My H2O rig

[stevennoland]

Dear builders and users,

Here is my current rig configs with pics. Please comment

-Intel P4 3.0C
-ABIT IC7 MAX3
-1GB Corsair XMS pc3200 (512x2)
-ATI Radeon 9800XT
-Western Digital 36GB 'Raptor' (did have 2 in a RAID 0 until one malfunctioned)
-CoolerMaster Hard Drive 3
-Samsung CD-RW/DVD 52x/32x/52x/16x
-SB Audigy 2
-Vantec 'Stealth' 520Watt psu
-H2O:
-Danger Den TDX cpu
-DD support chipset
-DD Fill port
-DD 12volt pump
-DD Black Ice Extreme radiator (with custom shrouds)
-Clearflex tubing (tried Tygon but it gets stained easier)
-No name flow sight
-Custom made reservoir
-Lian-Li PC-75 USB case
-Custom made power supply bracket
-Custom made carrying handles (lighted even)
-120mm LED fans x3
-80mm LED fans x4
-Custom power supply rails (see pics)
-Custom made cpu/water block support (see pics)
-NEC FE2111sb monitor
-Logitec keyboard and MX500 mouse
-Logitec Z-680's (These babys rock, I even upgraded the wiring to Monster MCX cable, another $200.00)

This rig was originally assembled in the Q4 of 2003 and had a hydor L30 pump with a Criticool PCI power relay card. At that time 12volt DC pumps were not avaliable.

The reason for the flow sight was because the L30 pump was VERY unreliable (because of all the fans I couldn't hear if it was running or not).

I had put in Vantec 'Vortex' HD coolers, but they SUCKED!!!! AVOID!!! So I went back to the CoolerMater Harddrive 3.

I sleeved and heat-shrinked all wiring myself.

For X-Mas I'm going to ditch all the LED fans for Vantec stealth fans. I can hear this thing from across my house. It really does sound like a small hand vac.

I haven't OC'd the rig yet, but I had no problem running Doom3 at 16x12 @ high settings.


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All criticism welcomed.

 

[ApacheChief]

Most of those pictures don't work, I think it's because 'img' is not in caps.

 

[stevennoland]

Sorry, fixing now. Please try again. I didn't realize case is sensitive.

 

[stevennoland]

All pics should work now. Sorry.

 

[ApacheChief]

I like everything but the blue handle bar attatchments

 

[overst33r]

that is freaking awesome!! nice

 

[floppydisk191]

Totally Kick ass!!!!!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Beautiful. Outstanding. Ausgezeichnet.

I'm not eager to post my photos here, first, no water-cooled rig, second, used 10-year-old full-tower case, third, No attention to hiding wires but just attention to managing them. Even my modified hard drive cages are primer-gray steel.

Another reason I foreswore water-cooling for the time being, is just a perception -- not necessarily the absolute truth -- that you give up some computer-case real-estate for a self-contained rig. But it occurs to me now that once you've chosen your hard drive and disc-burner configuration, you don't tend to add much else.

I may "give it a go" next summer, and your project is truly an inspiration!

 

[Corporate Thug]

very nice

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Why so many fans? You have more fans than I use in my air-cooled rig . . .

 

[stevennoland]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Why so many fans? You have more fans than I use in my air-cooled rig . . .

Dunno. The locations for the fans were there so I used them. Thanks for the comments. I'm planning on another rig late in 2005. I will probably do an AMD with SLI with a 'Raptor' RAID 0 and another Terabyte in additional storage. If I were going to do it now I would definately begin with a Lian-Li PC-V2000B case (love that thing).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, you say this is your second computer-build, and I am truly impressed. You've done something marvelous.

What I suggest is this, however. Take some time to temporarily uncouple -- first -- any single fan among twin fans -- and build a data table of your CPU, mobo and other measurable temperatures. Then, second, any other fan -- one at a time. That is, after measuring one, re-connect it, and go on to the next. Other similar experiments will suggest themselves to you.

Then you can eliminate the fans which show little or no difference in cooling effectiveness. Basically, you NEED your radiator fan, and you NEED your power-supply fans. I'd need to look again, but your power-supply fan provides case exhaust, and I THINK you have adequate intake for your radiator fan.

But -- given the two main raisons d'etre for water-cooling -- "better cooling" and "less noise" -- you should try to cut down on "fan-cholesterol". You can always replace the LED fans with cold-cathode light-sticks, and one or more LED lights, which have no impact on performance, noise or cooling.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Right offhand, I think you could replace both of the LED radiator fans with a single YS-Tech or Sunon 120x12x38mm. Almost no motor noise, and high throughput at between 108CFM and 125 CFM (unfiltered). That would SURELY remove heat from that radiator, with less noise.

Also -- I hate to suggest what I intend to say here -- this is truly a beautiful rig -- but I think you'd be better served moving the radiator and its fan to an exhaust port, or reversing the airflow so that it is exhaust (if not already, but I assume a fan setup in lower front case is an air-intake fan(s)). I think there is even an opportunity to duct air in from the floor and exhaust it through the radiator and lower front -- that would take the radiator heat out of the loop inside the case. Maybe you could find a clear plastic elbow to do this ducting, and of course, completely eliminate the fan on the case-floor. If you could find such an acrylic or Lexan elbow, what you could do with some LED lights might be even more stunning that what you now have.

Looking to these issues about temperature, heat and simplicity, I think you will find your way with this water-cooled baby. I really like your choice of case and other equipment -- have to give some of it a better look -- but you shouldn't have to spend anything extra to jettison some fans and make some strategic modifications. Not much, anyway!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Actually, if you could find an elbow duct that fits that casefan in the the case-floor, and if you could orient the radiator so that it, too, mates up with the other end of the elbow, puting the fan on the floor for intake will also REALLY reduce its noise, and you have the same cooling potential.

 

[essasin]

Originally posted by: stevennoland

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Why so many fans? You have more fans than I use in my air-cooled rig . . .

Dunno. The locations for the fans were there so I used them. Thanks for the comments. I'm planning on another rig late in 2005. I will probably do an AMD with SLI with a 'Raptor' RAID 0 and another Terabyte in additional storage. If I were going to do it now I would definately begin with a Lian-Li PC-V2000B case (love that thing).

dont get rid of the case fans unless you cant handle the noise. The fans will help bring down your case temps because there is still a lot of heat in your case. I notice 3F drop in temps with good flow in my case.

 

[akira34]

Originally posted by: essasin

Originally posted by: stevennoland

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Why so many fans? You have more fans than I use in my air-cooled rig . . .

Dunno. The locations for the fans were there so I used them. Thanks for the comments. I'm planning on another rig late in 2005. I will probably do an AMD with SLI with a 'Raptor' RAID 0 and another Terabyte in additional storage. If I were going to do it now I would definately begin with a Lian-Li PC-V2000B case (love that thing).

dont get rid of the case fans unless you cant handle the noise. The fans will help bring down your case temps because there is still a lot of heat in your case. I notice 3F drop in temps with good flow in my case.

3F isn't even worth talking about... It's less than 2C, which is also a TINY amount. Now, if you had a >5C change by using the fans, that would be something else... As it stands, most people won't even feel a 3F temperature difference (ambient/room temp).

 

[lobadobadingdong]

nice, but probably a little noisy

 

[Idleuser]

dude that's awesome! I just finished my rig too i'll post pics and stats up in another thread Btw how did you make those rails in the back! that's an awesome idea! let me know if you can actually buy those it would be nice! what kind of temps are you running?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

dont get rid of the case fans unless you cant handle the noise. The fans will help bring down your case temps because there is still a lot of heat in your case. I notice 3F drop in temps with good flow in my case.

There is no hard and fast rule on this. If it weren't a water-cooled rig, then noise would be a priority if you had a few strategically located fans to provide good air-flow, but there was much noise. You could actually add fans to reduce noise if they were (a) bigger, (b) ran at lower rpm. Noise level is not cumulative unless you add motor-whine to motor whine, and there will be less noise running more fans at lower rpm than fewer fans at higher rpm.

There is a matter of balance. In a setup involving air-cooling, you would want to have the best air-flow and cooling, with the lowest noise-level, the fewest number of fans, and less watts of electrical power consumed. What would be better than that?

In the water-cooling rig, the idea is to move heat off components like the CPU and VGA's GPU, passing warm water (or "warmer water") through the radiator, where the fan removes the heat again and exhausts it from the case. You would want to move the coldest air possible through the radiator fins. And you would not want to add radiator exhaust to the case interior -- you would want to get it outside the case as quickly as possible.

It is possible to have more fans than are needed to completely minimize interior case temperature and make the radiator work efficiently. That is why some data might be tabulated on the effects of disconnecting this fan and that fan. Certainly, you might not want to bother with the radiator or PSU fans -- those are necessary, but with dual fans -- as this project has on either side of the radiator, you might discover that a fan has negligible impact. That's a candidate for eliminating noise and power consumption.

Someone said that 3 degrees F is so miniscule as to be no justification for keeping so many fans. I fight for every reduction in temperature, no matter how small, but I also strive to follow the KISS principle -- Keep it Simple, Stewart. So reducing the number of fans to those that have the biggest impact on cooling is probably a good idea. You might also reduce fan speeds to provide neutral interior-exterior pressure balance and reduce noise -- and that may or may not mean keeping an extra fan. You might actually generate a few extra BTUs by running more fans than are necessary, or at higher speeds than are necessary.

 

[stevennoland]

Originally posted by: Idleuser
dude that's awesome! I just finished my rig too i'll post pics and stats up in another thread Btw how did you make those rails in the back! that's an awesome idea! let me know if you can actually buy those it would be nice! what kind of temps are you running?

Sorry, no can buy. Those are custom jobbies made by yours truly. I could make you a set, but you wouldn't like the price tag (time is the big issue). Make an offer though. The idea was cool a year ago, but with the new power supplies doing roughly the same thing, it doesn't make much sense. Thanks for the kudos.

 

[Idleuser]

good job making those, it's an awesome idea but thanks for your offer but my cables in the back are pretty organize already and post those temps up!!

 

[stevennoland]

Originally posted by: insolence
I like everything but the blue handle bar attatchments

I needed handles to just move this thing around. It weighs 40+ pounds. I had plaino jano black ones on my first build, and I wanted something different. Thanks for the comments.

I can't post any temps cause I have never taken any. Sorry.

The way I look at is if it's working, don't eff with it.

 

[HardWarrior]

Truly excellent mod work, design and style, steven. Well done! :thumbsup:

 

[Soulkeeper]

i like what you did with the molex connectors to free up clutter
it's a real clean looking system, that's what i like most about it

 

[ZobarStyl]

Man, that's beautiful. What kind of dye do you use to get that beautiful blue? I tried the FrozenCPU UV Blue Dye, it's dissapointing (only blue UV, no real color dye).