I read the water-cooling guide on here, but I felt that it wasn't enough, so I did a search on google and found this site:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54331
The only problem is the info posted is about 3 years old, and I'm assuming some things had evolved or upgraded from that time to now. Well, this is basically a sum of the info from that guide, please inform me if the information is correct and up to date. Also, its a guide on how to make your own water-cooling system, rather than choosing a water-cooling kit (because water cooling kits are supposed eval? >
).
Sorry its so long, but there was so much information I couldn't sum it up. So, is it up to date? Actually, now that I'm posting this I'm wondering why I didn't ask the guys on that forum if its up to date or not, lol. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask other people.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54331
The only problem is the info posted is about 3 years old, and I'm assuming some things had evolved or upgraded from that time to now. Well, this is basically a sum of the info from that guide, please inform me if the information is correct and up to date. Also, its a guide on how to make your own water-cooling system, rather than choosing a water-cooling kit (because water cooling kits are supposed eval? >
).- Stay away from blocks that mix Aluminum and Copper
- avoid Acrylic topped blocks, as they will crack eventually
- Impingent waterblock = highest performance but needs a strong pump to get there (Example Here (Swiftech Storm)
- Non-Impingement waterblock = good performance without much pump requirements
- The most important item that should be taken into consideration when purchasing a pump is the head pressure of the pump. The head pressure is the amount of water that the pump can push in a vertical column. This with a jet shot straight up in the air and the height of it measured. lower flow/higher head pressure pumps are what you should be looking for
- heat dump. Or in laymen’s terms, how much heat (in Watts) the pump puts into the water that is flowing through it. DC pumps put anywhere from 7-20 watts of heat into the water. AC pumps on the other hand go from as low as 8 to as high as 50watts depending on how large the pump is.
- The two basic types of pumps are AC (Alternating current that comes from your wall outlet) and DC (Direct Current, which is converted from AC and is uses in most electronic devices including computers). AC powered pumps run from your wall outlet and are generally larger than their DC powered counterparts. The DC pumps run from the 12volt line on your computer and have a standard Molex connector on them.
- a pump for watercooling should not be even considered unless it has at least 9 feet of head pressure. If your are cooling your computer with water for its relative silence, then a pump with as little as 5 feet of head pressure will suite you very well.
- here are two types of radiators that are commonly used in watercooling setups. The first are the purpose built radiators that are designed to accommodate 120mm fans (some also use 80mm fans) and have different types of hose barbs for a myriad of applications. The second are heatercores. Heatercores are the heating elements used in car heating systems. There are plus and minus’ to both solutions that I will discuss.
- All radiators can be described in terms of passes. Passes are essentially how many directions the water goes in the radiator while being cooled. Generally watercooling radiators are 1 or 2 passes. The higher the number of passes the more restriction due to having the water change flow direction and that generally the area the water has to flow (per pass) in higher pass radiators is smaller
- The second bit of terminology is "Rows". Rows refer to the number of flow tubes the radiator has, with regards to depth. By depth I am referring to the thickness of the radiator in the direction of the airflow, and not the water channels.
- The radiators come in 7 different sizes; Single 80mm, Dual 80mm, Single 90mm, Dual 90mm, Single 120mm, Dual 120mm and Triple 120mm.
- anyone building a system that is either overclocked or uses both a GPU and a CPU waterblock will want to stay away from the 80mm sized radiators.
- would suggest a single 120mm as the minimum for a single CPU setup, a dual 120mm for a CPU and GPU setup, and a triple 120mm for those who want the absolute maximum performance that these types of radiators can provide.
- If you have warm air pumping out of your radiator that means that it is NOT up to spec and NEEDS to be upgraded and/or more powerful fans used.
- Avoid condenser style radiators
- Tubbing: Terminology: ID = Inner Diameter , OD = Outer Diameter
- There are generally only two types of tubing that are used in watercooling. The first is Tygon r3603 and Clearflex tubing. Tygon is the more expensive of the two but will not react to any chemicals that are put into the tubing and is slightly better at taking curves without kinking. Clearflex is an excellent inexpensive alternative that can be purchased for roughly 1/3 the price of Tygon for those willing to search around for it.
- Generally you will only use ½ inner diameter (ID) or 3/8 (ID). 1/2inch will provide you with more flow, so if you are going for maximum performance, 1/2inch is the way to go. The 3/8inch tubing is more flexible than the 1/2inch and is excellent for building a system that is low noise, but not suited for maximum performance.
- Coolant additives are necessary when watercooling. If you do not do so, algae will start to grow inside of your system and cause possible failures in the pump, or clog up one of your waterblocks
- The one that I suggest is called Zerez/Valvoline Racing super coolant
- With that said, for those who do NOT plan to run mixed metals, a good biocide (kills organic life) would be optimum, as no corrosion inhibitor is needed. Biocides can be purchased at your local pet store for 5-15 dollars USD. They are generally labeled as Algae killers. A considerably higher concentration that is suggested by the manufacture is recommended as there is no organic life in the WC'ing loop that needs to be preserved. Generally one capful is needed, with a small booster of a few drops once a month
- In a properly setup PC cooling system which contains no mixed metals, and uses copper/brass as the metal of choice, no coolant additives are required. Pure deionized water or distilled water will be your best choice, with a small amount of nonionic surfactant added for that extra .01C if your interested.
- Reservoir: The reservoir is used to hold the water that is pumped through the system to a location that will be easy for the pump to pull the water from. The other purpose of the reservoir is to help remove the bubbles form the system when it is initially filled.
- The other purpose of the reservoir is to help remove the bubbles form the system when it is initially filled. This process is called bleeding. To make the bleeding process faster, it is suggested to have the reservoir placed as the highest components in the system. If this is not possible, the next best place to have it is directly next to the pumps inlet. Having the reservoir directly next to the pump inlet will give you the best possible performance but will be slightly more difficult to bleed the system.
- There are many different types of reservoirs, and there is really no difference as to performance between them. The one thing that you will want to do though, is to choose one with oversized fittings. This is a wise idea, as you want the most flow to your pump as possible as well as reducing the overall restriction in the cooling loop.
- T-Line: The other thing that can be used in place of a reservoir if you don’t have the room for one is a T-Line.
- Now they are convenient, but there is a drawback. The bleeding process will be lengthened by literally about 100x the time. Bleeding in a reservoir takes a matter of seconds, and with a T-Line it can’t take up to several days
- Fans: The biggest of which is being that if you are planning on using a heatercore or one of the thicker purpose built radiators you NEED to use 38mm fans. There are some 38mm fans that when run on 7volts give very good airflow and are relatively low noise
- Hose Clamps: There are 5 Major Groups of hose clamps you can use to seal your watercoling system. First we have the plastic clamps that are sold by most watercooling retailers and packaged with Swiftech waterblocks. Secondly, we have worm drive clamps which are made out of a variety of stainless steels, and use a screw to tighten them. Third we have the Smooth band bolt which is a metal clamp that tightened by a screw, somewhat like the worm drive. These clamps require the use of locktite on the screw so that it does not loosen. The fourth group of clamps are the self tightening clamps which are made to steel and require the user close down the tabs on the clamp to loosen it. when the tabs are released the clamp immediately tightens down onto the tubing. The final category of hose clamps is the Zip Tie. Zip ties are usually had around the house and work fairly well for sealing your loop.
- When choosing there are 2 things to consider. First; will the clamp stay on the fitting in spite of the case moving? And Second; how well will the clamp seal the loop so that no water will escape?
- I would say the worm drives would the best option. With that said, there are a few precautions to take when using them. First, make sure to not over tighten the clamp. The worm drive clamps are so strong that they can completely collapse plastic barbs. Over tightening can also cause gouging of the tubing, sometimes even cutting into it so far as to cause catastrophic failure. You will know the clamp is tightened to the right level, when you notice it compress the tubing slightly, and turning the screw provides high resistance.
- For those of you who use thin walled tubing, the worm drives may not be the best option due to the uneven inner surface of the worm drive. Normally the thickness of the tubing (1/8" wall thickness) would distribute the worm drives force evenly, but 1/16" thickness tubing may not accomplish this goal. In place of the worm drives I suggest the self-tightening steel clamps.
- With that out of the way, I must stress that it is necessary to ALWAYS use hose clamps in your watercooling loop, or you will almost guaranteed get leaks at some point in the system
- The GPU waterblock is a nice option to have for all of us out there who like to overclock our video cards. There is not much to say on this topic, other than what to stay away from. My suggestion to you is to stay away from the big blocks that cover the GPU and the memory. These blocks are wholly inefficient and ignore the fact that simple ramsinks are more than enough to cool the memory
- North Bridge waterblock not needed
- Loop order is something that almost always confused people that are new to watercooling. So here is a general rule to follow. Pump>Radiator>CPU>GPU(if implemented)>NB(if implemented)>Reservoir. This is the most efficient way of setting up your system. But there are a few exceptions to this general rule. First, is that it is generally better to have the shortest amount of tubing with the least amount of bends in it. So that means if it takes a lot of tubing or some 90 degree bends to get the loop order that I just suggested, don’t do it. Figure out a way to have it where these bends and extra tubing are not need. But there is one rule of order that you must never break. That is to have the reservoir right before the pump. If you do not follow this rule it will guaranteed hurt the performance of the system and cause the pump to be starved for water. One more thing to keep in mind is to NEVER use 90 degree bent barbs in your system. They are absolute and total flow killers. Using them will most surely hurt your performance
Sorry its so long, but there was so much information I couldn't sum it up. So, is it up to date? Actually, now that I'm posting this I'm wondering why I didn't ask the guys on that forum if its up to date or not, lol. Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask other people.
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