Cooling My First Watercooling Loop. - with pics

.. By Alex Ball, Aged 23 and a half.


Well, last night was my first nerve-wracking night - I got in from work, and started fitting the new kit.



Took the computer apart, and fitted the waterblocks to the mobo, and graphics card



Then fitted all the pipework.

It's a very tight fit. I'm sure the loop is no way near perfect, and I've probably made a load of school boy errors.



The loop:

Pump > CPU > GFX > 120.3 Rad > Chipset > 120.1 Rad > Res

I'm not massively happy with the layout, and it may get changed. I quite fancy a bigger case to do it in, as I'm sure I could make a neater job of it! I really dont like where I've had to put the pump, for instance.

Still, the pump has been running since late last night, and there are no leaks so far - nothing is plugged in, but I'm still hoping that it wont leak while I'm at work today.. :$

I'll report back with the performance figures later tonight.. see if its made a difference from the stock cooling and Big Typhoon.

Thanks to Frodo for sorting the kit out. - and Thanks to Highland3r for the advice last night!

Any thoughts/concerns? (..and be kind, I'm still very much a newbie to watercooling!)

Here's a link to a few more pics of the setup:

http://www.dorkish.com/index.php?a=albums/Personal/Watercooling/

Please ignore the messy wires - they will be tidied away before long

-al.

 

Nice one mat, glad you got it up and running ok

One thing which might help with tubing neatness is running the far left rad straight after the far right one in the loop. Might allow you to route tubing a little better perhaps.

Maybe try Pump -> CPU -> GFX -> NB -> Rad1 -> Rad2 -> Res?

 

For best cooling I think you should run
pump > rad1 > CPU > NB > rad2 > GPU > res.

That way, the water is at it's coolest when going to the CPU and GFX blocks giving the best cooling.

Or, you could run the rads in parallel for even better cooling.
Running them in parallel means the coolant is in the rads for longer and hence gets cooled better.

 

Cheers lads - I might have a re-think later then and see what I can come up with.

 

Not really - the water would pass through 2 rads before it gets to the CPU, then sit in the res for a while with Highland3r's setup. That'll probably give the best CPU temps, as the water's at a minimum temperature there.
With the current loop it's exactly the same as yours, but the pump and rad are in different places. No difference between the two, and no real difference in temps either tbh, the average water temp will still be the same, and let's face it - the northbridge temps don't matter a great deal as long as they're reasonably stable, so there's no real difference in having CPU->GPU->NB-> Rad1-> Rad2 -> Res-> Pump.
Another possible is to have Pump-> CPU-> Rad1-> GPU-> NB-> Rad2-> Res.
That should get fairly low GPU temps too, as there's a rad before it to lose some of the CPU energy.

 

Different sequences will not make any difference in performance. Check your laws of thermodynamics, guys, and think about it.

 

Without heat pumps you aren't going to see extreme results unless you accidentaly forgot to make a complete loop including every comopnent.

 

Gratz mate - the first loop is usually the most memoriable (its either the one that fries all your parts or just your first step in finding another reason to memorise your credit card details )

Thats what i was thinking, but water will be different temps in the loop (by a small amount) and will be coolest after having those 2 rads after each other. So having the coolest water flowing to the CPU first would make cooling of the CPU most effective (as there is a greater temp difference), but cooling of the following componants *slightly* less effective. All in the energy dissipated by the rads, is the same (and diff loop layouts) but the contribution of heat to the water from various part of the loop is different.

This is all based on the assumption that the greater the temp difference the greater the cooling effect of water .... im assuming that:
- if water is 30 deg and CPU block is at 60 deg then heat will transfer to the water
- if water is 60 deg and CPU block is at 60 deg then heat transfer between the 2 is neglible
- if water is 90 deg and CPU block is at 60 deg then heat will be transfered to the CPU block

Granted figures are a major exaguration (sp?), but underlying idea seems sound - the greater then temp diff between the block and the water then the more effect the water will have on cooling. Saying that, in a real WC loop the temp diff would probably be minimal (hence the reason why people care less about the order - apart from res>pump - and more about the neatness).

I could be wrong though, just my 2 pence

 

Well, it seems to be holding tight - so windows is now being installed.

I need a fan controller, too, as my Akasa fans are pretty loud when on full blast (which they are, at the moment.

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty happy that its working, so if it wont make a huge difference, im not sure I'll bother changing it for now.

I am hoping now it wont fry my hardware.. ha ha

 

After me...

The First Law of Thermodymamics:
Heat is work and work is heat
Heat is work and work is heat
Very good!
The Second Law of Thermodymamics:
Heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body
(scat music starts)
Heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body
Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter
Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter
You can try it if you like but you far better notter
You can try it if you like but you far better notter
'Cos the cold in the cooler with get hotter as a ruler
'Cos the cold in the cooler with get hotter as a ruler
'Cos the hotter body's heat will pass to the cooler
'Cos the hotter body's heat will pass to the cooler

First Law:
Heat is work and work is heat and work is heat and heat is work
Heat will pass by conduction
Heat will pass by conduction
Heat will pass by convection
Heat will pass by convection
Heat will pass by radiation
Heat will pass by radiation
And that's a physical law

Heat is work and work's a curse
And all the heat in the Universe
Is gonna cooool down 'cos it can't increase
Then there'll be no more work and there'll be perfect peace
Really?
Yeah - that's entropy, man!

And all because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which lays down:

That you can't pass heat from the cooler to the hotter
Try it if you like but you far better notter
'Cos the cold in the cooler will get hotter as a ruler
'Cos the hotter body's heat will pass to the cooler
Oh, you can't pass heat from the cooler to the hotter
You can try it if you like but you'll only look a fooler
'Cos the cold in the cooler will get hotter as a ruler
That's a physical Law!

Oh, I'm hot!
Hot? That's because you've been working!
Oh, Beatles - nothing!
That's the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics!

 

Errrrmmmmm... me thinks you should audition for 'Barney (the purple talkin dino) goes to College'

 

*Barney wandering around every night with blazing red eyes and an unsteady stagger*

Hi there boys and girls! My name's Barney! I love you all! Let's have a big hug!

*Falls over*

There are several people on my floor who sound exactly like this actually.

*ahem* back on topic

 

I've personally tried different variations on similar loops. The conclusion is that it honestly doesn't matter. I try to make the loop the shortest I can and put the cpu right after the pump so it gets the most turbulence. Of course now I'm running a pelt on th cpu and gpu each with their own loops and 360mm radiators.....I need to quit.

 

Yeah it really doesnt at all. Just go with the setup that streamlines your loop and has the shortest tube lengths between your blocks and components.

I remember my first, I blew up my system >< I rushed it though, and I shouldnt have. Later attempts were much better

So my lesson to you is dont rush it Check for leaks constantly for the first week to make sure there are no super slow leaks.

 

Exactly. Mine is a short loop. The GPU comes before the two CPUs; the whole lot is adequately cooled on a single BIX. Not bad for a dual Opteron 250.

Of course, the inlet tube from res to pump is huge to prevent cavitation (good drain from the res also means less chop and fewer air bubbles). The res is on top and the last item in the loop, pump is at the bottom. There are no sharp kinks.

It is all about planning.

 

my CPU temp hasnt gone above 28degs so far =) That's on a A64 4000 (2.6) clocked to 3gig.
Not too bad..

 

Nice temps Alex.

Out of curiosity, what are you using for coolant there?

 

de-ionised water, and a bit of car antifreeze ha ha.

goes upto 34-36degs after an hour of GTR2.