Water block design

I was thinking after reading some other posts. The thing is would a heatsink combo water block work, it would be like a heat sink but also be a water block so what the water does not cool the air cools or is this a bad idea?

this has been done, but the results weren't good..
This is most likly because of design limitations. trying to combine a good water block design and a good heatsink design into one is really hard.

To be good, a waterblock must not allow the die heat to dissipate out to the rest of the waterblock much at all. In designs like the whitewater, the heat directly from the die is being removed from an area of the base not much larger than the die itself.

If the heat could dissipate out to the fins of a heatsink on the top of the block... It would be sucking badly.

hkh said:

I was thinking after reading some other posts. The thing is would a heatsink combo water block work, it would be like a heat sink but also be a water block so what the water does not cool the air cools or is this a bad idea?

Click to expand...

If I am reading the post correctly then the real question is whether the water block is higher than ambient. If it is then the inclusion of a fin designed air heatsink into the water block might be workable though very difficult to make. It would need to be a low height heatsink such as a fully finned 1U yet the fins would have to protrude through the top of the water block. Multiple 1/4 water inlets/outlets would be a good solution however building it and its subsequent advantage on a standard application,,,well.....difficult.

However thinking outside of the box is where the real performance lays and to this end I applaude the idea. Make it work and let us know. (ps. personally I think it would work but a real pain in the xxx to build).

your waterblock will be warmer than ambient, so yes, a heatsink on it would theoretically help

but you are better off just using a bigger radiator.

I like the thinking though. Now a low powered tec on a properly designed water block might remind one of chilled water cooling. Same general idea though with a little bigger punch.

That's actually a pretty sharp idea, if you wanted to make a HS/WB combo... A TEC would get that waterblocks temp up considerably, and make a lot more work that the air cooling might actually become beneficial.

I may have the wrong idea here, but my current CPU block temp is 24.5 degrees, (sensor taped to the back), and my current case air temp is 27.1 degrees, so a ‘heatsink’ on the block might actually make the temps worse. Would these kinds of temperatures not be normal.

Where is your radiator and where does it pull and push air to?

Rad is on top of the case, hence better temps, but even with the rad in the case, don’t you still draw air from outside through it?

IMOG said:

That's actually a pretty sharp idea, if you wanted to make a HS/WB combo... A TEC would get that waterblocks temp up considerably, and make a lot more work that the air cooling might actually become beneficial.

Click to expand...

I have wanted to try for the longest time, cold plate 320w at 9v for about 180w, water block, 110w at 12v with slim water block. Have the tecs, psu but do not have a drill press nor do there seem to be any of the old style water blocks (i.e. drilled block with feeds on the same end and soldered holes 2" x 2" top suface bare area) available anymore. A core drilled block would probably offer the best solution providing a happy medium between getting water cooling while enhancing tec cooling. I'm getting off target though and am kind of hijacking the thread (not to mention a little extreme) so I am outta here. Have fun.

LV38_Eagle said:

Rad is on top of the case, hence better temps, but even with the rad in the case, don’t you still draw air from outside through it?

Click to expand...

Air flows up? You have good air flow coming into the case to feed the top mounted rad? Temp pickup mobo vs. block temp might have a slight amount of variance, then there is pump temp and what ever is being pumped to temps that must be dumped. Just some asumptions, temp after rad cannot be removed back to ambient, given a 120mm 80 cfm single rad fan, as well as a 80 mm (psu) that in a normal situation is going to be starved unless the case has a pretty large infeed due to its proximity to the rad fan. I would geuss some where in the neighborhood of no less than 4 80s to get some positive air pressure going on. No fans exiting short of the psu and rad fan. Seems like a lot but 4 x 30 cfm = 120 cfm and 80 cfm + 25 cfm or so = 105 cfm. Resistance to the fan and its relatively low pressure will negate the full 80 cfm on the rad fan. You will find many trying to mount the rad in the lower front of the case in order to include the rad fan on the inflow so fewer fans are needed as well as (depending on where the computer is located) there is a temp diff if the air is picked up at the floor. Try laying on the floor in the winter and you know where the cold air is laying. One other note, check the air flow out of the psu to make sure that your fan is not starving the psu for cooling. There should be a good airflow out of the psu.

If the air is top mounted with air drawing in then I would run a front case fan and probably about two 120's on the side panel on a rheo. Seal the case up well and try to get negative pressure in order to equalize the pressure across the entire rad. The problem of course in this application (or at least my concern) would be properly cooling all of the other components. I run water in different configurations but always include a side panel fan to cool vid ram and if air cooled, GPU. Drawing air around cards I would think would not cool well.

Sorry, I may not have made myself very clear. The rad is outside the case, on top of it.

Good work. Nice looking setup. Is the top vent working?

Yes, the top vent is working, but I keep the blowhole fan at 7 volts, mainly because I have waterblocks on the CPU, GPU and Northbridge, so the other 3 intakes and 3 outlets (+ PSU) can cope with the airborne heat generated. Plus, if I crank it up to much, I will start to get the case air going through the rad, which is not very helpful.

(EDIT, further and further off topic, sorry)