#2 Rig is Finished! (pics)

-=Archie's Home Theatre / Folding Rig=-

#2 Rig is finished as of last night. This is a far cry from my previous project, in fact assembly and bleeding took less than an hour (helps with some experience under my belt )

Here's a breakdown of the system and costs:
-Eheim 1048 Pump ($25 used)
-Maze 4 CPU block ($45 w/ radiator below barely used)
-BIX Chrome 1x120 Rad (see above)
-2 Sanyo Denki's 39db/103cfm ($18 Thanks Vulcan!)
-CF60 1/2" ID 3/4" OD Tubing, courtesy Gungeek (~$5)(ygpm)
Total: $93 !!

Hardware:
-AMD Athlon-XP Mobile Barton 2600+
-Abit NF7 Mobo
-Kingston Hyper-X pc3200 2x512mb
-Thermaltake Silent Purepower 480w
-Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro (soon flashed to XT)- FS in classifieds!

Pics:

<will add more>

Synopsis:
This project is far simpler than my last, and I now that I have experience with totally different style WC setups, I'd like to briefly compare the two:

I still think 1/2" ID tubing is the way to go, but I could see some merit in 3/8" for smaller systems.

The radiators that are available commercially are generally superior. Between the radiator, custom mounts, correct brass fittings, custom fiberglass shroud, and 100000000 trips to Home Depot, I can say that
IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RAD/SHROUD, DO IT!
...not that I regret doing my Bonny '77 (AC core), but no matter how good you are I think the commercial rads just make for a cleaner install. I'm very pleased with my BIX Chrome even though it has much less core area.

T-line is much easier than resevoirs, and much cheaper!

40db is the most I'd want for any of my fans, even if I'm gaming loud with BF2 I can still hear the fans. Most run excellent and inaudibly at 5-7v, perfect for early morning.

Coolsleeves product is worth its weight in gold. Do yourself a favor and order a $4 batch next time you have a project. If you get the clear one like this it's not even noticeable at first glance and $1 cheaper than the colored. The trick to expanding what is normally 5/8" OD is to get a spare length of tubing and fill it end to end with water, etc, then wrapping the coolsleeves around it. 24 hours later, it will be 3/4" OD coolsleeves (and only a few inches shorter total length to boot )

I'll expand on this later..

RESULTS

So far I've gotten my barton to 219x12 @ 1.78V. I think that comes out to around 2640mhz. Not bad, little chip, almost caught up to my venice 3000+, and equalled my older 3200+ this is also prime stable so far for several hours. I'll post a screenie when I get a chance!

I NEED A GOOD AIW CARD FOR THIS PC!

reserved

Very nice and clean looking setup.

Sentential said:

Very nice and clean looking setup.

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Nice, time will tell. Clean? Lol I don't think so! I don't intend on going to town on hiding the wiring and stuff like I did the first rig as this box will sit in some corner of the living room. I still have yet to get my fan controller so none of the fans etc are hooked up beyond the two sanyo's in push/pull. Thank you kindly.

Nice job. How much did your setup cost you? I am debating on water after I get a little cash saved up.

hibner said:

Nice job. How much did your setup cost you? I am debating on water after I get a little cash saved up.

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Ahh.. now there's a good question, I'll have to add that to my original post. Definitely under $100. I was never able to get over 2450mhz on air with this proc, now I'm near 2650, and my load temps are under 40c! Even with the fans on dead silent I'm under 45*c, something you will never get spending $35 on a good HSF.

Very nice.

really not bad setup for $100

goodolarchie said:

Coolsleeves product is worth its weight in gold. Do yourself a favor and order a $4 batch next time you have a project. If you get the clear one like this it's not even noticeable at first glance and $1 cheaper than the colored.

Click to expand...

I don't see where you needed the Coolsleeves in this install. I recognize that sometimes they can really help if one has a bend to make that's smaller than the tubing's bend radius, but you don't appear to have any of these. And, the Clearflex should have a bend radius in the 1.75" range, so.... Where exactly did you find them so beneficial?

looks pretty good for a mid-tower.. Watercooling a mid-tower is a pain.

MVC said:

I don't see where you needed the Coolsleeves in this install. I recognize that sometimes they can really help if one has a bend to make that's smaller than the tubing's bend radius, but you don't appear to have any of these. And, the Clearflex should have a bend radius in the 1.75" range, so.... Where exactly did you find them so beneficial?

Click to expand...

Yeah I was wondering the same thing




Anyway , nice job !

Nice work. Especially for under $100.

MVC said:

I don't see where you needed the Coolsleeves in this install. I recognize that sometimes they can really help if one has a bend to make that's smaller than the tubing's bend radius, but you don't appear to have any of these. And, the Clearflex should have a bend radius in the 1.75" range, so.... Where exactly did you find them so beneficial?

Click to expand...

That's another good question. You're right about one thing, it doesn't appear that coolsleeves is/are beneficial in this install. There is one spot that was kinking big time though... in order to make the bend from maze4>t-line>back rad input, I had to pull off a huge bend. It was definitely kinking, and I had to make the CS pretty close in order to balance the forces. I wasn't just going to leave that one section sleeved since it was in the dead center of my case, so I loosely installed the sleeves on the rest of the tubing. I only used about 15" of the 40" that comes in a roll for $4, not a huge budget dent IMO.
Also, and I can get pictures to prove this, CF30 in 3/4" OD will make no less than a 5-6" bend diameter before it starts kinking. I'm sure thinner tubing does better, but I can actually pull off a 2.5" bend with the coolsleeves. Make no mistake there...

I told a few guys at work that I got my second rig on water (I work in retail), and they all said "so that's where your paychecks have been going," to some extent. "Not really," I said, "This one cost me less than $100, got me 15% higher overclock with 10% lower temps, and that's just the first day."
Them--->

lowfat said:

looks pretty good for a mid-tower.. Watercooling a mid-tower is a pain.

Click to expand...

Oh yes, I have to add that the only way I was going to get the rad/fans in there clean was to chop the 3.5" bay in half, which worked out great because I still get my HD and floppy drive in there. Believe it or not, this BIX was way easier with everything than my 11.5" bonny rad in my entry level server chieftec tower. Like a walk in the park! I think I might even keep some extra tools in between the rad and drive ways

good job, especially on how small the case is