Water cooling CPU + 2x 80W TECs?

First off: If there is a similar project and I missed it please point my thick headed self to it. Also I have posted this on other forums and just get cold stares

The general set up I am considering water cooling is an A64 FX-53 water cooled with a Danger Den RBX CPU block, a BFG 6800 gt cooled with a Maze4-1GPU with an 80W Peltier. I do plan on upgrading the mobo and graphics when an nforce4 motherboard comes out with dual PCIe graphic slots… *drools SLI* So I will in the end add another 80W peltier cooled GPU in the loop. The tubing will be ½” ID Tygon and as far as the reservoir goes just something to fill and bleed the system. What I do need help to decide on is a decent radiator. What’s the problem? Well I am a quiet freak so I want to know if you all think there is a radiator out there efficient enough to pull the heat out of this system with out delta screamers on it.

My case is a Coolermaster ATC 111 B (a black aluminum case), this case only has dual 80mm fans on the front for intakes, so the natural choice would be something like a Black Ice MicroII… but I seriously doubt its ability to cool the system I’m planning to put behind it. So I will be mounting the radiator externally and am debating between a Black Ice XtremeII and a ThermoChill HE120.3. I am considering these two over a heater core because of the looks of an external mount. So what do you all think of these two?

O and I am considering Panaflo M1 (medium volume) 120mm fans put on a rheostat of some sort to quiet them down when the system idles. I would go with something like the Panaflo L1 but that low of an air flow might be a problem, but not sure. Plus performance-pcs.com has the Panaflo M1s for $6.95 each, hard to beat that. Any other fans that can push a decent amount of air flow with out much noise?

Lastly, the choice of the pump. Once again my case which I love to hate, becomes a problem. I would like to mount the pump in the front base of the case in the 3.5 bay area. With out some undesired modding to the case I am limited to the width of the Eheim 1048. I have heard that Eheim pumps are great because they do not produce much noise, which is something I really want this system to be... QUIET. The pump would have to pump through the CPU and two gpu blocks and then up to the top of the case to the radiator. So about two feet or 60-ish cm vertical plus the length of tubing it requires to go from one block to another. Any thoughts in this department?

Well that’s about the end of my list of thoughts on what I could use some help on. Any other ideas or thoughts added to this would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and any effort on helping me with this!

Peace,
Tan

Added:
Well it has be brought to my attention that I will need a shorter GPU block if I want to peltier cool a SLI solution because of the space between the two slots.
Ala numbers from formfactor.org and converting all the numbers to millimeters I find the block with a TEC and a cold plate to be 42.77mm (not including foam on the back of the card).
With out the TEC and plate the block alone is 31.75mm.
Using the measurements of ATX standards of PCI to AGP the distance is 17.5006mm. Considering from what I have seen to be the usual there is a PCIe 1x between dual PCI 16x so... lemme do the multiplication of 2 x 17.5006... crap 35.0012mm of room between the cards. That is with out considering the height of neither the gpu nor the foam on the back.

Maybe if I bend the cards at an angle.....

A second thought is that I will only need one GPU block to be this specific height, the card in the first or top slot. The second one could spill over into the left over PCI slots for all I care So I may still be able to buy the current DD Maze 4 TEC for the current set up and then push it to the second graphics card when I get SLI.

Ok here's my 2 cents. For the radiator I would go with a 2-342 single pass heater core. I know they'r ugly but if your pumping through 3 water blocks (and maybe a chipset block) your gonna need all the flow you can get from your pump, you can paint a core if you like. If you have to buy a rad go with the large dually 120 black Ice. I think that one is a heatercore but it's multi-pass so you restrict flow abit and may not perform as well. And about that pump an Eheim 1060 would be my recommendation because of its flow rate and its 10 foot head. You don't want to go with asmall pump. mount it outside if you have to. For your fan any 120 will do you can control noise with a rheostat. If you wand a quiet one i here good things about the vantec stealth (i think its vantec) but they have a low cfm so you may not get the best performance. Don't worry about cost. Judging from your list of goodies you dumped a few grand into your rid, a couple hundred to protect it is nothing. Let us know how the SLI works out for you. that should be interesting.

BTW. I'm a newb myself all the info i gave you is what i picked up over the last few days. Anyone else feel free to correct me.

Welcome to the Forums!!!!!

Well I use a Ehiem 1250 and a 2-302 Heatcore, running threw 2 blocks (cpu and gpu) and it works great.

An 80 watt TEC isn't enough for a 6800

Try a 172watter at 16-18V for starters.

Osirus said:

Welcome to the Forums!!!!!

Well I use a Ehiem 1250 and a 2-302 Heatcore, running threw 2 blocks (cpu and gpu) and it works great.

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Thank you both for the responce, I was begining to wonder if I was talking to a brick wall at some other forums. The reason for the non heater core set up is one the case does not allow and the looks.

As for fans... a friend of mine steared me towards SilentX Silent X

Also as for the pump I have found a way to fit the Ehiem 1250 in my case

sandman001 said:

An 80 watt TEC isn't enough for a 6800

Try a 172watter at 16-18V for starters.

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Hmmm I was afraid of that but until dual PCIe dual motherboards roll out I am going to be using a Radeon 9800 Pro. The 80watt should do for the 9800 right?

Pics of your WIP is always good. We like to see what is going on in the moding of things.

an 80watt should work for the 9800 just fine.

But, you might as well get a 172 and run it on 12V, it'll be just a bit more powerufl than an 80watter at that voltage, it'll only by like 10 bucks more, and you won't have to buy it later.

Osirus said:

Pics of your WIP is always good. We like to see what is going on in the moding of things.

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But of course! That is the least I can do for the info you all have given me. Until I start getting these parts in... here is an project I did a while back: hard drive rack: Monolith

thats pretty sweat dude... looking good.

sandman001 said:

an 80watt should work for the 9800 just fine.

But, you might as well get a 172 and run it on 12V, it'll be just a bit more powerufl than an 80watter at that voltage, it'll only by like 10 bucks more, and you won't have to buy it later.

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True but are there any places to buy a DD Maze4 pre packaged with a 172W? dangerden.com doesn't seem to want to sell the Maze4 TEC cold plate package with out the 80watt TEC.

Did you E-mail them asking about it?

That's all it took for me.

sandman001 said:

Did you E-mail them asking about it?

That's all it took for me.

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Well umm hmmm that would be the easy thing to do wouldn't it?

Well here is the list I plan on ordering tomorrow... going to call and see about the 172W TEC replacement.

O btw I am not too thrilled about the reservoir but it should work well where I have in mind, also the plastic clamps, and the color of Zerex are iffy things for me... But this should get me up and running Any thoughts on those three items? As far as the coloring goes I am more concerned of the staining the tubing, if it is just going to get stained I might as well use the Clear Flex 60 tubing for the cheaper more expendable option. My color theme is any thing but original but I still love it. Black and bl00 lighting.

wow thoae silentx fans are rated @ 14db thats quiet. ony 53 cfm though. Is tha gonna be enough for all those tec's

Damn, that thermochill is expensive. Why don't you just use a heatercore?

sandman001 said:

Damn, that thermochill is expensive. Why don't you just use a heatercore?

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Thats what i was thinking 119 for a rad is a third of the way to a phase change system. But he wants it to look good. I checked out you monolith project with those kind of skillz you shouldn't be shy about painting a heat core. What do you think those black ice rads are. Anyway, if you do go the thermo way please post pics i'm interested in how your going to mount that BEAST. have fun i'll be watching

I'm wondering why you havent' considered the Danger Den DD12V-D4 pump. Its much smaller, as quiet as the 1250 (some say quieter), and is much better suited to a triple-block setup with a big radiator. The flow curve isn't as good as even a AquaVia 1300 in a *very* unrestrictive setup, but when you're adding lots of restrictions, the massive head of the pump will push more power than most equally priced/sounding pumps. Also, if that one rad isn't enough for 2 peltiers, the DD12v-D4 will have the pressure to let you add a second - even in series if you want. Heck, add a 2nd highend PSU and you can run 2x80w's with a 223w on the cpu!

em00guy said:

Thats what i was thinking 119 for a rad is a third of the way to a phase change system. But he wants it to look good. I checked out you monolith project with those kind of skillz you shouldn't be shy about painting a heat core. What do you think those black ice rads are. Anyway, if you do go the thermo way please post pics i'm interested in how your going to mount that BEAST. have fun i'll be watching

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sandman001 said:

Damn, that thermochill is expensive. Why don't you just use a heatercore?

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If the ThermoChill HE120.3 doesn't cool my system well enough there isn't much more that will beyond a completely custom build. I am shying away from a heater core because of a lack of time to paint it properly. I am about to start another semester of college and know I will have little time for books let alone taking my rig apart and painting the radiator. On top of that I will not be at my rents place where I have a decent set of tools at my disposal. If I find the ThermoChill HE120.3 to be inefficient or unsatisfactory I should have a break during winter break to do another overhaul... permitted a woman doesn't tie down my time and money...
O and thanks for the confidence but... I can draw and build decently but painting... I was more prone to throwing paint around in kindergarten than actually painting!

HiProfile said:

I'm wondering why you havent' considered the Danger Den DD12V-D4 pump. Its much smaller, as quiet as the 1250 (some say quieter), and is much better suited to a triple-block setup with a big radiator. The flow curve isn't as good as even a AquaVia 1300 in a *very* unrestrictive setup, but when you're adding lots of restrictions, the massive head of the pump will push more power than most equally priced/sounding pumps. Also, if that one rad isn't enough for 2 peltiers, the DD12v-D4 will have the pressure to let you add a second - even in series if you want. Heck, add a 2nd highend PSU and you can run 2x80w's with a 223w on the cpu!

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Well I have considered the DD12V-D4 but I haven't seen too many praising it on its quietness, where as the ehiems I have. Like I said I am some what of a quiet freak and I built my hard drive rack because the hard drive noise was too loud for my taste. If there is some discussion or even better a dB graph with these pumps on them I would gladly change over to it!

em00guy said:

wow thoae silentx fans are rated @ 14db thats quiet. ony 53 cfm though. Is tha gonna be enough for all those tec's

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Yeah I decided against the silenX fans for now. I have a Vantec Stealth 120mm fan in my hard drive rack and concerned with its ability to cool those efficiently. Yes it is fairly quiet at 28dB but it is not enough for my system right now. Also they are a bit expensive even for this rig. I priced them out and they ended up being 70 or 80 US dollars. That is just a weeeee bit more than the less than 20 dollars for my panaflow m1s.

some guy on the forums selling sanyos rated at 102 cfm f@ 39 db for $6.00 usd

Well I just put my order in for my parts listed above! Big thanks Sandman001 for reminding me that I could just ask them to change it out for me. Seriously I wonder about myself sometimes
I called Danger Den and they said they would be out of Black and Blue Maze4 GPU blocks till the end of the week but I just ordered a red instead... Matches my current Radeon 9800pro Besides I don't plan on having a window and if I do I could just tell the blonds its red because its hot

Now onto the fans and a new fan controller....

em00guy said:

some guy on the forums selling sanyos rated at 102 cfm f@ 39 db for $6.00 usd

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Thanks for the tip. I think I will stick with the panaflows though mostly because I am planning ordering some other equipment from www.performance-pcs.com. Its hard to beat pre-tailed, heatshrinked, and sleeved for 6.95.
And the specs are "acceptable" to me, 35dB is pushing my limits on sound.

Panaflo M1 120mm
Air Flow 86.5 CFM
Rated Speed 2100 RPM
Noise 35 dB(A)

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My current fan controller is a Vantec Black Nexus NXP-201 Rheobus. It looks fine. I had to mod it to fit behind my case's door, but I hate it because of the stadic noise it makes. They used cheap electronic components for this device, so it makes an audible crackle if you turn the fans down. Really annoying on a quiet system! Other than that it handles all types of fans well. Just the stadic noise
So I am thinking about a matrix orbital lcd. Two or four line lcd not sure yet, 30 extra dollars to upgrade from two to four... *shrug* not sure yet.

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't it not ideal to pelt your GPU but not pelt your CPU?

The GPU and pelt will be dumping loads of heat into the loop, and your CPU temps will reflect this.

Also, if you haven't already done so, check out our extreme cooling forum, as there is a lot of useful information there, as well as people who are very interested in just what you are trying to do.