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Water cooling from another room.

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tscolin

New Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Hi, I'm new here.

I have a question about the feasibility of having my water cooling located outside of my PC case, and actually, in an entirely different room. My PC sits on the floor of my office which is directly above my basement. I would like to have my radiator, reservoir, and pump all located in my basement, preferable mounted on one of my wooden joists directly below my PC. I want to do this for the sake of awesome cooling, but also i want complete silence.

Is this feasible and even practical? Has anyone done anything similar to this? Do you have any advice how to best execute this? Any good advice for a water cooling newbie to not mess this up?

Thank you so much!
 
Yes this is completely possible. Component selection for this type of system becomes critical especially the pump/pumps.

First thing I would consider is condensation though. So do you have a large temperature differential between your office and basement?

If you are not familiar with water cooling I suggest you start by reading this thread.http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...Water-Cooling-Your-PC-***-READ-THIS-FIRST-***


Lastly can you post up the specs of your system so we can get an idea of what you are trying to cool.


Oh and Welcome to the forums.
 
First, welcome to OCF! :welcome: We have a few members who have had radiators hanging (sort of) out of the window, cooling loops buried in the yard, etc.. I'm sure someone will be by to share some useful info and experience with you. Have you gone through our water cooling section, located here http://www.overclockers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/71-Water-Cooling ? Lots of good stuff to read while killing time until one of our water gurus spots the thread. :D

edit: And Lochekey beat me to it. That's what I get for being so slow typing. LOL
 
On top of condensation, I would also worry about bleeding the loop.
 
just put everything in the basement with the pump wires and water tubes coming up through the floor. It would be pretty simple.

What is your budget?
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the welcome, i will update my profile tomorrow.

I am currently on a 3930k OC'ed to 4.2ghz using Noctua air cooling, with a 980ti as my VGA. This thing is a space heater, and can heat my decently sized office quickly while under load. This water cooling will be used for a new build which I'm planning on building around a skylake-x processor with a 1280 GTX when its released. I would like the CPU and VGA on the same loop. My priorities are as follows;

1. Safety. I want to minimize the possibility of leaks, and would like to know the safest tubing, fittings, heatsinks, and safest methods of cutting the tubing for exact fit, and if possible, what ft/lbs of torque is the best for those fittings.
2. Cooling. I would like the best cooling possible within a single loop setup.
3. Efficiency. I am not after looks and flash in the slightest. That being said, purified water is likely my choice for coolant. I have no interest in any dyes, as i fear additives will only hurt the conductivity of the water. I will be adding something (i don't know what) to stop the growth of biologics.
4. Noise. I very much want this build to be utterly silent. I would like the pump, radiator, and reservoir placed in my basement where i wont hear anything. As for the removal of ambient heat in the case, i plan on using Noctua's ultra silent fans with the low RPM PWM cords attached.
5. Looks. Not a priority at all. A side window would be nice simply to look inside to make sure leaks aren't occurring.

I really do believe this is very possible to achieve an overclocked high power build with very little heat, and almost no noise. I am new to water cooling however, I've never used it, not even a premade closed system like a corsair water cooler.

What tubing should i use? which is the safest? What waterblocks should i use? which are the safest? what fittings should i use? which are the safest?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide!

[edit]Lets say my budget is $500[/edit]
 
Yes this is completely possible. Component selection for this type of system becomes critical especially the pump/pumps.

First thing I would consider is condensation though. So do you have a large temperature differential between your office and basement?

If you are not familiar with water cooling I suggest you start by reading this thread.http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...Water-Cooling-Your-PC-***-READ-THIS-FIRST-***


Lastly can you post up the specs of your system so we can get an idea of what you are trying to cool.


Oh and Welcome to the forums.

That guide is just what i needed. It answered almost all of my questions!
 
This sounds like it will be a fun build. I meant to ask you if the basement is finished. is it climate controlled? Where do you live? All these things will factor into your part selection.
The pump and radiator will be in the basement and the reservoir will be the highest point in the system.

Radiator: You mentioned mounting your radiator between the joists but that will limit your radiator selection considerably. Is you computer on an outside wall? That would allow you to mount any size radiator you wish because you can anchor it to the basement wall.

Fans: They'll be in the basement so just get the most powerful fans you can find. If the radiator is mounted to the wall you can mount it near the floor and you'll never hear the fans in the computer room. Plus if you draw the air from the basement wall it will be cooler than in the ceiling.

Blocks: CPU, GPU, Memory, NB, SB, and VRMs. You can find MB block kits for most higher end boards. (Some may argue that all of this is not necessary; then they'll tell you that you need a fan blowing on these components to keep them cool. There's some sound logic for ya.)

Pump: Pick a good one to handle the block restrictions. My Swiftech MCX35 pumps 1 GPM thru all of my blocks and 120ish feet of tubing. The fact that the water is traveling down 50 or so feet doesn't factor into to equation in a closed loop system.

Tubing: I use 1/2" PEX tubing for my long runs and have had no problems with leaks for over 2 years. My on board runs are Monsoon 1/2" rigid with compression fittings (pictured above). No leaks with those either.

Hope this helps
John
 
Water cooling blocks for RAM are unnecessary, and the MB blocks aren't needed either for any half decent LGA 2011 mobo. Won't need a fan on them either. A couple quiet (Noctua comes to mind) case fans will handle airflow nicely. GPU and CPU blocks should handle the OP's needs. The OP hasn't said anything about competitive benching or a server farm.
 
Some may argue that all of this is not necessary; then they'll tell you that you need a fan blowing on these components to keep them cool.

Water cooling blocks for RAM are unnecessary, and the MB blocks aren't needed either for any half decent LGA 2011 mobo. Won't need a fan on them either. A couple quiet (Noctua comes to mind) case fans will handle airflow nicely. GPU and CPU blocks should handle the OP's needs. The OP hasn't said anything about competitive benching or a server farm.

Almost prophetic.
 
I've always used vynil tubing from home depot. Always just cut it with a razor blade. Always end up using hose claps with some zip ties. Snug. Never had a leak!

I'm performance > looks myself. Happy building, post pics!
 
Another consideration for this type of system is powering the pump and fan in the basement. Depending on how far from the computer this will be it may be better to install a dedicated 12v power supply in the basement to power this equipment. Then you would just have to run a signal wire down to a relay to turn everything on and off.
 
As well as the EKWB configurator suggesting $800 for the suggested "drown everything" approach, I think that is $300 over the OP's stated budget. While silent, and WAY cool, I just thought it was a bit much. I'm open to being wrong, but I have to ask, water cooled RAM?
 
Water cooled everything. No fans except for the PSU; but that is oversized so the fan rarely runs and even then it runs at about 1/4 speed max. I put a BeQuiet 140mm fan in it to make it as silent as possible. I'll have to check my invoices but I'm pretty sure I have less than $600 in the water cooling components; and that's with 2 GPU blocks.
 
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