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Project P'Nyssa 98% complete (pics, 56k warning)

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socket7

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2004
I never really had a plan when I started this system. When I did my last major upgrade, I got an Antec SuperLANBOY case, because I loved the look, and it was smaller and lighter then my old steel mid tower Antec server case. From there, things just started evolving. At first it was air cooled, but I got tired of the amount of noise the VGA, Northbridge, and CPU fans made. I started by installing a passive Northbridge and VGA cooler. I found that the VGA cooler needed airflow, so to keep CFM up and noise levels down, I strapped a 92mm fan on the side. At 1200rpm, it cannot be heard over the rest of the system, and cools both the Northbridge and my 9800 pro adequately.

This still left me with the problem of the CPU fan. So I took the plunge, and went with water. I got a Danger Den TDX and Black ice xtreme 120mm radiator. Because I didn't want to mess with relay cards, and I needed a compact pump, I went with the 12v D4 pump, and a dual floppy bay reservoir for looks.

Version 1.0 of the system had no T-line, and was next to impossible to fill.
Image(21).jpg


Without a T-line I couldn't get enough air out of the system. It kept getting sucked into the pump and caught in the radiator. So I ordered myself a fill port from Danger Den, and installed it up at the top of my case. Originally, it was my plan to install the port near the front of the case, on the right hand side to hide most of it behind the drive bays. Unfortunately, the support for the drive bays made locating the port there to much work. So I placed it in the rear on the left, to make it as visible as possible.
side_high.jpg


After 1.1, I was happy for a while, until I decided I wanted more temperature information, and I discovered the problem of my distilled water/water wetter coolant becoming cloudy.

A search for coolant and a fan controller began!

I settled on the cooler master Aerogate 3 for my fan controller/temperature monitor. It was inexpensive and it matched my silver case well. This however, left me the problem of what to do with my audigy live drive. I only use it for front audio jacks and it's optical out port. I decided I'd move it inside the case, and wire the front panel audio jacks my case has to it. The optical out just runs out the back of the case through an open card slot. The Areogate 3 went in, and was wired up to control the front fan, the VGA fan, and the radiator fan. The temp sensors monitor 1 HD, video card heatsink temp, coolant temp, and ram sink temp.

A word of caution for anyone who is planning on putting an Areogate 3 in an Antec super LANBOY case. It doesn't fit very well. There is a clearance issue between the drive bay door and the Areogate 3. The door will stay closed, but the plastic does deform a little to do it.

For coolant I settled upon fluid XP. The Idea of a non conductive, and more importantly, anti corrosive/biocide coolant was appealing to me. I also decided I wanted my loop to have some color. Blue, in particular. Unfortunately, all the blue dyes I'd seen so far were either anti-freeze or UV reactive only. A quest for the dye Liquid_Cooled uses ensued.

I never found Liquid_Cooled's dye, but I did find something just as good. Deep blue dye from WildfireFX. It doesn’t affect the fluidXP's non-conductivity, looks great under regular light, and is UV reactive to boot. I've heard rumors that wildfire dyes will break down in your loop, leaving sludge in the pump; but I was unable to find proof of such a thing. Only time will tell now.

With the low RPM fans I have installed, I get about a 45C idle temp, with a coolant temp of 35c. I have a shroud and a very large, very loud sunon 120mm fan I can mount on the back that will drop idle temps down to 39C. Not at all bad for an Athlon XP 3200. The cooling loop is efficient enough that I can run the system without a radiator or front case fan. The VGA fan however, has to stay on at all times. Although the D4 is loud, the medium frequency sound of 1 pump is far less annoying then the whine of 3 tiny fans moving at high RPM.

The remaining things I need to do are sleeving the PSU, Wire cleanup, painting the optical drives to match my case, and making the 3 info lights on the front of my case do something. (I moved my power and HDD lights to behind the reservoir so they shine through. leaving 3 LEDs on my case that do nothing at all.)

And now the big pics.
frontclosedBIG.jpg

frontopenBIG.jpg

resBIG.jpg

CaseClosedBIG.jpg

SideBIG

pumpBIG.jpg

rearBIG.jpg
backBIG.jpg
 
Are you the laughing man?

grab a 3.5" fan controller and get your audigy where it belongs.

I cant help but think that you could find a better way to route that tubbing.
 
Get rid of that damn reservoir. It reduces your flow rate and makes your tubing get routed all retardedly. If you didn't have the reservoir you could have had a much higher flowing loop. It could have been pump to radiator to block to pump, without crossing back and forth. Much simpler, much higher flow.
 
Why not cut out more of the back of the case where the rad is to get better airflow? I second losing the res, getting 3.5" controller so the audigy is in the front bay, moving the pump and changing the tubing. Those temps seem very high, I have lower than that on air, even with the high power fan. The aerogate might look nice, but how much are you going to see it with that door?
 
wait, lol
so you have a reservoir AND a Tline??
haha
youre one crazy old dude, man!!

I say ditch that 5.25" display thing and put your LiveDrive in there, for headphone access and RC access.
Loose the res.
Put the pumps standup-bracket on and put it where the LiveDrive is now.
Run your tubing straight from the pump to the CPU-block.
Face the pumps inlet towards the front, and run a nice gradual curved downslope of tubing from the rad to the pump.

Done.
 
ls7corvete said:
Are you the laughing man?

grab a 3.5" fan controller and get your audigy where it belongs.

I cant help but think that you could find a better way to route that tubbing.

I'm not the laughing man, but I am another one of those deaf-mutes.

I considered a 3.5 controller in the past, but I'd run into even worse clearance issues then I do with the Areogate.

As for the high temps, I looked around on http://www.3degs.net/ and found other people who also have an athlon XP 3200+ and a GA-7n400 pro2. They almost always have higher temps then mine. I'm positive that this is a very good temp for the setup. Perhaps the bios reports them high.

I would consider loosing the res if I had a motherboard that was good at overclocking. As it is, I have a super locked multiplier, and I can only boost my FSB 5mhz and keep it prime stable. Since I can't OC, I'll take the look of the res over an increased flow rate.

It may just be the photos, but the tubing isn't nearly as bad as some of the things I've seen around here. I don't have five 90 degree fittings or anything like that. I've got about 5 feet of tubing in the loop itself.

I have no reason to have my live drive in a bay, other then audio jacks; I already have those on the front of my case. Being able to run the optical out the back of my case is a big plus. Inside the case is a much better spot for what I use it for.
 
thorilan said:
humn pump.
magnet
hardrive
close
risk?

Not really. The motor that moves the write heads uses a big magnet too. If the pump was going to be a problem, I'd be more concerned about the magnets inside the drive then one outside it.

EDIT:

Did some testing tonight, pulled out the low RPM fan You see in the pics, and attached the big sunon fan + shroud to the back. Tested Idle and load temps.

Idle, sunon : CPU 41.5C Coolant 30C
Load, sunon: CPU 44C Coolant 32C

Then I tried again with the system as you see it

Idle, silent mode:CPU 46C Coolant: 37C
Load, silent mode: CPU49C Coolant : 37C

Load was temp was measured with 1 hour on prime 95, large FFT. Idle was measured after an hour with normal startup apps, + firefox and mIRC.
 
Last edited:
Thats a nice setup when your looking at sound reduction. I have the feeling you dont care about temps too much, those are stable and it is quieter. I like that case, its small... but I like it.
 
Wicked_Klown said:
Ok first nice lloking set up, however why the need for a t-line when you have a res???

The only reason you wonder is because you've never tried to fill the damn thing :D Not only is it very difficult to slide the res far enough out to fill it, I was never able to get enough air out of the sytem with just the res.
 
they might look nice to people who arent going for extreme preformance.

another point that i dont think has been mentioned is the fact that now your rad is getting warm (hot?) air from your case going through it. it probably would have been beneficial to try and get it in the front. you could try putting the fan on backwards and suck air in through the back and see if that improves temps (you would also have to reverse the fan in the front of the case to exhaust).

i (we) dont intend to tear apart your configuration, its just we spend so much time trying to squeeze everything out of our setups, that its sometimes dissapointing if other people don't (and dont intend to). It seems like you're happy with the performance, so if you dont want to keep tweaking, enjoy it
 
Nice parts and good looking rig. Looks a little tight in there, but well done.

I think some people are missing the point of his res:

and a dual floppy bay reservoir for looks.

Jeez, quit bashing him on the head for it. Probably won't hurt his OC really. :D
 
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