My new beast requires good liquid cooling

[bozilla]

Hi guys, I just bought an incredible machine. I'm very very satisfied with performance and all that, but I'm a bit upset by the sound of stock fans that this machine comes with. I want to do liquid cooling, but I have no idea what are the parts I need to get for this machine.

If someone could just do a listing on newegg for example what parts exactly I need to buy to have everything ready for installation. I would hate to order the kit and all that and miss something and have to wait for another few days for missing parts to arrive.

THE MACHINE:
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Photo5

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SPECS:
Dual Xeon 3.6Ghz EMT64
Dual Swiftech Coolers "MCX604-V" @ 28 dBA
ASUS NCCH-DL Mobo
4Gb DDR400 OCZ Performance Series (4x1gb)
ATI X800XT Platinum AGP
Arctic ATI Silencer 4
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive
ASUS 16x DVD-ROM
WD Raptor 74Gb + 300GB Seagate 7200.8 SATA NCQ
Thermaltake Silent PurePower 680W PSU
Lian Li Black Aluminum Case, "PC-V1200B"
===

Thanks guys.

 

[HardWarrior]

VERY nice rig! :thumbsup: I assume you want to cool both CPU's, the video card and if possible the NB\chipset, correct?

 

[bozilla]

You are correct sir.

 

[HardWarrior]

I've never plumbed an SMP rig, but I'm willing to help you brainstorm it. I would suggest dual loops with T-lines. This because a simple, linear loop is going to dump some fairly toasty coolant to whatever follows your CPU's. In your case, considering the extra plumbing, and barbs needed to make a reservoir work, it seems that a res would be too much of a pain. You're also going to need a BIG rad\core if you want to avoid having to REALLY blow some air to keep that baby near ambient. If I may ask, to get an idea on what blocks to suggest, how much do you plan on spending on your water-cooler? Also, do you have an idea what the temp range is for one of your CPU's?

 

[zakee00]

friggin nice computer, and you have the same keyboard as me

 

[thegimp03]

wow, that's so sweet looking. run some benchmarks. sorry I don't have an answer for ya though, i've never done liquid cooling before.

 

[bozilla]

Originally posted by: HardWarrior
I've never plumbed an SMP rig, but I'm willing to help you brainstorm it. I would suggest dual loops with T-lines. This because a simple, linear loop is going to dump some fairly toasty coolant to whatever follows your CPU's. In your case, considering the extra plumbing, and barbs needed to make a reservoir work, it seems that a res would be too much of a pain. You're also going to need a BIG rad\core if you want to avoid having to REALLY blow some air to keep that baby near ambient. If I may ask, to get an idea on what blocks to suggest, how much do you plan on spending on your water-cooler? Also, do you have an idea what the temp range is for one of your CPU's?

Well to tell you the truth I think, judging by what I saw that it would cost me around $300-$400. The external module from Koolance is my best bet simply because it has specialty Xeon adapters (Nocona compatible), the only thing is that I don't know what to buy. Exos AL is the external module right? So I guess would need to buy that, then I would have to buy the Xeon adapters, but on a few other boards someone said I would need 300-something block or whatever. I have no idea what that means. So let's say I want to go with Koolance for everything, what do you think I should buy to have everything so I can assemble it?

Btw, the temp range for each one is around 44-50 celsius idle around 55-60 under load with stock "active thermal solution" that they ship with. The fans however are HORRIBLY loud.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

 

[bozilla]

Originally posted by: zakee00
friggin nice computer, and you have the same keyboard as me

Are you talking about the mirosoft one? I used that monitor and keyboard just to install everything. I have dual 20" LCDs with LX700 keyboard and MX1000 mouse from logitech on the other table that I'm gonna switch out when the machine is totally ready. It's funny how Logitech realized that LX700/MX1000 works and looks great so they are releasing MX3100 set that has exactly that combination Only I paid $99 for the LX700 set + $79.99 for the MX1000. I could've saved $30 bucks if I waited, but I don't regret it. It works great for everything (gaming, design etc)

 

[zakee00]

lol yeah the microsoft one ...i really need a new one. i use an mx-310 mouse though, its nice.

 

[bozilla]

HardWarrior, any suggestions?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

That's the Lian Li case, similar to the V1100.

I don't want to discourage you or anyone from going "H20", and I might do it myself if I find it necessary.

But your post suggests your main gripe is the fan noise -- that you don't have an over-heating problem.

Aluminum cases in my opinion resonate a lot of interior sound. This particular case lends itself to a $6 or $10 cooling improvement that is bound to decrease noise.

If you're in no hurry, you could experiment with the $10 enhancement and then trash it if you still want to go with water.

Find an "Arts and Crafts" store like Michael's. Get a $6 2'x3' piece of foam art-board. Prepare yourself with a sharp razor knife and some sort of industrial craft adhesive known to work well with the foam-board.

Visit this link:

Foam Board Ducting

In the example, the intake side of than is bare to the case side-panel. In your case, if you reverse the cooling fans so they suck air through the heatsinks and between the mobo and a flat foam panel, you can then duct directly to the large exhaust fan and the fans will be completely covered with a noise-deadener that is also acting as duct material. Further, your temperatures will significantly improve on the CPU's, chipset, memory and other components.

The material is such a light-weight material that you could easily "overkill" noise deadening by doubling the width of the panels and folded ducting, spot glueing as needed.

The Plexi-glas option is not as likely to be such a noise-deadener, but would improve the decibels anyway.

Oh. Credit where it's due: the fan-reversal and ducting mod for the Lian Li 1x00 cases was suggested by Akira34 of this forum.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

PS Anyway, with that case and its fans, you're still going to have one and probably both of them in a water-cooling solution. The front intake 120mm is a done deal, just to keep the interior air-flow moving, and you'll probably use the exhaust fan in combination with a radiator at the case rear.

If you want to reduce your CPU idle-temp / load-temp differential by maybe 50%, then that's another reason to water cool. But the question is this: "Do you need to do it?" or "Do you WANT to do it?" Or "Do you just WANT to do it anyway?"

If the final question has a "yes" answer, be my guest. I can't offer specific choices of equipment parts. You might try a Swiftech kit that includes a 120mm-sized radiator, and if not Swiftech, some other highly rated kit.

 

[bdoople]

NICE!!

Do you have to pay rent for that case? You could move into that thing!

 

[Mrvile]

Bonzai take a look at the case itself and tell me a good way to "foam board duct mod" it. I was looking into the same mod but I can't see a good way to get the air to an exhaust. Sure there's the one in the back right next to the CPUs but is one enough? The guy who made the site has the one CPU fan exhausting through the two fans in the back, as well as the PSU.

 

[Mrvile]

Oh and PS, is it really worth it to spend over 300 dollars just to watercool that thing? I mean watercooling on a duallie with an X800XTPE makes for good bragging rights, but since you won't be OCing and your temps are fine, watercooling isn't THAT much quieter than air cooling. Since you still might need a fan for the HDD in the front, as well as a fan for the radiator. A cheaper solution would be:

ATISilencer5 for the video card
Two quieter heatsinks for the CPUs (I saw a guy with two of Coolermaster's passive ones)
A passive NB cooler
Quieter fans

That's all probably less than half the price of a watercooling setup, much safer and easier.

 

[bozilla]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Oh and PS, is it really worth it to spend over 300 dollars just to watercool that thing? I mean watercooling on a duallie with an X800XTPE makes for good bragging rights, but since you won't be OCing and your temps are fine, watercooling isn't THAT much quieter than air cooling. Since you still might need a fan for the HDD in the front, as well as a fan for the radiator. A cheaper solution would be:

ATISilencer5 for the video card
Two quieter heatsinks for the CPUs (I saw a guy with two of Coolermaster's passive ones)
A passive NB cooler
Quieter fans

That's all probably less than half the price of a watercooling setup, much safer and easier.

Well I agree that I'm not too crazy about liquid cooling in general. Spending $300-$400 for liquid cooling is not a must since I have good temperatures and the only problem I have is the sound. I mean everything else is silent. PSU is totally silent, the case is incredible and fans that come with it, the system is in normal heat range. On top of that even though there's very little chance, but there's still chance of possible leak.

Now tell me, I saw a Swiftech or something like that, Xeon coolers that work at 28 dBA @ 2700rpm. I wanted to order those first, but I'm still not sure if it's gonna be quiet. In all honesty, I don't mind hearing a bit of fans, but the way it is now is horrible. Btw, these Swiftech coolers are like $65 a pop, so it's not what you call a cheap experiment to undertake if it doesn't lower the noise.

Please take a look at these and tell me what you think is this gonna be quiet?

Swiftech Cooler for Xeon Nocona

 

[Mrvile]

Wow that Swiftech is expensive! Might as well go water lol

Anyway I'm pretty sure the coolermaster coolers that the one guy used were these (the first one). They are big but they cool very well. Here is a review and test with them, using two 3.4ghz Noconas. Looks like temps were nice for passive coolers, mid-30s idle and mid-50s load. And finally you can get them here for half the price of those swiftechs.

With those on your CPUs, you can have an additional 120mm fan blowing across them both, then exhausting the air straight out the back.

The cooler on video cards can be quite loud, so use this. It's the quietest thing on the market right now for X800s. Buy it here.

Finally, the AddA fans that come with the case are very nice fans, so keep those. If you ever want to purchase any more, the quietest 120mm fan in the world right now is this. Other good quiet 120mm fans are this, this, and this.

Good luck with your new computer, it's awesome! What do you use it for btw?

EDIT: Fixed some mistakes.

 

[Greenman]

You could use two thremaltake bigwater systems, about $120 each.

 

[bozilla]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Wow that Swiftech is expensive! Might as well go water lol

Anyway I'm pretty sure the coolermaster coolers that the one guy used were these (the first one). They are big but they cool very well. Here is a review and test with them, using two 3.4ghz Noconas. Looks like temps were nice for passive coolers, mid-30s idle and mid-50s load. And finally you can get them here for half the price of those swiftechs.

With those on your CPUs, you can have an additional 120mm fan blowing across them both, then exhausting the air straight out the back.

The cooler on video cards can be quite loud, so use this. It's the quietest thing on the market right now for X800s. Buy it here.

Finally, the AddA fans that come with the case are very nice fans, so keep those. If you ever want to purchase any more, the quietest 120mm fan in the world right now is this. Other good quiet 120mm fans are this, this, and this.

Good luck with your new computer, it's awesome! What do you use it for btw?

EDIT: Fixed some mistakes.

Well it's done...I actually got the Swiftechs...The point with the coolers is that Swiftechs offer "on paper" 28 dBA while Cooler Master fans are quite loud on paper they are like 51 dBA or something like that.

Well this is what I did. I updated the whole configuration and ordered Arctic Silencer 4 for X800XT PE, ordered 2 Swiftechs, got WD Raptor 74Gb in addition to 300Gb Seagate and some round ATA cables and SATA150 enhanced longer cables. I already have awesome 2 almost silent 120mm fans in this Lian Li case.

To answer your question about what I use the computer; I work on web sites for MGM and 20th Century Fox. Mainly Flash with heavy special effects (apps in use are Premier Pro, 3d Studio Max, Adobe After Effects etc). We just launched Fantastic Four web site.

P.S.:

This is the final configuration:

- Dual Xeons 3.6Ghz EMT64 (stock fans out - too loud)
- 2 x Swiftech high performance coolers with low noise fans "MCX604-V" (28 dbA)
- ASUS NCCH-DL Mobo - 4xSATA Raid + 2 standard SATA + 2 IDE
- 4Gb DDR400 OCZ Performance Series (4x1gb)
- ATI X800XT Platinum 256Mb GDDR3 (520/1120) + Arctic ATI Silencer 4
- NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive
- ASUS 16x DVD-ROM
- WD740 Raptor 74Gb 10.000 rpm
- 300GB Seagate 7200.8 SATA NCQ
- Maxtor OneTouch II 300 Gb External with 16mb cache
- Thermaltake Silent PurePower 680W PSU
- Lian Li Black Aluminum Case, "PC-V1200B"
- LX700 Wireless Keyboard + MX1000 mouse (aka MX3100)
- Dual Dell FP2001 Ultrasharp LCDs

(updated my cables too to all round IDE cables for CDROMs + enhanced SATA150 cables)

Now we are humming at the speed of light!

 

[bozilla]

Also can you help me out with temperature monitoring software. This doesn't seem right. Speed Fan keeps showing some temperatures of 127 degrees celsius and both Everest and Speed fan show some 28/19 degrees celsius CPU temps. I can tell you that this is not true because my bios shows temperatures of 47-48 degrees celsius for CPUs and 45 degrees system temperature. What to trust now. Is that a reliable app that shows me the same number that my bios shows?

Check out the screenies:

SpeedFan

Everest

 

[Mrvile]

Weird. Why don't you try Motherboard Monitor 5, that's what the review of the Coolermaster thing used.

Oh ahh, passively cooled means "no fan." Therefore you wouldn't use any fans at all, I don't know where you got the info about the Coolermaster fan. See if you can cancel the order unless you really really want the swiftechs...

 

[bozilla]

I know but it's a bit of a risk, because you need to have a good case fans working..if something goes wrong then CPUs might overheat..am I wrong? I'm still safer with having actual fans on the heatsink, just a bit less noise. Nah, I'm gonna get these Swiftechs. I don't think they are bad. I mean for that price they should be top of the line. Don't you think?

 

[Mrvile]

Maybe. I mean swiftech isn't really a bad company, but Coolermaster is much, well, bigger. I myself would get the Coolermasters, and I know they work because someone has tested them before (not only on that website I posted, but also in these forums).

 

[bozilla]

You might have a point..unfortunately my order was charged so I think I'm gonna give Swiftechs a try. The review does look promising for those Coolermasters. What a heck, if they don't work I'm gonna try to give them back to NewEgg and get those cooler masters. Btw, I have a small question. When I placed the Xeons and mounted coolers, since they come with stock thermal compound on them, I'm not sure how to take off that crap now when I try to use Swiftechs with Arctic Silver 5. These coolers are stuck on there now pretty tight. I'm afraid to pull them off CPUs harder when i try to take them off. Can I take them off by rotating coolers slightly so I don't pull but spin them and then they should fall off? I mean can the CPU pins be messed up if I try to take them off that way?

 

[HardWarrior]

Do you mean that they had thermal pads instead of standard HS compound? SLOWLY twisting them should do the trick, please don't pull. About Swiftech, they've been into the specialty cooler\water-cooling market for some time. You'll be fine.