Why couldn't you do this?

[MrTurd Ferguson]

I want to first say that I'm racking my brain by reading as much I can here to find my answers without asking stupid questions. There is a ton of information here and a ton of experience to learn from, great reading.

I've seen the mini-frig idea shot full of holes but mostly because people were asking about putting their computer inside. I wonder why not use it for chilling your water...if only to drop a few degrees wouldn't that help a little bit?

If you had typical water cooling setup with a radiator and cooling fans on it, why could you add another radiator after the air cooled one and pipe it into another smaller one inside a mini-frig? Couldn't you use something like a transmission fluid cooler mounted inside a mini-frig to help chill the water that is already air-cooled? I know the mini-frig isn't designed for constant cooling or massive amounts of heat dissipation but that wouldn't be the case in this senario would it?

I'm asking because I'm getting ready to build a water cooled system and I've never so much as seen a water cooled rig firsthand...just pictures. I don't have any experience in water cooling and I don't really know what is involved. I read somewhere that someone said something about constant draining of the loop or monthly draining...why? I'm not looking for a super chilling situation by the mini-frig but since I planned to put one in my computer "room" then I figured why couldn't I mod it to help cool down my water after the air cooling option.

Thanks

[dark bishop]

its the same reason, to much heat. and the water is moving through to quickly to make a difference. doing that the fridge would be working constantly to chill the water in the second radiator below ambient.

[thideras]

The compressors are not made to run all the time...only a couple minutes here and there. If you ran it all the time, it would either overheat or die very early.

[CGR]

I dont know anyone who would drain the loop monthly. Yearly yea, but never monthly.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Ok, so what if you used a full sized frig? Would that do it then...I mean it can take room temp food and freeze it solid...so could you loop a second radiator into the freezer section of your full sized frig and go that route?

What if you used anti-freeze in your water cooling system and you had one of those small freezers and routed it into that? Would that work? I've read somewhere about using a window A/C unit in a cooler to chill water but that is too much for me...seemed like a lot of work. Plus I don't remember what all was involved as far as it running year'round. I know I'd be running a fridge year'round and a freezer as well.

Let's just say for conversation sake that this would work. How would you deal with the condensation that would probably happen? I say probably because the freezer section would be pretty cold...but someone said the water is moving too fast...so would that equal it out and not have condensation?

I want to try water cooling but don't know where the best place to start buying parts from is. I was told not to buy a kit that I'd be better off buying different pieces and putting my own "kit" together. I plan to do LGA775 and don't know what processor yet I'm going to go with. Don't know whether it'll be E8400, E8500 or E8600...I originally wanted Q6600 but I know I want to hit 4.0ghz and I want it to be stable. I don't have a motherboard selected yet either...still researching that one too. And don't even ask about a video card yet...I'm focusing on just my water cooling right now...cause I know nothing much about it.

[thideras]

Ok, so what if you used a full sized frig? Would that do it then...I mean it can take room temp food and freeze it solid...so could you loop a second radiator into the freezer section of your full sized frig and go that route?Again, they are not meant to run all the time, that is how they are designed.

While they can freeze food, the food is NOT constantly producing heat like a computer is. THAT is the issue.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

So you're saying that you couldn't put a transmission cooler, the long two pass deal inside a deep freezer and route the lines to it and it work?

Just how hot is the water going to be after it's air cooled? It can't be much hotter than a human can it? I see these temps posted in C degrees but I'm not a math wizard so I would have to sit and convert them to F degrees. But I'm pretty certain that the water isn't that hot, or is it? I'm not saying that I don't believe you but that just seems to open, has it ever been tried before and is there somewhere to read about it?

Aside from that, would you get better results with the air cooled radiator inside the case or outside? Wouldn't the heat being removed from the radiator inside the case increase the case temps? Doesn't that defeat some of the purpose of this extra cooling you're trying to get by using these water systems?

[OldSkool]

Oh wow, one thought comes to my mind........Where are you keeping this thing? You are talking about a full size fridge and what seems to me to be a very large and heavy setup. If you get can even reason something like this out, it's still not practical and I'm sure you'd see a very large car payment electric bill. I'd say you could do something like it possibly, but in the end, the costs outweigh any possible justification.

[Ben333]

A mini fridge can maybe take care of 600 to 800 BTU/hr. An old AMD Thunderbird puts off about 340 BTU/hr and one of todays CPUs probobly puts off 2 - 4 times that. If you want a cheap chilled loop then use an air conditioner - 5000 BTU/hr for $100, just take it apart and put the evap in an insulated drink cooler. The fridge won't keep up with the load of a modern CPU and the compressor will constantly run and get hotter and hotter till it dies.

EDIT: putting a radiator before it hits the one inside the fridge is worse. The radiator out in open air will just suck more heat into the system and kill it even faster. For example, leaving your fridge open all day isn't a smart thing to do. While it may briefly cool your kitchen it will soon kill itself trying.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

My computer room is separated by a wall and on the other side of that wall is the kitchen. Two holes drilled through a wall would get me into the fridge (freezer section of the fridge) almost directly behind it. Or I could move my computer around a little and be on the wall going into my garage where the deep (chest) freezer is...again two holes away. I haven't even built this computer yet...I'm just gathering ideas.

Putting a radiator before the "freezer" radiator is just as practical as any other water cooling system used now. Doesn't every system out there right now have a radiator on it? And doesn't those same radiators use 120mm fans or larger to cool them off? That is exactly what I was talking about, not leaving them hanging in free air with no fans, is that what you thought I was talking about?

I'm talking about water (or cooling solution) leaving a reservoir going to the pump where it is then pushed into the CPU cooling block. It enters the block and picks up heat and then leaves out headed back to the radiator. It travels through the radiator and then instead of returning the reservoir it simply goes to the "cooler" located inside the freezer. Then after leaving there it returns to the reservoir and then starts the cycle all over again.

Isn't that basically how a water cooling system flows? I mean I don't know...I'm just guessing and trying to figure out how this whole idea works. I figured if you had a big enough radiator maybe using 2 or 3 fans that the water leaving out of it wouldn't be that hot...it surely isn't as hot as it was coming into the radiator to start with, right? So then it should be even easier to cool after the first radiator...going into another one mounted inside a freezer...forget a fridge. But this won't work...? Ok.

How about this A/C unit in a cooler then? What do you do with the A/C unit? I mean if you let it sit in your floor in your house where is all that hot air on the backside of that A/C unit going to go? I saw something like this awhile back but I can't remember where it was...Don't know if it was here or elsewhere...I can't find it though if it's here. The guy had pictures and details and all...it was interesting.

But that brings me to the most important question...condensation. How do you protect your motherboard and other parts from moisture?

[zbo]

it surely isn't as hot as it was coming into the radiator to start with, right? So then it should be even easier to cool after the first radiator...going into another one mounted inside a freezer...forget a fridge. But this won't work...? Ok.

The differnce in temp before and after the radiator is about 1C.

read this (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=373263)

[Rickpatbrown]

Putting a radiator before the "freezer" radiator is just as practical as any other water cooling system used now. Doesn't every system out there right now have a radiator on it? And doesn't those same radiators use 120mm fans or larger to cool them off? That is exactly what I was talking about, not leaving them hanging in free air with no fans, is that what you thought I was talking about?

You have to understand that water temperature is around 30 degress. Even though the CPU is hitting high temps (50+ degrees celcius), the water is only heating up a couple of degrees. If you got the freezer to cool the water below air temp, the CPU is not going to heat it up much. If the water coming out of the CPU is below air temp, than the radiator before the freezer is going to heat the water instead of cooling it.

Freezers are not designed to do what you are asking of them. It like asking "why can't I ride my dog like a horse"? You will squish your doggy. Sorry. Get a horse.

Look in the extreme cooling section for guys who are well versed with this stuff. Once you get a feel for the numbers, you will easily see that this is not possible.

[danbroke]

i thought i seen something about using a drinking fountian around here? sound better then a mini frig!

[Rickpatbrown]

i thought i seen something about using a drinking fountian around here? sound better then a mini frig!

That's because a drinking fountain is designed to do such a thing. It has to constantly cool warm water to cold temps.

Don't forget about condensation. This is a bigger reason to me not to mess with sub ambient cooling. Leaking tubing connections are enough to worry about.

[danbroke]

its about the same size and same noise level. Probaly take a lot to get it working tho. i just remember reading about it sounded like a real good idea! something i would like too try 10 years down the road! still in air cooling!

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Ok. So that was the post I read awhile back and I believe that link in there is the one I saw about using an A/C unit to make a chiller. I haven't read it yet so I'm thinking it is the one though. And basically from re-reading that thread I gather it will work but there is a little more to it than just putting a cooler inside the freezer and pumping water through it.

Let's say then I go the route of the A/C unit or even a water cooler then. My question has always been about condensation...around the cpu socket especially. Right now I don't have plans to cool a video card I just want to cool my processor, one step at a time I guess. How do you keep from toasting your motherboard from condensation when you are using chilled water?

The temp difference before and after the radiator when air cooling a water cooled system is only 1c? WTF? If that is the case then how do you get cooler temps than what you got with air cooling alone? What is the point of even using water cooling then? Sounds like a waste of time and money to me...makes me want to rethink the whole cooling thing and just stick with air cooling. I wanted to do water for the cool factor and I wanted better cooling than air...was hoping for easy OC'ing too. But my God...if you only see a 1c change from the water entering the radiator to what is exiting the radiator then what's the point?

[Rickpatbrown]

The temp difference before and after the radiator when air cooling a water cooled system is only 1c? WTF? If that is the case then how do you get cooler temps than what you got with air cooling alone? What is the point of even using water cooling then?

Look at it this way - Each mL of water is one degree cooler when it leaves than it was when it entered the radiator. Add all the mL that are flowing through the radiator over time. That ends up being a lot of heat. A lot of people don't really understand how water cooling works. It is really about moving the heat from the CPU to the radiator to the air via water. I didn't understand it until I started looking at the actual data from testing.

You can also think of it as air cooling. Imagine the water as metal and not moving. Essentially you have a poorly designed heatsink and fan. Think about how muh bigger a radiator is than a standard heatsink. You have three fans blowing over it instead of one or two. On top of that, imagine the metal flowing to the heatsink and moving the heat even more efficiently.

A radiator is dissipating heat at a certain rate. All it has to do is keep up, which it does very well. Typically, your CPU will run 15 - 20 degrees celcius cooler with good water than with air. This is what all the fuss is about.

The air goes up a couple of degrees as it passes through the radiator. 1cc of water can warm a lot more than 1cc of air. This is because of the specific heat of different substances. Water has a higher specific heat, meaning it can hold more energy than many liquids. Metal has an even higher specifc heat, but it doesn't flow like water. Some people ask if mercury would be better than water. It would if you could get a pump to pump it, a rich person to buy it and a crazy person to handle it.

[Conumdrum]

Burt, you don't get it. The water never gets really warm because the rad keeps it cool. So there is a small temp diff. The water going over the CPU etc is cooler than the copper block, so it pulls the heat away from the block.

What's the point with WC? It's cooler than an air system, quieter, and neater to do. What else do you need to know?

If you need to get into the real depth of thermodynamics, refridgerator abilities, sub-ambient cooling, why not buy a few college textbooks and read them all?

Or just trust what the experianced WC folks have learned and go with it.

And have you even considered getting a cold drink and reading the forums for a few hours?

Let me help you with a few links.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=155

http://www.ocforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=72

http://www.overclock.net/cooling/

Should answer most of your questions.

[CGR]

Ok. So that was the post I read awhile back and I believe that link in there is the one I saw about using an A/C unit to make a chiller. I haven't read it yet so I'm thinking it is the one though. And basically from re-reading that thread I gather it will work but there is a little more to it than just putting a cooler inside the freezer and pumping water through it.

Let's say then I go the route of the A/C unit or even a water cooler then. My question has always been about condensation...around the cpu socket especially. Right now I don't have plans to cool a video card I just want to cool my processor, one step at a time I guess. How do you keep from toasting your motherboard from condensation when you are using chilled water?

The temp difference before and after the radiator when air cooling a water cooled system is only 1c? WTF? If that is the case then how do you get cooler temps than what you got with air cooling alone? What is the point of even using water cooling then? Sounds like a waste of time and money to me...makes me want to rethink the whole cooling thing and just stick with air cooling. I wanted to do water for the cool factor and I wanted better cooling than air...was hoping for easy OC'ing too. But my God...if you only see a 1c change from the water entering the radiator to what is exiting the radiator then what's the point?

Water cooling used to be king. Over the last few years air cooling has almost matched water cooling.

WCing has become more of a coolness factor.

The temp difference before/after a rad depends on a couple of factors.

1. Size of the rad
2. Amount of air being put through the rad

You also need to realize that WCing is generally quieter than air cooling. That is one of the more important reasons people do it, other than temps/coolness factor.

The biggest advantage of WCing, is when you really want to do more extreme OCing. Water will dissipate heat a lot faster than air cooling. It also keeps ambient temps lower as a HS can get warm/hot depending on how much you OC, which puts that hotter air into the case.

You can put more voltage to your chip and keep low temps with water over air as it can dissipate heat better.

[Ben333]

The thing is I DO see your point but its just a bit off. A fridge runs a small amount every day to stay at a low tempeture. Its basicly a heat vacum and if you constantly chill room temp water with it nonstop or put it to the load of a computer's heat it won't be able to stop running. We aren't calling the idea stupid, its a great idea that many people have had but as seen in my post above about the BTU specs it just can't be done with today's CPUs. I've made an AC into a chiller before so feel free to ask me anything about it. I actually was also looking into cooling with a fridge but soon after checking I found that even if the fridge was able to run itself 24/7 the water really wouldn't be that cold. The nice thing about an AC chiller is if you must buy new its very cheap and if you don't mind used its VERY easy to find a used one free or cheap. Also you don't need to drill up your walls or your fridge ;)

[Big_Baller]

I did this for awhile. It was so much fun. I think I got lucky and had a mini fridge that was pretty powerful.

I submerged the freezer unit (ice tray )into my reservoir and pumped the chilled water into my computer (condensation proofing was tough)

The water in the morning was at -20c and by evening it was at about 20c. Needless to say this couldn't be run all of the time but it was a a fun project. I have a picture somewhere...

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Rickpatbrown - Ok...1ml of water makes more sense. The whole thing of just the water period changing only 1 degree would make WC totally stupid and just a waste of money since it's already been said that air cooling can just about match the results. That makes it make a lot more sense to me and that helps me to understand the whole picture a little better, thanks.


Conumdrum - Yeah...I didn't or don't get it, you're right. That is why I'm asking man...trying to figure out what I can't "get" on my own. I could probably follow the logic in college books as well as yourself or many others here but if I was going to do that, then I'd have skipped this forum and went straight to the college. It's hard to tell by reading a posting whether someone is trying to be logical with you or just a smartass, I understand that. You ask why don't I get a cold drink and do some reading? Dude...did you even read the first sentence in my first posting here? I said that was exactly what I was doing and I was trying to do so without asking dumb questions. I know you might not have meant it the way it sounds when you read it and I'm not trying to blast you back either. I'm new to this whole thing but I'm not dumb or stupid by any means...I do know what RTFM means.

So basically the bigger the radiator you can get, the better off you'll be? I assume up to the point to where you have enough head volume on your pump and enough air being moved across the radiator, right? I'm into aquariums also and I have a little knowledge about pumps and such as I do external canister filtering and I'm somewhat aware of head pressure and such.

Regardless of using a fridge or water cooler or whatever...A/C unit...I still see condensation being an issue once the water temps drop below room temp. I also assume that unless you use some method to chill the liquid then condensation will not exist because the fans won't chill the water below room temp. So that leads me to believe that chilling water is only good if you really want to lower temps drastically for OC'ing and/or benchmark scores? I also see that using any type of chiller will make the system less portable should the need to move it come up sometime. So I think I'd be better of sticking with plain old air cooled water to begin with. Because I'm not hunting benchmark numbers or scores...I have no idea what Folding is or SETI is either. I want water cooling for the "coolness" factor mostly myself...anything extra would be just that...an extra.

That system that guy is building in that link...that would be cool though to build and use. Maybe later that'll be an option for me or something. So now my question would be how do you know what parts to pick? Why can't you use a Koolance case successfully?

[CGR]

Yes, the bigger the radiator the better the results. However you do reach a point where bigger gives less gains.

For just cooling a quad, a single 120mm or dual 120mm rad would be fine. If you want to add video cooling, then at least a dual 120 or tri 120mm rad would be good.

Its really not worth it to chill the water. You could look into TEC cooling if you really want to get your chip cooler.

[noxqzs]

Freezers are not designed to do what you are asking of them. It like asking "why can't I ride my dog like a horse"? You will squish your doggy. Sorry. Get a horse.




This is proabably the best analogy, I have yet seen, used to describe the mini-fridge problem.

it made me lol too.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Made me think maybe that dude is my neighbor and seen some the stunts we pull around here...

[MARCI]

Forget a radiator, build a bong :P Evaporative cooling IS Sub ambient. And condensation only really becomes an issue if you have Humidity. An Air conditioned home rarely has that problem..


If the OP is willing to drill holes to chill outside, he doesn't even have to worry about the water vapor from the bong.. just has to remember to fill the res periodically. Really.. a bong seems to answer all this guys ideas.. Plus, there's the 'Coolness' factor.. and the fun DIY project .. 3 points for Evap

[Evilsizer]

sounds like what you want turd is the coolit cpu cooler... it runs roughly $250 retail but someone here picked one up on ebay for $100.

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=184

[CGR]

One of the reviews on that coolit thing had awful temps.

My $30 Xigmatek has almost as good temps.

[OldSkool]

sounds like what you want turd is the coolit cpu cooler... it runs roughly $250 retail but someone here picked one up on ebay for $100.

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=184

I think that was me ;), great unit for the cost. All in one unit CPU cooling and nets sub-ambient temps at idle.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

I was looking at the Swiftech kit that NewEgg has but they are out of stock. Since the chilling option doesn't seem to pan out and then condensation plays a role, I think I'll stick with just plain water cooling.

I'm trying to find an Antec P190 case right now but that is like trying to find hens teeth. Would that be a good choice of case for water cooling, seems to be plenty of room and dual power supplies. I think I want a dual fan radiator at the very least and I think that 3 would be better, for future upgrades of course. I don't really know where to find the parts at to build my own system.

[thideras]

Check out www.petrastechshop.com for the kits. Awesome guy to work with and my favorite to buy from :)

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Well...they don't have a lot of them but I like what I see. I'll probably snag one for CPU and GPU...might as well be prepared I guess?

[Conumdrum]

I can also vouch for Petras. He even sent me free seksui TIM tape when I was running low (one of the best ones but a booger to work with, very very thin). I called them once having forgot someting on an order, they pulled the box outta the UPS guys hand, opened it up, added the part and we did the change in payment later. Good folks.

Burt, glad you decided to stay on the ambient side, it's a lot easier.
Your case... Google it like this: 'Antec 190 watercool', or look here in the rig shots and on xtreme forums. You'll see what other have done.

So you plan to do a CPU/GPU and NB? Or dual GPU cards? It matters because my rig in my sig is plenty for my setup. It's easy to get the parts at a few diff recommended sellers instead of buying a kit.

You need to pick the CPU/GPU and Mobo first. Then we can see what cooling you need.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

I'm probably going to buy from Petra, I've been watching his videos on YouTube and he seems to be a pretty nice guy. Plus what you guys have said about him just about seals the deal for me.

I don't have a case yet...I want the P190 but can't find one. I was looking at the Antec 900 and 1200 but there is something about them that just doesn't click with me...the P190 just does it for me...don't know why.

I'm probably going to go with a E8600. That is unless someone can give me a good reason not to...I was thinking of a quad-core but I really don't have any use for one. I'm torn about my motherboard selection, I'm not an Asus fan although I've never owned one. I do like the onboard wi-fi...that is awesome if it works like it is suppose to because that would work really good for me and my situation.

Right now I have no plans of doing SLI on my video...I'm only planning ONE video card right now. But would be nice to have the option of doing dual video cards later down the road. Probably 4 gigs of RAM...how to see what motherboard I end up with and what type of RAM it takes.

Is it really that important to cool the Northbridge? If so then I guess I better get a block for that too while I'm at it. What about the Southbridge? So I need a CPU block, GPU block, Northbridge block and what else?

[Rickpatbrown]

It isn't that necessary to cool the NB. It helps though for some higher bus speeds. I just put an old AMD CPU fan on mine and it keeps it below 50 degrees.

The E8600 has a multiplier of 10, so you would need 450Mhz FSB to hit 4.5Ghz. That NB won't need water cooling, but if you are trying to avoid all fans, you might want to consider it.

I have been very happy with my Asus MB's in the past. Stick with intel chipsets, they are the best. This usually means that you want to stick with AMD for a video card if you think you might want to crossfire later. Although the Nvidia cards are good, the 4870 is better than GTX260. You can't Sli on intel chipsets.

Think about if you want to use DDR2 or DDR3 memory. DDR2 is hella cheap right now. This will narrow your MB selection field a bit. If you want crossfire, get an x48 chipset for the 2 16x PCIe lanes.

[Conumdrum]

Pump D5 vario or the DDC 3.2 with the XSPC aftermarket top

Rad (if doing the CPU/GPU/NB a 120x3) I like Thermochill, but a MCR 320 is good

CPU block, couple good choices, look in the forums for discussions and Google the CPU block and the word 'review'. Pay attention to the review dates, a block reviewed 2 years ago might be crap now.

CASE... make sure the rad will fit inside, you WILL have to cut holes, possibly relocate the hard drives. Or mount it off the back. PLEASE spend time looking at other rigs, even if it takes 3-4 hours.

GPU block, Again a few good choices

NB Block, depends on your Mobo

SB, good air cooling is all ya need

12 min clamps for the hose, get 15. You can buy expensive, pretty compression fittings, but they are huge and have trouble fitting on some blocks. I don't remommend zip ties for a first time WC'er. Petras sells these, I use em'
http://www.petrastechshop.com/ststwohoclwb.html

10 ft of good quality hose, 7/16 or 1/2 inch ID.

A res, a EK res or the small Swifttech one

Fans. With a Thermochill rad, Yate Loon mediums. With the MCR 320, Yate Loons high speed and a fan controller to slow them down when your not gaming.

IF you get the massive ATI 4870 x2 you might need a 120x3 sized rad for JUST the GPU, and a 120x2 for the CPU/NB. Than means two fully seperate loops, pumps, rad, res etc. We just don't know yet, but results should be in soon, WC blocks are going out right about now. My setup has a GTX280 and my temps are just fine, even at 82F in my house and gaming heavily.

Lasly 3 gallons of distilled water and a bottle of petras PT Nuke. The loop will only hold max 2 quarts, you will use the rest to clean and rinse all the parts before you set it up.

[Rickpatbrown]

I've also heard that the yate loons from petras are better than the ones you buy from other places. He gets them directly from yate I think.

[Mother Goose]

My computer room is separated by a wall and on the other side of that wall is the kitchen. Two holes drilled through a wall would get me into the fridge (freezer section of the fridge) almost directly behind it. Or I could move my computer around a little and be on the wall going into my garage where the deep (chest) freezer is...again two holes away. I haven't even built this computer yet...I'm just gathering ideas.

Putting a radiator before the "freezer" radiator is just as practical as any other water cooling system used now. Doesn't every system out there right now have a radiator on it? And doesn't those same radiators use 120mm fans or larger to cool them off? That is exactly what I was talking about, not leaving them hanging in free air with no fans, is that what you thought I was talking about?

I'm talking about water (or cooling solution) leaving a reservoir going to the pump where it is then pushed into the CPU cooling block. It enters the block and picks up heat and then leaves out headed back to the radiator. It travels through the radiator and then instead of returning the reservoir it simply goes to the "cooler" located inside the freezer. Then after leaving there it returns to the reservoir and then starts the cycle all over again.

Isn't that basically how a water cooling system flows? I mean I don't know...I'm just guessing and trying to figure out how this whole idea works. I figured if you had a big enough radiator maybe using 2 or 3 fans that the water leaving out of it wouldn't be that hot...it surely isn't as hot as it was coming into the radiator to start with, right? So then it should be even easier to cool after the first radiator...going into another one mounted inside a freezer...forget a fridge. But this won't work...? Ok.

How about this A/C unit in a cooler then? What do you do with the A/C unit? I mean if you let it sit in your floor in your house where is all that hot air on the backside of that A/C unit going to go? I saw something like this awhile back but I can't remember where it was...Don't know if it was here or elsewhere...I can't find it though if it's here. The guy had pictures and details and all...it was interesting.

But that brings me to the most important question...condensation. How do you protect your motherboard and other parts from moisture?

I hate to sound parent-ey, but is this your home or your parents home you were intending on drilling holes through, then running an AC 24/7? Of course, no offense to people who use high-electricity-demanding setups for their computers, but I often wonder whether they're the ones paying the electric bill or not.

Over the last few years air cooling has almost matched water cooling.


Reference for that? I'm curious.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Ha-ha...I'm 35 yrs old, married with two kids. I pay my own bills, have my own house and own my own business. But I see your concern about "kids" cutting up Mom & Dad's house. If there is something I want to do...no matter if I lived in a 25 dollar house or 2.5 million dollar house...I'd do it. I can sheetrock, roof - whatever...so a few holes in a wall doesn't bother me...I know how to fix them. I do have a brother and we had to quick repair a many a hole back in the day when we lived at our parents. Fights broke out regularly around there..ha-ha.

I don't mind two loops but the expense is what I'm interested in. If I were just adding this to a system I already had the cost wouldn't bother me. But this is a new build and I'm planning to order the whole shooting match in one sitting so I know the bill is gonna be high. Plus this is my first time trying WC and my first real Intel processor computer. My other stuff has always been AMD...

If I were to go to NewEgg and start looking at Asus mobo's then what chipset(s) should I start looking at?

[Conumdrum]

I*'d read reviews and look in the Intel CPU section of the forums I listed.

[Spawn-Inc]

never mind petras, though they are good, they won't ship to Canada so they go off my list.

check out JabTech (http://www.jab-tech.com/) before you make your final choices. i got my first loop from them after reading about water cooling for 6 months or so. hell i was telling people what to get before i had my first loop i read so much. anyway i got my loop and a barb broke and jabtech was nice enough to ship me a new set (only 1 broke) for free no questions asked ( i sent them a picture of the broken barb). they are a great company and most importantly ship to Canada!


as for chipsets i would go x48 or p45 for the e8xxx series from all that i have read. i like gigabyte and was planning on this board for my next rig but i will no doubt wait till the new Nahalem cpus. i really only need 1 pc at a time.

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Well this is proving to be fun. Nobody seems to stock complete kits except entry level kits which might be what I need, I don't know. I was hunting parts to build my own...everything seems to be out of stock. Freaking water cooling must be either really popular and people buy the stuff up so fast or it must not be as big as I thought and people just don't demand the stuff...geez.

Anyway I was thinking about getting 1 - Swiftech MCR-220 for cooling my CPU and 1 - MCR-120 for my GPU. I was thinking about running a pump for each and it's on reservoir for each radiator. I figured maybe I could tag my NB onto the 220 or maybe just a really good air-cooled heatsink for it and my SB. Is this good thinking so far or do I need to backup and regroup?

[Rickpatbrown]

The video card will put out more heat than the CPU.

Figure out what components you want first, than get the water cooling to match. Or you could always just get the most radiator that you can fit in your case and know that you'll be good for years to come.

A good way to start is look at some case galleries and see how people are mounting radiators in certain cases.

[RIG RIDER]

Some links for you.

CPU Block-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swapexpebl.html
GPU Block-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swapexpebl.html
NB Block-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcchco1.html
Radiators-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcqupo2x.html http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcqpo12bl.html
Fans-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/120mmfans.html
Pump-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmc12vdcpu.html
Tubing-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/dupvctu1idx3.html
Reservoir-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/swmcre1.html
Clamps-http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/brmihocl7int1.html

[QuietIce]

You have my WC component list from your other thread - I still stick by that ... :)

[Mother Goose]

Ha-ha...I'm 35 yrs old, married with two kids. I pay my own bills, have my own house and own my own business. But I see your concern about "kids" cutting up Mom & Dad's house. If there is something I want to do...no matter if I lived in a 25 dollar house or 2.5 million dollar house...I'd do it. I can sheetrock, roof - whatever...so a few holes in a wall doesn't bother me...I know how to fix them. I do have a brother and we had to quick repair a many a hole back in the day when we lived at our parents. Fights broke out regularly around there..ha-ha.


I asked because drilling through walls and running the AC 24/7 is something I'd probably have done as a young lad myself :p

[CGR]

Try here:

http://www.crazypc.com/products/9370.html

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Sidewindercomputers has a kit with 3x120 fans for 309. That kinda looks like what I'd like to go with. Wonder if that would fit in a P190? If not...no biggie cause I've been thinking about putting my rad outside my case anyway.

[CGR]

Sidewindercomputers has a kit with 3x120 fans for 309. That kinda looks like what I'd like to go with. Wonder if that would fit in a P190? If not...no biggie cause I've been thinking about putting my rad outside my case anyway.

If you plan to WC your cpu and two vid cards then a 3 fan rad would be beneficial, however if you are just cooling the cpu and maybe one vid card, then a dual fan rad would be fine.

[DaPoets]

Oh wow, one thought comes to my mind........Where are you keeping this thing? You are talking about a full size fridge and what seems to me to be a very large and heavy setup. If you get can even reason something like this out, it's still not practical and I'm sure you'd see a very large car payment electric bill. I'd say you could do something like it possibly, but in the end, the costs outweigh any possible justification.

I'd like to see him take that to a lan party lol

[MrTurd Ferguson]

Ha-ha...that's what a Uhaul and a generator is for...plus really long drop cords!