So you want to go into the big wide wet (hopefully not) world of watercooling? There are many things you must learn, young grasshopper. This thread is here to hopefully try to educate people on the pros, cons, cost, terminology, and anythign else we can make up, about watercooling.
Q: What is watercooling?
A: Put simply, watercooling is cooling your computer with the power of water. Water is pumped in a continuous loop in your system, drawing either from a resovoir (res) of water, or having all the water contained inside the tubes. It flows from the pump, to a radiator device (some way of transferring the heat to the air), where all the heat is transferred through the radiator, to the air. The water (coolant) then flows to the CPU and any other sources of heat, where it absorbs the heat put out by each block. It then flows back to the res, where it stays until it is pulled back out again, repeating the cycle.
Q: Is watercooling really safe?
A: When done correctly, watercooling is as safe as air cooling. When done poorly, watercooling is as safe as an underwater LAN party. The main thing to remember about a watercooling system is you have to be CAUTIOUS, you have to be SAFE, and you have to TAKE YOUR TIME. When its all said and done, there will be no risk to your system. If you rush through setting it up, then you put your system in danger. Remember, most failures are due to human error and not a faulty component. A fan can die just as easily as a pump can die.
Q: How effective is watercooling?
A: That depends a lot on the components of your system. In a good watercooling system, it is much more effective than air, in a megahertz/temperature way. Watercooled systems have the potential to overclock higher than one could achieve with air, be quieter than an air-cooled system,. and have a general geekiness factor that no air heatsink could ever obtain
Q: How much is this going to cost?
A: Again, that depends a lot on the components you pick out. You can build a very cheap watercooling system that will perform at the level of air cooling, possibly better, possibly worse. You can pump hundreds of dollars into a watercooled system and obtain fantastic temperatures. Most good watercooling systems, however, rarely cost over $100. It's all about shopping around, comparing prices, and deciding what you need and what you don't.
Parts of a watercooling system:
Pumps
Brands:
Iwaki
Danner (Surpreme)
Via
Swiftech
Eheim
Hydor
Danger Den
http://www.dangerden.com/images/pumps/12v/d4_sm.jpg
http://www.dtekcustoms.com/ProductImages/pumps/E-1250.bmp
There are two main types of pumps: Inline and submersable. Inline means there is an inlet port, and an output port. You hook where you want the water to flow INTO the pump into the inlet,and there where you want it to go to the output. Submersable means you put it underwater, for instance in a res. Many times an inline pump can be submerged but for god's sake READ THE PACKAGING before putting an eletric motor underwater!
Pumps can also be 12v or 120v. There is a common conception that 12v pumps are less-reliable than 120v pumps but that has never been proven or disproven. Both can be equal in performance, and have the same amount of noise (usually none), but 12v pumps tend to be more expensive.
Before buying a pump you should ALWAYS do research on it. For instance, a popular pump is the Danner Mag 3 pump. It has a well-known problem where it will leak on the input port after a week or so of usage. This is easily cured with sealent but it is a hassle, in my opinion. I didn't know this and bought this pump, and consequently had a leak in my case. My board and hard drives are raised so all was saved but it was still something that I could have avoided if I had done my research. Learn from my mistake.
Radiators
There are many, many types of radiators. Some are pre-barbed (barb: connection that you slide and clamp a hose onto) and painted, some are bare copper cores that you have to do yourself. Some are one or the other. The most popular type of radiator is called a heatercore. This is a component taken from a car that looks like a radiator, as in there is an input, and output, and a lot of fins, but it is much smaller. A car radiator can betwo feet long, one foot high, and 3 inches thick. A heatercore is usually 12 inches long, 4 inchs wide, and 2 inches thick (not a rule). When you buy a brand-name radiator such as a Black Ice, it is just a painted and barbed heatercore. Since a normal heatercore costs about $20 from Autozone or any other fine auto parts store, it may look like it has quite a markup. But buying a bare heatercore means you need to put barbs on it. This involves cutting or removing the tubes on it; attaching your new barbs (by JB Weld or soldering); testing for leaks; sealing any leaks; and possibly painting it if you want an aesthetic element. However, some sites such as Danger Den sell bare heatercores that have only been barbed, for $10-15 more than the bare heatercore. My first 'core was a bare DangerDen one and it is top quality. I have since moved on to a self-done heatercore, and they are remarkably similar.
http://www.dangerden.com/images/bice/blackice/bix_black_800w.jpg
http://www.dangerden.com/images/heater_core/dbl_heater_core_lg.jpg
Another form of a radiator is commonly called a "bong cooler." This kind of cooling system is referred to as "open air". Instead of passing water through narrow tubes with fins, where the heat passes to the fins, then is passed to air moving over the fins, a bong cooler uses a shower head or some other way to scatter the water around the inside of an open tube that has air being pushed through it. The hotter-than-ambient water evaporates and carries with it, the heat. This is the same principle as sweating; as the fluid evaporates, the heat is carried away. The good thing about this system is you can get much lower temperatures with it, as in below ambient temperature (impossible with normal watercooling). The downsides are, you need a large tube for the water to fall in, you have to fill it nearly daily due to the evaporation, and it is more prone to gathering living things inside the system.
Finally, keep in mind that due to the way that fans work, you DO NOT want to have your fan mounted flush against the radiator, even though its entirely possible (screwing to the radiator's fins). You want whats called a shroud, which pushes back the fan about a half inch and seals around it, so that it ensures that all the air goes through the radiator, and eliminates the dead zone that is in the middle of fans.
http://www.overclockers.com/articles389/pic1.jpg
Waterblocks
Makers:
DangerDen
D-Tek
Swiftech
Custom
Waterblocks are arguably the most important part of the system. You can have a huge radiator, the best pump in the world, but with a bad waterblock, you will get terrible temps. Waterblocks are the only way to transfer heat from the the CPU (or GPU, or Northbridge, or whatever you are cooling) to the coolant. It works much like air cooling; imagine a submerged heatsink and you will get the idea. Blocks are usually made of copper, although old blocks were made of aluminum, and some high-end blocks are made of silver or gold. COpper is best because it is the best priceerformance ratio. Usually you only want copper components when you have other copper components, but some blocks, such as the D-Tek Spir@l, have an aluminum top. However it is anodized so there is no aluminum directly touching the coolant. A mixed-metal system is bad because the various metals will corrode each other, and inside the waterblock and radiator (pumps rarely have exposed metal), that will hinder heat transfer.
Blocks are usually available in Socket A format by default, with a Socket 478/904 adapter available for an additional cost. In light of this, many blocks are designed for the exposed-core Socket A design, so they are not hard to mount. Most blocks use the in-board mounting holes that more motherboards have, and must be screwed into place with a bolt-spring-nut arrangement. Some blocks have an optional kit that allows mounting on the tabs on the socket.
http://www.swiftnets.com/assets/images/products/MCW6000/MCW6000-64-installed.gif
http://www.dangerden.com/images/tdx/slver_amdluc_800w.jpg
Tubing
Tubing is a very important decision. Poor quality tubing can be a disaster in your system. The most important qualties to look for are a thick wall (to make sure it does not kink when you bend it) and strength. Tubing slides over the barbs that all watercooling equipment is equipped with, and is held in place with metal or plastic clamps. Many people do not like the metal hose clamps such as sold at Home Depot (I used to be one of them), but I have used them in my current system with no problems; in fact they offer more control and spread-out clamping than the plastic clamps you usually see. Tubing is usually either Clearflex or Tygon. They are nearly identical except Tygon is certified for lab and food use. However both work equally well in a system. Tubing is usually in either 3/8" ID (inner-diameter) or 1/2" ID size. Tubing is measured from the INSIDE, ID, while barbs are measured from the OUTSIDE, OD. If you have 1/2" OD barbs, you want 1/2" ID tubing, although you can use 3/8" ID tubing. The most commonly-used sizes in the Western Hemisphere is 1/2" ID and 3/8" ID, but overseas, especially in Germany, they use 1/4" ID tubing.
http://www.dangerden.com/images/misc_hardware/ClearFLEX.jpg
http://www.dangerden.com/images/misc_hardware/tygon_r1000.jpg
Reservoirs
Reses are very simple. They are containers of water, with an inlet and and outlet. The advantege of them is, there is a screw cap on the top, so filling is a matter of opening it and putting in water. Also, it is felt they are easier to bleed (get all the bubbles out of a water system) because the water hangs around in the container, and the bubbles rise out of the water. The downside is, they take up space, and cost money. The alternative to a res is having a T-line. A T-line is a T you put in the path of your system, usually right before the pump. The inlet goes on the left, the outlet on the right, and the bottom part sticks up, with a hose. You use a funnel to pour water into the system. This saves a lot of space and some people prefer this (myself being one of them).
http://www.dangerden.com/images/reservoir/resnew_large.jpg
http://www.dangerden.com/images/misc_hardware/nylon_t.gif
Watercooling stores:
Everything:
http://www.dangerden.com
http://www.dtekcustoms.com
http://www.swiftnet.com
Tubing, barbs: http://www.mcmaster.com
Pumps: http://www.marinedepot.com
COST!
As I said before a WC system can range from 50 to a few hundred dollars. This varies largely on the components you pick.
Lets look at some prices of hand-picked components from various online stores, first homogenously from the stores, then by price:
DangerDen Cheap:
Maze4, 1/2", Lucite top - $34.95
Hydor L25, 185GPH - $37.95
The Heater Core with 1 fan shroud - $42.99
ClearFlex 60, 10 ft - 10 x $1.25 - 20% = $10.00
Plastic clamps - 8 x 0.75 = $6.00
T-fitting - $1.75
Evercool Chrome Aluminum Fan 120mm - $11.95
4oz Water Wetter - $3.50
Total: $149.09 + shipping = ~$160
DangerDen High-End
TDX Block - $52.95
Eheim 1250 Pump - $59.00
Double Heater Core Radiator with Shroud - $49.99
Evercool Chrome Aluminum Fan 120mm - 2x = $23.90
ClearFlex60 Tubing 1/2 Inch - $10.00
Plastic Hose Clamp $7.50
Res - Cylindrical, 1/2 Fittings, 3/8 80mm Adaptor $28.99
12oz Water Wetter - $7.50
TOTAL: $239.83 + shipping = ~$250.00
Systems can be cheaper, systems can be more expensive. Look around the provided sites, ask around with people who have done it before. Above all take your time, plan it out, try to think of everything before you put it together! Remember that radiator has to go somewhere! Remember, tubing cant bend immediatly at 90 degree angles!
Good luck in your watercooling adventures! If you have any questions you can ask here in the Watercooling forum, or PM me or any member here. This is a community and we are all here to help each other.
Everyone: Please feel free to add whatever you want to this. This was all just stuff off the top of my head.
Q: What is watercooling?
A: Put simply, watercooling is cooling your computer with the power of water. Water is pumped in a continuous loop in your system, drawing either from a resovoir (res) of water, or having all the water contained inside the tubes. It flows from the pump, to a radiator device (some way of transferring the heat to the air), where all the heat is transferred through the radiator, to the air. The water (coolant) then flows to the CPU and any other sources of heat, where it absorbs the heat put out by each block. It then flows back to the res, where it stays until it is pulled back out again, repeating the cycle.
Q: Is watercooling really safe?
A: When done correctly, watercooling is as safe as air cooling. When done poorly, watercooling is as safe as an underwater LAN party. The main thing to remember about a watercooling system is you have to be CAUTIOUS, you have to be SAFE, and you have to TAKE YOUR TIME. When its all said and done, there will be no risk to your system. If you rush through setting it up, then you put your system in danger. Remember, most failures are due to human error and not a faulty component. A fan can die just as easily as a pump can die.
Q: How effective is watercooling?
A: That depends a lot on the components of your system. In a good watercooling system, it is much more effective than air, in a megahertz/temperature way. Watercooled systems have the potential to overclock higher than one could achieve with air, be quieter than an air-cooled system,. and have a general geekiness factor that no air heatsink could ever obtain
Q: How much is this going to cost?
A: Again, that depends a lot on the components you pick out. You can build a very cheap watercooling system that will perform at the level of air cooling, possibly better, possibly worse. You can pump hundreds of dollars into a watercooled system and obtain fantastic temperatures. Most good watercooling systems, however, rarely cost over $100. It's all about shopping around, comparing prices, and deciding what you need and what you don't.
Parts of a watercooling system:
Pumps
Brands:
Iwaki
Danner (Surpreme)
Via
Swiftech
Eheim
Hydor
Danger Den
http://www.dangerden.com/images/pumps/12v/d4_sm.jpg
http://www.dtekcustoms.com/ProductImages/pumps/E-1250.bmp
There are two main types of pumps: Inline and submersable. Inline means there is an inlet port, and an output port. You hook where you want the water to flow INTO the pump into the inlet,and there where you want it to go to the output. Submersable means you put it underwater, for instance in a res. Many times an inline pump can be submerged but for god's sake READ THE PACKAGING before putting an eletric motor underwater!
Pumps can also be 12v or 120v. There is a common conception that 12v pumps are less-reliable than 120v pumps but that has never been proven or disproven. Both can be equal in performance, and have the same amount of noise (usually none), but 12v pumps tend to be more expensive.
Before buying a pump you should ALWAYS do research on it. For instance, a popular pump is the Danner Mag 3 pump. It has a well-known problem where it will leak on the input port after a week or so of usage. This is easily cured with sealent but it is a hassle, in my opinion. I didn't know this and bought this pump, and consequently had a leak in my case. My board and hard drives are raised so all was saved but it was still something that I could have avoided if I had done my research. Learn from my mistake.
Radiators
There are many, many types of radiators. Some are pre-barbed (barb: connection that you slide and clamp a hose onto) and painted, some are bare copper cores that you have to do yourself. Some are one or the other. The most popular type of radiator is called a heatercore. This is a component taken from a car that looks like a radiator, as in there is an input, and output, and a lot of fins, but it is much smaller. A car radiator can betwo feet long, one foot high, and 3 inches thick. A heatercore is usually 12 inches long, 4 inchs wide, and 2 inches thick (not a rule). When you buy a brand-name radiator such as a Black Ice, it is just a painted and barbed heatercore. Since a normal heatercore costs about $20 from Autozone or any other fine auto parts store, it may look like it has quite a markup. But buying a bare heatercore means you need to put barbs on it. This involves cutting or removing the tubes on it; attaching your new barbs (by JB Weld or soldering); testing for leaks; sealing any leaks; and possibly painting it if you want an aesthetic element. However, some sites such as Danger Den sell bare heatercores that have only been barbed, for $10-15 more than the bare heatercore. My first 'core was a bare DangerDen one and it is top quality. I have since moved on to a self-done heatercore, and they are remarkably similar.
http://www.dangerden.com/images/bice/blackice/bix_black_800w.jpg
http://www.dangerden.com/images/heater_core/dbl_heater_core_lg.jpg
Another form of a radiator is commonly called a "bong cooler." This kind of cooling system is referred to as "open air". Instead of passing water through narrow tubes with fins, where the heat passes to the fins, then is passed to air moving over the fins, a bong cooler uses a shower head or some other way to scatter the water around the inside of an open tube that has air being pushed through it. The hotter-than-ambient water evaporates and carries with it, the heat. This is the same principle as sweating; as the fluid evaporates, the heat is carried away. The good thing about this system is you can get much lower temperatures with it, as in below ambient temperature (impossible with normal watercooling). The downsides are, you need a large tube for the water to fall in, you have to fill it nearly daily due to the evaporation, and it is more prone to gathering living things inside the system.
Finally, keep in mind that due to the way that fans work, you DO NOT want to have your fan mounted flush against the radiator, even though its entirely possible (screwing to the radiator's fins). You want whats called a shroud, which pushes back the fan about a half inch and seals around it, so that it ensures that all the air goes through the radiator, and eliminates the dead zone that is in the middle of fans.
http://www.overclockers.com/articles389/pic1.jpg
Waterblocks
Makers:
DangerDen
D-Tek
Swiftech
Custom
Waterblocks are arguably the most important part of the system. You can have a huge radiator, the best pump in the world, but with a bad waterblock, you will get terrible temps. Waterblocks are the only way to transfer heat from the the CPU (or GPU, or Northbridge, or whatever you are cooling) to the coolant. It works much like air cooling; imagine a submerged heatsink and you will get the idea. Blocks are usually made of copper, although old blocks were made of aluminum, and some high-end blocks are made of silver or gold. COpper is best because it is the best priceerformance ratio. Usually you only want copper components when you have other copper components, but some blocks, such as the D-Tek Spir@l, have an aluminum top. However it is anodized so there is no aluminum directly touching the coolant. A mixed-metal system is bad because the various metals will corrode each other, and inside the waterblock and radiator (pumps rarely have exposed metal), that will hinder heat transfer.
Blocks are usually available in Socket A format by default, with a Socket 478/904 adapter available for an additional cost. In light of this, many blocks are designed for the exposed-core Socket A design, so they are not hard to mount. Most blocks use the in-board mounting holes that more motherboards have, and must be screwed into place with a bolt-spring-nut arrangement. Some blocks have an optional kit that allows mounting on the tabs on the socket.
http://www.swiftnets.com/assets/images/products/MCW6000/MCW6000-64-installed.gif
http://www.dangerden.com/images/tdx/slver_amdluc_800w.jpg
Tubing
Tubing is a very important decision. Poor quality tubing can be a disaster in your system. The most important qualties to look for are a thick wall (to make sure it does not kink when you bend it) and strength. Tubing slides over the barbs that all watercooling equipment is equipped with, and is held in place with metal or plastic clamps. Many people do not like the metal hose clamps such as sold at Home Depot (I used to be one of them), but I have used them in my current system with no problems; in fact they offer more control and spread-out clamping than the plastic clamps you usually see. Tubing is usually either Clearflex or Tygon. They are nearly identical except Tygon is certified for lab and food use. However both work equally well in a system. Tubing is usually in either 3/8" ID (inner-diameter) or 1/2" ID size. Tubing is measured from the INSIDE, ID, while barbs are measured from the OUTSIDE, OD. If you have 1/2" OD barbs, you want 1/2" ID tubing, although you can use 3/8" ID tubing. The most commonly-used sizes in the Western Hemisphere is 1/2" ID and 3/8" ID, but overseas, especially in Germany, they use 1/4" ID tubing.
http://www.dangerden.com/images/misc_hardware/ClearFLEX.jpg
http://www.dangerden.com/images/misc_hardware/tygon_r1000.jpg
Reservoirs
Reses are very simple. They are containers of water, with an inlet and and outlet. The advantege of them is, there is a screw cap on the top, so filling is a matter of opening it and putting in water. Also, it is felt they are easier to bleed (get all the bubbles out of a water system) because the water hangs around in the container, and the bubbles rise out of the water. The downside is, they take up space, and cost money. The alternative to a res is having a T-line. A T-line is a T you put in the path of your system, usually right before the pump. The inlet goes on the left, the outlet on the right, and the bottom part sticks up, with a hose. You use a funnel to pour water into the system. This saves a lot of space and some people prefer this (myself being one of them).
http://www.dangerden.com/images/reservoir/resnew_large.jpg
http://www.dangerden.com/images/misc_hardware/nylon_t.gif
Watercooling stores:
Everything:
http://www.dangerden.com
http://www.dtekcustoms.com
http://www.swiftnet.com
Tubing, barbs: http://www.mcmaster.com
Pumps: http://www.marinedepot.com
COST!
As I said before a WC system can range from 50 to a few hundred dollars. This varies largely on the components you pick.
Lets look at some prices of hand-picked components from various online stores, first homogenously from the stores, then by price:
DangerDen Cheap:
Maze4, 1/2", Lucite top - $34.95
Hydor L25, 185GPH - $37.95
The Heater Core with 1 fan shroud - $42.99
ClearFlex 60, 10 ft - 10 x $1.25 - 20% = $10.00
Plastic clamps - 8 x 0.75 = $6.00
T-fitting - $1.75
Evercool Chrome Aluminum Fan 120mm - $11.95
4oz Water Wetter - $3.50
Total: $149.09 + shipping = ~$160
DangerDen High-End
TDX Block - $52.95
Eheim 1250 Pump - $59.00
Double Heater Core Radiator with Shroud - $49.99
Evercool Chrome Aluminum Fan 120mm - 2x = $23.90
ClearFlex60 Tubing 1/2 Inch - $10.00
Plastic Hose Clamp $7.50
Res - Cylindrical, 1/2 Fittings, 3/8 80mm Adaptor $28.99
12oz Water Wetter - $7.50
TOTAL: $239.83 + shipping = ~$250.00
Systems can be cheaper, systems can be more expensive. Look around the provided sites, ask around with people who have done it before. Above all take your time, plan it out, try to think of everything before you put it together! Remember that radiator has to go somewhere! Remember, tubing cant bend immediatly at 90 degree angles!
Good luck in your watercooling adventures! If you have any questions you can ask here in the Watercooling forum, or PM me or any member here. This is a community and we are all here to help each other.
Everyone: Please feel free to add whatever you want to this. This was all just stuff off the top of my head.