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View Full Version : My homemade watercooling - pics


Khufu
10-06-04, 09:33 PM
First of all please apologize me if my english is not too good.
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Here are some pics of my homemade watercooling system

Pump Hydor L20 (700 l/h)

Waterblock - Alphacool NexXxoS HP

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/9339/wb1.jpg

Radiator - "Heatercore" of an opel corsa 1.2 made of copper and painted.

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/5320/rad_2.jpg

Fan - "Blower" from a Mercedes Benz

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/149/blower_1.jpg


For the filling of the circuit I choose for a simple “T” instead of a reservoir that only serves to raise the chances of a leak and to make me spend more money.

Since my pump Works from 230 volts and since I didn’t want to take the chance of forgetting to switch the pump every time that I start the pc, I connected the pump directly to the psu through a relay. This way the pump is turned on automatically when the pc is turned on.

Since the radiator and the blower are way to big to fit in my case, I builded a separated case made of mdf, with a opening in one side in witch the radiator fits and to more openings in the top for the blower. The cold air from the outside is forced to enter the case (passing through the radiator fins) by the “vacuum” created by the blower as it pumps the air out of the case.
There are two more small holes in the case for the tubing that are sealed so the air can only enter the case by radiator opening.

Radiator opening

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/9639/rad_1.jpg

Top of the case with the two openings for the blower

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/6848/blower_2.jpg

Inside the mdf case I also have an old psu that powers the blower. This psu is turned on manually through a switch placed in the outside of the case. I didn’t installed a relay simply because even if I forget to turn on the blower the radiator has enough performance to keep the pc running without it overheating.

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/3913/rad_3.jpg

The blower is connected to the 5v psu rail and it makes almost no noise. I already tried 12v but the noise is too big for daily use and the difference in the cooling performance is almost zero. Even at 5v the air exiting the case makes may curtains move 2 meters away.

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/9895/case_1.jpg

http://img85.exs.cx/img85/46/case_2.jpg

The CPU is an amd xp 2500+ Barton core (locked) overclocked to 2425 MHz (11 x 220) vcore 1.95v. in this configuration my temps are around 37ºC idle and 47ºC full load (temps reported by speedfan) ambient temps around 25ºC 30ºC

In terms of overclock I reached a Max of 2455 witch means 223 MHz fsb, I think I limited by my mobo (asus a7n8x-x rev. 2.0 - vcore mod and vdimm mod ) since even if I raise the vcore to 2.1v and the vdimm to 3.3v I can not reach 225 fsb. I didn’t tried the vdd mod since the soldering point is almost microscopic, maybe in one of this days …

Aphex_Tom_9
10-06-04, 09:35 PM
nice work, nice OC.

HiProfile
10-07-04, 12:29 AM
Nice setup. Its not often that people with micropin waterblocks post here (rather than flame :-/ ). I'm curious - how thick is your radiator? It looks to be at least 6cm compaired to the PSU. Honestly I think the bottleneck is the pump, although I'm unsure how those waterblock designs react to more flow. I know the radiator & blower are overkill for your setup, if not a perfect match with each other (thick heatercore + high pressure blower). Speaking of the blower, what MB model/year did it come out of & what are it's outter dimentions?

I'd suggest that if you where to upgrade one component and still stay silent, get an ehiem 1048 (not 1046).


Overall its interesting to see just how European and American watercooling efforts differ.

Khufu
10-07-04, 06:32 AM
Thanks

The radiator is 5cm thick the other dimensions are given in this pic (mm)

http://img34.exs.cx/img34/1688/bmcorsa.jpg

As for the dimensions of the blower (cm)

http://img34.exs.cx/img34/8099/blower_dim1.jpg

I dont really know the model of the mercedes, this blower was given to me by a friend for free.

One of this days when i have the money i will try a bigger pump and see how it will do with this water block.

bigben2k
10-07-04, 09:34 PM
Interesting choice for a blower, I like it!

Gentleman
10-07-04, 11:31 PM
How loud is that blower? Hairdryer levels?

Khufu
10-08-04, 06:08 AM
At 5 volts it is pretty silent, to have an idea enter a car and turn on the ventilation in the minimum without the engine running. at 12 volts it makes a loud whoosh, but not as loud or with the nasty pitch of an hairdrier. Again, try your car ventilation in the maximum setting.