Project Watercooling - Help Educate Tim :)

[Tim]

Okay guys I'm finally going to bite the bullet and convert my gaming system into a full out decked watercooling system. I've done a lot of research on what is needed so I think I'm a bit prepared, however, I have to admit that I'm really, really nervous about messing this up.

I'm making this thread to help organized all the things I need to buy as well as have tips and tricks for what exactly needs to be done. I will be editing this post constantly to list specific URLs for what to order, and will be just posting in the thread to ask questions.

The goal of this is to produce a system that is extremely water cooled, capable of very high end overclocking of both the CPU/mobo as well as the GTX 480 graphic cards.

If you have ever watercooled a system, PLEASE CHIME IN and feel free to slap me with a cluebook!

Okay so here we go, onto the shopping list:

Current System:
Gigabyte UD5P Intel 1366 Mobo
Intel 980X EE
12G Corsair Dominator 1600mhz DDR3 (6x2GB)
DVD Drive
2x WD Raptor 10,000 RPM 320G HD
1x Seagate 1.5TB 7200 RPM HD
1x Patriot Torque 128G SSD
2x EVGA Nvidia GTX 480 1536MB GFX
1100 Watt ABS Tagan ITZ 1100 (SLI480 Nvidia Approved) Power Supply
Antec 900 Two Case

Watercooling Hardware To Buy:
Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D (newegg link) $279.99
RAM Cooler: 2x Corsair CMXAF1 Dominator RAM Cooler (newegg link) (2) $23.99 each




Edit History:
06/21/10 Initial Post

[Tim]

Some things needed:

What waterblock should I use to cool the EVGA Nvidia GTX 480 GPU?

What waterblock should I use to cool the Intel 980X EE CPU?

Does the motherboard need any waterblocks to cool anything specific on it (bridges)?

Is the fan cooler for the RAM I listed good, or do I need a water cooling for the RAM? Note: I have Corsair Dominator, which allows the fins to be swapped out for watercooling on the RAM.

What about the actual water cooling system, hoses, fittings, etc? Please chime in here!


Those are the questions for now

[fogy]

Build your own oil-cooled computerquarium

Or go pro

[Tim]

While it looks cool, the mineral cooling systems are not effective at all by comparison to water cooling. Which is why we are doing watercooling.

So back on topic, anybody have ideas on those things I linked? Basically I'm looking to find the specific parts that people think would work best. I'm narrowing them down as we speak and will be posting continued updates.

[windmite]

frozencpu.com
Great site for figuring out what blocks are compatible with your components. The customer reviews are meh or just missing but their water cooling selection is beyond any other site I've seen. Prices aren't always the lowest you can find but usually competitive, ultimately just a great place to look around and grab a model number to see who has the lowest price.

frozencpu.com GTX 480 water blocks

frozencpu.com Alternative Case
guru3d.com More in depth and critical review Just something to look at if you aren't totally committed to the 800D. Admittedly not as satisfying if you're looking to roll your own setup but the build quality is insane for the price.

(You probably know this but some things are worth hearing twice)
Run the water section with nothing else installed for at least 24 hours. Set something like construction paper down in the case so you know if even a drop spilled. (the cheap kind of paper where the colors go all runny if it ever gets wet)

Without a chiller of some kind the effectiveness will be limited by room temperature. I built my only water cooler quite some time ago but I was in an apartment in the south with cheap downstairs neighbors and a cheap roommate both of whom would rather sweat than pay a big electric bill.

[pwnboxnub]

Tim, just go with oil submersion with a submerged oil pump, and external radiator/ fan. Much better This looks like mine, however I dont have the external radiator yet, and I dont have my gamer submerged yet. Baby steps. If anything, its a conversation piece for sure.. I have had major IT ppl stop by my shop to see my oil pc, and just be amazed. Its very safe, really simple. And if done right, I believe will be lower temps than water cooling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sP45uBj4-k

you will definitely want to have a submerged pump, if you do this on your gamer or any other system, as you can use it to pump out the oil, if you ever need to modify the rig. getting up to your elbows in mineral oil, is not the greatest feeling.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php this has results of a system before and after an external radiator (keep in mind that this is a weak system compared to your powerhouse). They had 80 Celsius, before the radiator, then after the radiator, 45 Celsius.

Anyway, if you life in the US, and you have a farm supply store (near us we have rural king), they sell the mineral oil in gallons for like 12 bucks. If not, you can find them online.

[Tim]

Don't believe the hype. Oil cooling does not have the ability to move the amount of BTU's that a pressurized water cooling system does. It isn't even close. Not remotely. Not to mention the ability to move the air around specifically where you want it is not as controllable. Not to mention the hazard of having Class 3 fluids in your house, potentially costing a hundreds of thousands to millions (if you have a nice house) in damages that your insurance will not pay.

So back on topic...

[Tim]

Imagine if there is an accident and your house is burning. Which one is more likely to have your insurance carrier give a big FU to you:

1) Your computer with liquid cooling (water based) had a short and caught on fire

2) 4 gallons of flammable liquid was ignited by an extremely high voltage electrical system that was submerged directly inside the flammable fluid

[fogy]

...so then you put the oil rig in a 55 gal aquarium full of water.

You get your oil rig, your water cooling AND fish.

-as an aside, can you ignite oil under the surface without an oxidizer?

[Tim]

Originally Posted by fogy

as an aside, can you ignite oil under the surface without an oxidizer?

Are you asking if oil can burn if coming into contact with a heat source sufficient if the heat source is submerged inside the oil? You must have gone to school in the United States?