Hardware Watercooling 101

Exactly; water absorbs the heat from the CPU better than air; the pump moves the water to the RAD; the fin structure of the rad is much thinner than that of a HSF (~0.01mm vs ~1mm) so it's easier to dissipate the heat to the air. If they were to try making HSF fins that thin they'd be way too fragile; in a rad it can be done because there's a lot more supporting the fins.

Engine coolant actually has a lower thermal conductivity than H2O; it has glycol to lower the freezing point, which is critical when you park a car outside in the winter.

A liquid metal would be more viscous than water, and as such, harder to pump through a cooling loop.

Freon is used in an AC/refrigeration system for it's phase characteristics; between the heat exchanger and the evaporator it's a liquid, and a gas in the rest of the loop; it's that phase change in the evaporator that is utilized in cooling processes. At room temperature and pressure, freon is a gas, as such it'd be hard to use in a "standard" cooling loop.
BTW, you can buy vapor/phase change systems built for PC cooling. They provide significantly lower temps than H2O cooling (~-40C); but are very expensive (IIRC ~$1500).

 

There are other fluids that are better at moving heat away then water, but they are often very hard to work with, and the liquid metals and stuff require a sealed system etc etc
Its just a lot easier to go with water, and a lot safer

In fact, quite a few nuclear reactors are cooled by liquid sodium i believe

What are these ?

This is basically phase change cooling

In a typical air con, the coolant goes into a radiator, air is blown over this to cool it
In PCC you instead pipe the coolant into the "heatsink" which lowers the cooling area dramatically, bringing you to like -60°C

 

Thats -60 c at the evaporator, not on the actual CPU.

 

About that phasechange cooling, there are two main brands: Extreme Cooling Technologies (ECT, formerly Prometeia; the Mach(2) series) and Asetek (the Vapochill series). Retail prices vary from 500 - 1000 USD (I once bought a new Prometeia Mach2 for $700), but often you can also get them 2nd hand for 200-500 USD. The downsides to these systems are mainly the noise (much like a fridge), size and weight (up to 15kg).

 

and the fact your freezing your mobo, so there are risks of condensation and such with them

to me, theve allways sounded like more effort then their really worth, i guess it depends if you can afford to lose your PC

 

If the vapor system is correctly/carefully installed then it has significant advantages. The whole CPU area is thermally/electronically insulated so that condensation won't form on the MB itself.

 

I was wondering what "101" on the tittle mean? Thanks very much.

 

It's a term used for "beginner course". In uni here in the states, at least, courses are numbered like English 101, 102 (for first year, first semester and second semester), then 201, 202 (for second year, first semester, etc.) and so on and so forth.

You'll be seeing this a lot as we get further into tutorials - so you'd probably best get used to it like this:

101 = beginner lesson, no previous knowledge of the subject necessary.
102, etc = further beginning tutorials, may be based on 101

201 = intermediate lesson, definitely requires mastering the 101 article
202, etc. = as above

301 = advanced lesson

We're going to be using this to help group tutorials in the future in a far-off, distant I-can't-tell-you-yet cool project that is cooking, but for now hopefully this will help you to know how much knowledge you are expected to have before you read this article.

 

WOOT This is KICKASS WAY really We are the GEEKS, HAHA but Thanks alot to tell me this information Now nothing confusing me

Now I know why I found that lesson easy.. Because my level is 301

Thanks alot my brother Take care

 

Here in the UK too.

 

stop teasing and get working

 

Any hint as to when the next chapter is coming out guys?

 

Where do you buy those expensive fittings that cut off when they get unplugged? Forgot the name of them.

 

You mean quick-release couplings?

 

No I don't think they have a g1/4 thread. I'm looking for some that go from blocks to hoses so if I accidentley pull them out they don't leak everywhere.

 

You have to have a fitting on both the block and the hose to seal the system, and those are quick-release couplings. The block will be threaded and the hose won't, but it's still a QRC.

 

I can agree with one member's post from 2007. regarding a need for many fans cooling a radiator because a same thing I have with my loop. Ok it's made of probably the hottest video card ever HD4870x2 together with i3 cpu both at default speeds. Rest of the system is Swiftech D4 pump, triple radiator and EK Waterblock reservoir and cpu block. I have three Scythe fans with max speed of 1900 rpm usually set at 1400-1600 rpm and they are taking out a very hot air into the case. This could be a good thing meaning a cooling is really working it's job but I think one more radiator could be a solution so fans could work at lover speeds 1000-1300 rpm and without many noise what is my goal.