Irony's HAF Water Cooling

[Irony]

I decided to give water cooling a go. I've been wanting to since about the third time I saw a water loop. lol. The first couple times I thought it was the stupidest idea ever; water in your beloved computer?! Then eventually I saw some awesome rig water cooled and I was like, I WANT...

So then I just had to find out what I wanted exactly, and then get money. So here's what I came up with after some suggestions and stuff in my other thread:

EK Supremacy CPU block
Alphacool xt45
Swiftech maelstrom pump/res
Primochill red tubing 1/2ID 3/4OD
Monsoon fittings 1/2ID 3/4OD
Corsair SP120 fans


Bought everything on Tuesday, and received some of the parts today, namely CPU block, Fittings and Tubing. The rest should be coming tomorrow, hopefully. I'll have pics up in a minute.

Edit: I wanted to add that this is a project log. Forgot to put it in the name;

 

[Irony]

Heres what came today in their boxes. Sorry if pics aren't great, using my tablet. I'm also horrible with taking pictures

First the pretty Monsoon fittings

Some moar

And mooaaar

CPU Block box

Didn't take it out of its plastic yet. just made sure everything was there

I'm slightly annoyed with the tubing its not RED red. It's a little orangish, compared to the red on the Monsoon fittings. Doesn't look that bad in the picture though

Looks really good in the picture actually; maybe its just me

Packaging from Frozencpu was great about 4-5 inches of brown paper covering everything.

Edit: I guess you probly want to see my case now. Here's a picture a couple days ago with my loop plan

I should be back tomorrow with more, UPS says it'll be delivered tomorrow.

(Lol, my internet is so slow I oiled a par of boots while I was waiting for these to upload)

 

[MxPhenom 216]

cant wait for progress.

 

[MT Alex]

(Lol, my internet is so slow I oiled a par of boots while I was waiting for these to upload)

I wear these everyday, all day, always. When I wear them out I buy a new pair, roughly every other year. I'm hard on boots, some make them last 5 years or longer. I use Obenauf's, now, I used to use Montana Pitch Blend. When I was a kid I remember the smell of the mink oil my Dad used to use, then he'd put them by the wood stove so the oil would penetrate.

 

[Irony]

Ya, I like to use mink oil. My boots get light tan from wear after a month or two and I rub mink oil in them, gets em dark brown again. My favorite work boots are shmidt, good heavy steel toe boots. I also have some steel toe ariat pull on boots, alot lighter than the shmidts.

 

[HammerON]

Sub'd for more pics and final build

 

[Irony]

I'm so excited, everything came today while I was at work. PerformancePC packaged averything very nicely with styrofoam peanuts, and then that covered in bubble wrap.

Heres what came today, Radiator, Fans and Pump/Reservoir

Pump/Res

Very clean and looks like excellent build quality

Radiator. More bubbles

Plastic plugs for transport

The copper foil sticker is crooked on both sides

It's also really dirty on the outside, covered with dust. And it makes a clinking sound when I turn it, like theres bits of metal inside or something. Will have to rinse it out and see. Didn't get any distilled water yet so I'll wait on that

Here are it's copper plated screws and plugs

And here's everything all together.

 

[HammerON]

Suprised that the rad is dirty
Shouldn't be any clunking going on either:shadedshu

 

[Irony]

Ya thats what I thought too. The outside of the box is shiny clean, so it was dirty when it was packaged. Not sure if I should try and complain or not. As long as it doesn't leak I think I'll be fine.

Is it alright to rinse it with tap water and then later when I get some distilled water rinse it out with that before installation?

 

[HammerON]

I would wait until you get distilled water to rinse...

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Now that im on an actual computer rather then looking on my phone and can barely see the pictures they are so huge. Parts look good Irony. Get it put together.....................this next week(end)!?

 

[Irony]

Bloody internet died since friday night, just bumped a coax cable going into the modem and it started working just now. I'll try and get pictures up in a bit, have the parts installed almost ready for a leak test

 

[Irony]

Heres a shot of the radiator before installation. There was some minor corrosion inside so I rinsed it first with distilled water, got some gravelly looking stuff out of it and helped with the clinking.

Case with everything pulled ready for install

Here's the pretty block

Back side

Beautiful copper...

Inside of the block with default jetplate. I wasn't sure which jetplate to use because it doesn't specifically say that one is for AMD, so I put the one that said optimized for LGA2011 on it. Has a bigger hole, hence more flow. Idk if there is really even much performance difference at all between them

Here it is installed

Pleliminary hose connections, making sure f lengths and whatnot

Back side of res

Here it is all hooked up with fittings. Those things were a massive pain to install, I would highly recommend thinner wall tubing, like maybe 1/16" to anyone planning on using monsoon fittings. They look good tho

Another shot

Reservoir, all topped off with water after running a couple hours

My only problem so far is bubbles. I've gotten then out of the system fairly well I think, took the rad out while it was running and turned it around letting the bubbles flow out, but the turbulence in the res blows air bubbles into the inlet. I think I need to slow the pump speed down a bit, but plugging it into the 4-pin CPU fan header on my mobo it doesn't change the speed. I've tried setting it to run slower in BIOS and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Anybody have any ideas as far as PWM control?

Edit: nevermind about PWM, I fugured it out in bios. Speed is good now, isn't sucking any bubbles anymore, can't see any in the lines either. I think most of the air is bled out now. Now for temps, before with IBT on high it got over 70c, Here's a pic from today, same setting and speed it got to only 35c, (test crashed after 8 passes but I'll deal with that later) I'd say a 35c+ temerature drop is pretty dang awesome! Right now I'm pretty happy with this

Edit: It's running good now, seems like the bubbles are worked out. This res isn't the greatest as far as flow inside, the water that comes back, if there is any air at all it blows it into the pump intake. Have to run the pump slow to keep it from sucking bubbles if theres any air in the res

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Looks good dude, and that temp drop is massive jesus!

Should be able to push that chip pretty high if you wanted too.

EDIT: And my paint job on the case still looks prime!

 

[JousteR]

Shouldn't that block have the exit at the top..?
Would it only be getting half filled before returning..?

 

[MT Alex]

This res isn't the greatest as far as flow inside, the water that comes back, if there is any air at all it blows it into the pump intake. Have to run the pump slow to keep it from sucking bubbles if theres any air in the res

Is it filled to the "Max" line? I don't have any cavitation troubles with mine, even at 4500 rpm. I have a lot more components in my loop, so I'm sure that helps. I used to with my old Rev 2 integrated res, so I know what you are referring to.

 

[Irony]

Looks good dude, and that temp drop is massive jesus!

Should be able to push that chip pretty high if you wanted too.

EDIT: And my paint job on the case still looks prime!

Thanks. Yeah, I might be able to try for 5ghz, I hope. Temps were my biggest concern before

Shouldn't that block have the exit at the top..?
Would it only be getting half filled before returning..?

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. You mean you think it might be half filled with air?

Is it filled to the "Max" line? I don't have any cavitation troubles with mine, even at 4500 rpm. I have a lot more components in my loop, so I'm sure that helps. I used to with my old Rev 2 integrated res, so I know what you are referring to.

Lol at that video. The whole thing turned into a spinning vortex. With this res, at top speed if theres much air in it, in front of the inlet there will be a whirling vortex of air that gets pulled straight across into the pump, even through the piece of foam and mesh. Right now I have it filled above the max line, so theres only a little air at the very top. What kindof reservoir do you currently have?

Also, earlier it was getting kindof foamy, so I drained it and refilled again with pure distilled water and its all clear. Mustve had a bit of something in it. That also helped a little with the bubbles. Can't hear them at all now

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Thanks. Yeah, I might be able to try for 5ghz, I hope. Temps were my biggest concern before



I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. You mean you think it might be half filled with air?



Lol at that video. The whole thing turned into a spinning vortex. With this res, at top speed if theres much air in it, in front of the inlet there will be a whirling vortex of air that gets pulled straight across into the pump, even through the piece of foam and mesh. Right now I have it filled above the max line, so theres only a little air at the very top. What kindof reservoir do you currently have?

Also, earlier it was getting kindof foamy, so I drained it and refilled again with pure distilled water and its all clear. Mustve had a bit of something in it. That also helped a little with the bubbles. Can't hear them at all now

Im not sure either, but don't worry about it. Your stuff is fine. Except are you not running 3 fans on the rad?

EDIT: nevermind see it in your close up picture.

 

[Irony]

Yeah in the one picture I left that fan off so I could get to the fittings. Hadn't installed them yet

 

[MT Alex]

What kindof reservoir do you currently have?

A Maelstrom.

 

[Irony]

Here's my CPUz at 5000mhz.
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2737011

Couldn't get it stable, even with 1.63v. Didn't wanna go higher. But all the way up to 4.9 I can get reasonably stable, so I'm happy in that regard as well.

Here are some finished shots. Cleaned the cables up some, and dusted it out a bit. This tablet camera makes everything look dusty.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Here's my CPUz at 5000mhz.
http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2737011

Couldn't get it stable, even with 1.63v. Didn't wanna go higher. But all the way up to 4.9 I can get reasonably stable, so I'm happy in that regard as well.

Here are some finished shots. Cleaned the cables up some, and dusted it out a bit. This tablet camera makes everything look dusty.
http://i.imgur.com/aG7l3rW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/skH9a4z.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/V5NcILC.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/43GbCKT.jpg

Christ, the thing is probably dusty. look at all the fans you have! the 4 on the side panel lol!

 

[Irony]

Ya I know lol. I need to get some filters for those or something. I did blow it out a little. Need to take it out to my shop and use a real compressor


Edit: check this out: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2868338&postcount=1285

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Ya I know lol. I need to get some filters for those or something. I did blow it out a little. Need to take it out to my shop and use a real compressor

just take off all 4 of those fans. I don't think you really need them now.

It'll make the system a bit quieter too since a ton of air isn't rush through the honey comb grills. Honey comb is so loud!

 

[Irony]

Ya that stupid mesh is loud. Hence the controller and resistors. Makes it very quiet. I've thought about putting spacers behind the fans, getting them a little higher off the mesh. But like you said they're not so important now. But I already have all the fans, don't have anything else to do with them. Unless I mod my little silverstone SG02B for 120mm...lol. Oh also, I took the optical drive out thats in the pictures. I use it so rarely I'll probably just sell it and get an external.