Water Cooling Setup

[Avid6eek]

Well, I finished putting together my water cooling setup. The only problem I ran into was when I tried to fire the system up....I've got a DOA pump. I'll have to call Danger Den tomorrow to get a replacement. The hardware includes:

Res - Dual 5 1/4 Bay
Pump - Danger Den DD-55 12v DC
CPU Block - Danger Den TDX
GPU Block - Danger Den Maze 4
Radiator - Black Ice Extreme III

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system01.jpg

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system02.jpg

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system03.jpg

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system04.jpg

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system05.jpg

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system06.jpg

http://hardware-geek.com/Pictures/Computer/system07.jpg

I know there are a few people here in the forums looking into water cooling. I hope these pics help give you ideas. One thing I would recommend over anything...Tygon tubing. It's 100 times better than the cheap tubing you can pick up from the local hardware store.

[Zefram]

Nice............ and those DFi mobo are very nice!
good cable sleeving - althrough i noticed you didnt sleeve the PCI-e connector from PSU......... ;)

[eli98]

That does looks very nice.I wish i do as good when i do my...Wow

[omga14]

you know looking at the way your mobo is setup has me thinking to redo my CM Stacker in BTX form. looks like it'll be easier to do wiring and set up the water. i should have time tomorrow. gotta find that intruct manual though and make sure i have all the pieces.

looks damn fine there man. real good wire work. open spaces for some good airflow.

[Freakker]

I hope you realize that I'm going to steal that in your sleep.

[omga14]

well shiz looks like since you already started modding you should add a motion alarm with remote:D done gaming, going for some food, spending "time" at the girlfriends? chirp, chirp. security for your investment at all times:D

[BAM!]

are those 1/2" ID tubings?

[yahooadam]

very nice man :)

Pitty the pumps buggered :(

[Skorp]

Hey! I beat you to that! I've been using those components for months (radiator notwithstanding). Pictures in my sig.

Granted, I think my system is inferior, and a bit more of a mess.... Oh, and you might wanna put heatspreaders on that cards RAM, and if you find a way to attach them to the two chips right under the GFX heatsink inlets, tell me.

Man, your system looks way cooler than mine.

[Avid6eek]

Thanks for all the nice comments!

I got the system working. The wires coming from the pump are red and black, and end in a molex connector. I took out the wires to sleeve the cables, and I connected them wrong. I tried to be logical and think the red and black wires should connect to red and black wires coming fromt he PSU. I completely overlooked the fact that the yellow line is 12v and that's what the pump needed. I figured it out late last night.

When I did get the system up and running an old blue cold cath I was using bid the dust. A few minor sparks, and a nasty burning smell and it was dead. The fan controllers I'm using are great. They can get me anywhere from 0-360cfm of air pushing through my res. I system runs at 2.8Ghz with near silent operation. I'd probably turn up the speed a bit when gaming, but I wouldn't be able to hear it over my speakers anyways.

Yes BAM, it's 1/2 tubing.

Load temps at 3.0Ghz w/ 1.8v core never break 40C with Prime and Super Pi hammering both cores. All seems to be working out well.

[yahooadam]

:lol: i thought ud lost ure comp there

very nice dude

lol how can u not know yellows 12v, red is 5v and blacks are ground or 0v or whatever

Also how the hell do u wire it manually anyway :s

[Avid6eek]

I was in such a hurry I got my wires mixed up. I knew I tested the pump when I first got it and it worked, so I must have done something wrong.

[yahooadam]

I was in such a hurry I got my wires mixed up. I knew I tested the pump when I first got it and it worked, so I must have done something wrong.
i still dont get how u wire it manually lol

we gonna get some pics of this bad boy in action ? (well if theres anything to see ...)

Are u using UV liquid and a nice tube to illuminate it ? :d

[chris000001]

i still dont get how u wire it manually lol

we gonna get some pics of this bad boy in action ? (well if theres anything to see ...)

Are u using UV liquid and a nice tube to illuminate it ? :d

He wanted to sleve the power cable for the pump, so he had to Take the molex connector off the wire put the sleving on and then rewire the power cables to the molex connector. there is a tool that removes the Pins from the connector, you can find it at http://www.frozencpu.com

[yahooadam]

oh right wiked :)

the fog has lifted :)

edit:

Hmm interesting, i wondered what that stuff was with my mobo (in the pics)
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Upload/Product_Picture/AllBoxes.jpg

UV wire sleeving kit
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1768

DFI includes an Orange/Red UV Sleeving kit. Great for reducing wire mess and clutter. Improved airflow reduces heat.

You will get:

*
3ft. - 3/8" Sleeving
*
3ft. - 1/2" Sleeving
*
20 - Tie Wraps
*
1ft. - 9mm Heatshrink Tubing
*
1ft. - 20mm Heatshrink Tubing

:lol: how am i menna get his wrap on - i dont have any of these tools :( :( :(

[Stone Fox]

Ummm, Avid, I've never really looked at water cooling and I was hoping you'd answer a couple of questions please?

Is it just the CPU and GPU you're cooling? :confused:
What's that bloody great thing on top of the PC? The radiator? :confused:
How much did the cooling system cost? :confused:
Was it hard to install? :confused:
Do you see much performance gain? :confused:

*edit* oh, and I saw this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11080837494&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=91991

What do you think?

[yahooadam]

:lol: infamous :p

well apparently its a good system, except, the pumps are naff, alot of people have them brake after only a few hundred hours

also due to the lack of fans, its not alot cooler then a normal fan on, but its silent :P (except the pump)

[Avid6eek]

Is it just the CPU and GPU you're cooling? Yes, my water system only cools the CPU and GPU. The chipset is another thing that is common to cool, but it is a waste of time. I am not limited by the chipset in any way, so making it run even cooler won't help. It also adds complexity to the system, and reduces the water flow speed.

What's that bloody great thing on top of the PC? The radiator? Yes, that's the radiator.


How much did the cooling system cost? A good water cooling system can run anywhere from $250 - $350

Was it hard to install? Modding the case to install the radiator took many hours, and about $30 in dremel bits. There was almost 1/2" of aluminum to cut through, which is much more than your everday case. The radiator was definetly the hardest part. You just have to be patient.


Do you see much performance gain?Yes, very much. Air cooling would allow me to run this processor at up to 2.7Ghz at 52C under load. Water cooling setup with the fans running at silent speed allow me 2.8Ghz at 42C under load, and with the fans turned up I can hit 3Ghz stable at 38C under load. In terms of overclocking and cooling even a quiet water cooling system can easily increase your cooling performance.


*edit* oh, and I saw this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11080837494&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=91991

What do you think? Using a passive water cooling system is very quiet, but you won't be able to overclock if you use your system for extended periods of time at full load.

[omga14]

what voltage where you using for each overclock stage? for me to get the most out of my setup it looks like i'm going to have to go 1.7v+. i doubt i'll ever even see 2.8ghz but i damn sure want to try:D.

[Avid6eek]

With air cooling I'm limited to 1.6v, with water cooling I can go as high as 1.8v as cooling is not an issue.

[omga14]

1.8v's :eek: well were do you want to keep the temps if your using that much? same standard of below 50C or lower to be safe with the amount used? this gives me hope for my setup. 2.8ghz is sounding much more of a reality now.

you gonna be staying with this setup pretty much till M2? or are you still slave to the hardware gods:D

[jimmyt]

thats so awsome :eek: :D

[yahooadam]

Yes, very much. Air cooling would allow me to run this processor at up to 2.7Ghz at 52C under load. Water cooling setup with the fans running at silent speed allow me 2.8Ghz at 42C under load, and with the fans turned up I can hit 3Ghz stable at 38C under load. In terms of overclocking and cooling even a quiet water cooling system can easily increase your cooling performance.
Damn thats some nice temps

then again that rad is a beast

[Skorp]

hmm. I'm trying to overclock my X2 but i'm fearful of putting such huge volts through it. As a point of reference, what are your vCore and vDIMM voltages at? I've got a similar system to yours, but with inferior radiators.

[Avid6eek]

My V-Core has been set to run as high as 1.8v. Any higher than that and the processor won't post, so that is its voltage limit. My memory runs as high as 3.7v.

[Skorp]

hm. Knowing now that X2s respond well to high volts, I just bumped myself up to 2.6GHz on 1.5125vCore, 2.8V vDIMM. I may be able to go higher, but right now it runs at 50 degrees, after an hour of extreme load; two PRIME95 instances with affinity set so each core gets its own instance, running the max heat test.

I'm wary of pushing higher. You win this round by far, your rads can output immense heat. Have you considered thermoelectrics? Theres a nice Swiftech block with all the needed neoprene pre-cut. You could do that with relative ease...

[yahooadam]

i can see avids next mod

"hooking up my pc to my rooms radiator - why heat up your case when you can heat your room !!!" :p

[omga14]

no, more than likely he'll find a way to get a mobile AC unit to hook up to his water and use that for cooling:D he could turn up the AC on warmer days and it'll have a dual effect of cooling the room and his system.

don't worry shiz as i don't think you'd be crazy for doing this. i've thought about the possibilities of doing this or getting a mini fridge and putting a radiator in the freezer section. some grommets to seal the outlets to the computer for tubing and a handy dandy reachable beer recepticle:D

[chris000001]

ive always thought about gettin a mini fridge water cooling setup....jus get a huge resviour and stick it in the fridge and no need for a rad

[yahooadam]

ive always thought about gettin a mini fridge water cooling setup....jus get a huge resviour and stick it in the fridge and no need for a rad
lol

well a rad would improve performance beacause a resovoir wouldnt have much surface area ....

[chris000001]

A 1 gallon Plastic ice cream contianer would

[yahooadam]

it would have a high volume

but it would have a low surface area to volume ratio, thats why people use rads

[Avid6eek]

The only thing I've thought of would maybe to pump water into my basement where it is usually 40-60F all year round. That would give me a pretty good decrease in temps. I may also build a portable unit to place outside in the winter. Some nights get to around -35C, so it would offer some great cooling.

[omga14]

yeah it get's butt ugly cold up your way:D you still have to worry about condensation though.

[yahooadam]

lol his is gonna end up as bad as if he had phase change :p

Lol why dont u just skip the middle man and get phase ??

[yahooadam]

hey i dont suppose you could suggest a very low profile northbridge cooler (for water)

If i get water, i would need this cos my northbridge runs like a oven

if i can find out what the clearence is ill post it up

my gfx card is resting on the northbridge at the moment though

[Avid6eek]

The nForce 4 sucks for water cooling the northbridge. The video card is in the way and as far as I know there are no compatable water cooling blocks.

[yahooadam]

The nForce 4 sucks for water cooling the northbridge. The video card is in the way and as far as I know there are no compatable water cooling blocks.
well danger den do one for the A8N-SLI

http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=160&cat=46&page=1

but this is the mobo, i dont think the chipsets in the way too much there ....

http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=148&model=382&modelmenu=1

[yahooadam]

Custom Water Cooling Kit

Custom configure your own Danger Den water cooling kit!


Selected options:
CPU Style: AMD XP/MP/Duron
CPU Water Block: Danger Den TDX
Top Style: Lucite - Clear
Video Card Water Block: *NEW* Acetal MAZE4 GPU for the Nvidia 6800/7800 Series
Chipset Water Block: ASUS A8N MAZE4 Chipset Block
Fitting Size: 1/2 OD Fitting for 1/2 ID Tubing
Radiator: Black Ice XtremeIII - Black
Fans: 3x Papst 120mm Fan
Peltier/TEC: None
Pumps: !NEW! Danger Den 12V D5 1/2 OD Fittings
Tubing: 10 Feet of UV Blue 1/2" only
Reservoir: Dual 5 1/4 Bay UV Green Reservoir
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver V
Water Additives: MCT-40 Non-Conductive Fluid
Hold Down Style: Standard Stainless Steel Hold Down
Danger Den Fillport: None
Misc: 20 Hose Clamps

I would love that :p

$425 though ... (plus its US / canada only cos its DD :()

[Skorp]

The A8N-SLI is diffrent from all other SLI boards out there, in that there are two PCI-E slots between the x16 slots. They even had to make their own extra long SLI connector. That gives the chipset room for watercooling theoretically, but normal blocks were juuuust a bit too large. Thats why that A8N block exists.

Avids' DFI, like the rest, doesnt have that luxury. Alas. :(

[yahooadam]

The A8N-SLI is diffrent from all other SLI boards out there, in that there are two PCI-E slots between the x16 slots. They even had to make their own extra long SLI connector. That gives the chipset room for watercooling theoretically, but normal blocks were juuuust a bit too large. Thats why that A8N block exists.

Avids' DFI, like the rest, doesnt have that luxury. Alas. :(
that sux :(

1A-Cooling have a very low profile northbridge cooler

but their shop sux balls and i cant find out what size connectors its using (it uses small tap off tubes with like a mini y in line connector