Cooling not too happy :/ (pics posted).. OK, happier now :D

this has been said before by others but i want to put it down again.

ive just got my first watercooling rig installed + im not particularly impressed with it so far. I need to tweak it up but so far it doesnt perform as well as air, is louder, and cost way way more.
I cant clock as high as before.

It looks nice but thats the extent of its merits atm.

LRWW, hydor L30, thermochill 120.2 + papst fans (100+ cfm) DD maza4 gpu, maze3 nb.

pics:





Im thinking about taking out the Z chip to see if that helps the rest of the system. The cheap cooler thta was on my nf7-s v2 was stuck on really badly but at least it worked well. i might have to put it back on. im sure i wont hear it under the drone of these 120 fans :/

anyone got any comments or suggestions to cheer me up at all?

 

What did you put in the system. Plain tap water or de-ionised water? Also did you put some kind fo addative like water wetter in with it.

The ater looks quite dirty. I would try re-filling it.

You could also try re-arranging the pipes and see if it perfomrs better.

What kind of temps were you getting before and what are they now?

/edit. Just noticed is that UV dye that makes the water cloudly?

 

hi dude, the water is that colour because i put water wetter in it. I used de-ionised water. There is a little uv die too but that is clear.
I'm not sure i can do much with the pipes as its such a small case. I tried a few things and this was the setup with the least kinks.

cant really comment on temps as i change voltages + clock speeds a lot but i do know that they are about the same. Apart from the fact that i cant get my pc anywhere near as stable as it was, even at lower speeds.

I might just give up and sell the lot to recoup some of my cash

 

Odd that it wouldnt be perfoming well because thats quite a good setup. Are you sure the block is seated correctly and I'm guessing you used artic silver or something similar.

 

it should be doing better i am sure of it.

Maybe i shouldnt have used catfood for paste.

really - i used AS3. i know its not the same but i have mounted a lot of heatsinks before. when i get a bit of time i will try remounting the blocks. hopefully that is part of the problem. I think the NB block might be killing the flow too much for the LRWW to be taking full effect. I know it needs good flow.

appreciate the help buddy. thank you.

 

make sure the block is screwed down firmly on the chip

 

i tightened the screws as per the instructions + i gave an extra 1/2 turn "for luck".

i keep getting reboots now so ive clocked right down to see if that helps. this is getting worse

 

I'll take the nb block off your hands if you decide to scrap it, chap

What is the airflow like in your pc? Do you have the same amount of air going in as the amount of air going out? It looks like you have 4 fans there (not sure about the psu though). To balance the airflow, make sure each fansize is matched in model. Then you could have it as:

120mm - in
120mm - out
80mm - in
80mm - out

I made the mistake of having both 120mm as out and only one 80mm fan sucking air in at 7v. After balancing the airflow, I got much better results.

 

ive currently got the side off, with 2 x 120mm fans pulling air through my rad + blowing out of the top.

 

hey dude, ive been looking for watercooling stuff for a while, not deciding if i wanna buy it.. if ya decide to scrap your watercooling gear, ill grab it from ya.. i dont want you to get stuck with somthing you dont want... aranger4@twcny.rr.com ... but try it without your NB .... and make the tubes as short as ya can (without bending them too much ;P) dont put in any uv dye this time, and re-mount your waterblocks... thats all i can really tell ya...

are the 120's pushing or pulling?

[EDIT]lol, just read the last post you made... hmm. not sure then. and that was a very dirty trick youve played on me in your sig... jerk [/EDIT]

good luck dude.

 

Nah, don't give up yet mate. You've got a problem there, that much seems obvious from your pics.

You're coolant really shouldn't be that milky colour. It shows me that it's aerated somehow.
Air in your loop will kill your performance, whether it be the tiny bubbles that are rushing round and/or the big airlock that ends up in a rad sometimes.

You've taken a high-flow setup and restricted it quite a bit there.
That y-piece seems to be constricting flow for a start - two tubes do not happily merge into one of the same diameter.
This can cause cavitation in many pumps, giving rise to symptoms such as milky coolant, like this.
You might alleviate some of the problem if you can source an unequal y-piece and substitute the two outer branches of the WW with 3/8" hose merging into the one 1/2" again.[/theory]

If/when you've done so, bleed with the case on its back and rock/tilt/rotate through all three axes until there is no air left in the rad.

Get that coolant clear of bubbles!

G/luck dude!

 

BTW - which Papst are those?
I like the 4412F/2GL and GML but AquaComputer have just pulled the FGMLs from their range due to low market interest (everyone was rheoing them anyway).

I have a bunch on order from Papst, ('cos my markets happy with them) but have had to sit through a 10 week wait to get them (whereas the 80mms came through in 6 weeks).

Are your fans very close to the rad surface?
You could either space them away slightly, by means of a shroud or maybe mount them on the underside of it if possible, which might block some of the noise from reaching your ears.

Are you running them flat out? I rheo mine and they're lower output than yours.

 

2 things come to mind.

1st. Are you spacing the fans away from the rad ??? I cannot see from the pic but the fans should be at least 15mm away from the rad core.

This will not reduce temps much but will drop noise.

2nd. As Pug said there appears to be air in those pipes. Huge problems with noise and temps will result from air. Carry out his recomendations and also double check all connections.

 

thanks for the help guys, i really need it right now. This is bugging me.

Pug.. The fans are 4212NGN, they are spaced about 10mm away from the rad using the shrouds that came with my thermochill.
i like the idea of using smaller tubing coming out of the LRWW block. nice one I'll give it a try.
Ive currently got my fans on 7v. they are quiet but are droning quite a bit which is annoying. That drone goes away at 12V but then the fans get loud.

When i was leak testing i started with plain de-ionised water + i managed to get most (if not all) of the bubbles out. It was lovely + clear. Its only when i added the water wetter it went cloudy. Hopefully this will settle over time?

Knipex.. as above.

r3q... was tasty, thanks

 

you need to remount your water block , also add a little length more of tubing between components. you have the turns so tight that you are restricting flow.
all your components are good quality .
oh btw if you are counting on the readings from your MB your goona get false readings because the diodes love air flow which they get with air cooling for the one outside of the cpu to the right of the proc.

 

i cant add more onto the tubes without them pushing the side of the case off, if you know what i mean mate? i'm going to remount the block tomorrow I think. Cheers

I've got an in-socket diode. Isnt that out of the way of the air? I tend to use stability as an indicator rather than temps and This setup is a LOT less stable.

Thanks for the input mate, I'll check that block tomorrow

 

check which bits feel warm. if the rad feels warm, the fans aren't doing their job. if the block weels warm, there isn't enough flow. if the block and rad are cool, the block isn't tightened down enough.

i always screwed my maze down 'till the springs were totally compressed, never broke a core and it improved my temps at least a little.

 

my pump is really hot. Its too hot to touch for a long time. This should strengthen what pug says about the air :/

Blocks are not really warm, nor is the rad. I'm goign to tighten it all up a bit.
Cheers Lucifer

 

Yuh-huh *me nods* - pump restriction/cavitation, defo, imho. Won't help at all.

For the fans - I'm not sure of the fin density on the HE cores but I know BillA had some problems with the low noise Papst he chose.
(I'm sure he had his reasons for not selecting a comparitive model on a par with the airflow of the other fans used in the test, :shrug: ).
Yours and his are the polar opposites of my mid-rangers though, so it's hard for me to comment authoritatively on them in particular.

In your case, dropping any fans way below their rated volts isn't highly recommended in a restrictive airflow environment and you can experience minor fan stall &/or bearing rumble as a result.
Mebbe you can offset some of the noise by mounting the fans on the underside blowing up & through, while keeping them at 12volt? Might be worth a test.


BTW, does your graphics card looks like it's bending in the first pic? (I hope it's just my eyes...)

 

yea i do that, and the other day when i had the block off i noticed that the codes and stuff from my old Xp1800 were imprinted on the buttom of the block
can only see it if the light is just right tho