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thinking about getting into water cooling

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chittnp

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2002
Location
Sandy Creek NY
Im building an athlon 64 system, and Im seriously thinking about watercooling it, so I thought Id post my ideas for the system here and see what you guys think. Im not "planning" on OC'ing it, I'm just tired of my computer sounding like a jet, and its something that has interested me for a few years now. First, I have a few questions...what is the most advantagous tubing diameter? right now im considering 1/2", but if 3/8" is better, Id go with that.

heres some links to the stuff I thinking about:

Water Cooling System
Radiator (1) 120.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-rad-14.html
CPU Water Block (1) 52.95
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-blc-91.html
Tubing, a few feet will be necessary (4) 13.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-tub-28.html
Hard Drive cooler (1) 39.99
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/koo-03.html
Video Card Cooler (1) 48.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-blc-37.html
Pump relay (1) 29.99
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-pmp-08.html
Pump (1) 74.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-pmp-19.html
Resevoir (1) 69.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-res-01.html
½ inch to 3/8 reducers (2) $3.00
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-tub-16.html

let me know what you think, what your suggestions are, etc

also Im planning on using the MSI K8N Neo Platinum, If thats any help

thanks!
 
No relay needed for a 12v Pump.

Thats a pricey res....

3/8" is easier to route tubbing but 1/2" with coolsleeves has some very impressive results.
 
some other questions I have is what order the stuff should go in the system, and should I go with the RBX block which has 3 barbs on it, or stick with the TDX?
 
You do know you've just quoted over $450 worth of water cooling parts?? How much does a basic phase change system cost?? Here's my 2C: Rad is good only if your going for an absolutely silence system. Just buy a heatercore or regular rad with 1-2 120mm fans. Do you really need a $40 hard driver cooler? Unless your running dual raptors, this may not be needed. Do you know what a relay does? You don't need one for a relay for a 12v pump. $70 is a little steep for a resevior, it's a very nice one, don't get me wrong, but you could also buy a $30 resevior and put the $40 twords something else. Generally, bigger is better for water cooling, so 1/2 tubing is used over 3/8 for performance.

Finally, if you don't want to o/c, why watercool? With some knowledge and effort you can have a silent system on air. If your just looking for a quiet/cool system, there are a few nice kits below $200, Danger Den being one of them. Water cooling doesn't have to be expensive.
 
Yeah, I do realise that I've dreamt up a really expensive system, and could probably cut the cost down. The main reason I want to go with water cooling is silence, and because its something I have been wanting to try for a long time. I do plan on Oc'ing my 9800 pro (doing the XT Bios MOD), And with the cooling setup in place, Im sure Ill tweak the A64 a little, Im just not planning on it,yet :cool: and I will be running at least 1 raptor in my system for my primary OS drive, and 2 200 GB WD SATA drives for storage. As for the pump relay, alot of people mention that they arent necessary, so Im reconsidering that. as I understand it though, the relay turns the pump on when you turn the computer on without having to turn on the pump separately, so it seemed more like a convenience more than necessity anyway.

as for the radiator, I saw that and thought it was great, but I wonder how well it works, I do realise its about $40 dollars more expensive than a decent fan cooled radiator, but I thought it would be interesting to have no fans at all

thanks for your input!
 
that pump will turn on/off with the comp without the relay as its connected to the 12v power supply in your comp.
 
Try to avoid mixing Cu and Al with water.. even with additives it's a recipe for problems.
You can get way cheaper elements that will perform just as well (radiator, reservoir..)
For instance try to get a bay res (no Aluminium), a good copper heater core (less than $50), get 1/2" all around from the start, and drop that HDD cooler (if you really need one, because you have 15K rpm HDDs, get that one -> http://www.alphacool.de/upload//high/12412.jpg or for twin HDDs, that one -> http://www.alphacool.de/upload//high/12410.jpg)
 
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