OK, so I dabbled in watercooling a few years back when it was all a bit Heath Robinson, I had an eheim pump, Danger Den maze 1 etc, and it was all a bit of a bodge, but worked.
Out of sheer boredom and wanting something new to get my teeth into, I decided to have another go, especially with things being a lot neater and easier nowadays.
I ordered the following for a simple CPU loop: (Apologies for these phone pics BTW)
- XSPC Dual DDC Bay Reservoir
- XSPC RS120 120mm Radiator
- EK Supreme LT (Plexi) Waterblock
- Swiftech MCP355 Pump
- Primochill ICE UV blue coolant
- Primochill Anti-kink coils (black)
- Sharkoon 2xCCFL UV kit
Here's my computer before I started, case is an NZXT Alpha:
95% stripped down:
Waterblock fitted to mobo:
Loop fitted to case: (Yes I know, cable management leaves a lot to be desired, but this case isn't the best for that)
And here is the finished article:
Oh, if you're wandering what the three vandal switches are, well ...err... it's a bit hard to explain without falling foul of the rules, suffice to say that if you know what this is....
.....you'll understand the next few sentences without me having to explain.
I have hard-wired the xecuter CK3 into the case behind the 3.5" bays, and the three vandal switches are power on/off, eject, and mode-b respectively. The two ports below the switches are SATA ports, one connected to the motherboard's onboard controller, and one to a VIA 6421 card. The drive power connector from the CK3 is mounted on the side of the case.
Anyway, back to the watercooling. I'm really happy with the results, I have a Q9550 at 3.8ghz and my temps were pretty good on air, idle was ~ 44-41-45-47, with load at ~ 65-62-67-68. With this water setup temps are a good 10 degrees lower across the board, with it idling at ~ 33-30-35-37, and load at ~ 54-52-56-57.
My ambient case temp has dropped without that big heatsink in there, allowing the graphics card to idle a bit lower aswell.
All in all a great result, and I love the way it looks too
Out of sheer boredom and wanting something new to get my teeth into, I decided to have another go, especially with things being a lot neater and easier nowadays.
I ordered the following for a simple CPU loop: (Apologies for these phone pics BTW)
- XSPC Dual DDC Bay Reservoir
- XSPC RS120 120mm Radiator
- EK Supreme LT (Plexi) Waterblock
- Swiftech MCP355 Pump
- Primochill ICE UV blue coolant
- Primochill Anti-kink coils (black)
- Sharkoon 2xCCFL UV kit
Here's my computer before I started, case is an NZXT Alpha:
95% stripped down:
Waterblock fitted to mobo:
Loop fitted to case: (Yes I know, cable management leaves a lot to be desired, but this case isn't the best for that)
And here is the finished article:
Oh, if you're wandering what the three vandal switches are, well ...err... it's a bit hard to explain without falling foul of the rules, suffice to say that if you know what this is....
.....you'll understand the next few sentences without me having to explain.
I have hard-wired the xecuter CK3 into the case behind the 3.5" bays, and the three vandal switches are power on/off, eject, and mode-b respectively. The two ports below the switches are SATA ports, one connected to the motherboard's onboard controller, and one to a VIA 6421 card. The drive power connector from the CK3 is mounted on the side of the case.
Anyway, back to the watercooling. I'm really happy with the results, I have a Q9550 at 3.8ghz and my temps were pretty good on air, idle was ~ 44-41-45-47, with load at ~ 65-62-67-68. With this water setup temps are a good 10 degrees lower across the board, with it idling at ~ 33-30-35-37, and load at ~ 54-52-56-57.
My ambient case temp has dropped without that big heatsink in there, allowing the graphics card to idle a bit lower aswell.
All in all a great result, and I love the way it looks too
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