New and Improved Watercooling Sticky - Post Your Systems Here

For those of you with a radiator latched to the ceiling of their case: do you find temps are better with it exhausting out the top or pulling cool air in? I ask this because while shooting hot air out the top makes sense, it also means it's pushing hot air from inside the case through the rad, wheras the air right above the case might be cooler....and you still have the rear exhaust fan to take the air the rad brings in back out before it can get other components hot.
 
killahurtz - loving the little red skull in your build.. BTW, what kind of inverter do you have your CCFL's plugged into? it looks beefier than a normal POS plastic one..

edit: NM.. it's a Lamptron Elite 4-port inverter.. picked one up from perf-pcs today.
 
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Old pic, but the only difference from then and now is I have Gentle Typhoons up top and a S-Flex in the back.
 
revenant....hahaha...didn't get a reply up about the converter before you found it...they didn't have the black version when I bought a couple of the silvers...I will probably get some black and swap out...enjoy it , I liked it alot
I think I saw an 8 version came out....

the skull is off a bottle of Blair's Sudden Death Sauce...I think it was a keychain...I painted it with some dayglo red and when the UV lights are on it looks like it is floating there...and that hot sauce is STUPID hot!...seriously...hahahaha
 
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Looking at this thread, I have finally realized that you can put your SSD's pretty much anywhere. I mean, I always knew that, but didn't really think about doing it much until seeing different ways you guys have been putting them in.

I guess I might do that dual loop mod eventually on the 800D after all.... will be a while, though. Don't even have all the parts I need yet for my first loop.

BFG going out of business may or may not have affected the decision to watercool my 295. It's a single PCB and it runs just fine and cool, but I was going to watercool it anyways, just to lower overall case temp and keep it running cooler longer.

Now that I'll NEVER get warranty support on it, do you guys recommend w/c anyways as a way to prolong its life? Or to not do it so as to not risk damaging the card?
 
I am really liking the individually sleeved pci-e and mobo power cable bundles on people's psus... my next psu will have that for sure.. looks killer.

killahurtz - I'll have to try some of that Blair's Sudden Death Sauce for my next batch of Jambalaya.. :eek:

SirKronan - wc'ing the card, if installed properly should increase the life of heat producing components, but not sure if it will be at all relevant to how long you will actually be using the card, because I am sure it will live a long life on air as long as you don't send it into thermal shutdown a lot.. I think the main reason is better temps, less noise, and higher overclocking headroom..
 
revenant said:
I am really liking the individually sleeved pci-e and mobo power cable bundles on people's psus... my next psu will have that for sure.. looks killer.

killahurtz - I'll have to try some of that Blair's Sudden Death Sauce for my next batch of Jambalaya.. :eek:

SirKronan - wc'ing the card, if installed properly should increase the life of heat producing components, but not sure if it will be at all relevant to how long you will actually be using the card, because I am sure it will live a long life on air as long as you don't send it into thermal shutdown a lot.. I think the main reason is better temps, less noise, and higher overclocking headroom..
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Thanks for the feedback. I'm still undecided. Gonna watercool the CPU first I think. I'm sick of having to run my system with the side off...
 
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i7 930 under EK Supreme HF Full Gold
ASUS Rampage 3 Extreme w/ EK full coverage acetal/nickel
2x GTX275's with MCW60's and GTX275 Unisinks
3x SR1-120
MCP655-b @ 4000RPM
MCRes Micro v2
 
Hey guys, just wanna share my latest rig. Project envisioned in 2009, finally complete in 2010.

The Platinum Box.

[Components]

Processor: Intel i7 920 @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard: EVGA x58 SLi
Ram: OCZ 6Gb 1333mhz DDR3 Tri-Channel
Harddrives: 2x 2TB WD Green, 1x 1TB WD Green
Graphics: Nvidia GTX280 1Gb
Chassis: Lian-Li A05N Silver

[Cooling]

CPU: Watercool.de HEATKILLER3.0
NB: Koolance x58 Northbridge waterblock
RAM: OCZ Silver heatspreaders
GPU: EK Fullcover GTX280 Nickel-plated waterblock
Radiator: Swiftech MCR360 Radiator
Pump: Swiftech MCP355 18watt with XSPC top
Fans: 3x Evercool Aluminum Fans, 1x Enermax Apollish
Fan Controller: Scythe Kazemaster ACE Silver
Tubing: Tygon Lab-grade R3603 3/8" tubing
Fittings: Bitspower fittings and attachments

Enjoy~

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Guess I'll finally post in here. This is my third iteration of the WC setup in this case. First was a Koolance top panel setup, which worked well but was loud. Second had me mount a Swiftech radiator at the mid panel, and another in the Koolance top shroud that I gutted. Now both radiators are at or below mid panel, with the Koolance shroud just housing fans for exhaust.

Bleeding/testing system:
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Only pics I'll post unless people want more, mainly because once I start hooking everything up it gets messy quick. Not a design person, just a function person.

Forgot specs: i7 920, GTX 480, EK waterblocks, Swiftech 240 radiators, Swiftech 655 pump, EK Reservoir.
 
Just finished my WC setup. Took forever but finally got done with it :D .
WC Intel 940 Oced to 4.2Ghz
6GB Corsair Ram
WC XFX 5970 Black Edition
Evga X58 Mobo
2X Corsair 128GB SSD'S
Swiftech block on cpu
Bitspower Gpu block
FrozenQ Custom Res
Feser tubing
Bitspower fittings
Swiftech pump modified
Feser Triple 120MM Radiator

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Wazooty said:
For those of you with a radiator latched to the ceiling of their case: do you find temps are better with it exhausting out the top or pulling cool air in? I ask this because while shooting hot air out the top makes sense, it also means it's pushing hot air from inside the case through the rad, wheras the air right above the case might be cooler....and you still have the rear exhaust fan to take the air the rad brings in back out before it can get other components hot.
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My system has fans push pulling air out the top and I think it hurts cpu cooling efficiency as my machine boots with cool idle temps though after gaming for an hour they take a while to come down again. This is my case I just finished making some upgrades to. Think that the 480's definitely add to the cpu and nb temps. I idle between 36-42 degrees at stock around 24 degree ambient with a 920 D0 38441716. When overclocked at 4 ghz priming max core is like 72 degrees. Though I recently also added two San Ace 99CFM fans mounted into a Scythe Kama bay at the front of the case to balance the air being exhausted (with a pci rheostat fan controller). Don't think that the Enermax 69 cfm Magmas on my rad are up to the job. Should have gone with San Aces on those too. Also recently upgraded the ram from OCZ 1600 C8 to Corsair Dominator C7s. The Leds are just for bling . . .

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Really like your build, David. I've always liked that case for looks, functionality, and price. The only reason I could never bring myself to buy one is the name. What were they thinking???

Very nice build though. Looks great. Definitely some heat-creating stuff in there. Do you have the big fan on the side panel installed? Hard to tell from the pic.
 
SirKronan said:
Really like your build, David. I've always liked that case for looks, functionality, and price. The only reason I could never bring myself to buy one is the name. What were they thinking???

Very nice build though. Looks great. Definitely some heat-creating stuff in there. Do you have the big fan on the side panel installed? Hard to tell from the pic.
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Thanks for the compliment. When I bought it was priced ok, not great, but it has real cheap feel to it and I think its over priced. The thermal design and compartments I think was a good idea but in practice not suited to water cooling. Plenty of room to hide cables in the back but the routing holes are too small. Like the Corsair 800D better. Will probably be my next case. The drive bay latch you can see broke when I tried putting in the CD drive. About the side 220mm door fan its now making an annoying tat tat tat sound. Speaking about heat those 480s certainly do heat up the case and the water I'm sure. Thinking about getting a 3rd 480 and get rid of the 9800GT but not sure my 1200 watt psu can handle it...

Anyhow SirKronan, you still have your Abit IN9 32X ? I think I remember you from the Abit days?
 
Hey guys, just wanna share my latest rig. Project envisioned in 2009, finally complete in 2010.

The Platinum Box.

[Components]

Processor: Intel i7 920 @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard: EVGA x58 SLi
Ram: OCZ 6Gb 1333mhz DDR3 Tri-Channel
Harddrives: 2x 2TB WD Green, 1x 1TB WD Green
Graphics: Nvidia GTX280 1Gb
Chassis: Lian-Li A05N Silver

[Cooling]

CPU: Watercool.de HEATKILLER3.0
NB: Koolance x58 Northbridge waterblock
RAM: OCZ Silver heatspreaders
GPU: EK Fullcover GTX280 Nickel-plated waterblock
Radiator: Swiftech MCR360 Radiator
Pump: Swiftech MCP355 18watt with XSPC top
Fans: 3x Evercool Aluminum Fans, 1x Enermax Apollish
Fan Controller: Scythe Kazemaster ACE Silver
Tubing: Tygon Lab-grade R3603 3/8" tubing
Fittings: Bitspower fittings and attachments

Enjoy~

PlatinumBox010.jpg


PlatinumBox015.jpg


PlatinumBox006.jpg


PlatinumBox003.jpg
 
Started leak testing mine last night before I went to bed, this morning no leaks, so I figured it was time to fire her up and see what I could get.

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Holy crap. I can't believe how effective water cooling is. My above setup is AWESOME. With prime95 running for about 3 hours now, my CPU reached a max temp of 37C (98F) and then stabilized at 35C (95F). That's insane. That's only like 22F more than the ambient temperature of the room my computer is in.
 
Ok, so I've been lurking these great threads for many months and have finally taken the plunge.

Using a dual 120mm radiator to cool the CPU and the GTX 480 Video Card. Water temp gets to about 32 C max according to the thermocouple I have inline the loop. I put a flow meter in there too albeit probably overkill, but I had the extra input on the fan controller so why not?

I know there are several discussions on push / pulling air into or out of the radiator / case. But what works best for me is to pull the air into the case from the top, push it across the radiator and into the main chamber. I know in theory it should heat up the case, but the exhaust fan out the back seems to keep ambient temp within about 4 degrees of the water temp. Originally when I vented air out the top of the case, essentially using ambient air inside the case to blow across the radiators, my temps were easily another 5 - 7 degrees C warmer.

Using the corsair 700 D case and luv it! As you will note, I removed the original usb and firewire ports at the front / top of the case and installed a much more useful card reader. Plus the fan controller has usb and esata port anyway.

Thanks to all who have posted their systems and recommendations on this site. It's been a great help in my build!


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My first watercooled PC :)

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Almost done... gotta figure something out for the side panel.
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Lamptron controls: cpu pump, cpu fans, gpu pump, gpu fans.
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Need to get some steel mesh from the architectural modeling store downtown to close up this hole.
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That's a pretty sweet idea about the card reader like that. I wish I would have thought of that in my build. I only have one complaint about my 700d watercooling build. The right side of the case could have had a an 1/8th of an inch of room between the side panel and the main chassis, no matter how clean I tried to control the cables the main power cable was still pushing against the side panel not letting it sit flush with the rest of the case. I had to bend the side panel a bit to make it less bowed out. Not exactly something I was happy about doing with my brand new $200 case.
 
Agree on the cable side of the case being just a little to shallow. Mine "bows" out too no matter what I do.. but at least that side is against a cabinet so it's not to noticeable. I did manage to grab my case at the egg for about $130 with a rebate last month, so it makes it a little more easily to put up with.

Curious.. how do you have your fan setup in your case in regards to push / pulling the air across the radiator?
 
I actually got in on the same deal, but still, it's annoying.

I have 6 fans, 3 blowing air into the radiator from the bottom, and 3 sucking air thru it and out of the case on the top. Basically, push on bottom, pull on top.
 
Used my sister's camera for the first photo and the rest with mine. Mine can't do squat in low light, even with the flash enabled.

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This is the second rendition of my torture rack. Was a PITA to get the swiftech rad horizontal and there is a kink in it I have to work out. It's on the bottom, the top is actually fine.
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here is my current setup

Phemon II 965 @ 4.0GHz, idle is 1c or 2c above room temp, max temp is around 45c

d5 pump, clear flex 60 tubing, Black Ice II x flow radi, heater core radi, EK Supreme block,

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