The official "going water" thread.

[tsuehpsyde]

Well, I finally got all of my parts in today, and after some work, I got it setup and leak testing. The tubing is supersized so I can just cut shorter later if need-be...first build, would rather be too big than too small. Here are some pics!

The pump! (Eheim 1250)

The rad!

The block! (Swiftech 6002)

The mixture!

Now, the main things I've learned thus far is

A. The rad weighs a ton while empty, even more with water.
B. That mixture was weak.

I followed the instructions of about 1/8th or so Anti-Freeze to Distillied Water. I picked up the pre-diluted (as instructed) and it came out looking like that. The camera's flash also adds alot of greening to the fluid, as in the tubing it was only a tint. I went ahead and thickened up the mixture and it seems alot more where it should be. Here's the loop leak testing in my kitchen atm:

The loop!

Any suggestions/pointers/congratuations would be helpful as this is my first water loop and I'm a bit nervous. Some of the parts are a bit banged up as they're used, but meh, they're all solid from what I saw, just some scratches on the finish and few bangs here and there.

Go H20!

Full Folding Ahead!

 

[Punx_Clever]

Be sure to leak test it with everythign in the place that it should be. putting torque on the tubing can open up some leaks that werent there.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Be sure to leak test it with everythign in the place that it should be. putting torque on the tubing can open up some leaks that werent there.

Where everything is, is about as close as I can set it up atm to where it'll be. I'll probably put it all in the case and wrap everything up with paper towels, then check them in a day to see if we've sprung any leaks. But those clamps are torqed down with a power screwdriver/drill so they're definately as tight as they'll go.

 

[jman1]

That fan should be on the outside of your shroud held away from the Radiator. this will ensure air is pulled accros the most of it.

 

[Dillusion]

Um, im your case like 10 feet long ? Thats allota tubing it seems....

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Um, im your case like 10 feet long ? Thats allota tubing it seems....

Haha, yeah, it's alot of tubing but like I said, I diddn't wanna cut too short and be screwed. Being my first build, I'm being hella cautious. Also, my radiator is going outside of my case so I'll need some slack, but not all of it. If it's too much, I'll drain the system and cut it to size and re-fill it, but for now I just wanna make sure it works w/o kinking and making sure it'll fit.

And yes, I have to flip the fan around and setup the shroud before I mount it up to use. I'm waiting on a 3-4 pin adapter.

Full Folding Ahead!

 

[DFI Daishi]

looks like a straightforward and simple loop. no frills, reasonable budget, not pretty, and well matched parts.

good luck with it. i hope it gets you some added OC headroom.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

How's this look?

Note the air bubbles escaping from it. Radiators hide air like noone's business. I keep hitting it/moving it in new directions to get the air out.

And yeah, that's exactly what I'm going for Daishi. Maximum performance for minimal cost and bling not being needed. Seeing how I'm unemployed, I really can't afford a new loop with lots of extra crap if I want to eat. But I got the entire loop, tubing and all shipped to me for about $90ish, so I think it's a fairly good deal. I'm really looking foward to getting this baby up and running.

 

[cornelious0_0]

How's this look?

Note the air bubbles escaping from it. Radiators hide air like noone's business. I keep hitting it/moving it in new directions to get the air out.

And yeah, that's exactly what I'm going for Daishi. Maximum performance for minimal cost and bling not being needed. Seeing how I'm unemployed, I really can't afford a new loop with lots of extra crap if I want to eat. But I got the entire loop, tubing and all shipped to me for about $90ish, so I think it's a fairly good deal. I'm really looking foward to getting this baby up and running.

Looks better, I was gonna comment pretty hard on the fact that the fan was gonna underperform like crazy inside the shroud, but now that you've switched it up I don't have to.

That's a killer deal on that setup for sure, too bad I'm too lazy to look for stuff like that and always end up buying everything new/retail eh?

Good luck to you with everything, and keep ontop of "de-bubbling" that rad...I found the same thing with mine, and I don't think I ever got 'em all out...temps were always a bit high.

I'll check in on ya from time to time though, thx for the PM.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Hey, leave me alone, I diddn't think to swap it out. I was so concentrated on getting the loop together with the correct sizings for tubing (with some slack ) and making sure everything was tight/in the right order/wasn't leaking, I just brain farted on the rad. Simple fix though.

Well I lucked out, actually. CCU actually looks around for deals all the time and knew I was lookin for water, and found the pump from one dude, and the block/rad from another guy...and we ordered the tubing from McMaster-Carr, which I ordered at night and was at my doorstep the next morning. So I diddn't have to look around for the deal, it just sorta fell in my lap. I'm interested to see what this setup does when I throw some AC thru the rad. But that'll be another day.

Glad to see you're alive and kickin', and yeah, so far it seems like the air is almost out this morning....I've banged on it a few times and no bubbles escaped, and the loop is hella quiet. No bubbles near any of the fixtures either, but I'm waiting until later tonight before I attempt the transition.

Full Folding Ahead!

 

[LadyMakoFox]

I ended up just shaking my rad, it seems to be the best way for me to get rid of air in it.


lol I feel all ghetto with my folgers custom roast res.

 

[cornelious0_0]

so far it seems like the air is almost out this morning....I've banged on it a few times and no bubbles escaped, and the loop is hella quiet. No bubbles near any of the fixtures either, but I'm waiting until later tonight before I attempt the transition.

Good luck again man, not that you'll NEED it...but I even ran into a few quirks my first time with h2O...and it's a good thing to get as much basic troubleshooting based knowledge behind you as you can...worst thing that could happen would be having something go wrong and not being able to think on your feet to rectify it.

I'll be here for ya if you've got any quick questions on anything, and if you wanna get REALLY technical about the inner workings of your loop, I'd recommend PM'ing DFI Daishi...he's got me beat hands down for h2O/Pelt cooling knowhow.

 

[cornelious0_0]

lol I feel all ghetto with my folgers custom roast res.

Got any pics of it...don't think I've seen it...and I love ghetto/custom work.

 

[LadyMakoFox]

lol I'll make a new thread

 

[tsuehpsyde]

I thought a res was nothing more than an added PITA? I thought myself that it helped keep the loop cooler (more water to disperse heat?) but I was told it doesn't make a difference. I'm all for a ghetto ass mod for a res if it'll help down the road.

Full Folding Ahead!

 

[cornelious0_0]

I thought a res was nothing more than an added PITA? I thought myself that it helped keep the loop cooler (more water to disperse heat?) but I was told it doesn't make a difference. I'm all for a ghetto ass mod for a res if it'll help down the road.

Reservoir's do make filling and bleeding/removing air bubbles a little easier then if you're using a T-Line or fillport...and IMO...it can look pretty cool too, just depends on how you want to do it in the end I suppose.

lol I'll make a new thread

Thx, I'll look/watch for it.

 

[LadyMakoFox]

I thought a res was nothing more than an added PITA? I thought myself that it helped keep the loop cooler (more water to disperse heat?) but I was told it doesn't make a difference. I'm all for a ghetto ass mod for a res if it'll help down the road.

Full Folding Ahead!

depends on the res, mine actually made removing air really easy as all the air just bubbled up and escaped.


http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=990633

 

[cornelious0_0]

depends on the res, mine actually made removing air really easy as all the air just bubbled up and escaped.


http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=990633

Yeah man, looks like it really would do an awsome job at that, I'd refine the look a bit...but the "open basin" style does work quite well...a friend has done it with an old 5 gallon fish tank.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Okay, need help guys. I took my main rig down and something isn't matching, and since I'm in the [H]ard|Bowl I have to either suck it up and take the loss while I figure this out, or I have to get it running again on the X2 cooler and possibly use the last of my AS5.

So I take everything out, get it all setup, things are actually going great. I get my radiator mounted on the back of my case and find a sneaky spot I never saw before that I can run my fan's 3-pin header thru. While moving my loop I put a sharpie marker cap on the T-Line to avoid spills and I clamped it off to keep it water tight. I SHOULD have filled it to the top, because it accidently went upside down on me while moving it all around, and nothing spilled, but a dickload of air bubbles just reclaimed my line. It was like a prison break of air bubbles....it made me grunt and yell for a minute, but I got over it and said "meh, it'll clear back out in a day, big whoop".

So that's all setup and I go by the instructions I was given for the block....attach the sides of the block onto the stock retention mechanism and screw down into the stock retention screws area. Sounds simple enough, right?

As you can see, it doesn't line up like that at all. So I figure "Maybe the clips are on the socket itself and it just screws into the holes like that.

Nope. The holes are too far apart and the K8 socket has no clips on it. Do I need a different top piece or do I need a new retention mechanism? Something isn't clicking here and so far, my google searches havn't given me anything. Posting from the ol' laptop atm. I just hate the idea of having to drain the entire loop to put a new top locking piece on there, on top of having to wait 3 days to get it (If I have to order something I want to order it today as I want it before the weekend.

For God's sake, someone help the n00bie!!!!

 

[cornelious0_0]

Weird, I really don't see anything you could do other then getting a new top piece for the black that's large enough for the retention mechanism...it's REALLY weird that it's that close and yet not large enough, dunno what else to say...never seen that before.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Well, the top piece that blankets the block and has the clips/screws comes right off the top, and I'm guessing doesn't match K8 systems. I'm looking around frantically as its 10 minutes to 5PM when alot of places close, and I'm not even sure if that's the part I need. Dammit.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Okay I think I found it, I'll see about getting it shipped today, maybe make a phone call.

http://www.swiftnets.com/store/product_details.asp?ProdID=283

 

[cornelious0_0]

Well, the top piece that blankets the block and has the clips/screws comes right off the top, and I'm guessing doesn't match K8 systems. I'm looking around frantically as its 10 minutes to 5PM when alot of places close, and I'm not even sure if that's the part I need. Dammit.

Looks like that's what it is...is it possible that that "blanket" piece is meant for s462 or something similar and it's just a smidge to small?

 

[DFI Daishi]

hin other news, swiftech's instructions seem to show doing things just a bit differently, at least for the K8: http://www.swiftnets.com/products/installationguide_MCW6000_2-64.pdf

it looks like you might have K7 retention hardware. http://www.swiftnets.com/products/installationguide_MCW6000_2-A.pdf

have you looked to see if the holes in the face plate that you have will line up with the retention holes i nthe motherboard?

if the holes line up, you might be able to improvise.

actually, the plates are the same. remove the clips, pocket the springs, get some threaded rod, nuts and washers in the correct size and get to work!

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Yeah I checked, the holes definately do not line up, too far apart. And I'm not sure which retention mechanism I have, but it's definately the wrong one. I called up Swiftech and they said they could ship out today as long as my order was submitted within the next hour, and I just sent in my order with 2-Day UPS (It was $1 more than 3-day) so my budget system just got shanked. $20 for a plate kind of sucks, but at least I'll have it here by Thursday/Friday...It was like $5 for UPS ground, but that's bad enough when it's NOT the holiday season, so I wouldn't see that for like a week, which is beyond unacceptable.

So *sigh* it appears I was close, but no cigar. The correct part is on the way and hopefully all will be well by Thursday...it'll at the very least give my lines some time to get the air out. Now I just have to decide if I wanna re-mount my X2 cooler or just wait. Just kinda killed what was gonna be a hella sweet day. =/

 

[BitchBreaker]

You got bracket's for sA cpu, the bracket u need has 2 holes in it and some mounting hardware.

 

[DFI Daishi]

Yeah I checked, the holes definately do not line up, too far apart.

oop......oh well.

actually, the plates are the same. remove the clips, pocket the springs, get some threaded rod, nuts and washers in the correct size and get to work!

you'd think that i could correctly read and tell the difference between "SK7 plate" in one .pdf and a"SK8 plate" in the other.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

oop......oh well.

you'd think that i could correctly read and tell the difference between "SK7 plate" in one .pdf and a"SK8 plate" in the other.

Haha, it's alright man. I appriciate the help from you guys, as I scampered around like a paniced rabbit being chased by a dog. I just kinda freak out when stuff doesn't work when I'm new to something (like my first tubing + T-Line diddn't match up). I'm waiting on an order confirmation, and if I don't get one emailed to me within the next 10 or so minutes I'm gonna call back to make sure they go it and everything's peachy so it ships out today.

 

[LadyMakoFox]

you could remove the brackets that attach to the socket a cleats and zip tie it to your retention bracket for the A64

edit: made an image. lol

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Ahh, plausible idea Mako. You truely are the queen of ghetto water. But the part is already on it's way via UPS 2-Day, and it's shipping out today so hopefully that means Thursday, which coming from California isn't too bad. And, the guy I got the parts off of split the cost with me on it, so it only ended up costing me $10 which isn't too terrible.

Thanks anyway Lady, appriciate the input.

 

[LadyMakoFox]

lol thanks.

Didn't see that the parts was shipped already, I found you could really use any waterblock as long as it fits within the bracket for heatsinks for the A64 and you can get something to hold it on.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

I moved the unit into my bedroom, mainly to get it setup to keep folding for my competition (not about to get beat by 2GHZ with 512k of cache ). I tossed the X2 cooler back on to see if the remaining AS5 left on the heatsink was sufficient (its loading @ 40C folding, so it's obviously doing well). The pictures show everything working well (fan is moving tons of air, the loop is running....why I dunno since I'll have to bleed it in 2 days anyway), but it's still a sad sight.

And now, we get to play the waiting game. =/

 

[Top Nurse]

You got bracket's for sA cpu, the bracket u need has 2 holes in it and some mounting hardware.

Glad to see you back. Did that guy get a hold of you about making some Aquatube mods for him. BTW, how did the alcohol chiller project do?

 

[cornelious0_0]

Glad to hear that everything is working out for you tsuehpsyde, thought you might have had the s462 clip...that's what it looked like anyways.

Ah well, live and learn I guess, at least everything worked out quickly/smoothly for you and you're well on your way.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Glad to hear that everything is working out for you tsuehpsyde, thought you might have had the s462 clip...that's what it looked like anyways.

Ah well, live and learn I guess, at least everything worked out quickly/smoothly for you and you're well on your way.

Agreed. I got the tracking # and the plate should be here tomorrow afternoon. The only bitch is that I have to bleed the system to put that plate on. It'll give me a chance to re-arrange my tubing a little and cut some stuff to size as well, so it's not a total loss but I'd rather just plug it in and go.

 

[cornelious0_0]

Agreed. I got the tracking # and the plate should be here tomorrow afternoon. The only bitch is that I have to bleed the system to put that plate on. It'll give me a chance to re-arrange my tubing a little and cut some stuff to size as well, so it's not a total loss but I'd rather just plug it in and go.

It sux I know...but at least it's working out, can't always expect everything to go as planned...just know that in the end it'll all be worth it.

Can't wait to see it all up and running finally.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Part's here.

I'm off to pick up a container to bleed my loop, and put this bad boy on! Also...

 

[cornelious0_0]

Nice tsuehpsyde...VERY nice. That GSkill is too sexy for it's own good...and I'm happy to see you got your hold down plate for the Swifty already.

 

[BitchBreaker]

Glad to see you back. Did that guy get a hold of you about making some Aquatube mods for him. BTW, how did the alcohol chiller project do?

nope guy never came to me,alky chiller went well, echow86 now has it running just fine from what i hear good to see u Nurse.

 

[tsuehpsyde]

Time for an update!

Well, it took ALL DAY for my parts to show up (so i was imprisoned in my living from from 10A-5P) but they showed up. The G.Skills are beautiful, but the plate being "chrome" was definately an exaggeration. More like stainless steel. Anyway, the first thing I did was go to Wal-Mart to pick up a bucket, so I could save my loop mixture to use again after bleeding the loop. After some searching, I find a 93 cent bucket with a rounded spout for easy pouring. Score! I pick up a few other essentials and head home.

I loosen the clamps off my CPU block to remove the tubing to find out, holy crap, this thing is packing a vaccum and a half! I hope my 2nd tubing adventures are as tight as my first tightening, because how my stuff was there was no WAY it was going to leak. So after some twisting and yanking I get my block apart and the lines spill its guts into the bucket and the old K7/478/whatever plate falls into the bucket with teh block. Pull out the block and lay it on a paper towl (after shaking it to empty it out) and continued to try and get as much of the loop bled as possible. It's then when I look down and see something in my bucket...little glitter of some type. I grab one and low and behold, it's a chunk of white. Turns out the paintjob that whoever owned this block before me did to the plate was flaking off, and therefore had just ruined my saved loop water. Not a big deal since I had tons of anti-freeze + distilled water left, but it just made more work for me. I take this time to remove a little tubing and swap the inlet/outlet for the rad. I had them backwards before as I thought I was going to have the barbs on the bottom, but I ended up going up top with them.

So after cutting a few lines and swapping the rad lines, I re-attach the tubing onto the CPU block with our lovely new plate, clean everything with some alcohol, and lay the tower on it's side to mount this baby up. I open up the PDF someone linked me to earlier, and assemble the screw parts as instructed (and the nylon parts were little bastards). I go to mount the block and screw it in, and the damn thing like slides/pops off because it wasn't grabbing and I thought it did. So I try again, holding down, same thing. So now I'm gettting a little irritated so I cool down, just pull the block back (which had a nice little AS5 spread) and try to mount the screws into the motherboard without the bracket....works great! Okay, lets try it again with the bracket....again, works fine! So, the problem must be the clearance between the bracket and the plate. So for the 3rd time I line the block up with the holes, holding down and start to screw....again, I'm spinning my own tires and it's not grabbing. I harness the power of my anger, swear at it and push as hard as I can then *poof* it caught. Whew. Repeat for the second screw.

Here she is before her maiden voyage!

The Fixed Rad Barbs!

CPU Block In Place!

I booted her up and she diddn't blow up or rupture, so aye aye captain! I boot up to 38C load temps, and 31C idle. It was obviously lower, but kinda disappointing, but AS5 needs to burn in and there were still plenty of air bubbles in the lines at that time, so I figured it'd lower itself before too long. By the end of the night idle had gotten down to 29C, which was pretty sweet. I spent the rest of the night letting the tubes bleed out the air while I played with my G.Skills. @ 3.1v (3.15v in Windows, 3.2v in BIOS...my board overvolts) I got my sticks up to 244MHz with tightened timings with SuperPI 1M, so they should do DDR500+ with more voltage and some tweaking. I ran outta time since I had a dentist appointment this morning (as I type this, I can't feel half of my mouth and tongue, and when I talk I sound "special").

Today I wake up to 36C load and 28C idle. It's on it's way to where it needs to be, but one problem remained: The grille in my case. If you look in the picture where I show the power plug for the radiator's fan, the built-in fan grille absolutely CHOKES the radiator for air. I figured giving that some breathing room would also improve on temps, so I planned on calling up my grandpa to get some tin snips or something to cut out that damn grille without using a dremmel, so I don't have to disassemble to cut it out (dremmel = shrapnel). After pondering about it, I realised I could use a few more nuts and give the radiator some clearance away from the case to give it some breathing space.

More pics!

Raised Rad!

New Plate Mounted!

After raising her up, I dropped about a degree or so, load went from a wavering 36C to a wavering 35C. I also turned the heat down to 60F in the house, so that might be helping too.

I'll keep everyone updated, I'm hoping the AS5 burns in and dropped another 2-3C off load, so I can shoot for 3GHz.

Full Folding Ahead!