Projects : Reaper (Update 2007-11-02) [56k warning]

Post logs of your latest creation in here.
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Projects : Reaper (Update 2007-11-02) [56k warning]

Post by viceroy »

I've decided to start a couple of mods of my own. Nothing too fancy.

The aim for both projects is to be sleek, sublime, and mostly silent

'Black Stallion' will be made of my P180B, and a custom water cooling solution. I'm not too sure how far I'll go with this one because I already like the smooth lines of the P180, but I'll see how it all goes

'Black Beauty' will be made from the black case which I'm picking up from PsyClown this weekend, and will also be water cooled, and will be a little more extreme than Black Stallion because I find it easier to cut up a R250 case than a R1600 case :twisted:

As I finalise my ideas and designs I'll post here, and helpful comments are always welcome.
Last edited by viceroy on 02 Nov 2007, 10:03, edited 6 times in total.
Image
DAE_JA_VOO
Registered User
Posts: 12310
Joined: 28 Nov 2005, 02:00
Location: That other place
Contact:

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

Do the more extreme mod on the P180 dude, come on. You're gonna go through ALL that work and effort for a generic case? nah, do the P180!! Come on man!
That guy that used to mod cases. Now I take photos. True story.
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Well lets just say that the reason why there are two project running simultaneously are that I can try stuff on Black Beauty and if it works well, I can move the work to Black Stallion
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

So synapsys has a sale and I decided to buy a few things

But before I show you, here is my current WC setup. Nothing fancy but it works.
Image
Image

And now, what do we have here...
Image

Two nice shiny Triple 120mm Radiators
Image

Some Koolance blocks to suppliment my current collection
Image

Koolance Flow meter
Image

The rest of the stuff I bought (Please note the 2 80mm fans are being returned to Synapsys on monday as they were packed instead of the 120mm ones I ordered)
Image

And finally the stuff I bought from Do0bs
Image

One thing Synapsys didn't have any stock left of was Barbs to fit the Resevoirs so I just popped down to Builders Warehouse today to pick up a couple from the Kadac gas section.
Image
Lithe_Joint
Registered User
Posts: 802
Joined: 06 Sep 2006, 02:00
Location: WTF?
Contact:

Post by Lithe_Joint »

It seems you are going to have your hands full pretty soon...you got some nice kit there :)
the pen is mighter than the sword, but the word is always final
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Thanks. Yeah, I've got at least two PC's planned, and possibly a third which might make use of the Modified Exos.

Still lots of planning to do, but it will come right eventually.

So far I'vr mounted the barbs to the raddies and to the resevoirs
Image
DoOb
Registered User
Posts: 2478
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 02:00
Location: Durban, Bluff, Here by the ocean
Contact:

Post by DoOb »

YAY may DIY Kit. Kewl ampt to see what you can do.

DoOb's
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

DoOb wrote:YAY may DIY Kit. Kewl ampt to see what you can do.

DoOb's
Yep, your stuff...Unfortunately I'm most likely going to dump the Pump/Res combo (as per the reasons I mentioned in the last PM to you) and most likely the Innovatek K7 CPU Block as well, unless someone wants them (PM me to discuss)

I do however have plans for the Raddy and Koolance Block 8)
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Just a quick simple design of the basic water and airflow for Black Stallion

This may change but the P180 is not an ideal case for WC

Image

This a basic idea I have for airflow.
2x 120mm fans pulling in cold airconditioned air from the front
2x 120mm fans pushing out warm air at the back and top rear
3x fans pulling in cool air from the top for the triple 120mm radiator

Image

The tubing from the resevoir to the pump to the Radiator will be 10mm.
From the radiator I'' split that to 2x 6mm tubes, one going to the CPU and the other the the GFX, and then rejoin them just before they get to the resevoir. My thinking behind this is that I don't really want warmed water from the CPU going to the GFX, so splitting it ensures that both get cooled water and, even thought the tubing is 6mm, they will get enough cooling because the room is airconditioned so ambient temps will be pretty low as it is.

ps. click images to enlarge

Any comments?
Image
Lithe_Joint
Registered User
Posts: 802
Joined: 06 Sep 2006, 02:00
Location: WTF?
Contact:

Post by Lithe_Joint »

I don't know if you've read this thread:

http://www.pcformat.co.za/modules.php?n ... 9&start=45

At the end, Thrilseeker had a very comprehensive outline on how airflow should be in a case :)
the pen is mighter than the sword, but the word is always final
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

No, I hadn't seen it but it does seem to agree with my ideas somewhat. In some areas it disagrees.

To go with the points he made.
* The case should be as well sealed as possible. Many small form factor cases come with passive side vents and various holed and cutouts on the rear panels. Passive heat escapes are only effective in extremely low airflow situations though. Since most of us are concerned with performance, holes are the enemy. The more tightly enclosed your case is, the better it will hold pressure, which is key for effective cooling.
The P180 case is very well sealed, the are no un-needed holes, and when closing the side panel, it creates a very good seal (part of thei design to eliminate noise).
* The case should be at as low a pressure as possible. This means you want more exhaust than input. This seems totally contradictory to almost every computer case on the market, and it is. Heat is dissipated much more quickly at low pressures. This is extremely true with air.
I agree here and even though it seems like I have way too many input fans, I've actually tested all this out before hand, exept for the radiator fans.

The input fan in the lower chamber only serves to cool the drives and PSU. The input fan in the upper chamber is there to feed cool air over the mobo section.

In my case, the front fans are set to their lowest setting and the two rear fans to their highest.

As for what happens with the Radiator, I'm going to have them connected to a fan controller and will be able to get the best compromise of air and water cooling for the system. I don't know if you noticed in my post that the room is airconditioned and as such I have almost complete control over input temps for the case. Most likely though, they will also only be set on slowest speed setting possible.
* Incoming air temperature is something we have very little control over. Unfortunately it's also one of the major factors of cooling a space with air. Just keep your air intakes in a well ventilated room and keep the temperature in your house at a moderate level.
Like I said, airconditioning allows me to control ambient temps.
* Airflow itself. This is the step most people skip. More is not necessarily better. The idea is to keep all of the air within your case moving and exhausting. The reality is that in most stock cases you will only be moving 30-40% of the full air volume. Top blowholes and side blowholes will usually worsen overall cooling, and should be avoided. The idea is to have a single path of airflow. The problem as we all know is that it pretty darn hard to do in a computer case. The drive bays cause a tremendous amount of air blockage, the peripheral cards obstruct airflow to exhaust fans, the power supply often generates more heat than it exhausts and the CPU cooler exhausts its air perpendicular to the desired flow pattern.
Through trial and error this will slowly come right.
Image
Lithe_Joint
Registered User
Posts: 802
Joined: 06 Sep 2006, 02:00
Location: WTF?
Contact:

Post by Lithe_Joint »

Like I said, airconditioning allows me to control ambient temps.


Aha, the airconditioner...what a bonus :D.
Well, then I reckon you will not run into any hassles as far as cooling is concerned 8)
the pen is mighter than the sword, but the word is always final
DAE_JA_VOO
Registered User
Posts: 12310
Joined: 28 Nov 2005, 02:00
Location: That other place
Contact:

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

viceroy wrote:Image
I wouldn't suggest you do it like that. There's a LONG and boring explanation as to why, but it boils (no pun intended) down to pressure differences in the loop. Rather just run the water like this:

Rad > CPU > GPU > Res > Pump > Rad

See, the water temps will NEVER be more than 1'C different anywhere in a loop, and that's an extreme already. So if you run the water from the raddy to the GPU or from the CPU to the GPU, the temp will be pretty much the same. It's all got to do with thermodynamics.

Just my 2c ;)
That guy that used to mod cases. Now I take photos. True story.
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:I wouldn't suggest you do it like that. There's a LONG and boring explanation as to why, but it boils (no pun intended) down to pressure differences in the loop. Rather just run the water like this:

Rad > CPU > GPU > Res > Pump > Rad

See, the water temps will NEVER be more than 1'C different anywhere in a loop, and that's an extreme already. So if you run the water from the raddy to the GPU or from the CPU to the GPU, the temp will be pretty much the same. It's all got to do with thermodynamics.

Just my 2c ;)
Point taken.
Changes a few things but simplifies one of the boxes.
Image
WiK1d
Registered User
Posts: 20732
Joined: 13 Sep 2004, 02:00
Location: Cruising the streets of Pretoria
Contact:

Post by WiK1d »

Also to make your life easier make sure that the res is next to the pump intake, or you are gonna struggle filling your loop.
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

WiK1d wrote:Also to make your life easier make sure that the res is next to the pump intake, or you are gonna struggle filling your loop.
Already thought about that one too. Gonna have a T-Piece between the Res and Pump. didn't put it in the diagram yet. Still thinking about it. I also had an idea of using a cross connector and using the lower part of that leading to a drain tube which is sealed with a valve, but then I worry about leaking...I'll see though
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Time for a slight update as I actually have an idea for Black Beauty (which will be more like Black Industrial Plant when I'm done)

This came with the pump. Not only doesn't it fit, but it's plastic...will be tossed!
Image

This is more like it. All shiny and new.
Image

Whoah!! It fits :)
Image

Now to prepare it for no leaks.
Image
Image
Image
DAE_JA_VOO
Registered User
Posts: 12310
Joined: 28 Nov 2005, 02:00
Location: That other place
Contact:

Post by DAE_JA_VOO »

You better put LOTS of that thread tape on, leaks STILL happen if you dont use enough ;)
That guy that used to mod cases. Now I take photos. True story.
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Thanks for the case Psyclown...but It's getting taken apart to be given a new life.
Image

Resevoir with brass barbs, and planned T-piece.
Image

Some plumbing in place to test fit.
Image

I think this will fit.
Image

Where to Drill.
Image

And some more drilling spots.
Image
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Not much happened this weekend since I was away but I've just done some of the drilling and then widening the holes to fit the barbs.

so here are the two rear holes.
Image

And here is the resevoir hanging loose (literally).
Image

And how it will sit when the barbs are mounted properly.
Image

I'll most likely pick up some more 120m fans soon as well as a few other plumbing bits and clamps etc for the mod.

Oh yeah...I definately need a dremel to continue
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:You better put LOTS of that thread tape on, leaks STILL happen if you dont use enough ;)
Sorry, only saw your post now.

Yep, I know that. Having worked a bit on boats, its amazing how water always tries to find a way through any small gap. :?
Image
DoOb
Registered User
Posts: 2478
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 02:00
Location: Durban, Bluff, Here by the ocean
Contact:

Post by DoOb »

Wierd tho when i made that DIY watercooling set.

I just put the stuff in didnt even do a 24 leak test. O well maybe coz i am mad.

Anyway looking good Viceroy
Image
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

DoOb wrote:Wierd tho when i made that DIY watercooling set.

I just put the stuff in didnt even do a 24 leak test. O well maybe coz i am mad.

Anyway looking good Viceroy
Well I only did a quick 1 minute leak test with the Exos kit but that is almost idiot proof.

This kit, I'd like to do properly and maybe sell when I'm done as a custom pre made WC case, so leak testing is a must
Image
Dust
Registered User
Posts: 392
Joined: 12 Mar 2007, 02:00
Location: Far East (Rand)
Contact:

Post by Dust »

Ya a Dremel makes it alot easier.

Looking good, I'll be in line waiting for the selling day of your case. Or I'll come camp out infront of your place the night before. :lol:
viceroy
Registered User
Posts: 3565
Joined: 27 Mar 2006, 02:00
Location: I forget

Post by viceroy »

Been a slow couple of weeks. Basically just finalised some of the plumbing in the false ceiling of the case in order to fee the radiator. No pics though. Might do some more this weekend when I buy a Dremel.
Image
Post Reply