• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Cheap WC setup - Am I clueless?

M

Mohonri

Supreme [H]ardness
2FA
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
5,773
I'm considering WC for my next system. Recently, I've seen quite a bit of discussion about the power consumption of graphics cards vs. CPUs. Curious, I started poking around. If you look at this GPU comparison on Tom's Hardware, you can compare the power consumption of a system with one card vs. two, and therefore find the power consumption of a single card. In this case, a 7800GT takes 33W when idle and 65W under load.

And according to this comparison page, an Athlon 64 3200 (venice) has a TDP of 67W. And since other processors with the same core but faster clock speed also have a 67W TDP rating, it would seem that the actual power consumption for an A64 3200 is less than 67W.

Now here's the point: it would seem to me that I could get the Zalman ZM-GWB1 for $20, and put one waterblock on the video card and one on the CPU. Put them in parallel with a suitably-sized radiator and pump, and you've got a very inexpensive WC setup. Now, I realize this wouldn't give the best performance in the world, and there will probably be some modding to mount the WB on the CPU, but am I missing anything here? Something obvious?

 
Hmm I don't know how that would work personaly.

I'm using a DD Maze 2 I adapted to fit onto S939, it seems to work okay could be better and could be worse.
 
I am not sure how you would get them to work in parallel? Are you planning on using Y splitters in order to run them parallel, then having them join back before going back into the pump/radiator? Or did you mean running them in series?
 
Id guess series would be best.

Dunno how well it would work. Only one way to really find out. Give er hell.
 
I was thinking parallel (pump->radiator->Y->water blocks->Y->res or back to the pump), in order to reduce the resistance. A pump curve would be *really* helpful to decide. Series is good for a pump with a higher head but lower flow, while parallel is better for a pump with a lower head and higher flow capacity.

On a different note, I know there's a preference for nice, expensive pumps around here, but has anyone used an inexpensive pond/fountain pump from Home Depot/Lowe's/Walmart? How loud are they?

 
Not quite - in parallel you'll lose velocity and therefore turbulence and flow turbulence is a primary factor in removing heat... you'll get better performance with both blocks in series regardless of pumping power...

Define inexpensive on the pump side of things... I class the CSP-MAG as a cheap inexpensive pump... which means no need to look to home depot etc...
 
that zalman wb is the most awful design i have ever seen. its basically a block of AL with a hole straight through it and barbs on the ends.
 
Mohonri said:
Inexpensive means, in this case, less than $40.

Click to expand...


You could go with a used waterblock, socket a ones arent that hard to mod over to S939.

I did my whole WC setup for about 65$, I was pleased with it for some time but in all honesty I'd spend more now and spend less later.
 
i would not recommend running parallel for your setup, espcecially if you are trying to do a budget build. My dad made a lil pond in the backyard and has gone through a bunch of cheap pumps under 40 dollars and they are all really loud
 
Altron3k said:
i would not recommend running parallel for your setup, espcecially if you are trying to do a budget build. My dad made a lil pond in the backyard and has gone through a bunch of cheap pumps under 40 dollars and they are all really loud
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I was wondering--apparently if they're as loud as you say, they're not worth it.

LadyMakoFox, how did you get your budget that low for a WC setup?

 
Mohonri said:
That's exactly what I was wondering--apparently if they're as loud as you say, they're not worth it.

LadyMakoFox, how did you get your budget that low for a WC setup?

Click to expand...


I used a Danger Den Maze 2 Waterblock, a used Bonneville heatercore, and got a sub. pump from lowes.

It isn't the best anymore for me as my cpu puts off more heat (went from 3000+ to a 148 opty) but for now its fine. I plan to proably just get a newer waterblock.
 
I'm using a DD Maze1 block on a CeleronD 2.4 O'Ced to 3.4 along with an ancient DD "cube" radiator and a very cheap fountain pump installed in a PVC electrical box. Real Old School. I had the parts all laying around from several years ago when watercooling was in its infancy. CPU temperatures went from about 145 degrees on air to 87 degrees on water. And I just used old parts. So yes, you can use a fountain pump, but I only did so because my theme was "old school" and "cheap". I realllllly like the swiftech 12v pumps (great company with a great warranty service!), but one would have cost more than the rest of the mod put together.

A heatercore is great for a cheap rad - about $20-30 at an auto parts store. You may have to cut off the tubes and solder on some fittings though. I've done that twice - easy enough with a small butane torch and some electrical solder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top