Next Project: water cooling

[xxsk8er101xx]

Thermaltake Bigwater 745 120mm x3 CPU Liquid Cooling Fan/Heatsink
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106074

When i save the money i'd like to try it. just because i've never done it before. And that unit seems pretty decent.

Questions:

Where do i put it? i know the block goes on the cpu. I mean the other stuff. Can i place that at the bottom of the case? Do i gotta cut holes on my case? which i'm not doing because its steal. I have a Antec SOHO server steal case.

THe fans - where do thse go?

Like think of me is a newborn with liquid cooling. =)

edit: nvm i found a nice graphic on thermal's site.

Does anyone have this? can i lose the 2 120mm fans and just use the one 120mm? I'd just wanna cool the cpu.

If one of the hoses were to break and leak all over the inside of the case, what should i expect to happen? (lol) is it rare for a leaky hose or is it common?

 

[phreejak]

lol....

ok, no more caffeine soda for you or you will freak yourself out...

The bigwater is a decent introductory watercooling kit. It's not highend but it will do its job. While I have never used it (I'm into the Do-It-Yourself kits) I know alot of people do. As for component placement, relax. The kit comes with instructions so you will be ok. I guess it provides you with the coolant liquid but I can almost bet you that it is electrically conductive. So, be careful. It is always good to test a cooling loop for leaks before you run it in the computer.

There are several coolant liquids which are NOT electrically conductive (so leaks and spills wouldn't matter) but they are pricey - anywhere from $20 - $34 for about 32 oz. I use PrimoChill ICE (which is a nonconductive solution) in my watercooling loop.

 

[redraider_gamer]

Thermaltake has some good stuff, both air and water. I use the Big Typhoon HSF. The enthusiat crowd seems to prefer Danger Den and Swiftech and kind of looks down on Thermaltake.

What are you going to be cooling? Just the CPU? If so, most off the shelf kits work pretty well.

As for non-conductive liquid - not really necessary if your pretty handy. There's not much head pressure in these systems and buying good tubing and clamping it properly is pretty easy to do. Make sure to test the system outside the case for leaks. The sticky in this forum has great advice. This months issue of maximum PC also has a lot of good info. It's a bit more challenging to purge the system of air...

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

Thermaltake Bigwater 745 120mm x3 CPU Liquid Cooling Fan/Heatsink
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106074

When i save the money i'd like to try it. just because i've never done it before. And that unit seems pretty decent.

Questions:

Where do i put it? i know the block goes on the cpu. I mean the other stuff. Can i place that at the bottom of the case? Do i gotta cut holes on my case? which i'm not doing because its steal. I have a Antec SOHO server steal case.

THe fans - where do thse go?

Like think of me is a newborn with liquid cooling. =)

edit: nvm i found a nice graphic on thermal's site.

Does anyone have this? can i lose the 2 120mm fans and just use the one 120mm? I'd just wanna cool the cpu.

If one of the hoses were to break and leak all over the inside of the case, what should i expect to happen? (lol) is it rare for a leaky hose or is it common?

Ok...the single radiator will mount inside your case if you have the space, then the double radiator will mount externally. If you desire to remove one of these 2 radiators from your system, it is better to remove the single radiator, as it uses 1/4" tubing, and is effectively a bottleneck to the rest of the system which uses 3/8" tubing.

The pump/reservoir would mount higher than any other component in the water cooling system. The reason for this is to keep any air out of the system by gravity bleeding. You can mount this internally or externally of the case.

As far as cutting holes, you can either drill holes for the tubing, or you can use one of your pci slots to run out of.

If you get this setup, you want to also get a flow meter, so you can effectively monitor the flow of coolant. Having your pump fail prematurely for whatever reason and not being able to detect it is a bad thing.

If a connection were to leak, it could destroy components. It is HIGHLY recommended that you TEST your water cooling system for 24 hours or more for leakage BEFORE you use it with your system, specifically to check for leaks.

Another way of damage prevention, as mentioned above, is non-conductive coolant.

How common are leaks? It depends on you. If you take care of your setup properly, it should never leak.

Another issue is ensuring that you have no fungal growth, corrosion or other coolant breakdown that disrupts the operation of your setup. Having anything clog up the water block on your cpu won't be good at all. To combat this, you can buy additives for your coolant.

Specifically, for the Big Water 745, you should be careful when tightening down your connections at the radiators and pump/res. There are O-rings which can be damaged if you tighten too much, thus a leak will form. However, if you don't tighten them enough, it will also leak.