Water Cooler

[michaelsil1]

Okay I just got the notion to put a water cooler on my system. What I would like from the community is how much of a pain in the ass is the installation going to be. I believe I how enough room ( Directron SF-201B Case ) also what is a good choice in coolers.

 

[CALV]

I did a DIY watercooler last year, details on <A HREF="http://www.calvsplace.co.uk" target="_new">my site</A> waterblock and pump now for sale due to moving ps's upstairs


If they squeeze olives to get olive oil, how do they get baby oil?

 

[Bahumut]

Just a tip. Most water coolers work better with saltwater.
Just make sure the concentration of salt isn't to high, or it'll deposit salt in your base. you might want to flush the base monthly until you find a good concentration for your cooler.

Pain is the realization of your own weakness.

 

[CALV]

I put antifreeze in mine

If they squeeze olives to get olive oil, how do they get baby oil?

 

[CompIliterate]

I was wondering would it be safe to put antifreeze in there. Since you put it in there, I take it that it is safe so far. Would it optimize the cooling of the CPU?

 

[Guest]

You would not want to use anti-freeze, water is much better for cooling than anti-freeze. Anti-freeze is used in cars becaues it doesn't freeze during the winter, if you used water in a car it would freeze and crack the engine block which is bad. I recommend distilled water to use in water coolers, its the safest and probably the best.

My parents warned me to wear earplugs when shooting a rifle, but never using my computer.

 

[Collective_8472]

Assuming i start from scratch and have a nice big box, if i were to cool CPU, GPU, north bridge and hard drives, would a dual-radiator system work, with one between CPU and GPU/bridge/HDD all running off the same pump? that methinks would maximize the heat conductivity by allowing cool water to cool the GPU and such.

 

[mrwhipper]

you might want to look at a case made by Koolance.. The case is buit for water cooling. www.koolance.com. The cheapest I found it was on tigerdirect.com They are pretty backordered right now though. The case with the silver CPU water block is around 250.00 US. I sould have mine next week. If you are interested on how it goes. Drop me an e-mail. blt_miraclewhipper@hotmail.com. There is an article on Tomshardware. You should use deionized, distilled water for cooling. That way if it leaks, you stand the least chance of hurting something. Good luck.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[Schmide]

Salt reacts very well with copper. Anyone ever wore a copper bracelet? That green color is the oxidation of the copper caused by salt. Salt is a nice conductor of electricity and thusly causes oxidation. Stick with Water Wetter or glycol.

Recursion - I curse then I recurse again and again

 

[bitemenavy]

Koolance... I had been drooling over their cases but then I read Toms article on the the first gen cases, and how much they sucked. Please, let me know what you think of the newer model, if it works better, water cooling here I come....

There is a big difference between these two questions: CAN I touch that bare wire? OR SHOULD I touch that bare wire? The outcome could be shocking.

 

[mrwhipper]

Hey bitemenavy. Toms wrote an article about the second gen Koolance. At the home page for Tom's under search type Koolance. I think it will find 2 selections. One of them is the 2nd gen case. It was very good report. I would be more than happy to let you know how it goes. Just drop me an e-mail so I can reply.. blt_miraclewhipper@hotmail.com. Tigerdirect is expecting their shipment of Koolance cases tomorrow (10|31) then mine should be on the way to me. So hopfully by the end of next week it sould be up and running. As far as the comments above about what coolant to use. Again you should use distilled\ de-ionized water. There is some additives that you can put in it to prevent any growth. Koolane does sell the additive also. Take care all.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[Dongle_Dave]

I'm curious about water cooling as well. How is the noise level of the typical water cooled system compared to a standard fan system? ie. Is water cooling the ultimate in silent PC's?

Dave

 

[mrwhipper]

Dave.. I just got off the phone with Tigerdirect. My case was suppose to be shipped to me last week but their shippment never got in from Koolance. I guess they were sick of talking to me so they called Koolance while I was on the phone with them. TigerDirect should have thier order tomorrow, which means I should have my case early next week. I will post my results here. I am running a 2200+ with a Volcano 7+ HS on it. I will compare temp and noise level. I have no technical means of checking sound, but I will do my best. Koolance is also releasing their new system. It straps to your existing case. Looks real cool. I will keep you informed. Take care.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[Dongle_Dave]

Thanks Mr. Whipper. Just let me know what you conclude. My thought is that water cooling will have the same noize level. You're removing a CPU and graphics fan, but then you're adding a pump motor or two. I guess I'm more interested in H2O cooling for the sound aspect (if it's quieter) than for the overclock aspect...

Dave

 

[knowan]

The water pump is nearly silent, provided that you get a good quality pump with a magnetic impeller (Ehiem are said to be the best). The only noise you get in a water cooled computer comes from the hard drive/cdrom, power supply/case fans, and the fan(s) that you strap onto the radiator if you use one. Most people use 120 mm or larger fans for the radiator as they are quieter and cover a larger surface area.

--------------
Knowan likes you. Knowan is your friend. Knowan thinks you're great.

 

[mrwhipper]

Knowan, the unit that I'm ketting is the Koolance 601 Blue case. The case is degigned for water cooling. Check it out koolance.com. You are right though, the pumps are silent. There is going to be more case fans but at a much slower speed than a CPU fan. Tomhardware has the low down on this case. There will be 3 80mm fans on top of the unit. I think 1 in and 2 out, 2 in my power supply, one in front of the case and 1 in the back of the case. I am sure that I will loose some noise because of the 70mm Volcano 7+ fan spinning at 5000 rpm. I will let you know the results though. Take care.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[mrwhipper]

Hey guys. I didn't forget about you all. My case has not come in yet. TigerDirect did get it in this weekend, so I sould have it buy the end of this week. Also I do think I can get my hands on a gauge to measure sound, so I might be able to do a good compareson between regular air cooled with a Volcano 7+ and the Koolance case. Take care.

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[Vince604]

If I get a smaller radiator will that cut down my performance? I have a pretty small case and I want to mount it inside. I've seen a Black Ice Micro radiator that uses 1 80mm fan and am thinking of getting that.
What if I put more than one radiator into a watercooling setup? Should I get a better overall cooing temperature?

 

[LtBlue14]

the smaller radiator will have a smaller fan and therefore a louder fan for the same cfm, and yeah 2 radiators will cool better b/c of bigger surface area

 

[Vince604]

Yes I thought about the noise but that's why I was reffering to having two radiators. That way more surface area I'd be able to reduce the fan rpm and still get decent cooling results. But I wonder.. Would I get the same results if I bought two seperate radiators that each mounted only 1 fan at time or would I get better results if I bought a single radiator that requires you to mount two fans?...

Should you be using Artic Silver 3 for the thermal compound? I don't remember but I remember seeing something bout you weren't suppose to or maybe I'm wrong. What was being used in the THG Watercooling video?

 

[mrwhipper]

I did not see anythig about Artic Silver and water cooling. Could you be thinking about a Peltar? (sorry for the spelling)

Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[Vince604]

Hmm not sure. Have you seen the THG watercooling video? They used this white stuff, and have no clue what that was. So Artic Silver 3 would work best for watercooling?

 

[monkeyspank]

Arctic Silver is just for the interface between the cpu and the heat exchanger (waterblock in this case).
It shouldnt make any difference whether you are air cooling or water cooling as far as i know, but i am an idiot so there you go.

Use arctic silver if you are going to be using a standard waterblock arrangement.

<font color=red> -- </font color=red><font color=blue>A bush in the hand is worth two birds at the bar</font color=blue>

 

[mrwhipper]

I have all the info that I think you need. I just got my Koolance 601 case today. I will tell you what I went from to what I have now. I had a standard case, Antec PS with duel fans, 1 80mm 30cfm intake fan, 1 80mm 30cfm exaust fan, Volcano 7+ HS& fan, 2200+XP (NOT over clocked) GeForce 4 Ti4600 with a thermaltake copper HS and fan, Audigy sound, Netgear NIC, 512 PC 2700 ram with a active Thermaltake HS and fan, 80GB 7200rpm WD HD (800BB).

THe new set up didnt change except I dont have the Volcano 7+ any more (of corse) and both 80mm fans are now exaust. The Koolance case does have 3 80mm fans at the top for cooling the radiator.

I will be able to give you both temp differences and sound differences.
all temps are with ambiant temp at 72F and MAX load for 0.5 hours using MBM5 and 3D Mark 2001


AIR COOLING WATER COOLING
temps with max settings 115F 82F
temps with med settings 117F 84F
temps with low settings 124F 84F

sound level Low setting 55db 50db
sound level Med setting 57db 52db
sound level High setting 64db 56db

Installation was pretty easy. The directions were good. It did take me a while though. I really took my time and checked real well for leaks and I made it look real nice inside. I will tell you this though. The 200 SILVER CPU water block is bigger than I thought. You do have to pay attention how you sit it on the CPU.

I hope this helps. If you ask me at this point I would say The Koolance 601 case is worth every penny. The case is constructed VERY well. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. Take care. Good Luck. Oh yea, I did use Artic Silver 3 with no problems.



Hang in there. It can only get better!

 

[Vince604]

Alright thanks.

Well would any of you guys know what makes a water cooling perform so well? Do they depend on ALL the componenents? Or is it mainly the radiator and water blocks?

And which company has the best quality/performance water cooling products? Is it Innovatek? Or different company's may have certain products that are better than others?