Water Cooling for $500 (Canadian)

dglew

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Hi,

I've been having no luck whatsoever finding out about what's good/bad in watercooling. I do have $500 sitting here and was wondering if someone could help me put together a watercooling system. I'm getting the CoolerMaster Stacker case. Thanks!
 

lb19984

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Zalman RESERATOR 1 should do you good and its very quiet

System Spec:
Asus P4c800-E
3.2e @3.8ghz
2X512 corsair xms pro 2-2-2-5
all in wonder 9800 pro
74gb raptor
audigy 2zs
klipsch ultra
 

Crashman

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It's actually silent from a distance of 2 feet, and I can't imagine anyone having it closer to their ear than that.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 

folken

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I would go with the <A HREF="http://www.sharkacorp.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SOS&Product_Code=in-500740&Category_Code=in" target="_new">Innovatek XXS Complete CPU Water Cooling Set</A>
It is a very good system and you can mix and match any other innovatek parts with it. I believe innovatek currently has the largest variety of liquid cooling components. They are a german company so it is a little harder to find their products in the US but they are worth the effort to get. Most of their products can be found at <A HREF="http://www.sharkacorp.com" target="_new">http://www.sharkacorp.com</A> and <A HREF="http://www.frozencpu.com" target="_new">http://www.frozencpu.com</A>

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>
 

error_911

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why would anyone touch the Zalman reserator - ugh.
man, i'm not on the forums too much anymore (come say hi in irc-land), but when i see a post like this i cringe.

customize your own solution ! !
you have some good cash to spend on it, and its CAD.
where you at anyways, I'm in montreal and i get some good local pricing on watercooling gear.
anyways...

Danger Den gear is great. Go for a TDX. If you want to cool your vid card, a Maze 4.
As for the pump, nothing better than an Eheim 1250.
Then for your radiator, depends on how much effort you're willing to put in. If you're handy with a little bit of soldering, pick yourself up a car's heatercore. It'll be cheap and better than the large majority of radiators available, only catch being that you've got to solder some barbs to it. Otherwise, HWLabs BlackIce Pro2 radiators are great.

Anything else?

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

error_911

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dude the reason you're getting decent temps with the innovatek gear is because of your pump, rad, and number of fas (!?). i run 3 fans in my system, including PSU, intake (for HDD), and NB heatsink. I also run DangerDen blocks, an eheim pump, 1973 buick riviera heatercore.. put your system side by side with mine and i can almost guarantee that our temps will be very similar, if mine not better. innovatek gear is old and a quick fix for ppl looking for a kit. thats about it. look at their product designs.. whats so "innovative" (pardon the pun) about innovatek. not much.

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

dglew

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How's this sound?

Chipset Waterblock - Danger Den MAZE4 Chipset Block
CPU Waterblock - Danger Den - TDX Block AMD XP/MP
Pump - Eheim 1250 - 110/120V - 317 GPH
Tubing - 6 feet of Tygon Tubing (more necessary?)
Radiator - Black Ice Xtreme Radiator
Paste - Arctic Silver 5

Distilled water is easy to buy, as is antifreeze. I think some cool dye for the water would be nice. Also, since I'm not going to use a resevoir, I need to have a 'T' at the top of my case, do I not? Please help me ... I'm so new =). It's pitiful ... what else am I missing?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by dglew on 09/05/04 06:54 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

error_911

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f\/ck the antifreeze, use WaterWetter
otherwise, measure how long the distances are to figure out how much tubing you'll need, but if you're making an internal setup (read: inside the case) 6 feet is enough. umm, no video card cooler? what are you running now? otherwise, using a reservoir is way easier, not worth making a T line, just use a reservoir.. danger den has some for the eheim pumps.

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

folken

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I get about 16-20C or less on CPU, Chipset and GPU. Mostly due to the 10” X 12” radiator on the side of my house, lol.
It gets really nice when winter rolls around :)

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>
 

error_911

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thats why, heh - when i have the a/c going (with a dryer tube from the cold air output to the radiator) i hit those kinds of temps, and my rad is a heatercore, 13"x2.5"x6.5" so not much smaller. surprised about one thing though - those innovatek blocks really shouldn't be able to hold up to the pump's pressure

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

dglew

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Okay, so how would you mount such a radiator? Would you have to mount a heck of a lot of 120 mm fans on it or what? Does someone have some pics to show me what you're doing?
 

folken

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putting my radiator outside allows me to put as many fans as I want on it, have it be huge, and not make a sound in my room :)
My comp is almost completely silent because of it. And when I wanna lan I just detach from that radiator and connect up to a portable one I built. A description and pics of my setup can be found on that link on my sig.

I have always liked the innovatek blocks mainly because of the superior compression fittings on them. There is NO way that hose is comming loose/leaking. And their rev3 cpu block has got to be one of the better blocks out there. So many companies are putting plastic on their blocks now days it makes em seem crappy. I know innovatek is doin it too but their rev3 block is a solid aluminum block with a large copper core that gets completely submerged in water.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>
 

dglew

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error_911

I'm in Ontario here ... and here's what I've been thinking about over the last 24 hours or so:

Good budget? Well yeah ... I've been thinking about watercooling for the past year and a half now but had to wait until I got my new case, etc. and for school to finish. :)

What I'm thinking now is this:

CPU Waterblock – Swiftech 6002 (For AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton) - $42.50
Chipset Waterblock – Swiftech MCW20 - $37.95
VGA Waterblock – Swiftech MCW50 - $42.95
Pump – Laing D4
Tubing – 8 ft. of Tygon Tubing
Thermal Paste – Arctic Silver 5

Just curiously, have you had experience with Water Wetter vs. Antifreeze in your water? Just wondering what the difference really is .. I was leaning towards some blue antifreeze myself. Bad? Good?

Thing is, I'm not sure where I can find the Laing D4 pump in Canda. I've been trying but no luck yet. Where do you get your parts?
 

folken

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Your setup looks good to me, give it a shot.

Go for waterwetter but don't put to much in, it will eat at your fittings if you put in to much :)
I have heard stories of antifreeze clogging up stuff in cooling systems so I would never use it.
If you want to add color to the water just get some UV dye. Just a couple drops of that stuff will make your system very colorful.

I buy most of my stuff online. The only things I didn't buy online were the radiators and tubing. It was more convienient to just go to napa autoparts and ace hardware.

(The pic of my portable cooling system shows a standard heatercore w/ 4x 92mm fans on it. The radiator w/ the 6 fans on it looks more like an oil cooling radiator to me)

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by folken on 09/06/04 02:14 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

folken

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Uppon furthur inspection that isn't any kind of auto radiator. That is a computer liquid cooling system radiator, the <A HREF="http://www.mountainmods.com/cgi-bin/product.pl?item=HE1203" target="_new">Thermochill 120.3</A>. That thing is expensive.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>
 

error_911

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i just use 2 120mm fans on it (sucking air through it), and i have it mounted in a case on the floor, so i never worried about installing in my case.

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

error_911

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to begin with, i'll give you this straight up - i'm not at all a fan of swiftech waterblocks. they make nice heatsinks, and thats about it. i know you're probably thinking you can shave $100 in total by using swiftech versus danger den, but the performance is with danger den. as for the pump, I've never heard of that pump, so i personally wouldn't touch it. eheim pumps are easily available, so are hydror and via aqua. i buy my stuff from www.mutepc.net because i get wholesale prices, and they're in quebec, but www.bigfootcomputers.com has some nice stuff, and i think www.ncix.com is starting to cary stuff too.

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

dglew

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I think I'm still going to go with the Swiftech 6002 CPU waterblock. I'm debating whether I should go for a small HSF such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-110-103&depa=0 for my NB.
VGA? Not totally sure. I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll buy one of these or not .. but I'll probably have extra cash so probably will. Not totally sure about the rad but I'm contemplating this one: http://www.dangerden.com/images/Fan_Shroud/shroud1.jpg

Anyway, that's where I am right now. Feeling a little better about that?
 

error_911

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your stock vga cooler will be better than that Vantec - thats an OOOLLLDDD cooler which isn't even good enough for GF2's lol. trust me when i say you need something better.

as for the radiator, thats basically a smaller version of mine, but a good choice - its a pre-modified heatercore.

feeling a little bit better btw, lol

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

dglew

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Heh, sorry, that fan - it'd be for my chipset, not my VGA. (grins) My bad. For my VGA, I'd go for either a Maze 4 or something similar from Swiftech. Think I could go for a larger rad for not much more money? I think I'll still have some to burn ...

P.S. Glad you're feeling better ;)
 

error_911

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lol good - for the chipset, btw, that fan is probably not enough as well. take a look at thermalright's NB-1 (its $25 CAD) and its great (i've got one). for the gpu, a waterblock is always nice (i have the maze 4 in black :smile: ). otherwise, a dual-120mm radiator/heatercore won't be much more, just shop around. like i said though, if you don't mind soldering a little, buy a heatercore from an auto shop, its your best and cheapest alternative.

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>
 

dglew

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Ouch, that's a bit noisy ... not too bad though. I've got an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe mobo and it has weird dimensions for the Northbridge so I'm not 100% certain that would fit. How did you mount it onto your motherboard?

So I really can't justify buying a waterblock for my Northbridge then?

What would I be soldering onto the heatercore? Just the barbs?

Heh, I've got a guy here in town where I live that gives me stuff for cost and doesn't charge me shipping. It rocks.
 

error_911

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i've got an Abit AN7 and it will fit, its meant for the NForce mobos and their ultra hot NB's.. it mount with mounting pins and a retention bracket - not too hard.
actually, i want o buy an NB waterblock too, it gets pretty damn hot.
as for the rad - thats it, barbs.
and btw, i get things for cost too (i'm a reseller); i love it lol

<b>and now for something completely different</b>
...<b><A HREF="http://www.bytethiscomputers.sytes.net/site/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b>