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Watercooling a SG03?

K

Kaldskryke

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
1,346
Preamble:
I like how quiet my P180 is, but it's huge and heavy. If I decide to upgrade to a quad-core system I want to stuff it into a much more portable case, especially now that there are some overclockable mATX motherboards.

The SG03 looks beautiful but I'm concerned about how limited its air-cooling potential is. Has anyone actually set up a system using the NT06 heatsink next to the powersupply fan?

Idea:
Given that the front bracket allows for variable fan positioning, I was thinking perhaps a 120mm^2 radiator would fit in the top half unless the USB/Firewire PCB gets in the way. I can't seem to find any pictures that illustrate just how close that PCB is to the fan.

Also, there seems to be a fair amount of unused space behind the optical drive. Wouldn't another 120mm^2 radiator fit there with a little cutting?
 
I did fit the NT06 in my case after a failed attempt at watercooling using the Swiftech H2O-120 Compact kit. The NT06 setup is quite nice actually. It fits perfectly flush with the PSU, just make sure you have the PSU fan facing inwards to aid with cooling. My system is running at 20 - 25 C Idle (E6750) I have a 2x120 fan setup in the front, Motherboard is Idle at 29 C. GPU (8800GTS) Idle at 55 C and my Raptor is Idling at 49 C. If you find out any other way to watercool I'd like to hear this also. Good luck!
 
I've heard people say theres enough room in the top for a 15/25mm fan (cant remember) and a 25mm radiator. It would be a good way to remove the excess heat that i hears stack up at the top. (Behind the powersupply)
 
SonWolve said:
I did fit the NT06 in my case after a failed attempt at watercooling using the Swiftech H2O-120 Compact kit. The NT06 setup is quite nice actually. It fits perfectly flush with the PSU, just make sure you have the PSU fan facing inwards to aid with cooling. My system is running at 20 - 25 C Idle (E6750) I have a 2x120 fan setup in the front, Motherboard is Idle at 29 C. GPU (8800GTS) Idle at 55 C and my Raptor is Idling at 49 C. If you find out any other way to watercool I'd like to hear this also. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'd really like to hear why the compact kit didn't fit. From looking at a couple pictures from the Hardware Canucks' review of the sg03 it seems there would be enough space.

Even so, your idle temps look pretty decent.
 
Kaldskryke said:
I'd really like to hear why the compact kit didn't fit. From looking at a couple pictures from the Hardware Canucks' review of the sg03 it seems there would be enough space.

Even so, your idle temps look pretty decent.
Click to expand...



The reason I couldn't get it to fit is that the width of the Radiator plus 120 fan protruded in too far from the front of the SG03 case, so much so that the 8800GTS wouldn't fit. Granted I was in a rush and very frustrated since this was my first build in years, and it basically took me all day to put together. Not to say that its impossible, since I was in a rush but I'll probably take a second look at it within the next few days since I want to redo cable management in this thing. Personally I would much rather use the watercooling solution instead of using the PSU fan to cool the CPU. I'm wondering though, how much of a size difference is it between a regular Rad and this one? I might try to grab a normal rad and use the waterblock/pump combo along with that. Not sure...
 
SonWolve said:
The reason I couldn't get it to fit is that the width of the Radiator plus 120 fan protruded in too far from the front of the SG03 case, so much so that the 8800GTS wouldn't fit. Granted I was in a rush and very frustrated since this was my first build in years, and it basically took me all day to put together. Not to say that its impossible, since I was in a rush but I'll probably take a second look at it within the next few days since I want to redo cable management in this thing. Personally I would much rather use the watercooling solution instead of using the PSU fan to cool the CPU. I'm wondering though, how much of a size difference is it between a regular Rad and this one? I might try to grab a normal rad and use the waterblock/pump combo along with that. Not sure...
Click to expand...

I haven't actually watercooled before, but I was under the impression that the swiftech rads were reasonably thin, especially compared to the thermochill series, and probably the BIX ones too. The swiftech rads are 34mm deep, the black ice GT stealth ones are 30mm, and Black Ice Pro are 25mm thick. Of course if you switch to a BIP you then have to find somewhere for a res or t-line.

However, did you try mounting the fan up higher, closer to the optical drive? Or did you leave it in the stock middle-position?
 
Kaldskryke said:
I haven't actually watercooled before, but I was under the impression that the swiftech rads were reasonably thin, especially compared to the thermochill series, and probably the BIX ones too. The swiftech rads are 34mm deep, the black ice GT stealth ones are 30mm, and Black Ice Pro are 25mm thick. Of course if you switch to a BIP you then have to find somewhere for a res or t-line.

However, did you try mounting the fan up higher, closer to the optical drive? Or did you leave it in the stock middle-position?
Click to expand...

I did try mounting it up as high as possible. Still unfortunately the Rad protrudes to close to where the GTS needs to go. I've been adviced that because of the built in res, I had to mount it lower than where a normal rad could be placed. So I'm pretty sure I'm gonna try and grab a normal rad, T Lines that, it should work since I'll be able to mount it a bit higher and that should make the difference. I'm about to take this sucker apart to see if it would actually make a big enough difference. I'll let you know how it goes!



Update: Yea looks like it'll fit, I'll probably try and do a 120 rad and 120 fan under that for cooling the HDD and GPU. Hope it works!
 
SonWolve said:
I did try mounting it up as high as possible. Still unfortunately the Rad protrudes to close to where the GTS needs to go. I've been adviced that because of the built in res, I had to mount it lower than where a normal rad could be placed. So I'm pretty sure I'm gonna try and grab a normal rad, T Lines that, it should work since I'll be able to mount it a bit higher and that should make the difference. I'm about to take this sucker apart to see if it would actually make a big enough difference. I'll let you know how it goes!



Update: Yea looks like it'll fit, I'll probably try and do a 120 rad and 120 fan under that for cooling the HDD and GPU. Hope it works!
Click to expand...

Ah, awesome! let me know how things go!
 
One of the ideas I've been considering for my Next Big Rebuild involves an SG03. The Swiftech H2O-120 Compact's radiator-reservoir attached to the power-supply's 120mm fan. Two 120x25mm fans on the front with a Swiftech QP120 attached to the uppermost one. The two radiators configured in a counter-current heat-exchanger setup, flowing to the PSU-attached radiator and then the front-mounted radiator.

Though I don't think this setup will give me good temps for my 8800GTX "Water Cooled Edition" and whatever CPU I end up using (most likely a Q6600). Temps within spec, sure, but probably not good temps.
 
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