My first WC Project!

[tsintse]

Well I finally decided to assemble a watercooled system after drooling over all the very nice systems I saw here. I have been working on systems since my Dad got me an Atari 800 in jeez I guess that was 82 or 83? I felt fairly confident when starting this project....by the time I was halfway done I was sobbing like a baby wishing I had just left my computer alone. Hehe like all hard things though when I was finished I was pretty happy.

I had 3 main goals... quieting my pc, making it look pretty (!) and fitting the whole setup in a midtower case. The system is a bit quieter and the type of noise is different so I feel like I accomplished goal one. As for looking better... it does look a lot cooler than before but not what I wanted. Lol I was reeeally going for a look I had seen in a movie... anyone here seen Aliens? The second one? Remember when Bishop crawls through the sewer to uplink with the Satellite? Hehe I was trying to get the water tubes to look like the bright blue glowing tubes he was using to connect his laptop to the satellite ... I know I know its total dorkage but we all have dreams :D It all fits in an AMS gBox case satisfying goal 3!

A Couple last notes

Things that made me :D

-Dtek : Newegg quality ordering turnaround. Ordered stuff from them and it would be on my doorstep two days later!

-Swiftech : Were so nice about answering every question I had politely and instantly! Same deal with ordering, stuff was on my doorstep days after placing an order.

-Oc forums + search fxn : hehe need I say more!

Things that made me :mad:

-Vantec : @%@#%$&*@!*

-$15.00 plastic shroud : Uh... this is 10 cents worth of plastic? o well live and learn!

-resevoir : Looks cool but I think its pointless and takes up extra space. I'll use a t-line for sure in my next setup.

-Herucles : Why make a card that is geared to OC'ing and then put on memory heatsinks that interfere with waterblocks!? Had to cut those off, also my Fortissimo 7.1 didn't work out of the box :(

This is my first system so I would love comments and suggestions on how to improve my design! Here are the specs

Hardware:

P4 3.0C
Intel 865PERLK
1GB Corsair XMS DDR400
Hercules Radeon 9800Pro
Adaptec 29320 U320 HostRAID controller
2x Seagate U320 36gb cheetah's RAID0
2x Maxtor ATA133 160gb RAID1
Silicon Image ATA133 Raid adapter
Antec TP 550
Onboard Sound
Sony DVD/CDRW (Dvd recorders in my wifes pc and HTPC)

WC Setup
DTeck heatercore
Clearflex60 1/2" tubing
Swiftech MCW5002
MCP600
DangerDen Radeon WB
1 Papst 92mm (in PS)
1 Panaflo 1A 80mm (in PS)
1 Evercool Aluminum 120mm (radiator)

http://rnaware.com/wc_project/finished/IMG_1199.JPG
http://rnaware.com/wc_project/finished/IMG_1200.JPG

[tsintse]

http://rnaware.com/wc_project/finished/IMG_1172.JPG

http://rnaware.com/wc_project/finished/IMG_1203.JPG http://rnaware.com/wc_project/finished/IMG_1191.JPG

If you get bored you can check out all the pics I took during the assembly process at

http://rnaware.com/wc_project/

Sorry if it's a little slow, running off my broadband at home! Once again suggestions on possible improvements are appreciated. I am already planning my next system, I have an old IBM PS/2 Model 80 that was our original Autocad Drafting station...me thinks it would look good up and running on my desk again.

[sbud]

Looks good, what kind of temps are you getting... ambient, idle, load? You might save some space by putting the fan on the outside of the case still being held by the threaded rods, just through the back. Also you might wanna try to change the flow pattern, try going pump==>rad==>cpublock==>gpublock==res. Hah, looks like you need a rounded 68pin SCSI cable :) Oh, about your pump, I have one too and it just failed on me last week, I've since sent it in and will recieve a replacement. There's an issue with the pump failing after a short amount of time. I had mine for about a month before it stopped pumping water. Hopefully yours isn't one of the defective ones that were released. Anyhow, your rig looks neatly laid out. One more thing, you should post this in the watercooling section, not alternative modding.

[Kino]

is that one of the super-flower cases from directron?
i got the SF561 model from them and its almost like that one

havent seen alot of those getting modded, nice job!

[trip0d]

wow man that does look great..i am also wondering wat temps u got with the rad where exhaust goes

[fuzzba11]

Looks sweet man, nice job keeping it all contained! Where did you get that 5 1/4" bay analog readout? I saw one once and have been wanting one for a long time...the in-bay reservoir also looks great. Does the water have blue dye or is it just backlit?

[tsintse]

It is just back lit with a UV light... not a very bright one at that, I want to get a better one :) I actually haven't measured temps yet but plan on doing it soon...not oc'ing this system *gasps*

It isn't a Superflower, it's an AMS gBox from Newegg. The case looks cool but it has several annoying design flaws that were a pain to work around! the one nice thing is that it seems to be a bit wider than most atx cases.

Hmmm I can't remember why I didn't mount the fan externally...I might have to do that.

As for the blue led thing... that was a last minute purchase from some random computer store. My fan controller died and that was the only one I could find locally....I think it looks pretty nice, matches all the other stuff.

I am gonna repost this in the WC section like recommended, but thanks for the comments, I am wc'ing my wifes shuttle 45n box now so I'll post pics of that as well.