I watercooled a microwave.

Defy Belief

Defy Belief

Defy Belief

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Joined
29 Sep 2010
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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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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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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
 
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...
 
LuckyBenski said:
That's better than my loop with a 360x45mm and 120mm radiators! I cap out at 53 GPU and 60-65 CPU depending on overclock.
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Not a bad result then tbh, I just reduced the fan speed to 50 percent and undervolted the vega and overclocked it. On modern warfare it hit 59 on cpu and 53 on the v56, think I'm pretty happy with that as its not very loud and I currently have it sat right next to me on my desk where I've been messing around with it
 
LePhuronn said:
Insanity in a case, love it!

I wonder if your pump is strong enough to handle Mayhems XTR when it's ready? That Mad Scientist is breaking the laws of physics with that new stuff; a coolant that lowers temperatures all by itself. Some of the testers have come back with 7-10 degree drops compared with Mayhems Pastel. Needs a chunky-ass pump though, it's some viscous stuff.
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Will look into that, that is pretty crazy!

Although now this is done, I’m looking at mounting the case onto my desk (on the back) so it takes up zero desk space, and also run an external rad setup also behind the desk out of sight so I can run it silently and have no foot print on my desk :) apart from a mounted power button.
 
So it begins...

360 rad is in the post to go at the very top, the 240 is out of the original rig so it's now not gonna be suffocated at all. Had an old 280 rad in my spares drawer to use. Keeping the two 120s in the main pc still, as won't have any resale value so may as well make use of them.




Will be using filters on all the fans also! Likely change to a d5 or at least get a bigger res.
 
D1craig said:
so much more of an achievement building a case like this with all that gear rather than in a massive full tower.

i bet it will look amazing when completely finished.
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It was finished :p see post #16.

Just building it behind the recessed part of my desk now with external rads to have zero footprint and more rad space for complete silence.
 


Pretty much done now, need to slot in the psu, then connect some simple tubing in a few places, all the fiddly parts are done :) waiting for a couple of fittings in the post and some more tubing, along with the fans
 
Leak free :) coolant is in, almost bled completely with no air bubbles apart from a tiny one in the gpu, going to let it run for longer and do some more desk tips to get it out.


upload images

Then I've got to install my new fan controller as I have more fans than previous.
 
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