Taking the Water Cooling Plunge

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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
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Don't bother coloring the connectors, it ain't worth the extra effort for such a tiny detail, unless you're making something of MDPC quality. I've had some sleeving experience myself, even making irreversible mistakes along the way; like snipping off the end of one of my Lamptron temp probe(the yellow plastic end).

I would agree that it's not really a good use of time to color the connectors. Although, I think it would be an interesting and not very time consuming learning experience. Plus, I get to take a trip to the hobby shop and look around at a bunch of stuff I can't buy because I spent too much on water cooling! :p Also, I tend to be a bit OCD about stuff matching, so seeing a white connector in a case full of black connectors would just bother me... especially when I had the connectors off and could have easily colored them.

If you have to get sleeving, go with quality ones where the weave is tighter, preventing the color of the wires from peeking through. MDPC sells sleeving which has quite a tight weave but you can find ones of similar quality for slightly less. Some tips, burn off the edges to prevent fraying, use a hair dryer for heat shrink tubings(I've used lighter is usable but requires more finesse or you end up burning things).

My local store has Techflex in stock, which seems decent from what I can tell. Hmm I don't own a hair dryer, but I'm guessing that it would be far less pricier than buying a cheap heat gun that has two settings: ridiculously hot and hell-ain't-got-nothin'-on-this!
 

dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
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My local store has Techflex in stock, which seems decent from what I can tell. Hmm I don't own a hair dryer, but I'm guessing that it would be far less pricier than buying a cheap heat gun that has two settings: ridiculously hot and hell-ain't-got-nothin'-on-this!
Hair dryer was just based on the assumption that its a common household appliance. If you don't have a hair dryer, a heat gun works a lot better with heat shrink tubing(provided that you regulate the exposure to hot air). A heat gun is also a convenient tool I would say, I've used it to reheat fries. Even tastes better than soggy microwave fries. ;)
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
20,894
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nonono go full bling!

colored connectors!
BLINGY SCREWS!?!?!?
IMG_0810.jpg

IMG_0813.jpg

see my pc is special.. it uses special screws even!!!

FEAR MY PC!!

:p

*sarcasm*



u can buy color plastic molex heads at frozencpu.com or performance-pcs.
The blingy screws... umm... those come from somewhere else entirely....
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
u can buy color plastic molex heads at frozencpu.com or performance-pcs.
The blingy screws... umm... those come from somewhere else entirely....

Haha you know... the Monsoon reservoir that I got does have "blingy screws". :p Since the tubing that I got is white, I decided to get the black casing + white effects (screws, caps, pump cover). I can also make the LED on the reservoir and fan controller white! :) I'm not really much of a glowing computer person though.

Yeah, I saw that those places sell black connectors, but then I'd have to wait to finish the build, and I'd kind of like to work on it this weekend. If I do that, I'll be around to check on it during the leak test. Also, I was doing some reading, and since molex connectors are made out of nylon, I should be able to dye them just using food coloring. If it doesn't turn out well, I can always buy the connectors.

Hair dryer was just based on the assumption that its a common household appliance. If you don't have a hair dryer, a heat gun works a lot better with heat shrink tubing(provided that you regulate the exposure to hot air). A heat gun is also a convenient tool I would say, I've used it to reheat fries. Even tastes better than soggy microwave fries. ;)

Haha... that's quite the MacGyver situation you've got there. The one thing that I noticed about heat guns are that the cheaper models have really lackluster ranges. I think the $25 model would only do something like 600F-800F, and I'm not sure if that would be too hot or not. A $50 one would go from 120F to 1000F.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
20,894
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use a lighter.. :D

Go over it really quickly.. many times...
Then wipe the carbon residue from the lighter off shrink wrap.
A BIC lighter is what? $1.09

Only perfectionists use heat guns!

<---- that top statement is coming from a ziptie diety... :p

I used to be called the ziptie diety over at XS because i could literally build an entire PC from Zipties.
No screws required... no base standoff required...
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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Haha... I think I'll stick with normal nuts and bolts instead of zip ties! ;)

I've actually been wasting way too much time researching cables and such, because I realized that all three new devices that I have all use molex. Guess what none of my devices in my system use? Molex! :p I'd really prefer to not waste the space running a dedicated molex line, so I'll probably end up buying a converter like this and modifying it with two in-line molex connectors so it can power all three devices, or maybe rip apart the power pins and combine it with a daisy-chain molex loop that I found in my drawer o' adapters. I will also be Rit-ting the world of all white connectors!

Anyway! I have been doing a little bit of work with the actual water cooling. One thing I thought was odd is that everyone tells you to clean out your radiator(s) because you'll find metal flakes come out. Well, I cleaned both of mine and nothing ever came out. o_O I did the whole heat up distilled water thing, and I never saw anything in the bowl that I poured the water out into. Is it possible that XSPC cleans the AX series radiators before shipping them? They are a little pricier than some of their other models.

I should be able to get everything hooked up tonight, which will leave me some time for leak testing.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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yeah... rad makers wash there rads now because everyone was raging at seeing solder flux come out.

So dont freakout if its clean...

Also i have never seen the reverse of that adapter ur looking for.
You would need to do a clean one which can be more hassle then its worth, cuz u need to find the male SATA connector, and then mickey mouse the 12V rail from it, to a male Molex adapter.

Does your PSU have a 4 pin ATX line or do u have a free 6 pin PCI-E rail?
You could possibly do an adapter with those lines as they are easier because those 2 are dedicated 12V rails.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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yeah... rad makers wash there rads now because everyone was raging at seeing solder flux come out.

So dont freakout if its clean...

Ahh, okay... that's good then!

Also i have never seen the reverse of that adapter ur looking for.

Oh, they definitely exist.

However,...

You would need to do a clean one which can be more hassle then its worth, cuz u need to find the male SATA connector, and then mickey mouse the 12V rail from it, to a male Molex adapter.

...I think you just gave me a better idea, or I guess an easier idea. I can steal some in-line molex connectors (like these) from an old power supply that I have lying around and simply attach them to the SATA power line. The only issue is that the pump and reservoir use cables for their molex connector where the fan controller just has a plug on it, so I'd need length.

Does your PSU have a 4 pin ATX line or do u have a free 6 pin PCI-E rail?
You could possibly do an adapter with those lines as they are easier because those 2 are dedicated 12V rails.

Well, that would be the same as me plugging in a molex line. It's all modular, so I only have stuff plugged in that I need... I just have an extra SATA plug on the rail.

EDIT:

One of my other goals with this is to completely modify my front panel connectors. The problem is that to get the amount of spacing that I'd like, I have to remove my front panel USB 3 bay connectors. Corsair sells a USB 3 upgrade module, but it's rather lame as it connects to exterior ports. I can get an adapter to go from an internal USB 3 port to an external, but then I just have a ton of wire to find a spot for. However, all I need to do is remove the USB 2 plugs and solder on USB 3 (as well as attach the wire + internal plug). I get a better upgrade than what Corsair offers because hell... who wants USB 2?
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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So, I found out the hard way that the Monsoon D5 Dual Bay reservoir does not fit properly in the Corsair 800D. I went to put it in, and the little trays that the 5.25 drives sit on are just too wide. I had to go buy a file and file the little trays until my reservoir would fit. The reservoir also has this rubber shock absorbing thing, but unfortunately, the crummy tool-less system on the case makes it so you can't use it.

I'm really tempted to get a case from somewhere like Case Labs and just pawn this off on someone that just wants to use a bunch of retail parts. :|
 

dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
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Its too wide and you file it to make it wider? :confused: Tool-less mountings are meant for drives, not specially made reservoirs. I removed all of the tool-less mounting of my Corsair 400R and went with screws for both fan speed controller and reservoir.

It is important to have the reservoir + pump combo to be screwed in adequately tight to prevent it from rattling. Mounting it loosely with tool-less mountings will not be sufficiently secure.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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Its too wide and you file it to make it wider? :confused:

No, I filed the little flanges/trays down to make them narrower. I knew that the flanges were there, but a quick inspection looked like they wouldn't cause a problem. Unfortunately, there were no specs online for the reservoir so I couldn't measure anything. That was a bit annoying since I've seen a ton of CAD-ish drawings online for water cooling stuff.

Tool-less mountings are meant for drives, not specially made reservoirs. I removed all of the tool-less mounting of my Corsair 400R and went with screws for both fan speed controller and reservoir.

Yeah, I think I may remove it. From what I saw in a build where someone painted the 800D, you have to compress some stopper tab in to remove the slider. To be clear, I was also using screws in whatever hole I could find that lined up with an available mounting hole on the device in question. The reservoir has four holes per side. Two of them are meant to be temporary while you screw in the ones that have the shock absorbers. Unfortunately, right now the only two that I can access are those temporary ones.

It is important to have the reservoir + pump combo to be screwed in adequately tight to prevent it from rattling. Mounting it loosely with tool-less mountings will not be sufficiently secure.

Yeah, I would like to get it mounted properly. I'll have to see how I can mess with this troublesome case to get things right.

Although, I wasn't trying to really mount the reservoir as I was trying to get an idea of tubing bends, lengths and such. I'm mostly looking to see whether I may need/want some 45 degree bends. I think they may be nice for CPU=>Rad2, Rad2=>GPU and Rad1=>Res.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
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I have a Corsair 700D and I didn't have any trouble with a double bay res. I think it was a little snug, but that was because of the rubber vibration things. The 800D might be a little different, but I don't think so.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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I have a Corsair 700D and I didn't have any trouble with a double bay res. I think it was a little snug, but that was because of the rubber vibration things. The 800D might be a little different, but I don't think so.

The issue may partially be with the reservoir that I chose as they may not have provided as much of a cut-out in the side to provide a gap for those 5.25 bay flanges. The 800D may also have wider flanges... I'm really not too sure. Now that I filed it down, it fits fine, but now I'm having those aforementioned problems with mounting it. On the one side, there's the no-tool system, and on the other side, there's this little tiny nub that's blocking the little rubber vibration thing. So I might have to get rid of that nub as well. I can easily screw into the normal holes (meant for help aligning it while screwing into the rubber ones), but not the rubber vibration things.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
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That particular res might be different than the one I previously used. I had a bit of a problem with the tooless kit though. I tried to use it and it broke the sliding part you use to lock it. I just removed it and screwed it in. This one had all the holes rubberized, but even without it, I don't think the vibration from a single pump / res combo will be much. I would wager your fans make more noise.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Hmm well this is a bummer. That 120x1 radiator that I bought? Yeah.. doesn't fit anywhere. The 800D uses a bunch of rivets to hold certain things in, and no matter how I rotate the radiator at the rear, it hits one of those rivets. :\ I can mount it on the back, but I really, really do not like the idea of external radiators. There's an intake fan at the bottom of the motherboard compartment, but that's 140mm and doesn't have 120mm holes. I guess I'll just save this radiator for when I replace this case, which is hopefully soon! I know I won't have a problem fitting whatever radiator I want if I go with Case Labs.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
79
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With my 700D, I just used my Dremel and removed the bottom HDD cage and cut a nice radiator mount in the bottom. I have a 120.2 in the bottom and a 120.3 in the top. Other than that, yeah it only really has the top for a radiator. =(


Oh, but don't worry. Once you get your first loop set up, you will be planning your next almost immediately. It is a vicious cycle. >_<
 

24601

Golden Member
Jun 10, 2007
1,683
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Hmm well this is a bummer. That 120x1 radiator that I bought? Yeah.. doesn't fit anywhere. The 800D uses a bunch of rivets to hold certain things in, and no matter how I rotate the radiator at the rear, it hits one of those rivets. :\ I can mount it on the back, but I really, really do not like the idea of external radiators. There's an intake fan at the bottom of the motherboard compartment, but that's 140mm and doesn't have 120mm holes. I guess I'll just save this radiator for when I replace this case, which is hopefully soon! I know I won't have a problem fitting whatever radiator I want if I go with Case Labs.

Crazy people spending 70% of the cost of components sans water cooling on water cooling :O.
 

dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
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The 800D uses a bunch of rivets to hold certain things in, and no matter how I rotate the radiator at the rear, it hits one of those rivets. :\
Place the fan in the middle to act like a spacer; sandwiching it between the case and radiator. The 25mm gap should give sufficient clearance from the rivets. You can place the fan in either push or pull.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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Place the fan in the middle to act like a spacer; sandwiching it between the case and radiator. The 25mm gap should give sufficient clearance from the rivets. You can place the fan in either push or pull.

+1

place the fan first.

Crazy people spending 70% of the cost of components sans water cooling on water cooling :O.

LOL... as smack said its a viscous cycle.. one that doesn't end until u finally retire.

Look at me.. im already past my 10th year in watercooling.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Place the fan in the middle to act like a spacer; sandwiching it between the case and radiator. The 25mm gap should give sufficient clearance from the rivets. You can place the fan in either push or pull.

This is one of those posts where you read it, and your first reaction is to facepalm and say, "...why didn't I think of that?" I'll have to give it a try tonight. My only worry is that pushing the radiator out further, I'll have to see how well I can route the hoses from the CPU to the radiator and from the radiator to the GPU. I do have two 90 degree fittings, but one is white because I was going to use it for a nifty rotating fill port that would go above my reservoir. Gotta keep things the same black color! :p

With my 700D, I just used my Dremel and removed the bottom HDD cage and cut a nice radiator mount in the bottom. I have a 120.2 in the bottom and a 120.3 in the top. Other than that, yeah it only really has the top for a radiator. =(


Oh, but don't worry. Once you get your first loop set up, you will be planning your next almost immediately. It is a vicious cycle. >_<

I've seen a lot of people do that with the 800D as well. I never realized it until I started doing more "enthusiast-level" things, but honestly, I think Corsair really needs to step it up with their case designs. At least from what I can tell, the Obsidian series is supposed to be an enthusiast series, and it certainly works well if you use Corsair's products, but they add all these convenience features that enthusiasts probably don't want without any sort of way to remove them without hacking your case to bits.

I will probably never buy another Corsair case unless I see that they add a bit more modularity in the case. Allow us to loosen a couple screws and remove these drive bays, or things like that.

Speaking of more loops, I'm tempted to water cool my gaming HTPC. :p I'm really picky about HTPCs and noise, which is why my HTPC upstairs uses a Streacom passive case so it has no fans at all.

Crazy people spending 70% of the cost of components sans water cooling on water cooling :O.

I actually spent more than I was intending to spend on water cooling this PC. :p I was hoping to settle with around $600, but I think I'm somewhere around $800 if you count all the higher priced junk, shipping, etc. Although, the Case Labs case that I was considering wouldn't end up being too much more than the Corsair case that I already have. The 800D and 900D are pretty expensive cases at $300 and $350 respectively. That's kind of why I get more annoyed with them is because you spend a premium to hopefully get a good setup, but you realize that they probably made concessions on things, etc.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
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The 800D was their first case IIRC, and it was really good for a first try. The 900D resolved a lot of the issues the 800D had: all the HDD cages can be moved / removed, more room for radiators, multiple PSU mounts. I think they actually listened to a lot of the complaints from enthusiasts.

I wouldn't even say you're spending a premium on the case though, considering "water cooling" cases are around the same cost and come with less. MountainMods is a good example of what you really don't get in a case for that much. CaseLabs are pretty good, but still charge extra for from I/O ports and such.

I am all for watercooling an HTPC. Sadly, the cases I'd want for one are too small to fit a rad. >_>
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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o_O

I use this guy as my HTPC.
http://www.zotacusa.com/zbox-id88.html

wouldnt even think of watercooling it.
However i did delid a new CPU i got for it, and it did improve the thermals A LOT.
20130604_121101_zps61fbae0d.jpg


watercool htpcs?? bah... u make HTPC's smaller then the watercooling gear.
20130604_120329_zpsfa0f36a4.jpg


my usless nuc... and the zotac...
the nuc is 4inches by 4inches btw...
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
The 800D was their first case IIRC, and it was really good for a first try. The 900D resolved a lot of the issues the 800D had: all the HDD cages can be moved / removed, more room for radiators, multiple PSU mounts. I think they actually listened to a lot of the complaints from enthusiasts.

I saw a video on Linus Tech Tips where he interviewed the guy at Corsair that designs these cases, and he talked a bit about fixing some of the problems in the 900D. I would definitely have to see the 900D in person before I think I would purchase it.

I also want to try and alleviate some of the woes by modifying other Corsair products. I have a HX750 PSU, and Corsair decided to lump all 24 wires for the ATX power connector into one huge sleeve. This just causes my 800D's side panel to bow out. I'm tempted to just remove the sleeving and individually sleeve each wire, which should make it significantly more compressable (and look a lot better).

I am all for watercooling an HTPC. Sadly, the cases I'd want for one are too small to fit a rad. >_>

My Gaming HTPC is in a larger case (Corsair 550D), so it has some room for more cooling. Right now I think it's just using some spare Corsair H50 that I had lying around and the video card is running like normal.

watercool htpcs?? bah... u make HTPC's smaller then the watercooling gear.

Well, to be fair, HTPC is such a general term for a PC that's dedicated to a TV. My upstairs HTPC uses a significantly smaller, passive Streacom case. My HTPC downstairs uses the Corsair Obsidian 550D because it has a full-sized video card and is actually using an old i7-860 processor + motherboard that I had lying around. I do hear some fan noise when I go by the case, but it's tucked behind my speaker and TV, so it really isn't that noisy.
 

dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
2,723
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There's nothing wrong with the Corsair 800D because it was never meant to be made solely for the watercooling crowd. If you want to make it a watercooling case, you've got no choice but to pop some rivets and bring out the dremel. In fact, I do consider Silverstone TJ-07 to be far more difficult to make it look good without modding; with modding, the results becomes extremely beautiful. The next case that I might consider would be the Little Devil PC-V8 which needs little to no modding to get it right, due to limited time and workspace constraint.

Not sure if I will be making a watercooled gaming HTPC but if I did, it'll be the Cooler Master N200 + 120mm and 240mm radiators or Cooler Master Elite 120 + Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 120mm. The results of the Cooler Master Elite 120 looks stunning.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
As a slight update, I took your advice and I put the fan before the radiator, and everything seems fine! The only thing that's really eating away at me now is the projected tubing path from the CPU to the 120x1 radiator. Here's a photo depicting the current tube-less setup. Pretty much, I think the tube would just be slightly neater if I used a 90 degree fitting on the CPU output. I don't think there will be any problems with it as it is. The thing that gets me about it though... I do have an extra 90 degree fitting lying around, but... it's white. I was originally going to use it as a nifty rotating fill tube that that would exist behind the 5 1/4 bay cover above my reservoir, but I sort of put that idea on hold for the time being. Anyway, if I wanted to wait, I would probably have to order it from Performance-PCs as they're in Florida, so I get stuff in two days using USPS Priority (2nd cheapest shipping option). In other words, I wouldn't be able to finish until Wednesday!

I've also got an e-mail out to Koolance about their QD3 quick disconnects. I still don't know if it's viable to leave one disconnected while the loop is operating. I still like the idea of using it as a tidier drain port.

There's nothing wrong with the Corsair 800D because it was never meant to be made solely for the watercooling crowd.

I might just be looking at things in a more general way. I consider the 800D to be more of an enthusiast case given its size and accessibility. To me, enthusiasts are the type that would probably use custom water cooling, so you would expect a case like that to provide more support.

If you want to make it a watercooling case, you've got no choice but to pop some rivets and bring out the dremel.

I don't actually own a drill or a dremel. :( I think I'm going to go buy a dremel tomorrow as I've been manually filing things down, and yeesh... that takes a lot of effort. :p I'd also like to remove some of the remnants of the old tool-less drive bay stuff. I also want to pick up a washer to use with the reservoirs bolts as the heads are kinda small. I could also just buy different bolts.

Not sure if I will be making a watercooled gaming HTPC but if I did, it'll be the Cooler Master N200 + 120mm and 240mm radiators or Cooler Master Elite 120 + Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 120mm. The results of the Cooler Master Elite 120 looks stunning.

Wow, that Elite build is pretty sweet! I wouldn't have imagined that all that would even fit in there! :eek: Although, he said he filed down some of the static memory clips, but since the video card stands straight up, wouldn't it just have been less destructive to remove the backplate on the GPU? In some of my reading, it sounded like people bought those because they provide support since full-GPU blocks are really heavy and video cards typically lie flat in cases.

Anyway, I don't really need to water cool my gaming HTPC. What I really need to do is find out what in it is making this noise I keep hearing. It sounds like a very slight grinding noise sort of like "tsk" or "tick". I could also pick up one of those large GPU cooling replacement things. Newegg actually has that Accelero Extreme III on sale for $50 (normally $100).