WC Setup, whaddya think?

[Venom1969]

Here's a list of watercooling stuff I'm interested in getting.

Eheim 1250/Hydor L30
Swiftech MCW-50/Swiftech MCW-50t
Maze4 Bloo/Maze4 Tec
1/2" T Piece(1)
1/2" Y Connector(2)
1/2" Tygon Tubing(8)
Purple Ice Radiator Super Coolant
PTFE Tape
Demineralised Water(2)
Pump Relay
Panaflo

But can't fully decide on what pump to get. I have the copper cascade block and a chevette heatercore with shroud atm.

I want to get as powerful a pump as possible so maybe I should include the danner mag 3/5 and iwaki MD-15 in there as well. Danner Mage 5 is 500GPH which is plenty. Those who have the danner Mag 5, what kind of temps do you get? How would this affect the wc system? I heard someone say that there wouldn't be enough time for the water to cool in the radiator but I have a feeling that this maybe not entirely but true.

How good is the Hydor L30?

What fan to use? I'm thinking a 120mm Panaflo, 85cfm, 35.5db. I really want a quiet wc system but I know that quiet and powerful don't really go together. What's ur recommendation?

The pump relay, how handy is that to have?

Demineralised water, is there another way of making demineralised water at home, like boiling it or running it through a drinking water filter.

PTFE Tape, what does this do??

The tec, what kind of power source does the maze4 and swiftech tec use? Can u plug it into ur psu? If so how much wattage would be enough?

If someone did have a tec in their system would the radiator be enough to cool the tec and cpu block or would u recommend something else.

Thank you for answering my questions. If u can't thanks for reading! Or maybe point me in the direction of some answers, cheers!

[johan851]

Danner Mag 3, FYI, is probably a better choice than the Mag 5. It has the same head height, which is what's really important, and doesn't put out as much wattage as the Mag 5. The 5's extra flow doesn't make up for the increased heat output.

A 120x38mm medium speed panaflo should do the trick. I have a 120x38mm U1A, and I get about 3C better at load with it at 12v than I do at 7v. Not too big of a difference - basically, as long as you're getting decent flow through the rad you'll be fine.

The whole thing about wanting water in the radiator longer is a myth. The faster water moves through your system, the better your temps will be. Read the "flowrate" sticky for some more info on this.

I personally wouldn't recommend a fan relay. Powering your pump on and off all the time can be damaging in the long run. I also don't think a relay is worth the extra time/$$$. I have my pump on a power strip, so that the computer can only be on when the pump is on.

You could distill water on your own, but it's only like $1 a gallon. Easier to buy then to spend all day making it. :)

Purple Ice can be bad - you'd probably be better off with Zerex or Dex-Cool of some kind. I really like my Dex-Cool.

PTFE tape goes on the threads of your barbs and such - this makes them more waterproof.

You really should get a industrial PSU like this:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/samam32inpsu.html
for the TECs. I don't know much about them, but I know that using your PSU won't provide enough power.

Y the Y connectors? Going to run in parallel?

Also, if you decide not to go with a CPU TEC (and if you're just beginning to watercool, I'd advise against it) then you'd be better off with DTek's WhiteWater or DangerDen's RBX.

[Venom1969]

Oh yeah I totally forgot about heat output. Mag 3 looks very good. But I'm afraid the thing will leak. I've heard this can be fixed using an o-ring and some silcone sealant, but what does that mean? :D

So can you variably control the voltage to the panaflo? I didn't think it was adjustable. The ideal would be something that's very quiet when idle and powerful when the cpu is under load.

Flowrate myth, I thought as much! :)

Yeah anything that'll save $$ is welcomed! Do you mean u have all the plugs on a connector?

How do you distill water at home?

Zerex and Dex-cool, where can I get some that ship internationally?

Hopefully I'll get the Fotron 530w in the next few weeks. Would this be poweful enough?

Y connectors r for my setup:
something like

pump -> T junction -> Y Connector
|............(refill).............|..........|
|..................................v.........v
|..........................Cascade....GPU
|................................|............|
|................................v.......... v
Radiator <------------Y Connector

How's that?

Probably just stick with GPU Tec for the moment. And in the future will go straight to phase change for cpu. (I can dream :))

[johan851]

I haven't had any trouble with my Mag3. It comes with an O-Ring, but some replace it with silicone sealant. Silicone sealant is like a caulking material, it's all rubbery, and will waterproof the seal. I just kept my O-Ring and smeared it with vaseline, and no leaks thus far. Either way, it's a very easy procedure.

I variably adjust the voltage to my panaflo with a Rheobus - great investment. Here:
http://www.svc.com/surheafanspc1.html

Well...where do you live? You can get Zerex and Dex-Cool at a lot of American auto part stores.

Yeah, the Mag3 (and most other pumps besides the Swiftechs) have a normal wall-type 120v plug.

Distilled water is what happens when you collect and condense steam from boiled water. You'd need a pot, and a stove, and...hmm...I dunno. Just find a way to collect evaporated water or steam. It would take forever.

A Forton 530w will still not be powerful enough for a TEC. You'll need a secondary PSU. I think most TECs would take anywhere from 18A to 24A on your 12v rail. The most the Forton can give is 28A, and the other rails suffer with that much draw. It just...won't really work. A Forton 530w would be great for the rest of your system, though. :)

If you haven't played with watercooling yet, I still wouldn't advise a TEC. Get used to using/tweaking/optimizing water for now, then add the TEC later.

Also, you'll probably get better temperatures if you run your setup in series - i.e. Radiator --> CPU Block --> GPU Block --> Pump. With it like you have it now, a high restrictive block like a WW or RBX would perform poorly - all the water would go through the GPU instead.

[MoreGooder]

I think the MAG 3 leak issue is also a myth. I have brass barb fittings along with teflon tape on the treads and no leaks ever. Perhaps there were/are quality problems, but you have to remember it's intended purpose: fish tanks and water fountains, not CPU cooling.

Happy with my decision still. Maybe that will change, but it's been almost 3 months and not one leak yet.

MoreGooder

[johan851]

Well, not quite a myth, but perhaps some user error. :)

I think a lot of people were using tools to crank in brass barbs. If you hand screw plastic barbs, you shouldn't have any problems at all. Or you could do what I'm going to do...run my tubing over the outside of the impeller housing. :)

[Venom1969]

Mag 3 and vaseline, it's the way to go! :)

That rheobus looks very handy indeed, might have to get one.

I live in Ireland which unfortunately is terrible for getting computer stuff into the country and it's also horrendously expensive. Most things work out cheaper importing from the US. Trouble is finding a place that ship out the states, FPO and APO.

My mum is big into steaming food and whatnot so I'll get collect with a bowl from inside the steamer. Yes it will take a long time :)

Pity that... I'll probably just stick with straight wc for the mo. If you buy the tec version of the swiftech or maze can you take the tec part off and use it as a regular GPU block? So I might be able to use it later? Would be handy to buy the stuff now than later.

Series is better for restrictive systems. So that's the option to take.