My crazy/stupid water loop

[PsyKhiqZero]

I've seen corsair h50s modded with reservoirs. I've even seen one with a 240mm radiator. Yet no one has tried to see what would happen if you added the 120mm, 240mm and a vga block all in 1 loop. Everyone sort of assumes it won't work.

Well curiosity has gotten the better of me and i've decided to try it. I ordered a Black Ice GT stealth 240mm radiator already but was just looking to get a few opinions on some other things before I got started.

1. I would like to try adding the 240mm rad first and if it's successful, add the gpu block. But what signs do water pumps give before they fail?

2. When picking a gpu block, is it better to get a full plate or a simple gpu block and heatsinks for the memory. I'm assuming a simple block will be easier to port to new hardware while a full plate will cool better. What are your thoughts on the subject.

3. What additives vs. pre mixed liquids. which do you prefer? Personally I don't care about color I just want to keep stuff from growing inside my loop.

 

[rubix_1011]

I'd never try it with one of those...but let us know how it works out. Should 'work' fine in theory, but I don't know how well that pump will work out or now long it will last; I'm betting it's only been tested with the small loop it was designed for...not anything along the lines of what you are doing.

You'd be better off getting a decent, cheap, better-performing pump and CPU block instead to base your system off of. Something like this: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7...Pump_-_237_GPH_DD-CPX_Pro.html?tl=g30c107s154

 

[delluser1]

1. Maybe a slow down, maybe some noise, maybe nothing at all.
2. A gpu block alone is better option for upgradeability, probably just have to change brackets or ramsinks for the next card.
3. PTNuke and/or a silver coil and distilled water

Do some Googling, there have been mods that included triple rads, and others where a gpu block was introduced into the H50 loop.

I never wanted to try and push the little pump that hard, a dual rad was as far as I went.

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

Algae can't grow if you don't put any in there. Distilled water or any type of bottled water is free of algae, hence they don't grow on store shelves.

Tap water has some level of algae. Rinsing your stuff with tap water is the easiest way to introduce bacteria, algae, and minerals in your loop even if you fill with distilled water in the end. Always rinse and fill with distilled water.

 

[rubix_1011]

I was looking for the actual flow rate of the H50 pump...difficult to find, but seems to be in the neighborhood of 60l/hr from a couple forum tests I found, but none from the actual site. For $50, the pump I listed says 900l/hr. The fact that Corsair doesn't even list the flow rate in the product description really bothers me.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Well I bought the H50 thinking I wouldn't want to "water cool" beyond that. Turns out i was wrong. I figured I may as well give it a shot. Worse case the pump fails and I have to buy a new pump anyway.

When you water cool with a simple gpu block would you suggest a pci slot fan to move air over the ram sinks? Or would the case air flow be enough? I have a cm 690II advance w/ cooler master 140mm fans everywhere but on the side. (They won't fit.) I would like to keep noise down. I also do not overclock either the cpu or gpu.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

^Pci slotfan will take air away from the card and exhaust it out the rear of the case (unless you do some rewiring ofc but the idea of blowing extra air to help with cooling the card cant hurt, although your current airflow should cope fine imo.
Moto

 

[rubix_1011]

Case airflow is usually OK over RAMsinks as long as it is keeping things cool BEFORE you decide to watercool.

 

[ortoklaz]

This is good alternative to cool just GPU:
http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php/omni.html
it's not cheap but i like the fact that the block is universal

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Well after ordering ordering wrong size barbs, then killing myself trying to keep as much air out as possible I managed to get everything running successfully. I will add better pics tomorrow.

My temps are pretty awesome. My cpu would idle at 38c and load at 52c. Now it idle 38c and loads at 48. My GTX 285 used to idle at 48c and now doesn't exceed 50 c at LOAD!!!. So far everything is working awesome. However all my fans are at full speed. The setup is quieter now that the GPU fan is out of the equation. but loader when i'm not doing anything. I'll be looking at fans and fan controllers for my next mod.

Thanks to everyone that took the time to post and PM me if you have any questions about my mod.

 

[ortoklaz]

very nice PsyKhiqZero ! I would add some kind of flow sensor just in case ..
this my be the cheapest CPU/GPU loop that i have seen for some time looks cool tho

 

[rubix_1011]

^Why would you need a flow sensor? You'd know if your pump wasn't working by the temps...and modern boards/CPUs shut down on thermal limit anyway...

 

[ortoklaz]

Yes that is true

 

[rubix_1011]

In most cases, they aren't needed with a quality WC loop, and I'd be willing to wager that anyone investing money in a loop would also be wise enough to carefully monitor their investment.

Besides, I don't know for sure, but I bet most flow meters hinder flow.

 

[ortoklaz]

mention the sensor because i would be getting paranoid with that pump

 

[rubix_1011]

The H50/H70 doesn't really have an advertised flow rate...even on its product site...they 'fail' to mention what it is.

There have been a couple sites that guesstimate, and those calculations are pretty dismal. I'd be surprised if it wouldn't just make temps worse when adding more components in a custom loop.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

The flow rate on the pump is kinda sad. One of the hardest things about doing this mod is that the pump barely had enough power to push the air bubbles out. I would see air bubbles go into the radiator but never come out. At one point I tried to place a make shift reservoir between the 120mm rad and the gpu block. i couldn't feel any water flow at all.

Total cost of parts.
h50 70 bucks (on sale at frys when i bought it)
Black Ice GT Gen Two stealth 240mm Radiator 50 bucks at Jab-tech.com
4 x 1/4 ID Barbs from frozencpu.com about 12 bucks
full Swiftech Komodo GPU plate form swiftech 90 dollars (on sale directly from manufacturer's site)

222 bucks not including tubing and distilled water which are pretty cheap anyway.

 

[rubix_1011]

For that cost, you could have put together a somewhat decent CPU loop with fairly good components.