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Water cooling explained.
Note:i am slowly revising this now that i have 2 loops under my belt and understand it alot better.
Water cooling is a great and common way to help keep things cool and quiet. i will start by explaining how it all works.
Component's
Necessary
- Water Block
- Radiator
- Pump
- T-Line or Reservoir
- Fans
- Water Additives
- Tubing
- Barbs and Clamps
How Water Cooling Works
Water Block
the water flows from the pump into one of the barbs and across all those little metal pins and the water absorbs some of the heat and carrys it through to the other barb. from there it travels to the radiator.
Water cooling works by conduction and convection mainly. when the CPU produces heat it needs to be removed for safe and faster operation. copper and aluminum are the two main heat sink types when it comes to air cooling. however copper wins for water blocks. the heat transfer to the copper where cool water flows across it at a fast rate. as the water flows across the copper it picks up the heat produced by the cpu. different companys produce different patterns when they machine the copper blocks. the more surface area a water block has the faster and more efficient heat can transfer from the copper to the water.
Example: here is a good surface vs. a less efficient surface.
radiator
the heated water then flows to the radiator and does the opposite from above. fans blow cool air over the fins and as the water flows through the radiator its transfers the heat from the water to the brass tubes (painted black and vertical). which then pass the heat to the tiny little fins (painted black and Horizontal) that discharges the heat into the air.
Once the water has picked up the heat it travels onto the radiator where it can be expelled. much like the water block working better with more surface area, a radiator will work much the same way. there are two types the radiators most commonly used. a single pass and double pass setup.
here is a single pass.
notice it has an in and out on opposite sides. water flows into one header and then flows to the other side and restarts the trip all over again.
this is a dual pass radiator. water flows into the left or right side and only goes down half of the radiator then back up on the otherside. this is a much more efficient way to use the same sized radiator space. there is also another factor when it comes to choosing radiators. you can select round or flat tubes.
Flat tubes
Refer to the image above.
Round tubes
they both offer pros and cons.
Round tubes
Pros
- less restriction
- more pass's (from what i can tell there is about 10 passes in the picture above).
Cons
- Less heat transfer due to a dead zone wherr water cannot transfer the heat.
Flat tubes
Pros
- offer better heat transfer since the water is closer to the tubes.
- more common/availably
Cons
- More Restriction
here is a picture i made of what i think the heat transfer would be like with various tube styles.
Red = Warmer water, Blue = cooler water.
Pump
The water is moved around by a pump which acts like your heart does. there is a impeller similar to a fan but deigned for water that pushs the water around to the various component's. this is what a Swiftech pump looks like when taken apart.
and here is a better view of the impeller essentially looks like.
The way it works is by centrifugal force. The water is thrown from the middle out at high speed.
Tubing Sizes
there are three common tubing sizes which are all measured by I.D. (Inside Diameter). the three sizes are 1/2", 3/8", and 1/4". as with most things they have there pros and cons. the bigger the I.D. the less restriction there is on the system and more water contained in the system. EDIT: i will add more stuff in a couple of days
Fill Port
The fill port is exactly that, a port to fill your water cooling system. they are best placed at the very top of the water cooling loop.
Fans
The fan(s) blow the cooler air across the radiator to help expel the heat from it.
The Reservoir
A reservoir can be added so no bleeding of the system is required. it also allows more water to be in the loop and therefore better cooling.
Water Additives
there are 3 variants of coolant that should be used for different reasons.
1. performance
- Use distilled water and a 2 drops of PT nuke PHN. the less stuff in there the better.
2. looks
- Use distilled water , dye (i like Feser View UV dye) and PT nuke, not the PHN kind.
3. anti corrosion
- when using mixed metals, which is a bad idea to begin with.
use Distilled water, Anti Freeze, and PT nuke, not the PHN kind.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Types of Water blocks
there are many types of water cooled blocks. some are useful and some are not. i will list all the water block types that i know of.
CPU / Processor
This is what a CPU water block looks like
this is what it cools.
and here is it installed.
GPU / Video Card
There are two types of blocks for GPU, a full card block or just the processor. full water blocks have better cooling since everything on the card that produces heat is cooled by water. the draw back they have is they are pricey and can only be used for that video card. water blocks that only cool the processor do a good job but you have to add ram sinks to keep the on board ram cool.
Full Block
This block is for a 8800GTX.
this is what it cools.
This is the water block installed.
Processor only
This block is for a 8800GTX.
this is what it cools.
This is the water block installed with ramsinks.
Chipset
this is for the Chipset on motherboards.
which cool these, you can get north bridge and south bridge coolers.
This is the water block installed.
RAM / Memory
this particular water cooler uses a bag to cool the ram.
This is what it cools.
This is the water block installed.
Voltage Regualtor
This water block cools the voltage regulators which can heat up a lot when overclocking.
which cool little chips that look like this.
This is the water block installed.
Hard Drive
This particular hard drive cooler again uses a bag stlye cooler.
This is what it cools.
This is the water block installed.
Power Supply
water cooled power supplies are rare to say the least. this one can be added to a cool loop.
and this one has its own self contained water cooling loop.
Motherboard
this is very rare and i have never seen one used. it uses the bag style of cooling and is placed behind the motherbaord to help cool and prolong the life of the motherboard.
this concludes my basic water cooling tutorial, thanks for reading and any comments/suggestions are welcome and appreciated. please feel free to pm me if you want anything added.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Very nice work ^_^, maybe next work on a tutorial on how to hook it all up?
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Re: Water cooling explained.
carefully?! haha i will add that to this some time this week its a good idea so +rep. though i'm not sure how good it will be since i've never done water cooling. i will look into it.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Maybe some info about rad/fan mounts (spacer or whatever it is). A run-through of the physics of how and why WC works, reason for distilled water and consequences of using tap water, why it's best to mount the res above all the other parts, why you don't want to mix metal types in the loop, pci power controller cards, use of peltier with WC rigs and danger of condensation, single vs dual pass rads, different tubing material (advantages and disadvantages of each), typical tube inner and outer diameters, dual vs single pump systems (why they need be serial vs parallel, etc...
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jdbnsn
Maybe some info about rad/fan mounts (spacer or whatever it is). A run-through of the physics of how and why WC works, reason for distilled water and consequences of using tap water, why it's best to mount the res above all the other parts, why you don't want to mix metal types in the loop, pci power controller cards, use of peltier with WC rigs and danger of condensation, single vs dual pass rads, different tubing material (advantages and disadvantages of each), typical tube inner and outer diameters, dual vs single pump systems (why they need be serial vs parallel, etc...
ok so i knocked off a couple of those suggestions. but not all, some are out of my league so i will have to do some more research until i can safely add it without misleading people.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Could you maybe post what you use/recommend?
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Re: Water cooling explained.
i've never done water cooling before just a bunch of reading on it and felt i knew enough to advise others on the basics. once i get my gaming rig built 2000 left to go i might get water cooling and if i do this is what i will be getting.
5 x $16.95 = $84.75 Panaflo H1 High Performance 120mm Fan Sleeved
10' x $1.49 = $13.90 ClearFlex 60 Tubing 1/2" ID 3/4" OD
1 x $1.99 = $1.99 Swiftech HydrX Coolant
1 x $79.95 = $79.95 Swiftech MCP655™ 12 VDC Pump
1 x $42.95 = $42.95 Swiftech Radiator - MCR220 Quiet Power Series Dual 120 mm - Black
1 x $28.95 = $28.95 Swiftech Radiator - MCR120 Quiet Power Series 120mm Heat Exchanger - Black
1 x $109.99 = $109.99 Swiftech STEALTH GeForceŽ 8800 series VGA Water-block
1 x $69.95 = $69.95 Swiftech APOGEE GTX Extreme Performance Universal Water-block
1 x $19.99 = $19.99 Swiftech MCRES-MICRO™ Reservoir
sub total = $452.42
as you can tell i really like swiftech :)
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Geez.... thats alot of cash to just put into water cooling. Id like to find a kit for around like $200... because $452 is just too much :/
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Re: Water cooling explained.
if you just want to water cool the cpu for a first time here is a 200 kit. its hard to get low prices with cooling all that you want to, i picked pretty high end parts though.
here is a kit to cool just the cpu for 179.
here is a kit that will cool cpu, gpu, and 1 chipset for 350.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Mate fantastic guide to water cooling, has pretty much anything a beginner or a pro would ever need to know. +rep for your efforts
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Re: Water cooling explained.
do you reccomend if im making a first build not to water cool and oc it? becaus a lot of people from this site tell me not to do it.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
it's really up to you, i will be water cooling the first computer i've every built (first built, but i've used computers before :))
just don't to the first timer thing and get a crappy kit, which is most accept foor most of the swiftech kits, really combo's not kits, as well as dangerden.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Dangerden is the way to go, there is no substitute. Dan pioneered the waterblock evolution and the quality and service are unbeatable. I ordered several parts from them months ago and a tiny seal was torn in the corner rendering it useless. I emailed them and they express shipped a whole pack of replacements.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
if your going with a quad you will want either a swiftech apogee GTX or Dtek fuzion. the GTX has a slight chance of corroding if the nickel layer on the top of the block gets scratched or degrades over time and exposes the aluminum. there has to be a certain liquid in the system, i think anitfreeze, for it to happen. it's called the galvanic reaction. Swiftech offers a solid copper top for $40, so if you like the look of the gtx you can buy it and not have to worry at all, though most don't.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Yeah I agree with Spawn, The Swiftech Apogee GTX is a great block, beats the Danger Den. I am using one now, the top also has aluminium ridge like fins to increase heat transfer to the air.
Also, Danger Den blocks tend to be quite expensive. The Danger Den 8800GTX full coverage water block is $100AUD more than the Swiftech MCW-60 with the 8800GTX adapter plate and RAM and Mosphet heatsinks. It also cools about 2 degrees better.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fuganater
Geez.... thats alot of cash to just put into water cooling. Id like to find a kit for around like $200... because $452 is just too much :/
There is a lot of material out there suggesting $200 is better spent on good air cooling than cheap water cooling. The best air solutions outperform the cheap water cooling solutions.
:)
Matthew
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Crazy Buddhist is 100% correct. Get a good Zalman air cooler and it will out perform a cheap water cooling kit.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spawn-Inc
if your going with a quad you will want either a
swiftech apogee GTX or
Dtek fuzion. the GTX has a slight chance of corroding if the nickel layer on the top of the block gets scratched or degrades over time and exposes the aluminum. there has to be a certain liquid in the system, i think anitfreeze, for it to happen. it's called the
galvanic reaction. Swiftech offers a
solid copper top for $40, so if you like the look of the gtx you can buy it and not have to worry at all, though most don't.
D-Tek FuZion > Apogeee GTX for Quads.
That's why i have one. And for the price it's cheaper too.
My W/C set-up is pretty cheap (most expensive bit being the 8800GTX EK block.
But it does a fine job of keeping my Q6600, NB and GTX cool.
Spawn in you original post you said that you need a Fillport (T-line). I don't have a fill port, i just unscrew the top of my Res, not the easiest way but it works.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Considering how cheap a fill port is it is worth having one. I use mine to fill the system but will use a smaller piece of tube to siphon the coolant out of the res to empty.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Does anyone know if anyone has ever tried building a cooling circuit using a domestic freezer pump and coolant etc? I'm just wondering what possibilities that might offer for a mad mod and some extra Mhz.
:)
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Personally I wouldn't waste your money mate, if you want good cooling without forking out for a W/C kit I would go for a top notch Zalman or Thermalright cooler.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The boy 4rm oz
Personally I wouldn't waste your money mate, if you want good cooling without forking out for a W/C kit I would go for a top notch Zalman or Thermalright cooler.
I'm not sure if you meant that for me. Perhaps you missed my earlier post?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Crazy Buddhist
There is a lot of material out there suggesting $200 is better spent on good air cooling than cheap water cooling. The best air solutions outperform the cheap water cooling solutions.
I was asking more from the mad scientist perspective than a guy looking for an efficient cooling system. I'm interested in whether it could work and how well. Aside from the obvious beer cooling optional extra.
Personally I use a Noctua air-cooler that is a beast and does a lovely job. Even though I literally plastered the arctic silver on like icing on a cake and know it is doing next to no good (or worse) I can still oc my X2 4200+ to just under 2.7 Ghz stable (2.2 stock). When I clean that crap off and put a proper amount on and get my northbridge properly cooled I will be surprised if it doesn't get to 2.8 or 2.9.
:)
Here's the cooler in question:
In situ next to a full height Graphics card:
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Scotty
D-Tek FuZion >
Spawn in you original post you said that you need a Fillport (T-line). I don't have a fill port, i just unscrew the top of my Res, not the easiest way but it works.
i mean you need a res OR t line, some way of filling the system. i suppose you could in theory fill it completely in a sink with everything, but the pump, submerged with 1 spot open and then close it. but i would not do that. i changed it to T-line or Reservoir to make it more clear, thanks for that +rep
when i get my setup i will be getting 10 feet of hose, just for any additions or what ever. i might use one of the plastic barbs and screw it to the top of the micro res and run a line to the top of the case.
right now the best air cooling is the thermalright ultra 120 extreme.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Crazy Buddhist
Does anyone know if anyone has ever tried building a cooling circuit using a domestic freezer pump and coolant etc? I'm just wondering what possibilities that might offer for a mad mod and some extra Mhz.
:)
what do you mean? a condensate pump? and run a line or rad thats in a freezer? it wouldn't keep up with the load, unless thats all that was in the freezer. you would also get better temps with a proper phase change setup.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spawn-Inc
what do you mean? a
condensate pump? and run a line or rad thats in a freezer? it wouldn't keep up with the load, unless thats all that was in the freezer. you would also get better temps with a proper phase change setup.
I mean rip the cooling system out of a freezer, take the cold pipe from the radiator and put it into a CPU cooler block, then the rest of the circuit, then back to the pump -> rad. Then go see your local friendly refrigeration engineer and get the system filled. Turn on "freezer", half hour later turn on PC.
Would that work? Might that work? If it might it might be my next major mod: cool name "freezer" ;)
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Re: Water cooling explained.
it would work, but not very well, you should get a proper cpu phase change block. here is what one looks like, or this one.
you can also buy a fully built one, like a VapoChill LS and all you do is install it and you won't need any of the below.
in Canada you will also need these minus the gas fitter licence. you will also need to get your refrigeration licence (3-5 years apprenticeship) i've done 1 years worth of 5. i also did the 1 of 3 schooling's you need. i build a fridge!!! it was loads fun.
the top left is the ODP for buying refrigerant. top right is my gas fitter 3 certificate which lets me clean furnaces and help g2's or g1's fix furnaces. and the bottom one is just saying i'm a registered apprentice.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
If you are looking for a phase change like system. You can make them, or have a look at the post I did in The Ice Box about the OCZ Cryo-Z
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...ad.php?t=11470
@Crazy Buddhist, sorry I miss read your post
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The boy 4rm oz
that will be fine for a C2D but it won't handle a quad, not very well anyway.
the vapochill i linked to won't handle the quad either, again not very well.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
In that post I said that it wouldn't be ideal for a quad. Vapochill are overpriced for what the are.
Personally I would just get water cooling, you should be able to use the freezer pump to make a cooling system which is similar to a phase change kit. You could always make your PC is a freezer, that would be cool, a few CCFL's and a plexi door,hmmm gives me an idea ;).
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Re: Water cooling explained.
From a mad scientist point of view I have seen a few examples of experimental extreme cooling. One was the use of liquid nitrogen infusions which allowed for insanely high overclocks and a couple of different refridgerator set ups. One was designed with the whole pc simply stuffed in a mini fridge and the other was a mini fridge with hoses running through the sides, heavily sealed and coiled within. They all achieve wacko performance boosts but in every case it ends up being completely impractical beyond the "lets see what happens" stage. The liquid nitrogen was safe for the components because it was held in a discrete container not contaminating the electronics but is of course expensive and evaporates immediately which means you have to keep pouring it in (warming it in a closed system would be way too dangerous). The computer in the fridge worked nice for a while, but the fridge did not have a strong enough vacuum to keep moisture out and the components rusted. The loops through the fridge failed because the cold water running through the lines collected condensation from the heat exchange between the pipes and the ambient room temp so the comp was a dripping mess. Theoretically it seems that superfreezing the CPU's does provide whopping performance but I don't know if anyone has built a CPU safe trial and run one long enough to see if it dramaticaly shortens the hardware's lifespan. It would be interesting to see but I haven't looked into these setups in a long time to see if they have improved.
EDIT: I can't seem to find the fridge comps but I did run across this which shows a company claiming built in refridgerant units working very well. But then again, if it's using the same types of chemicals that airconditioners and refridgerators use I would question the saftey.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jdbnsn
EDIT: I can't seem to find the fridge comps but I did run across
this which shows a company claiming built in refridgerant units working very well. But then again, if it's using the same types of chemicals that airconditioners and refridgerators use I would question the saftey.
if by chemicals you mean refrigerants and the POE/mineral oils then yes it does. its what i linked to before and what TB4O was linking to with the ocz unit.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
I'm getting rid of some of my W/C stuff, dual core block, 120 rad, and intel north-bridge heatsink. Gonna upgrade to the quad block and 240 rad.
Not sure about upgrading the waterblock though, DD released a quad one... but its only about a 5-10c difference in heat...
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Re: Water cooling explained.
like always with quads, dteck fuzion or apogee GTX :)
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Re: Water cooling explained.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Excellent guide, spawn. Exactly the kind of info I have been looking for. Thanks for helping us newbs out.
+rep
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Re: Water cooling explained.
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Re: Water cooling explained.
BOO SHAKKKA
Quote:
Prepare to drool, Water Cooling Enthusiasts. Allow us to introduce you to the World's First DC Inverter Type Micro Refrigeration Cooling System, the cold, bold and beautiful Thermaltake XPRESSAR RCS100 Case. Thanks to it's revolutionary patented technology, the Thermaltake Xpressar utilizes a complex micro compressor and refrigerant to cool the PC, allowing the user to maximize their over-clocking limitation and performance.
Built to deliver a consistently cold temperature, the Xpressar Micro Refrigeration Case is 20ēC cooler than your average liquid cooling system. The case itself is a micro vapor-compression refrigeration system, which is one of the most widely used methods for air-conditioning of large public buildings, hotels, hospitals, cars, and many other establishments. This elaborate system uses a circulating liquid refrigerant, which absorbs and removes heat from the space to be cooled, causing the heat to be rejected elsewhere.
In addition, the case is also equipped with intelligent IC controller to prevent condensation, and offers thermal resistance that can be <0.02 ēC/W under 100% loading. Even though it's capable of delivering such a high range of performance, the Thermaltake Xpressar still manages to deliver a minimal amount of noise.
http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-xp...idge-case.html
CB
EDIT a mere $699.00
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Just need to know one thing: How well does it perform compared to liquid cooling? I never trust what the manufacturers say, but if its significantly better than high-end liquid cooling... :drool:
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Re: Water cooling explained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Zephik
Just need to know one thing: How well does it perform compared to liquid cooling? I never trust what the manufacturers say, but if its significantly better than high-end liquid cooling... :drool:
It is liquid cooling I tink .. only refrigerant, hence 20 degrees lower temps than watercooling. And the manufacturer is Thermaltake who are probably not going to lie about a seven hundred dollar piece of kit ....
:)
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Re: Water cooling explained.
I have heard very bad things about that unit, I would touch it, even if it wasn't Thermaltake.