Watercooling Network?

[Scootin159]

Ok, last time I got this all typed & then my connection crapped out on me making me totally loose it. Well I'm going to try this again & it had better work.

Anyways, after this summer I plan on having 4 systems (2x 1800+, 1x 2.0 P4, 1x 1.4 Tbird & 1x 333mhz P2). I also like REALLY QUIET systems, which right now is very possible with just my P2 333 & 1.4 Tbird. I figure once I get the 5 CPU's going though it could get real loud, real quick. That is when I came up with this idea:

I plan on putting all 4 systems in sx1040B cases w/ something like dynamat on the walls (I can get it REAL cheep, so why not). I also plan on only putting Panaflow L1A's in the box (fill both intakes & both rear exhaust spots, as well as the power supply....have fans switched so that they dont' all need to be on & make sure all the bigger PSU's (not the P2) have extra 92mm intakes). That by it's self should make a fairly cool case w/ very little noise (yes I will be using quiet HDD's, ect. as well).

Anyways, the only obstacle is the CPU cooling. I could get away with air cooling, but that would raise the case temps, and my goal is to only have the PSU fan running 99% of the time. That is why I turned to watercooling, but 4 different water cooling systems would get real expensive real quick. Which leads to this:

A water cooling network. Basically one pump, one radiator & a HUGE resivoir (I was thinking 5 gallons). The 5 gallons would allow for a lot of cooling to take place right inside the resivoir, but I would still have a radiator (a huge one to allow for no fan being needed) to help. I would then use one 'hot' & one 'cold' pipe to send water to each of the water blocks in each of the sytems.

Like this:

Radiator==========================================|
.....||...................||......................||.....................||.......................||......
.....||...................X.......................X.....................X........................X......
.....||...................||......................||.....................||.......................||......
Resivoir..........System1..........System2...........System3............System4
.....||...................||......................||.....................||.......................||......
.....||...................X.......................X.....................X........................X......
.....||...................||......................||.....................||.......................||......
..Pump===========================================|

= or || = copper pipe/hose
X = valve

As you can see I want to use copper pipe to run the 'busses', and then have a valve for each system (so I can pull them individually or something).

Some issues I've thought of: (can you think of any more)

# of connections inside each system would be minimized....a leak outside the system isn't a 'big deal', but one inside cold be REAL BAD. The only connections inside would be from the 'posts' mounted in the back of the case to the waterblock & back...4 connections total (or 6 in a dually rig)...not bad at all.

How big would the hot/cold busses need to be? 3/4" copper? Should I have the lines to each system be smaller (1/2" copper?) to keep the first system from taking all the cooling power & leaving the end system too hot? I guess I could use this to my advantage in how I put the systems on the bus...hottest to coldest (dually rig closest to pump & p2 furthest (if the p2 even gets on here....might just give it a large passive heatsink).

I would probably need a pretty good pump....how expensive is this going to get? How loud is this going to get (a loud pump would defeat the whole point).

If I only had one system going, there would be a lot of pressure in that system. I would want to make sure the connections in each system could handle this load. Maybe if I had some type of pressure release (like a pipe going from one bus to the other right at the end w/ a valve on it) I could open that a little when I removed a system.

You guys think this will work? Have any idea what a system like this would cost?

Also another idea:

A water chiller....basically a really powerful pelitier (like 200w or more, maybe a few in a row) with a slot-style waterblock on each side, thus making a 'hot' side & a 'cold' side. Connect the cold side inline at the begining of the cold bus & the hot side at the end of the 'hot' bus (right before the radiator). This should make the water colder for the CPU's & warmer in the radiator.

 

[Cogman]

I would think that for minimum noise, maximum cooling, and a safe system. 90% of the stuff you are going to need are not going to be built for computer usage, the fact of the mater is, I think that only the cooling unit for the cpus (what that water goes through to cool the cpu, dont know what else to call it) would be required that is made for this stuff. The pipes, I would have made of copper with a 3 way juction and a plug on the end of the end one. if you have access to a welder then I would use it to connect more pipes to hook to later systems, I guess you probibly could get a glass juction thing and go plastic, but most of this stuff is going to have to be custom made you know. I think that if you are just running one system that you should have no valves and keep the water flowing to all systems, to prevent pressure build up. I would say that really for something like this you probibly would not do it unless you are a big company/have lots of computers that need cooling and you want to keep quiet, cause this would be expencive. btw forgot to mention this earlier but you probibly want to have some kindof filter to keep on the system pump on the incoming curent. cause if that gets jammed up then your are talking about major bucks lost their.

 

[Scootin159]

Well I'm with you, all the parts outside of the cases (pump, resivoir (bucket), radiator, and plumbing) will all be standard non-computer parts. For the waterblocks (the things that run the water over the CPU) however I imaigne I will want to go with just standard watercooling waterblocks.

As for the expense, I don't know how much all the pipe will be, but I imagine pretty cheep. The radiator will probably be just a normal car radiator (how much are those?....a small one (well small for a car)). The resivoir will just be a 5gallon bucket....no real cost there. The pump is where I fear it could get real expensive, real quick. About how powerful a pump do you imainge would be nessesary for such a system (with 4 computers running off of it)? I know the waterblocks will be ~$40/each.

Hmm....
1x $20 for all the plumbing?
1x $50 for the radiator?
1x $5 for the bucket
1x $200 for the pump?
4x $40 for the waterblocks
= $435 total...hmm, just might want to reconsider dealing with all that noise.

 

[DT4K]

Wow, that would be quite the impressive setup. It would be very cool to see. And a lot of fun to show off to other computer geeks like us.

But IMO, it's a little crazy. I would not want that much water moving around my expensive computer equipment. And it's a lot of money and work.

Are you a serious overclocker?
If not, you can get high-quality heatsinks that will keep your systems plenty cool even with super quiet fans. I think that would be a much more reasonable way to go. Check out the Thermalright AX-7. Even with an ultra quiet fan, it does a good cooling job.

But if you do go the watercooling route, be sure to let us know. I would love to see a setup like that.

 

[CheapGator]

I'm with shanti on this one, a nice ax-7 with a panaflo or vantec stealth should do the trick. However this sounds fun as hell.

Here's the problems I see: You've got 4 inlets to your radiator, chances are this won't happen(radiators have 1 input 1 output). I'd also have an extra pump pushing water through just to be safe. I don't know much about piping, but i think there's going to be a problem with the 4 hoses being in parallel. Don't think the last one farthest from the pump is going to have enough flow going through it although I'm probably wrong. I think the pipe should be made with copper myself but you're going to need some nonconductive tubing to go into the case. (Remember heat the pipe not the solder). I like how you have alot of valves for easy maintenance. Another problem is going to be. That copper structure is going to be unmovable without problems so watch for leaks when you move it. I have seen copper that has ridges on it so it sorta dissipates heat. This may be a bit extreme but it's something to think about. I have no idea how you would attach fittings to it since the ridge is in the way, but you could always cut it off.

possible solutions: Have the water empty into the resevoir and have the extra pump within it, then you could pump that straight to the radiator with only 1 hose. Your radiator estimate seems a bit low to me, but watch ebay you'll never know what you'll find. I think each waterblock runs pretty well with 200-300 gph, so figure 1000-1200 gph pump. I've been looking around for pumps and just found laguna pumps from this guy. He's got a 1200 gph pump for 60 bucks so that could save you some money in the long run. I don't think it's submersible, but the page doesn't describe the pump much except for the gph. So that'll handle the pump you have in the schematic but not one in the resevoir. Something that might be fun to do is make the side of an extra sx1040 the actual radiator and make it an enormous negative pressure with all the fans pushing air out, draggin air through the radiator. I'm not sure how it will work as a passive radiator. I might put a few fans on it and take 1 off at a time and see if it can handle the pressure of all 4 processors, maybe a baybus for the radiator by itself, You also list 5 systems (2x 1800+, 1x 2.0 P4, 1x 1.4 Tbird & 1x 333mhz P2). If you're gonna water cool the 333 you'll have to add another line and another 200gph to the pump.

Hopefully this didn't talk you out of it but just see some possible problems later on. I hope to see some picture of this setup...one day.

 

[Scootin159]

The radiator will only need one input, there will be a pipe running to it, much like off the pump.

As for the case idea, I think I will actually just build a black box out of plywood or something to house all the parts. Another sx1040B is a possibility for the radiator though, although I would probably put it in the side panel (the right side panel, where the motherboard would normally go). Actually that's not that bad an idea, especially if I find a black radiator. Once I strip out all the drive bays and stuff there should be plenty of room in there for the resivoir and the pump as well.

as for the 4 systems, 5 cpus...the 2x 1800+ would be a dual-cpu rig .

I did some looking on ebay & it seems that $50 for a radiator is a bit low, $100 is more realalistic. Seems like this idea may be a bit out of my budget (~$550 w/ the extra 1040B), so I will most likely just drop to air cooling. Still would be nice to see someone fly with this idea. I'll also be sure to keep my ears open, as I could always add this system on in the future if I find the parts low enough.