WC'ing nublet, take 2!

movax · May 9, 2007

This is my first attempt at WC'ing; the initial post got wiped out because the forums logged me out while typing ><

Anywhooo, I've got my greedy paws on a DD 4104 kit:

D5 Pump
TDX Block
BI Xtreme rad
1/2" Tygon
Fillport Res

Installed in a P180B Rev. 0 (launch variant) on a P5N32-E SLI plus, cooling a E6420, possibly the chipset, I don't know yet.

Main question so far is: Radiator mounting and fan configuration. I've looked at a lot of the P180 WC threads here and I've seen a lot of different setups...radiator outside case, with fans pulling and pushing, rad inside case with a fan outside case pulling, rad inside case with a fan pulling, rad inside case with a fan pushing, etc. What type of configuration works "best" in this case? Not to mention the question of mounting the fan to the radiator in some situations, looks like I'll have to make a trip to Ace to pick up some longer screws in order to mount a Yate Loon instead of the included Harrier-Sunon fan. (Or maybe fan control it, dunno.). Should I look into getting a monstrous radiator or will the singel Xtreme do a pretty good job of keeping my C2D cool. (Right now its only ~55 or so on stock cooling, with a small OC to 3.2GHz).

Any suggestions, advice, or personal expierience with mentioned parts or P180 greatly appreciated.

Also, slightly off-topic, is there a place that'll sell me a bunch of PC screws in various sizes for cheap? Every goddamn time I work on a PC I end up with less screws than I started with. It's a twisted law of nature. Fan mounting screws, expansion slot fastening flanged screws, mobo screws, the usual suspects are what I mean of course. Looking for a grab-bag of the suckas for a few bucks.

Arcygenical · May 9, 2007

2 yate loon fans on that BIX will be more than enough to cool a single C2D clocked up to 3.5ghz @ 1.4v. Get some 1.25" long 6-32 screws from home depot or something, to attach them to both sides of the radiator. The BIX is NOT good with a single yate!

Any more than that and you risk heat saturation.

Mount the rad wherever you can, pulling cool air through it is really beneficial... Might I suggest mounting it at the back (pulling air in) which is then exhausted out the top? Mounting it in the HD fan area won't allow for enough airflow... and you'll overheat quickly.

As for the screw thing.. Performance-pcs sells a small kit of useful screws... I believe by ultra?

movax · May 9, 2007

Oh whoops, yeah, I was planning on mounting the rad to the back of the case, I don't really want to do a lot of cutting/uber modding (I don't have the tools handy).

So a Yate mounted on the outside pulling air in to the rad with another yate pulling air and then a fan on top eh? Seems like putting two fans + BIX would be a pretty thick (4"+) thing to mount fully internal, though then again, there isn't a huge HSF unit to get in the way.

I'm assuming you mean mounting the radiator inside the case, or cutting tubing holes and keeping it outside? I assume that you always want the radiator to be mounted with the barbs at the top.

Arcygenical · May 10, 2007

The radiator barbs can be mounted in any orientation... Inside or outside of the case, doesn't really matter.

And yes, a BIX is thick, and it will be about 90mm thick with 2 fans... Make sure you cut out the stamped back fan grill to get as much airflow as you can!

Alternatively, you can use a single higher-speed yate loon fan (the high one rated for 40db @ 80cfm) and undervolt it a tiny bit... 8v on them is about 34dba @ 65cfm IIRC.

Ranker · May 10, 2007

movax said:
This is my first attempt at WC'ing; the initial post got wiped out because the forums logged me out while typing ><

Anywhooo, I've got my greedy paws on a DD 4104 kit:

D5 Pump
TDX Block
BI Xtreme rad
1/2" Tygon
Fillport Res

Installed in a P180B Rev. 0 (launch variant) on a P5N32-E SLI plus, cooling a E6420, possibly the chipset, I don't know yet.

Main question so far is: Radiator mounting and fan configuration. I've looked at a lot of the P180 WC threads here and I've seen a lot of different setups...radiator outside case, with fans pulling and pushing, rad inside case with a fan outside case pulling, rad inside case with a fan pulling, rad inside case with a fan pushing, etc. What type of configuration works "best" in this case? Not to mention the question of mounting the fan to the radiator in some situations, looks like I'll have to make a trip to Ace to pick up some longer screws in order to mount a Yate Loon instead of the included Harrier-Sunon fan. (Or maybe fan control it, dunno.). Should I look into getting a monstrous radiator or will the singel Xtreme do a pretty good job of keeping my C2D cool. (Right now its only ~55 or so on stock cooling, with a small OC to 3.2GHz).

Any suggestions, advice, or personal expierience with mentioned parts or P180 greatly appreciated.

Also, slightly off-topic, is there a place that'll sell me a bunch of PC screws in various sizes for cheap? Every goddamn time I work on a PC I end up with less screws than I started with. It's a twisted law of nature. Fan mounting screws, expansion slot fastening flanged screws, mobo screws, the usual suspects are what I mean of course. Looking for a grab-bag of the suckas for a few bucks.

Head to XS forums and do a search in the watercooling section. The P180 was recently dissected for optimum performance by a large amount of the community.

movax · May 10, 2007

Ah thanks for the tips guys.

I'm assuming the insanely high CFM Sunon that came with the rad would probably be plenty enough for a single fan setup, but I'll try and get two fans setup pulling/pushing air in/out of the case. (Will do more research/look at that XS thread to see what works well for me).

Now all I need is for DD to send me those missing parts so I can get the loop at least setup for leaktesting. I'm planning on going out later and picking up the screws as well as some kind of tool to properly cut the tubing.

Russ · May 10, 2007

Getting a Yate anyway would probably be a good investment. There's a reason everone recommends them, the CFM : Decibel ratio is very good on them.

movax · May 11, 2007

Yep, I dug up two spare Loons from the hueg pile I ordered from Jab-Tech when they were on sale.

Still somewhat eagerly waiting for the missing barb & fillport to show up so I can get started. So far I've only used my shiny new C2D for like five hours.

@Ranker, I didn' see any "uber" P18x thread, got a direct link from XS?

Ranker · May 11, 2007

movax · May 13, 2007

Mucho thanks Ranker!

Began cutting up/putting parts inside my P180 from the 900, now just waiting on the missing parts still from DD ><. At least I've got temps = ambient right now with the stock intel cooler.

movax · May 17, 2007

Alright, got it all installed/hanging around an empty case right, it's jsut waitign for coolant! Right now it's

Pump->CPU->Rad->Pump/T-Splice to fill port. Few questions...

1. Good to have the T-splice at the highest point in the loop, right? Right now its kinda hanging low, but I did leave a bunch of working room in terms of tubing length.

2. Coolant. I've heard good things about 90% Distilled/10% Pentosin/Antifreeze? or similar. I also have some MCT5 I got with the kit, dunno how well that does. And does food coloring / dyes affect the cooling properties of the water by a noticeable amount? I can only assume since I'm basically mixing anti-freeze in there it's going to be somewhat blue anyways.

Arcygenical · May 17, 2007

1. Good to have the T-splice at the highest point in the loop, right? Right now its kinda hanging low, but I did leave a bunch of working room in terms of tubing length.

2. Coolant. I've heard good things about 90% Distilled/10% Pentosin/Antifreeze? or similar. I also have some MCT5 I got with the kit, dunno how well that does. And does food coloring / dyes affect the cooling properties of the water by a noticeable amount? I can only assume since I'm basically mixing anti-freeze in there it's going to be somewhat blue anyways.

1) that's right. It should be ok if it's not the highest point of the loop, but it might take longer to bleed.

2) 90/10 is a good starting mixture. If you have all copper/brass in your loop 5/95 is a better solution... The more antifreeze the higher your temps will be (1-2c at most). Don't use food colouring. I used it once (bright orange was wicked) but it all gunked up in my rad and the water eventually went clear.

90/10 is bluer than 95/5 but it's up to you what's more important. Temperatures or colour. Get a good Dtek dye if you want UV or visible light colour.

Ranker · May 17, 2007

movax said:
Alright, got it all installed/hanging around an empty case right, it's jsut waitign for coolant! Right now it's

Pump->CPU->Rad->Pump/T-Splice to fill port. Few questions...

1. Good to have the T-splice at the highest point in the loop, right? Right now its kinda hanging low, but I did leave a bunch of working room in terms of tubing length.

2. Coolant. I've heard good things about 90% Distilled/10% Pentosin/Antifreeze? or similar. I also have some MCT5 I got with the kit, dunno how well that does. And does food coloring / dyes affect the cooling properties of the water by a noticeable amount? I can only assume since I'm basically mixing anti-freeze in there it's going to be somewhat blue anyways.

The T-line's vertical tube should be flexible enough so you can manipulate it to be the highest point of the loop. Even if you can't do that, just turn your computer upside down.

Just use Distilled water, Pentosin, and a few drops of UV dye by either D-Tek or Alphacool. Those are the only dye's that I've used that haven't separated or ate at my tubing.

movax · May 17, 2007

Yeah, I don't think I can wait any longer, heh. I could always add Dye later, but who's gonna see it inside the case anyways.

Now the question I've got for you two is the exact definition of "bleeding" or whatnot, and the prefered/easy way to fill up a completely empty loop. From DD's instruct. videos, its looks like you feed as much as you can into the loop, run the pump a bit, and repeat...can you give me a quick howto?

movax · May 19, 2007

Well, she's up and running. The TDX mounting blows; first boot was like 50C in BIOS, recorrecting the screws and tightening dropped that to ~22C.

There's still some bubbles and some stuff in the T-Line, but if I understand correctly, my T-Line is really just a reservoir? I've left the fillport open again overnight to see if more air will bleed out.

I think I could have done better on the coolant, its a very very lame green color, but since no one is going to see it, meh. I don't know how well 90/10 distiller water + pentosin-clone antifreeze/coolant will work in the long run.

Temps are pretty good considering its summer; it idles at 25C @ 2.9GHz (E6420) sitting in Linux doing nothing, and ambient is around 78, 79F or so, so I'm pretty damn happy with it so far.

Future upgrades if any when I get more cash would probably be:

A case more suited for WC'ing, especially a painless PA120.3 mounting. I"ve heard good things.
PA120.3 radiator, seems like it could handle both CPU and a GPU easily (7300 is feeling weak, its fan is annoying, perfect excuse)
I need more tubing anyways, that translucent silver Tygon looks hawt stuff.
Coupling the above with real Pentosin blue shtuff, blue is cool.

I'll post some pics later, but honestly, I'm not too proud of the innards of the case, I think I cut a lot of the tubing waay too long, and about 20 minutes into wire management, I just said "fuck it" since I was going to get nowhere without a Dremel.

The only "problem" of this setup: very very warm mobo. It's a 650i which makes it all the worse. The tubing is really killing the airflow (I replace both of the intakes with Antec's on medium instead of my undervolted YL's), but I might be able to lower the temps 1C-2C more by removing the metal grills at the front of the case, and maybe by managing the tubing better. The board was at 36C in BIOS, not so good. I don't think my RAM is doing too well either. (right now, the rear fan is where the radiator is, mounting outside the case. So it's fan pushing -> rad -> case -> fan pulling, and the top fan is the sole exhaust. I don't know TBH...it's rather loud too with all those fans in there, but Noctuas are so goddamn expensive.

Ranker · May 19, 2007

It's a good start. In the future invest in the PA120.3 and either a D-Tek Fuzion or a GTX.

If money isn't a problem, look into the mountain mods UFO cases. I'll never go back to regular cases after having splurged on one.

If cubes aren't your style, then either a Silverstone TJ07 or a Lian Li G70 are probably the best watercooling friendly 'normal' tower cases.

movax · May 21, 2007

Yeah, I'm hoping for the cash for that stuff soon.

I actually took apart the case again and re-ran all the wiring...took awhile, but man, does it look purty. There are almost no wires in sight, just the tubing everywhere.

Another flaw I've seen so far, partly because of the motherboard choice, is the fact that the NB is fucking baking in there. I know Kyle said it ran hot in the review of the P5N32-E, but at idle of my current max stable OC, the CPU is ~ 30C (hot ambient :<), but the chassis sensor is roasting at 41 or so.

Which WB should I look at getting for my P5N? DD's site mentioned something about using the A8N block because Asus's stuff is different.

Ranker · May 21, 2007

I'd avoid DD's chipset blocks. I have a few myself but the Acrylic is prone to cracking.

I'd suggest using Swiftech's MCW30's if you want something that is high flow, low restriction (important for single loops) and is guaranteed to be compatible with future boards. Swiftech is the only company that keeps releasing new mounting kits for new generations of mobo.

If you want slightly better performance and looks, then get the EK blocks for the 680i.

WC'ing nublet, take 2!

movax

2[H]4U

Arcygenical

Fully [H]

movax

2[H]4U

Arcygenical

Fully [H]

Ranker

Gawd

movax

2[H]4U

Russ

[H]ard|Gawd

movax

2[H]4U

Ranker

Gawd

movax

2[H]4U

movax

2[H]4U

Arcygenical

Fully [H]

Ranker

Gawd

movax

2[H]4U

movax

2[H]4U

Ranker

Gawd

movax

2[H]4U

Ranker

Gawd