WC newbie guide?

Hi i was thinking of making an internal water cooling system. anyone know a newbie guide? also whats a t-line(pictures plz)? thx a lot.

That kind of info gets archived as a sticky. Look at the top thread.

Yep look at the stickies ill post a pic of someones water cooling system sorry for not saying who but i dont know (Very nice system to)

...i did check there. maybe im blind but i couldnt find an actual guide step to step to how to build one. can you point it out for me. thx

Welcome to the Forums!

Well, I do remember seeing people post walkthroughs of their system building in the past, but as systems vary so much it may be hard to follow someone else's methods exactly....

I haven't really LOOKED hard for one in a while though, and since my memory is pretty much mush I can't really remember the last time I did see one posted.

My methods are perhaps not the best for someone new to this hobby: I don't leak test before powering up the system and most of my air bleeding is done with the system running. I have been at it a while though, and I am pretty confident (cocky could also be used) in my ability to build a water cooling system.

But a quick run through:
First off: don't plan on using the pc for 24 hours or so- build and test FIRST.

Some blocks must have mounting hardware installed before the motherboard is installed in the case: do this if needed. Mount the mobo in the case.
Mount the radiator in position.
Mount the pump in position.
Mount reservoir or T-Line as required.

Install tubing on the cpu block and mount it on the socket- run tubing to where it goes as needed and cut to length; secure it to fittings using clamps, preferably.
Once all tubing is cut to length and clamped in place, fill system with water and bleed all air out, topping off the level as needed. (Alternatively, remove all the H2O components and submerge in water to fill and bleed. This is not possible for some of us, but many can and do use this method.)

When all tubing and components are filled and bled of air, run for 24 hours or so to be CERTAIN that there are no leaks.
Reinstall in the case. Note that cpu should be in the socket this time: hopefully the block will NOT be coming off again!

Once all components are again in the case you might want to bleed and check for leaks again, especially if you had to disconnect anything.
Do not have the system powered on to do this: water on components will NOT hurt them if there is no electricity. If anything does get wet, do NOT power up the computer for a few days.

Once all the water cooling components are installed in the case and you are sure there are no leaks, complete assembling the pc and start it up.
I suggest going into BIOS and staying there for five minutes or so to watch temps.

You are now done.

Icebl@ster said:

Yep look at the stickies ill post a pic of someones water cooling system sorry for not saying who but i dont know (Very nice system to)

Click to expand...

Am I missing something, or is his T-Line place poorly? Its very short and almost all the way at the bottom of his case.

If it wasn't bled perfectly, air bubbles would have no where to gather except to form pockets in the heat exchanger.

From what I know, it is better for your T-Line to be placed near the top of your case, or atleast extend to the top of your case.

The pump looks like a hobby pump, and he'd likely be better off with something with more industrial influence.

But I can say, atleast it looks like he's using a swiftech block... Oh, and his water's blue.

As for guides, rogerdugans should have started you off on the right foot, and here is one old but fairly good one:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=149127

Here is another one which is VERY wordy so you might have to dig to find what you are looking for:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=229013

We are currently working on the sticky layout of this forum, so hopefully we're able to make something more useful for everyone in the near future. Just keep asking, especially when you have specific questions which need answered, and WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

I.M.O.G. said:

Am I missing something, or is his T-Line place poorly? Its very short and almost all the way at the bottom of his case.

If it wasn't bled perfectly, air bubbles would have no where to gather except to form pockets in the heat exchanger.

From what I know, it is better for your T-Line to be placed near the top of your case, or atleast extend to the top of your case.

The pump looks like a hobby pump, and he'd likely be better off with something with more industrial influence.

But I can say, atleast it looks like he's using a swiftech block... Oh, and his water's blue.

Click to expand...

That setup is often used an example of how clean and simple a quality water system can be. That swiftech block was new when this rig was built and was an excellent block at the time and is still one of the better socket-mount, pin-fin type blocks ever made. Read the reviews on it sometime. It's a MCW-5000.

If there is no way for air to get into the top of the loop, it doesn't matter where the T is located. The height of the fill tube does not matter; it is simply a small reserve of coolant.

That "hobby" pump is an Eheim, probably a 1048, which would be an excellent choice considering the block and the time frame this rig was assembled. None of the now-common 12V DC pumps had been introduced. The disadvantage of Eheim pumps is their large size compared to the pump capability. Some of the better DC pumps may approach the Eheim reliability record, but it was a lousy choice to put down as a "hobby pump".

The blue water could have been a dye or Volkswagon anti-freeze.

Apologies, but it was an honest critique by simple appearance of the picture... Not everyone will recognize the details or be able to stamp a creation date on it, and I would think it best to present a newbie with a better example, though this is an okay one. It seems you are blaming me for not knowing things about a rig which I had been given no information about other than a picture.

Question... If you have a 10 foot loop of tubing hung vertically and you have a 1 foot T-line pointing up at the bottom center where you can reach it... What will happen when you open the cap?

Another question, am I mistaken to think it is not completely abnormal to occasionally have to add water to the loop? The T-Line could become an issue here.

I will amend my hobby pump comment to the system being a bit dated... There is little wrong with an eheim pump, but there are commonly available pumps being used currently which are certainly better options in a similar price range.

I wouldn't criticize the use of a nice quality made swiftech block.

Nonetheless, that picture is an excellent example of nice cleanly planned tubing... The wire management there is really what makes things appear impressive. The setup isn't terrible in the picture, its actually fairly good, however it is also good to point out what could possibly be improved.

I wonder if that case is a praetorian also... the insides look the same as mine, but it could be any of a few various coolermaster cases I suppose.

I.M.O.G. said:

Question... If you have a 10 foot loop of tubing hung vertically and you have a 1 foot T-line pointing up at the bottom center where you can reach it... What will happen when you open the cap?

Another question, am I mistaken to think it is not completely abnormal to occasionally have to add water to the loop? The T-Line could become an issue here.

Click to expand...

unless im some how wrong...
1. nothing, there would be no air going into the T line to replace the water, if you turned the T line upside down then water WOULD pour out, because well water is a little heavier than air

2. nope

Thanks.

lazua beat me to it.Turn it upside down.

n00b guide eh?

Well the first thing is water blocks. don't get sucked into paying for hype unless you just like pretty water blocks then that's OK, pay whatever. Just know that watercooler is not like air cooler whose sinks can make huge differences in cooling, sometimes 150% difference, when using the best HSF. With water cooling capacity occures mostly in the rad and air flow over that rad. The block themselves provide miniscule advantges performance wise. Like with processors I buy on the price/performace principle which rules out 90% of WB since they are all overpriced compared to blocks like Dtek Tc4 and Swiftech 6000's which are less than $26 and $36 respectivly.

A T-line is just a small resevior made with left over tube. This allows to catch airbubbles in system and fill system.place it in line at the top of loop is best. A real res is bad idea IMO because you increase propensity for leakage, costs more, and use more space.

Also keep these factors in mind and make adustments based on your needs.

Big rads best performance, bad for fitment.
Big fans best performance, bad for noise.
Big tubing best for performance, bad for bending.
Big pumps best for performance, bad for wallet and noise.

Course if you want best performance you choose the "big" option in each catagory. But most of us make a compromise again, a cost/benefit analysis, and not just money "cost", to arrive at some optimum system design.

Some other points i picked up along the way.
- rads should have access to cool air coming into them not case warmed air
- always use a corrosion inhitor like anti-freeze or rads and blocks may corrode 10-20% is fine. gimmiks like wetwatter is best to stay away. they will only burn your pocket while increasing temps and are no better than anti-freeze.
-it's best to buy a DC pump this way you can insure reliable power when comp is on, decrease cost of a relay and install headach.

If you want the least headach and great performance buy a swiftech kit.

It was just a example of a t-line I had for some reason when it isnt even mine lol

thx a lot guys. im understanding water cooling more and more now.



****edit****
anyone wanna recommend me wat to buy??
i have amd 64 939 socket.
i dont need mobo or gpu cooler yet.
i have tons of room in my full atx case.
i want a t-line instead of res.
i have 250 us dollars to spend.
thx again guys for being very helpful.