• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Qubix's first WC project

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Qubix

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Location
Ashburn, VA
I've decided to bite the bullet and join the water cooling crowd. Both my friend and myself are jumping in to the scene together. Better cooling, higher overclocks and quieter operation are my goals with this build. As the title states this is my first water cooling attempt and my apprehension to having never done this before along with putting water next to my precious computer parts was my biggest fear.

I had tossed around the idea to break in to water cooling first by getting a kit, but nothing out there satisfied my desires. Nothing really appealed to my need for cooling the CPU / GPU with room for customization besides buying a full bore kit and I could piece one together for same price and get exactly what I wanted.

Have been doing a lot of research, article reading, thread browsing in many different forums and have come to the conclusion that building a customized DIY water cooling project is the best. I will be using my Thermaltake Armor case and so far the following parts are ordered:

Swiftech Apogee Waterblock
Swiftech MCW60-B VGA Water Block
Swiftech MC14 BGA RAMsinks
CoolRad-32T Triple 120mm Radiator
6x 120mm Panaflow 12L1A Fans
Via Aqua 1300 Pump
10' ClearFlex 60 1/2ID x 5/8OD Tubing
Danger Den Fillport Black
1/2 inch Tee Connector
12x Stainless Steel Hose Clamp

I plan on using a T setup for filling the system in a flow configuration I have seen from Thorlian in a thread. T > Pump > Radiator > VGA > CPU > T. Also plan on modifying the Via Aqua 1300 to make it quieter by locking the impeller and sealing the two halves with epoxy to prevent leaking. Purposely got a large radiator that is overkill for the system in hopes that it can give me quieter operation. Going to be populating the radiator with all 6 fans in a push / pull setup and vary the voltage to them to give me performance or quietness. Hoping that the fans in a push / pull setup will lower the pressure of the air passing through the radiator and thus keep the fan noise lower.

After I get the system setup and running, I will also attempt to strip my CPU naked in hopes I can crank it higher. Its doing 2800MHz @ stock voltage now but gets pretty warm. Any attempts to take it higher results in too much heat or lockups. Will also take my card further as well.

Well thats about it for now, any thoughts would be appreciated on the project.
 
I'm impressed with all your hardware other than the pump. Any particular reason you went with the Via (other than the price)? With sweet blocks and a huge rad I would have went with something that has a little more head.
 
Yeah, after buying everything else and seeing the bill add up and reading a couple reviews of the Via Aqua 1300 being a decent pump I decided to give it a shot. Was also looking at a MCP350 and modifying the inlet to increase flow. Might come to that if the Via Aqua 1300 doesn't impress me.
 
Looks like you are well on the right path. Nice job with the planning. :)

As for thoughts, the only thing missing is the pics. As it comes together, please indulge us?:beer:
 
Qubix said:
Yeah, after buying everything else and seeing the bill add up and reading a couple reviews of the Via Aqua 1300 being a decent pump I decided to give it a shot.

Do not discourage, this pump WILL WORK FINE with your setup. I love that pump because it is cheap and because it is fairly strong, they are just underrated is all.

You will notice that the pump will produce vibration and noise once you start using it, so I would advice you to do this mod to the pump before you throw it in your loop...
http://wc101.com/guides/ViaAqua/
The guide works extremely well and I was able to isolate the noise and vibration after doing that mod.
 
Thanks for the link. That is the mod I was talking about doing in my original post, just didn't include the link to it. My friend sent it to me the other day and after listening to the before and after of the pump noise I knew I would have to do it.
 
Sorry bro, this was where you lost me:
"sealing the two halves with epoxy to prevent leaking."
The way you worded it was making me think you were doing something else, my apologies.
 
All parts arrived today, will post a picture later when I get home. Already modified the Via Aqua 1300's impeller and I can see why they epoxy the endbell on to the case housing, it doesn't look very leak proof in its current state.
 
I removed the IHS off the top of my processor in anticipation of water cooling it. The Apogee has two plastic stand offs that the screws go through to give the springs something to work against instead of bending the mounting plate. My question is, since I removed the IHS off my CPU do I need to remove an equal amount off the plastic spacers to give the Apogee plenty of tension against the surface of the core?
 
Ok, got some pics for you to look at.

The Parts

Via Aqua Impeller Epoxied

CoolRad 32T Tight Fit in the 5-1/4" bays

Slight modification made to the ThermalTake Armor rear fan outlets

My Naked Opteron 146

Observations thus far:

The CoolRad 32T radiator's build quality didn't seem to be the greatest, although my observastion is based upon only seeing three computer radiators to date in person. The fins between the pipes were inconsistent in spacing and not even with the surface of the pipes either, kind of had a wave pattern to them where it was high and low. The included barbs were not snug with the hose as my friends BIX was (although I think his was too snug).

The Via Aqua 1300 is very quiet, however there is a noticeable vibration that resonates very loudly. Going to subdue this by putting a piece of low density foam rubber on the bottom of the pump to isolate it from the case.

Not sure if its the tubing I got but going from the Apogee to the MCW60 creates a kink in the line. Wish I had some Swiftech Coolsleeves 625 right now. Any ideas on how to route it without getting a kink would be appreciated. Also not entirely happy with the flow I created, maybe others could enlighten to me on another flow. I will post pictures of this when I get home it was very late last night when I did all this.

I have the system leak testing right now and I need more skill in properly bleeding a T line system, guess this is something a newb will learn.

Also I found an incredibly easy method for removing the IHS off the CPU and can be done very easily in about 5 minutes. Using a razor pictured above I work the razor in a corner until it is about 1/4" in. All I do is use pressure and a slight rocking motion, no cutting or anything. Then pitch the razor to the left never exceeding 1/4" depth, then to the right. This should break the seal for the corner you are on and half the distance to the other corner. Turn the CPU to the next corner and rinse and repeat. Perfectly removed IHS in less than 5 minutes.

Wife helped me out yesterday and she told me I'm not putting one of these things in her computer haha.
 
Qubix said:
...Any ideas on how to route it without getting a kink would be appreciated. Also not entirely happy with the flow I created, maybe others could enlighten to me on another flow.

Looking really nice. I like how rads squeeze into the front of TT Armors.

These are some pic examples of how one guy did it. Searching might net you more...
 
Back