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Finally, first water cooling build (with pics)

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the_cultie

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
Well after months and months of research and saving I finally was able to get the parts for my first water cooling build. It will be replacing my trusty Thermalright XP-120. Below is the parts list:

Swiftech MCP655 - variable speed
Swiftech MCRES-MICRO Reservoir
Swiftech MCR220
Swiftech APOGEE GT
Swiftech MCW60
Tygon 3603 1/2"
Enzotech Copper Ramsinks

What makes this build extra special for me is that it will be my first real mod since the MCW60 doesn't naturally fit on the 7800GS card so a custom mount will be needed.

I've only started but I thought I'd be nice and include a teaser pic of the radiator with the two Panaflo 120mm fans.

dscf1082vx2.jpg


More to follow along with the usual amount of questions :beer:
 
Thanks, can't wait to get it up and running.

And now a question. I bought a couple types of antifreeze today but looking at them closely now I realize that one of them, Prestone Precision Blend (Link), is a prediluted ready to use coolant and the other stuff, Bluecol'u' (Link) is a universal top-up but it says it has some de-ionised water mixed in already. Any recommendations on which one I should use or should I exchange both of them for pure concentrate anti-freeze and make my own mix?
 
nice, cant wait to build my own. The army is really good at a lot of things, but paying soldiers is not one of them. GL with everything, take your time!! as for the antifreeze, cant help ya there but gl with that too!
 
Good luck! :beer:

But why the anti-freeze? You aren't going below freezing right? Or are you going for a specific color with it? It doesn't help cool down your loop as far as I know, rather the opposite. Just use distilled water and keep everything sealed and tight and you should be good. If you want fancy colors or UV lights, you might need some algaecide I suppose.
 
Antifreeze is used as a corrosion inhibitor; it also acts as a pH buffer IIRC. You don't NEED antifreeze in an all copper or copper/brass/delrin loop, but it can't really hurt anything. If you're running in an alu/copper loop, you NEED it.

I run 5% Pentosin G12 (red) in my loop.

Also pick up some povidone iodine and some algaecide/other biocides
 
Antifreeze is generally frowned upon as an additive. Use something else, like Water Wetter (though, this has fallen out of favor in recent times due to superior alternatives) or, what I use, Zerex, which is relatively inexpensive and available from Danger Den and most other water cooling outfits. It's a very deep purple, so it turns the loop a light purple which may or may not be to your tastes, but it works extremely well.

Keep in mind that any additive you use is going to subtract from overall performance, so be sure to use only the recommended amount (i.e., sparingly... for antifreeze, I think the recommended amount is something like 10/90 or 5/95, with the larger number being water, of course).

Edit: Also, Antifreeze has extremely high viscosity, so any amount you use is going to stress your pump (lowering flow rate). Thus, you want to use very little (already mentioned) or something else (also mentioned above) that has lower viscosity (something close to water), that way you will maximize your flow rate and you won't be stressing your pump more than necessary, which can lead to failure - generally an event that is highly feared amongst us water coolers :bang head.
 
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Unfortunatly for me I learned about Zerex a day after ordering my parts from Performance-Pcs and I'm very limited to what additives I can get over here in Ireland. I'll have a look round to see if I can find some Zerex or Pentosin, if not I think I'll do 5% whatever anti-freeze I can get with some algaecide and povidone iodine.
 
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Antifreeze is generally frowned upon as an additive.

Edit: Also, Antifreeze has extremely high viscosity, so any amount you use is going to stress your pump (lowering flow rate). Thus, you want to use very little (already mentioned) or something else (also mentioned above) that has lower viscosity (something close to water), that way you will maximize your flow rate and you won't be stressing your pump more than necessary, which can lead to failure - generally an event that is highly feared amongst us water coolers :bang head.

From Laing's website: "Acceptable media: Domestic hot water, heating water, water/Glycol mixtures and other media on request"

Antifreeze isn't going to stress your pump one bit. As SolidxSnake mentioned, it is worth using 5-10% if for nothing else for some PH buffer.

Pentosin is very good to use as it has no silicates and doesn't cloud tubing. I have used blue VW antifreeze & Toyota dealer red (both Pentosin) with no issues whatsoever. I have tried Zerex and found it to cloud my tubing very quickly.

FYI- use povidone-iodine that is alcohol free just to make sure it doesn't cause any issues with any acrylic you may put into your loop. Acrylic and alcohol don't get along well.
 
From Laing's website: "Acceptable media: Domestic hot water, heating water, water/Glycol mixtures and other media on request"

Antifreeze isn't going to stress your pump one bit. As SolidxSnake mentioned, it is worth using 5-10% if for nothing else for some PH buffer.

Pentosin is very good to use as it has no silicates and doesn't cloud tubing. I have used blue VW antifreeze & Toyota dealer red (both Pentosin) with no issues whatsoever. I have tried Zerex and found it to cloud my tubing very quickly.

FYI- use povidone-iodine that is alcohol free just to make sure it doesn't cause any issues with any acrylic you may put into your loop. Acrylic and alcohol don't get along well.

Isn't all Povidone Iodine Alcohol-Free?

And I've NEVER heard anyone say that antifreeze is a bad additive to put in a loop...
 
Finally got some anti-freeze I'm happy with (it's not green :p). While I was out I went to a pet store to get some algaecide and she said that it didn't exist :eh?: Will have to go somewhere else.

Now for an update. Got all my holes drilled, the rad, the pump and the rad mounted and have started measuring out the tubing. Here's some more pics for your viewing pleasure. More coming as soon as I can.

Pump and rad mount.
dscf1104et5.jpg
 
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From Laing's website: "Acceptable media: Domestic hot water, heating water, water/Glycol mixtures and other media on request"

Antifreeze isn't going to stress your pump one bit. As SolidxSnake mentioned, it is worth using 5-10% if for nothing else for some PH buffer.

Pentosin is very good to use as it has no silicates and doesn't cloud tubing. I have used blue VW antifreeze & Toyota dealer red (both Pentosin) with no issues whatsoever. I have tried Zerex and found it to cloud my tubing very quickly.

FYI- use povidone-iodine that is alcohol free just to make sure it doesn't cause any issues with any acrylic you may put into your loop. Acrylic and alcohol don't get along well.

There have been many, many discussions on the use of Antifreeze on this forum - most of them occuring a while ago (a few years back). The consensus that was reached then (and is still mostly valid now) is that Antifreeze, although a suitable additive, is not the most optimal solution for our uses. There are better alternatives that should be used instead of antifreeze.

As far as the quote off of laing's website - don't mistaken "acceptable use" with "do not use." Just because it's acceptable media, doesn't mean that it's a good one. I'm not saying that you should never use it, I'm just trying to make a newcomer aware of the facts. Antifreeze should really only be used in the absence of anything else, not as a primary additive. Ask any of the guys that have been wc'ing for a couple of years (3-4+), they'll tell you that although fine, antifreeze should be one of the last to use.

And as far as the clouding issue is concerned, that's one of my only problems with Zerex as well. It won't hurt anything though and the color of the stuff is so strong that you won't notice clouding until you empty the loop and in most cases it's time to change tubing at that point anyway.

Edit: I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, so congrats on the move to water and great work you've done there! I like the mount :thup:! This is one I'll be watching :).
 
Edit: I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, so congrats on the move to water and great work you've done there! I like the mount :thup:! This is one I'll be watching :).

No problem and thanks. At the moment antifreeze is my only option, if I went to any computer related store and mentioned the words "water cooling" and "computer" in the same sentance it like "What?!". But at least we are learning :) I'll also get some close up of the legs that are holding the rad later.

are you going to drill the holes at the top of your case right below the barbs on the rad?
Yes, since that pic was taken I've drilled the holes for the tubing and lined the edges so that the hose can't get damaged against the metal. They match up exactly the way I want. More pics to come :D
 
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Time for an update. As I stated in my first post this project will also involve my first real mod, fitting the MCW60 to the 7800GS. It took some careful measuring, drilling, cutting and grinding to get a set of brackets that I was happy with and were able to hold the block but I got there. Now some pics :)

Brackets before paint:
dscf1142sy0.jpg


Brackets on MCW60, painted and sitting on the 7800GS:
dscf1157rp9.jpg


And a close up of the block:
dscf1144in2.jpg


Since I have that completed I was also able to get all the tubing cut and the loop is now ready for some water.

dscf1162jl4.jpg


And a close up of the tubing holes in the case:
dscf1129vl9.jpg



This is where the questions appear. Would the two heatsinks below be enough for cooling the HSI chip or would I want to attach my old celeron heatsink on there?
dscf1153py5.jpg


Also, how much algaecide should I add to the coolant? The algaecide I got says to add 50ml to 1000l of water for use in ponds, so I was thinking 20ml or 30ml for the loop. Also, could I add the iodine to the loop in a day or two? I want to get the loop leak testing but I won't be able to get the iodine until tomorrow.
 
The HSI on my old 7600 AGP got insanely hot, the stock heatsink was roughly four times the size of a single RAM sink, it was always burning hot.

you'll need something bigger than two RAM sinks.
 
Do you think Celeron heatsink would do the trick? (Managed to get a picture)
dscf1164rg7.jpg
 
The celeron heatsink should do fine, as long as you apply pressure via the mounting hole (another mod :) ), my old 6600GT's HSI chip had a heatsink about half the size of the celeron sink, and although it did get extremely hot, it worked fine.
 
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