Cooling Cooling system design help required

How does a well-setup rig with the Cuplex or whatever german blocks compare with a well-setup rig with the Cascade ?

 

sinizterguy - Before I watercooled my rig I spent literally months agonising over whether to build a 1/2" or a 3/8" system.

Like you I thought that systems built with the thinner 3/8" tubing looked far better than 1/2" systems. I also liked the look of 3/8" German gear such as Innovatek and AquaComputer.

However I did worry about the difference in performance between the two types of system.

In the end I went for a 3/8" system built from AquaComputer kit(thanks Pug!), and I'm strangely ashamed to admit that I initially chose that option because I thought it would look much better (IMHO ).

Now that I've got it set up and its been running for a few months, I can say that I'm sure I made the right decision.

The system looks great, and it manages to keep things nice and cool (my 2.4c is overclocked to 3 GHz and it also cools the GPU and ond HDD), so I've no worries about performance.

I won't quote any temps, because I'm just reading the values from the motherboard, and I know what some people think of that! Even with a very large margin of error (10 deg. C) I'd still say the temps were good.

I only wish I had another full sized rig, so that I could try out a 1/2" system as well!

Good luck with whatever you decide on.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing .....

Olly

 

Good to know.


I'm looking to take a processor to atleast 3.5 GHz and I am hoping for 3.6 GHz and beyond - if I go for a P4 rig. But that might not happen.

But I am thinking of a dual opteron - rather than buying anything now, save for a month, two months and get this. Also gives me time to learn linux - to utilise the 64bit computing. I will be dual booting with windows (for adobe photoshop and assorted other programs).

Still deciding which ones to go for, maybe even a dual xeon ... as Opterons dont clock much at all. But then Xeons dont clock much either, they can be taken from 400 Mhz FSB to 533 MHz but not more than that.

 

OK, a bit late in the day...

Sinizterguy, no worries. Even larger diameter tubing can look pretty good in a case. It's all a question of planning and (as you surmised) using good connection and "tidying" components.

Pi-Thon clamps (a discovery by Scopedog, gratefully adopted by myself) cost a bit, but if you have the room to fit them, they're so worth the money! As Pug showed, you can get nice nickel-plated push-fit fittings for larger diameter tubing. And in terms of keeping things elegant and tidy, what you need is plug wire separators", or "hose separators", as they're also called. Billet Specialties sell high quality polished aluminium ones, and they come in various sizes for most diameters of larger tubing (e.g. use 0.625" x 0.625" for 3mm wall thinkness, 3/8" ID tubing). Below some pics of my system to show you that larger diameter tubing can look clean!

(note the billet separator...)





And the whole loop (excuse the crappy pic, it gets dark early here in the UK in winter...):



And a flash photograph to show off the details better. Please note that the pump is not yet connected to the res, hence that tube looks a bit out of alignment.



Also note how much empty space is left in the case. You can cram dual CPU watercooling in a standard midi tower and have plenty of room left, if you plan things properly...

 

/..........and very clean it looks too Nexxo!

Hose has been precision cut so that it all runs parallel and true without so much as a hint of a kink.

Don't think I've seen that before..................sure I would have remembered if I had!

I know from first hand experience a lot of time and effort has gone into that build but for sure it shows what can be achieved with a bit of forward planning...............that is the sort of look i personally prefer!

Top quality stuff Nexxo

 

scuse the french but that looks ****ing awesome nexxo!

 

I agree with this post entirely

 

bsr-aerotek also do those tube clamps

 

3/8"? that's in my camp, no fair!


One (or two) thing(s) I don't like about larger bore & barbs -

• If it stresses your card so much that you need a card-keeper, I don't think you're going to find it so easy to maintain even clamping pressure on your blocks.
  - To add to this, in the same respect, poly topped blocks can be unduly stressed, leading to cracks and splits.
• Barbed fittings don't allow the hose to rotate once they're connected (like push-fits do) except in an anti-clockwise direction (as in your barb unscrewing itself, as I've experienced when using barbs! )
• I can't get hose off my barbs easily except with a knife, thus shortening the tubes (with push-fit, I just use the quick release mechanism).
• When you use thicker hose and clamps, you'll restrict the amount of blocks you can use due to the distance between hole centres (something many people don't realise until after they've bought parts from various independant sources and the tried to fit them).
• Another thing...
  
  oh, I said one or two, didn't I. Oops.

What were the pros of large tubing and the cons of small bore again? I forget...

Still a nice layout though Nexxo. There's no arguing with that fact.

 

Pug isn't 3/8" Outer Diameter your camp? Not 3/8" Inner Diameter as used by Nexxo...

Nexxo doesn't state his tube wall thickness (EDIT: just noticed he does its 3mm so the following is correct), but if we assume its 3mm that makes an overall diameter of just over 15.5mm...

Isn't push-fit 8mm*1mm making a overall diameter of 10mm?

Just for the added comparison 1/2" ID with a 3mm wall has an overall diameter of 18.7mm

 

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?postid=452994#post452994
10mm ~= 3/8"

 

Oh, alright then...

 

I will concede though, I much prefer pushfit to barbs so 10mm OD is more firmly in my camp but hey, Nexxo's does look pretty swish.

I prefer mine when it comes to draining and swapping components/blocks though...


[Edit] PS. I wasn't that serious about it but as you'll see from my pic of the Atlantis block, that's a 10mm barb (for ~3/8" ID hose) to the left of the pushfit connector.

 

Where's the contradiction?

Anyway:

It doesn't. I fit my tubing to conform to the natural curve of the tubing (seeing as this stuff is spooled on reels, most tubing has
a 'natural' curve, so to speak). There is hardly any stress on the card, I just like the look of the card keeper.

I agree. this is why I went with metal topped blocks.

The barbs in my metal topped blocks are an intergral part of the top. Welded in, to be exact.

You can, but there's a trick to it. If you plan it out, there shouldn't be a need to take the tubing off again however. Thenagain, you can get push-fit connectors for larger diameter tubing, if you want.

That, again, is why I PLAN THINGS!

There aren't any, necessarily. It's like saying what's the advantage of an apple over an orange. They're meant to achieve similar results through emphasis on different aspects of the setup, and have their own advantages in different cases.

My point (and I do have one) is that bigger bore tubing does not have to be unwieldly and ungainly, and make your PC look like the innards of a cow.

 

Depends if you are talking ID or OD!

Pushfit is 10mm or 3/8" OD

The tubing you are using is 3/8" ID is it not?

then, what is the wall thickness on your tubing Nexxo?

If it is 3mm thick you have an overall diameter of 16mm on 10mm or 3/8" ID tubing...

EDIT: Just seen you did state your tube wall thickness , so your overall tube diameter is ~16mm or ~5/8"

 

My pushfit connectors are 1/2" OD and I use 3/8" ID tubing.

 

Nexxo - that wasn't all aimed at you.
You've thought through and planned for most eventualities but you and I might take the sort of things we listed for granted, compared to someone without the benefit of the hindsight, which as Olly rightly says is a wonderful thing.
Good for us both to share ours (I didn't know that about your barbs being welded in).
As for getting hose off the barbs - I can run it under the hot tap to get it off but I do need the blocks out for that.


[Way OffTopic] I'd go into depth more if I could and I want to post some other stuff elsewhere but since my last post, I've been in A&E with my boy for nearly five hours getting his chin sewn back together after he slipped in the bath.
Have a bulging mailbox and an appointment for OPT (?sp) X-rays in the morning so I'll see you guys when I can. [/WOT]

 

Bummer, dude! I hope your son is going to be OK. Luckily kids are resillient *rubs the scar under his own chin*...

I bet by the end of the week he'll be showing off the stitches to all his mates in the playground.

When you get time, I'd love to talk some more about this stuff (do you MSN?). And let me (just for the record) state that Aqua-Computer stuff is the most outstanding water cooling gear known to man and aliens anywhere.

If I had started my project now, that would probably have been the way I'd have gone. But when I started almost a year ago, AC did not yet have a 12V pump. And I had committed myself with those beautiful blocks by Paul Vodrazka already... But AC has always been my source of inspiration in terms of design and build quality.

 

[OT] Cheers Nexxo, yeah he's ok now. No broken jaw, at least.
He thought the OPT machine was cool though.

I don't do MSN unfortunately, I have a hard time keeping up with email and my messenger window used to keep me too busy to get anything else done.
*whispers* however, I should have the support forums up in a couple of weeks, fingers crossed - you're welcome to stop by and shoot the breeze.


Oh and yeah, you gotta love AC, they still keep suprising me even now. [/OT]