Water cooled DDR :)

[froudeg]

I've had a lot of interest in the water blocks i made for my ram that can be seen in my avatar.

They are made from bars of aluminium, i drilled a simple channel down them, epoxied off the one end, then cross drilled the 2 holes, fitted in a small bit of brass tube for the hose connection, epoxied and thats about it.

On the ram modules themselves i used normal thermal paste, and used hot melt glue to hold it on the ram module - if i ever need to change the ram i can just carefully peel the glue off.

Some pics:

http://www.coolmods.com/blackice2/ramblocks.jpg

http://www.coolmods.com/blackice2/spec/images/big/4.jpg


More pics of them (and the rest of my work in progress system) can be seen here :

http://www.coolmods.com/blackice2/spec

[slavik]

if you have any copper in the loop, you already made trouble!!!

[froudeg]

Not with inertx :D - atm its water, but im building a chiller using a litre of inertx preflurocarbon coolant :)

[Conscript]

holy :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:,your my hero

[EmineM]

nice, one quick question... how did you get your NB so clean... no matter what I do the stick guey stuff on my Abit ic7 g NB wont come off.

[freecableguy]

Goo-gone

[Unseen]

incredible.... I want two of those for sure!

[WeaponX]

Let's see some temps bro, maybe this'll catch on like wildfire :D

[froudeg]

Temps.....

Well i run the ram at 3.5 volts, without the water blocks the modules heatspreaders (which i of course removed) get scorching hot when gaming/prime95...with them, the blocks themselves are only 1c above ambient.

Hard to tell what the ram module temps are themselves, but if i stop the water flow and play a game/run prime95, they soon warm up and become scorching hot - so they are definately doing their job lol

[slavik]

check the water temp in vs the water temp out ... that'll give you some idea

[bh2k]

You have one of the coolest systems I've ever seen. ;)

[tylerhskate]

Thats crazy, you should start selling ;)

[boshi]

why do you run them like 1 in the figure, rather than like 2 in the figure? 2 would use less tubing.

[Lithan]

2 would be more restrictive due to tighter bends.

[froudeg]

Yep, 2 would be impossible to do the tight bends - without having to have great lengths of tubing to reduce the radius of the bend.

[Sphinx]

froudeg nice setup! What chanel diameter?

[deadmanwalking]

i have been trying 2 build ram water blocks for quite a while and i keep running into trouble

is it possible 2 get the design of your water block off you so i can overcome some technicalitys:confused: :confused: :confused:

[nicholarse]

what size barbs/tubing is that?

[froudeg]

Here's a pic of the channels i drill in the block (ive drawn on it in black):

http://www.coolmods.com/blackice2/ramblocks2.jpg

As you can see its fairly simple, just a straight channel down, then 2 channels for the brass pipe inserts - to connect the tubing to. I used a very long drill bit to do the job, was bit fiddly as i had to empty the swarf out all the time - but it did the job.

All i did then was seal off the hole i drilled on the side, with epoxy...and also epoxy in the brass pipe bits.

These blocks r tailored to my motherboard btw - they are quite thick and will only work if there is a good bit of space btwn the 2 dimms you intend to use them on. Luckily with the ic7-g there is plenty of space. If there is less space you could always use a thinner block of aluminium - but your channel diameter may have to be very small. - altho that problem could be alleviated by a more elaborate design using 2 channels in and out in parallel.

The tubing size is just 5mm internal, 8mm external - its small but very flexible and nice to route round the case. I wouldnt put this inline with a cpu cooling loop etc as its too restrictive - but i've used a seperate pump to cool this section...you could always use a splitter with a good pump.

It doesnt need much water flow to keep the blocks at room temp

[masterofpuppets]

:slobber: COOOOL! I'm gonna try this one day when I get off my ass.

[Mod_Evil Br]

This very roox, what you fiz your conections on your DIY block

[deadmanwalking]

how have you managed to get the ram inside of the block??

[Lasac]

Originally posted by deadmanwalking
how have you managed to get the ram inside of the block??

If you pay attention to 1st pic, you see that he've two blocks to cool one ddr module ;)

The blocks are 'attached' to ddr module with transparent glue by glue gun I think.


Btw, nice job froudeg :toast:

[froudeg]

Thx lasac

Yep, they are held on via hot glue....and i used oridinary thermal paste (white goop) btwn the chips and the block.

[deadmanwalking]

yer but how did u make the slot for them is wat im asking???

[ultron5]

THIS RULEZ !!! :D

How much further could you overclock just with the extra water cooling? As you know maybe I build a WC-System for my Ram too, just with 2 Pelts! :)

I found out that just watercooling gains nearly nothing (1.6MHz) but chillig the Ram -> 20-25MHz more!

Do you cool with plane water or a chiller?

And this Block rulez, I want to say this once more! :D

[Reflex1]

yea i havn't seen no results ...they r no use if theres no improvement :p:

...apart from the sex look :slobber:

[froudeg]

Well i wouldnt try running my ram continuous for 24/7 usage at 3.6v as it is now without it water cooled :)

[PMM]

Oooo errrrr spooky

I did this near enough 2 year's ago...

http://www.brittech.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12&p=20

So good on ya :) something you don't see many people
doing often.


http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pmmeasures/done1.jpg

[redphoenix]

Awesome. You just used a drill press? Thats all I could use if I did this.

[Onycho]

Super Bump!

This really should be stickied...this is about the only thread for how to make RAM waterblocks that I've been able to find.

[MaxxxRacer]

Onycho. and for good reason. its pointless.. there are guys putting 3.9volts through their ram with some simle copper tsop sinks on there.... the watercooling on the ram doesnt get you anything but a lack of flow and ambient temps on the ram. if years of overclocking has learned anything, for the most part ram doesnt respond all that well to getting coooled to ambient. it just doesnt. supercooled is a different thing all together, but for the most part its pointless... stick to ramsinks.. you'll thank me later.

[Onycho]

Yes, they use copper heatsinks MaxxxRacer, but how many of those that are running at 3.9V also have a 80mm fan or higher blowing on them? Even DFI advocates using active cooling on your RAM if you provide over 3V to it, on their new boards. Hence, if you want a quiet system, then water cooling would be just as effective a choice and much quieter.

The point is that there ARE people that want to watercool their RAM, for whatever reason they have and this (provided that there is a caveat that you should use copper instead of aluminum) is the best RAM waterblocks that I've seen over a majority of forums. I know...I looked a lot.

So, give froudeg the credit he's due. This is an extreme solution to RAM cooling that looks great and according to him works quite well as well. So what better place to sticky than Extreme Systems?

[MaxxxRacer]

Sticky's are generally choosen for things that are useful to a large number of people. This is not. It would give people the idea what ram watercooling is something that they should really try doing... and it is a silly notion. yes it is very effective. no doubt. but with a low noise fan (the stock amd fan that coems on their retail heatsinks is perfect for this) along with some ramsinks will do the job just fine even up to 3.9volts.. So there is a quiet, effective, and inexpensive solution for ram cooling..

[Nubius]

Well in the case of the ABit Fatal1ty board they have that "OTES" system with 2 quiet fans blowing over the RAM. Couple that with some tweakmonster Ramsinks and you've probably got fairly good RAM. I've also seen numerous 'jerry rigged' fans hanging over RAM that'd probably do fine.

No doubt though that his RAM looks SEXAY :D

[=[PULSAR]=]

froudeg any updates on the chiller you were building for these blocks?

[Eldonko]

Someone must have tried some type of sub zero RAM cooling by now, is it effective?

Nice job on the blocks froudeg, got any updates?

[MaxxxRacer]

Eldonko, that was the middle of last year... he doesnt come around the water forums anymore.

someone tried LN2 with 4+ voltage and got 2-2-2-5 at 290mhz but OPB beat that with just a 120mm fan and some good sticks of BH5.

[Eldonko]

Lol ya, just noticed that. :p:

[jellybeard999]

nm...............

[Turok]

This could be a alternative for silent RAM cooling, but it would be more expensive.
If I cool my RAM like that, I would have it in another loop and I wouldnt only cool the RAM. I would add cooling to the CPU and vdim voltage regulators on the same loop, and maybe the chipset with one of those 1/4" fittings. CPU and GPU I would cool it with 1/2" tubeings in a different loops and a more powerful pump.

I also would improve those blocks. They look really flow restrictive. how about putting the tubes doing zigzags sideways. The only ptoblem with this is that you would have to bend a lot the tubes or add a "U" shaped tube so you can conect a really small piece of tube between the block and the "U" chaped tube.
It would look something like this:
http://img262.echo.cx/img262/2306/ramblocks1ep.gif

[Thomas FJ]

Eldonko, that was the middle of last year... he doesnt come around the water forums anymore.

someone tried LN2 with 4+ voltage and got 2-2-2-5 at 290mhz but OPB beat that with just a 120mm fan and some good sticks of BH5.

Many of the top overclockers use a delta etc. to cool thier ram... A delta isn't silent...
And in times where memory should have a fan blowing over them, as the Redlines, watercooling would the best choice for the overclocker who wants a silent computer :)
/Thomas

[Him]

What about making a dual evaporator phase change system, and building a special evaporator for those blocks? I imagine a big block of copper with little slits drilled in it where the ram could fit in nicely. Of course, there would be more to it than that and it wouldnt be as vague.

[MaxxxRacer]

ok guys. grab a silent 120mm fan and be done with it. This is a way better option to watercooling it especially considering you would most likely neeed to build a second loop just for watercooling the ram.

[FrozenPC4Brain]

I don't blame froudeg for not being around anymore after the way some people trashed his SUPER COOL & SEXY Water cooled RAM!
Just because you didn't do it, and can live with a simple store bought fan doesn't mean that there arn't some of us who do want to do it the hard way and BUILD with our own hands and not just throw money at it.
I love those blocks!
I built my own, only to see a better way and have about a half dozen of them done now.
I do want a super sexy look for my system!
AND I love being able to say "I built that" from the ground up!

[Disposibleteen]

i can only imagine what kind of restriction running those 4 ram blocks in series would pose, better get and iwaki or some huge pond pump to push that setup.

[n00b 0f l337]

How did you drill that?

[Bloody_Sorcerer]

i believe he said he used a drill press somewheres.and a really long drill bit.
this reminds me alot of bladerunner's stuff; it doesn't necissarily perform well, but it looks really sick, really quiet, and generally badass.

[saratoga]

That looks cool, but watercooling RAM is pretty silly. Particularly if it forces you to use some exotic coolant just to avoid corroding the rest of your loop.

[n00b 0f l337]

Yeah, now if he waterchilled.... Too hard to insulate I geuss..

[MaxxxRacer]

Much agreed with saratoga.

Insulating them if they were running chilled water would be quite a challange i must say.

[Him]

That is true, it would certainly suck. I love the looks of those things, and it wouldnt decrease the performance of your computer by cooling them. It may cost alot, and perform just as good as a $5 fan, but they still look cool. It's like paying alot of money for a paint job on your car. It wont make it run any better, but it looks tight!

I just got my Aqua Xtreme 50Z, and I'm thinking of slapping together some RAM water blocks like that, and putting them on a seperate loop with 1/8" tubing. Right now I have the Thermaltake Aquarius II kit (Dont yell at me!) and I would just use the pump from that. It's small, but the loop isnt going to be big, so it will work fine.

[MaxxxRacer]

Thermaltake :slapass:

[Him]

Not to keene on Thermaltake, eh? Why is that? I got the damn system, like new although slightly used, for $20 from a buddy of mine. You really cannot go wrong there. And i didnt know as much as i do now when I got that, and it was my first water cooling setup, and I didnt have any really good parts, no OC, and it was $20. Whats your beef with Thermaltake? Does that stand with you for everythign they make?

[saratoga]

Not to keene on Thermaltake, eh? Why is that? I got the damn system, like new although slightly used, for $20 from a buddy of mine. You really cannot go wrong there. And i didnt know as much as i do now when I got that, and it was my first water cooling setup, and I didnt have any really good parts, no OC, and it was $20. Whats your beef with Thermaltake? Does that stand with you for everythign they make?

I haven't really looked at the Aquarius II, but from what I remember its not as good a high end air cooling. Which makes it really pointless IMO. Might as well not even bother if air will work better.

[Him]

oh yeah, the thing is absolute crap. Everything on my computer is stock settings, and I dont have anything OCed. On a hot day, I'm at 117F on the cpu. Idle, at normal temps outside, it's about 100F. A high end air cooler would be much more sufficient and efficient, but I got the thing for $20, and I wanted water cooling. You can empathize, right?

[saratoga]

Yeah 20 bucks isn't bad. Probably better then aircooling at that price range.