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So I jumped on the water cooling bangwagen... *Update*

A

ArchAngel777

Diamond Member
1) Major pain in the ass to setup for a newbie like myself... I had to think it though very carefully before I started to cut tubing a part. Of course, we should have to think though every thing we do, I can't knock it. I just think it takes a lot of thought into where things should go, especially with my case (P180B). I had to make two minor mods to it, but plan to do more when I have time.

Currently, I drilled two small holes above the back top of the case.. Ones that would NOT be visable if I decided to sell my case at some point (covered by the vent).

Also, I had to drill out four rivits to get the bracket out the seperate the PSU And second HDD carriage area. That is where I decided to mount the pump. Those rivets came out pretty easy!

I then drilled two small holes in the 5.25" bay area to store the reservoir...

2) The cooling is incredable! Ha! I was floor when with the same setup I was able to hold the load steady in large FFT at 58c... Previous, the Thermalright SI-128 lapped and CPU was unable to keep it cool at that speed during Large FFT. It would creep right up to 80c and shutdown (set BIOS to shutdown CPU at 80c). That is a delta is 32c... That is insane, simply put. Same ambient temperatures, except that perhaps I am actually a tad warmer now.

Anyway, thanks to Aigo for his guide and getting me interested... He linked me to a kit that I almost bought, except that I found something locally that was almost 100% indenticle (Apex Ultra). It was a spur of the moment decision when I went shopping at Micro Center and noticed that it pretty much had everything I needed to get it done tonight.

I currently moved voltage up to 1.5v @ 3.6Ghz (400x9) and so far so good... Load temps are ~65c. My next quest is to figure out a way to cool PWM... Now that I have so much power going through here without much active cooling (SI-128 did down force to NB and MOSFET) on the motherboard... It hits 100c now when do large FFT.

Anyway, just wanted to say that my experience was good overall, but it was a little bit overwhelming at first. It just didn't know where to start. I asked my Dad to come over and give me a hand since he does that type of thing on cars all day and understands the basic ideas. Much in debt to him...

EDIT -----------------

Ok, here are two pictures... I finally ended up clocking her at 3.5Ghz because 3.6 in P95 Large FFT would cause my system to shutdown. Not sure why, because temperature is completely under control.

Picture of my setup with the side panel off...

H20

And here is a picture or the temperatures and running Orthos Large FFT on it after 30 minutes... They stablized after 5 minutes. Note that I configured speed fan for +15c on all cores, so it is reporting the correct temperature.

Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz
 
Yeah wc'ing is definitely not for the average person. I actually started off in watercooling by doing it on my video card. I was scared as hell something would break. Everything went well though and I'm glad I learned how to do it. How much it was worth is debatable in my case though.
 
Hahaha! :laugh: Not so tough, is it?
Aigo knows his stuff and is very helpful. I've picked his brain a time or two myself.
The only prob you'll have now is to leave the box alone. I've built and rebuilt my box so many times I don't screw the side panels any longer.
Congrats on your build, I'm glad to hear it went well.
 
Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Hahaha! :laugh: Not so tough, is it?
Aigo knows his stuff and is very helpful. I've picked his brain a time or two myself.
The only prob you'll have now is to leave the box alone. I've built and rebuilt my box so many times I don't screw the side panels any longer.
Congrats on your build, I'm glad to hear it went well.
Click to expand...

LMAO!

yes you must resist now touching your system.

One thing you'll learn is watercooling if done correctly is very addicting. Also you tend to want to upgrade your cooling power over few weeks or so. 😛
 
Yeah I find myself lusting after what new blocks I can mount all over the MB... Though, I am actually pretty satisfied with my purchase. I believe my Dual Radiator can handle my just my CPU... If I add something to the loop, I would likely have to upgrade it. I have had a LOT of fun with this...

I would post a picture, but I created a GHETTO ducts out of cardboard + duct tape for my rear fan to blow on the MOFSETS... So, I don't think I want to post ANY pictures until I decided to remake that duct properly (with acrylic/plastic, glued and fit to exact size and painted black). But, having that duct keeps my MOSFET from running 110c down to 75c under load and idles it at a nice 39c
 
Ok, last night I removed the cardboard and duct tape from the system and biult a acrylic transparent duct for the MOSFET. It looks a LOT better than the cardboard + grey duct tape, for sure...

Super glue! Wow, that stuff is incredable... I had to score and cut three pieces of acrylic (PITA) sanded them down and glued them together... The glue sets in 1 second... I was so astonished at that.

Anyway, as soon as I clean out the case and do a bit of wire management, I will post some pictures. Nothing special about my setup though. Radiator is top mounted, to reduce destroying my case. So, all mods done to my Antec case at his point was minimal and can be covered up and re-rivited back on with on problem.
 
Ok, here are two pictures... I finally ended up clocking her at 3.5Ghz because 3.6 in P95 Large FFT would cause my system to shutdown. Not sure why, because temperature is completely under control.

Picture of my setup with the side panel off...

H20

And here is a picture or the temperatures and running Orthos Large FFT on it after 30 minutes... They stablized after 5 minutes. Note that I configured speed fan for +15c on all cores, so it is reporting the correct temperature.

Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz
 
OK, Now get the wires sraight, tucked away, 90 degree bends, tie them all in place, solder extentions where necessary, take pics, and sit back and admire your work for ten minutes. Take a break, you deserve it, Tomorrow you can replace the blocks w/ the new ones, they're guaranteed to drop your temps by .005 deg C, and the new wire wrap over at frozen cpu, hot pink! you can re-work the wires the day after. Finish that and we'll talk about building a new case.

Soon you'll meet the folks at P.C.B.A.,

( PC Builders Anonymous) Yeah, we got a 12 step program for that too!

Congrats, you've earned your waterwings! and to your dad too, We old folks appreciate a pat on the back once in a while too. What did he think of WC a pc? is he a tech freak like us too?
 
Originally posted by: WoodButcher
OK, Now get the wires sraight, tucked away, 90 degree bends, tie them all in place, solder extentions where necessary, take pics, and sit back and admire your work for ten minutes. Take a break, you deserve it, Tomorrow you can replace the blocks w/ the new ones, they're guaranteed to drop your temps by .005 deg C, and the new wire wrap over at frozen cpu, hot pink! you can re-work the wires the day after. Finish that and we'll talk about building a new case.

Soon you'll meet the folks at P.C.B.A.,

( PC Builders Anonymous) Yeah, we got a 12 step program for that too!

Congrats, you've earned your waterwings! and to your dad too, We old folks appreciate a pat on the back once in a while too. What did he think of WC a pc? is he a tech freak like us too?
Click to expand...

LOL... Hilarious! Yeah, I have had trouble keeping my hands off the box lately... I keep adding to it or making changes and stuff. So much that I am losing sleep and I can't get to sleep because I am thinking about different things I can do with it... Yeah, seriously, I am not kidding either... I am already shopping for something else...

My Dad is certainly far, far more technical that you average PC user. In fact, I would go as far to say that he is more than capable of building his own system (actually has one three accounts) but he lacks the software tech ability to really make things run smooth (drivers, windows settings, graphics settings, etc...) so I generally go in there and tweak things for him. Biggest thing he does is have 20,000 items on startup and it drives me nuts.

Now I just have to raise my son and daughter to build and tinker with computers... my son already said hello to the radiator on the top, only problem is that he wanted to drive the screwdriver through it! gawd, son, don't do that! Wait... Do it son, cuz then dad has to buy a new one and get a BIGGER and BETTER one! HAHA, lots of fun!

Thanks for comments!

 
Nicely done loop for your first. As far as cooling your MOSFETs, instead of the acrylic contraption you've devised, thought about the Antec SpotCool? Very effective, flexible cooling and would rid you of the hunk of acrylic you've stuck in there.
 
Seems to me ducting the air over the board and out the back would be better than a spot-cool. I'll grant you the spot-cool has it's place but that duct removes heat from the case and cools the board w/o adding another fan.
ArchAngel777, nicely done.
 
WOW. its looking very good.

Yes very nicely done.

I also replied to your PM. Sorry i needed pictures so i was waiting for you to post them.

Also, why duct when you have room for a 120x1 radiator over there 😛 You can always drop GPU blocks. 😀


Oops feeding his fire to his late night stay ups.


Oh one last thing. This might really bug you. On a ApogeeGT i would go horizontal barb direction as it distributes the cooler water(inlet) more evenly among the cores.

The vertical mount (which you did) hits the first core completely prior to reaching the second(or in your case 0-1) which could explain the uneveness of your coretemp readings.

I dont think it will improve your temps drastically for you to redue it. But on your next rebuild consider it along with the Y drain.
 
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