My watercooling blog

[QuietIce]

I also took heatsink off 8800GT I bought.

I’ll have to cut columns of copper on memory. I wonder if there is a way around cutting the columns. Maybe I’ll just bend them away from tubing.

Bending them worked good for me:

If you decide to cut use wire cutters - a Dremel will just rip them up ...

 

[Clockwork_Apple]

What brand is that 8800GT?

My EVGA one had those crappy white pads that fall apart when you remove the stock cooler, but your one seems to have the better kind. Just handy for replacing stock cooler if you ever need to RMA.

 

[davidnjina]

What brand is that 8800GT?

My EVGA one had those crappy white pads that fall apart when you remove the stock cooler, but your one seems to have the better kind. Just handy for replacing stock cooler if you ever need to RMA.

Mine is PNY brand.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133205

 

[Mekks]

it also seems to be missing the extra mofset that my evga has.. i cant tell in the pics but there def aint a pad for it.

 

[davidnjina]

it also seems to be missing the extra mofset that my evga has.. i cant tell in the pics but there def aint a pad for it.

You know what. That's what I thought before, but what do I know about mofset so I thought they didn't need to be cooled.

I bought some after market heatsinks for them and I think I have enough to cover them all.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Mekks]

You know what. That's what I thought before, but what do I know about mofset so I thought they didn't need to be cooled.

I bought some after market heatsinks for them and I think I have enough to cover them all.

Thanks for pointing that out.

just make sure you sink the 2x clusters of 3, and the strip of 3 in a row. one of my sinks fell off and i was getting bsod right and left untill i put it back on.

 

[davidnjina]

Okay. Finally, I finished multiple leak tests and my first WC rig is up and running.

Here are pictures. I only have a few because I had such a hard time with leak tests I got frustrated and didn't take pictures.

Anyway, I took one after I finished.





Hard lessons I learned about fittings and plumbing in general...

1. Do not overtighten... In the beginning, I had leaks because I didn't tighten enough then I over tighten them and some o-rings got pushed out. I still like them really tight so I wrapped tread seal tape around o-rings keeping them in tact even when I over tighten them a little.

2. Do it right first time... Going back to fix my mistake took more time than it would have taken me to do it right first.

3. Use original parts... I wanted to use a 1/2 inch tube everywhere, but that means I need to use non-original parts for pump intake and outtake. I had such a hard time making pump leak proof that I ended up going back to originals. I don't care about the Frankenstein look above the pump.



I put four values so I can separate my rig from the radiator machine but these things gave me headache failing multiple leak tests. I ended up crazy glueing the values with barb to tread connectors.

 

[QuietIce]

You got ball valves! Good thinking!


For barbs I generally tighten them hand tight (barb just a hair more then touching the O-ring) then use a wrench to turn them an extra 1/4-1/2 turn (depending on the thickness of the rubber). For me that does the trick but it's more art than science ...