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Water Cooling Questions, please help.

M

meauounji

n00b
Joined
Oct 16, 2004
Messages
49
hi guys, I got a few questions I need some help with.

I'm on the verge of building a new system, it's been a long time since the last one and I'm strongly considering watercooling as the way to go. Now, the important thing to note here is that I'm going with watercooling for SILENCE, so no triple super high speed 120mm fans or anything. I was planning on cooling just about everything that needs active cooling with water, so here's what I've sort of come up with

First, a couple of parameters

The overall goal is SILENCE, I don't really plan on overclocking with it. If I can get good aircooling performance for a lot less noise then I'm happy.

Yes looks matter, I'm trying to shoot for black/silver/clear (been there, done that, I know, but effective, nontheless)

No I don't have a budget (seriously)

Here's what I was thinking

cpu - Dangerden Silver TDX - I'm pretty set on this one, that thing's cool ;P

chipset - Dangerden maze 4 - open to suggestions since performance doesn't matter that much, if someone knows of a silver/black chipset cooler, I'm all for it

video - Dangerden nv6800 cooler - Outrageous? yeah. Super cool? yeah. Open to suggestions? yeah, if someone's got a better idea. BTW, does anyone know how well BFG waterblocks (the ones that comes on BFG video cards) compare to some of the other ones. I was thinking about just getting the 6800 OC with water block just to make life simple.

HD - okay, here's the jiffy. I know from reviews that the asetek one works, but I'd like to avoid it because, 1) it's copper, (I'm trying to go black and silver remember?) and more importantly, 2) it's got those push-in-and-pull-plastic-barbs or whatever they're called. I think they're ugly as sin and I just plain feel insecure about their ability to seal properly. I don't care how good they actually are, I don't like them. Call me paranoid. My other option is go with Koolance's HD-40-H06, you can see what it looks like here.
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/koo-03.html
I'm using 15k rpm (scsi) drives so I guess cooling is necessary, but I'm trying to avoid putting fans in the case as much as I can. (I HAVE come to the realization that there will have to be at least the radiator fan and 1 or two power supply fans. Fanless power supplies don't have enough wattage for the 6800 it seems. speaking of which, know any good and quiet power supplies?)

Okay, that's about all, I think, other than that, I'm pretty clear on what I want/need to do. oing with 1/2" dimension tubings & fittings (ID/OD, respectively), dangerden d4 pump, BlackIce Pro (since I'm going with quiet, I should be going pro instead of extreme, correct?) I THINK that's it. Any comments or suggestions, are WELCOME!

Thanks!
 
i remeber doing WC a while back. be prepared for some maintainance. i was not up for it so i too the system out. i know that things are better now but hold no illusions that this is as care free as air. be sure that this is what you want and are ready for it.
 
No I have not considered it. But seeing as it appears to be an external solution (not what I'm trying to do) for just about everyone except for those with a full tower, (it is quite tall, almost 2 feet, according to the spec sheet) I'm opting out of the reserater. Thanks for the suggestion, though. Speaking of maintenance, is it true that a watercooling system needs refilling everynow and then? I *heard* it some where, but have never been able to find another source that confirms nor deny it.
 
Here's what I'd recommend, having gone through much the same idea a year and a half ago.

1. Lining. No junk foam, no Akasa Paxmate. Pick up some AcoustiPak, and line the case with it, wherever you can. Helps VERY much with sound/vibration. It's part of the reason why my Eheim 1250 is silent from anything beyond 1 foot away with the case open.

2. PSU - I like the Enermax 465 PSU I had, mostly because it had a fan speed control on the rear (I'm not a huge fan of the auto temp controlled jobs). My current PSU was kinda loud, so I just ripped out the old fans and popped in some Panaflo L1a (these are your FRIEND!).

3. Heatercore. I use the Pro Heatercore from DD with a Panaflo 120mm L1A that's hooked in to a fanbus. Cranked all the way up it's barely audible with the case open. Cranked all the way down it's near silent.....cooling a P4 2.66 and a Radeon 9700 Pro AIW I get CPU temps of 42C idle and 46C load (read from the notoriously high reading Abit IT7 temp sensors), with a case temp of 36-38C. IE - it works, no need for anything psychotically fancy. Also considered to be a better alternative to the BIs....

4. I've come across more than one report both here and at ProCooling that the DD NV68 block can be somewhat restrictive on flow. You MIGHT want to consider an alternative (I'm going with the adapter to use my current MCW50 waterblock on my new BFG 6800GT)....just a thought.

5. Speaking of restrictions....if you're not going to OC, then I'd recommend skipping the chipset block. You'd be putting additional restriction and additional heat (albeit not much), not to mention addition cost, for pretty much zero return. If your Mobo has a fan based chipset cooler, look into an aftermarket sink.....

6. Hard Drive.....THAT is a toughy. I looked for a while for a good 1/2" ID HD setup, but never found anything to suit my needs. I ended up using a SmartDrive 2002 for my WD Raptor 36 gig 10k rpm drive....granted I would not call it 'cooling' by any stretch of the imagination (averages about 3-5C warmer than a bare mounted drive....max temp I've seen
on it was 42C when the ambient temp was about 90F in the room)....it makes the drive nearly silent. From more than 3 feet away it is inaudible with the case open, and even close to the case you only hear it when it's actively seeking.

Refilling? In about a year and a half, I've needed to add only a little more than half a cupful to my system.......with the right additives you shouldn't have much issue (went with a cap of water wetter and some drops of iodine...zero buildup, zero algae, zero discoloration).

That's pretty much what I can come up with off the top of my head. Another thing you want to consider, for silence, is what pump you go with and where/how you plan to mount it....
 
whoami? said:
Here's what I'd recommend, having gone through much the same idea a year and a half ago.

3. Heatercore. I use the Pro Heatercore from DD with a Panaflo 120mm L1A that's hooked in to a fanbus. Cranked all the way up it's barely audible with the case open. Cranked all the way down it's near silent.....cooling a P4 2.66 and a Radeon 9700 Pro AIW I get CPU temps of 42C idle and 46C load (read from the notoriously high reading Abit IT7 temp sensors), with a case temp of 36-38C. IE - it works, no need for anything psychotically fancy. Also considered to be a better alternative to the BIs....
Click to expand...

I disagree on the heater core. Why spend so much money, when all it is is a heater core, literally!

Go to Autozone or your local car parts store and buy a new (not rebuilt) heater core. Be nice and they will let you pick through their selection in back. I used two heater cores with no fans on my 226W setup with no problems. Two heater cores would allow you to not use a fan (more silence).
 
whoami? said:
1. Lining. No junk foam, no Akasa Paxmate. Pick up some AcoustiPak, and line the case with it, wherever you can. Helps VERY much with sound/vibration. It's part of the reason why my Eheim 1250 is silent from anything beyond 1 foot away with the case open.
Click to expand...


Where did you get this AcoustiPak? When I search on it all I get is microphone pre-amps? :D
 
Thanks for the suggestions whoami, I was actually planning on picking up some soundproofing material, and was actually a little bit confused on what to get. As far as the GPU block goes, I wasn't going to use swiftech for the same reason I wasn't going to use asetek, those thoroughly hideous blocks and barbs (looks matter, remember?). I think I have finally decided on koolance(!) And the reason I say that is because it comes ON the BFG OC cards. I did some research and found that that's the block BFG tech uses. There, it overclocks, and it does it high and it does it stable, end of story. If I want it to be a different color I can take it out and paint the plastic (or so it appears) top. As far as the chipset goes, yeah, you maybe right. I'm doing an athlon FX for my cpu, and I don't think the NB even generates enough heat to need an active cooler. I was just gonna get it because it's cool ;P

rgatright, did you really? use no fans on a dual radiator with good results, I mean. When you say two heater cores, do you mean two that fits 1 120mm each or 2 that fits 2 120 each? (that's a lot of heater core!) Could you talk some numbers to me, relative to air cooling I mean. If possible, I'd really like to see how nofan watercooling compares to conventional air cooling. No noise is a good noise.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!
 
FYI
this is probably helpful information, but I'm planning to put all this in a lian-li v1200. NOT THE V1000! The 1200 is significantly deeper and has room for a modular power supply such as antec's or ultra's, as well as a full sized atx board (the one bigger than the standard 12x9, whatever it is, 12x11 or something) Other than that, it's generally the same case

thanks!
 
Wolf-R1 said:
Where did you get this AcoustiPak? When I search on it all I get is microphone pre-amps? :D
Click to expand...

My bad.....should be AcoustiPack. You can find it here....
http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showp...057122&st3=42318493&CATID=6&ObjectGroup_ID=15

It IS a touch expensive.....but it works, and very well at that. They've got pre-cut kits for two
Antec cases, and one of their own, as well as a normal and deluxe kit.

meauounji said:
Thanks for the suggestions whoami, I was actually planning on picking up some soundproofing material, and was actually a little bit confused on what to get. As far as the GPU block goes, I wasn't going to use swiftech for the same reason I wasn't going to use asetek, those thoroughly hideous blocks and barbs (looks matter, remember?). I think I have finally decided on koolance(!) And the reason I say that is because it comes ON the BFG OC cards. I did some research and found that that's the block BFG tech uses. There, it overclocks, and it does it high and it does it stable, end of story. If I want it to be a different color I can take it out and paint the plastic (or so it appears) top. As far as the chipset goes, yeah, you maybe right. I'm doing an athlon FX for my cpu, and I don't think the NB even generates enough heat to need an active cooler. I was just gonna get it because it's cool ;P
Click to expand...

No problem...just glad I could offer some assistance. Hrm....I wasn't aware they had the Koolance in a 1/2" ID system (unless you're looking to do 3/8" ID/ 1/2" OD).....but hey, just so long as you've got everything lined up right and it works, that's what counts. And believe me I know how the look thing goes. I opted for the Zalman MFC1 fan control unit instead of something much cheaper because it fit my case scheme.....
 
whoami? said:
4. I've come across more than one report both here and at ProCooling that the DD NV68 block can be somewhat restrictive on flow. You MIGHT want to consider an alternative (I'm going with the adapter to use my current MCW50 waterblock on my new BFG 6800GT)....just a thought.

5. Speaking of restrictions....if you're not going to OC, then I'd recommend skipping the chipset block. You'd be putting additional restriction and additional heat (albeit not much), not to mention addition cost, for pretty much zero return. If your Mobo has a fan based chipset cooler, look into an aftermarket sink.....
Click to expand...

I've actually read that getting a good GPU cooler without any ramsinks actually cools better than the DD.... who knows though. I've never read an actual test that compares them though. I will say that the x800 cards don't cool the ram. Makes me think...

And most people will agree that cooling the chipset will only allow you to over-clock your PC by ~10mhz, which isn't much. You can get a good passive chipset cooler from Zalman that will work as well as long as you have a little airflow through your case. Plus it wont restrict the flow of your water cooling system.
 
video - Dangerden nv6800 cooler - Outrageous? yeah. Super cool? yeah. Open to suggestions? yeah, if someone's got a better idea. BTW, does anyone know how well BFG waterblocks (the ones that comes on BFG video cards) compare to some of the other ones. I was thinking about just getting the 6800 OC with water block just to make life simple.
Click to expand...
Although they might look cool as hell its a expensive block... also, one day the 6800 will be outdated and you wont be able to use the expensive block made specifically for the 6800. I would stick to a vga block unless you have deep pockets and money to burn. I do think they look phat but they are just so expensive! :D
 
have you thought of buying polarflo tt? I got one and love it. They have one in silver/black or even chrome if you have mucho denero! They look very nice and are well crafted as well as upgradable.
 
Okay okay, so the dd 6800 block is a bad idea. I decided to go with the BFGtech with waterblack anyway so that's moot. Boy, it seemed like such a good idea at the time :cool:

Actually Krazy, I have considered polarflo, I don't really know what happened to make me not want it... can't think of one now, I'll check it out again.

By the way, ya'll think it'd be okay to have a passive NB sink without or very little air going across it? There wouldn't be any fan in front of it in a v1200 (the front fan is isolated for the HD rack only) So the only thing pulling air across it would be the radiator fan. And I'm not even sure if that's gonna be there if SOMEONE *Cough*rgatright*Cough* returns with some much much MUCH appreciated commentary on fanless radiators. ;)

PS, whoamI. Yes, I was referring to 3/8 ID 1/2 OD, sorry for the confusion.
 
I'm putting a water cooled rig in a 1200 as well. Hopefully I will put it together tomorrow. I have test fit all my parts and leak tested them, and I found the best place to have the radiator was down in the front of the case. I took a drill and drilled out the rivets holding the front hard drive cage in, and if I ever change my mind I can out it back in.
 
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