Watercooling for EVGA 680i MB

Well, looking at what you're putting on the line, I wouldn't put your 8800gtx on the loop, because the kentsfield will generate tremendous heat on its own, and then if you add a gtx, your loop might not be able to cool everything well. I would suggest either getting a better radiator for this, or adding a single 120mm radiator somewhere internally right before the gtx. As for the south bridge, I don't see why you'd need to watercool that, but I'm not sure if you could fit in the sb. I would take some measurements yourself and see how much clearance you have first.

excellent job with your watercooling there. Great job in general with the case, it's well cabled and very neat

What are you using for radiators, you have to have some serious cooling power for what you have on that loop.

Oh, well it's still a dream machine

It should work out well for you, I don't think you'd need a second mcp655, but trial and error is a nice way to find that out, do a dry run (use the coolant, but not attached to any hardware) and see if it works before burning out any hardware because of the pump. But I still don't see why evga's sb is so hot, most can get just get away with slapping on a zalman fanless sb cooler

But isn't that a northbridge cooler? If it works, then that can solve the op a lot of issues, but I always thought that was a northbridge cooler and not a south bridge one. But anyways, if the op needs a powerful pump, he can just take a look at the hydor seltzer pumps, those have up to 950gph, more than what he needs. That, or there are cheaper fish tank pumps that do the job too (and some how tend to actually be more reliable, though the mcp655 is a great pump for a single loop)

yeah, I saw their watercooled one, but it's huge, no way I could fit that in my p180

Well, that's gonna be a lot of heat. Make sure you have a big enough radiator to dissipate it.

The problem isn't just the addition of heat, for every seperate component in the loop that's cooled, there's a pressure drop over the cooling block. I agree, two loops. Or, at a minimum, 2 rads and 2 pumps in one loop. I also agree that watercooling the SB is pointless. It's right up there with watercooling memory or HDD. Just put a good passive cooler on there and make sure you maintain some kind of airflow through the case and you'll be fine. Air is even more important with WC than without, believe it or not. Cooling your VRMs is absolutely critical with an overclocked system, and the normal CPU fan isn't there to do it. Most high-end mobos have fans for these heatsinks that you can use, don't forget about it!

You know what I wanted to do, but gave up on? Get one of those little Dorm fridges and build everything in there. Change out the compressor motor with one rated for continuous use, seal the darn thing up completely, run external CD/DVD drives etc, and drill a hole and fill it with foam insulation for the cables. I gave up on it cuz the power usage would be too crazy. I still think it would be sweet though.

As for using a homemade phase change, yea, condensation could be a problem. Do you mean phase changing the CPU and letting that lower the ambient in the case? Or phase changing the VRM's directly? I think phase changing might actually go BELOW the rated temp reqs for the VRM's, I've never done research on what the temp floor is for them. I think keeping them as close to ambient as possible would be the best solution.

Ok, yea, now I read your question correctly. Phase should indirectly lower ambient and the PCB temp around the CPU socket, which in turn would help the VRM temps, theoretically at least. Speaking of phase, whatever happened to OCZ's stand-alone unit? Wasn't it supposed to be available by now? That thing looked pretty friggin' sweet.

Found it. Laughed my butt off too.

http://www.custompc.co.uk/custompc [...] stoms.html

Check out the link right below it: 2KW PSU "all about willy waving" : OCZ CEO

Probably didn't help that their delivery guy's name was Al Kayder.

It wouldn't surprise me if they ran into problems with customs for real. I hope it's true anyway, I'd love to get my sweaty paws on one of these bad boys.

Update: Started to put together the WC build last night. I bought an extra MCW30 Chipset Cooler from Swiftec to WC the SB. In order for it to work, you have to install the the bolt from the front and secure it on the back with the black plastic nut. Put the black washer on the bolt-insert from top of board through MCW30 bracket through board-flip board over and install a second black washer and secure it down with the black nut. Now you have room to install your 8800gtx wc or non-wc. Ive also installed a T fitting hose. T fitting is at the bottom w/ an out let out of the back of the case with an plastic On/off handle for draining. Peace