Universal waterblock mounting clips...

[DirkAction]

I'm curious about people's opinions on mounting them in only 2 corners instead of all 4. Wouldn't 4 be better? Or would it not make much difference? I'm also wondering where I can buy more, if needed. I may just be slightly incompetent but I can't find them at any site I know of. Or maybe someone knows something I can buy at my local hardware store that would be a good substitute?

 

[amuffin]

Those are older cards, have you seen any of the newer universal blocks?
http://shop.xs-pc.com/xsp/XSPC-Raystorm-GPU-Block_28989.html

 

[Lutfij]

I'm not familiar with that block - what card are you going to mount it on?

 

[DirkAction]

Those are older cards, have you seen any of the newer universal blocks?
http://shop.xs-pc.com/xsp/XSPC-Raystorm-GPU-Block_28989.html

While that may work, I'm a little leery about the design being truly universal, especially because I'm not mounting it on any of those cards. I'm also currently using an old Thermaltake northbridge waterblock that has the oval-type universal mounts and it has tons of room and I like all that extra mobility to work with vs. the couple mm the notches in your block give.

I'm not familiar with that block - what card are you going to mount it on?

It's part of the Thermaltake Tidewater, and to be honest I'm attempting to mount it to a 740QM and 360M . I saw someone do a watercooled laptop with the Tidewater before and theirs was much smaller than mine, so I'm pretty sure it'll work. This is why I'm looking for extra oval mounts as well, because being a laptop, it'll probably take me about 3 hours to disassemble and reassemble the stupid thing and I just want it done perfectly from the start, to shut my OCD up.

 

[Lutfij]

1| the "lil" wiggle room you have in the new universl blocks is so they maintain perfect contact with the hotheaded chip. Proper mating with the heatsource and plate will help in transfering heat and making the loop feasible.
2| Thermaltake "wannabe" tidewater is nothing close to a watercooling block/unit/setup - my advice is don't use it
3| watercooling your laptop? might want to give it a proper funeral and not make OCD the cause of your laptops untimely death.
4| watercool your rig, not the laptop, and shut your OCD up.
5| if you're really interested in modding your laptop, might want to check out other forums like OCN, [H], XS.

 

[DirkAction]

1| the "lil" wiggle room you have in the new universl blocks is so they maintain perfect contact with the hotheaded chip. Proper mating with the heatsource and plate will help in transfering heat and making the loop feasible.
2| Thermaltake "wannabe" tidewater is nothing close to a watercooling block/unit/setup - my advice is don't use it
3| watercooling your laptop? might want to give it a proper funeral and not make OCD the cause of your laptops untimely death.
4| watercool your rig, not the laptop, and shut your OCD up.
5| if you're really interested in modding your laptop, might want to check out other forums like OCN, [H], XS.

1) Fair enough, but for something as high powered as a desktop GPU, I'd never use a universal block on it unless it was the only option (personal preference)
2) Obviously all-in-one units aren't as good as a proper setup, but multiple reviews say that it works quite well actually, albeit they were written in 2006. Also, nothing else is even remotely feasible to mount.
3) See this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-go6bfFK__0
4) Done it, so has everyone else. I want something different.
5) I'll keep that in mind. I've examined everything quite a bit and I'm pretty sure I'm set, but if I run into problems I'll definitely be asking around for help.

This is irrelevant to my OP though, all I'm after is advice on where I can buy more universal clips or if I'm just going to have to live with using the 2.

 

[rubix_1011]

If you're looking for additional hold-downs for those blocks, you can likely make some easily with a few trips to your local hardware store and some decent imagination.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Bit of metal strip or meccano can easily be made to hold a block down,
**Done it, so has everyone else. I want something different**
So design it differently to everyone else, set goals like xxx delta or no visible cables, whatever you want to achieve, you can do,
I like the idea of W/c on a lappy just for the hell of it, but I would not use TT W/c gear if you paid me,
you can probably have a chat with your local hardware guy to get some of those slider type circlips, four is better yes, even pressure over the whole chip
I would +1 Lutfij though and adapt a more modern, decent block
Moto

 

[DirkAction]

The main problem with newer blocks is that it's hard (for me at least) to find a super-slim one like the Tidewater uses. The size is a huge issue because that block should fit inside my laptop perfectly, and it's rated for 120W, which is the max power my laptop can draw so I figure it should work fine, without turning my laptop into Frankenstein with tubes and fittings everywhere. Even though that might look cool if done properly...

+1 = best answer, right? (new guy lol) You actually answered my questions though, slider type circlips and use 4. I think you deserve it, but I'll give it to him if you want.

 

[rubix_1011]

How are you going to power the pump/cooler? Is the cooler and tubing going to hang out the back/side of the laptop? Just curious how you were going to go that route.

Hopefully your CPU cooler isn't part of a larger heatpipe network cooling several components.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

+1 means I add support to the opinion expressed by Lutfij, its like adding my weight to the cause
You select whichever answer you believe has been most helpful, remember that if someone in future googles and finds this thread, the answer may help them as well
Moto

 

[DirkAction]

Sorry for late reply, things came up.

How are you going to power the pump/cooler? Is the cooler and tubing going to hang out the back/side of the laptop? Just curious how you were going to go that route.

Hopefully your CPU cooler isn't part of a larger heatpipe network cooling several components.

I bought an AC to Molex power adapter for use with the Tidewaters. As for the setup, I'm going to secure the Tidewaters to the underside of my Notepal U3 (tiny bit of overhang, 95% concealed though) and then make a small cut or two in the exhaust vents to feed the cables through to the waterblocks.

I'm actually considering putting a hold on this project though. Currently, I'd have to completely disassemble the laptop to access the heatsinks, and it turns out my CPU heatsink covers my Northbridge too. My GPU, even OC'd about 15% never breaks 65C, so watercooling the CPU (85C @ load) and Northbridge instead is an option, but not my ideal setup. I guess I could just attach the waterblock to the CPU/NB heatsink , but that's just silly.

I'm looking at a new Sager, and seeing how easy it is to access everything makes me not even want to bother with this now. I can only do so much with a GTX 360m and a first gen i7

+1 means I add support to the opinion expressed by Lutfij, its like adding my weight to the cause
You select whichever answer you believe has been most helpful, remember that if someone in future googles and finds this thread, the answer may help them as well
Moto

Gotcha.

 

[DirkAction]

Best answer selected by DirkAction.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Glad to help man, and thank you for B.A.
Moto