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I need help with water cooling.

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covana2244

Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2004
Location
UNK Nebraska
I am a newbie and I want to get a water cooling setup.

I decide to use a 77 bonneville heat core.
I was wondering if you guys have recomendations for a sub 40 dollar water block for my amd 64 3000+ processor?
Should I use 1/2 or 3/8 tubing?
What kind of tubing should I get?
And where can I buy my tubing, barbs(I think that is what they are called, the things I need to modify the heatercore for my tubing.), clamps? Can I get them from an ACE Hardware or other only on the net?
What should I add to the water? Antifreeze?
What kind of water should I use?
Would also like to know what is the best 40 dollar pump?
I would like to cool my vga in the future.

Also what are the draw backs of keeping the heatercore and pump in a different case and run the tube into my computer case?

Thanks alot guys!
 
Use clearflex or tygon (do a search) tubing (I use Tygon). Go for half inch not three-eighths ID. You want the most free flow you can get. McMasters in Bensenville, Illinois, my home town, is the best place to buy tubing. Barbs you can get at Home Depot or you local hardware store. Be sure they are half inch ID. There is no good $40 pump? you have to spend more... get a Danner Mag or better yet an Eheim 1250 pump. I do not add any additives; and I use pure water from my Reverse Osmosis; however, just use distilled water from the grocery store and add 1\3 strength or more of antifreeze if you are worried about corrosion. Plus: it doesn't matter if you stick the cooler in your case or outside, really, just go for the best set up that suits you!
 
what do you think of this setup?

77 bonneville heatercore 19.99
Maze 4 for A64 Processor $38.70
ClearFlex60 Tubing 1/2 Inch ID 1.25/ft
Hydor L35 $53.95

About $120 total.
Oh, how much tubing do you think I will need?
Are these the cheapest prices I can get?
Also should I just use antifreeze or is water wetter better?
 
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Res or T-Line is a topic discussed many times over here, but it all boils down to user preference. A t-line is an exta piece of tubing, often inserted between pump and radiator, with a T fitting that connects the 3 tube ends. You can fill/drain the sys with this t-line by removing whatever plug you stick in the end of it. One good thing about a t-line is it doesn't take up much space like a res does. Plus, with a t-line you don't have to worry much about it restricting your flow; with a res you have to take steps to make sure it doesn't restrict flow. Meaning, the res intake and output barbs must be an actual half-inch inside diameter, minimum, with some builders recommending a slightly larger output-to-pump inside diameter. That makes sure the flow does not hit any squeeze points along the way, and that the pump is not taking in less water than it's trying to pump out. The main reason for a res is convenience. I built one out of PVC pipe and attached it to the back of the case. I can easily fill the system by pouring water into the top, and drain it just as easily by opening a spigot at the bottom of my res.

Don't use water wetter it will gum up the inside of your sys. If you use antifreeze you have to use a lot to make it useful (non-corrosive quality) as some manufacturers recommend 50% or more.

You can get by with 5' of tubing but get 10' so you can switch out pieces if they get too cloudy or whatever. It's cheap enough to splurge.
 
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Thanks for the help. I have just a couple more questions.
so to fill a t line you just put a funnel in it fill it until nothing more will go into it, and how do you drain it?

I had an idea instead of using a tline or res could I just leave the hose off of the intake on the pump and put it into a bucket of water and let it run until all the air is out and then seal it under the water?
 
I have heard alot of bad things about water wetter, like staining tubing and leaving a coating over everything that can only hurt performance. If you use all copper, you won't have much of a need for a corrosion inhibitor, but you will need to add something to keep crap from growing in it.
 
Swiftech MCW6002-64 $42.50 http://www.cooltechnica.com
Danner mag 3 $44.99 http://www.petsmart.com
77 Bonneville Core $20 Advanced Auto Service
ClearFlex60 1/2 $12 http://www.cooltechnica.com
Evercool 120x25mm $12*2 http://www.cooltechnica.com


4 Fan y-connectors $4 http://www.SVC.com
3 UV Lights $10 http://www.svc.com

What about this? Is there a special kind of Antifreeze I should use?
Is this all I need for lighting? http://www.svc.com/svcompucycle/v12inch2ccflblack.html



After some research I noticed that if I make my own heatercore that I will have to make a shroud. I don't know how to do this.
I was wondering if I should just get this radiator.
Black Ice Pro II Dual 120mm PC Radiator
http://www.cooltechnica.com/Merchan...=PROD&Product_Code=BIPro2-BLK&Category_Code=R
 
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You can use any car anti freeze if you want, but I would recommend using something tailor-made for water-cooling called HydrX Coolant sold by Swiftech you can find it here

If you don't want to make you own shroud(s) you could buy one along with a core that it fits. You can make them yourself though; search and you will see you can make them out of gladware containers. I made my own out of sheet metal and it was pretty easy. After cutting out the pattern with tin-snips and bending the metal into a shroud I JB-Welded it together.

You can drain a t line by turning your pc on its side and open up the end.
 
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