incredibly soft :o idle temps are about 24 on both cpu and gpu, fans just clearly not fast enough to dissipate the heat generated.

Time to increase the fan speed and pump speed as fans were only on 800rpm, was silent and very ambitious...
 
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