New Watercooling install, w/pics

V

Vegasr

Gawd
Joined
Aug 9, 2006
Messages
972
Well, I finally was able to get my WC install going this week. After much help from this forum and alot of research online, I went with individual parts versus a kit. Reason being was for the same $$ as the H20-120, my parts are almost identical to the H20-220.
My parts are:

DD D5 pump
TDX block
Swiftech micro res
BIX 2 rad
7/16-5/8 masterkleer tubing
Pentosin G11 antifreeze (blue)
all 1/2 fittings
distilled water
misc mounting hardware from home depot

I plan on getting 2 of the DD vga cooling blocks (NV-78 sli) in the future, just not in my budget right now.

I just bought a new case for this and I am very happy with it. It is the Gigabyte 3D Aurora. It has dual 120mm fans in the back, which is the main reason I got it, to mount the BIX2 and giving me a push/pull using 4 fans. It also has two predrilled holes for tubing as well.
img0437ew8.jpg


First thing I wanted was to intall a blow hole on top of the case. This was pretty easy with the right tool. I was going to use the dremel, but went with a holesaw instead.
img0439jp8.jpg

The key was using plenty of masking tape, on both sides.
img0527xw7.jpg


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I didn't really know what to expect when I started drilling, but I only had a moment to think because when I started the drill, the blade bit almost instantly.

interesting focus here
img0541aq1.jpg


img0538vu0.jpg


I did use the dremel to smooth down the hole, but wasn't too bad to begin with. Aluminum shavings were EVERYWHERE. I first used my gas leaf blower and then had to still wipe the entire inside down.
All in all, I am very happy with the outcome.

As you can see, I mounted the res across the bar, but that had to change. I really liked it up there but it would be very close to my new power supply (Silencer 750).

My next step in cutting was to mod the pump placment area.
I pretty much knew where I wanted it, right at the bottom of the hard drive cage, but I need the pump to be sure it fit. So when all the parts came in, the pump wouldn't work there. My concern too was that my second 7900GTX was going to be very close to the cage as well.
So I had a couple of cutting options and I wanted to cut the least possible. So after tons of measuring and eyeballing, out came the dremel.
I had to cut a portion of the hard drive cage's corner and bottom as well. I can still put 3 drives there, which will probably the most I would ever have, and the bottom part was really for a black tool/acc box that came with the case.

Now, I didn't think I'd see as much aluminum shavings as I did from the blowhole cut. Oh boy was I wrong. Every nook and cranny had them. I even think I snorted some aluminum dust as well. I constantly found them as I was putting it together. I am so glad the case was empty and that I used masking tape to cover all the wire connectors for the case.

img0539kf7.jpg

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So now finished with all the cutting.
img0537tm8.jpg


Ready for the fun stuff now. More to follow.
 
Nice work mate... However, when you do decide to get the gpu blocks I wouldnt go with a full coverage block. High cost, high pressure drop, and little to no overclocking improvement. Just get some maze4's or mcw60's with ramsinks... If your case has good airflow that will be more than sufficient to keep the ram cool.
 
I have been really considering getting the Maze4 blocks instead of the NV78. I'll probablly go that route.
So with all the cutting out of the way. My next step was to ensure the pump was going to be fine in that area. My biggest concern was that the 7900GTX in the bottom spot was going to interfere with the hose. All worked out great.
img0549ov8.jpg

A closer look at the pump
img0551sn0.jpg

There is just enough room for the pump and hose with the vid card there.
img0552tk0.jpg


Now came the mounting of the radiator.
This was one of the main reasons I bought the Gigabyte 3D Aurora case. It was designed for watercooling setups and it was perfect.
Now becuase this was not a kit with instructions, a lot of thought and research came into how I would mount the BIX2 to the back of the case. I didn't know if I could screw something all the way thru the rad fins without damaging the core. I really didn't know how far I could screw into if at all into the fins. I called DD and they said going into the fins would not be advised. They even put a note in the rads now stating not to use too long of screws due to damage of the rad.
So I used some machine screws and washers to mount the fans on one side of the rad, and some more to mount the rad to the case. There was about a 1/4" of screw that went into the rad holes so don't think I cut into the fins. If I did then just a little.
I think it mounted very well and looks good.
img0554hw9.jpg

I really like the fact that I will have a push/pull from the 4 fans.
img0556zc4.jpg

The air flow direction will be coming out of the case. Those are two ThermalTake fans on the back of the BIX 2
img0553gt5.jpg

My greatest concern was the rad leaking from the mounting screws. Being that this is my first WC build, I really didn't know how far I could go into the fins.
I am pretty happy at this point. The mounting of the DD cpu block was extremely straight forward and easy too.

Next is the tubing.
 
Looks nice and tidy so far.

I have always gone straight through the fins, but using allthread that passes through without stretching.

Is there any way to turn the radiator around, and drill the case? It would make running your tubing very easy. It looks like it will be a royal pain the way it is now.
 
No, but I did think of that. There would be no place to drill 2 holes if I turnd it around. The top area is covered by the 2 case fans and the bottom is where the pci card slots are. I thought about getting some elbow fittings for the rad though. I might try that when I get the gpu blocks and drain the system.

Thanks
 
In all honesty, those white fans are very sexy.

Who did you have to cuddle up next to to get a shiny DD block? Lol, the 3 blocks I've gotten were practically GREEN inside! Did you spend all afternoon scrubbing them with ketchup like I had to?
 
I must of got lucky because I did no cleaning, or vinegar soaking. I just flushed a few times with distilled water and then mounted.
 
Well, the tubing was pretty basic. My main goal was to keep the runs short. I also know I'd have to have a good size curve in the tubing going to and from the radiator. I wanted to get some elbow fittings but I could not find any. I'll find some tomorrow probably. :)
I was wonder how hard it was going to be to fit the 7/16 ID over the 1/2 fittings. All were the high flow, so that would'nt really be a issue, but the pump is the perfect fittings. The key was to use boiling water and let it soak in it for 30 secs. They went on ok after I got them fitted over the outer end. Then just pushing them all the way back.
I would have liked to go all perfect fittings to further reduce the change of leaking. I dont know exactly how much better the high flows are, but I'm sure a leak is the ultimate bad.
I ordered 10 ft of the tubing and still have 5 ft left.
img0557fp0.jpg

here is the bends I had to do. The masterkleer 7/16 is some pretty flexible tubing.
img0558kk6.jpg

I should of made the tube going from the pump to the cpu block a tad shorter.
img0559an6.jpg

Like I said, pretty basic run. Short and to the point.
I used the plastic clamps which seemed to work fairly good. I didn't want to have the metal worm clamps being a eye sore (to me atleast). Plus using 7/16 over 1/2 fittings should give a little more secure of a fit.
 
i'm curiouse why you have fans on both sides od the radiator. you'd think this would increase airflow, but really it doesnt that im aware of. granted i'm not a specialist on aerodynamics. granted 2 sets of fans would most likely decrease the load on each fan. perhaps thats what you were shooting for? but i dont belive it will increase the cfm any. and probably just waste power.

what do you all think?
 
Conano said:
i'm curiouse why you have fans on both sides od the radiator. you'd think this would increase airflow, but really it doesnt that im aware of. granted i'm not a specialist on aerodynamics. granted 2 sets of fans would most likely decrease the load on each fan. perhaps thats what you were shooting for? but i dont belive it will increase the cfm any. and probably just waste power.

what do you all think?
Click to expand...

Well, during my research, some did a test on the effectivness of the push vs pull vs push/pull and it show the push/pull did give a distinct advantage. I used low cfm fans to keep the noise down, so I figured if the ones pulling air wasn't doing enought, then the ones pushing would cover the difference.
I'm sure each application is different and some will benefit from all methods.

Thanks for the reply and something to consider.
 
Well, the tubing was pretty basic. My main goal was to keep the runs short. I also know I'd have to have a good size curve in the tubing going to and from the radiator. I wanted to get some elbow fittings but I could not find any. I'll find some tomorrow probably. :)
I was wonder how hard it was going to be to fit the 7/16 ID over the 1/2 fittings. All were the high flow, so that would'nt really be a issue, but the pump is the perfect fittings. The key was to use boiling water and let it soak in it for 30 secs. They went on ok after I got them fitted over the outer end. Then just pushing them all the way back.
I would have liked to go all perfect fittings to further reduce the change of leaking. I dont know exactly how much better the high flows are, but I'm sure a leak is the ultimate bad.
I ordered 10 ft of the tubing and still have 5 ft left.
img0557fp0.jpg

here is the bends I had to do. The masterkleer 7/16 is some pretty flexible tubing.
img0558kk6.jpg

I should of made the tube going from the pump to the cpu block a tad shorter.
img0559an6.jpg

Like I said, pretty basic run. Short and to the point.
I used the plastic clamps which seemed to work fairly good. I didn't want to have the metal worm clamps being a eye sore (to me atleast). Plus using 7/16 over 1/2 fittings should give a little more secure of a fit.


I am now all set for the bleeding and leak test.
img0560cb2.jpg

I left my 7900GTX in ther just to make sure there would be no interference with the tubing. Risky I know, :eek: but it had to be done.
img0561xv2.jpg


My biggest concern was the radiator leaking for some reason. Not knowing how far I could screw into the fins made me think that it could leak. I felt good about everything else.
img0562nx4.jpg


So in goes the distilled water and pentosin g11 antifreeze ( 9.25/.75 ratio)
img0563fd3.jpg

NO LEAKS WOO HOO!!!

I used a syringe from the grocery store which made filling it up very easy. After getting enough of the blue lagoon mix, I powered up the pump with a older power supply using a paper clip and the shorting out method. Only had to turn it on and off and fill a few times before it was running good.

This was about 15 mins into it and still no leaks.
img0564ti5.jpg

The pump was noisy at first, alot of air to bleed out but after about 30-40 minutes, it got quite when I noticed the air bubbles drastically reduced. Being my first time, I thought it would of taken a lot short to get the air out. I think getting it took awhile because of the radiator.

This is after about 2 hours. The pump was very quite, almost like a silent case fan.
img0564ti5.jpg

You can see how clear it got too
img0568ig8.jpg


It has now been 24 hours of leak testing. I really liked the experience and how it turned out. The blue is very nice too.
I guess looking back, the few changes I'd make was to have gotten elbow fittings for the rad and shorting the tubing from the pump to the cpu.
I will do that when I get the gpu blocks.
Tonight will be spent putting everyting back in and seeing the results.

Thanks again to this forum and the members for the help and inspiration.
I hope my posting will help others as well.

Feel free to give me all your thoughts, comments and suggestions. I'm sure there will be more WC setups in my future. :D
 
For future reference... I like to do my first test with distilled water only. It bleeds almost INSTANTLY. Seriously, it helps shave HOURS off the filling time.

I then add my required amount of additive :). Once again, looks nice. keep it up!
 
i know its going to be a pain but i thinkyou loop is set up wrong..... (i could be wrong but)

it looks like you loop goes Pump-tdx-res-rad-pump...

if this is the case normally people run.... pump-rad-tdx-res-pump

this is so the CPU gets "cool" water and so the pump is feed enough water... pumps dont suck well they need gravity and pressure to give them enough water... hence res over pump


it might not make a big difference but that is how most run a setup
 
yea - just make sure it goes res -> pump

everything else is irreleveant to a degree or two max.
 
Normally the temperatures will stabilize within a couple of minutes, and loop order will have very little impact on your die temperature (maybe within 1'c or less)...

The reason that lots of people go Res to Pump is, as the above poster said, to make sure there's a big supply of water waiting to be pumped. The pump needs the pressure of gravity to work effectively... Although to be honest, once everything's bled I doubt you'll have ANYTHING to worry about.
 
Those all some great points. I thought of going pump-rad-cpu-res-pump, but I chose to do cpu first. I'm sure there are some testings that prove what the best way to go is, but from my research, there are some many different views on loop order. I'm just happy to have a WC setup working with no leaks, that performs well.

Great stuff tough because I will be getting some GPU blocks in the near future and will have a chance to change some things up if necessary.
 
Here are some pics after I put everything back in. I still need to do some cable management but wanted to get these pics on here.

img0573rf5.jpg

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The beauty is in the copper. The Silencer 750 VERY quite
img0575eg4.jpg

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The Sunbeam Chromatic Windmill 7 fan controller
img0579nw7.jpg

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/3462/img0581pb1.jpg[/IMG

Thanks again for your thoughts, keep 'em coming.
 
Any particular reason you didn't cut the "hex grill" part out of the case where the radiator is mounted? I can't imagine it'd be hard to cut out, and it'd help the radiator breathe a lot better. It's probably covering 5-10% of your radiator's frontal area (plus possibly more for the solid parts near the edges).

Come to think of it, I'd email Gigabyte about that. If they're marketing that case to watercoolers with the idea that the radiator goes there, they really should have cut it out for you (and possibly have a removable grill there instead).

I wouldn't worry about it if you aren't disassembling the box again, but next time you gut the case, I'd cut it out.
 
nonlnear said:
Any particular reason you didn't cut the "hex grill" part out of the case where the radiator is mounted? I can't imagine it'd be hard to cut out, and it'd help the radiator breathe a lot better. It's probably covering 5-10% of your radiator's frontal area (plus possibly more for the solid parts near the edges).

Come to think of it, I'd email Gigabyte about that. If they're marketing that case to watercoolers with the idea that the radiator goes there, they really should have cut it out for you (and possibly have a removable grill there instead).

I wouldn't worry about it if you aren't disassembling the box again, but next time you gut the case, I'd cut it out.
Click to expand...

Great point. I thought about doing that after I had everything all mounted and assembled. I will be doing that when I upgrade next year to the AM2. Not too concerned about it because I do have the two other fans sucking air thru the rad, but every bit helps.

Thanks
 
tpfaff said:
How much did this come out to?
Click to expand...

That was the nice thing about it. The total for all was only $174 for all the parts ordered, then add $6 for distilled water and screws/washers and such. So for $180 you get a kick a** setup. Danger Den had the discount code of PAGLAN06 for extra 20% off, plus they had a combo purchase of the pump and TDX on a discount too. That is main reason I pulled the trigger on it. I'll get the GPU blocks soon.
More importantly you get the thrill of doing it yourseld and gaining some pretty cool knowledge and experience.

The blue is nice. I saw it on a post on this forum and knew that is what I wanted. The Pentosin G11 Antifreeze.

Thanks
 
I agree, very nice setup. I would have changed the order so it went as follows:

pump -> rad -> block -> res -> pump

Makes it easier to fill/bleed and knocks a C or so off the temps.
 
nice setup! i'm also in the process of getting my watercooling setup, just waiting for my stuff to get here and decide which board to use with it (Ultra-D or A8R32).
 
I want to start building mine. I have a Lian Li PC-65. I have no idea were I'd mount the radiator, and I have no idea what radiator would be good for my case...

Looks great btw..
 
Thanks for the compliments and suggestions.

My temps went down alot. I have a FX-57, overclocked to 3.0 and there is improvment.

Before with Zalman 9500:

Idle 49 load 58

Now with watercooled

Idle 34 load 39

This is with fans on rad set to the lowest speed via controller.
 
shoman24v said:
I want to start building mine. I have a Lian Li PC-65. I have no idea were I'd mount the radiator, and I have no idea what radiator would be good for my case...

Looks great btw..
Click to expand...

I had a Lian Li PC-61 and it would of been tough. I was seriously thinking about the Swiftech H20-120. However for the same price I was able to get this setup, but that H20-120 is a very nice setup. I also wanted to build it myself and more importantly have great room for adding on.

So I saw the Gigabyte Aurora 3D case and instantly knew that was the one. Designed specifically for watercooling kits. I mainly like the two 120mm fans on the back for the radiator.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811233002

There are alot of nice cases out there, and after reading many online reviews, the Aurora 3D was highly thought of. Now that I have it, I really am glad I got it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks
 
Fuck bro...dont you know how to RESIZE your pics??????

Oh, and nice set up. :)
 
awesome, i have the same case an am looking at water cooling it. i had a similar idea about cutting out the corner of the hdd casing to place the pump. now im looking at slipping it in the floppy drive. seeing what you did to your case should give me some insight on what i should do with mine :D
heres my basic plan... in the pic it looks like alot of tubing but i dont think it will be, anyway when i get the stuff my plans might change.


also is there any advatage to using such a small resevoir?
 
Nice setup Vegasr. And those people telling you your loop is incorrect, or that you could get better temps changing your loop around are clueless. Your loop setup is fine. Changing the current postion of your res will NOT improve a thing. Keep it as it is and enjoy...
 
Nice setup! You have one of my fav. watercooling setups of all time!
I hope you don't mind if I buy the same case and copy you :)
 
plywood99 said:
Nice setup Vegasr. And those people telling you your loop is incorrect, or that you could get better temps changing your loop around are clueless. Your loop setup is fine. Changing the current postion of your res will NOT improve a thing. Keep it as it is and enjoy...
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input. I don't think changing the loop order would change anything too because it is a short run, which I preferred. I almost went t-line but I like the look of this res in the case..
DangerDen does highly recommends going from the pump to the cpu block which is what I went with.

Thanks again
 
psychot|K said:
Nice setup! You have one of my fav. watercooling setups of all time!
I hope you don't mind if I buy the same case and copy you :)
Click to expand...


Thanks and that is why I posted the pics. I enjoyed looking at pics when I was in the planning stages myself and wanted to extend that to others.
The case is great too. I bought it after I saw some pics of it with a WC system too, and it is a good price. Plus, I only read very favorable reveiws about the case too.

Good luck and thanks.
 
Not sure if I would want my rez to be pressurized like you have it and I would prefer my freshly cooled water to go directly to the cooling blocks instead of mixing with "stale maybe slightly warmed" water in the rez first.

2Fresh said:
Fuck bro...dont you know how to RESIZE your pics??????

Oh, and nice set up. :)
Click to expand...

That's what ya get for buying a Phillips 180 B2 :p
 
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