looking for a Watercooling setup? Give me your thoughts.

alegator78 · Aug 7, 2002, 10:18 AM

Hey everyone. I'm looking for a good watercooling kit for my Xp1800+. I would like to hear your comments about what you've seen or tried or have and links to the sites. Thanks in advance!!

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · Aug 7, 2002, 10:27 AM

The two things to look for, are 1. A GOOD water block, this is what is going to draw the heat off of the processor, and a good way of disapating the heat is a quality radiator. 2. A good pump, the pump should be able to lift water at least three feet, and be able to move a volume of at least 3-5 gallons an hour.

Good Luck!

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · Aug 7, 2002, 10:29 AM

Here is an excellent kit, more than enough to keep any system cool

Vaporizer · Aug 8, 2002, 07:21 PM

If you use 3/8" tubing then you should use no more then a 10 lliter/m (158 gal/h) pump as it will create backpressure, with 1/2" you should use a 20 liter/m (317 gal/h) pump.

A good setup could be:

1. DD Maze 3 1/2" Brass fittings
2. Black Ice Extreme 1/2"
3. Eheim 1250 Pump 1/2" pressure and 3/4" suction (put in watertank or use converter for 3/4" side)
4. 1/2" Silicon tubing (PVC hose or something will do fine as long as the walls aint to thin then it will bend and stop flow, but the silicone is easy to work with)
5. Watertank (preferably) or T-Cross to fill water.

http://www.dangerden.com

EDIT: had to change the gallon stuff since it was wrong =) (dont use that here in sweden)

Vaporizer · Aug 8, 2002, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WyreTheWolf
The two things to look for, are 1. A GOOD water block, this is what is going to draw the heat off of the processor, and a good way of disapating the heat is a quality radiator. 2. A good pump, the pump should be able to lift water at least three feet, and be able to move a volume of at least 3-5 gallons an hour.

Good Luck!

hmm I wouldnt recomend a pump as weak as that.

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · Aug 9, 2002, 04:53 AM

:P At 3 feet of rise most pumps don't flow anywhere near there recommended ... and I messed up, that was suposed to be "per minute" not "per hour" ... sorry about the confusion.

Desert_Siege · Aug 10, 2002, 01:53 PM

Swiftech and Koolance both offer full water cooling setups complete with case. All you have to do is add your components and go. The swiftech performs better, but makes more noise and doesn't offer thermally controlled fans, and costs considerably more (about $400). The Koolance is very quiet, the fans are thermally contolled, and it has a nice water temp display and fan controller built on top of the case and goes for around $259. Neither comes with a power supply and I would recommend at least 350W, with 400 or more being best. I ran mine on a 300W for about a week until my new PS arrived and didn't seem to have any problems (probably because of the lack of the screaming fans

), but I wouldn't recommend that long term. Both companies are very reputable and have excellent support. They are both very easy to set up and the manuals that come with them do a pretty good job. If you go Koolance, I would recommend at least the PC2-601 from Koolance, as the mid tower case (PC2C or something like that) is a little cramped, especially with a GF4 and opt for the optional 200Watt waterblock, you won't be sorry.

I run an Athlon XP1600+ at 1700 at 1.98Vcore in a Koolance 601 case and temps after 3 hours of gaming never go above 42C and quickly go back down to 36C after 2-3 minutes of being idle. As I am typing this, my system temp is 25C and processor is 35C and I can't hear the thing running 3 feet from me. Did I mention its quiet?

Good luck

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · Aug 10, 2002, 07:36 PM

Excellent post DS. And you made several good points. Performance vs. Noise... Depends on what you want. Personally I want both, but .... there really isn't a way to do that within my case.

Vaporizer · Aug 10, 2002, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Desert_Siege
Swiftech and Koolance both offer full water cooling setups complete with case. All you have to do is add your components and go. The swiftech performs better, but makes more noise and doesn't offer thermally controlled fans, and costs considerably more (about $400). The Koolance is very quiet, the fans are thermally contolled, and it has a nice water temp display and fan controller built on top of the case and goes for around $259. Neither comes with a power supply and I would recommend at least 350W, with 400 or more being best. I ran mine on a 300W for about a week until my new PS arrived and didn't seem to have any problems (probably because of the lack of the screaming fans ), but I wouldn't recommend that long term. Both companies are very reputable and have excellent support. They are both very easy to set up and the manuals that come with them do a pretty good job. If you go Koolance, I would recommend at least the PC2-601 from Koolance, as the mid tower case (PC2C or something like that) is a little cramped, especially with a GF4 and opt for the optional 200Watt waterblock, you won't be sorry.

I run an Athlon XP1600+ at 1700 at 1.98Vcore in a Koolance 601 case and temps after 3 hours of gaming never go above 42C and quickly go back down to 36C after 2-3 minutes of being idle. As I am typing this, my system temp is 25C and processor is 35C and I can't hear the thing running 3 feet from me. Did I mention its quiet?

Good luck

How can you not hear your computer with a 400W PSU.... i havnt found a single 400W PSU that is silent..... I have a Q-Technology Silent Systems 300W PSU that is built to be silent and i can definitly hear it.

EDIT: forgot to mention my case is isolated with magic fleece and i still hear that PSU

toddalaska · Aug 11, 2002, 11:24 AM

do some research,

you can get the best of every wcing component for less than a kit

the only hard part is looking into whats the best of everything

Desert_Siege · Aug 15, 2002, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WyreTheWolf
Excellent post DS. And you made several good points. Performance vs. Noise... Depends on what you want. Personally I want both, but .... there really isn't a way to do that within my case.

If I listen really hard and bend over and put my head closer to the case than I am when sitting, I can hear a low moan which I assume is the PS fan, but could be the top radiator fans too. My PSU only has one fan in the rear, and I don't recall ever hearing it, as a matter of fact, I just pulled the system out (sits on an enclosed shelf below and to the right of me), leaned around and I can hear the 80MM fan I have in the back of the case, but still can't hear the PS fan. Its running as I can feel the air, but the Evercool 80MM fan on the back is louder. I know when the system is on because I can hear the hard drives whining at 7200RPM, and the only way I can hear fan noise is if I move the thing to my desktop where its barely audible or if I set the Fans at Mode 3 which is 100% all the time. I leave mine in Mode 2 which turns the fans to 100% when water temp reaches 35C and then cycles them back down to around 40-50% when it drops below that. I have yet to have the fans to kick up to 100%, but will tell you that Processor temp is usually 6-10 degress higher than water temp depending on load as measured with a probe, but that is mainly due to an inefficient water block which will be corrected as soon as i decide which one I want to replace it with.

And I would make a challenge to anyone. Build a system that comes with an Antec Server case , water cooling setup complete with all fans, radiator, reservoir, water block and hoses and coolant and dual pumps (standard on Koolance), a thermal control unit for the fans that allow different mode settings and displays temps that is all fully contained in the case and powered off your PS and according to specs pulls less than 30W to operate and awesome tech support when you get stuck or have a problem and put it together for less than $259.99. I tried and I couldn't beat it, so I bought it.

Have fun

PS: The power supply in mine just says TUV Product Service 400W ATX PS Model# WIN-400PS. No idea who made it.

Desert_Siege · Aug 15, 2002, 01:03 PM

Was trying to quote the Power supply noise post. Sorry dude and thanks for your compliment. I spent alot of time researching different setups and finally just bought this one and have been very pleased. Ran a little short when I bought it, so I had to opt to use the standard water block due to "budget deficit" in checking account, but that will be corrected very soon.

Malus · Aug 15, 2002, 01:05 PM

This may be stupid question, but do you have to add more liquid to your wc system every so often? I never actually used a anything of the sort, so I wouldn't know. It just seemed to me that there would probably be minor evaporation in such a system, but I'm probably wrong.

Vaporizer · Aug 16, 2002, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Malus
This may be stupid question, but do you have to add more liquid to your wc system every so often? I never actually used a anything of the sort, so I wouldn't know. It just seemed to me that there would probably be minor evaporation in such a system, but I'm probably wrong.

I have never filled up more water after the first filling, but i drain my WC system now and then when i remodel it or mod something or just try something new cause i think it is fun.

Desert_Siege · Aug 17, 2002, 01:23 PM

Due to mineral builld up and other deposits, it is a good idea to drain and refill occasionally. I have only had mine up and running for about a month and haven't lost any water yet, but I believe Koolance does recommend drain and refill yearly and they made it pretty painless with the drain plug in the bottom of the case, although unless you have a very small neck funnel, it is sometimes a pain to fill it. I used one of my wife's basting suringes to fill mine and it worked really well.

Vaporizer · Aug 17, 2002, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WyreTheWolf
distilled/demineralized water is always a good choice. You can get it for around $1.00 us.

Thats a given, i wouldnt recomend only tap water in any water cooling system.

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · Aug 17, 2002, 05:09 PM

ARGH! You guys are making me want to water cool my system... wait a sec I have been wanting to water cool my rig for 6 months. :P

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · Aug 17, 2002, 06:11 PM

distilled/demineralized water is always a good choice. You can get it for around $1.00 us.

Vaporizer · Aug 17, 2002, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by WyreTheWolf
ARGH! You guys are making me want to water cool my system... wait a sec I have been wanting to water cool my rig for 6 months. :P

Whats holding you back ?

Maranello · Aug 17, 2002, 11:52 PM

i use the swiftech mcw462-uh... an excellent block. just switched to the intel system and the block switched with me.... everything you need for both amd and intel is included. i use the via aqua 1300 pump... nice pump. have 2 running now and their (not just mine) track record for being a reliable pump is great. in total my swifty, 2 pumps, radiator, fittings and hoses were in the $150 range.... well worth the money for the lower temps and gained performance.

some links ......

http://becooling.safeshopper.com/index.htm?376

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/extremecooling.html

http://www.dtekcustoms.com/

crazypc is another but im linking you directly to the swiftech mwc462-uh block.... they do have other stuff..

http://www.crazypc.com/Merchant2/mer...duct_Code=9303