Passive Watercooling? Suggestions please!

[hkhawk]

Hey, Happy New Year! I'm finally getting a new computer and I think that to mark the occasion I'm going to give watercooling a shot.

I want to go as quiet as possible. Here's what I'm getting:

Athlon64 Winchester core (not sure, more on this later)
nForce4 Ultra mobo
nVidia 6800GT

Now, I want as close to complete silence as possible. Do you think that any of the big German passive radiators such as these can do the trick.

Innovatek Konvekt-o-Matic Maxi "Manufacturer testing reveals performance levels greater than the Dual 120mm fan radiator!" - frozencpu

Innovatek Konvekt-o-Matic Ultra "About the size of the of the radiator in your standard Honda Civic" - frozencpu

Aqua-Computer Airplex Evo 1800 "Watercoolplanet.de placed the Airplex Evo 1800 to the # 1 spot on their cooler charts for both passive and active cooling." - SNTsystems

Cape CORA 642 Konvekt Maxi

Here is the watercooling.de chart translated by Google and it rates the Aqua-Computer first, the Cape Cora second and the Innovatek Maxi third. That takes the Innovatek out of the equation for me because it's $50 more than the Cape Cora and you can add more cooling channels to the Cape Cora later as well. But basically, I want to know if these could handle the system above. What if I'm overclocking?

Also, all of these were designed for 1/4" tubing. However, I don't want to use that. I want at least 3/8" and most likely 1/2". Would this cause any problems? I mean, in your average rad the pipes are pretty small aren't they? Will this reduce my rate of flow a lot?

Now what about pumps? I have read a lot saying that the Eheims are the quietest and extremely reliable. Both of these are extremely important as this machine will be on a lot. Will a 1250 be enough for a system with this CPU and GPU, and a rad mounted on the side of my case (not sure how important length of tubing is)?

Finally, waterblocks. The DangerDen TDX seems to be very good but it is very restrictive (not sure if that's the right word) is it not. Will this cause problems? I have also read that the Storm G4 is a very good block if you have low flow rates. It is expensive but then again if I go for a passive radiator I'm going to be spending money anyway. Then for the GPU, I guess it's wait for the Maze4 for the 6800, get the Silverprop Cyclone Fusion HL, or get the special made 6800 blocks that cover the RAM from Danger Den, Aquacomputer, ... Any other suggestions for waterblocks?

I want to make sure that my system is efficient and will work. That's why I'm concerned about flow. Is 1/2" definately the way to go? I would really like it if I could have an efficient enough system to overclock! Maybe even go SLI! I know the 90nm Athlons are very cool so hopefully this will help a lot even if I put another 6800GT in there. That might just be wishful thinking though! Please, all comments are welcome. Any suggestions on a silent (or VERY quiet) setup are greatly appreciated! If you have any other ideas please throw them out there

Ooh, one more thing. The Aqua-Computer rad is copper, the others are aluminum. How important is it to go all copper if the aluminum stuff is all anodized? Is it really an issue? Also, read somewhere that if you go all copper then you can just use distilled water and everything will be cool. I don't know about that, doesn't sound right to me. Oh and also will there be a real difference on anything if I use a res or a T-line as in flow rate, cooling efficiencey, etc...

 

[Little Grabbi]

Dude, unless you've got asstastically low flow rates, it doesen't matter all that much. I'm coolina an AMD XP 2400+ @ 2300 mhz, and an Nvidia 6600GT AGP with a system that's less that 1/4 ID (6mm to be exact), two simple channel blocks, and a triple 120mm rad without fans.

For the best bang for the buck, I'd go with the cora, for the best cooling, take two of them. Also, these have the lagrest pipe diameter, so restriction should be lass then with the airplex Evo 1800.

As a waterblock, try the AC one... I've got a smaller version for my 6600GT, and I love that thing to death.

you can just use distilled with an all-copper system. With anodized aluminium, I'd be careful, as the anodization layer can wear off, eypecially in threaded openings that are screwed/unscrewed often.

The only real difference is in filling the system. With a res, you just fill it, turn on the pump, wait, top off the water level once, and you're done. With a t-line you'll have to do it more often, also getting the small bubbles out in a high-flow system will take longer.

 

[Suicidal Insanity]

I have something similar to the aquacomputer radiator, may even be the first version of it, not sure, bought it used
0 fans on the rad, p4e 3ghz, gf 6600gt, temps go up to 35 - 40C after 2 hoursf running (idle), 45 is max load.
see the pics thread for pics.

EDIT: after abusing google it turns out I had the Mora GA

 

[Pooky]

I've got an Innovatek Konvect-O-Matic Maxi on my side panel for my passive needs. It's actually a dual rad system with an active dual 120mm for OC'ing and the passive for silence when not OC'ing. I don't have it setup yet, cause I was planning on doing it this weekend, but I ended up getting sick with some kind of respitory illness. The blocks in the system are from Aqua Computer though. I can't decide on wether to use a Cuplex Pro, Cuplex EVO or Cool Cases CF-2 CPU block. My GPU has an Alphacool NexXxos GPX. I will be cooling a pair of hot hard drives also,

 

[Little Grabbi]

use a cuplex standard, or an evo if you're in it for looks. The pro cools three or one and a half degrees better, respectively, but it has lots of resistance.