In Pictures: 20 Clever Liquid-Cooled PC Setups
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- PCS
Last response: in Photo reports comments
exfileme
November 19, 2010 3:00:03 AM
Most of our testing happens on open-air racks, so fully-configured PCs are somewhat of a novelty around here. Well though-out water-cooled machines are even more luxurious. We tracked down 20 different boxes to show off some enthusiast workmanship.
In Pictures: 20 Clever Liquid-Cooled PC Setups : Read more
In Pictures: 20 Clever Liquid-Cooled PC Setups : Read more
More about : pictures clever liquid cooled setups
phoenix777
November 19, 2010 3:14:09 AM
sprunth
November 19, 2010 3:16:35 AM
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anacandor
November 19, 2010 3:18:20 AM
Snipergod87
November 19, 2010 3:33:57 AM
dEAne
November 19, 2010 4:39:02 AM
ragingmercenary
November 19, 2010 4:46:27 AM
GeoMan
November 19, 2010 5:05:43 AM
SirGCal
November 19, 2010 5:25:11 AM
karma831
November 19, 2010 7:08:25 AM
gti88
November 19, 2010 7:45:54 AM
NoseNuthin
November 19, 2010 10:21:47 AM
kriminal
November 19, 2010 10:27:20 AM
nevertell
November 19, 2010 11:32:25 AM
MonsterCookie
November 19, 2010 11:46:02 AM
One thing which I will never understand at TH:
why on earth are you putting a zoom button under the pictures,
if all we get is the same tiny figure with 140x100 pixels?
I understand that for some of the mods presented here there is no high resolution picture available, or you were too lazy to look for them, but this is true for your articles as well.
why on earth are you putting a zoom button under the pictures,
if all we get is the same tiny figure with 140x100 pixels?
I understand that for some of the mods presented here there is no high resolution picture available, or you were too lazy to look for them, but this is true for your articles as well.
Score
2
Not impressed with most of these...the 2 table/desk PC's were pretty good plus a couple others were decent. As for the rest, it looks like they just Googled PC watercooling and grabbed the first 15 pictures; most looking like they were from 3-5 years ago.
Watercooling has come a lot further than these pictures portray...why the nostalgic look and feel with this 'article'? There are PLENTY of amazing watercooling builds out there...and you showcase THIS?
Watercooling has come a lot further than these pictures portray...why the nostalgic look and feel with this 'article'? There are PLENTY of amazing watercooling builds out there...and you showcase THIS?
Score
14
scoopster
November 19, 2010 12:51:30 PM
If you think these are crazy, you should see the epic modding competition that two of my gaming buddies have been waging for a while now. You can read up on it and see pics of the action here: http://theafterlifels.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=37...
Score
2
ram1009
November 19, 2010 1:11:42 PM
Anonymous
November 19, 2010 1:25:19 PM
kingnoobe
November 19, 2010 1:40:20 PM
t0r012
November 19, 2010 1:49:02 PM
I like the desk. Still a little heavy on the lighting for my taste.
Everything else pictured , not so nice.
Taste being subjective , clear cases and bright lights just don't do it for me.
Never cared for steampunk either.
I like my PC like I like my cars, as much go as I can get with as little show as possible. Anything that does get changed makes it faster if it happens to be visible part then as understated as I can get it.
watercooling for PC or a sneaky turbo in a car nice upgrade.
bright neon lighting for either not digging it.
Everything else pictured , not so nice.
Taste being subjective , clear cases and bright lights just don't do it for me.
Never cared for steampunk either.
I like my PC like I like my cars, as much go as I can get with as little show as possible. Anything that does get changed makes it faster if it happens to be visible part then as understated as I can get it.
watercooling for PC or a sneaky turbo in a car nice upgrade.
bright neon lighting for either not digging it.
Score
1
jedimind06
November 19, 2010 2:01:00 PM
You should goolge more before showing 15-17 FAILS...
http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23...
http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23...
Score
3
nurgletheunclean
November 19, 2010 2:01:25 PM
Kyndylan
November 19, 2010 2:37:14 PM
Or, www.million-dollar-pc.com.
'Nuff said.
But to be fair, the two table ones were quite cool! And it was more than likely the photography that made the other ones look slightly disappointing.
'Nuff said.
But to be fair, the two table ones were quite cool! And it was more than likely the photography that made the other ones look slightly disappointing.
Score
1
bigpoppastuke
November 19, 2010 2:44:46 PM
gm0n3y
November 19, 2010 4:29:27 PM
stone-69
November 19, 2010 5:03:24 PM
Nakal
November 19, 2010 5:13:22 PM
stone-69All this modding/cooling stuff has made me wonder :Wouldn't it be much easier to put all the components of a PC without a cabinet (aka. breadboarding) inside a standard household kitchen freezer with a small hole drilled for the wires ?Would that idea work ?
To answer your question, in a word:
Condensation
Score
3
robochump
November 19, 2010 5:51:26 PM
iamtheking123
November 19, 2010 9:29:57 PM
stone-69All this modding/cooling stuff has made me wonder :Wouldn't it be much easier to put all the components of a PC without a cabinet (aka. breadboarding) inside a standard household kitchen freezer with a small hole drilled for the wires ?Would that idea work ?
Condensation is one problem but not the biggest. The compressor would blow up since it's not meant to run 24/7 and it's not meant to cool something that produces heat.
Score
0
gm0n3y
November 19, 2010 9:56:06 PM
iamtheking123Condensation is one problem but not the biggest. The compressor would blow up since it's not meant to run 24/7 and it's not meant to cool something that produces heat.
Its true. If the heat is enough to make the refrigeration unit work constantly, it will die pretty quickly. If the fridge/freezer was large enough, relative to the pc, then its possible though barring condensation issues. Just keeping the radiator in a fridge is probably a low enough load that the compressor would only have to kick in every once in a while.
Score
0
Anonymous
November 19, 2010 11:48:59 PM
Whoa boys, the modern refigeration or air conditioner compressor is a sealed steel can. A lot of airconditioners run continously for years. In a new York taxi, they run all summer. In fact if sized small enough they are best when the balance of returning refigerant (vapor) from the "cold coil", ie. the evaporator, is continous and used to chill down the high pressure (liquid) side so as to help keep it below the boiling point. When we mess about with a refigerator /freezer unit often a temp senser at the exit of the evaporator unit controls a valve on the intake side of the evaporator coil. This is meant to slow down the intake flow when it is sensed that the exit temp from the evaporator is so low that liquid freon is leaving the evaporator. Best is when the heat load causees all the freon to boil to vapor, and the compressor runs constantly.
Score
0
blackjellognomes
November 20, 2010 1:25:33 AM
JeanLuc
November 20, 2010 6:30:32 AM
jedimind06
November 20, 2010 11:43:59 AM
stone-69 said:
All this modding/cooling stuff has made me wonder :Wouldn't it be much easier to put all the components of a PC without a cabinet (aka. breadboarding) inside a standard household kitchen freezer with a small hole drilled for the wires ?
Would that idea work ?
http://www.aquatuning.de/product_info.php/info/p2693_wa...
Score
0
doniphan
November 20, 2010 1:02:14 PM
Most of these pictures look just ok, searching on Google you can find better and more original ideas. I see many standard components and some of them are old, so should not be in the news at this moment. After watching these pics I feel more confortable and proud of my own setup which I built almost three years ago and still rocks. Where should I submit my pics to see mine in the next year selection Tomshardware?
Score
1
HolyCrusader
November 20, 2010 2:35:00 PM
stormkroe
November 20, 2010 5:01:41 PM
ortoklaz
November 20, 2010 7:27:26 PM
bobisgod
November 21, 2010 2:48:21 AM
iamtheking123
November 21, 2010 4:58:26 AM
geekishWhoa boys, the modern refigeration or air conditioner compressor is a sealed steel can. A lot of airconditioners run continously for years. In a new York taxi, they run all summer. In fact if sized small enough they are best when the balance of returning refigerant (vapor) from the "cold coil", ie. the evaporator, is continous and used to chill down the high pressure (liquid) side so as to help keep it below the boiling point. When we mess about with a refigerator /freezer unit often a temp senser at the exit of the evaporator unit controls a valve on the intake side of the evaporator coil. This is meant to slow down the intake flow when it is sensed that the exit temp from the evaporator is so low that liquid freon is leaving the evaporator. Best is when the heat load causees all the freon to boil to vapor, and the compressor runs constantly.
I'm not saying there aren't (relatively common) refrigeration systems that can run 24/7...a window air conditioner would be a good example of something that can easily run for hours on end. The point of my comment was that a lot of people think they can just take a normal dorm fridge (or even a cheap full size fridge) and throw their computer in it; and that's a wrong assumption. This is of course still ignoring the problem that condensation will form on anything in a fridge (in most parts of the country) whenever the door is opened. Other solutions like using an air conditioner and blowing the cool air into the case have been thought of...except it's far more efficient (and quiet) to simply use metal-metal contact water cooling with room temperature radiators.
Score
0
dreammachine2010
November 21, 2010 3:45:41 PM
bilbat
November 21, 2010 11:26:14 PM
What I don't get about most water-cooleds is that they dump the heat and the noise right back into their immediate environment! Lots of water-cooling gurus told me this: http://www.bilbat.co.cc/Comp_Main.html was impossible; pump can't make that much head, too much tubing, etc., etc... Obviously knew nothing about hydraulics or hydrodynamics. The fluid 'falling down' in a closed loop exactly equals that being 'pumped up' - net effect of gravity is zero! And the heat and noise go into an empty, cool, basement...
Score
0
mike8472
November 22, 2010 3:32:12 PM
flyordie
November 22, 2010 4:53:39 PM
All this PC's look like a big mess of tubing, no esthetics... Check this page for some really nice systems: www.million-dollar-pc.com
Score
0
Glorian
November 22, 2010 8:59:51 PM
pwnagehobo
November 24, 2010 3:45:34 AM
Snipergod87so for number 6 where he sais everything that makes heat is water cooled. What about the radiator? Woudlnt he need a seperate water cooling system to cool that.
Technically, the radiator doesn't actually produce any heat. Components like the CPU 'produce' heat by transforming electrical potential energy into kinetic energy, and hence, heat. Whereas there is no energy transformation in the radiator, the energy is heat from the components, heat when it's transferred to the water, heat when it's transferred to the radiator, and it remains in the form of heat when it is transferred to the air. So you see, the radiator doesn't produce heat, it just moves it from one place to another.
Normally I'd correct your spelling and grammar too, but I can't be bothered.
Score
1
gondo
November 24, 2010 8:18:46 PM
This stuff is so yesterday. Case modding is a thing of the past and was popular 6 years ago. I remember building my first liquid cooled rig over 12 years ago when you couldn't just buy an all-in-one kit.
Most of these cases are just a mess of tubing. No big deal about dropping $70 on a Sunbeam acrylic case. It's a shabby case anyways. Better off spending your money on a nice Antec or Lian-Li.
As far as I'm concerned the only nice setup here is the computer built into the desk. It's a nice custom built desk. Not too portable though.
Most of these cases are just a mess of tubing. No big deal about dropping $70 on a Sunbeam acrylic case. It's a shabby case anyways. Better off spending your money on a nice Antec or Lian-Li.
As far as I'm concerned the only nice setup here is the computer built into the desk. It's a nice custom built desk. Not too portable though.
Score
0
defes
March 14, 2014 9:49:11 AM
defes
March 14, 2014 9:49:47 AM
!