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Full Watercooling System Overhaul #2 Complete - Pictures Galore

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felinusz

Senior Overclocking Magus
Joined
Feb 26, 2003
Location
Taiwan
My second system overhaul is complete, and it's time to post some pictures, and preliminary results :)

I really want to hear some feedback from all of you on my work, as well as any suggestions and comments about future improvements I could make :)

I've got a lot of pictures, as I've made a lot of changes since my last system, and I have no hosting off of the forums. So, there will be several posts below this one, each with a picture uploaded. I'll keep the entire description to this post to keep it simple.


I'll start with the case, in brief :). It's a Chieftec Dragon Full-Tower, picked because of the low price and size, which has been powder-coated a Mirror-Black inside and out. The case is quite reflective, and the interior really shines when lighted, which doesn't come out in the pictures too well. The case has been chopped up and modified to accomodate two BIX radiators in the front, and a Chevette heatercore in the top, not to mention lots of discreet holes cut for cables, and tubing. A 120mm blowhole has also been added to the side-window. Because of the radiators, my Hard-drive is mounted in one of the 5.25" Drive bays. Wiring management is done using cable routing clamps, which are adhered to the inside of the case.


The watercooling system is actually two seperate circuits. I have two independant loops in there, with two pumps, three radiators, and two waterblocks. I have used T-Lines to save space.

The first circuit is for my GPU Waterblock/Peltier setup, with a Chevette Heatercore/Single Panaflo M1A mounted in the top of the case, a Maze 4-1 GPU Block, a 24V/172W Peltier being run on 22V, and an Iwaki MD6Z Pump. It goes PUMP -> TEE LINE -> HEATERCORE -> MAZE4-1. The video card being cooled is a BBA 9800 Pro, which I have completely voltage modified to take advantage of the cooling on it. I run the card overclocked at 459/378 (the second highest perfectly "even" clock speeds this card can do via the BIOS, with the highest being 530/414) for day to day gaming use, and at these speeds it idles at about 1 degree celcius with a normal (~26C) room temperature, with the fan on 12V. The card typically loads at about 8-10 degrees celcius at a normal room temperature at these speeds (stock voltages). I run the card up at 530/414 for benchmarking, the core requires 1.95V to run this stably, and the RAM needs 2.9V.

The second loop is for my processor, a Mobile Barton 2600+. I have two BIX radiators in this loop, currently in series (On Diehrd's advice :)), although I'll test out a parallel setup when I find time. Series makes for *MUCH* easier routing, and supposedly better radiator-efficiency. It is more restrictive than a parallel setup would be, and it will be interesting to see how parallel does. The waterblock is a Copper Cascade block, and the pump is a Swiftech MCP600. The circuit goes PUMP -> BIX1 -> BIX2 -> TEE LINE -> CASCADE. The processor is running at 2700 MHz (200 X 13.5) right now, I'm working on more (always ;)). The processor is 24 hours Prime95 stable, and 3DMark stable, at this speed with a 1.9V average Vcore voltage. The processor loads at 41 degrees celcius with a room temperature around 26 degrees celcius, with the Evercool Aluminums on the BIX running on 12V. With the fans on 7V, the load temperature goes up to 45 degrees celcius, although stability is maintained (I did stability testing while the fans were on 7V so I could sleep overnight). I am unhappy about the need for an elbow fitting in this circuit, as I vowed to never use them again, but one is required to make the bend from one radiator to the other.


The GPU loop went in first, and takes up more space tubing-wise because of this. The routing between the two is pretty clean, but could be improved a good deal in my opinion. The Swiftech and Iwaki pumps are wonderfully small, and fit under the video card very snugly, with the fans on the BIX radiators blowing over them. The MCP600 pump head has been turned for sideways output, to make for cleaner routing.

I have used Coolsleeves, with 1/2" ID, 5/8" OD Clearflex60 Tubing, in the two loops, and the stuff makes for some really easy routing. I've also skipped hose clamps, because the Coolsleeves (I'm using the ones intended for 1/2" oD tubing, so it's very tight) seem to do an adequate job of gripping the barbed fitings.

Well, that's the boring part. The pictures are below :).




This is a picture of the entire system. These full-shots always look really grainy with my crummy webcam, but it gives an idea of the system layout and routing.
 

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Oh my, looks like we can upload multiple pictures now, how convenient :)

Here we have pictures of the Cascade Waterblock, the Maze 4-1 GPU block and graphics card, the Two BIX Radiators in the front of the case, and the Chevette Heatercore in the top of the case, above the PSU.
 

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Here we have a picture of the Iwaki MD6Z Pump, and Swiftech MCP600 Pump, a picture of my 24V PSU and the superb little relay that Greenman100 made for me to use with it, and lastly a picture of the top blowhole, for the Chevette Heatercore, which also does a fine job of showing the reflective quality of the case paint job.

That's that, way easier with multiple-image uploading :)

Comments and suggestions are welcome and very appreciated!
 

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Gratz dude, that's insane, good job

So you're running dual inline pumps, the Iwaki and the MCP600 with 2 BIX and Chevvy heatercore radiators hooked up to a Cascade CPU WB and a Maze 4 GPU block? Damn, that's sooo sweet. Do you use a res or a T-Line? What temps r u getting?
 
Yep, dual pumps, on seperate circuits, so the CPU and GPU loop water temperatures are independant of each other.

I'm using T-Lines to save space. Video card loads at about 8-10 degrees celcius, CPU loads at 41 degrees celcius with the fans on 12V, and 45 degrees celcius with the fans on 7V. Room temperature is 26C.

The Maze 4-1 is working out really nicely. The whole thing is very well designed to accomodate a peltier, and was abreeze to set up and insulate. Corrosion isn't really an issue, as the top is anodized, making it corrosion resistant.

Could someone tell me if the uploaded pictures in my second and third posts are working? I've tried clicking on the links to the uploaded files, and it doesn't seem to work for me.
 
That's some nice temps.

U're pelting your gfx card? How's it working? Does it have a sizable impact on your power bill? Reliable? Easy to insulate?

oh, and the pics work
 
they work for me....NICE work!!!


EDIT: could you try using different inlets on the rads so as to get rid of the 90? (how to explain...? :bang head )

ok: rads on side, 4 inlets, #'d 1-4 top=#1 (get it?)

you have 2 and 3 used with a 90 what if you tried 2 and 4... would that give enough room to just use the tube? if not; im sure # 1 and 4 would...
 

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Joe Camel, I hadn't thought of that :). What about bleeding the air bubbles though? If the top radiator's outlet is at the bottom, wouldn't the air have some difficulty getting out of the radiator? I'll give it a try when I re-route for a parallel setup test though, thanks for the idea :).

NovaShine - The peltier has been very reliable so far, I'm really pleased with it :). I'm not sure about the power bill, I'm in High School, and live with my parents... I suspect that it does have an impact on the power bill though :-/. Thankfully, I'm not paying the power bills :)

Insulation was pretty easy, as the Maze 4-1 came with pre-cut neoprene and a small amount of silicone di-electric compound. I also bought a big tube of di-electric machine grease locally, and slathered a lot of it on to be safe :).
 
felinusz said:
I'm not sure about the power bill, I'm in High School, and live with my parents... I suspect that it does have an impact on the power bill though :-/. Thankfully, I'm not paying the power bills :)

:cool: Thanks for the heads-up. Now I know to deny to my parents that my computer is sucking up too much power when I leave it on 24/7 folding. Anyways I can't wait to get my Maze4-1 :drool:

Very nice rig. I can't believe you managed to fit it all in and route everything!
 
Not bad, not bad at all.

I really must say, those coolsleeves give your tubing a futuristic look, I dont know how or why, but they just do.

Very nice setup, keep up the good work!
 
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