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Watercooled mAtx rig...

I

IAmHard

n00b
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
54
Ok guys got one for you! Bear in mind this will be a budget system as much as possible!!!

I am planning on building my PC into a mAtx cube-style case. With GFX and CPU watercooled. I have most of the components already in my current pc, only need to buy the motherboard, case and cooling....

Current hardware (to put in system)

AM2 X2 6000+
Corsair HX520W psu
2900XT gfx
OCZ Reaper ram 2x1gb (can swap for regular ram if too tall)
1 x pci card for wireless
1 x DVD drive

Motherboard wise - I have heard of a mAtx Sapphire board that supports 125w TDP AM2 cpus - are there any others? Need to have 5+ phase power as I am planning on installing a Phenom quad core at some point :D

Case - Looks like £40 is my max budget for the case (this will be bought first!). Set my sights on this:
A-Plus CS-Blockbuster BAW :confused:
http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/292452/a-plus-cs-blockbuster-baw---black-window-cube---no-psu.html
Bearing in mind I am very DIY-orientated and will be able to fabricate a lot of parts/mods this looks like a case with enough space for everything.

Watercooling - Should I post a Q in the watercooling section? I need a kit that I can modify easily - the radiator will be mounted in the roof of the case (space-permitting) with a fan pulling air through it... do they do 140mm+ radiators+fans??
Hose diameter will be 10mm as I've found this to work in the past...:cool:

At this stage I basically need a lot of feedback/links from other people who have done watercooled SFF pcs... IE which components I should avoid/look out for. Any help with this build will be appreciated, looking to start a blog somewhere for it, does anyone know of a free place I can do this??

Sorry for the essay :rolleyes:

EDIT: just to say, I'm from the UK so product availability is probably different to the US...
 
If you're going to WC, I'd say build the case from scratch. There's probably nowhere in that thing for radiators.
 
There's always room!! :D If there isn't room I will make room, a radiator can be mounted on the top or side with a hole cut into the case somehow. Don't think I'd like to spend ages building case from scratch, would take too long to get everything to fit correctly.

If you look here:
http://www.vesalia.de/e_csblockbusterbaw.htm
in particular this image:
http://www.vesalia.de/pic/csblockbuster2.jpg

It would probably be possible to mount a single 120mm rad where that fan is mounted, and simply mount the fan on the exterior of the case.

I think I'll just buy the case and then see what room I have!
 
Thanks. Swiftech makes an integrated CPU waterblock/pump that will cut down on the size of your loop. I would water cool either the CPU or GPU, not both, as a single 120mm rad will have a hard time dissipating heat from today's components. It would, be at best equal to high-end air cooling. New radiators have come out since I made this rig that fit 120mm dimensions even better.
 
Yea I saw that integrated system, think one of the kits was just two components!! I may in fact do that, but the 2900XT is so noisy when it gets hot.

Looking at the case design, however, I may be able to mount a dual 120mm rad where the top DVD drive should go, and then cut a hole in the top of the case with some more mesh hehe :D Time to buy the case and get the measuring tape out!
 
People have actually put a dual 120 by removing the hard drive rail and remounting the hard drive in the 3.5" or 5.1/4" bay and then meshing both side panels.
 
Oh right, that looks like a better way of doing things! Great to know people out there are as crazy as me :D
 
You can also stick a dual 80mm rad in front. With holes cut underneath the case, it sucks cool air from below the case and keeps the stock look. I'm doing what Massive did, plus the dual 80mm. The biggest downside is it blocks graphics cards that are longer than the board, unless you are using the LanParty Jr and mount it to the right.

I'm using the same pump, but have it suspended by bungee, facing the drive bays on the right side
 
Ok, but will a dual 80mm be enough for a CPU & GPU loop? I've ordered the case so that should come this week hopefully, then I can set about measuring stuff.

Not sure what mobo yet - need to find all my options (125w TDP CPU can fry mobos with insufficient cpu power circuits).

I also found a reservoir and pump that mounts in a drive bay so I might do that to make things easier when it comes to filling etc..
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-007-XS
as this is a budget system things have to be cheap and cheerful, not always good with watercooling. I don't aim to overclock much (if at all) so I'll be happy if it's on a par with high-end air cooling.
 
A dual 80 will not be enough cooling for what you are proposing. Look into Magicool's offerings as they have radiator sizes not offered by others. I have a couple of Swiftech's version of that pump/res. Mine work very well.
 
Yea thought so, dual 120 it is then. Cheers for the help thus far, helped make a few decisions! That pump/res - will 200lph be enough for the loop?

I've found a slimline radiator, 30mm depth x 240mm, as well as slimline fans so this may help depending on where I choose to mount it.
 
A dual anything wouldn't be enough for a CPU/GPU loop, unless you run stock. A dual core might be okay... My loop has the dual 80mm (193 x 82 x 46mm) in front and 120x61mm in rear and I am only cooling the CPU. The single 120 alone has more surface area than a dual slimline and temps still get warmish. Obviously less CFMs reaching the fins, but you get the idea…
 
Oh right I am obviously out of the loop so to speak!!! :D

Sounds like this rig will need a lot of thought. My w/c experience has only been CPU only so far so this is all new to me...! So a dual 120 + single 120 might just be enough? Should fit the case with a bit of butchering. That pump/res wouldn't cut it though, that much I do know, would need two of them! But then where do I put my DVD drive?!!
 
Heh, well it’s nothing I would rush into… Take your time and scope it out.

If I had to do it again, I might have run the graphics on the dual 80mm loop and the CPU on a dual 120mm or single 120mm rad loop. There are also tops that let you run dual Laing DDC+ pumps, but that gets expensive. But Cathar showed that as long as you are above .5GPM, you really don’t need any more pumping power.

Honestly the fan noise of the graphics card only gets loud when you are gaming and the sound normally drowns it out.
 
Yea I think running the dual 120mm will be enough as I will probably just run stock speeds. I've had my fun overclocking (good old opteron days!). The pump will probably just about work for the system, as stock temps shouldnt push the loop...

@ Extreme Techinist, that's crazy!!
 
Does anyone know if the Asus M3A78-EM is a good board? I was originally thinking of going crossfire but I think that would be pushing it a bit!

On the Asus website it says it supports up to 140W cpus, so if I upgrade to a Phenom it should be able to handle it...
 
Ok so I've spent a while looking at stuff available in the UK and it's not as good a selection as on FrozenCPU, so a friend is bringing the stuff back on the plane as he's in USA atm...

Here's what I have in mind:
Untitled-1-1.jpg

The dual rads will probably be connected to a T then to the fill port or something like that. I keep thinking that they will be overkill, but it will give me headroom for a 4870X2 or something hehe
Any comments? (I already have a GPU full cover block)

Still haven't chosen a board, I keep getting sidetracked reading the Rogue project with an ATX board that stuart has done, it looks immense and has given me a lot of inspiration! Even though the amount of hardware crammed in is obscene haha
 
The phenom capable uATX board getting all the cudos has been the Gigabyte
GA-MA78GM-S2H. It has onboard graphics(with on board dedicated memory) with HDMI that will handle anything other than heavy 3d gaming. The onboard card is apparently simmilar to the Radeon HD2400PRo. the internal GPU is also crossfire capable, so if you're running vista you can use it to give any ATI card a bit of boost.

Having said that, I just bought the phenom uATX Asus M3A78-EM for my HTPC build. It's only just come out so any reviews or feedback is hard to find, but I couldn't resist the Express Gate option and took the plunge. My case is on back order so the build wont happen until the end of Sept.

Good Luck!

MSC
 
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