Watercooling Setups

Push it to the max but make sure that you keep it cool!
WiK1d
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What I have Learned in this thread!

Post by WiK1d »

Here is a summary for all the people that are thinking about watercooling! It's expensive, but worth it!

Never buy Cheap, buying cheap is a expensive mistake.
WiKiD wrote:Which setup should I choose between these two?

Evercool 202
http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/super_coo ... ol/wc_202/

Or

Thermaltake Bigwater SE
http://www.thermaltake.com/watercooling ... 005-01.htm

Or

Could I assemble a system for about a R1000 at
www.synapsys.co.za

PS. Please don't lock it as I would like to get some straight answers.
Someone, please kick me in the nuts for that first two options!!


This is very good advice!
DAE_JA_VOO wrote: I strongly suggest that you stay away froom TT. If you don't trust my opinion, ask MrBean, he knows more about watercooling than Thermaltake themselves! LOL!!
Nice Thing for newcomers
DAE_JA_VOO wrote:@monty: You don't have to replace the water in ANY watercooling setup. Here's a good guide to water cooling:

http://wiki.extremeoverclocking.com/wiki/Watercooling
Excellent advise on Coolant for the System
WiKiD wrote:More watercooling info
http://www.overclocking.co.za/forums/vi ... a2b59ae98a

Good ol' MrBean Says
MrBean wrote:Use water, distilled which you buy from Game/Macro or similar, and then add around 15% antifreeze to it. Yip, quite a high ratio, but I found 10-15% quite good to avoid algae growth, and change out the water every 5-6 months or so. Add 1 drop Sunlight Dishwash liquid to lower the water surface tension, and enhance it's ability to soak up heat. Adding antifreeze makes the water less efficient, so to speak, so I try and correct with a little sunlight liquid. Helps a little.

As an alternative, you could get some FluidXP from Arthur over at http://www.synapsys.co.za , it is a non-conductive fluid with cooling properties similar to water - not as good distilled water, but probably in the same league as water/10%-antifreeze mixture.


Let me know what you decide eventually - on a side note, I have never used special mixtures from any supplier, and I am one of the few guys never to have had any issues with watercooling and bugs ;)

So, as I said, the best would be fluidxp, or then maybe my mixture.
More advice from MrBean
MrBean wrote:Okay, 1st things 1st.

10mm = OD (outside dia)
3/8" = ID (inside dia)

Metric pipes always measures OD.

Imperial pipes always measures ID. Thus, 3/8" is in actual fact around 9.7mm ID

a Std 10mm OD pipe will give around 8mm id, if 1mm wallthickness is observed.

Antarctica DYO = Do Your Own. Means the waterblock is not assembled, but it is very easy to do, you will need an allen key. Nothing else. Saves you a bit of money on the assembled block.

I have 2 Maze4's, they are very neat. While you at it, get yourself some 3/8" Tygon Tubing from DD, and then a DD Laing D5 pump. Get the rad local, Coolwave from Arthur, they perform great.

You can get 4 extra 3/8" male pipe fittings, with 1/4" BSP thread from DD, brass or nylon, for the rad and reservoir.

Pump will come with 1/2" fittings, but Tygon will stretch and fit easily over these.

So, to summarize: Laing DD5 Pump, Tygon tubing, Maze4 (3/8") gpu block and 4 extra fittings for rad from Dangerden.

Coolwave 2x 120mm rad, Antarctica DYO block from Arthur.

Reservoir - up to you, I will get the nice bayres from Dangerden as well!

@ Dae-ja-voo: HTTP 12V is an Eheim pump, manufactured specifically for Innovatek by Eheim. Designed for watercooling systems, but don't put to much in the way of waterblocks in the loop - GPU and CPU is enough, and something like a BIX Rad, which offers low restriction.

Otherwise, get DD5 as advised to Wikid.
More Advice
MrBean wrote: Take note that you can buy for much cheaper, but I hate cheap. Like TT big-kakka, etc.....rather buy once, and not again.
Nice for colouring your water
naughty wrote:well to colour the water you could use food coloring - but that could start stuffing up the pump if it doesnt mix properly - so most of the time what the guys do is just buy antifreeze of the colour that they want and thats how the water looks coloured

there are also some of those UV reactive additives - but UV in your case isnt a great idea so i wouldnt use those - but if it floats your boat and you replace your ide cables regularly then by all means thats another option

personally id just use the antifreeze option - 10% of the liquid circulating should be antifreeze

shell makes blue - holts is green - and VW origional coolant is red .............. take your pic - im gonna use red cos my case is called "red hot chilli pepper"
More Advice
naughty wrote:
INSANE I TELL YOU
not really man

look - either you want to watercool or you dont - aircooling is fine for most setups - but look at high end aircooling

a nice cpu HSF would really set yo back around R500 to R700 at retail - whilst GPU hsf's like arctic cooling etc would also be around R500 each at retail - thus to get better performance you would need to spend - and for water to be three times pricier isnt all that hectic - since it will give you better overclocks and still be more stable

no-one said that high end watercooling is cheap - and the cheap stuff is worse than aircooling - so in this case its either "go big or go home" (cant remember who used that line - but im stealing it) - for any watercooling solution to be worth it its gonna cost far more than aircooling - thats why im just going to use u my watercooling parts - i have over 5 grand of stuff already - and im not in the mood to waste that - but later when i wanna go phase change its gonna cost me around 7.5 grand - and thats just for the cpu

this overclocking lark is really costly especially if you want results

ps just noticed your second post - and in terms of buying from dangerden and buying from sysnapsys - local warranties onthings like pumps etc will make any differences in price worth your while - if a pump goes wrong then sending it back there to get repaired and paying for it to get sent back here will really kill your budget
More Advice
naughty wrote:okay - inlet on the cpu block would defo be in the centre - outlets would be in the sides
Another Q...isn'y it better to split the water flow from the rad in 2 seperate pipes, one for the CPU and one for the GPU, thus sending the same temperatured water to the CPU and GPU and then Joining them after they went through??
nope - that becomes very complicated - and then again the gpu would normally have been a lot hotter than the water coming from the cpu anyway - so to have the water going from the cpu to the gpu would be fine - it all quickly settles down to a situation where the water going past the cpu after a very short while would only be around a degree or so warmer than the water coming in and thoat temp is still okay to feed into the chipset and gpu blocks - in a space of one year i never ever shut down the pump - so even when the machine was shut down the water was still circulating - this keeps a smooth flow without adding air bubbles - each time you stop and start the pump - also temps stay cool permanently - so it was an advantage to have a seperate power supply for fans and cold cathodes which was permanently powered up together with the pumpso the rad fans are also still spinning all the time

its far better to just have one circuit going rather than complicating the issues even though it can be done the other way - but it wont change your results too much so the simplest way is the best

im gonna have the inlet in the centre and the outlets in the sides are going to lead to instead of a y-splitter it will feed into each of the gpu blocks since im going to run sli - and then from the two gpu blocks i will go into the y-splitter thus i will also have one circuit only

if it helps this is going to be my config

RAD --> cpu --> 2 graphics blocks --> pump/reservoir --> RAD

the reasoning bewing this the rad is where the water is cooled - from there the most critical aspect is to cool the cpu - and from there the water is still cool enough to cool the gpu's - then it goes into the res and my pump is within the res - so the heat from the pump is transferred to the water and that is cooled when it goes back into the rad

about the low profile blocks - they should be within a degree or two close to the origional blocks so even the low profile blocks would work just as well - and if you dropped around 10 degrees from aircooling - to lose two to have the low profile blocks isnt a train smash

about the stuff from dangerden - to me it would be just as good as arthurs stuff if not better but i think it is better but wether it is to a degree that its worth buying from overseas i wouldnt like to venture a guess - but beanie would know better than me about that since he has tried out those dangerden blocks and i havent - but if you are determined to have absolute best then yeah go for it

i have looked at your diagram - definitely its too complicated - from the rad - just go into the centre of the cpu and from there the two outlets must go into a y splitter and then that single one can go into the gpu block and then again only a single one all the way through - im quickly gonna have a look a t the res that you want i dont know why it has an inlet and dual outlets - so im just going to have a squizz at that but you only need one inlet and one outlet to keep it simple - in fact only one y-splitter is totally neccesary at the cpu block only due to the twin outlets there

again MrBean may have a better way of looking at it but im certain he will for the most part of it agree with what i say or will have very good reasons for the bits that he doesnt agree with with
More Advice
MrBean wrote:DJV: Be careful with that size tubing, it is huge.

My 3/8" id - 5/8" od Tygon is already very big. 15.875mm dia to be precise. So, make sure you have space to route 19mm dia tubing in your case.

It is going to be difficult, much more than you think. I urge you to reconsider, and get 3/8" id Tygon rather ;)

@ Wikid: Yes, those 120mm fan-style reservoirs are neat, and would be nice if you have space/place for it - in your case you do, so one obstacle less. Would tidy things quite a bit.

If you could afford the Swiftech Storm, go for it - it is the best commercial block out there!
This must be the best post ever made by me! Perhaps there can become a sticy topic, for this post, and more contributions from MrBean and company!

And again, thanks for all your help MrBean! I appreciate it soooooo much! And that beer you were talking about!
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Post by neon_chameleon »

PEOPLE stop creating so many watercooling/ liquid colling threads, there's 5 of them atm! That's insane. This is the one for watercooling and the other Peltiers thread is for that. Others will be locked.
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Post by WiK1d »

Dude! Don't get Aggro, read the thread from the beginning and you'll understand!
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

This thread has taught me alot too. I've taken beanie's advise in alot, but one thing i've chosen to stick with, despite beanie's advise, is the 1/2" ID 3/4" OD tubing. I'm gonna make my machine look soooooo good.

Keep an eye beanie, you might prove me wrong, hopefully not. I'll start a case mod project log soon, so keep an eye out.
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Post by WiK1d »

Listen this is the biggest WC thread on the first page of both Harware and Cooling, I think if you look at my post, the very long one, you will come to realise that this thread isn't about Me and DAE, but about everyone that wants to get watecooling, both MrBean and Naughty made excellent posts and helped me dearly. If it wasn't for them I would have sitted with a R1000 WC Setup that doesn't affect my temps at all! I think MrBean is one of the most valued members in the Techie section, that this forum has ever had! Thanks MrBean!
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Post by neon_chameleon »

neon_chameleon wrote:PEOPLE stop creating so many watercooling/ liquid colling threads, there's 5 of them atm! That's insane. This is the one for watercooling and the other Peltiers thread is for that. Others will be locked.
Wikid wrote:Dude! Don't get Aggro, read the thread from the beginning and you'll understand!
Oops, they might have come out wrong. I meant this is the _good_ thread, the others are duplicates, that's why is one is the one that stays.
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Post by WiK1d »

Oh, sorry for that then!
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Post by neon_chameleon »

Me too, lollies.

Back to watercooling now... :)
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Post by WiK1d »

Yeah, well this thread is at it's end! hehe...but we'll post pics and stuff when we finally get the stuff!
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

Yeah, this thread is nowhere NEAR finished WikiD, when we get our stuff we can brag to all!! ;)
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

Okay, so, just like WikiD, i'm ordering a bunch of new stuff. Here's a list, the list isn't important though, i'm just excited!

Swiftech Storm G4 CPU Block
2 Maze 4 GPU blocks
Dangerden Maze 4 Chipset block
Dangerden D5 pump
Coolwave dual 120mm Rad
2 Coolwave acrylic reservoirs
7 feet of 1/2"ID 3/4" OD tubing

Okay, now i've been trying to figure out how i wanna set this up. Here's option 1, like most people would probably do:
pump -> rad -> CPU -> GPU1 -> GPU2 -> Chipset -> res1 -> res2 -> pump.

Here's an illustration:
Image

But here's another option. What if i split the tube when it leaves the cpu and run the one to the chipset and the other to the GPUs and the join it after that again? That way both the chipset and the GPU blocks will get the same temperature water. Here's an illustration:

Image

What do you guys think?
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

No, definately option 1. Don't worry.
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

Can we use Eheim pumps in South Africa? I see that they're 110V, how does this work? Is there a relay for this?
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

I've learned something new. Remember i said:

"Make sure the rad is the LAST thing the water goes through before it gets to the blocks"

Well, as it turns out, i wasn't entirely right on that. The water can NEVER be more than 1 or 2 degrees more or less in a loop. So, put anything anywhere!! :D
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

HAHAHAHA!!!!! SICK!!! This entire page has been me alone!! Man, what a loner!!

Anyway, we promised to list our final choices on our cooling. Mine is still the same as above, but no more chipset block, i took it out because chipset blocks generally kill flow rate, and my CPU block is made for high flow rate:

Swiftech Storm G4 CPU Block
2 Maze 4 GPU blocks
Dangerden D5 pump
Coolwave dual 120mm Rad
2 Coolwave acrylic reservoirs
7 feet of 1/2"ID 3/4" OD tubing

My entire Setup is gonna be a 1/2" setup.

However, Wik1D opted for a 3/8" setup, here's all the stuff he ordered:

Swiftech Storm G4 CPU Block
Maze 4 GPU block
Dangerden D5 pump
Coolwave dual 120mm Rad
Typhoon 120X Reservoir
6 Feet Primoflex 3/8" tubing

We also ordered a bunch of hose clamps, fittings, barbs, teflon tape, 4 tubes of AS5 and Wik1D ordered himself a nice window sticker.

The only disappointment is that we couldn't order Tygon tubing. Well, we could, but at 300 bucks for 7 feet of the stuff, it just wasn't worth it. I'm sure the Primoflex will be just as good.

I placed the order on friday, and i'll pay on monday, so if we're lucky we'll have our stuff by the weekend.
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Post by WiK1d »

Great, thanks for posting it here!!
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

Could one of the mods please make this thread sticky? This is a very good thread for all the watercooling n00bs to have a look at, and can help many many people.

Or if it's too long, could i start a new thread and make a comprehensive guide and then sticky that? Please guys, we need something like this for the guys that are new to liquidness.
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Post by neon_chameleon »

Sure, Dae, sounds like a good idea. I'll implement now and then put it by the others to make sure it's ok. If it's not then it'll be unstickied.

Moved to Cooling & Overclocking and made a sticky.
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Post by Keigo »

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:Can we use Eheim pumps in South Africa? I see that they're 110V, how does this work? Is there a relay for this?
yeah~ u can~ get a transformer change from 220V to 110v~ 8)

220V Power Source > Transformer down to 110V > 110V Device~
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Post by maxxis »

Here are some links

External Water Cooling Kits
•Thermaltake Aquarius III
http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/aquarius/a1681.htm

• Koolance Exos and Exos Aluminum
http://www.koolance.com/products/produc ... egory_id=2

•Corsair Hydrocool 200
http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/hydrocool.html

•Xice Externalcool Kit
http://www.xice.de/eng/index_e.htm

•Zalman Reserator
http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/vi ... 3&code=021


Drive Bay Kits
•Cooler Master Aquagate
http://www.coolermaster.com/

•Kingwin AWC-1 Arctic Liquid Cooler System
http://www.kingwin.com/pdut_detail.asp?CateID=31&ID=187

•Evercool 201 Water Cooling Kit 5.25"
http://www.evercool.com.tw/index_eng.htm



Internal Kits
•Globalwin Jeti and Silent Stream
http://www.globalwin.com.tw/products/wa ... index.html

•Asetek Waterchill
http://www.asetek.com/default.asp?showP ... myvalue=14&

•Swiftech H2O 8600 P and H2O 22600 Extreme
http://www.swiftnets.com/

•Innovatech Innovacool Rev 3 and XXS Watercooling Kit
http://www.atacom.com/program/print_html_new.cgi?

•Topspeed 3X Watercooling kit
http://www.topspeedtech.com

•Danger Den- various customizable kits
http://www.dangerden.com/mall/kits.asp

DIY:

Danner Mag 2 and 3
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=DN1121

Swiftech mcp600
http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcp600.asp

Danger Den DD12V-D4
http://www.dangerden.com/mall/Pumps/dd12vd4.asp

Eheim 1250 and 1048
http://www.eheim.com/

Hydor L 20, 25, and 30
http://www.dangerden.com/mall/Pumps/Pump_hydor.asp

AquaXtreme 50Z
http://www.cooltechnica.com/Merchant2/m ... e=AQX-50Z-

Blocks:

Silverprop
http://www.silverprop.com/watercooling.aspx#waterblocks

Danger Den
http://www.dangerden.com/mall/water_block.asp

Swiftech
http://www.swiftnets.com/products.asp

Koolance
http://www.koolance.com/products/index. ... egory_id=3

Innovatek
http://www.innovatek.de/contentServ/3.0 ... StoryID=94

PolarFlo
http://www.polarflo.com/

Asetek
http://www.Asetek.com

OC Labs
http://www.overclocklabs.com/

D-Tek
http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp?Pa ... tegory=209

Rads:

Xoxide
http://www.xoxide.com/radiator.html

Danger Den
http://www.dangerden.com/mall/radiators.asp

D-Tek
http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp?Pa ... tegory=205

Frozen CPU
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozen ... n/se=Water%
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Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

SICK!!! Thanks Maxxis!!
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Post by Guest »

Image
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Re: Watercooling Setups

Post by Mow »

So guys quick question. Been trying to get tubing locally and seems that everyone is just stocking the stuff for the aquagate class coolers 6.4mm diameter. So was wondering. Midas stocks 1/2 car water hosing. This stuff beats any other tube in the bend radius dept and is commonly available. Its not pretty but it should work. Can you give me your input ?

Also im looking for a bay res for my new case. Recommendations on locally available models would be appreciated.

Dae , wikid let us know if there is any old WC stuff you wanna sell.


EDIT

swiftech mcp600 pump has been discontinued. Maybe delete the link.
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Re: Watercooling Setups

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

JB Stamp. They sell great tubing ;)

As for a bay res, PM me. I've got a D-Tek one lying around.
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Re: Watercooling Setups

Post by Mow »

Thx dae. They are in PTA though so its a bit of a mission for me.
Correct me if im wrong , but im looking for tubing with a ID of 12.xx right ?
Last edited by Mow on 08 Dec 2008, 12:45, edited 1 time in total.
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