Water Coolilng Help

[GHOST_Viper]

Well, I'm at a complete loss here. I've been an air cooler for a long time now, and was going to switch out my Delta 48.5dB SHE with a 120mm, 30dB fan, combining a duct, 120-80mm adapter, and whatnot, but I'm concerned about the backpressure buildup, and overall efficiency of something that could cost me $60, as it's actually a gift from my dad for Xmas.

So I'm looking into water cooling, because that's the only direction I was pointed in really.

I have a PC-60, I am currently using the lower hard disk cage, but I believe I do have room to move it to a 5 1/4 drive bay in order to make room for a radiator.

But I don't know where to start, what parts I need, whether I should buy a kit, or piece together the assembly, etc.

I know I need:

Pump
Waterblock
Radiator
Tubing

I found a website that offers a dual-80mm radiator setup, which would work great for the PC-60's intake fans, but it's $160, and I'm trying desperately to get an effective cooling solution for <$100.

Can anyone out there point me in the right direction, and also whether or not I'm missing parts that I'll need, like

Marine Goop
Conformal Coating <---WTH is that anyways and how is it applied?

I apologize if these questions seem basic, but...I don't know where I'm supposed to start here, and what will cool well.

XP 1800 that o/c's as far as I can tell to a maximum of 1763MHz at 2.2V
EpoX 8K5A3+
PNY GeForce4 Ti-4400 @ 295/595

The only real thing I want to cool is the processor right now, as that's the Delta culprit that's driving me insane after 8 months of use.

-Jason

Thank you in advance for any help you guys can give. It is appreciated greatly.

 

[nikhsub1]

In your case (lian-li 60) I believe you would have to do some modding to fit a small heatercore in there. If that is an option for you, you can go to an autoparts store and get a chevette heater core for like $20, then put 1/2" barbs in it. If you want something to fit without modding, I'm afraid you will need a Black Ice rad, I think the Extreme is the best one? Clearflex 60 is the best stuff for a budget (tubing) and I think you can get it for like $1 a foot, 10 feet would be plenty. You can get cheap pumps that are good, Via Aqua 1300 can be had for around $20, same with a Maxi Jet 1200. I think Eheims are the best, you'd be good with a 1048 but they cost around $55. Blocks are very subjective, all the popular blocks, Maze 3, TC-4, Swiftech etc. all perform within 1 - 2C of each other, there are some new blocks out that really outperform everything out there but they are hard to get (Australia & England) and are expensive. You don't need goop or coating, you will not have condensation. Here are some places to look:
www.dangerden.com
www.dtekcustoms.com
www.cooltechnica.com

 

[GHOST_Viper]

When they list the watt dissipation in terms of per hour, how do I determine if it will work with my system? I was looking at dangerden from your post, and the Black Ice Micro would best fit the intake fans on the PC-60, but again how do I know which size radiator I need?

-Jason

 

[nikhsub1]

When they list the watt dissipation in terms of per hour, how do I determine if it will work with my system? I was looking at dangerden from your post, and the Black Ice Micro would best fit the intake fans on the PC-60, but again how do I know which size radiator I need?

-Jason

The micro is too small to cool a CPU, you need the Extreme.

 

[GHOST_Viper]

Oh, I was thinking of using two of them in a row, one for each intake fan. Of course, I could also mount the radiator at the exhaust fan too...? I imagine I'd get better cooling having it just after an intake fan, to have ambient air cooling the water.

So much research, so little time.

 

[nikhsub1]

Oh, I was thinking of using two of them in a row, one for each intake fan. Of course, I could also mount the radiator at the exhaust fan too...? I imagine I'd get better cooling having it just after an intake fan, to have ambient air cooling the water.

So much research, so little time.

Yes you could run 2 of them in PARALLEL, that would work great. Look at this thread http://www.amdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150915 you will see a pic of 2 BIM's to be run in parallel.

 

[GHOST_Viper]

So with parallel, it looks like he's using a Y-splitter to send half of the water to each, rather than All water to Rad #1, then output all that into Rad #2, then back to CPU?

 

[nikhsub1]

So with parallel, it looks like he's using a Y-splitter to send half of the water to each, rather than All water to Rad #1, then output all that into Rad #2, then back to CPU?

Exactly! That is the best way to run 2 rads, parallel. Series would be in rad 1, out rad 1, in rad 2, out rad 2. The theory is that velocity gets decreased this way and the water stays in the rads LONGER which is better.

 

[GHOST_Viper]

Heh, more of the same yet different from me, still in need of advice from the pros

First I should say some screwball took my tape measure when my roommate was moving, so I can't even measure my case to see where I have 6" available and where I don't. That being said...

I have a PC-60 obviously. I have a Swiftech MCX462 right now, with a FFB0812SHE Delta on it (hey, 68.5CFM, 48.5dB(A) is only MILDLY annoying right)? It hadn't bothered me for a long time, but it's starting to wear on my nerves now pretty hard. So I'm looking into watercooling (wanted to for a while anyways) as a Christmas present my dad is (might be) willing to buy for me. But I don't want to make it really expensive if I can help it.

The PC-60 is mounted on it's standard little feet, I was thinking of replacing the feet-pads with wheels that hopefully would be about 1-1.5" deep. I've taken out the lower HD cage behind the intake fans, and I "think" I might be able to fit a Black Ice Pro Evo down there, either mounted to the underside of the bottom (with the wheels on and sitting on a desk) or halfway mounted into the case. The Evo Pro is only .98" deep. My concern is whether that would be enough clearance for the 120mm fan to do it's job of pulling enough air through the Rad to cool the water down?

I am trying to stay away from the BIM rads in parallel idea, as it's a very expensive way to go, and I'd rather try to save the money and go with a Maze3 WB instead of the default BECooling.com waterblock.

I figure I could place the pump (VIA Aqua 1300) underneath my PCI slots near the back of the case, since the only PCI card I even have is a Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum. The other question I have, is whether it's necessary to order the pump with reservoir, or if I could just drop $10 and make my own reservoir out of plexiglass and marine goop?

I'm getting more information as I go along looking around the net, but there is still a vast difference between what I'm used to (noisy a** aircooling) and nice, quiet water.

In my own defense, I had my XP1800 up to 1736MHz at 2.1V 42C idle At least I think that's an acheivement.

So, anyone else have experience with the original PC-60 and water cooling techniques that could drop a few opinions here for me? Would I be better off trying to use the Pro Evo Radiator through the bottom of the case, or the BIM rad's in parallel through the front intakes (currently housing two Quad-LED 32.5CFM fans)?