QPack Watercooling Idea

[Technojunkie]

After reading some of the other QPack watercooling threads here, I think I've figured out a neat new way to do the job. Parts list:

DangerDen CSP-MAG pump
BIP2 radiator
Fillport resevoir or plain fillport in T-line configuration or that Swiftech SFF reservoir
3/8" Tygon tubing (maybe 7/16" instead, I'm worried about making the necessary bends though)
Two 120mm fans of your choice

The BIP2 would lie across the front of the case, resting on top of the 5.25" bays, with the hose ports on the left-hand side. There appears to be *just* enough room for it. The newer X-Flow radiators are two big (too bad, having the two ports on opposite sides of the rad would work in our favor in this case). The fans would mount externally on top of the case, possibly with a shroud to minimize dead spots. The top 5.25" bay cover would be replaced with a perforated cover. An intake vent could be added to the right-hand side of the case, along with some ducting around the rad... or just make the rear case fan an intake rather than exhaust fan, that should be good enough. You'll have to sacrifice the 3.5" HDD bracket, sorry. I'd probably put a high-capacity 3.5" drive in the floppy drive bay and rest a 2.5" 7200RPM SATA HDD (slower than a 3.5" drive, alas, but QUIET and low-power) on top of my slimline DVD burner in the bottom 5.25" bay (see pics) for my primary drive. Actually, a 3.5" HD could rest on top of the slimline DVD, now that I think about it. You can get the slimline-to-standard IDE DVD bracket/adaptor kits on eBay. I'd probably go with NEC's slimline drive over the Pioneer slot-loader I have now. The power supply I have mounted is a Seasonic S12 500W, which has its 120mm intake fan conveniently over the card slots. It's also the highest-efficiency PSU I know of. I'd probably pick a nVidia 6150 chipset board of some sort, Foxconn's?

What'cha think?

 

[Technojunkie]

A Thermochill PA160 might be a better choice, if the shroud and fan can be mounted externally. Expensive though.

 

[M4rk]

That's gonna be alot of cutting. Why not get a dualie 80mm and put it on its side under the HDD? That's what I plan on doing, along with my 120mm in the back. Check out my thread in the Gallery.

 

[Technojunkie]

Hmm... would a dual 80mm fit there, along the right-hand side? Wouldn't it bump up against the motherboard? The 80mm rads are thicker than the BIP2 too, which isn't good for the low RPM quiet fans I want. I think the only serious cutting I'd have to do is two blowholes for the 120mm radiator fans?

(edit: another thread answered a couple of q's)
Hacking an Evercool 202 like you did is another possibility. I'd want to replace the stock tubing with Tygon. usplastic.com lists the necessary 3/16" ID size but it's not in stock at the moment. But the inability to use Evercool's GPU block on a 7800GT (which I don't have yet, currently using a 6600GT) is a problem. I bet the 7-series equivalent of the 6600GT will have the same problem.

It just dawned on me why working with the 7/16" ID tubing I have in my desktop is such a problem: it has 3/32" walls. I should have gone with 3/8" or 1/2" ID and 1/16" walls. I can't imagine how big a pain 1/8" wall tubing must be. Details, details...

 

[M4rk]

The Evercool kit comes with plenty of tubing. You can take off the ends with the special tool they include, and cutting the silica tubes is a cinch. Massive insits the tubing is 3/16", but I think it's 3/8". We'll see once I order a rad, which is as soon as Paypal goes through...