Finally jumping into the water

[Compuzen]

Sup guys, I've been thinking about going with water for a little while, and found what I hope was a decent deal to pull me in. Right now I have the Zaleman 9500 on my cpu (Opteron 146~2.8 Prime), and two Evga 7800GTXs. The funny part is I have a 1000cfm blower as the front fan. My GTX's ran at 80C at load and I had to do something. Now they don't budge over 60c during artifact scan, but the blower is a little louder than I like.

I found on Ebay a Thermaltake system someone was selling. It has one CPU block (CL-W0010), two GPU blocks (Aquarius II), a single 120mm Fan/Radiator, one 5 1/4" bay reservoir, a 12v pump, a 210 flow indicator, a t-shaped connector for the temp probe, and the connectors for the tubing. I'll include pics below. From reading I see Thermaltakes not too high on the list, please tell me I didn't waste my money,lol. I got the set for around $50 plus shipping. Seemed like a good deal, but I have some concerns. Mainly, I wan't my video cards to run at a decent temp without having a wind tunnel in my room. I have my Opteron 146 OC'd at 2.8 prime stable and 2.9 system stable, but would like 3.0 prime stable. Currently at 2.8 it runs around 38c idle and 45 - 50c with prime95. It gets hot in my room, so that doesn't help.

I'm not sure the pump is adequate for the 3 blocks. If not, what would you suggest that doesn't cost an arm/leg.
Is this a decent system to use?
I have a pic below of one of the GPU block. It has some scratches on the copper surface. Should I wetsand it to smooth it out, or take it to a local machine shop and have them lap it? Or does it look ok for use?
Last, the connectors for tubing are 1/4". Will that Suffice for what I need. If not, is it possable to get bigger connectors for these blocks? I see on Frozencpu.com that they are avalible with 1/4" - 1/2" connectors, but didn't see where I could buy just the connectors.

I think thats all the questions I have right now. I've done a decent bit of reading on water lately, but any suggestions are welcome. Thank you guys.
Pics are as follows.









Heres my current setup,lol





Thanks guys for any help.

 

[Arca_ex]

One TT 120mm Rad is definatley not going to cool a CPU and two vid cards, and also, that CPU waterblock, from what almost everyone is saying, the top cracks after about a month of use, so watch out for that.

Sorry to say, but the watercooling stuff from TT is not the greatest, I think that you would be getting better temperatures with your current setup than with the ThermalTake watercooling stuff.

 

[Compuzen]

Yeah, that was one other thing. I'm thinking about going to the local car parts store and getting a heater coil and adding a couple 120s to it. I read about one model in particular, but can't remember what year/model car it was. I'll have to look again.

 

[Arca_ex]

Probably a '77 bonneville, those are really common. But with that current pump (what is it? 90 L/h?) it wont be able to handle a heatercore like that, try taking a look at the DDC/DDC+, I think they use 3/8" barbs. Better yet, look at selling that system if you can fast, because a good custom setup would cost around $150-$200, and the cooling power is well worth it. I spent over $400 on mine and with the free stuff I got for it it is worth over $700, I definately tried not to cut corners on my cooling.

 

[SolidxSnake]

Yeah, that was one other thing. I'm thinking about going to the local car parts store and getting a heater coil and adding a couple 120s to it. I read about one model in particular, but can't remember what year/model car it was. I'll have to look again.

'77 Pontiac Bonneville Heatercore w/o AC. Fedco 2-302, perfect for these. There's a sticky on how to mod them for computer use. You don't even need to solder in barbs (mine is just clamped over the stock pipes).

 

[Arca_ex]

Thanks for filling those gaps in SS, I don't know any specifics on heatercores, I run dual BIXII's lol.

 

[citronym]

I thought the 2-302 was the model with a/c. Ah well, it's late I'm probably mistaken.

 

[Compuzen]

So you don't think the blocks are worth using at all? If I did sell this setup, who much do you think I could get from it? I also have one of the new Accelero X1 GPU coolers unopend I can sell to. Once I got it, I knew it wouldn't fit in between my GPU and soundcard.

 

[whines]

If you have the blocks anyways, I'd give them a try. I'm running a modern, high-heat system (dual multicore Opterons) with 'crappy old' waterblocks (Maze4) with reasonable results. (48c under load)

Swapping in a heatercore might improve things...some people have suggested that the TT radiator is very restrictive. A heatercore would be a lot better in that case, although you'd need to put 1/4" barbs on it. (it looks like that's the size of hose you're using)

 

[SolidxSnake]

I thought the 2-302 was the model with a/c. Ah well, it's late I'm probably mistaken.

Maybe it is. I actually was never sure on that. If so, i guess I gotta change my sig

 

[QuietIce]

I thought the 2-302 was the model with a/c. Ah well, it's late I'm probably mistaken.

I've recently been doing research for my own WC and you're right, it's the one with A/C - core size 10-1/2 x 5-5/8". The one w/out A/C is slightly wider and shorter, not as good for 120mm fans. And if I remember right a shroud is recommended. Here's a site I stumbled onto if your local parts store has trouble with them (free shipping!):

http://www.completeradiators.com/

Their Bonneville cores are OK for pricing - others can be more expensive than local ...

 

[da_pipe]

I've never read anything good about Thermaltake's stuff. However if you don't mind playing with it you could give it a try. You mind find part of it works ok and then you you could just upgrade the stuff that doesn't. Kind of like a starter set to give a feel for it then you move on to the good stuff.
If you do plan to try that setup I would lap those blocks. If you don't want to spend the time for a mirror finish at least get the scratches out. That should give you a few degrees.

 

[hitokiri_808]

For 50 bucks I think you got a good deal. Only thing that really needs to be changed is the radiator. The heater core mentioned above would do pretty good if you can duct that blower through it. Also take a look at the new Black Ice GT radiators. Suppose to be low restrictive.

Bet if you lap those blocks you could drop a few degrees too.

 

[Compuzen]

Thanks for the comments guys. I think I'll probably lap these blocks and try them out and see how it goes. I'll replace the pump and rad, and see if I can get bigger connectors first though (will I see a big difference between the 1/4 and 1/2" hoses?).
If it works good, then great. If its so so, I'll probably upgrade as I go, but at least I'll allready have a good pump and rad to start. I'll let you know how it goes when I finally get it going.