Chilling your loop

[JeeOweDee]

I was wondering if anyone has done, or has a way of chilling your coolant in your liquid cooling loop. I'm looking for ways to get my temps lower, but I'm not sure about TEC's because I'm scared of condensation, and also not sure how to power them the proper way.

Thanks in advance

[voigts]

Chilling your setup is throwing money out of the door given that you are using a Thermaltake Bigwater kit. That kit is your problem as Thermaltake kits are not quality and don't perform very well. Trying to chill a setup can get expensive and complicated very quickly. You would be far better off putting together a good quality WC setup for yourself.

[JeeOweDee]

The thing is though, without adding something extra to any WC setup...it will never go sub ambient..and my setup now does just as good a job as any other setup. So you're saying I'd have to redo a WC setup in order for a TEC to work properly?

[PearlJammzz]

Yes, TEC's take a lot of cooling due to the amount of heat they generate. Also need a FAT PSU from what I understand.

TEC's and phase cooling are the only ways I know of to get sub-ambient temps.

[JamesXP]

You could do a bong [evaporative cooling tower] that can get sub ambient/

[Sam__]

get a bong!!!! lol...they are cheap i fyou build them urself....im pretty sure iv seen a few tus for them...seem very simple.

[lloydy]

but how would you get it sub ambient? blow in air from a aircon at -20'c?

[gocartman2]

yea i bought the Tt kit and just upgraded it some, without getting anything top notch
im happy enough with it, could be worse

[eightballrj]

but how would you get it sub ambient? blow in air from a aircon at -20'c?

The energy removed by evaporation is sufficient to lower the temps a few degrees below ambient.

[JeeOweDee]

Where might I find out how to build one? And wouldn't that suck so much water constantly..

[JamesXP]

You have to make one, just search bong its not a full time situation just a fun thing to do.

[Tstanfill]

i think i'll check into this too

[Otter]

The thing is though, without adding something extra to any WC setup...it will never go sub ambient..and my setup now does just as good a job as any other setup.
If you're talking about a stock Bigwater SE kit, then no it doesn't. I know Thermaltake claims this kit is a high performance cooling solution, but that's only true relative to stock CPU coolers.

First, Thermaltake's pump is incredibly weak. For good performance, 2 liters per minute of actual flow is the bare minimum. At about this point, you'll start to get severe laminar flow problems in your blocks and rad, hence it's a good idea to design for at least 3-4 lpm to keep well away from the "death zone" below 2 lpm. Thermaltake claims only 1.5 lpm for their pump. That's 1.5 lpm without restriction, mind you. Your actual flow rate will be less.

The single 120mm rad is enough to beat a stock heatsink, but your coolant temp to ambient differential will be three times what someone with an equivalent triple will see. And that's not the best single rad on the market by a longshot. Once you factor in the higher thermal resistance of aluminum, a sub-optimal tube and fin configuration, and laminar flow problems due to a weak pump, your coolant to ambient temp differential is probably four or five times that of a high end setup making the same amount of noise.

Then there's the block. From the pics, it looks like the design is at least four years obsolete. A lot has happened in watercooling in the last four years. The Fuzion and Apogee GTX will beat the Storm by a few C, which will beat Cathar's earlier designs by a few C, which will beat the ancient maze designs of the bad old days by a few C.

Voigts is right. If you want more cooling than your Bigwater, try high end watercooling before you get into the complexities of phase change or thermoelectric cooling. Going from the Bigwater to a chiller is like going from a moped to a fighter jet without having first tried a car.

[darkcow]

I agree with Otter, that Big water is FAR away from "performing just as good". when people say that the bigwater is crap, its not because we don't like kits or are extemely biased. its true... the bigwater is crap.


now incase you didn't notice, right next to the water cooling section, there is an entire forum that goes over this exact topic of chilling your water.


bottem line, that water cooling set-up will never see ANYTHING drasticly low. i would also suggest a better water cooling set-up. then maybe consider a bong.

[JeeOweDee]

If you're talking about a stock Bigwater SE kit, then no it doesn't. I know Thermaltake claims this kit is a high performance cooling solution, but that's only true relative to stock CPU coolers.

First, Thermaltake's pump is incredibly weak. For good performance, 2 liters per minute of actual flow is the bare minimum. At about this point, you'll start to get severe laminar flow problems in your blocks and rad, hence it's a good idea to design for at least 3-4 lpm to keep well away from the "death zone" below 2 lpm. Thermaltake claims only 1.5 lpm for their pump. That's 1.5 lpm without restriction, mind you. Your actual flow rate will be less.

The single 120mm rad is enough to beat a stock heatsink, but your coolant temp to ambient differential will be three times what someone with an equivalent triple will see. And that's not the best single rad on the market by a longshot. Once you factor in the higher thermal resistance of aluminum, a sub-optimal tube and fin configuration, and laminar flow problems due to a weak pump, your coolant to ambient temp differential is probably four or five times that of a high end setup making the same amount of noise.

Then there's the block. From the pics, it looks like the design is at least four years obsolete. A lot has happened in watercooling in the last four years. The Fuzion and Apogee GTX will beat the Storm by a few C, which will beat Cathar's earlier designs by a few C, which will beat the ancient maze designs of the bad old days by a few C.

Voigts is right. If you want more cooling than your Bigwater, try high end watercooling before you get into the complexities of phase change or thermoelectric cooling. Going from the Bigwater to a chiller is like going from a moped to a fighter jet without having first tried a car.

What I meant when I said it does just a good a job as any other setup, was just in reference to temperatures. I haven't seen anybody with temps more than 3-4° less than mine, with them having a custom loop. Yes, I have no doubt making your own will be much more cost effective and also higher quality.

As I stated in another thread, if I were to start again, I would have made my own loop. But, when I did buy the TT, I was intimidated and thought it would be suicide for me to build my own when I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't really an OC forum norm at that time, so I really didn't know where to look to learn how to build my own.

That being said, I don't regret getting the TT, it was much better than any air cooler I had. If I had the money, I would make a custom loop, but as for now I'm spending my money on things that I feel is more important for my rig, rather than a few degrees cooler temp for my cpu.

[Big Mike]

To play devils advocate a little perhaps, what are your temps idle and orthos loaded?

[JeeOweDee]

32-34° idle depending on the time of day. load hasn't gone above 45° in quite a long time.

[JamesXP]

What are ye using to monitor temps?

[JeeOweDee]

Asus ProbeII mostly. Speedfan and BIOS every once in a while when I need to use either.

[SuperDave1685]

You could do a bong [evaporative cooling tower] that can get sub ambient/

To Clarify a little:

I was contemplating a bong solution not too long ago, but abandoned the idea because I didn't feel like having a pipe thats prone to being knocked over and has to be refilled every so often. that and I've already modded my case to fit a Black Ice Xtreme Radiator in the top, so my case efforts would be kinda null. If i remember correctly, you have to have a fairly high humidity in your room for condensation to start being a factor. And when you take into consideration that most indoor rooms are lucky to have 50% Humidity, you are looking at a relatively high due point for your room. Take for instance:

Your room is 22C. Humidity is a measly 35%. That means the dew point is 6C. that means you'd have to be cooling your CPU at or below 6C to even begin to worry about condensation.

Bongs can cool below sub-ambient, yes. But you have to have a high flow rate and a large fan to accomplish that effectively.

I've attached a Heat Index calculator that I used to come to those numbers. Hopefully, it'll help you in your decision :D

[inkfx]

Asus ProbeII mostly. Speedfan and BIOS every once in a while when I need to use either.
Could you give Core Temp a try?

http://www.thecoolest.zerobrains.com/CoreTemp/

Download .94 as .95 has some issues.

[JeeOweDee]

Could you give Core Temp a try?

http://www.thecoolest.zerobrains.com/CoreTemp/

Download .94 as .95 has some issues.

CoreTemp (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/Camtheman0430/coretemp.jpg)

[JeeOweDee]

To Clarify a little:

I was contemplating a bong solution not too long ago, but abandoned the idea because I didn't feel like having a pipe thats prone to being knocked over and has to be refilled every so often. that and I've already modded my case to fit a Black Ice Xtreme Radiator in the top, so my case efforts would be kinda null. If i remember correctly, you have to have a fairly high humidity in your room for condensation to start being a factor. And when you take into consideration that most indoor rooms are lucky to have 50% Humidity, you are looking at a relatively high due point for your room. Take for instance:

Your room is 22C. Humidity is a measly 35%. That means the dew point is 6C. that means you'd have to be cooling your CPU at or below 6C to even begin to worry about condensation.

Bongs can cool below sub-ambient, yes. But you have to have a high flow rate and a large fan to accomplish that effectively.

I've attached a Heat Index calculator that I used to come to those numbers. Hopefully, it'll help you in your decision :D

Thank you Dave. I'd like to find out the dew point in my room, although I don't have a clue on how to find out the humidity inside. Would you happen to know?

[SuperDave1685]

yea... there was a tool a while back... I'll see if I can't find it.

[Clockwork_Apple]

CoreTemp (http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/Camtheman0430/coretemp.jpg)
I'm assuming these are idle temps? Can we see the Orthos loaded temps?

[JeeOweDee]

I'm assuming these are idle temps? Can we see the Orthos loaded temps?

Sure, as soon as I go afk I'll put on Orthos. It always haults early when I'm atk and running it. And how long do you want me to run it before i stop it myself?

[darkcow]

6 hours or more if you want a stable reading... 5 mins is good enough for highest temp though.

[Wizzard005]

Here is a easy way of doing it, its not all that cheap, but it gets the job done.

I added my Coolit Freezone to my Loop

here are my temps

Load: http://photos.toy4runner.com/photos/172974667-L.jpg

Idle: http://photos.toy4runner.com/photos/172974688-L.jpg

I hope this helps....

[Sam__]

nice temps there...whats ambient?

[Wizzard005]

ambient 80 - 85 F

[QuietIce]

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=476845