Project: Liquid Armor

[Revolvr]

Here's a worklog for my first water cooled project.

Goals:

• Replace my dull and uninteresting PC case with “the last chassis I’ll ever buy”. I wanted something large, configurable and mod-able.
• Water cool the CPU – just for sport.
• Overclock an AMD Athlon X2 4200 (2.2 GHz) to 2.8 -3.0 GHz. This should tie me over for a year or so while the market shifts with new quad CPU’s coming in.
• Do a decent job of cable management for once.

What I’m starting with:

Here’s the current computer. Boring case. Wife broke the door off. To fix the door I’ve decided to get a whole new case and water-cooling set up. Good excuse?

One factor is the design of the water cooled set-up is that the case will be inserted into the desk shelf, so I won’t be able to see inside the case. And dragging the case out is a royal PITA. I don’t want to drag it out to check the water level or top-off.

I have thought about cutting holes in the desk on the left side so I can see in the case. And probably will do this. But still don’t want to pull out the case to check the water or top-off.

I typically build a new computer once every 3 years or so, but I’ve never paid much attention to cable management. This time I will, even though I can’t see in the case most of the time.


Here’s the inside. What a rat’s nest!

Build-Up

New Case:

The Thermaltake Armor case was nearly a no-brainer. Great case for modding and water cooling. The entire front section can be opened up giving lots of possibilities. The case is a little deeper than most full towers, giving plenty of room in front of the motherboard. The CM Stacker is a good alternative.

Radiator:

The Armor LCS uses a 2x120 radiator up front. I decided to do the same thing but preferred to get my own WC parts. I chose the DangerDen Black Ice Extreme II. This radiator fits perfectly in the front of the case and still leaves 5 bays free.

Mounting the Radiator:

I decided I needed to be able to remove the radiator easily during the fill & bleed process to get all of the air out. I wanted it mounted without any hardware and wanted to be able to pull it out the front and re-install easily. I found by adding weatherstripping to each side, it would fit tight, but could be removed easily. The weatherstripping I used was closed-cell foam-rubber 3/8 tall by ¾ wide from Ace Hardware. I cut slits along the right side to accommodate horizontal metal tabs in the case.

And installed:

Fans:

This radiator likes high CFM fans to perform best. I chose to use the Thermaktake thunderblade fans (2000 RPM, 78 CFM) and mount for in a push-pull arrangement. Found 4 very cheap fans which were gutted and used as shrouds. This was cheaper than buying shrouds, and easier than making them. So after the test fit, I installed 4 fans and 4 shrouds. This set-up moves a lot of air at full speed.

And the final fit and power test:

Fan Control:

All these fans need throttling and temp gauges to optimize the air flow. After installing the radiator, I tackled the fans and fan cable management. To control the fans I choose a Sunbeam RheoBus controller. This provides control from off to full on. I never found a fan controller with temperature monitors I liked.

So I choose separate thermal monitors.

I needed a controller that would handle at least 10 watts per channel since I wanted to combine the front two and rear two using 2 channels. The rear fans are on the other two channels. All cables are sleeved and routed to the right side behind the bays.

Prototyping

What’s wrong with this picture?

Being my first foray into water cooling, I decided to build the entire system in the case but without the motherboard or most other electronics. So I printed a full scale photo of the motherboard and taped it to a cardboard rectangle the right size. Then hot-melt glued cardboard VGA cards and mounted it into the case. I’ll add the real parts once it is filled, bled and tested.

That’s it for Part 1.

Next time: Installing a reservoir so I can monitor the water level and top-off without removing the PC from the desk. I should also be looking at installing the thermal monitors and lighting controls. All the remaining parts should arrive this week so I can finish over the weekend - unless I change my mind again on something.

Cheers

-- Rev

 

[omegatotal]

good idea with the mock up

 

[Solarfall]

good idea with the mock up

i agree a very nice idea.

 

[haste]

you should paint the inside of the case a flat black. makes it look a ton better.

 

[brasherman]

you should paint the inside of the case a flat black. makes it look a ton better.

Umm, did you miss the part where he said he never sees the inside since it's in the desk all the time? Why expend all the time and energy for something you never see and don't care about?

OT, I like your mockup idea. It looks good enough to enable you to plan everything out and do basic line routing and fill/bleed stuff. Good show!

 

[haste]

Umm, did you miss the part where he said he never sees the inside since it's in the desk all the time? Why expend all the time and energy for something you never see and don't care about?

OT, I like your mockup idea. It looks good enough to enable you to plan everything out and do basic line routing and fill/bleed stuff. Good show!

eh, then why should bother with any of the stuff that he is doing at all then?

 

[brasherman]

Point taken. Although seeing it from the front is going to be the one method in which it will be visible. So I can see the LED fans and nice black rad being effective visually. And who doesn't want a liquid cooled overclocked processor?

 

[Revolvr]

Good questions.

The water cooling is mainly to support overclocking, and to get a quieter PC. The Antec case has 5 80mm fans and can be loud. With the sloppy wire management, I keep the fans on high most of the time and still have fairly high temps.

Water cooling is also for sport

Wire management is to improve air flow in the case, and also to make later modifications easier. I'll probably do more than needed though - just because I've built rat's nests for years and I'd like to spend the time to do it right.

The real waste of time and money will be the interior lighting I am adding. I'm sure there's an unwritten rule that all water cooled systems need lighting. At least I'll enjoy it a month or two before I stuff it into the desk.

As for painting the interior - maybe for my next PC.

-- Rev

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

If you're worried about noise, I would suggest some different fans for the radiator. Those Thunderblade fans are LOUD. I think you could easily get away with using some quieter Yate Loons, especially since you're using a push/pull config.

Other than that, everything looks great. I like it when people doing mods have everything planned out beforehand, makes for a much cleaner install.

 

[haste]

just so you know what ur in for. its nice when all is said and done.

i have two rads going though.

 

[98EXL]

Nice idea, been working on the same thing, except my armor is all in pieces. Check sig for link

 

[Revolvr]

Part 2

Now it’s time to get the reservoir installed and the cooling subsystem filled, bled and checked for leaks.

Reservoir:

This is the item I agonized over the most. A small reservoir could fit easily behind the radiator. Problem is, I would not be able to see the water level easily because of where the computer was to be placed; with desk walls to either side I couldn’t look in the side to see the water level. I thought of 4 ways around this dilemma.

1) Cut holes in the desk side so I could look in.
2) Install a cheap web cam INSIDE the case to view the radiator.
3) Create a sight tube and install it in front of the case. A sight tube is just thin tubing connected to the bottom and top of the reservoir to show the water level.
4) Mount a reservoir outside the case in front.

I eventually chose option 4 and picked an Alphacool Coolplex Pro 10 External. It will be mounted in front of the radiator and the fluid illuminated with an UV LED. To run the tubes some sheetmetal needs to be cut. I would have preferred to use the Coolplex 25 but it was too tall.

I decided to use ½ inch ID tubing to and from the reservoir, then switch to 3/8 for connection to the CPU Block and the pump. The larger tubing will reduce any flow resistance between the pump and reservoir, which I decided would be useful especially since I needed to turn the flow 90 degrees out of the reservoir, and then back in to the reservoir from the radiator.

Temperature Sensors

For Temperature sensors, I decided to go with dedicated CompuNurse displays. These should fit almost perfectly in the 3 ½ inch cutouts of the bay covers. I plan on at least 2 of these, for the reservoir and the exit of the radiator. Perhaps more if they will fit.

I disassembled them and painted the bezels a satin black, then reassembled and installed 2 of them into a bay cover. They fit almost perfect. I used hot-melt glue to hold everything in place.

One sensor was placed at the inlet of the radiator. The other placed at the output of the reservoir. I’ll probably add another attached to the CPU water block.

And the front:

Pump and Tube Routing:

The pump will be mounted somewhere along the floor of the case. Despite many holes in the base, no two lined up with the mounting holes of the pump. No problem, I expect to mount the pump with neoprene and Velcro.

The most optimal tube routing is usually Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator -> CPU. In my case this is also the easiest way to route the tubes. However I downloaded one of the DangerDen install videos, and the guy says to always install the TDX block so that it gets the output direct from the pump. I suppose because it is more restrictive than the radiator. So I changed the routing.

Power:

For power, I have a spare power supply from my last computer. I used the old paperclip trick to power up, then created a simple switch box that would allow me to pulse the pump easily or leave it on for the 24 hour test.

The Install:

Well, here it is with the reservoir, radiator and temp monitors installed and running:

Yes, I’m still on cardboard. I probably won’t get the MB installed until this weekend. The hard part is done but there is quite a bit to do yet – mainly lighting and cable management for the stuff I’ve put in so far.

Here’s the Bill of Materials so far:

Radiator: Black Ice Xtreme II
Reservoir: Alphacool Coolplex Pro 10 External
Pump: SwiftTech MCP350
CPU Water Block: Danger Den TDX
Tubing: ClearFlex 60 Tubing 3/8" ID 5/8" OD and PrimoFlex Tubing 1/2 ID x 3/4 OD - UV Blue
Fluid: PrimoChill PC ICE Non-Conductive Water - UV Blue
Temp Sensors: CompuNurse

Later Topics:

Cable Management
Case issues, cutting holes
The Devil in the Details
Lighting

 

[shawnol]

gonna be a real beaut when its done,

good luck and have fun.

 

[Revolvr]

Well except for a few odds and ends, I'm done.

Lighting
A water cooled case needs lights. I decided on a blue & UV theme with red accents. Should look a bit TRON like. Since the reservoir is externally mounted, UV die and a UV LED is in order. I added UV and blue Cold Cathodes for the interior with red molex lights and red LEDs over the RAM. If I do my wire management well though, there shouldn’t be many molex connectors visible.

Lesson Learned on the Primochill PC Ice UV Blue fluid – there isn’t a shred of UV in it. Perhaps they sent me the wrong thing – but it is blue. Plan on getting a UV dye later.

Reservoir, radiator, thermal sensors, fan controller installed.

Behind the drive bays showing where all the wiring is hidden.

Room for one cold cathode behind the right door.

Cable Management
I installed all of the wires and switches for the fans, fan controller and lights. I used 2 cold cathodes UV and two blue, on separate circuits. Also added RAM lights.

Since the case will be mounted under a desk, I couldn’t use the top hatch for external connections. But I will be able to slide my hand in there and manipulate switches. So I installed the 2 RAM light momentary switches and the two cold cathode switches in the hatch. Lesson learned – there is no vertical room for switches because of the door – everything has to be flat. The large flat momentary switches are from B.G. Micro.

Amazing how many wires are already in the case with no computer electronics yet.

All cables are routed behind/right of the bays, plenty of room. In some cases I used a nibbler to widen the slots in the bays to allow a 4-pin molex to pass through. This is the only real mod this case needs for cable management.

Lighting controls in former USB/Sound external interface hatch. I was a real klutz when I did this and couldn't drill a hole right to save my life. Also dropped one of the tiny screws which vanished out of the universe. No matter really since this won't be visible.

And underneath:

The front wings flop around too easily and squeak. Get some1/8 inch shrink tubing and cover the hinges. This stops squeaks, the doors glide smoothly and has a more expensive feel.

 

[Revolvr]

Here are some "nearly complete" pictures. I still need to get some front USB ports since I didn't use the case's. Also plan to add some UV dye to the water. Then it's time to overclock.

Now for photos of the near finished project:

 

[Peterson]

Very nicely done. Great job on breaking that "Keep all water cooling inside the case" taboo.