Liquid Cooling...

[Guest navav2002]

Hey C17SimGuy...We'll Just start our own thread...Others may be interested in Liquid Cooling also??*Copied C17SimGuy from other thread*"Hey Chuck!(Sorry to hi-jack this thread) I wanted to ask you what all you are cooling with your DangerDen stuff?My old PC had everything cooled with DangerDen blocks (MAZE4s on CPU, GPU and Chipset) and I was planning on doing the same with the A8N32-SLI that should arrive today. However, with the heat-pipe setup, I may omit the chipset waterblock. Are you using the little fan that comes with the mobo to cool the chipset? Do you have a block on your GPU too?I have to wait a little longer though since I'm using an SLI setup and want to wait for the "low profile" GPU blocks that DD is making.Hit me up with a private message. . .I'd love to discuss systems with you!RegardsAndrewEdit: I'm not hijacking the thread: CaptAndy, I'd def. get a dual core CPU if you're thinking about the future. That's what I just did.

[Guest navav2002]

Hey Andrew...I have posted a couple of shots...A picture speaks 1000 words...he hehttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140130.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140132.jpgPlease excuse the sloppy wiring job...I'm just getting this system together...I had a PC Power&Cooling TurboCool 510...But it decided to crap out on me??? So I had this power supply as a spare I just stuck in to get her going while I decide what to get...I'm thinking OCZ Powerstream 610...I dunno for sure...I may RMA the PC Power&Cooling ps...It's Brand Spankin' New!! Or I may elect to take a sledge hammar to it...As you can see I elected to stick with the Factory Heatpipe also...I did debate that...I almost bought the chipset block..but decided to go with the heatpipe..Using the Accessory Fan that comes with the MB...Cooling the CPU with the TDX A64 CPU Cooler...And the GPU with the NV78 GPU Cooling Block...I can take any measurements or supply and photos you may need...Just let me know...This is my First real attempt at Liquid Cooling myself...If you see anything that stands out as wrong...Please let me know!!...I did not find a heck of allot of HOW Too info out there...he heHave Fun!!

[Guest C17SimGuy]

Don't worry about the sloppy wiring job! Wait til you see my "old" setup! LOL As far as the PCP&C PSU, I would definitely call them ASAP. They really are a top-notch company, and I've NEVER had problems with any of their products. I emailed Dan from Dangerden to see what his thoughts are about the heatpipe design, and he seemed to think that it is adequate as long as you aren't doing any extreme overclocking (increasing the system voltage). If you start to do that, you'll probably cook the NorthBridge and SouthBridge. After checking into further, it does look like the A8N chipset waterblock will work for both the NB and SB, and since the SLI is controlled from the SB, an extreme tinkerer may want to get two blocks for each chip. It does look like they'll fit okay and the heat pipe madness is only held in with spring loaded plastic anchors. . .easy to remove and replace. The only thing that concerns me is what the copper heatsink to the left of the CPU socket is covering. It obviously wants some kind of passive cooling, and removing the heatpipe mess would leave it uncovered. Thus, I'm electing (for now) to leave it and just use the little fan that comes with the MB. Speaking of, how loud is it? :D One thing I may want to bring to your attention is that it looks like you have your pump running to your reservoir and then to the CPU. I guess if the CPU temps are okay, this may be okay. . .but I'd also like to refer you to an email I got from Dan at Dangerden:Now set up is very important and it should go Pump-CPU- then how ever your system works best, the least amount of tubing the best but I'm sure you already know this.Pump-CPU-other blocks-Radiator-Reservoir and back to pump. Any order after Pump-CPU will work.Best regardsDan [email protected]Maybe there is a pressure loss when going through the reservoir that is adverse for the CPU? Anyway, here are my thoughts/comments on watercooling, most of which I've read somewhere or heard from the "gurus":1. LEAK CHECK THE SYSTEM FOR 24 HOURS BEFORE YOU ATTACH IT TO ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS! I did this and found a VERY slow leak from one of my Y fittings. I'm glad I did! This requires a LOT of patients. . .which can be hard when you want to get your killer new system up and running fast. . .but again, be patient! The reward is worth it!2. Read as much about it as you can! I'm surprised you said you didn't find much info about it. . .try here:Overclockers.comwatercooling.comor the manufacturers themselves:dangerden.comfrozencpu.com3. If you are unsure, ASK QUESTIONS! There are a lot of great forums discussing water-cooling, as well as the manufactuerers. In fact, I like just calling 'em up and asking them over the phone. The guys I've delt with are always really curtious and really knowledgeable. Plus, your dealing with fellow "computer geeks" that usually love sharing info. :D 4. I'll think of more later. :D Here's some pics of my old P4 3.4 about 10 seconds before I gutted it out to sell on ebay. . .(as well as a pic of some of my new components that are starting to pile up!) Yes, I know it's dusty, but it hasn't been run for almost 2 months, and I left the cover off. :( Computer neglect! :D Good luck everyone. . .and like Chuck said, have fun with it! -Andrewhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140229.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140230.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140231.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140232.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140233.jpg

[Guest navav2002]

Thanks Allot Andrew for the info on routing!! And pointing out my flaw!! I will definatly correct that...What an impressive stack of stuff you got going there!! Sweet!!I Guess I may have exaggerated with my lack of info statement!! I think I had visited most of the links you provided...I was just a bit too "Gung Ho" and didn't really spend allot of time searching for answers to the few questions I had...I am sure the info is there had I looked...I'm sorta bad about asking for help...More than willing to share my expierences...But I hate to ask for help...Funny Huh..or Dumb..Well Fortunatly all has worked OK thusfar(Nothing had melted down anyhow)..."little fan that comes with the MB. Speaking of, how loud is it?"Quiet...in my opinion.."The only thing that concerns me is what the copper heatsink to the left of the CPU socket is covering. It obviously wants some kind of passive cooling, and removing the heatpipe mess would leave it uncovered."I Agree...My thoughts were..When the time came...To Modify(cut) the pipe and leave that section in place?? and posiably the fan since it's kinda cute... :-) A couple of questions:What Fan are you using for your radiator?? I was going to get a PanaFlow(sp?)...I'm not happy with my existing set-up...Have you got a feel for how many components you can "put in line"?? ie...Could you do the CPU, GPUx2(SLI), NB and SB with one trip through a radiator?? I just was curious...I'm not a thermodynamicist..he he...But common sense tell's me the coolant is going to get progressivly warmer after passing each component?? I may be missing something physics wise??What coolant do you run?? I bought the MCT-5...Which seems it may be a glycol based coolant?? I read somewhere that Stright H20 actually has a more efficient heat transfer rating than glycol?? Again..I may not have the facts stright..I'd need see if I can find that info again...I remember seeing a chart they had showing the heat transfer effectivness or whatever the correct term is...Kinda struck me as odd..I may again not understand the physics??I sure appreciate your post!!

[Guest C17SimGuy]

"The only thing that concerns me is what the copper heatsink to the left of the CPU socket is covering. It obviously wants some kind of passive cooling, and removing the heatpipe mess would leave it uncovered."I Agree...My thoughts were..When the time came...To Modify(cut) the pipe and leave that section in place?? and posiably the fan since it's kinda cute... :-)That was what I was planning on doing. . .cutting the pipe and leaving the sink. . .if it came to that. Although I attached another email from Dan @ DangerDen. :D Good stuff!As for the rest of your questions:1. I used a 120mm Sunon fan that came with the radiator (from DD). 2. Yes, you can put inline 2 (maybe 3) components with a single small radiator (BlackIce Extreme) which is the single 120mm radiator. If you start getting hot components, you should definitely bump up to a bigger radiator. With the FX-60 and SLI setup I'm planning on doing, I'm getting a BlackIce Extreme III (which is 3 120mm radiators on a big stack.) I may, (as I did with my previous system) introduce a Y and branch the hose coming out of the pump, to look something like this:PUMP -> Y -> CPU ------> Y -> Radiator -> Reservoir -> PUMP........--> GPU(x2) -->/You can kind of see it in the pics. Maybe my logic is off, but it seem to make sense that a big radiattor will cool the water sufficiently, and the "cooled" water will cool further as it collects in the reservoir, then when it's pumped through the Y fitting, it'll split "cooled" water to both blocks. You may need a pump with high head pressure to do this successfully though. With this setup, my CPU temp (according to MB Monitor) never got above 42*C under a heavy load. It would probably have been better had I used a larger radiator. If you look at the article here: http://www.overclockers.com/tips1222/ you can see some good before and after temp loads, and the guy uses a double sized radiator (2x120mm) and only two blocks.3. I used Zerex anti-freeze mixed with distilled water. (I think it was 4:1 or 10:1 water:AF. I can't remember tho!) I also mixed in "leak detecting dye" which is UV reactant. . .just to be "cool." I didn't use any of the "non-conductive" liquid for a few reasons:One, it wasn't available a year ago. Two, even if you use non-conductive liquid and it leaks, as soon as it touches some of the inevitable dust on one of your PCBs, it becomes "polluted" and thus conductive. So why waste money on it? I may this time just for giggles and the all time wonderful saying "because I can." :DHere's another email from DD that I dug up:Hi Andrew,Best to leave the heat pipe alone but feel free to play with it if you have to, I'm not sure if our Asus Maze4 Chipset would fit it so I would want (if I were you) to have it in my hand and made sure it fit before I tore the heat pipe apart. We will take it back if it does not fit.Sorry but cooling the CPU and chipset and even a single GPU cooled with a Maze4 GPU can be handled by single Black Ice Xtreme but not when it comes to SLI blocks and the CPU, we suggest much larger rads especially when OCing.Setup: Pump-TDX-the rest of the blocks-radiator or reservoir next depending on which is easiest to pump up with the least amount of tubing and least amount of turns;)Best RegardsDan [email protected]Later! regards,Andrew

[Guest navav2002]

Ahhh see my Radiator didn't come with a factory supplied Fan...There is a shop close to me that is carrying the DD stuff...Just started getting it in just before X-mas...Their Rediators are not equiped with fans...So I'm using my existing case fan...Not enough airflow..it's too weak...I will try and look up that fan you have...I just got the single BlackIce Extreme Rad...They had a Two fan version I almost got...I don't think they had the BlackIce Extreme III...That is sweet for sure...Thanks for the info!!Will you keep me posted on how your build goes Please!!

[Guest C17SimGuy]

I just noticed something. . .it looks like we are going to have *almost* identical rigs! I may ask you a billion questions when it comes to tweaking everything! :-) I just ordered two XFX vid cards (the same one you have). They should be here by week's end. Hopefully my clear case will be too! I'm waiting on Dangerden now, since they are working on "low profile" NV78 waterblocks for the SLI setups. I guess without it, I won't be able to use the X-Fi at all because all the PCI slots will be covered up! Silly ASUS! What were they thinking? LOLHere's a pic of all my parts in the holding patern:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140993.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/140994.jpgHopefully FS will run well with this setup! What do you have for your HDD setups?I have a Raptor 74G SATA that I was planning on using for the OS/Games drive, two 300GB 7200RPM Seagate SATA drives (for raiding, and possibly FS dedicated on it's own partition?) and my good ole Western Digital 120GB ATA100 drive which I'll use for backing everything up. . .I orignally had FS on it's own 80GB partition of the 120GB drive, with the OS on the other 40GB. It seemed to work well with all the megasceneries I installed. I think I'll check out O&O defrag with this new rig. . .more to come when assembly starts!-drew

[Guest navav2002]

Looking Great!! Looks like the "Holding Pattern is Full" he he.."I may ask you a billion questions when it comes to tweaking everything!"Gladly...However mine is very new to me also..So I don't know too much about tweeking the A8N32 yet myself...That system is still very much a work in progress..."Hopefully FS will run well with this setup!"Yeah...It may do OK...A little more powerful system would have been better...But you should be fine...he he"What do you have for your HDD setups?"Two 36g Raptors in Raid0 right now...This is one of the areas that I'm hoping to work on...*Thinking* about a single Raptor 150 with partitions...or maybe two in Raid0?? Just starting to read up on that...Not sure if guys are doing Raid0 with that drive or not..and how it does...Third option is two non raid...Just not sure yet...I really don't want to buy two of the things at 300 smackers each...The FX-57 is strictly a FS Rig...It's got a really stripped down/tweeked XP OS, Temp Monitoring Software, O&O Defrag, Nod32 and FS..That is all that's on there...It's Online only For Real World Weather and Payware AC validation..No Browser installed...I have this 4000+ system which is my "WorkHorse" and Online FS RIG...It also has a similar Tweeked OS...I want to put the two 36g Raptors on here in Raid0...and then use the existing WD Cavier for back-up ect...I have an external USB HD for transfering stuff to the FX system..."I have a Raptor 74G SATA that I was planning on using for the OS/Games drive, two 300GB 7200RPM Seagate SATA drives (for raiding, and possibly FS dedicated on it's own partition?)"Sweet...Sounds Good!!I have been putting FS on it's own partition(or even physical drive) for some time now...I like the results thusfar..I started mainly because I had been tweeking WindowsXP so much...I hated loosing FS everytime I honked up the OS and wanted to format...Kind of an odd reason for doing it...But it has really worked well other than some of the payware aircraft have to be re-installed after a fresh install of XP...Just a thought...Two Seagate's in Raid0 with OS and everything else...Partitioned however you like but to include a partition dedicated to Add On Scenery for FS...Then FS only on the Raptor...Again..Just a thought...Some may prefer the OS being on the Raptor along with FS...I personally don't think I'd waste valuable Raptor real estate on windowsXP and antivirus software...Windows will benifit from being in RaidO on the Seagate's...It will probably boil down to your own experimentation anyhow...I think you would really like O&O Defrag...But it may cause you studders in FS...One way to fix that is..Go to start/settings/control panel/administrative tools/services...Once there scroll down till you see O&O...Highlight O&O/Right Click/Properties and set "start up type" to manual...I have a shortcut to "services" in my taskbar...as you will have to go back there and Start O&O before opening the program...Sorry for the inconvienence...But it's better than having a studdering FS in my opinion...And O&O is worth the little extra work...I can't find an option to keep it from "running at start-up" in the O&O GUI...There may be some other registry hack you could do that I don't know of...But this is working for me so far until something better comes along...O&O is definatly worth it...Man..Your RIG is gonna be soo Sweet!! I look forward to hearing more!!