Well, I just completed building my first watercooled rig. Since this forum was SO helpful to me in getting this put together, I thought I would take some pictures along the way and post an article about my experiences and maybe help the next person new to watercooling with their first build. I hope this will be useful to folks.
Thanks also to my friend for hosting the images for me!
The system uses a 2.6C Pentium 4 CPU, overclocked with hardly any work to 3.4 Ghz (I am working on taking it higher), and 1 GB of HyperX 3500 DDR RAM (purchased onsale from BestBuy) on an IC7-G motherboard.
I started out with the following components:
Danner Mag 3 pump (read about it
Slitedge here ) - $37 from Aquatic Tech
Slitedge waterblock (which I got for $30 on sale - read about it here ) - $30
An '87 chevette heatercore from Autozone - $16.99
1/2" Clearflex 60 tubing and worm drive hose clamps from mcmaster.com (read this thread for order info) - $14
1/2" teflon plumbers tape from mcmaster.com (part listing here ) - $1.59
1 1/2" Female IP (FIP) to hose barb adapter, 2 1/2" Male IP (MIP) to hose barb adapters, and 1 1/2" FIP cap from Orchard Supply Hardware. - ~ $10
1 1/2" "Y" connector, from a local hardware supply place - $.75 (this was very hard to find, because Lowes, Home Depot, and OSH only carried "T"s. I started out installing a T but eventually went to the "Y" instead for the fill/bleed line"
1 pkg Gladware entree size containers and associated mounting hardware from Home Depot, as listed in this thread - approx $6 (I got the Glad containers Target)
1 pkg weatherstripping tape (3/4" wide) Part info from home depot - $3.39
3 1 gallon distilled water containers from Safeway - $4
And 1 bottle of Hy-per lube coolant additive that I got from Kragen for about $7.
I also used a Papst 120mm model 4212 12V fan that I purchased from a local surplus store for about $7. The fan's specs are located here. It does 97 CFM at 45 dba (4.3W), but is much quieter at 7V. I started off with the Sunon KD1212PMB2-6A fan (spec's here ), which was 108 CFM at 42dba at 5.1W, but this fan seemed much noiser at 7V than the papst, even though it's specs should be better. The Papst is also quieter by my ear at 100% than the Sunon, so I don't know what the problem here is. I got that fan for about $7 at the same surplus place.
I also wanted a pump relay that was safe and reliable.
I chose to use the Elk products ELK-924 Dual relay module, which you can get from Worthington Distribution or HomeTech Systems for about $10. This module has 2 relays in it that can handle 10A at 120 VAC, which I liked to provide some future expansion options for a Pelt, etc...
I also spent about $10 on various parts for the relay module, like IEC connectors, fuse and holder, toggle switch, 120 VAC green lamp and a prototyping case.
More on the relay module later...
Prices above not including tax and shipping where applicable.
So first off, we started with the shroud, as per Wetwilly's excellent thread. Here's what it looks like before surgery:
Then using an x-acto knife, I cut out the middle part:
I then proceeded to try and cut the outer edge as in wetwilly's directions, but could never do this and still get a good seal. So I settled for a slightly thicker shroud than necessary, but it still worked fine.
Then I placed the cut container body on the fan (after checking for fan direction so it would suck air from the radiator through the shroud:
Thanks also to my friend for hosting the images for me!
The system uses a 2.6C Pentium 4 CPU, overclocked with hardly any work to 3.4 Ghz (I am working on taking it higher), and 1 GB of HyperX 3500 DDR RAM (purchased onsale from BestBuy) on an IC7-G motherboard.
I started out with the following components:
Danner Mag 3 pump (read about it
Slitedge here ) - $37 from Aquatic Tech
Slitedge waterblock (which I got for $30 on sale - read about it here ) - $30
An '87 chevette heatercore from Autozone - $16.99
1/2" Clearflex 60 tubing and worm drive hose clamps from mcmaster.com (read this thread for order info) - $14
1/2" teflon plumbers tape from mcmaster.com (part listing here ) - $1.59
1 1/2" Female IP (FIP) to hose barb adapter, 2 1/2" Male IP (MIP) to hose barb adapters, and 1 1/2" FIP cap from Orchard Supply Hardware. - ~ $10
1 1/2" "Y" connector, from a local hardware supply place - $.75 (this was very hard to find, because Lowes, Home Depot, and OSH only carried "T"s. I started out installing a T but eventually went to the "Y" instead for the fill/bleed line"
1 pkg Gladware entree size containers and associated mounting hardware from Home Depot, as listed in this thread - approx $6 (I got the Glad containers Target)
1 pkg weatherstripping tape (3/4" wide) Part info from home depot - $3.39
3 1 gallon distilled water containers from Safeway - $4
And 1 bottle of Hy-per lube coolant additive that I got from Kragen for about $7.
I also used a Papst 120mm model 4212 12V fan that I purchased from a local surplus store for about $7. The fan's specs are located here. It does 97 CFM at 45 dba (4.3W), but is much quieter at 7V. I started off with the Sunon KD1212PMB2-6A fan (spec's here ), which was 108 CFM at 42dba at 5.1W, but this fan seemed much noiser at 7V than the papst, even though it's specs should be better. The Papst is also quieter by my ear at 100% than the Sunon, so I don't know what the problem here is. I got that fan for about $7 at the same surplus place.
I also wanted a pump relay that was safe and reliable.
I chose to use the Elk products ELK-924 Dual relay module, which you can get from Worthington Distribution or HomeTech Systems for about $10. This module has 2 relays in it that can handle 10A at 120 VAC, which I liked to provide some future expansion options for a Pelt, etc...
I also spent about $10 on various parts for the relay module, like IEC connectors, fuse and holder, toggle switch, 120 VAC green lamp and a prototyping case.
More on the relay module later...
Prices above not including tax and shipping where applicable.
So first off, we started with the shroud, as per Wetwilly's excellent thread. Here's what it looks like before surgery:
Then using an x-acto knife, I cut out the middle part:
I then proceeded to try and cut the outer edge as in wetwilly's directions, but could never do this and still get a good seal. So I settled for a slightly thicker shroud than necessary, but it still worked fine.
Then I placed the cut container body on the fan (after checking for fan direction so it would suck air from the radiator through the shroud:
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