how to water cool?

[intergalacticman]

ive been looking into water cooling and it seems cool
whats the price range and what do parts do you need and what do they do?

[Airbozo]

At a minimum you need;
A pump
A reservoir
A water block (one each for everything you want to cool starting with the CPU)
Tubing
Flow indicator (not absolutely necessary, but a good safety device)
Treated liquid (at least purified water, but better to use specifically formulated liquid)
Connectors
Radiator and fan

Optional; other water blocks for, GPU, North bridge chip, RAM, HD's, Office chair. Quick disconnect connectors, uv reactive liquid for the cool look!

[Zephik]

At a minimum you need;
A pump
A reservoir
A water block (one each for everything you want to cool starting with the CPU)
Tubing
Flow indicator (not absolutely necessary, but a good safety device)
Treated liquid (at least purified water, but better to use specifically formulated liquid)
Connectors
Radiator and fan

Optional; other water blocks for, GPU, North bridge chip, RAM, HD's, Office chair. Quick disconnect connectors, uv reactive liquid for the cool look!

...and everything inbetween. Such as clamps! You will want some good clamps for sure. Can't have your tubes popping off! ^^

blah blah blah... Ctrl + V.


Enjoy! ...heh heh :devious:

http://wiki.extremeoverclocking.com/wiki/Water_Cooling
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/guides/watercooling_setup_pt1/index.shtml
http://www.wc101.com/guides/installguide/
http://www.spodesabode.com/content/article/watercool
http://www.overclock.net/overclock.php?file=articles/water-cooling-guide.htm
http://www.xoxide.com/water-cooling.html
http://www.techimo.com/articles/i221.html
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54331
http://www.overclockers.com/tips505/
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=71321
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/06/09/diy_water_cooling_101/

What? You thought I was going to spend 5 hours explaining to you in microscopic detail about water cooling? HA! You wish my friend, you wish. :)

-SnowFire


Please mention companies I haven't thought of.

AngelEye (http://www.angeleyeusa.com/)
Aquacomputer (http://www.aquacomputer.de/e_index.htm)
Asetek (http://www.asetek.com/)
CoolerMaster (http://www.coolermaster.com/)
Corsair (http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/COOL_water.html)
DangerDen (http://www.dangerden.com/)
Eheim (http://www.eheim.com/) (Aquarium pumps)
Evercool (http://www.evercool.com.tw/)
Gemini (http://www.geminicool.com/)
Glacial (Mitron (http://www.mitron.com.tw/) \ Noise Isolator (http://www.noiseisolator.com/liquid_cooling.html))
Global WIN (http://www.globalwin.com.tw/)
Hydor (http://www.hydor.it/default.htm) (Aquarium pumps)
Innovatek (http://www.innovatek.de/)
Kingwin (http://www.kingwin.com/pdut_detail.asp?LineID=&CateID=31&ID=187)
Koolance (http://www.koolance.com/)
Little River Waterblocks (http://www.employees.org/%7Eslf/lrwb/)
NextCool (http://www.nextcool.com/)
PolarFlo (http://www.polarflo.com/)
Silverprop (http://www.silverprop.com/)
Swiftech (http://www.swiftnets.com/)
Thermochill (http://www.thermochill.com/)
Thermaltake (http://www.thermaltake.com/)
Titan (http://www.titan-cd.com/english/A04.asp)
Zalman (http://www.zalmantech.com/)

That should set you on the right path for now. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask! ...Because I know you will anyways. :)

-SnowFire

[Airbozo]

Yes CLAMPS! forgot that most important device to hold the water back...

The reserator is a nice product if you have room outside your case. It is nice and quiet!

[Zephik]

The Thermaltake Symphony *Mini* is supposed to be pretty good from what I have read around on the pro review websites. There is a very small difference between the Symphony and the Symphony mini cooling wise. The Zalman externals are pretty good from what I have read as well, most likely better than Thermaltake external kits, I just don't fancy the way they look.

If you want the best of the best. Build it yourself. DangerDen is a great website for building water kits yourself. ArcticMod.com has some very nice unique water cooling products if you are looking to put in that extra bit o cash for that extra bit o zip zam zow. I've have been told that ArcticMod's hyper web tubing is some pretty top notch stuff.

This is my Price Guide for buying premade kits. This is all *my* opinion mind you.

$60-$130 - It looks cool ...thats about it for the most part. Usually lacks "expandability". Which is fine if you are only looking to cool a CPU and/or a GPU at a good Zalman FAN level. Risk of breaking down is moderately high. Read PLENTY of reviews on the product and don't be fooled by those who are easily fooled themselves. I mean by that is "noobs" who think they know what they are talking about but really don't. A decent way to avoid this is by reading reviews that have HIGH (10-30+) "was this review helpful to you?" scores such as on newegg.

$130-$230 - Cools better than a good air system. Usually has good "expandability" options. Pretty low risk of breaking down. This is the price range that you SHOULD be looking at if want "better than air" cooling but don't want to fork out a bunch of cash.

230+ - Usually considered to be the "extreme" of the cooling world. If you want the best of the best, this is where you should be in your shopping cart. High expandability, low risk of breaking down, durable material, low chance of disappointment ...and so on. You pay for what you get, when you pay in this price range, well you get what you pay for!

Water cooling isn't for the "faint of heart", Not everyone can do it. imo. But with a good bit o research, just about anyone can learn and be on their way to a whole new world of cooling.

-SnowFire

[Airbozo]

What ^^ HE ^^ said... (nice writeup SnowFire)

Only thing I would add is that I found the water cooling install to be medium in complexity, but to actually make it look good was a nasty! dog! in heat!

One of the best watercooling installs I have seen, the modder used copper pipe, bent precisely where it needed to go. Anyone know the name? link?

[Zephik]

What ^^ HE ^^ said... (nice writeup SnowFire)

Thanks! :)


Only thing I would add is that I found the water cooling install to be medium in complexity, but to actually make it look good was a nasty! dog! in heat!

tru-dat. The install can be a major pain for "new to water cooling" people. That is one thing I like !A LOT! with the Thermaltake Symphony series. ...or any Thermaltake kit for that matter. They are UBER simple to install. It's almost ridiculous.


One of the best watercooling installs I have seen, the modder used copper pipe, bent precisely where it needed to go. Anyone know the name? link?

I know what you are talking about, but dangit, I can't remember either! It's here somewhere on the forums, I would say from around a week to a month ago? Maybe a bit longer. But he had an awesome setup. It was like bathroom plumbing, but inside of a computer. lol I, of course, mean that in a good way. ^^

I bet those copper tubes would act like miniature radiators if you had fans blowing on them?

That reminds me, you can buy small radiators to go inbetween spots in your tubes. MDCS had some but I don't believe it worked out for her as they, even though are not as big as a true radiator, are still pretty big and she didn't have the room for it. LINK (http://www.xoxide.com/northwater-xtreme-xchanger-sm2tone.html)

-SnowFire

[slytherock]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Airbozo View Post
One of the best watercooling installs I have seen, the modder used copper pipe, bent precisely where it needed to go. Anyone know the name? link?
I know what you are talking about, but dangit, I can't remember either! It's here somewhere on the forums, I would say from around two weeks to a month ago? Maybe a bit longer. But he had an awesome setup. It was like bathroom plumbing, but inside of a computer. lol I, of course, mean that in a good way. ^^
It was last week, but I cant remember either :/

For a simple WC that cool only the CPU, the reservoir is optional, better, but optional.

The choice of your WC system depend on your own use:
Do you want:
1- A good OC (Big bucks)
2- Great look (depends)
3- Just able to say : Hey I'm watercooled (can spend less then 100$)
4- Complete Silence (big bucks and maybe more)

I'm still saving money ;)

[Omega]

Well keep in mind -- if you spend less than 100$ or so on a WCing setup, it'll have mediocre performance, and that's not good =/

It isn't always big bucks to silence your setup and not always big bucks to OC it too. I've OC'd my AMD Athlon 64 3200+ S754 Newcastle core from 2.2GHz (220*11) to 2.6GHz (236*11) on air, not to mention I have way too much THC on my CPU. The heat increase was minute, only 1 degree C all around (under load and idle). I think the heat increase might have affected the GPU as well, but even less so.

And silence, well, the most expensive part will probably be the pump. Silent fans shouldn't be hard to locate for the radiator or whatnot.

Here's an interesting idea: Ionized air cooling. I know it's been done before, but until recently did I understand how awesome this could be.

[Zephik]

What is "Ionized Air Cooling"? I've heard of the Ionic Breeze... is that the same thing? What is it? What does it do, or rather what would it do for a person like one of us?

-SnowFire

[slytherock]

@Omega:
I must agree on everything there, but it's always a question of perspectives:

Well keep in mind -- if you spend less than 100$ or so on a WCing setup, it'll have mediocre performance, and that's not good =/
Just able to say : Hey I'm watercooled

It isn't always big bucks to silence your setup and not always big bucks to OC it too. I've OC'd my AMD Athlon 64 3200+ S754 Newcastle core from 2.2GHz (220*11) to 2.6GHz (236*11) on air, not to mention I have way too much THC on my CPU. The heat increase was minute, only 1 degree C all around (under load and idle). I think the heat increase might have affected the GPU as well, but even less so.
What's silence? Depend on everyone needs. I'm an editor, and I also like mixing music, so for me silence mean silence: no HDD (Thats my big problem, too much of them, 6 on my main rig, 4 on my second one, and 2 on the little one I leave to my roomates.) So I need a complete insonorisation of them.
It's true that you can have a decent or even a great OC with air cooling, I run my main rig (Northwood 2.6) at 3.4 on air without problems, wich is not bad at all, but still need more... Run a bit hot when it comes to convert a long movie.

Ionized Air Cooling
I wanna know too :)

Sorry if I write craps these days, have not sleep for tree days, 3 job at the same time, all from home, so I'm still posting...

[intergalacticman]

Thanks! :)

I bet those copper tubes would act like miniature radiators if you had fans blowing on them?


dude, i wonder if there were heat sinks all along the piping like ridges or spines. And fans would destroy the purpose of water cooling

and thnx for the comprehensive info

[Zephik]

That, sounds like a pretty good idea to me actually. You could have some thick copper or aluminum tubing and then have it milled down or however you would do that so you have fins coming off of your pipes. OR you could use all copper tubing, then have aluminum machined to fit around the copper tubing. Slap some ?Arctic Silver? on and slide the aluminum over your copper tubing?

Kind of like THIS (http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=HTCSrad), but not so extreme and not as an external radiator. More compact, less extreme, and as your tubing. That might solve the need for a radiator?? I wonder if this idea is plausable?

-SnowFire

[nil8]

What you're talking about sounds like heatpipes with fins. In theory it works, but having moving air works better. Just like a radiator.

[intergalacticman]

That, sounds like a pretty good idea to me actually. You could have some thick copper or aluminum tubing and then have it milled down or however you would do that so you have fins coming off of your pipes. OR you could use all copper tubing, then have aluminum machined to fit around the copper tubing. Slap some ?Arctic Silver? on and slide the aluminum over your copper tubing?

Kind of like THIS (http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=HTCSrad), but not so extreme and not as an external radiator. More compact, less extreme, and as your tubing. That might solve the need for a radiator?? I wonder if this idea is plausable?

-SnowFire
dude that would be tight for a media center pc, silence and a cool looking blue object in your living room

[intergalacticman]

http://www.freewebs.com/dgaultiere/Project412M012.htm

[dgrmkrp]

What is "Ionized Air Cooling"? I've heard of the Ionic Breeze... is that the same thing? What is it? What does it do, or rather what would it do for a person like one of us?

-SnowFire

http://inventgeek.com/Projects/IonCooler/Main.jpg
linky (http://inventgeek.com/Projects/IonCooler/Overview.aspx)

hope it's usefull

[Zephik]

That is pretty damn cool.

[simon275]

I got a Zalman reserator 2.

Silent water cooling at its best

http://www.zalman.co.kr/

I highly recommend it.

Here is the worklog detailing the instal

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showpost.php?p=54622&postcount=54

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showpost.php?p=54624&postcount=55

[Zephik]

Haha, I hate you. That was, or rather still is, the setup I want. It's just so dang much! I was hoping for some extra cash from x-mas, but no such luck this year for some reason.

btw, you have the same mouse and keyboard as my dad. lol

[simon275]

Haha, I hate you. That was, or rather still is, the setup I want. It's just so dang much! I was hoping for some extra cash from x-mas, but no such luck this year for some reason.

btw, you have the same mouse and keyboard as my dad. lol

Yeah I got it as a two month early Christmas present.

Doesn't matter what keyboard or mouse you have I can still frag you in CS with it. I really like the media buttons on it and the favorite program buttons. Saves a lot of time.