well, heres my plan for my watercooling rig. what you guys think? and yes, ph33r my l33t /\/\$ Skillz! .icecube
Right idea, but several tweaks required: 1. Your reservoir needs to be at the highest point in the cooling circuit. Think of your Physics lessons: the "communicating tubes"? What you get is that water will try to level itself out. In your setup the reservoir is below the waterline of the radiator so all that water will come down and overflow the reservoir. I'd put the reservoir next to the radiator. 2. You don't need to use a separate AT supply just to power the fans on the radiator. Just use a molex in your PC and divert it outside. Go to the Bit-tech article : here : to give you an idea how. 3. The ATC-101 is a very fine choice of case; it oozes quality for the price. It being so large, I would really consider putting the cooling circuit inside it. I'm putting mine in a much smaller Lian-Li PC-12, and it fits nicely. You could put the BIX in the top, reservoir next to it... in fact go : here : to get the idea (I hope you speak French). Note how the fan sucks outside air through the rad out the top hole, and how a duct has been created above the PSU to allow outside air to enter underneath the rad. Also note that the air trap/reservoir in that setup is lower than the rad, so the builder better make sure it is air-tight at the top! If not it will gush like a fountain all over the inside of the case! Otherwise, looks OK. Good choice of block and rad (and case). What pump are you going to use?
i would put all the gear inside the case, but i dont want to have to cut any holes in my CoolerMaster. :| also, i have seen many watercooled rigs with the res at the bottom of the case. .icecube
Cutting holes is not such a biggie: your case is aluminium, so easy to work with. You can have PC-modding shops do the work for you (I did on mine -- I just did not have the tools at the time and it's only a tenner). The reservoirs in question are hermetically sealed (air and water tight) so the air is trapped at the top, and prevents the water level in the reservoir from rising (and overflowing). Makes it awkward to refill though, so you'll find that such setups have an air-trap/refill point at the top of the circuit.
awww, this has totally ruined my plan. what would happen if i did go along with my plan? ill wait till i get all the stuff, and just see where else i can mount the stuff. thanks nexxo, .icecube
No sweat That's what I did. You just can't plan things out as well before you actually have the parts to play around with. I've had mine for a month, and only now (after a lot of fitting, moving, measuring, back to reading articles and planning) have decided on how to set it up. But that is half the fun, right? If you went with your current setup, I'd make sure that the reservoir is really well sealed at the top, and arrange an air-trap/refill point higher than the radiator.
where can u get inline airtraps in the UK? would it would as i am getting an eheim 1250 pump, wouldnt the air just fly past? im thinking of sitting the res on top, but then the res would be a pretty far distance away from the pump. .icecube
You're right about the air flying past. Therefore I find it best put the res on top. Distance from res to pump is not important. I'll come back to you on the air trap shops.
ive just read up that if i shake the rad about, the air should be trapped in the res. the only problem is that you say all the water will run down into the res. is there anyway to prevent this, like running the pump 24/7? .icecube
Do as Nexxo says m8 put the res as high as poss or you will get air in your system,my res will be going on the back of my case @the top and held on with cable ties.
ill get the stuff, and see where to mount the stuff. what do u guys mount your RADs with, would cable ties to the trick, cause' they look pretty heavy .icecube
Sort of depends what you mount them to... Keep in mind that when the rad is filled with water, it gets heavier. Cable ties are pretty strong though and more than sufficient. With the BIX you can use 3mm diameter rods, with a screw thread in them, which you skewer all the way through the fan mounting holes. You cap one end with rounded cap nuts, and use regular nuts on the other side. The setup thus is: capnuts, case wall (that the rad is mounted to), fan, radiator, regular nuts on the other side. Put rubber grommets between case wall, fan and radiator to dampen fan vibrations. A bit like done at :OvercleX: Simple, no?
ok, im just gonna wait till i have all the stuff now. btw, as in the picture above, is it ok to just have the rad lying down? .icecube
rad laying down is fine....as long as the air can move over the fins and the water can go through the tubes....
so if i had my rad like in the pic Nex posted, it would be fine? would i have the fan blowing or sucking? thanks guys, .icecube
Yeah, the fan in the picture is supposed to be suspended from the roof of the case (imagine the rods sticking up through the case roof, cut down to size, with cap nuts on them. Of course you cut a hole for the fan). The fan sucks the air through; testing on several sites has found this to be most effective. In this setup air inside the case would be sucked through the rad, out the top of the case. Some people might find this less desireable, as air inside the case tends to be a bit warm already. Hence :Overclex's: suggestion to put in a duct that leads cold air from outside the case to the underside of the radiator. e.g. : and: In your ATC-101 you could do that, and have one cool rig :dude: