My first WC project. Pics and thoughts

Hey all,

Thanks to all the help from everyone here, I was able to finish my first WC rig today. I'm pretty satisfied. Here're are my specs:

Epox 8k5a2+
Athlon XP 1600+ @ 1909 (10.5x181, 1.98V)

dtek tc-4
swiftech MCW50 on my Radeon 8500
autozone chevette heater core
homemade shroud
Maxijet 1200


Idle (fan rheostat turned almost all the way down): 41C
Load: 45C

Temps are high, but so is my voltage. Can't complain I guess.
At this fan speed, it's almost silent. Cranking up the fan yield a 5C drop.

My goal was to install a setup that would look almost OEM. What do you think?

I wanted a pump relay, and an external plug for the pump. I also wanted a rheostat for my YSTech 120mm monster fan.



Radiator mounted under front cover, can't tell from the outside





Testing final hose fit



Done!



Thoughts:

I like the reservoir mounted outside the case. It makes draining the system really easy. Just tip the case back, and drain.

I already regret using 3/8" tubing, but I'm not going to change it now.

Don't believe anyone who tells you DIY is cheaper. Even with my homemade res, radiator, and shroud, I spent...lots. It's the little stuff that you get in a kit that adds up. Hose clamps, bolts, epoxy, fan, grill, fittings, and on and on.

Antec makes really quiet power supplies.

Maxijet pumps are quiet, but not silent. My computer now sounds exactly like my old fishtank

Home Depot = Hell. I think I went there 5 times, and walked out with nothing every time.

http://www.mcmaster.com/ has got to be the best online hardware store ever.

Finally, this forum is awesome. Any questions I had were answered right away, and I was able to find all the info I needed for this project in the archives.

If you have any questions, please ask!

Nicely done.

Clean and simple.....plus ya got to know what ya don't need at Home Depot.

perfection

Very nice!!

I hope mine turns out as well as yours.

How hard is it and what do you have to do to change the fittings to 1/2 inch. All of my gear has 3/8 inch barbs and if its not a pain I'm going to change them. Atleast all of the blocks.

I have a rad right now and will get a heater core when I move to 1/2 inch fittings if it isn't too hard.

I really like how you managed to align the hoses nice and square. Almost reminds me of how i did mine!

I must of went to home depot more than 10 times as well, but it did help to spur some new ideas as my project went on. I hated it when i had to go back to buy just a bolt though!

Anyways, great work...

Thanks guys. I didn't realize how much work it is setting something like this up. I have a newfound respect for all you hard core guys out there

OC Noob, I don't even want to consider changing to 1/2" now. I don't think it'd be that hard: change all the fittings, change all the hose, change all the clamps, change the rad. Just a real pain when you already have a system up and running.

Thats a very clean setup, one of the cleanest i've seen. What kind of tubing is that?

Thanks for the compliment. I got the tubing from McMaster. It's part #5229K37. Super flexible, and only $1.09/ft. Durometer 50, bend radius 1 1/4". Kinda of a Tygon imitation, but not clear.

very nice

what do you think of the YS-Tec fan? im thinking of getting one for my system.

It's really loud, but it really blows some air. It's not as loud as my TT case fan II, but it's close. The tone is lower, not as high pitched.

I put it on the rheostat to try and keep the noise down, but when you turn the speed down, it makes almost like a clicking noise. I'm going to play with it for a while and see how much aiflow through the rad affects temps. I may end up going with the 120mm L1A Panaflo.

Very impressive and clean. I like the tubing. How bend resistant is it? I might get some for myself.

I "only" had to go to home depot three times for my setup.

The tubing bends pretty easily, but resists kinking quite well. It'll bend to about a 2" radius with no noticable reduction in cross sectional area.

Nice . . . .

I might have to get myself some. I have thin-walled Tygon, and I'm not happy with it.

Nice clean look in there! I like the wire job too.

i like your setup, and it looks tight, i thing you will love the l1a fans, i have a few(8) of them in 5 systems, and they are not as loud as your current fan, dont move as much air either, but work great in my water cooling setups, but i have one question why the plastic hose clamps, i like the stainless steel ones, i think they hold tighter, and resist geting streached out of shaper and stay tighter longer. but you system still lookes nice and clean, good job on the wireing

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Well, I'm going to have to buy another fan, I guess

I kinda like the plastic clamps. They're double tooth, so they're pretty strong. I don't really like the worm drive clamps, and these are easy to clamp. If they don't hold up, I'll have to find some nice machine screw ss band clamps.

Nice setup, if ya wanna improve temps and speed, rather than going to 1/2" I'd suggest getting a 1700 jiuhb for around $50. Looks like you've got decent ram based on your FSB. I've got same m/b and one of these chips, it'll do 2200mhz fairly easily. Also I haven't had to unlock or do any moddig to bridges. In this board its unlocked from 12.5x down. If higher multi's are needed you'd only have to break one bridge. Also these boards offer more voltage options than most.

peace.
unloaded

not to shabby

UnLoadeD, thanks for the tip, where'd you get the chip?