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Making the water cooling jump

S

shadowbreaker513

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
1,410
I finally decided to jump to water cooling after being on air since I first started tinkering with computers, and I have some questions before I finally decide on how to go.

1) Case.
I have an Aspire X-Qpack case that I like, but I often cannot use it because of the heat problems with it. Would it be possible to wedge a water cooling system into it or would I be better off going with something like a Coolermaster Stacker or the like for my first system. Also if I do use the X-Qpack, recommend any psus for it? I currently cram a standard size Thermaltake 480w into the space (no doubt one reason for the tremendous heat)

2) Video Card
Right now I'm using a BFG 6800GT and the stock cooler is the atrocious double-fan design. I'm wary about voiding the warrenty on the card as I do not have the money to replace it if it should die, and the last card I tried to replace the cooler on fried because of bad directions. Are there any places that would put it on for me and have their own warrenty, and would I anywhere to turn to if the card died of a cause completely unrelated to it being water cooled.

3) Price
How much does a decent water cooling system run? I'm currently in high school with no time to work so price is a bit concern for me. Would it be possible to piece together a good quality system for under $170 or so?

4) Safety
Obviously paranoid about this, I've even considered getting an inverted ATX case so if the cpu block leaked it would leak onto the case instead of frying my video card. Am I overreacting about it?

5) Portability
My friends and I frequently cart our computers over to each other's houses for LAN parties. Is it possible to get a system sturdy enough where I can lug it around with me? Or would I be better off just going with water if I am going to be moving the case?

Any and all help and advice is appreciated.
 
I'll give you some advice, although I'm not quite an expert on everything.

1) The Qpack is a SFF case right? Doing that for your first case would be a total PITA in all likelihood. I'm biased on the Stacker, because that's what I have and I love it. Lots of room to put things.

2) Putting a waterblock on your card is a piece of cake. You just screw it down. It took about three minutes. As for warrantly issues, if you keep the old cooler and put it back on, so long as you didn't run the card hot or anything, you would be justified in getting warranty service if it breaks.

3) I'm not sure if you could watercool the video card for that much, but you could probably get a good cpu block like the Apogee, a decent pump and at least a 1x120 radiator with plenty of hose. I like fillports instead of reservoirs myself, and I think they are cheaper.

4)Leak test. You don't have to have anything but the motherboard in the case, and you can stuff towels in there as well just in case. I never had an issue. Just take your time. The first time I did mine I had no issues whatsoever.

5) As long as you are careful, there should not be an issue. You want to be careful anyway because of hard drives and such, just continue to not throw the thing around. If you put the radiator off the back with a radbox or something, just be aware and make sure it doesn't knock against anything.
 
Zamt pretty much answered your all your questions, but ill add in:

You can water-cool your SFF factor, i've seen it done a couple times on various forums, but for your first venture, i would say start with a normal system since it will be easier for you to work with. You should be able to get a decent setup for around 170, my suggestions would be to chose parts that are not very restrictive, therefore you can pick up a lil csp mag pump instead of spending 25 bucks more on a D5 pump. Pick up some masterkleer tubing (dirt cheap) and you can probably find a MCW6002 for cheap nowadays...if not look into the whitewater cpu block....both are old but are still very good performers based on the price. make sure you try to buy from one source or more more than a couple to save on shipping.
 
My PSU is 480w and I have a lot more stuff in mine. You should be fine.
 
shadowbreaker513 said:
Also, should I have to worry about upgrading my PSU to support a pump as well?
Click to expand...
A Swiftech MCP655 is spec'd at 2 amps, if that helps. From what I can see in your sig, I doubt you will have PSU problems. Except...

I used to have a TT 480W PSU, also. It *should* have had enough power for 8 fans thru a auto temp control unit. A few times, however, the fans wouldn't start. Once I replaced it with a Seasonic 600 W S12, no more problems ever.

I like some of their cases, I have a TT Armor, but I now consider their PSU's pieces-of-s***.

Just my opinion, there.

Jim
 
Mine is an Antec NeoPower. 4 fans, pump, oc'ed cpu and memory, 3 hard drives, two optical drives and a partridge in a pear tree. I would think you would be ok even with a TT POS :p
 
From what I've read on here, the Maze4 is a fairly outdated block. I think it would be ok for a graphics card, but not for the cpu. I would really try for an Apogee or the two blocks that Altron mentioned. You may want to just wait a bit and save up some more, get the Swiftech Apex kit. It's the shiznit, and would only be about $60 more.
 
Once again i agree with Zamt, the maze 4 is an oudated block. For around the same price try this:

AquaXtreme White Water Limited Edition Universal CPU Water Block - 1/2" 34.00
HW Labs Black Ice Pro 120mm Radiator 29 bucks
Danger Den CSP-MAG 12vDC Pump 50 bucks
120mm Scythe DFS122512L Case Fan (60.09 CFM/27.92 dBA) 8 bucks
Swiftech HydrX Extreme Duty Coolant 3 bucks
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Coumpound - 3.5 gram tube 6 bucks
7/16" ID (5/8" OD) Masterkleer General Purpose Clear PVC Tubing 10 feet for 5 bucks

So far all this is 135 bucks. You get a much better cpu block, better fan, more tubing. Add in a reservoir or do a T-line and fillport plus some hose clamps for another 15 bucks and you're looking at 150 bucks.

Here check out this link: http://www.procooling.com/index.php?func=articles&disp=131
click on whitewater and click on RBX and maze4. the whitewater outperforms rbx and is around the same price as the maze4.
 
Altron3k said:
Once again i agree with Zamt, the maze 4 is an oudated block. For around the same price try this:

AquaXtreme White Water Limited Edition Universal CPU Water Block - 1/2" 34.00
HW Labs Black Ice Pro 120mm Radiator 29 bucks
Danger Den CSP-MAG 12vDC Pump 50 bucks
120mm Scythe DFS122512L Case Fan (60.09 CFM/27.92 dBA) 8 bucks
Swiftech HydrX Extreme Duty Coolant 3 bucks
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Coumpound - 3.5 gram tube 6 bucks
7/16" ID (5/8" OD) Masterkleer General Purpose Clear PVC Tubing 10 feet for 5 bucks

So far all this is 135 bucks. You get a much better cpu block, better fan, more tubing. Add in a reservoir or do a T-line and fillport plus some hose clamps for another 15 bucks and you're looking at 150 bucks.

Here check out this link: http://www.procooling.com/index.php?func=articles&disp=131
click on whitewater and click on RBX and maze4. the whitewater outperforms rbx and is around the same price as the maze4.
Click to expand...


Wow this is the kind of advice I'm looking for myself. I'm not exactly confined to a $170 budget but I am completely new to the world of watercooling and would rather build a system myself instead of a premade kit that won''t perform as well. The sheer amount of products out there is overwhelming for someone who has never done this before.

Would these components you've listed be good for my first setup?

Coolermaster Praetorian case (I think I'll switch to a stacker or lian li v2000 just to make things easier. I don't have tools to mod nor the desire to put holes in the case. the Praetorian is a really small case anyas. are there any good BTX cases in the same price range?)
Opteron 170
7800GTX512 (who makes the best block for this card?)
Antec trupower 550
 
i think if you add maze4 gpu cooler to the list you could get by, but that would be it. but you dont mind spending a lil more, i would say pick up a d5 pump and maybe a bix or bipII for radiator. If you do upgrade to a bigger case, then you should be able to fit a dual 120mm radiator without problem.
 
Yeah I noticed the higher up parts on that site and thought they would be better (bigger d5 pump, dual 120mm fan, BI2 radiator. Also dangerden makes a block specifically for the gpu). Would this be the most ideal setup or is there a better cpu block/pump etc? You say just get by but I want something that gives me headroom.

Also do you think I would be better with a massive case like the stacker and have the radiator inside or use a smaller case like the Gibabyte aurora 3d and have the radiator mounted on the outside?
 
well my buddy built his system with a gigabyte and it was pretty tite. since it got 2 120's in the back, he was able to screw his bipII directly to the back of the case. Im kinda partial to the gigabyte case after seeing it, its pretty nice. With the stacker, you should be able to fit a dual 120 radiator inside (probably front) and find a way to mount it so the choice is yours. for gpu blocks, you dont really need a full size cooler that also coolsmemory, just get a maze 4 and pick up some ramsinks (memory doesnt need to be water cooled). It will save you alot of money and you should pretty much the same performance plus you block will be compatible with other cards, not just one.
 
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