Water Cooling in a small HTPC

[NYTrojan]

Hello everyone,

Howdy everybody,
I have a small home theater PC (Moncaso 312b). As you can see in the picture below (From google search, this isn't mine) space is VERY limited. That said I'd love to water cool the thing. As a HTPC I'd prefer it to be much quieter than it is, and it is already running hot as is (no overclocking or anything).

I know very little about watercooling in general, and am wondering if it is even possible in such a space constrained system. At first I thought there was no way, but then this little guy caught my eye: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11...tl=g30c95s1311

The back of the MonCaso supports space for 3 side by side 40mm fans so this radiator might actually work. That said I have no idea what to do for a reservoir or pump. Any thoughts on the smallest but yet still effective components around? Also I noticed that the radiator I linked above says that it supports hoses with inner dimensions of 8mm. That doesn't seem to give with either 1/2 or 3/8ths hosing... so what's the deal there?

Thanks!

Picture: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3382/4636484231_4695fbfc8f_o.jpg

 

[price_th]

Not for nothing but how does a 3 fan radiator make things any quieter? Unfortunately I can't get to you picture. The issue you may have with the Moncaso 312b is ports for water cooling lines. Your link to frozencpu isn't working. There are kits by Zalman http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118111

 

[Motopsychojdn]

40mm fans will be noisy,
you are looking at 120mm fans blowing slowly to reduce noise,
Xspc's rads are designed for low rpm fans (Except the EX series)
check this out though, it is very doable,
Page 8 near the bottom, guy called smileytown,
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-266324_11_350.html
and avoid that reserator kit, it has aluminium in it, as a watercooler, aluminium is one of your worst enemies
Moto

 

[NYTrojan]

The case doesn't have the size for a 120mm fan. Not even close. The reason why going to 40mm fans would reduce noise is I already have 40 mm fans. If I can move the heat generated by the CPU more effectively outside of the case (Dissipating it outside the case instead of right on top of the CPU) I can do away with some of the other case fans I have in there.

Trying the links again:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11761/ex-rad-185/MagiCool_Mini_II_Dual_40mm_Radiator.html?tl=g30c95s1311

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Ok, so its time to think creatively hehe,
can you post a pic of your chassis opened up?
I think we may be able to squeeze more in there than you think, but also consider the possibility of mounting the rad externally,

Moto

 

[NYTrojan]

Sure thing, will do that when I get home. In the meantime if you google MonCaso 312b you can see other images of the case.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I did, thats why I said time to think outside the box as it were,
But I'd like to see your actual case to know what needs to be considered
Moto

 

[NYTrojan]

Okay sorry folks, took longer than I thought. Not sure if any of you are watching the thread anymore (my bad) but if so, here's the inside of the box:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Mtq4hW57boo/T6blrL5PHxI/AAAAAAAAF1s/yxBFDMcu_TI/s1030/2012-05-06_13-52-48_225.jpg

 

[Motopsychojdn]

No problem man, life takes its turns hehe,
that is one seriously tight space
Onyl way you are going to watercool that is by having an external box with the W/c gear in and running the tubing to the Pc, there isn't any room in there for anything,
but that is a blessing in a way because your W/c box can be silent and your Pc temps will benefit greatly
Moto

 

[rubix_1011]

That is one crammed little case. I agree with Moto on the rad/pump box.

Or- Swiftech Edge/Drive system and a GPU block (if desired). You could mount the rad/pump externally and route all tubing internally.

 

[NYTrojan]

Thanks folks, that's what I thought I might have to do. Do you have any suggestions about particular brands / devices I ought to look into. I get the impression that that tiny radiator that would fit where my 40 mm fans are (Across the top of that pic) isn't going to do the trick.

Also, if I remove system fans and replace with water cooling, should I be concerned about the heat my northbridge and ram will generate? There's room for a NB waterblock but absolutely no room for additional RAM cooling

 

[Motopsychojdn]

You leave the current fans in there, once the Cpu heat is out of there they will have less to do and should rotate slower/quieter but you still want some airflow in the case
and what you would do is get another case or make a box from 20mm board,
design that so the pump/reservoir and radiators fit in nicely, and have two tubes from the Pc going to the box, one to feed, ond one return line,
I used quick disconnectors on mine to make it easy to move things around when needed, its the big silver thing here, I was priming/bleeding air from the loop at the time

I can help you design it but you will have to have either a suitable case or box to use first
Moto

 

[NYTrojan]

Best answer selected by NYTrojan.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Thank you for B.A. man, glad to help, shout up if you start a box and I'll help as much as I can
Moto