Water cooling CPUs

[CNCadmin]

Anyone have a water cooled CPU
http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/Produc...=375001&ps=ho4 ?

[cadcam]

Not yet but have been thinking about it.
I like to hang out at these site some time cheking thisnkd out.

http://www.tweaktown.com/

http://www.tweakmonster.com/

http://www.xoxide.com/ This one has Water cooling modes.

[kong]

Dunno if I ever showed you this one I made, it was back in the day when all I had was a drill press and a cross-sliding vice, yeah, honest!

[kong]

It took me hours to make the insides!

[NeoMoses]

Yup, I've watercooled a few PCs. I'll never go back to aircooling, either. It's amazing at how quiet and cool your computer can be.

Here's some of the blocks I've made:

[CNCadmin]

How does it all work?

[cadcam]

Just open the copmuter and add water.
Close cover start computer.

[NeoMoses]

Originally posted by CNCadmin
How does it all work?

In it's simplest form, just like the cooling system on your car. I prefer closed loop systems because they are such low maintenance.

You need a pump, a radiator, and a waterblock to attach to the CPU. Add some tubing and hose clamps and you're ready to rock and roll! The pump forces water through the system, the waterblock removes heat from the CPU and transfers it to the water, and the radiator transfers heat from the water to the ambient air.

I must say one thing, though. Watercooling is not necessarily for everyone. Here are the only 4 reasons I can see for wanting to watercool a PC.

1. Your PC is heavily overclocked and it needs it (My case.)
2. Your PC is too loud and you want it quieter. (My previous case)
3. You love to tinker with stuff, so why not tinker with the 'puter (also me...)
4. You just want to brag to your friends. (not me, I keep it secret.)

Good luck and keep the questions coming (c'mon, try to stump me!) If you're really interested in this, PM or email me. I'll walk you through the whole process.

[ToyMaker]

How much difference does water cooling make in cpu temp?
With a clip-on fan the heat sink on my PII-300 is just a little too hot to hold (about 115F, I would guess). What should I expect if I installed a fluid system.
In automotive cooling systems pure water is not (necessarily) the best fluid. Some combination (50-50?) of water and ethylene glycol has a much better heat transfer characteristic. Does anyone run mixtures in their cpu coolant?

robotic regards,

Tom
= = = = =
"The only thing men like more than undressing women with their eyes is eyeing them when they undress."
- - Dr. Mardy Grothe

[NeoMoses]

Originally posted by ToyMaker
How much difference does water cooling make in cpu temp? With a clip-on fan the heat sink on my PII-300 is just a little too hot to hold (about 115F, I would guess).

Take my CPU as an example. I run an Athlon XP1600+ (1400MHz is default speed) faster than 2000 MHz, a 600 MHz improvement. With a standard OEM heatsink/fan(cost~$10), I could expect my maximum overclock to be about 1600 MHz, and temperatures would be around 65C.

With a high end copper heatsink with a very high CFM fan (cost~$60), my top speed was around 1800 MHz and my temps were about 50C.

With watercooling (cost~$150), my top speed is about 2000 MHz and my temps are about 35C. Do you see the possibilities? Much like racing, how fa$$$t do you want to go?

What should I expect if I installed a fluid system.

You should expect to spend more on the watercooling system than your PC is worth. A watercooling system might allow you to overclock that PC to about 400-500 MHz, but will cost you around $150-$200. for that kind of money, you would be much better off buying a new motherboard, memory, and CPU. (XP1700/Abit motherboard/256MB RAM, for example). You would get 10x the benefits. Like I said above, watercooling PCs is not for everybody. (sorry if that sounded harsh...just trying to get a point across)

In automotive cooling systems pure water is not (necessarily) the best fluid. Some combination (50-50?) of water and ethylene glycol has a much better heat transfer characteristic. Does anyone run mixtures in their cpu coolant?

Yes, the intelligent people run mixtures to minimize corrosion in their systems. Thermally, water is the best fluid available for these types of systems. Adding anti-freeze just changes freezing/boiling temps, but actually hurts the thermal characteristics of water. In watercooling PCs, you never will be boiling water (but in some cases you may have it below freezing... more on that later). Most use a 90% water/10% dex-cool solution for anti-corrosion.

[keithorr]

"the intelligent people run mixtures to minimize corrosion in their systems"

I don't think intelligence has anything to do with this. This is about tinkering.

If you wanted, you could use your propane powered turbine to cool the cooling water (and get your beer cold at the same time)

Check out the link: http://www.asciimation.co.nz/beer/

[NeoMoses]

OK, it's more common sense. I've seen way too many people spend $200-$300 on a watercooling system, then just fill it with tap water. Within a month, the bacteria and corrosion have completely clogged their radiator and corroded their waterblock. It's kinda sad the first time you see it happen to someone, but then you realize, "Hey, distilled water costs less than $1/gallon and anti-freeze is less than $10." To me, if you have hundreds of people recommending anti-corrosives/distilled water from years of experience, and you ignore that good advice, you're really not that intelligent.

Cool Turbine site! Yeah, there are more extreme ways of cooling your PC. One of the most popular extreme methods is actually using an evaporative cooling loop with either propane or some other refrigerant (R12, R134a, etc..) Many of these people will see CPU temps around -40C, and obviously will attain higher speeds.

Also, a high powered peltier can chill a CPU very well. Take a 226W pelt and couple it with a good watercooling system and you can expect sub-zero temps, too. The possibilities are endless! I know that with the talent at this forum, we might see some new and interesting watercooling solutions born. Good luck to all.