Considering putting my system underwater...

InvisiBill

InvisiBill

2[H]4U
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Jan 2, 2003
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I've been in and out of this section, looking at things and reading up, but not in too much detail.

My rig
I've currently got my case full of YL D12SL-12's. They're fairly quiet and I'm happy with the cooling overall. Watercooling is about the only thing I haven't done with my PCs, so part of it is just wanting something else to play with. However, part of me doesn't want to have to worry about the extra issues that can come with water either.

I really like the radiator setup on this rig (I've already removed the plastic grilles from the front and top of my case). I'm just not sure how much a 120x2 can handle, and if other models fit as well as that Black Ice Pro II. If I will need to use that rad to get that fit, is its performance comparable to newer rads?

Could it handle an i7 and a GTX285? I may StepUp to the Classified, which gives me the toasty NF200, and I wouldn't mind it if I could crank the i7 up to 4GHz (though it's still great at stock speeds as well). What would you recommend for a stock i7 and GTX285? For an overclocked CPU, GPU, and the motherboard as well?
 
I would probably recommend you get a triple rad for that setup, especially if you want to do some overclocking. You might be able to get just get by with a double rad (a double rad handles my sig system perfectly) but you would be pushing it.
 
whats your case and how comfortable are you with modding it? if you wanna empty the top two drive bays and cut some holes in the top then you can fit a 120.3 in the top of most mid and all full towers. just so you know, its not as easy as that sounds. it WILL be a huge pita. but its fun, and youll be proud of it when youre finished.
 
i just dove into water a month ago or so, i think its great, my case didnt fit a 120.3 rad so i drilled 6 holes in the top of my case to mount it and it wasnt too hard, although i cheated a little, instead of drilling out 2 more holes for my water lines i cut out a pci slot in the case and ran the return through there and i cut a hole in the center of a 120 fan mount and ran the hot water from my cpu off it, it is a cpu only setup right now but thats just till i get a new video card ;)
 
Didn't realize you needed to be logged in to see the OCN link. Rig is in my sig too.

It's a 690 case, same as in the radiator pic linked above.

I don't mind doing some minor modding, but I'd rather not chop everything up completely. I really like the stealth look with that Black Ice. I currently have two optical drives in the top slots, and a 120mm fan in the bottom three (using the fan mount from the bottom of the case, modded a little).

Another option I had in mind (thinking that a double wouldn't be enough) was to use a double like in the pic, but also do a single in the "exhaust fan" location. Something like the Swiftech H20-120 (not necessarily buying a premade kit, just doing that sort of setup). I'd put either the CPU or GPU on the single, and everything else on the double. http://pctech.invisibill.net/images/IMG00186.jpg is a (poor) pic of my case with my AMD setup in it. I may be able to fit a slim single with a fan on it in the exhaust spot. Have it somewhat stealth, like the top... It should fit in the drive bays behind the existing fan, but then I'm just blowing the hot air back through the case (and the double rad) again.

On the topic of double rads, it seems like two loops is a lot of extra work for not a lot of gain? On a single loop, would I want something like CPU -> single -> GPU -> chipset -> etc. -> double, or should the rads be together (CPU -> GPU -> chipset -> etc. -> single -> double)?
 
I'm probably going to hold off on the water for now. My issue is that my current air cooling setup is ok, and the things I want to watercool stand to gain the least from it and are quite expensive.

I'd like to go water on the GTX285 because it's currently the loudest fan I have. The full-cover waterblock looks very nice, but is quite expensive, and the GPUs don't really seem to be heat-limited now.

I'm going to the Classified and it'd be nice to watercool the NF200 and the MOSFETs. I really like the (really expensive) Bitspower chipset block. However, a little airflow over the passive heatsink will probably be enough (I have a top fan blowing down near the RAM area and a fan in the front drive bays, as well as the two fans in the top back corner exhausting).

My 920 has a lapped (very minor, just to smooth out a few finish imperfections) S1283V and stays at 60°C or less at 100% load at 20x150 + Turbo. I'm very happy with the Accelero/fan setup I've got on my 9800GT, though it's a bit bulky.

After spending another $500 on my PC, I'd probably end up with something pretty cool, but not that much better than what I currently have as far as actual result numbers go. I'm sure I could save some money on parts, but if I'm going to do it, I want to do it high-quality and good-looking. It's definitely something I'll keep in mind going forward though.
 
You can build a pretty good water cooling system for not too much. If you are not worried about temps than just get some good fans.
 
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