Episode 48 - Watercooling is Fun! [Discussion]

[travislopes]

On David Randolph's final episode we go deep inside the thermal management on a $5000 PC, install a watercooling kit on the $500 and fabricate a fan adapter with the VersaLASER.

Watch and download the episode here. (http://revision3.com/systm/watercooling/)

[smeerkaas]

Cool episode. Maybe sometime in the future they could doe an episode on phase-change cooling.

[bani-banan]

When Randolph told Patrick that his dad didn't hug him 'til he was 30 made me want to write a poem.

Dave, stand by for a PM =)

Otherwise, not too shabby.

What's up with the multiple camera angles? It's too god damn overkill. It's VERY DISTRACTING.

[titaniumlizzard]

Aww c'mon, how can you make a list of watercooling suppliers without Danger Den? (www.dangerden.com)

[shinigami052]

Heh if you're looking for a crazy cooling...check out phase change systems.

The guys over at TeamPalit (http://www.teampalit.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81) know a lot about cooling and overclocking and stuff if anyone's interested just ask them for help. They're always more than welcome to help you.

[ddreier]

Great Episode! I still can't get over Dave leaving, hopefully he's on there more times than not.

Oh, and I sure hope Pat has seen the bloopers :).

[aaronmt_]

Hi All,

As an avid watcher of Systm, I certainly enjoy its content and overall structure. With the absence of David, I hope to see a new energetic co-host much like Veronica provides on Tekzilla. I am satisfied with the content that Systm provides and it's overall context. I truly believe that change need not be necessary.

Keep up the good work, and bring us a cool new co-host. Geeky and nerdy, always a plus :)

[cryogen97]

I've had the Zalman resorator for a couple years now and I love it to death. My computer has had to live in my bedroom and I demanded a totally silent system. The resorator was a huge factor in my silent PC. It cools my AMD 2400 OCed to 3200 spec and my ati 9800 pro. (I know my PC is starting to get pretty dated) I also have a power supply that has an adjustable fan speed on it too. Used to monitor my temps in the motherboard and processor but never had any really high temps under full load and so don't follow them any more. When sitting at my desk or when I'm in bed, my computer is dead silent.

[speed]

Maybe I jsut didn't pay attention, but did they actually say the title of the Netflix pick of the week? I heard them talk about the stars, but not the film itself.

[firefalcon]

Why did they use an 80mm fan? They should rework the adapter to fit the 120mm fan with minimal air flow impeadence and use it to attached the radiator to the 120mm fan. Better air flow and less noise.


---Matthew Hicks

[melta]

Way to much!

[winsucker]

Hei guys!

Don't wonna be a dick- but because i own H2O cooling system for abut 3-4y now, I think i can share some basics. (And i did have some stupid #$"%#%" All In One system before >: ( )

So:

1. DO NOT PUT YOUR RADIATORS ON THE TOP OF THE SYSTEM - it's like the stupiest think that i have seen.

- Heat is moving up-so whole your system is just constantly heating up itself(/himself?, /herself :D).

2. THE ALL IN ONE W-C Systems ARE A JOKE.

- For good water cooling u need pipes abut 12mm -10mm wide - or the speed of the water in the pipes gonna be too slow to rly do anything.
And I don't wonna ivn begin with a pump, radiator...

If u don't have a time or IQ for connecting 5-6things together with a pipe and some L connectors, just buy a nice bigbiig Cu cooler.

And

3. Just use the f** centrifugal pump from the pat store-like. Don't buy pump that connect on your power sup. or for "flying spaghetti monster" (!!) don't connect it on the motherboard...u will need stabile power sup. for OC-not cooling the shit in the Idel.


For the end some photos of the real thing(they are not mine):

http://www.oc-lab2.com/slika.php?img=zbogi/9800GX2/18.jpg
EK-9800GX2 (for the GeForce 9800Gx2)

http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images/Supreme-acetal.jpg
EK-Supreme CPU Block (have the older brother of him for abut 3-4y now)

http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/images/Mosfet-EVGA-680i.jpg
Small MOSFET cooler (for the power part of your motherboard)

...

Just go here http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/index.php

And for the end-have a good 3Dmark Scores and low Pi-s (and sry for my Eng. - it's not my 1. lang.)

Ow and for guy that asked abut phase change cooling http://www.dimastech.it/scripts/home.php?lang=EN

And for Systm crew - good job! Rly like your show-keep the good work : D.

[technojunkie]

I follow the Arctic Silver Instructions (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm), which recommend using a bit less compound than Dave used.

Arcticlean (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arcticlean.htm) is GREAT stuff for removing baked-on old thermal gunk. Nontoxic too. I haven't found a heatsink this stuff couldn't clean.

DangerDen (http://www.dangerden.com/) FTW! The DangenDen Forums (http://www.dangerden.com/forums/) are good too. XtremeSystems Liquid Cooling Forum (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php) is most excellent.

Also, it's a good idea to pull air from outside of the case through the radiator. You want the air passing through the radiator to start out as cold as possible. It's not absolutely critical but it helps. Air inside of the case is always warmer than air outside of the case.

[m3wse]

I use http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/akticpuhecl.html for cleaning - it's nice smelling as well...

On the flip side of putting the radiator at the top, if you put it at the bottom the heat from it is going to rise through the case past all the components you're trying to cool. If it's at the top then theat will rise away from the radiator and out o the system...

[sam_]

im with winsucker.

pretty much all kits but the swiftech ones are just not worth buying.

building your own is easy if you do a bit of research... and you get a lot better performance than a kit.

my watercooling:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z25/sam__07/setup11.jpg

[bandit]

One other site that has a BUNCH of water cooling and much more...
is www.FrozenCPU.com

I can pretty safely say that they have the Biggest selection of PC mods and Water Cooling :cool:


Heres a few links:

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g30/Liquid_Cooling.html?id=DHhgxeXx

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g30/c83/list/p1/Liquid_Cooling-Water_Cooling_Kits.html

[justin316a]

I'm still thinking about doing this, but if I do I think I'll have a inclination to go all out with the add-ons, probably including levels, flow and temperature gauges, as well as have multiple components water cooled.

My main concern though, (since I never got an answer from Thermaltake when I mailed them about this a year ago) is at what point should I consider adding additional radiators and/or tanks?

I noticed you had the CPU and 2 GPUs cooled under the same system. My major concern was at what point could I, in essence, be trying to cool a component with hot water?

I would have a slight concern if I was to have a diagram looking something like:

Pump -> CPU -> GPU1 -> GPU2 -> HD1 -> HD2 -> Northbridge -> RAM1 -> RAM2 -> Radiator -> Tank -> Pump

I do have a full-size Tower (10 6.25" bays) so space isn't really a concern if I have to add an additional radiator or other accessories. Also if I do need to add a radiator in this setup, exactly where would be the most efficient placement?

[onyx1607]

While Patrick mentioned on the show that watercooling kits may be a convenient purchase for the beginner, he neglected to mention that they are also lacking in performance, compared with standard aircooling.

Most people either go H2O cooling for better heat reduction/lower temps or reduced noise.... when they think they've exhausted their aircooling options.

However, this Anandtech Article (http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3097) compares two low end watercooling kits with a plethora of aftermarket aircoolers, and they concluded that the best aircoolers not only offered better thermal performance, but were more quiet than the low end water kits.

[sam_]

@ Justin316a:

First off, you dont need to watercool your hard drives. a fan or two pointed at them will be more than sufficient. The same wiht RAM and the nb although if you were gunna cool one of them it would be the nb.

If you want really good performance then you could put the cpu (and maybe nb) in one loop cooled by a 120mm x 240mm rad and the two GPUs in a seperate loop cooled by a 240mm or 360mm rad.

[shegs]

on my next system, I plan on water cooling. I am going to go with danger den as it seems difficult getting quality parts to america since most of the sites I have found are somewhere in EU and don't have options to ship abroad.

I read a really good article that taught me a alot
bit-tech water cooling 101 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/08/22/watercooling_101/1)

also if there are any good sites to buy things in america we should congregate them in one nice location.

[drandolph]

When Randolph told Patrick that his dad didn't hug him 'til he was 30 made me want to write a poem.

Dave, stand by for a PM =)

Otherwise, not too shabby.

What's up with the multiple camera angles? It's too god damn overkill. It's VERY DISTRACTING.

Still waiting for my poem.....

[bani-banan]

Still waiting for my poem.....

Patience my friend. Writing something beautiful and meaningful is a tough thing to do.

I'll try to make it non-sexual as well. =)

[bandit]

LOL ^



But yea, one thing i would like to say... HOLY to much Heat sink goop lol

Best way is to make sure your finger is clean or use a glove.. and just smear on a thin layer. just so it covers the surface. :cool:
i Use to work for a PC mod Company and they and I did plenty of water cooling systems, with Heat sink goop... Less is More:)

[giantjoebot]

Use your finger, what? No matter how clean you get your hands they always will have oils on them. Oh my God, so many things wrong with this episode. I hope no one uses this episode as a reference to install a heat sink water cooling, or whatever.

The thermal paste is not what conducts the heat as Dave said. It just fills in the gaps in the heatsink to get a better connection. Like Patrick said if you use to much you actually insulate. The smoother the base of the heat sink the less thermal paste.

When installiing a heat sink you want to clean it with isopropyl alcohol. The higher the percentage the better, 91% - 99%. Also clean the ISH of the CPU. Just before installing. Hit both with with a can of compressed air to elimate dust or whatever might have landed on it while you were getting everything ready.

Use arctic silvers instructions. They work better than the credit card method. Though I do like using the credit card method on GPU's and chipsets since you don't have an IHS, and the die is exposed.

Personally when I'm working with a motherboard I always handle it by the edges if I can help it. Also when working with cooper heatsinks, if you have a case window, and you want it to look nice, use a plastic bag when handling it. Otherwise the oil on your hand will get on it, and the cooper will tarnish wherever you touches it. So you will have a shinny heat sink with brown finger smudges all over it.

Sorry guys, but it killed me to watch this episode. Seriously, hit the hardware forums, and get a rundown of the best current methods of installing stuff before putting on the show.