What should I do?

[Alex41290]

Couldn't think of an enticing, yet non-noob-sounding thread title, so I just chose this one .

My last WC setup had to be kinda tossed aside because of a few moves and I didn't feel like getting a new block for my A64, so I went back to aircooling. Now, I've been thinking about putting some new parts into my PC. Now, with my current OC (~260MHz FSB), would I really be seeing that much of an improvement? I'm not going watercooling totally for performance either, and my last setup was very loud, so any suggestions for quiet but powerful 80/120mm fans would be nice. This is partially not a totally watercooling question either, but the bulk of it is. I don't want to drain my account, so I can either: a) get a new case (I have a chenming case...kinda bad for cable management, but not a bad case), b) get a WD Raptor (got two 120/80gb IDEs right now, not sure if it's worth the extra cash in lieu of other parts), or c) watercooling. The reason I'd want a new case is for space, mostly, and asthetics. This Chenming case is pretty bad (not sh*tty, flashy light bad, just a silent ugly ) and it's small to boot. If I would get a Raptor, I could probably settle with getting a DVD burner as well (they are fairly cheap nowadays), so that's an option too. Lastly, with the watercooling, this would be a pricey endeavor, so if I won't see that much of an improvement, I don't know if I really want to put the money into it.

To continue on with the watercooling idea, I have a few questions. I used to take my watercooling apart when I would move it places just for the safety. I really only moved it 3 times over the time period of about 1 year, but now I'm probably going to be transporting it to people's houses, and to my house whenever we get one :x. If I make sure that the connections are tight and that there are no leaks, is it safe to transport the setup fully assembled? What other precautions should I take when doing this? When that is squared away, I was thinking something along these lines for my parts:

-Storm G5 or maybe stick with the DD TDX which I used before
-DD or other version of the Liang 12v pump
-some dual-120mm rad
-AquaComputer res
-my trusty Maze4 GPU
-and of course tygon, clamps, pentosin (gotta be blue ), etc.

These will easily run me over $200, but, as I said, if the performance will improve that much more, it's worth it.

Here is my current internal case layout(I don't know why imageshack uploaded it as PNG, so sorry if it's slow):

And here is what I plan to do with it with said parts:

Suggestions are welcome. I'm going out to dinner, so I won't be monitoring this until I get back.

Thanks,

Alex

 

[Alex41290]

bump?

anyone???

 

[Shoggy]

I would do it that way:

 

[ikellensbro]

You would have seriously reduced flow if you stuck a reservoir in the middle of your loop: the water will have to be sucked through the radiator to get back to the pump, because the flow in the reservoir will be akin to trying to push water from one pipe across a pond (or lake) to another pipe. Your previous flow idea (pump->rad->cpu->gpu->res->pump) will work just fine, althoug there might be bubbles in your Aquatubes with mounted on the top and using a high flow pump (I'm sure TN will know if this/isn't a problem).

Transporting your rig should be fine as long as you use hose clamps (optionally, if you want really strong tubing connections, heat up the tubing before you put it over he barb, then tighten the hose clamp(s) as far as they'llk go without damaging anything, and the only way that connection will come off is by cutting the tubing ). If you have a long way to transport it, try draining your loop then refilling it at the lan if you're worried about the fluid leaking during transport.

You can still use your TDX if you get a new top for A64, but if you really want a G5, go for it, although Cathar will (someday, hopefully soon) be making the G7, which seems to be about the best performing block that can be made. Your other component choices look to be ok (unless you get some adapters, AquaTubes can only be used up to 3/8" fittings, and is a bit restrictive to your flow), I'm assuming the Laing pump you're talking about is the D5 (Swiftech MCP655), and for the 2x120 rad a BIP2 would be plenty enough for your loop, even with as quiet of fans as you want.

As for if it's worth it to get back into water cooling, you'll have to decide for yourself:
$75 for D5
$10 for A64 TDX top
$36 for BIP2 (or $40 if you want the new single pass BIP2)
$20 for fans (your choice)
$10 for Pentosin, distilled water, hose clamps
$10 for tubing (mcmaster.com page 82, really good prices fro great tubing)
$60 for AquaTube (most expensive item on this list )
That makes ~$220, less if you don't get an Aquatube, have any of the components I listed already, or buy used (you can save a lot buying used, a lot of people buy loops then sell the components for a lot less when they're barely used).
Water cooling will likely make your computer much quieter (replace gpu, cpu, and intake fans with 2 120mm as quiet as you want), run cooler (what are your current temps?), and probably give you at least another 100-200MHz (once again, what hsf are you currently using, at what temps with that OC?), but I'm addicted to water cooling, so I'm not the best to determine your current situation.

 

[Erasmus354]

You would have seriously reduced flow if you stuck a reservoir in the middle of your loop: the water will have to be sucked through the radiator to get back to the pump, because the flow in the reservoir will be akin to trying to push water from one pipe across a pond (or lake) to another pipe.

It wouldn't really hurt the flow that much, the question is will the more efficient tubing setup make up for the slight loss of flow? That is harder to answer.

This is a closed loop so your pond analogy is a bit off. If you are thinking about the pond analogy still, think as if the two pipes at opposite ends are connected beneath the pond, with the pump in the middle. You can then think of the pump as sucking water from one end and pushing it out to the other end of the pipe, with the pond in the middle.

 

[Shoggy]

You would have seriously reduced flow if you stuck a reservoir in the middle of your loop: the water will have to be sucked through the radiator to get back to the pump, because the flow in the reservoir will be akin to trying to push water from one pipe across a pond (or lake) to another pipe.

Have you ever seen a pond or lake with a cap and a constant compression inside? I don't think so

btw: how can you tell if the water is sucked or pumped through the radiator?

Much conflicts here...

 

[Top Nurse]

There are numerous people on this forum and elsewhere who have exactly the same setups as Shoggy suggested. It will work just fine.

 

[Erasmus354]

There are numerous people on this forum and elsewhere who have exactly the same setups as Shoggy suggested. It will work just fine.

Indeed, it will work fine...however the radiator inbetween the resevoir and the pump inlet is not beneficial. Ideally you want to have the least restriction between the resevoir and the pump inlet, as that will give you more flow.

 

[Alex41290]

Thanks for all the replies. Last night I figured what the heck and tried with a 9x multiplier and it booted at 280 and Prime95 gave me about 48-50*C. I'm gonna run that overnight and see what temps I get and if it is stable. I really don't know if I can keep it at that or if it is stable, so I'll see what I can do. If the Venice can REALLY get that much higher, I'd go for it. The 280 was with 1:1 too, so maybe I can break 300 with a divider? Who knows, but with this all in mind, I'm not sure if that much of a gain will be seen with the WC.

Would I be better off getting an Antec P180 now and save some more cash for WCing in that? If I do go the watercooling route, where can I put my HDD if I take out the bottom rack for the 2x120mm rad? In my old WC setup, I just went with a t-line instead of a res, should I just do that again? And will the TDX give me comparable temps to the G5/7? If it's like 1 or 2*C then it's not worth it, but if it's 4*C+ maybe a G5 is a better idea.

I'm guessing the single pass BIP2 is better?
----
D5 - $75
TDX top - $10
pentosin/water/clamps/t-line - $15
rad - $36/40
fans - $20
tubing - $10

that's $170 with the single pass BIP2
----

And ikellensbro, don't worry about being addicted to WC. I am too, and I was sad to see mine go, but it was necessary .

Thanks for the suggestions,

Alex

EDIT: I have an Eheim 1250 pump, but that thing is gargantuan and almost didn't fit in my case. That was one of the reasons I picked the D5.

EDIT2: My OCs are all stock.