Not counting the motherboard we fried, dropping our CPU temp 10 degrees Celsius cost us $21.30 per degree in parts. I think we've got all your water cooling questions answered!
Dozens of emails came in after we bolted a car radiator to a water cooling kit in Episode 54... we tried to answer all of 'em in this episode, where we up the ante on our water cooling system and see how low we can drop our processor temperature.
What kind of questions? Ambient room temperatures vs. cooling, the accuracy of our testing software, the impact of high flow pumps and superior water blocks... we try 'em all, and come to a basic conclusion: you can drop your temps big time.
Just be prepared to spend some cash doing it... and try and keep your motherboard dry!
We wish we'd found Petra's Tech Shop back before we shot our intro to water cooling: they're an hour South of us in San Jose, California, and they stock an amazing supply of water cooling gear, including the http://www.petrastechshop.com/eksuuncpuwa1.html and Swiftech MCP655 high flow pump we used to upgrade our water cooled PC.
Systm brings you great episodes on a regular basis, but we recognize that you may want to choose how you subscribe. We've broken down our feeds below to give you the choice of how you enjoy the shows.
Application Feeds
Choose from the list to subscribe to Systm directly through our most popular applications
RSS Feeds
Use these feeds to subscribe to Systm in your preferred format using your favorite application.
Other Feeds
Stay up to date on your Systm specific discussions and news.
Posted by ukaussi on 07/16/2008 at 08:19:14 pm in Systm
After building a new system every 2 years or so I finally tried doing a watercooled system and built one that would both work well and entertain the kids.
I have followed many of the Revision3 guys since their TechTV/Screensaver days so enjoyed the many great & screwy ideas they came up with
Here is what I came up with for around $200 worth of watercooling parts.
*link*
It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed helping when I let them (they got to fill the red blood like coolant)
(more here - *link*
Read More »
Posted by gearhead364 on 06/25/2008 at 02:44:24 pm in Systm
I hate to say it, but this is the second episode in a row that I have not enjoyed watching. Especially the point where Patrick read the stupid letters, I have to listen to enough stupid people in my day to day, should not have to deal with it while watching one of my favorite shows. Here's hoping Ep 57 is better or I might just stop watching for a while.
Read More »
Posted by fishtoprecords on 06/23/2008 at 11:38:27 am in Systm
I think the show needs Julia (from the distill ep) to explain thermodynamics so we can learn that its all about delta T, and if the CPU is only 50 degrees, its not going to get all that cool anyway.
Then Patrick could over clock it to a zillion hertz and Julia could explain why it works well now.
Read More »
Posted by Sam__ on 06/21/2008 at 04:03:29 am in Systm
"
I presume you mean putting it in a tank of it? People have tried it and failed. For a start its really hard to use and keep clean cos gunk gets in easily. Then you have to create some kind of movement in it which mean buying a special pump which can handle the high viscosity. and then you have to some how be able to take the heat away from it which means pumping it through a radiator of some sort. Also if/when you decide to take your kit out itll be a hell of a job getting it all out and clean.
Read More »
Posted by Dosbomber on 06/20/2008 at 09:24:17 pm in Systm
I bought some of that latex-free TPE from McMaster a long time ago, for a slightly different purpose ('bot bumpers). Apparently the stuff I bought is discontinued, but similar to their part 1782T34. Available in 12"x12" and 24"x24" sheets in thicknesses of 1/4" or 1/2".
Read More »
Posted by agent0range on 06/20/2008 at 07:50:47 pm in Systm
"Not counting the motherboard we fried, dropping our CPU temp 10 degrees Celsius cost us $21.30 per degree in parts. I think we've got all your water cooling questions answered!
Watch and download here."
I bet it can be done even cheaper with mineral oil. I'd like to see that.
Read More »
Posted by robodude666 on 06/20/2008 at 10:07:16 am in Systm
"Robodude steals my rant opp again. damn you :D;)
So yeah, WCing is made for high heat output usually created by OCed cpus. A stock E4500 is not going ot test a car rad at all, its only something like 65W isnt it. I say put some proper heat loads on it, 150W+ and then you'll see an even bigger difference between the car rad and air cooling.
I went from mid end air to high end water on my OCed E6300 which was putting out about 150W and it took the temps down 15C and then allowed me to push the cpu even further.
I my eyes if your pushing your chips with some heavy OCing or want silence then WC is the way to go."
Sorry mate, didn't mean it. I'll let you get the next one! But yes, stock temps won't drop as much as OC'd temps would. Though I'm sure, as you mentioned, the computer was almost dead silent with the massive fan off. The MCP655 pump is silent as a mouse, so it won't generate any noise. Only noise you'd get is from the HDDs and stock fans which can be upgraded to Noctuas or S-Flex fans for pure silence.
-robodude666
Read More »
Posted by winsucker on 06/20/2008 at 06:44:41 am in Systm
And now i'm happy ^^.
Tnx for another good episode <3.
Read More »
Posted by Sam__ on 06/20/2008 at 04:56:24 am in Systm
Robodude steals my rant opp again. damn you :D;)
So yeah, WCing is made for high heat output usually created by OCed cpus. A stock E4500 is not going ot test a car rad at all, its only something like 65W isnt it. I say put some proper heat loads on it, 150W+ and then you'll see an even bigger difference between the car rad and air cooling.
I went from mid end air to high end water on my OCed E6300 which was putting out about 150W and it took the temps down 15C and then allowed me to push the cpu even further.
I my eyes if your pushing your chips with some heavy OCing or want silence then WC is the way to go.
Read More »
Posted by robodude666 on 06/20/2008 at 12:27:24 am in Systm
"
I would partly disagree and agree. Is it worth Liquid Cooling your Ram, Chipset, and HDDs like some people do? No. There are plenty of active/passive coolers for that, however Liquid Cooling your CPU or GPU is very worth it in my opinion.The money you invest in a LC system is can be very worth it compared to the cost of a higher-end processor. An Intel Q6600 G0 OC'd from 2.4 to 3.8GHz on liquid is a rather nice gain in performance. Same with a E8400 from 3GHz to 4GHz+. A E8400 retails for about $190 on newegg, while a E8400 (3.1GHz, thats 100MHz FASTER) retails for $270. Thats an entire $80 for 100MHz! Yes, for that price you can get a nice Noctua or TRUE. In fact, Intel's new 45nm processors can OC to about 4GHz on stock air, and 4.5GHz on high-end air so LC isn't required for them but it will provide lower temps and is helpful for older 65nm chips. Video cards, on the other hand, are extremely poorly cooled with stock coolers. A LC solution, even something as cheap as the CoolerMaster Aquagate Viva, can provide an incredible drop in video card temperatures which will allow in a nice OC giving you at least a good 5-10FPS in performance gain. These 5-10FPS can be the difference in getting a headshot or not.
I spent about $400 shipped on my liquid cooling unit (excluding GPU block which was donated) for around a 35-40c drop in temperature on my CPU and a 55-60c drop on my GPU.
My CPU idle temperature stayed around the same. However my stock cooler 2.7GHz OC was 70c! With the LC it dropped me down to 35c average. I was even able to OC to 3.0GHz giving me a load temperature of 45c. Something that is impossible on a stock, or air cooled Athlon X2 processor. Just an OC to 2.8GHz on stock air gave me 75c+. Simply imagine what 3.0GHz would give if it POST'd.
From that drop in temperatures I was either able to run my AMD X2 3800+ EE at 2.7GHz cooler than with stock or was able to OC as much as to 3.0GHz giving a noticeable improvement in Windows Vista performance and game performance. JUST from that 300MHz gain I got a nice 5+FPS boost.
Now, was it expensive as hell? Damn straight. Was it a worthy investment? Yes. Would I undo it? No. It was a ton of fun to put together and will last me many years. The D-Tek FuZion CPU block is a universal block so it will fit all sockets I would want. I can use it on an Intel or AMD rig. I won't be worrying about the new socket for Nehalem any time soon though, and AMD's AM2+ and AM3 are identical sockets to the AM2 which is supported.
I think you guys should now try with a radiator designed for Liquid Cooling like a Swiftech MCR320, ThermoChill PA120.3, or FeserOne TFC Triple Radiator. I won't believe that you only get a 10c drop from LC. Those are the results you'd get from a high-end air cooler or all-in-one like the Swiftech Compact or ThermalTake 760i. If you want to use the big ass heater core/car radiator then fab a nice shroud so that the entire radiator's surface has air rather than just the center.
Cheers,
-robodude666
Oh, and P.S. Petra's Tech Shop is a nice place to shop for stuff but it is extremely expensive compared to some other shops. I'd personally suggest NCIXUS.com (US version of NCIX, a Canadian shop) or jab-tech.com. My LC system was about $370 + $30 shipping (Insured -- It ain't coming from canada without insurance.) and would of easily cost me about $30-60 more if I went with Petra's Tech Shop.... Even including the higher shipping cost from NCIXUS.com. But be warned, with them its about 1.5 weeks to process and ship your order. About 2 weeks for LC stuff. But then FedEx gets it to you very fast. Faster than I normally seen FedEx work.
Read More »
