THE HOW TO:
The move to water-cooling.
So this should give you an idea of room I've got to play with. The Rad is mounted on the roof of the case externally, the tubes are routed in then out the back side of the case and back in as shown below.
Then i have to install the RAM cage, the below image shows how much height from the waterblock the tubing will have to turn around and connect to the next water block.
The RAM cage has no back so it will slid in and cover the loop (its very effective at keeping the heat from the GPU away from the CPU. you can see in the below image with the CPU cover (Apple part name) in place it creates a tunnel from front to back with a 120mm Noctua fan at each end.
I cant draw with a mouse... or at all even.. but its the idea...
It Begins,
Chilled PC we're a real star! helping me out loads! I had to split my first lot of items between ChilledPC and WaterCooling UK. Mainly because I'm impatient and didn't want to wait.
and I'm still looking over my second order from WaterCooling UK.
The Noctua P12 fans I already owned and have been cooling my Case mod since the begining.. I'd used them with a volt mod cable to lower the RPM. The build quality of Noctuas fans blew me away so I stayed with them.
HERE:I moved the three cooling my case to the RAD and used three of these in the case.
HERE:Once my parts started to arrive I got a little camera giddy and took alot of photos.. The annoying thing with this build was the waiting.. I spent along time picking out and planning what parts to use and had alot of help form the forum member over at Clunk.org and Tom from ChilledPC.
At this point I had to turn off my Rig (first time in months as its Folds solid for Custom PC's team).
I went with
Feser One UV (Blue) as my fluid and i picked out blue as i liked the look my Zalman HSF LED gave the case. I also knew at this point that my fan controller was gonna be glowing so thought it best to stick to the same color.
I drew a sketch on the back of a receipt as i needed to get the "HOW" out of my head and onto paper.. I had a hard time explaining the idea to some folks so I drew this in PAINT lame huh.. but it helped.
At each red ring the loop exits my case, I wanted a clean fitted look so opted for the bulk heads, with high flow barbs on one end and the rotary elbows on the other I hoped to minimise any negative effects so I went for a 18w Pump.
Tom from ChilledPC really helped me out when it came to what waterblocks.. This is my first attempt at a water cooling loop and knew next to nothing! Tom was able to order in anything i wanted and found me these blocks for Northbridge and MOSFETS.
Northbridge.
MIPS DFI LANparty P35 / X38 / X48 Northbridge Freezer Nickel
MOSFETS
MIPS DFI LANparty P35 / X38 / X48 Mosfet Freezer Nickel
CPU
D-Tek FuZion™ v2
Now i went for the D-Tek over the GTZ for one reason.. STOCK! Chilled PC had them in and i was ordering the others so why not.. When i placed my order i also picked up the nozzle kit and paid to have my CPU lapped.. but I didnt use the nozzles nor (although I've paid for it) did i send the CPU to get lapped. I think I'll keep that paid service until i move this rig to i7.
I've also lined up the 3x Noctua NF-S12 800rpm fans to replace my current case fans and a bunch of other stuff.. coolant and noise damping for the pump some heat-shrink and cable braid.
At this point i needed a RAD! and only two were viable options for me. the ThermoChill PA120.3 and the FESER TFC 360. The WORLD seemed out of stock and I ended up waiting for weeks before i could place an order.
The iPhone camera is CRAP! but its all i have so it'll do. The MIPS blocks arrived along with a bunch of other goodies from ChilledPC. the MIPS are great looking! you can really see the craftsmanship. lol sounds like i know what I'm talking about.. These are the first blocks I've ever got my hands on.
Just losly thumbed on the barbs and Bitspower 45's for this photo. The reason i got the 45's is the rear 120mm fan in the MacPro (RAM cage) currently had to have the housing cut away to accommodate the PWM heatsink on the Mobo. Without the 45's I'd not be able to tube them. This was VERY correct and even with the 45's I still had to cut away some more.
LOL... It got to this point and my heart skipped a beat! I panicked as my bank was taking a SLAPPING! Below is almost everything i bought for this single loop and a aftermarket cooler for the GPU.
ORDER 1: Chilled PC
6 x 1/2" fitting G1/4 with O-Ring (High-Flow) - black nickel () = £14.94
6 x G1/4" Bulkhead Fitting - Highflow () = £20.94
1 x 12-20mm Hoseclips Pack of 10 () = £2.92
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Royal Mail 1st Class Standard (): £2.36
Total:
£41.16-----------------------------------------------------------
ORDER 2: Watercooling UK
1 x 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD Clear/UV Blue Hose (XSPC) (XSPCUVB12H) = £5.84
Hose Length 2 Meters
1 x PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils 3/4"- Gloss Blue (PC-AK-34GB) = £2.69
2 x Pre-Wired 5mm UV LED (43609) = £3.88
6 x 1/4" BSPP Rotary - 1/2" 90 Degree Hose Tail (63180) = £23.94
1 x Laing DDC Top/w Reservoir (XSPC) (XSPC-DDCRES) = £75.11
Barb Size 1/2" Nickel Plated
Need a pump? 12V Laing DDC1+ Ultra 18W
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(Recorded Delivery): £8.67
Total:
£120.13-----------------------------------------------------------
ORDER 3: Chilled PC
1 x Chilled PC Lapping Service = £12.22
1 x Custom Product - 2 x Bitspower 45 degree rotary = £16.00
1 x Custom Product - MCH1033 + MCH1149 = £67.02
2 x 4mm Black Cable Braid / Sleeving = £1.56
2 x Black Heatshrink 500mm piece (For LED's/Fan Wires etc) = £1.94
2 x Feser One - F1 - Cooling Fluid - UV BLUE 1ltr = £14.98
1 x D-TEK FuZion v2 CPU Block - Barb Size: 1/2" = £49.99
1 x Laing DDC 4 Point Anti-Vibration Damping Kit = £9.78
4 x 1/2" fitting G1/4 with O-Ring (High-Flow) - black nickel = £9.96
3 x XSPC 1/2" Glossy Black tubing = £2.46
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Total:
£185.91-----------------------------------------------------------
ORDER 4 : Chilled PC
1 x HFC-Free Air Duster 400ml = £3.49
1 x Small neck Funnel = £0.99
1 x Black Heatshrink 500mm piece (For LED's/Fan Wires etc) = £0.97
1 x Cable Ties Black - 30 pack = £0.97
2 x 4mm Black Cable Braid / Sleeving = £1.56
1 x Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound - 4g tube = £4.06 <----DUH!
1 x Hose Cutter = £7.99
1 x D-Tek FuZion Accelerator Nozzle Kit = £3.13
3 x Noctua NF-S12 800 RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan = £37.92
1 x Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme - Silver = £25.99
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Royal Mail 1st Class Standard (): = £8.72
VAT: = £11.36
Total:
£95.79-----------------------------------------------------------
ORDER 5: Watercooling UK
2 x M4 Thread x 40mm Screws Spacer (4 Pack) = £7.82
6 x TFC Xvibe - Noise Absorber 120 - BLACK = £9.30
3 x TFC Xtender - Radiator Shroud 120mm - RED = £17.25
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Royal Mail Special Delivery £8.60
Total:
£42.97-----------------------------------------------------------
ORDER 6:
1 x Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound fo = £4.30 <--- Dunno why i bought that as i bought some MX-2 about 3 days ealier!
2 x Noctua NF-B9-1600 Vortex-Control 92 = £9.99
1 x Samsung SH-S223Q/BEBN 22x DVD±R, 8x = £17.29 <--- OK its not to do with my LOOP but mine had died.
1 x Thermalright T-Rad² VGA cooler For = £22.49
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Carriage £6.99
VAT £10.66
Total
£81.71-----------------------------------------------------------
ORDER 7: ThermoChill
1 x PA120.3 =£47.50
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Royal Mail Special Delivery £7.90
VAT: £8.32
Total:
£63.72-----------------------------------------------------------
HOLY nuts!
TOTAL =£631.39As you can seem, thats ALOT more then I had ever intended on spending.. and as I bought the bits over a period of a few months the total cost seemed to fly under my radar.
:-(
As you can see on the last order i went with the ThermoChill PA120.3. I did this because i sent Simon at Thermochill an email.. its was the last part I needed and I just couldnt find stock! so i went direct to the manufacturer. I sent him an email explaining what i was doing and asked why i couldnt find one of there products in stock anywhere! I told him how it was a toss up between there PA serrirs or a FESER 360 and gave me this response.
That made me smile and i liked the idea i was buying British!
It begins...
I gutted my MacPro case (needs a good clean) and rigged up my PC on my desktop using an mobo tray i once wrapped in Akasa sound matting and screwed my first Hack to the wall with it.
lol... i used to have this screwed to my wall using a bunch of parts i found in my attic! that was my first Hackintosh.
And here we have my gutted totally empty MacPro case it never been so gutted. Next it was time to work on the bulkheads.
Things are moving along...
Choose this fan controller due to its Watt per channel over the Zalman i was eyeing up, it was alot deeper due to the heatsinks on the board so made it a little tricky to find somewhere to fit it.
My case sits on my desktop just to the left of my monitor so I thought there would be a good place (lol... the only) to mount it.
I measured up and pulled out my Dremel.
Dropped it into place and put on its knobs to see how it fits... Not bad huh.. each one of them lights up blue, so that should light up the total underneath of my case.
I'll be mounted it to the front of my case using the raisers it was using to attach to its 5 1/2" bay mount. I then used J-B Weld to fit it in place. Once fitted I am now able to remove the controller by its screws :-p.
I left the J.B Weld set over night.. and... sorted! that isnt going anywhere!
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Once the RAD turned up i was so supprised by it SIZE!!! I'd never seen these rads or any watercooling component for that mater.
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The holes were not threaded which made mounting my Fans using the Feser shrouds a bugger. so i bought a tap and die set.
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The Feser shrouds although great looking are NOT greatly put together.. I could not push the supplied bolts through all the holes on ANY of the three i bought.. I had to drill them out.
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It took rather a while working out where the holes needed to exactly go but I'm VERY pleased with the end result.
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All bulkheads, elbows and barbs fitted (not tightly)
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Again this isnt the final fit but its a great fit.
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I gave the fan controller a quick test run as i HAD just hacked it up to mod fit it.. I'd have been gutted if I hadnt of worked when i came to turn it ALL on for the first time.
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The black tubing here was just some test cut pieces.
Next I had to look at fitting my RAD, I had some problems here.. if you look at my doodle you'll see I grossly under estimated the length / size of the rad. The Triple RAD was to bit to fit between to two handles of the MacPro case. but I had some ideas of how to get around this. Make my own raisers. . .
I measured out the top holes for mounting the Rad.
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Then I used some M4 threaded bar and some Alu tubing to make some external mounts. I bought some hard drive rubber washers to help absorb any sound from the Fans.
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Then I put the gasket on the Rad and started attaching my fans.
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Then I dropped it into place upon the top of my case and bolted it firmly. its a great fit. no wobble (well it takes some force for to move and i doubt the RPM on those fans will shift it.).
I bought a Corsair 850 watt PSU as i hope to upgrade my GFX in the summer and left my trusty 620 watt Hiper wouldn't be enough to power a flagship GPU come JULY. So once that turned up I started to tighten everything up and look at leak testing. I
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I stripped my Motherboard down and applied my MX-2 to the CPU, NB and a tiny bit on each PWM.
First attempt at tubing.
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All tubing, ready to be dropped into the case and connected to the loop.
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Overview with the mobo mounted.
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Hooked up and ready for coolant!!
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I double treble checked everything a littered the inside of my case with kitchen roll.
Fingers crossed.
Well... It worked YAY!! (DUH) All leaks were addressed mainly hose-clips being tooooo tight and slight to high on the barb. The last bits of air trapped in the Rad and bubbling were removed by gently (ish) SHAKING!!! the case...
heres some photos.
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Here it is. . .
A view of the loop. (Res)
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Water blocks (cant really see them huh)
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Just gotta hope I've not knocked anything lose when fitting the remaining hardware.. Would hate to wake up to a puddle.
So temps....
I dont really know.. lol.. the gpu is great! 51-55 underload now (folding) used to be 78-80 so thats a result! Everest reads my CPU at 29-31 idle (ish) thats at 4.11ghz and I've not seen it break 35 yet.
I'll do some real testing soon. Its all about how well it handles heat to further i push it. I'lll try for 4.2- 4.3- 4.5 and beyond (if I'm super lucky in a few days).
I'd love to clean up the Alu and have it photographed professionally good lighting and a white backdrop. It just looks fab! Once I've taken some shots with a friends DSLR I hope to post the Log on CustomPC forum and see if I can get it featured.
What do you think?
J.