flirting with idea of watercooling

[daw123]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
so i just got the majority of my parts (minus the CPU Block).

i've just rinsed out the radiator with boiling distilled water about 5 times with one of the times letting the boiling water sit there for about 5 minutes. (is this enough cleaning?
I've also installed the XSPC Top on the MCP355, it was a cinch, lets just hope it works now. I also rinsed out the reservoir with bathwarm distilled water 2 times.
did i need to use vinegar for any of this?

my next step would be to estimate the tubing lengths for each section, then prepare my test loop outside of the case.

when mounting the radiator horizontally on the top of my case, do i NEED to have the barbs pointed downward? just FYI... can i have the barbs pointed upwards?

and how can i tell the difference between the apogee GT's bowing o-ring and the regular o-ring?

You have been a lot more thorough in your cleaning of the components than I was. All I did was ran each component inc. each section of tubing under the mains fed cold water tap for a few minutes. The idea being any debris within the components (through manufacture, handling, etc.) would be flushed out. Impurities within the tubing and components will be dealt with by the additivies in the liquid.

I have no idea what the correct orientation is for the rad if its installed in the vertical plane. I didn't need to know this since my rad is installed horizontally. I would be interested to know though.

btw if your rad has the built in res, I do know that the res section of the rad needs to be pointed upwards; but this is obvious due to the fillport on the res.

Edit: I noticed in your previous post that you said you wanted to mount the rad horizontally with the barbs pointing upwards. Why would you want to have the barbs pointing upwards?

Surely they would point downwards in to the case. If they are pointed upwards that would mean that the tubing would have a U-bend in it. i.e. the tubing would go up through the top of the case then return in a bend into the rad. This doesn't make sense and it may affect the performance of the rad and the liquid flow in the system. Oh and its not recommended that you use right angle fittings on the inlet and outlet of the rad if this is what you are considering.

 

[Gillbot]

I usually rinse mine with tapwater then a flush of distilled, then install.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

no, my situation is hard to explain w/o a picture but let me try:

i have a LL V1000 case w/ a top 120mm blowhole right smack in the middle of the top panel
if i mount my radiator symmetrical over the 120mm blowhole, i'll have 120mm off to the front, and 120mm off to the back.
after that 120mm to the back, i have the barbs (lets assume i point them downwards now) the tubing connected will hit the case (i dont have drilled holes on my top panel for water cooling tubes).
so, i was hoping to mount the first 120mm fan (farthest from the barbs) on top of my 120mm blowhole and have 2 x 120mm off to the rear and snake the tubing into my case through and open PCI slot. My only worry with this is that, my Radbox Rev2 feels flimsy and i don't know if it will hold the weight of the radiator filled with water + 2x120mm fans hanging off of it. What do you guys think?

which brought me to my question of mounting the radiator upside down with the barbs pointed upwards and the radbox in the middle 120 of the 3x120mm radiator. which then i can have the tubing go upwards a little, then back down through the PCI slot.

what do you guys think?

http://www.dansdata.com/images/pcv1000/inside640. (pic of my case, but not my ACTUAL case.)

 

[LOUISSSSS]

bump, check the end of OP for my update

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
update: i have the loop up and running in a test loop. some questions:
1. how long do the bubbles stick to the side of the reservoir? i dont seem to have any in the tubing, but many r stuck on the res.
2. how long should i test for? before mounting?
3. when testing, is it okay to run with distilled water only? even if its for 1 week?
4. my pump is getting HOT, do i need to keep it cool at all?

1: You may always see bubbles in the res, no big deal. Just give everything a shake to be sure you got all the major air pockets out of the loop.

2: No idea, I leak test while booting into windows so i'm the last person you should ask for test advice.

3: I use distilled only in all my loops permanently so I think you'll be ok.

4: Yes, keep the pump cool. I try to keep a fan on mine.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

updated in OP

 

[PCTC2]

No problem LOUIS. Just trying to make getting Aigo'd a little easier.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: PCTC2
No problem LOUIS. Just trying to make getting Aigo'd a little easier.

haha well, i wouldn't call it that yet, my setup is still pretty basic. BUT, my GPU fan is pretty loud!

and i'm still looking for a better place to mount my pump. i dont like where it is now: on that rectangular pattern of holes near the PCI slots. it isn't stable and it blocks the PCI slots.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

occt testing for 2 hours and the highest core temp i have seen is 40C. room temp is about 65-68F. kind of chilly.

CPU settings are: 9 x 266 = 2.4ghz. 1.25vCore
all settings on auto/default.

will post back with overclocked settings soon! stay posted!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

another update on temps:

Q6600 @ 2.66*9 = 2.4ghz. 1.4vCore
idle temps 28-33C. OCCT temps after 10 minutes: 40-46C

something interesting i noticed: I have 3 x High speed YL fans on my radiator. and those temps are reported with the fans at max speed. NOW, when i lower my fans to 7v (using sunbeam rheobus) the temps DO NOT CHANGE! If they do, it is only by 1C.

i'm kind of liking these idle/load temp deltas =)

now lets hope Gigabyte actually did some shit and fixed my motherboard and didn't just send me the same thing back.
I called them and they had updated the BIOS, but CPU Z says the latest BIOS installed is from 2/27/08 over a year ago

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
another update on temps:

Q6600 @ 2.66*9 = 2.4ghz. 1.4vCore
idle temps 28-33C. OCCT temps after 10 minutes: 40-46C

something interesting i noticed: I have 3 x High speed YL fans on my radiator. and those temps are reported with the fans at max speed. NOW, when i lower my fans to 7v (using sunbeam rheobus) the temps DO NOT CHANGE! If they do, it is only by 1C.

i'm kind of liking these idle/load temp deltas =)

now lets hope Gigabyte actually did some shit and fixed my motherboard and didn't just send me the same thing back.
I called them and they had updated the BIOS, but CPU Z says the latest BIOS installed is from 2/27/08 over a year ago

It may take MANY hours for your temps to stabilize. Set your fans to low and let the loop run OCCT or whatever you prefer overnight then check it the next day.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

i'm kind of liking these idle/load temp deltas =)

meh.. and now u see why everyone whose on water gets all pissed when someone on air says there air sink is greater then or = to water.

the next line you expect to hear from that is, "and the cow jumped over the moon.."

 

[LOUISSSSS]

just overclocked my q6600 g0 VID: 1.2125v

9 x 400 (3.6ghz) 1.45vCore 1:1ram
load temps: 57 highest core in 76F room

This screenshot was taken with 50 minutes remaining in a 2 hour OCCT test with all temps/CPU-Z information. temps Acquired with CPUID HWMonitor & Speedfan.
http://s47.photobucket.com/alb...urrent=36ghztemps1.jpg

 

[PCTC2]

I will one up you... tomorrow. I'm too lazy to install my EP45-UD3P into my MCR320 system. The old 975X won't overclock a Quad.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i'm still just hoping my system doesn't freeze up randomly. Its great to have this CPU running well with those low temps and stability at 3.6ghz.
if it freezes randomly (stability testing or @ idle) i'd be at a complete loss as to what to do.

Good luck with your new MB and system

 

[PCTC2]

Good luck with yours. If you get instability, make sure it's not your RAM, and then push vCore or NB a bit. Or just back it down to 3.53 or something.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i dont really worry about instability, theres many ways to fix that via increasing voltages, or backing down speed.
But I never back down

i'm more worried about a broken MB or CPU. Can a CPU be damaged if it passes all these stability tests? Damaged as in freezing up at random times while PC is on?

 

[PCTC2]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
i dont really worry about instability, theres many ways to fix that via increasing voltages, or backing down speed.
But I never back down

i'm more worried about a broken MB or CPU. Can a CPU be damaged if it passes all these stability tests? Damaged as in freezing up at random times while PC is on?

Freezing at random times can be unstable components even in stress tests pass.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: PCTC2

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
i dont really worry about instability, theres many ways to fix that via increasing voltages, or backing down speed.
But I never back down

i'm more worried about a broken MB or CPU. Can a CPU be damaged if it passes all these stability tests? Damaged as in freezing up at random times while PC is on?

Freezing at random times can be unstable components even in stress tests pass.

thats so weird, because i've had that same freezing at random time problem with complete stock settings with a fresh OS install...

 

[PCTC2]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

Originally posted by: PCTC2

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
i dont really worry about instability, theres many ways to fix that via increasing voltages, or backing down speed.
But I never back down

i'm more worried about a broken MB or CPU. Can a CPU be damaged if it passes all these stability tests? Damaged as in freezing up at random times while PC is on?

Freezing at random times can be unstable components even in stress tests pass.

thats so weird, because i've had that same freezing at random time problem with complete stock settings with a fresh OS install...

Maybe you have a dead RAM stick.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i don't think i have a bad ram stick, they've both passed memtest86+ individually as well as together for 24 hours.

updated with pics

 

[Tweakin]

congrats....how are the temps?

 

[daw123]

Looks good. What are your load temps?

btw you missed a screw out of one of the fan guards on the bottom of the rad.

 

[Tweakin]

And your link for the Swiftech is the same as the t-line.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

load temps are GREAT, i'll have a pic up in 2 minutes of temps