Watercooling My TT Tsunami case (UPDATED)

[Postal Dude]

Hey guys. Iv got a project log on A magazines website, its too much to transfer it all over here so i'm posting a link to the Plog over at customPC.co.uk. Let me know what you guys think of it. Cheers

http://custompc.co.uk/blogs/chand2ler/2008/07/30/with-a-name-like-tsunami/



A couple of years ago my wife was so kind as to buy me a new case, which took the form of a Thermaltake Tsunami. I started off using arctic cooling HSFs, shortly after that i moved on to a modified Big Typhoon (The upgrade was expedited due to snapping the retention mechnism off.)

Before long it was apparent that even a modified Big Typhoon with a beefy fan on it was struggling to keep myvery poor CAB2E opteron 146 under control when i started pushing 1.6v through it. My next weapon of choice was a Swiftech Apex Ultra (Apogee Version) With a MCW60 thrown in there to boot. With a name like Tsunami surely this case is ideal for water cooling...

For anyone that owns a Thermaltake Tsunami you'll be well aware of the cramped space inside. I moved my HDD into a floppy drive bay to make room for the water pump, mounted my reservoir ontop of my dvd-rw drive and the radiator was mounted horizontally bolted to the backside of my case.

I was happy with this configuration for about a year, and I probably would still be happy with it if my motherboard hadn't of locked me out of it. But thats another story entirely. Either way, my motherboard is now sitting in a box waiting for an RMA number from Asus
(Asus sent a fix for mobo, no RMA required)

[faster3200]

Wow, props on getting WCing going in the Tsunami case. I used to own one and they barely had enough room for a second psu and high end air cooling.

[Postal Dude]

As i said in my previous post, the Tsunami lends its name to water cooling. Or so you would think. Inside the case there is very little in the way of room for any water cooling components. That is unless you want to buy the likes of one of them kits that fit in a single 5.25" bay (No Thank You!)

A few of my previous locations will have to remain unchanged, as there really is no room is this case to put a Laing D5 comfortably. Im still to figure out where to put the Micro-res as im pretty sure on top of my dvd drive is hardly suitable. A Bay res might have to come into play, for convenience reasons.

The radiator however was a major annoyance to me how it was mounted, as it was prone to getting random wires wrapped round it. It made getting USB peripherals plugged in a P.I.T.A and it acted like a vacuum cleaner for behind my desk.

As it turns out, there is just enough room between the front limit of my case, as my PSU to squeeze the QP220 in. When i just enough, i mean that the radiator is wedged between the PSU and that little lip that comes down from the top of the case, leading to the upper most 5.25" bay.

I decided to mount the fans on the outside of the case, sucking air outside the case. This will add pretty much another inch to the height of my case, but it shouldnt be an issue. Some of the screws that came with the kit are sufficient to go through the fan, case and into the radiator, holding it in place.

Notice in the picture with the holes cut. there is a small piece of material that forms part of the circle which used to be a mounting point for various ports. It sits about 4mm in compared to the rest of the roof and interferes with the radiator. It may get bent to conform with the rest of the lid, or jus plain hacked off with the Dremel


Thats the hard work done i think. The radiator fits, the screws fit. As you can see that recessed piece of material is there still. Nothing is permanently mounted yet. I want to fit some anti vibration tape (courtesy of work) And some foam between the fans and the case (again from work) This should stop any little whistles from air leaks and any rattling caused by vibrations from fans and stuff.

[Postal Dude]

The previous two posts have revolved around why i took apart my system, and how it was going to go back together. This post will basically be the reconstruction picture log. That is if it all goes back together smoothly. Everyone loves a shed load of pics showing a rig coming together. So without further ado.


Apart from a few more little cosmetic mods i need to do. I think this is pretty much finished. I want to get hold of some UV reactive dye. Maybe mount that spare HD somewhere other than the floor of the case, get the side fan mounted inside the case. For anyone tracking this, Asus kindly told me how to fix my motherboard and everything is now working great. Although changing from Geil PC6400 to Corsair PC6400 caused windows to need reactivating (WTF?!)

Comments Welcome, good and bad. Catch y'all later!

[Postal Dude]

More pictures of the build in progress

[Postal Dude]

Last load of pics from my build. I wasnt sure how to put them all in order like the original post with the attachment system here. They still make good viewing though.

[emuexport]

Nice work postal Dude!

My original case choice was a Tsunami but couldnt get one so settled with the Soprano. At least if I stuff up a panel I can get another case for $100AUD+.

What temps do you get with that.

[Postal Dude]

Temps are reasonable for what i do. Fans at full speed i get 28c idle and 33c load (200x8 1.2v) and 40c idle 55c loaded (450x8 1.55v)

HAve just got an aircon unit to either chill my water or do a direct die project. So watch this space

[faster3200]

HAve just got an aircon unit to either chill my water or do a direct die project. So watch this space
Sounds like fun. What unit are you using out of curiosity? I might just end up disassembling a fridge to do something similar if I have the time and money.

[Postal Dude]

I have 2 Amcor units.. A 10000BTU and a 7000BTU. Not syre what im doing yet. Might sell one and buy a professional Evap to braze on