My Custom Watercooling Journey

Toast

New Member
Here we go guys...

So if you don't know, I recently bought an 8350, and I was disgusted by how poorly the stock cooler performed. I have very little funds, and I have very big expectations. So, that means it's time to get custom and make my own water cooling rig.

I'm making my own waterblock, as well as using some parts from an old koolance case to do this. My goal is to do this all for 50 dollars or less. I just got the copper at work today (for free!) and I'm about to go get the case now.

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Excellent piece of copper. Can't wait to shape this into a waterblock. Any suggestions for how I should make the waterblock, let me know.

And for anyone who is saying I should have just bought an air cooler.

NO.

My computer is my hobby. I want to make something that I will be proud of. An air cooler will get the job done, but that doesn't mean I'll be happy with it.

I'll be back with updates later, once I grab the case. Thanks for looking :)
 

Machin3

New Member
It would be cool to etch a logo or design of some sort into the block but not sure how practical that would be. I would look into the best water block's design and either replicate that or try to alter the design to make it perform even better.
 

Toast

New Member
Update 1:

Grabbed the old Koolance case from my friend. After about 1/2 hour of work, I had the thing apart.

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The case itself is very old. The internals in there are, well, they're pretty damn outdated. However, the radiator and the pump/res are going to be perfect, I think.

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Btw lol don't ever disassemble liquid cooling if you still see coolant in it. I'm stupid. Poor wood floor.

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The pump, interestingly enough, is submerged in the res. If I can somehow cram everything in to me case, that's going to help me a lot. It'll be a big space saver and also I'm assuming that the submerged pump will be a lot quieter than an external pump.

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Broke off both connectors trying to get the old tubing off... oh well. I think that's easily fixable, considering the amount of work I"m going to be putting in to all of this.

Dual 120mm fans look like a good fit...

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To answer your suggestions, I'll be a little limited in how I make my waterblock, because I don't have a milling machine... Hahaha. I'm thinking a fin style waterblock, or pin. A maze style is just going to be way too difficult.
 

Toast

New Member
Little update.

Accidentally broke the fittings off the res/pump combo, but seeing as they were crap anyway, it didn't phase me that much. Replacing them with some better barb fittings and also working on getting all the letters/numbers off the tubing that comes printed on them. It makes it look so ugly.

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MyCattMaxx

Active Member
Without a vertical mill you are going to have a fun time making a block.
The first thing that comes to mind is a dremel tool, steady hands and a lot of bits.
 

MyCattMaxx

Active Member
Do you have another thin chunk for a base?
If not you are going to have to slice that into 2 pieces and you still need to work out a seal.
Or you will have to make a separate top plate and hollow out the top of that chunk.
Have you given thought to a mounting bracket yet?
 
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Virssagòn

VIP Member
Why not using one of these cheap CPU waterblocks from eBay? I've one and seems fine, need to test it though...
Take one with an inner way if you're interested.

I'll review it in a week or 2 while using an open loop to oc my Athlon until it explodes.
No closed or full loop, just ice cold water in and out. (Not circulating)
 

Toast

New Member
The idea here is custom, cheap, and good quality- all three of which I know I can achieve.

Tragedy hit today, though. My drill press caught and ****ed up the res. I took the pump out and now I'm considering custom res options. I want something small, but big enough to fit the pump, as it is a submerged pump setup.
 

Toast

New Member
Little update again.

These are the fittings for the waterblock.. Not sure if i should go with these or elbows? I feel like these might end up sticking out too far. What do you guys think?

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Dumped the old pump and res (felt like it would be a little too ghetto anyway) and went with something thats going to offer more power and control. Yep, say hello to a 120 volt garden fountain pump.. It's got variable flow control, so I plan on fine tuning it for the best amount of gallons per minute. Should be perfect. Plus, you really can't beat it for 10 bucks. It's submersible. I need to find a res!

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Everything so far-

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Toast

New Member
The fittings will not be screwed in. They're going to get dropped in to a whole and then soldered in place, since brass will solder to copper.

I'm not going with elbows anyway, though. Straight fittings are going to give me better flow, in my opinion, and ace doesn't have any thread to barb elbows.
 

Toast

New Member
Update-

Today I bought what I will be using for my reservoir :) Here's some pictures of the new reservoir and pump-

This is the res. Picked it up at bed, bath and beyond while I was out with my girlfriend. It's airtight and has a lid, which will be absolutely perfect for this.

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The pump fits inside perfectly!

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Adding some padding on the bottom of the whole thing to help reduce virbation-

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And this is a better picture of the pump. It moves a max of 158 gallons/hour, but I think that that may actually be too much, so I bought one that has a flow control. This will reduce the amount that it sends, hopefully. If it doesn't, maybe I can get a reducer or a small ball valve for it.

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Toast

New Member
Little update before big one later...

Computer overheated again today :( So... it's time. I'm finally going to get my hands dirty here. Drilling the holes in the res for the tubing, and I picked up a new plug for my pump (so I didn't have to drill a huge whole for the existing plug, i simply just cut it off) and I picked up two elbow fittings for the waterblock, instead of straight fittings.

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I decided I am not going to cut the copper block in half. I'm leaving it whole, and then I'm simply going to drill out the channels, and I'm going to solder a thin sheet of copper on top that will seal it and hold the fittings in place. Time for some fun!
 

Toast

New Member
Today was a good day.

Finished the reservoir, pump, and radiator. Done, finished, gone.

The pump sits pretty in the reservoir, and there's three holes in the lid, one for the cord, one for the in, and one for the out.

I had to cut off the existing plug and put a new one on so that I could cut a small hole. Nothing you cant fix with a few stripped wires.

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The waterblock, yes... It took the better part of the day, but it turned out absolutely amazing. I think it's going to keep my temps really low. I can't want to use it.

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Drilled out holes for the fittings.

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Ready to solder.

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Soldering in the plugs-

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Plugs done-

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Soldering on the fittings- Nice smokey effect

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What I did here is a drilled channels, making an S shape, and then I simply plugged up three of the holes, and the other two are the in and out. There's too small leaks in the solder. Nothing I can't fix tomorrow. No, it doesn't look as pretty as one you buy online for 50 dollars, but guess what. This waterblock cost me 10 dollars to make.

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It will be polished, etc tomorrow. I'm buying 970 ud3, so I'm going to be able to overclock better. I'll probably wait until then to mount it, but I'm not sure. Maybe not.

Leak testing, and a picture of the tubing/res

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Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Interesting project. You may have to think about putting a larger passive heatsink on top of the block
 

Toast

New Member
It isn't passive. There's a dual 120 aluminum radiator, it just wasnt pictured in the leak test.
 

Toast

New Member
It actually really isnt ghetto at all, I just haven't made it looks pretty- yet. The block needs to get its leaks sealed, and then I can move on to poishing and maybe painting it?

And the reservoir/pump combo looks nice. There was just a lot of condensation on top. Tw radiator just looks like a normal aluminum radiator... Lol
 
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