I'm planning on making waterblocks for my HDDs in my current mod. I hope to be able to enclose the whole setup in soundproofing material to make it quieter. I have six HDDs, including two Raptors, so they produce quite a bit of heat. I would cut the path for the water in the acrylic backs for the drives (thinner metal = less $$$). Should i spend the extra money on copper or would aluminium have sufficient heat transfer qualities? Also, what soundproofing materials work well? I won't have a lot of space left over after the waterblocks and everything, so the max. thickness is probably 1/2". (Please excuse the crappy MS Paint work... paint + laptop trackpad = hell) Would this work? or do I have the completely wrong approach?
Thats quesit similar to the watercool silentstar hdd cooler, except your cooling 6 drives - this is going to dump a fair bit of heat into your loop (not sure how much ure temps would go up by... you probs want to here from the more experienced there). Just a few points - if you use aluminium and the rest of your block are copper you will have to use some kind of corrosion inhibitor (my vote is for Zerex). Also, don't the raptors have uneven sides (to increase surface are for cooling)? If this is the case then cooling it via the sides may not be too go an option. Just my 2p
Use whatever's in the system - don't mix metals (due to the corrosion possibility). The temperature difference should be negligable. However I'd still suggest some space at the very least between the drives. You don't want to take chances with your data, and you have no idea how effective a self-made cooler will be until you've actually been using it for a while.
Using aluminum and copper in the same sytem isn't a problem so long as you use the proper anti-corrosion inhibitor. Also the aluminum has to be hard anodized.
