Custom CPU/GPU Water block

[bjd5122]

Greetings. In lieu of today's economy and the fact that water cooling is extremely expensive, I have decided to take a crack at making my own water blocks since I have access to all of the equipment and materials needed. I am looking for some advice on designing my own CPU water block. It is going to be for an AM3+ socket. (ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z)

From what I gathered the hole dimensions are 96mm x 48mm and the contact plate is 60mm x 60mm. The offset depth of the contact plate is 9mm. I plan to use a parallel setup with the channels 1mm wide with 1mm thick fins.

I already have the block design created (I used Creo Elements Direct Modeling Express 4.0) and would be more than happy to send it to anyone that is willing to take a look at it and give me some pointers.

Also I could use some pointers for where I can go to get the information to draw up plans for my GPU block that is going to go on my PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 Radeon HD 7950 Boost State 3GB (Newegg Item# N82E16814131478)


Here are some pictures of what I have designed so far:

Isometric view


Top View


Front View


Right Side View

 

[Lutfij]

Wow, that's a real good thing you've got going on

I do have a couple of pointers to relate to you though... I'd ask you to study the inner constructs of blocks that you're refraining from purchasing. They will reveal alot of flaws and design elements that have helped that make them worthy of a $60+ price tag.

To begin with, read a couple of reviews:
I love this one where you have a shoot out with waterblocks young and old and can help you understand the quality of a blocks thermal engineering.

Rubber o-rings, how they work and where you should place them? are as key as the placement of your inlet and outlet ports. Keep in mind you'd need to understand where they sit atop of when you have the block made to prevent any interference when using larger fittings like 1/2"ID barbs with 3/4"OD tubing.

I also see dead spots around the edges of your parallelogram like fin arrangement.

Regarding any ideas for a your GPU block designs - I think you need calipers and precise measurements worked into a CNC miller to avoid the capacitors and/or mosfets and also manage the machining of the vrm contact patches for making sure you're full cover block works and is not the reason for another GPU.

Hope these help

 

[bjd5122]

Wow, that's a real good thing you've got going on

I do have a couple of pointers to relate to you though... I'd ask you to study the inner constructs of blocks that you're refraining from purchasing. They will reveal alot of flaws and design elements that have helped that make them worthy of a $60+ price tag.

To begin with, read a couple of reviews:
I love this one where you have a shoot out with waterblocks young and old and can help you understand the quality of a blocks thermal engineering.

Rubber o-rings, how they work and where you should place them? are as key as the placement of your inlet and outlet ports. Keep in mind you'd need to understand where they sit atop of when you have the block made to prevent any interference when using larger fittings like 1/2"ID barbs with 3/4"OD tubing.

I also see dead spots around the edges of your parallelogram like fin arrangement.

Regarding any ideas for a your GPU block designs - I think you need calipers and precise measurements worked into a CNC miller to avoid the capacitors and/or mosfets and also manage the machining of the vrm contact patches for making sure you're full cover block works and is not the reason for another GPU.

Hope these help

That is just a model of the main portion of the block. I am planning on soldiering on a top plate probably about 2mm thick that will cover the whole top. The 4 inner holes are to help hold the top plate on and the outer holes are for the actual mounting.

The dead spots in the corners are for the input(bottom left) and output(upper right). The 2mm dead spots are to get water flow to each of the channels which are only 1mm wide. The channels are also going to be 6mm deep. I was thinking of changing it slightly and blocking off the corner completely to force more water through the channels.

As far as the GPU goes, that's what I was hoping not to hear. Unfortunately it's starting to look like I cant get away from that.

I definitely appreciate the input and am checking out that link now

 

[Lutfij]

If I do come across any more news/info that may help your progress I'll keep you posted here

edit: check this one out, I was going through some build logs and came across it.

 

[rubix_1011]

We had a member here on Tom's a few years ago who designed his own blocks at home and used some graphic simulation software to determine how the cooling of water over different portions of the block looked under different circumstances. He had a couple prototypes that he wanted to have milled into final blocks, but the thing he said was the most prohibitive, was cost of the copper by comparison to what a ready-to-buy block cost. Don't get me wrong...building your own stuff is always fun instead of just buying something, but just be prepared to do a lot of work and research....and likely go through some heartaches as well.

 

[Lutfij]

^ SPOT ON!

If you make blocks on a large enough scale you can get them at the price point offered by your competitors...but the knowledge gained in getting to ONE functional block is priceless to say the least.

 

[bjd5122]

Honestly one of the reasons why I've decided to try this out is because I flat out want to see if I can be successful at it. I also look at it as even if I do mess it up, copper bars run about $20 so I won't really be losing that much if its not.

I have a few minor changes to make to the design before I actually begin making it. but once I begin I will keep posting updates on my progress.

 

[rubix_1011]

I would love to do a project like this if I had the equipment on-hand to do so and use. Otherwise, I'd have to develop all the technical designs ahead of time, procure the material stock and then find a mill and *time* to have it done by them........all hoping that I'd nail the entire thing on the first or second attempt.

 

[Doxastic]

How did your blocks turn out? I have a Zalman 92mm fan that I really like, but I'd like to water cool once I get a new GPU. So I'm thinking of trying a custom water block that the Zalman can fit on top of. It would then work as an internal fan and an extra way to cool the water right at the CPU.

Problem is EVERY waterblock I can find has IN and OUT on the top, right where the Zalman would be mounted. So I'd like to build something that has an IN and OUT on the sides. That way I can still use my CPU fan.