Water temperature in a water cooling system

[markis]

Well,
currently, I'm trying to find piece to make my own water cooling system. But, while looking around, I noticed that the price for a *radiator* to cool the water is near 80-90$ here. So I decided to make one. But I need an important information. What temperature should the water be cooled to? I bet the answer of this question depend on alot of fact, but let say I'll use a good pump and a good 'watersink'. I will use this system to cool an amd thunderbird 1000 and a duron 750@900 (or more if I can).

Another question would be the material I should use to make my radiator, what kind of fan I would need...

And finally, I would like a few links of company you have bought stuff from and you had a good experience with.

Thanks,
Marc

[FrozenInHI]

Ideally you should be able to keep the water at about 5 degrees Celsius above room temperature, results vary depending on setup. You should try to find a nice aluminum radiator, like an automobile heater core. use a 120mm fan on the radiator if you can, best airflow with least noise. go to these sites:

www.overclockershideout.com
www.dangerden.com
www.overclock-watercool.com
www.liquidcool.org
www.extremeoverclockers.com

start with those and look at all their stuff, give you some ideas you might just be able to use.

[JML]

$80-$90, where are you getting these prices? Those are very high

[markis]

Och, last post didn't work, grin

Well, thanks to both of you, I'll try to reach that temperature and use thoses links to get nice idea for my system.

Secondly, JML, i live in a retired part of quebec, canada, so all hardware is pretty expensive... And that would probably be the cost of buying on internet (shipping and taxes + product)...

Any of you know what's the best waterblock to buy out there? I saw many, but didn't find giant comparaison chart like we can see for air heatsinks...

thx

marc

[JML]

Best waterblock- the aMazing block on dangerden.com is $30, the maze2 prob performs better but it's pricey (and considering the additional cost you'll have to pay, the cheaper one is prob a better bet)

[William]

The maze 2 is the way to go with an Athlon/Duron. It is a much better block than the regular Amazing block. If you have any other CPU the Amazing block will be great(especially for a cooler running Intel CPU).

[Yodums]

Originally posted by William
The maze 2 is the way to go with an Athlon/Duron. It is a much better block than the regular Amazing block. If you have any other CPU the Amazing block will be great(especially for a cooler running Intel CPU).

Agreed Dangerden Maze 2 is worth the cash and the performance is superb!

[Silver]

Try Autozone after normal hours. They let me behind the counter and I found one (ford I believe) for $15.00 new.

[mw521]

Originally posted by Silver
Try Autozone after normal hours. They let me behind the counter and I found one (ford I believe) for $15.00 new. Gotta love Auto Zone! Just get a heater core for a car if you are on a budget. Just give them general size you want. hey, they can help unless they hired some retired Wallymart greeters.

[mw521]

Originally posted by Silver
Try Autozone after normal hours. They let me behind the counter and I found one (ford I believe) for $15.00 new. Whoops, what do you call "after normal hours", 2 in the morning!:D Heater cores are inexpensive and make a not too bad radiator.

[Silver]

Yeh, it was rather early, late, depending on your point of view (2 or 3 A.M.). I was pretty sure though that they would help me at this hour as I was the only customer. It is however great fun to let them ask you for "year and model".

[Silver]

One more thing, with a bong setup my return line (as temp prope reports) is roughly 4c below ambient under load. At idle it is roughly 7c under ambient. Need to rethink the heat sink as a better heat transfer should raise the water temp more and decrease the cpu temp more. Evap should be the factor returning the water to constant temp state.