undertheradar
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2004
- Messages
- 1,792
I dont need 1300 watts, I dont want to pay $600, and I dont trust Koolance. I told BFG and Thermaltake in their last customer surveys that a more 'mainstream' line of watercooled PSU's would be awesome (PSU's maybe more like 700, 850, and 1000 watts)... but until they get back to me on that Im thinking I will mod up my own PSU for water cooling (I want 100% cooled, no fans, no moving air, etc...).
At that, my idea is to open up a PSU and replace the 12-14cm fan with a waterblock of similar size... perhaps resting right on the caps and sinks to allow for good heat transfer. OR, should I remove the sinks and put in copper ones that attach to the waterblock? Are these power rectifiers the only parts that get warm enough to need cooling, or are there other components that need to be cooled?... will a total lack of airflow cause problems with other internals that dont have obvious/visible cooling attached? Anyone have any idea? I suppose I might have to crack the sucker open and shoot a pic with a thermographic camera to see what gets hot and what doesnt... but I would like to know ahead of time to know what I am going to have to deal with before I start. Dont worry... I know I have to watch out for the voltage in the caps... I wont kill myself... only the PSU maybe...
The PSU I am considering for this is the Corsair TX850w, since its internals are nice and flat on the inside, with a good 1"+ up top for the waterblock (run the 1/2" in/out lines through the back to the outside of the case). If anyone else has any suggestions for a good PSU that looks like its internals would be 'moddable', let me know.
The plan is to have the waterblock take up where the fan is though, and the hole for the fan gets enlarged so you can see the waterblock, and the waterblock will have an acrylic window on the top (like a Danger-Den waterblock) so you can see it running as it will be upside down (window up) in the bottom PSU mount of a Lian-Li PC-A77.
I can do the main waterblock itself out of some 1" thick copper plate... I have access to a CNC mill/router to carve out the internal channels and 'pins' for cooling so it should be plenty of cooling. Then I can attach 1/2" or 1/4" plates that run down to the rectifier pins... attachment done with soldering, or maybe threaded holes/bolts and thermal paste between.
When I get it up and going (Im on this as soon as I can figure out all the parts), Ill post a log here or in the modding forum... should be fun... DIY 850watt water cooled PSU!!!
At that, my idea is to open up a PSU and replace the 12-14cm fan with a waterblock of similar size... perhaps resting right on the caps and sinks to allow for good heat transfer. OR, should I remove the sinks and put in copper ones that attach to the waterblock? Are these power rectifiers the only parts that get warm enough to need cooling, or are there other components that need to be cooled?... will a total lack of airflow cause problems with other internals that dont have obvious/visible cooling attached? Anyone have any idea? I suppose I might have to crack the sucker open and shoot a pic with a thermographic camera to see what gets hot and what doesnt... but I would like to know ahead of time to know what I am going to have to deal with before I start. Dont worry... I know I have to watch out for the voltage in the caps... I wont kill myself... only the PSU maybe...
The PSU I am considering for this is the Corsair TX850w, since its internals are nice and flat on the inside, with a good 1"+ up top for the waterblock (run the 1/2" in/out lines through the back to the outside of the case). If anyone else has any suggestions for a good PSU that looks like its internals would be 'moddable', let me know.
The plan is to have the waterblock take up where the fan is though, and the hole for the fan gets enlarged so you can see the waterblock, and the waterblock will have an acrylic window on the top (like a Danger-Den waterblock) so you can see it running as it will be upside down (window up) in the bottom PSU mount of a Lian-Li PC-A77.
I can do the main waterblock itself out of some 1" thick copper plate... I have access to a CNC mill/router to carve out the internal channels and 'pins' for cooling so it should be plenty of cooling. Then I can attach 1/2" or 1/4" plates that run down to the rectifier pins... attachment done with soldering, or maybe threaded holes/bolts and thermal paste between.
When I get it up and going (Im on this as soon as I can figure out all the parts), Ill post a log here or in the modding forum... should be fun... DIY 850watt water cooled PSU!!!