Watercooling - pitfalls?

Was · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:38

Hi Guys,

Going to move to watr cooling to queiten down the system, will be using a cpu, gpu and chipset blocks and a single rad with 120mm fan.
Hoping to mount the rad in the top of the case with the fan blowing air up through it out of the caes(is it better to have it blow through or suck through?)
I have a 120mm fan in the power supply chucking air out the back.
Is there anything else I would need? some sort of air intake fan?
I have a mounting for a fan on the side of the case and one at the front should I add anything to these? any other components I should consider cooling?
Going for silence rather than o/c.
Rig is as my sig

cavemanoc · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:57

Welcome to the brave world of Water cooling!

You're better off sucking the air (or ideally going for a push/pull, with a fan on either side - akasa ultra quiet 120mm for preference)

Try to avoid sucking the air out of the hot case over the RAD. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but you want to draw cold air from outside the case and push/pull it over the Rad, remember, the rad is what keeps the important bits of your rig cold, so should be supplied with the coolest air!

If you can stretch to it, I'd go for a 120.2 rather than a single rad, but if you're not going for massive overclocking then a single will be plenty!

The biggest noise will then come from the hdd's and the psu - you could get an enclosure for the hdd, and depending on the layout of the Psu you might be able to replace the fan with something quieter - but that's a risky one and not to be undertaken lightly! (Psu's can stor charge and will bite even when not plugged in!)

Othe than that, remember to leak test, and have fun!

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 16:58

Air sucking accross is the best, so I've been told.

I've had a load of troubles with my water cooling setup so I'm probably not the best to give advice - but I certainly fell into most pitfalls I guess!

Make sure your tubing is the proper size, I was using alphacool tubing, but it was the completely wrong outer diameter for a switech block and water just poured out of it (it was supposed to be 10mm outside 8mm inside) - I just ended up buying tubing from B&Q which was a lot cheaper and seems to do the job better!

When placing barbs I find that dipping the end of your tubing into boiling or near boiling water helps a lot, although I don't know how recomended this is.

I'd also recommend getting a resoviour, I tried a watercooling setup before without one and it's a complete pita.

Mmm, also make sure the blocks are firmly on your components, I had my processor rising dramatically in temp and couldn't figure out why, gave the screws a few more twists until they simply wouldn't move and it sorted it (well, it's rising but a lot more slowly - I need to reapply thermal paste and properly clean the waterblock me thinks)

Also, I've noticed that I've placed the intake tube on my cpu's waterblock in the wrong place - I'm not sure how much of a difference this makes (perhaps someone can enlighten me!) but it's probably something to look outfor as it's easy to get confused as to which tube is pumping water in which direction!

Anyways, good luck with it! I can certainly say my watercooling experiance has been fun... if not entirely productive so far!

Was · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:08

Thanks for that guys, I'll have a res as well so that shouldnt be too bad we will see how well it all goes together (i can see funny coloured water going everywhere! but still plannng the layout atm! :eek:

So would you suggest cool being sucked in by the fan through the rad and then expelled via the the psu?
Maybe with the rad at the front of the case, hmm lots of thoughts..

Would have thought that would not give me very good airflow for the case :confused:

not sure really just want as few fans as possible!

Not so worried about the hdd as the samsung is really quiet and only really hear it if its getting thrashed which is rare.

Powersupplies 120mm fan is pretty quiet and temp controlled so not too bad, would rather not have to swap that fan about, If I did i would rather find some sort of water cooling for it

Do i need much in the way of airflow over the memory? what about all the gubbins around the cpu and harddisk?

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:37

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thats how mine is setup and its silent system hope it helps

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:38

Further to my post my temp is still rising, grr... could anyone shed any light on it? is it because I have the intake and outlet tubing mixed up? It's an asetek v1 cpu block (I think)

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:41

xet said:
Further to my post my temp is still rising, grr... could anyone shed any light on it? is it because I have the intake and outlet tubing mixed up? It's an asetek v1 cpu block (I think)

what ya cooling?? what WC setup you got? need a bit more info

Was · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:41

ichabod crane said:
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thats how mine is setup and its silent system hope it helps

Thats pretty much what i was thinking was just worried about case aire flow and air intake

But if it works for you then ill give it a try

thanks for that

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:47

an ati x850, and an AMD64 3000

Currently it looks a lil like this

Pump goes into 3x120mm radiator with two fans on the lower parts of it (couldn't afford a third :mad:

) this radiator is external to the case - currently sitting (upright!!) on my desk. tubing comes back in and onto the cpu onto what should be the outlet (according to aseteks manual) then from there onto the x850 through a switech vga block, from there over to a res and then back into the pump.

Pump is a hydor L20.

Whenever a lil air gets into the system (i.e. from tipping the res a bit) it rockets round at a fair pace so I'm pretty sure the flow is alright!

Edit: also, radiator, cpu and gpu block are cool to the touch... system is currently sitting in the bios hardware monitoring stuff and I'm just watching the tempurature slowly but surely rise until eventually it turns off! :/

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:54

xet said:
an ati x850, and an AMD64 3000

Currently it looks a lil like this

Pump goes into 3x120mm radiator with two fans on the lower parts of it (couldn't afford a third ) this radiator is external to the case - currently sitting (upright!!) on my desk. tubing comes back in and onto the cpu onto what should be the outlet (according to aseteks manual) then from there onto the x850 through a switech vga block, from there over to a res and then back into the pump.

Pump is a hydor L20.

Whenever a lil air gets into the system (i.e. from tipping the res a bit) it rockets round at a fair pace so I'm pretty sure the flow is alright!

two fans is plenty... and arrangement seems fine, i would recommend checkin if there is any air trapped anywhere this would affect temperature... tip your rad up and down to make sure there all out... as for which hole u use one the CPU block it shouldnt matter... best bet is to try resitting the block make u have full contact thats normally a problem with temps. *** are ** temps?? how are you measuring them?? if its from a program it could be wrong

Edit (from your edit i dont think you block is sat correctly...the heat isnt transfering from the CPU to the block)

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 17:59

yeah I've tried reseating the block, and that's slowed the temp raise, although not halted it - I must have edited while you posted, as the temp readings are from the bios.

They are highly unlikely to be accurate, but they just continually raise... and then the system shuts down.

I tried measuring the temp with a sensor stuck between the cpu and the waterblock, it too showed the raise although it didn't go as high...

perhaps I should put some thermal padding on my processor? I noticed the motherboard looked a bit concave when I was fitting it... perhaps the cpu is recessed slightly from a perfect fit??

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:02

xet said:
yeah I've tried reseating the block, and that's slowed the temp raise, although not halted it - I must have edited while you posted, as the temp readings are from the bios.

They are highly unlikely to be accurate, but they just continually raise... and then the system shuts down.

I tried measuring the temp with a sensor stuck between the cpu and the waterblock, it too showed the raise although it didn't go as high...

perhaps I should put some thermal padding on my processor? I noticed the motherboard looked a bit concave when I was fitting it... perhaps the cpu is recessed slightly from a perfect fit??

you have put thermal paste between right?

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:05

yep!

I also have some thermal pads, so wondering if that might help? or is that just going to make matters worse?

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:11

xet said:
yep!

I also have some thermal pads, so wondering if that might help? or is that just going to make matters worse?

i had to ask sorry... i think pads will make it worse... another option is to try lapping the block take four pieces of emery clothe... grit 200-400-800-1200 cellotape these to a flat service glass chopping board is best then rub your block on them till it shines starting from 200 workinh up this will give a flat clean face to the block and improve the conduction to the cpu... and when ya put it back put th tubes right... if that dont work buy a custom kit lol

best i can think of sorry

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:15

humm damn

Don't think I have anything that'll do that

might have to buy a new block, or would a dremel polishing head do any good? :S

*clutching at straws*

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 18:19

xet said:
humm damn

Don't think I have anything that'll do that might have to buy a new block, or would a dremel polishing head do any good? :S

*clutching at straws*

no you need to do it the way i said otherwise you may indent the block when rubbing it... u want to make it flat why i recommend a glass plate

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 19:21

belive it or not I think the dremel has done the trick! although I don't want to speak too soon :S

I didn't sand it or anything, just gave it a damn good polishing... think there might have been some grime on the water block (when I pulled it from storage it was a complete mess)

This is a bit of a temporary solution at best, so I'll probably end up with a new cpu water block... but if it runs for a few weeks then I'm happy!

*currently trying to install windows.... fingers crossed*

Edit: box spontainously reboots... the temps are fine now though!

Grrr!

ichabod crane · 13 Apr 2006 at 20:12

xet said:
belive it or not I think the dremel has done the trick! although I don't want to speak too soon :S

I didn't sand it or anything, just gave it a damn good polishing... think there might have been some grime on the water block (when I pulled it from storage it was a complete mess)

This is a bit of a temporary solution at best, so I'll probably end up with a new cpu water block... but if it runs for a few weeks then I'm happy!

*currently trying to install windows.... fingers crossed*

Edit: box spontainously reboots... the temps are fine now though!

Grrr!

well im glad it sorted your temps thats good... you need to disable your CPU fan in the bios as u no longer have one so it will boot without looking for it and cutting out

if ya use msn add me [email protected]

xet · 13 Apr 2006 at 20:18

added, my msn addy is [email protected] (NOT .com)

MikeTimbers · 13 Apr 2006 at 21:26

If temps are getting to the point the box shuts down then either the water isn't moving, the block is making exceptionally poor contact (and I mean, really[/] poor, not the kind of poor that lapping will help or better paste, I mean, it's not touching the core properly at all!) or the fans aren't working.

I've seen systems reach temperature equilibrium with the pump switched off so something is seriously wrong with your system. Check everything again.