External watercooling box project

[Sobek]

If there are other ways to protect the panels that you guys can think of, though, please let me know

Put them in the oven. Just make sure you don't turn it on. That is one of the best places to put things that you don't want to get dusty.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Hmm... Cool!

Believe me; when you see the state that some in industrial benders are in, you wont think your imperfections are bad.
How thick is your plate? Dont think that will work on 1mm plate.

22 AWG steel. Not too sure about mm...I'm sure you can google it though.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Put them in the oven. Just make sure you don't turn it on. That is one of the best places to put things that you don't want to get dusty.

I've actually heard about "baking" panels in the oven at a low temperature to cure them. Can anyone offer me input on that from first-hand experience?

BTW, no way this will be done before the fall semester begins. It will be up and running in probably 2 months because I won't have as much time to work on it during the semester.

I'll keep updating as often as I can though .

 

[BigDan]

Wow, you do excellent work. The paint job is very impressive!

 

[DarkenReaper57]

If you need some help on figuring out that voltage display PM me and I will help you all I can. To start you need Rlo to equal your minimum voltage (most times it is grounded) and Rhi can be had by using the internal LM317 voltage regulator or hooking it into the maximum supply voltage (normally 12V for computer fanbus applications).

Looks like you ordered a whole bunch of resistors, let me know what the max value of the resistors are and I will see about making some voltage deviders for you so you can input them into Rlo and Rhi (and hopefully minimize the amount of extra parts to order)

Awesome, thanks. I think I have it figured out after some help on another forum, but I would be grateful if you could confirm things. I'll send a PM soon.

 

[The Snail]

you did an amazing job on the paint good work
i cant wait to see it finished

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Thanks for all of the positive comments . If you do have any constructive criticism though, by all means, give it. This is pretty much my first modding experience, which is why it is taking so long and keep running into problems .

Anyway, I decided something. I discovered a few days ago that I accidentally mislabeled the front and back panels a long time ago. I already made the cuts on the back, but not the front (the back is also almost finished, and would be if I didn't screw up the paint job).

So yeah, I decided to flip the exhaust panel around 120 degrees to compensate and have it on the right side instead of on the left. It makes more sense to have it there anyway, as the mesh will be on the left and you will be able to see in, kinda like a window. It will match my PC's case better imho.

Anyway, I've been dinking around with placement of components on the front panel for the past couple days. I am somewhat limited as to where everything can go due to depth of the components, but I think I can still pull something off that looks appealing. Hopefully you all agree since I have already made the cuts, lol.

General placement:

Note: the circuit boards will not be visible. The knobs will be slightly recessed into circular holes. The temperature display trim will be painted black and also recessed. The red bar LED's will (hopefully) be flush to the front (or possibly stick out 1mm or so).

After the cuts - This took a lot of patience. I didn't make the temperature display exactly rectangular as it has grooves on the sides. I rounded some parts to compensate.

The temp. display has a blue backlight with black text. I also plan on getting a small 4'' blue cold cathode to mount right behind the fan knobs so there is a blue light shining through the area between the hole and knob . Hopefully it all looks nice when it is done.

Oh, quick shot of the top so far with some of the frame riveted to the central panel:

Hopefully I'll get some major work done with week inbetween the last few days of my job (moving back to UCF campus in Orlando) and packing.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

No pictures in this update, just a small heads up on progress. I ended up repainting the 2 flip up plates on the top because I wasn't quite satisfied with the paint job. You could see the primer (I sanded through slightly) in several areas and there were small divets on one plate. You couldn't really tell in the photographs, but it was apparent at certain angles in person.

I also sanded down and repainted (hopefully for the last time) the back plate.

I also primed the front plate. I would have sanded it down and primed again, but it was 3 am and I need some sleep .

The experiment with clearcoat was a failure. I couldn't seem to get a uniform surface when done - some areas ended up more sparkly than others, and there were areas of uniform black. I probably just sanded through, though. I guess I'll just be careful for the first month or so with the panels, then apply a couple coats of wax for protection afterwards.

Sometimes it sucks being a perfectionist, but hopefully everything will turn out when I am done.

 

[Crazystick]

so ok..

i got the mirror finish with mothers wax/ polishing cream.
Now what kind of procedure do i do next to get a bad ass clear coat job on there?
I know the clear coat will fall off the aluminum plate if a paint ahesive isnt applied.
So before I gave the plate a clear coat. I sprayed BULLDOG adhesive on there. so after that i evenly coated the plate with laquer spray paint clear coat. Now the clear coat isnt quite giving the finish I expected. So do I sand the clear coat thats on there to , say maybe 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

so ok..

i got the mirror finish with mothers wax/ polishing cream.
Now what kind of procedure do i do next to get a bad ass clear coat job on there?
I know the clear coat will fall off the aluminum plate if a paint ahesive isnt applied.
So before I gave the plate a clear coat. I sprayed BULLDOG adhesive on there. so after that i evenly coated the plate with laquer spray paint clear coat. Now the clear coat isnt quite giving the finish I expected. So do I sand the clear coat thats on there to , say maybe 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper.

Well, you are supposed to apply the clearcoat after sanding your color coat down to 1000 grit (or higher, I'd suggest 2000 to be safe).

After applying several light coats and letting it dry for 2 days, sand the clearcoat lightly with 800 grit. Make it flat. Get rid of the divets. Be very careful, though, as it is very easy to cut though. I did every time, and that was my main problem.

If you don't sand through, move up to 1000, then 1500, then 2000.

After you get a uniform coat that looks nice at 2000 grit, you are good to go. It will look scratched and stuff, but if you look at it at a sharp angle, you will see that it is quite reflective, just dull.

At this point you break out your polish/scratch and haze remover and rub your arm away.

Unfortunately, this did not work out for me, and I gave up due to time constrictions and frustration. I am happy with the results w/o a clearcoat.

A clearcoat tends to dull your surface anyway...it is basically good for protection.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

I completed quite a bit today, despite a minor slip-up.

I forgot if I posted that 2 panels were basically ruined by a towel adding tons of dimples to them (the paint wasn't cured enough apparently).

Anyway, here are the panels after they were redone

I painted the plastic around the temperature LCD black too:

I started riveting everything together. I needed to flip the back panel around because...well...it is a long story. Basically I ended up swapping the exhaust side around, and didn't take it into account, so the tube holes would be blocked by the radiators if I left them on top.

Technically I could have turned it around and painted the back, but I'm fed up with painting, and I think it looks fine anyway. It's the back after all - no one will see it. It was overkill enough to give it a mirror finish in the first place, lol.

Placement check again. I painted the heater cores and added a clear coat for protection . I need to get some vapco cork tape or the foam liner for windows to seal them airtight to the fans before I permanently attach them.

Just another angle:

With the top piece on, check for clearance, and I'm good (thank goodness)

I'm waiting for the first color coat on the front panel to dry. I'm also waiting on the other flip up panel. Hopefully they will be finished soon.

 

[ikellensbro]

Ooh...shiny! I can't wait to see this project finished, and to see how well it performs with the two heater cores. Once again, great work

 

[Bio-Hazard]

Dual heater cores are nice, but they won't drop your temps as much as you might think........... I've been running dual Bonnie heater cores for a while now.............

By the way, nice external box.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

I accomplished a lot today too (in my eyes, anyway). I sanded down the first color coat on th front panel, and only a bit of primer showed through in a few places. I guess applying 4-5 very light coats while keeping the can at a further distance REALLY helps. It took a lot less effort to sand it flat.

So yeah, I did the same for the last top flip-up panel.

I also applied another series of small coats to each panel. I hope they are the last. I'm kinda sick of painting, lol.

I'm also kinda stuck on assembly of the box itself until the front panel is done because it is sandwiched in.

Pics of painting:

Oh, the mesh turned out pretty nice. It isn't mirror-like, but I still like it.

I threaded the core/shroud/fan assemblies together. I used weatherstrip foam in between each component as a gasket. Oh, just FYI, some of the inside part of the panels don't look great, but they are painted. They just have orange peel and polish stick between the divets . But hey, it is the inside...so who really cares. I'll probably clean off the excess polish when I am done so it looks a bit nicer when you look inside.

I also started routing tubing. No clamps yet...I just want to cut the pieces, make sure it all firts accordingly, etc. I will say that I have scrapped the idea of running the cores in parallel...too much of a pain and too little space. It would look pretty crappy with the tubes everywhere too.

It is hard enough to route everything as it is...I don't want to use elbows due to flow loss. But anyway, if anyone has a suggestion on layout, I'd be grateful. I'm not always the best at routing tubing efficiently in a reasonably confined space. This is, however, the best setup I could come up with:

 

[slykester]

That's going to look sweet when it's finished. You may want to consider a stronger pump than the Eheim 1250 for the setup that you’re building. With dual radiators & more than 1 water block (cpu/gpu?), you'll definitely see a difference in performance/efficiency if you go for an Eheim 1260, or Laing D5.

If you're going to use dual radiators & 1 water block, then the Eheim 1260 should suffice. If you plan to have dual radiators & more than 1 water block, the additional PSI+Head of the Laing D5 will be the better choice. Either choice will provide noticeable gains over using an Eheim 1250 (which would be more suitable in a setup with 1 heater core & 1 water block). Just a suggestion, either way I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Cheers,
sly

 

[DarkenReaper57]

That's going to look sweet when it's finished. You may want to consider a stronger pump than the Eheim 1250 for the setup that you’re building. With dual radiators & more than 1 water block (cpu/gpu?), you'll definitely see a difference in performance/efficiency if you go for an Eheim 1260, or Laing D5.

If you're going to use dual radiators & 1 water block, then the Eheim 1260 should suffice. If you plan to have dual radiators & more than 1 water block, the additional PSI+Head of the Laing D5 will be the better choice. Either choice will provide noticeable gains over using an Eheim 1250 (which would be more suitable in a setup with 1 heater core & 1 water block). Just a suggestion, either way I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Cheers,
sly

Thanks for the input. For the sake of saving money, I will first see how well the eheim 1250 runs. I plan on doing a rough estimate of the volume of fluid it can pump per unit time, look at some charts provided by other w/c fanatics, and calculate whether or not there would be a performance gain worth the $70 investment (or more) in a new pump.

I will do this by hooking up all blocks and components, putting the inlet at a big bucket of water (or something similar), and the outlet in another bucket. After the pump has primed, I'll swap in another bucket, use a stopwatch and wait 15-60 seconds, and cut remove the bucket. I'll then measure the volume, and divide that by the time. This method should give fairly accurate results, right?

Anyway, if a new pump will drop my temperatures by only 2C or so, it isn't worth it in my honest opinion. I think that having dual cores (that are fairly unrestrictive...heck, I can run them in parallel if necessary...) will make up for a less powerful pump.

I would also need to consider dimensions of a new pump. There isn't a lot of space for a new pump. The 1260 is out of the question...it is too large. The D5 may work, but I may opt for a MCP600 (if I can find one) since they are quieter.

But yeah, I have a feeling it will cool well regardless .

I haven't been updating for a few reasons.

1) College. EE as a major is quite time consuming .
2) I can't find a place to spray paint. I need to lay down at least 1 more coat on the front panel and a top panel. I cannot continue construction until the front panel is finished.
3) Lack of a digital camera. I borrowed my father's to take the previous pictures.

Anyway, on another note, I have been fiddling with the electronics of the PWM fan controller, as some of you have seen in another thread.

Unfortunately, the results of running the fans in the 5-7 volt range are less than to be desired. My panaflo U1A's are much noiser than running them at 5-7 volts straight from PSU leads.

I have tried frequencies from 20 Hz to the 5000 kHz range. It seems that brushless DC fans (at least mine) don't like the higher frequencies because the rapid voltage pulses do not give enough time for the coils to generate a magnetic field - the driving force of this type of fan. Basically, they work very poorly and make a lot of noise.

I want to "blunt" the 12V pulses, so the induced torque on the fans is not as great (thus there is less groaning/noise). Can anyone help me out with this?

If all else fails, I can go with a linear controller or rheostats. It would just suck that the electronic components I ordered would go to waste. I would also need to buy more.

 

[KrakenGuy]

"... but I may opt for a MCP600 (if I can find one) since they are quieter."

No, no you don't want that one. Apparently there is a high pitched noise with that pump. The one your thinking of is the MCP655. Not the 600 =).

Oh yeah, by the way, this External WC Project, is dead sexy.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

"... but I may opt for a MCP600 (if I can find one) since they are quieter."

No, no you don't want that one. Apparently there is a high pitched noise with that pump. The one your thinking of is the MCP655. Not the 600 =).

Oh yeah, by the way, this External WC Project, is dead sexy.

Heh, thanks.

I was under the impression that the MCP650 was the whiney one (a rebadged D4 or D5 if I remember correctly). They made some modification to the impeller/housing to limit noise and called it the MCP655.

The MCP600 is an aquaextreme 50z pump, if memory serves me right. It was discontinued, but you can still find them floating around. They were good, popular pumps.

Basically, if I need to get a new pump, I wanna get a good deal on one. I don't mind getting a used one if I can save a few bucks .

Take a look at this graph http://www.procooling.com/html/pro_testing.php. My block is a d-tek ww. I am going to guess that my flow will be around 1-1.25 gallons/min. Now, once again, this is a guess.

Anyway, if I got a new pump to improve my flow to 2 gallons/min, that wouldn't even improve my temperatues by 2C.

I may do some research and math if I can find the restrictiveness of the components in my loop and estimate my flow in the current situation, but it would probably be easier to simply test once the project is nearly complete.

But yeah, as it stands, I'm going to stick with my quiet eheim 1250 .

 

[KrakenGuy]

Not to be dumb, but what blocks do you plan on using? Or did you already cover that? I shall go threadtracking I guess...

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Not to be dumb, but what blocks do you plan on using? Or did you already cover that? I shall go threadtracking I guess...

I will use a D-tek whitewater CPU block and a d-tek gpu block I modified to fit my 6800 GT.

I know I listed the rest of my equipment somewhere...I think it is in the first post.

 

[KrakenGuy]

Mmhmm, it is. I saw it just after I posted that.

I'm not sure about the restrictiveness on those blocks.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Well, it has been quite a while since I have updated. Unfortunately I have been busy with college, but I have done a few things since the last update.

Here is a list of things that have been done:

-Bought an Aquaxtreme 50z pump from a member on the forum at a good price. This should eliminate any problems of low flow.

-Cleaned out the acrylic reservoir with a vinegar/pinesol solution. It worked very nicely .

-Decided to go with 7/16 ID tubing instead of 1/2'' ID. I ran into a few problems with tight bends with 1/2'' ID, and the performance penalty is negligible with the switch in my situation. 7/16 tubing is MUCH more flexible - the masterkleer stuff from mcmastercarr is great.

-Sanded down the front and last top panel and laid down another coat of paint when I went home for a weekend. After letting this dry for a few days and sanding it down, I still cut through and hit primer. I plan on painting another coat on each panel (hopefully the last) within a week. I'll make sure to make it especially thick this time...

-Abandoned the PWM fan controlling idea and went with a linear design. It works much better. I still need to work out a few quirks with the fan controlling circuit itself (probably just a short somewhere), but the final products of the 10 element LED circuits work great .

Built the inline water temperature sensor. I will probably paint the t-line black so it is more aethetically appealing, but other than that, it is done.

I'll see if I my roomate will let me borrow his digicam so I can post pics of any future updates, as I unfortunately do not have one myself at the moment...

Oh yeah, I entered in the AC Ryan Worklog contest. I don't expect to win, but hey, it is worth a shot since I already have a worklog.

 

[slykester]

That's great, can't wait to see pictures of the finished project. How are your temps? Have you tried to push your CPU/GPU OC??

sly

 

[DarkenReaper57]

That's great, can't wait to see pictures of the finished project. How are your temps? Have you tried to push your CPU/GPU OC??

sly

I haven't tested it yet . I am currently on stock cooling for my cpu and video card. I'll probably finish the tubing and leak test within a few weeks, but I don't think I will be testing it with my PC anytime soon. A lot of work still needs to be done...

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Well, my girlfriend let me borrow her digital camera, so I took some pictures of my progress .

Even though the external system's housing is not complete, I took out the 1/2'' ID tubing and replaced it with 7/16 ID "masterkleer" tubing. I also installed the AquaXtreme 50z pump to replace the eheim1250. I will say...that pump is much more powerful...

The only downside is one of the small holes in the back will not be in use (it was for AC cord out for the eheim 1250) but oh well. It leaves room for possible expansion in the future.

From the front. It isn't as whitish inside as it seems...it is due to the flash. It is residue from polish when I was doing the front. Hopefully I can find something to take it off without the paint along with it:

The back:

Close-up on the res:

I love quick disconnects...

I haven't installed blocks into my PC yet or anything. Essentially the system is a loop in itself right now, but at least I have that part leak tested.

I will add UV blue dye and some blue antifreeze (if I can find it) so the coolant looks better. I just don't want to shell out $16 shipped or whatever for pensotin. Maybe they will have that I am looking for at Wal-Mart. If not, I'll just use a bit of blue food coloring dye like last time.

The handles that I will put on the top flip-up plates. I have yet to shine them up with 2000 grit sandpaper:

One of the finished top plates:

Temperature sensor I build. I might paint part of it black to match the interior (and probably will).

I finished the fan controller (finally)! Here are a few pics:

The LM317 based circuit:

The LM3914 based 10 element LED's:

The whole thing (sorry for the blurry pic):

I might color the trim of the 10 element LED's (the grey area) with a black fine tipped permanent marker. I am somewhat hesitant, however, because if I mess up and draw over a LED, I might not be able to get it off. I tried some acrylic based paint with a very fine tipped brush but I couldn't get an even coat. I wiped it of as it doesn't dry right away. Any ideas here?

I also would like to put some sort of outer trim where the LED blocks mate with the front panels. I cut the rectangular holes pretty well, but they aren't 100% perfect, and I would like to put something like a rubber rectangular grommet around there. Basically, I want it all to mesh together and look nice, but I haven't been able to put my finger on what it needs for the final touch. Hopefully I'll get a picture of what I am talking about soon so you all know what I am talking about.

I plan on laying down the (hopefully) last coat of paint on the front and other top panels this weekend if weather permits.

So yeah, that is what has been done during the past couple weeks.

 

[Elysian]

man this makes my external enclosure look like crap hahaha... i don't know if i read it, the external frame you are using, did you make that, or buy it?

 

[DarkenReaper57]

man this makes my external enclosure look like crap hahaha... i don't know if i read it, the external frame you are using, did you make that, or buy it?

I made it out of angled aluminum at home depot. It was cut with a dremel and sanded down on the sides going from ~400 grit to 2000 then polish.

I actually got some new polish the other day and tried it out tonight...it works great on the aluminum and paint. I'll polish everything up sometime soon and take a few shots . I might just wait till I am done building though.

 

[Elysian]

i was just thinking of using bondo to make my edges, but that might be a better idea, i'll check it out... unfortunately i'm out of money for now, i can't even buy my water block, and i don't get my first paycheck from my new job for at least another week... i'm thinking of rigging up an old water block as just a temp solution, seeing as i'm running my 3000+ venice at 2745 mhz and i'm wary of running it at the temps i'm at...

 

[DarkenReaper57]

i was just thinking of using bondo to make my edges, but that might be a better idea, i'll check it out... unfortunately i'm out of money for now, i can't even buy my water block, and i don't get my first paycheck from my new job for at least another week... i'm thinking of rigging up an old water block as just a temp solution, seeing as i'm running my 3000+ venice at 2745 mhz and i'm wary of running it at the temps i'm at...

Heh, at least your venice will clock that high. I've been able to get mine to about 2.45, but that is it. I think I am limited by cooling capacity (using stock air HSF) though.

The angled aluminum wasn't too expensive. I bought 3/4'' x ~22 AWG x 8 foot long srtips for about $7.49 at home depot (or was it lowes?). Anyway, it is fairly inexpensive. I build my entire box (barely) with two 8' pieces.

Just a few words of advice if you decide to make your own frame: take your time with measurements and cutting. If you want a nice frame you can't have one side 5mm longer than the other unless you don't care about everything matching up.

Take into account that if you cut something, the thickness of the cutter will affect your measurements if you cut right along the line.

If you don't have much experience, just get a scrap piece and practice.

Good luck, and feel free to ask any questions .

 

[Elysian]

Heh, at least your venice will clock that high. I've been able to get mine to about 2.45, but that is it. I think I am limited by cooling capacity (using stock air HSF) though.

The angled aluminum wasn't too expensive. I bought 3/4'' x ~22 AWG x 8 foot long srtips for about $7.49 at home depot (or was it lowes?). Anyway, it is fairly inexpensive. I build my entire box (barely) with two 8' pieces.

Just a few words of advice if you decide to make your own frame: take your time with measurements and cutting. If you want a nice frame you can't have one side 5mm longer than the other unless you don't care about everything matching up.

Take into account that if you cut something, the thickness of the cutter will affect your measurements if you cut right along the line.

If you don't have much experience, just get a scrap piece and practice.

Good luck, and feel free to ask any questions .

heh i've got enough experience working with my dremel haha, i use it every chance i get, and have for about 5 years now lol... i'm thinking of starting over and doing my external enclosure similar to the way you did yours... mines a bit of a mess right now, but i have all the parts i need minus the angle iron and the aluminum paneling(although i have that, i just already chopped it up for my enclosure haha)... my enclosure's worklog is probly 2 or 3 pages back if you want to check it out... haven't had any progress with it in a while... i just found a way to rig my Swiftech MCW-6000 P4 block to work with my venice, using the stock metal retaining thing from the venice's stock HSF, its working great right now, but i didn't gain anything really, now instead of 2745 stable, i'm at 2800 stable on less voltage and lower temps... but i don't have my radiator plumbed into the loop, because i had to patch a hole with jb weld, so the temps are slowly raising because the 120mm fan blowing cool air over the open reservoir just doesn't do enough... i'm gonna be posting my ghetto mod tomorrow in the case mod's ghetto mod thread hahaha... anyways, good job on your project, it really looks slick.

 

[Thadeez]

Damn that polishing looks really kickass. I was looking for some way to polish aluminum because my project needs some shine (participating in the A.C. Ryan contest ).

If i take a look at your results i can only say i can't wait to get home from work and start sanding and polishing

Keep up the very nice work!

 

[DarkenReaper57]

I picked up some scratch remover compound by 3M and tried that out on the aluminum and panels. I was quite satisfied with the results.

I added a little bit of blue food coloring to the coolant to make it blue, along with the UV reactive blue dye.

Here are some of the remaining pieces, including the front. As said before, the panels (excluding the bottom left one) need to be painted and sanded over again.

Here are some supplies. I picked up two different types of handles for the hinged mesh door on the side. I'm leaning towards the chrome handles since they won't stick out as far and are a nice contrast to the other ones. What do you guys think?

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Update time!

Well, I've made some progress, but unfortunately my res has cracked a bit .

Yeah, it sucks . I want to get the same exact res to replace this one, but unfortunately I can't seem to find a them for sale anywhere, even after googling and froogling. If all else fails, I may go with the new swiftech high-flow rectangular reservoir, but I prefer the cylindrical look.

Anyway, back to better news.

I painted the tee for the inline temperature sensor black and installed it!

I painted the two remaining panels, sanded them down, and decided that another coat would do them good as a bit of primer showed through. Here is the result before sanding them down again. They are already somewhat glossy and reflective, so hopefully I can start with 1000 grit and avoid cutting through.

I finished one of the flip up plates a while ago, but here I added the handle and installed it.

I also painted the heatsinks for my fan controller. I want them to match their surroundings, especially if they are visible (and they probably will be, unless I can fit them behind the potentiometers).

My water temperature display tends to read between 23 and 25C with the fans off and no heat load attached. The room temperature is probably around 20-22C. Hopefully this is a good thing.

Wow, this project is taking a lot longer than expected, but hey, at least I am enjoying it .

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Time for a small update .

I decided to resand and polish the last 3 parts of the aluminum chassis. Here are the results:

I finished painting, sanding, and polishing the front panel (finally). I need to put the rest of the frame in place and install the front electronics, but here is a general idea of what it will look like. I am quite pleased .

I decided to paint the trim on the 10 element LED's (it is grey). I masked off the LEDs, which was quite tedious. Hopefully it goes as planned...

Now, I have a question to all of the readers out there. Since the beginning, I have been trying to think of a good name for my project. Unfortunately, I am not the most creative when it comes to that sort of thing, so I am asking my fellow [H] members to help me out .

And, as always, feel free to make comments or suggestions on how to improve my project.

 

[altec]

That thing is so cool. But is that res really cracked? Just looks scratched to me.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

That thing is so cool. But is that res really cracked? Just looks scratched to me.

It is indeed cracked . I don't think the cracks are all the way through, and it isn't leaking, but I would imagine that they will only get worse over time.

I can always flip it around so the cracks face the radiator, but they will still be visible through the coolant, especially after I get my pentosin.

I want to get a new criticool waterplant reservoir, but I can't find them anywhere. I may settle for this: http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-res-80.html?id=9vgZHtIy. What do you guys think?

 

[altec]

I
I want to get a new criticool waterplant reservoir, but I can't find them anywhere. I may settle for this: http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-res-80.html?id=9vgZHtIy. What do you guys think?

Ether way...

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Not much of an update for the project, but I did do a few things:

-Painted the trim of the 10 element LED's black
-Got my Pensotin blue (finally)
-Painted the heatsinks for the fan controller black
-Laid down another (and hopefully final) coat on the last flip-up panel

Oh yeah, I got my Opteron 146

Well, it isn't a CABNE, but it is a batch 0001 CABYE .

Hopefully it will clock high under my setup when it is finished.

 

[altec]

Well, it isn't a CABNE, but it is a batch 0001 CABYE .

Is that bad?

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Is that bad?

Well, yes and no. I was hoping to get a CABNE stepping, which tend to be the best overclockers. They are, however, harder to get now as they are more rare.

The second best stepping is the CABYE, which is what I have. They aren't bad by any means, as there have been a decent amount hitting 3 ghz, although most top out around 2.8 or 2.9.

I do, however, have the first chip in the batch. I honestly don't know whether this is good, bad, or insignificant, but eclipse has a CABNE batch 0001 like I do, and it overclocks VERY well.

I have mine running rock solid at 2.55 at 1.38V, but the load temps are 57C (case is 31C, room around 20C). Opterons run rather hot, and I am only using the stock HSF now at least , until I finish this project.

I might be able to go further, but I don't want to push it, as 57C is hot enough as it is eek:

Hopefully I'll break 2.8