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Henry Rollins II

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Location
The North Pole
Ive been trying to build myself an opinion on what is good or bad wen it comes to watercooling. I read the sticky´s and browsed a good number of resellers/reviews/retailers. Honestly I am nowhere closer now than when I started. I didnt realize that there would be so many manufacturers of water cooling stuff.

Right now Im thinking that this is all over my head and maybe I should buy a case with all the water cooling parts already mounted in it.

I need a little help here. Any suggestions welcome. Price isnt so important.
 
Depends on the $ you have to spend...

You still need to read the forums a bit more, though. It will come to you.

Places to start...

Blocks:
white water
TC4
Maze3

Rads:
MANY heatercores
Black Ice Extreme

Pumps:
Eheim
Maxi-jet
Hydor

T-fitting: you need one

hose: 10ft or so
tygon
clearflex

fan: too many to list

shroud for rad:
Dtek has them made for their heater cores

There are MANY other options that will do well... These are all good parts.
 
I understand where you are coming from, it can be confusing at first. And then when you decide to investigate it becomes even more so! After the intial flood of info, it will eventually start to settle out and start making some sense. Some thing that will really help you decide is if you make a list of your priorities for watercooling, some examples would be:
a) best temps possible (for overclocking)
b) noise
c) price
d) ease of setup
e) visual appeal
f) internal/external
g) modding involved
h) availability of parts
i) reliability of parts
j) ease of selecting matching parts
k) amount of space in case
l) etc.....

Those are just some things that come to mind, there are others. I would suggest putting those items in order of importance to you, then post your list here and we can give you some pointers and a bit of explaining. Just remember there is no such thing as the perfect setup, you just need to find the one closest to perfect for you.

peace.
unloaded
 
What Shroomer said.
But for a cheap rad go for a 1987 Chevy Chevette
Heater Core.
-HOOT was sayin that is almost identical as the Black Ice Rad.

I'm looking for a new 1 now.
then a maze3 WB, not that I like thier design, but every1 gets good results from them.

Good Luck.
:D
 
i agree with the rest of the posters.

make a list and attack it.

Pump
T-line (nylon T and a cap)
Rad
WaterBlock
Tubing
Hose clamps
Fan (don't forget the shroud, cardboard works)
Mounting hardware. (long treaded bolts to attach RAD) Or duble sided stikie tape.

Not a bad list.
 
you always have the option of using a resevoir, instead of a t-line... dont know why no one mentioned it, other than that you probably already considered it.
 
A T-line? Hmm aha for filling up, right? I think Id use a tank, seems simpler.

My goals with watercooling is:

*. Noise. I have a dual AMD with 11 fans total right now. It is too loud, Im not listening to music all the time. This means water cooling for the chipset and VGA as well.

*. Performance. At least on par with high-end air cooling if possible(Delta!).

*. Ease of setup. I cannot make extreme modifications because I havent got the nececeary tools or knowledge. I might drill a few holes.

*. Quality. I rather pay more and be certain.

Availability - All the major brands are available locally: DangerDen, Swiftech, Innovatek, Senfu, Black Ice, Eheim pumps. I could also import from the US if I have to.

The about-to-be system that needs to be cooled is:

- Epox 8RDA+(nforce2)
- AMD XP2100 T-bred B
- 2 x 256 Mb Twinmos pc3200 /w Winbond chips
- Gigabyte Radeon 9700 pro
- Lian-Li PC71 fulltower
- Enermax 550 watt PSU

My aim is to hit 166 Mhz FSB at default multiplier(to start with).
Thanks for all assistance.
Henry
 
Last edited:
First off... If you want it to be in the case, then you will have to make modifications... Some cases can go without, but I believe that yours will need some.

perhaps you can go with a pair of black Ice micro rads that will go right on to a normal 80mm case fan. Performance has not been proven with this setup, though (that I have seen).

Other than that, a dremel is really the main tool I use in addition to a power drill.

You will want white water blocks for ultimate performance. They are EXPENSIVE, though. I hear around 90-100 USD shipped from Austrailia.

Good luck, man.
 
You guys water cool your computer??
It's like using a hammer to kill a fly on the window.
 
The heat a CPU puts out is more like a bear than a fly... Try killing a bear with a hammer.
 
Shroomer said:
First off... If you want it to be in the case, then you will have to make modifications... Some cases can go without, but I believe that yours will need some.

perhaps you can go with a pair of black Ice micro rads that will go right on to a normal 80mm case fan. Performance has not been proven with this setup, though (that I have seen).

Other than that, a dremel is really the main tool I use in addition to a power drill.

You will want white water blocks for ultimate performance. They are EXPENSIVE, though. I hear around 90-100 USD shipped from Austrailia.

Good luck, man.


Thanks, man.

Yeah I was thinking about the black Ice micro radiators too. They would make the setup pretty easy to set up. Is it advicable to use two radiators in series thou?

Do you have a link for the White Water waterblocks? Cant find any info about them apart from a few pics posted here.
 
Well some things in your post help narrow it down. Because quiet, performance and quality are listed here are some things I would suggest:

A WhiteWater block, one outlet going to gpu one going to NB.
Ehiem pump, prolly 1250.
A heater core (maybe dtek's) with shroud(s) & Panflo fan(s).
Good 1/2"ID tubing- tygon, clearflex or masterkleer
Various fittings/clamps
Distilled water & additives

I've used a res and a T line, the T line isn't just for filling, it also traps air like a res. Personally I prefer the T line setup, but I don't have much extra space.

The above setup should do nicely, I can't really make suggestions for gpu and chipset blocks, the main thing to look for would be non restrictive ones. Maybe some of the otherguys here will comment on them.

peace.
unloaded
 
Again, if you go whitewater and don't want to cool anything but the CPU, then you can use each outlet to go to each BIM. This would run them is parallel which is said to be optimal for multiple rads. You would just need to join them together before the input of the pump. This would also be a good place for your T line.

I can't seem to find the site that sells them myself, but if you PM Cathar I'm sure he'll help you out.
 
Shroomer said:
Here's a link for you

JPI Performance

Doesnt work as it seems.

BTW: Im reading a few reviews of water cooling setups right now. In one these tests the author is comparing the Senfu II water cooling kit(with better pump) against a Alpha 8045 with a 52.5 dB hairdryer Delta fan. The alpha wins with quite a margin! :eh?:

EDIT: I was wrong, the fan used for the Alpha was a Enermax (39.4 CFM/32.6 dBa).
 
I havent seen much results from BlackIce Micro's, but I'm sure a Black Ice Extreme would beat them by quite a bit, and a heater core beats the extremes, so if you want performace as you listed, I would steer clear of the micro's. You have plenty of space in a pc-70 for a heater core. It might take a bit of modding, but it could be done with a drill and a nibbler. Also with a heatercore you could use bigger fans at slower speeds for the quietness you want, I doubt you will get quiet and cooling from a micro. Just trying to save you a bit of trouble. I went the small and easy to install route at first (Iceberg Kit). I wasn't expecting much out of it really, but was still disappointed. I quickly upgraded to a better but still lower-end setup (gemini block, small core, aquavia pump, 3/8" thoughout). It does much better and I'm running it now, but still not satisfied. Now I have a WhiteWater block sitting here, DodgeViper is modifying a core for me, switching to 1/2" setup and prolly gonna get a better pump. All of this is since December 8/ I shoulda just got the good stuff to begin with , but it's been fun learning as I go (hasn't been very cheap though). If you're like me, you'll prolly be buying the good stuff sooner or later (probably sooner) so you might as well go ahead and do it right the first time. Also the only thing trickier about putting a system together versus a kit, is matching the right size connections (and we can help you with that) In the end you are faced with a buncha parts, fittings and tubes and they all go together pretty much the same.

A smart man learns from his mistakes.
A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

peace.
unloaded
 
Senfu is med range water at best... More like low end. Try reading some more reviews.

Unloaded... He doesn't want to mod his case. I think he knows he would get better results if he did, though.
and:
My suggestion was to use 2 BIM's in parallel. Stil probably not as good as a heatercore, but probably better than that senfu rig he read about.

Edit:

You really should think about your abilities to mod the case, though. Like Unloaded said, you WILL get better results. People post 42 degree temps and below here all the time with the setup Unloaded is suggesting.

I cut a 120mm hole the first time I tried near perfectly with a dremel cutoff wheel and polished it up with a sanding drum. Perhaps you could try on a scrap piece of metal to see if you can do it.
 
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