New watercooling rig, but some questions.

[Wiseass]

Hey all, I got myself one of those $99 Iceberg 1 colling rigs from Exotic PC. Look for my review on it in a few days! But anyway, I got it all setup and running and I'm actually getting worse temps then when I had it air cooled with three fans in the box. What gives? Perhaps it's not efficient enough? Seems like a good unit. I'm running distilled water through it (it was in the fridge before it put it in there), and after about an hour of running the chip temp was up to about 120F...I had it down to 116F with the air-cooling.

Any ideas as to what I might have done wrong?

PS - These temps are all idle at the windows desktop..

[masitti]

Is the waterblock on tight enough?

[Wiseass]

yeah it seems to be.. the clamp is nice and tight along all three prongs on both sides. Can't move the waterblock. I was thinking of perhaps cooling the resivoir (sp?) with some ice just to see if it's even working at all?

[masitti]

Yea, you could pop an ice cube in there... is there system bled, so there is no air in it?

And, you probably wanna make sure the rad/heatercores fan is pulling/pushing correctly.

[Wiseass]

well I've got the fan on the back of the case sucking cool air IN over the radiator. The fan is sandwiched between the case and the radiator.

there seems to be no air, I had a bit in the tube when I first filled it, but it's gone now (at least I think)...

[masitti]

Is that fan actually on the radiator (or close with a shroud), or is there a space between the fan and the rad? If there is a space, you may be losing quite some airflow going through the rad...

[Wiseass]

nope it's bolted to the radiator, then that whole assembly is bolted to the back of the case..

[masitti]

The radiator looks pretty small from the kit you bought... what kinda fan goes on it? an 80mm?

[Wiseass]

yeah I think it's an 80mm...whatever comes with that kit....I might just be limited by the radiator heh

[masitti]

Originally posted by Wiseass
yeah I think it's an 80mm...whatever comes with that kit....I might just be limited by the radiator heh

Yea, sure seems that way... I'd try to get a better rad... the Dtek heatercores are nice (really just a 87 Chevette heatercore with barbs soldered on).

[Wiseass]

well I think it might be the radiator.. I'll check DangerDen and see what I can get from there and see if it helps..

Or if I could find a way to keep the resivoir cooled... hmmm

[masitti]

Originally posted by Wiseass
well I think it might be the radiator.. I'll check DangerDen and see what I can get from there and see if it helps..

Or if I could find a way to keep the resivoir cooled... hmmm

You can pick up a heatercore for like $30 at Dtek... with barbs already on. Then make yourself a shroud from cardboard (or if you have access to sheetmetal)... that, coupled with a nice CFM 120mm fan, should give you better temps.

And, check into getting rid of the rez... you don't really need it, and it is probably taking up more space than it is worth.

[garasaki]

Say, is your fan configuration like this "fan>Rad>Back of case" or is it "Rad>Fan>Back of case"?? Cause it should be the first one...that could make a big difference for ya. You could also benefit from making a shroud for the rad you already have. It seems a shame to me to pay a bunch of money for a kit, and have it not perform to your expectations, then have to go out and spend more money to make it better...

But, if you are the do it yourself type, you can just buy a heatercore and then Mod it to accept barbs, and save yourself a few bucks. Although the Dtek "Rads" errr..heatercores, whatever... are very nice!

[masitti]

Originally posted by garasaki
Say, is your fan configuration like this "fan>Rad>Back of case" or is it "Rad>Fan>Back of case"?? Cause it should be the first one...that could make a big difference for ya. You could also benefit from making a shroud for the rad you already have. It seems a shame to me to pay a bunch of money for a kit, and have it not perform to your expectations, then have to go out and spend more money to make it better...

But, if you are the do it yourself type, you can just buy a heatercore and then Mod it to accept barbs, and save yourself a few bucks. Although the Dtek "Rads" errr..heatercores, whatever... are very nice!

The kit from Exotic PC looks like it uses an 80mm fan, and it already has a shroud for it.

[garasaki]

Blah, kits...:rolleyes: :D


That's a small little rad then...I didn't realize it came with a shroud!

[masitti]

Originally posted by garasaki
Blah, kits...:rolleyes: :D


That's a small little rad then...I didn't realize it came with a shroud!

lol, I know, that is why I am recommending a heatercore from Dtek. ;)

[The Overclocker]

i am having a hard time getting to and around exotic pc's web site - ihave only seen a small picture of the kit - so i found it here: http://www.ahanix.com/iceberg.html

It looks like your pump is not powerful enough - the pump that comes with the kit is only 150GPH. looking at the images, the tubing, water jacket and radiator all look quite restrictive, so i recomend getting a pump around 300GPH. that should solve your problem

[masitti]

Unless everything is using 1/2" ID tubing, the kit won't be able to take advantage of a higher GPH pump; it'll just back pressure and heat up more. What's the use of using a 300 GPH pump if all the tubing is 1/4" or 3/8" ID?

[Wiseass]

okay not sure I understand..you suggest getting rid of the resivoir? So that would mean ditching the pump altogether and just running water from the radiator to the block? Or am I missing osmething here. If I get rid of the resivoir/pump how will the water move between the two?

Also I have the setup as rad > fan > back of case. I'll try switching it to

Fan > rad > back of case

and see if that works any better..

[masitti]

Ohhh, yea your pump/rez is combined. Is the pump in the reservoir? If so, it could be putting off heat into the water... in what order is the setup? Try going to pump/rez->rad->CPU->pump/rez if it isn't already.

[garasaki]

Also make sure you're pulling air thru your radiator when you switch it around!


He was just suggesting to remove the resevior, and have an inline pump, which may or may not be possible with your perticular pump!

[Wiseass]

ahhh okay it makes sense now.. I've got the pump in the res...so removing it isn't an option unless I get another pump (cash flow sort of restricts that now heh). I have yet to try moving the fan/rad setup to:

case > rad > fan (have the fan sucking air in?)

Also I can try switching the rad AFTER the pump and then to the block. I was able to get the unit down to 111F by re-connecting the fan above the CPU on the window and blowing cool air over the waterblock. I'm sure that's helping alot too. I'll keep playing with it, but all-in-all I'm beginning to think the kit isn't that good. I'm working on a review and I'll post it up to let everyone know the results.

Thanks for all the input!