Bit the bullet. First custom loop. Will be logging here.

[Dateranoth]

Currently own... dare I say without being judged? Might as well, everyone makes mistakes. I currently own a Gigabyte 3d galaxy II. Which, though it never performed as well as all the reviews I read, it still did good enough for me at first. Plus, it was a present, so free is free .

With ambient temperatures of 26C+ and 3.2ghz @ 1.4volts I was reaching 62C load after a 10 hour orthos loop on my C2D 6400. This was obviously the limit I wanted to push, though I have pushed 72C on air for brief periods of time with no ill effect.

However, I recently purchased a MCW60 for my gpu, and after installing my cpu temps started hitting 62C just a few minutes into orthos. And even more recently, my pump decided to go erratic. Now, every so often I will have to give it a tap when booting so it will pump. Luckily its under warranty, so I will be sending it in leaving me with no cooling means.

Obviously, all this lead up to me deciding to get a new system. I tinkered with WC back around the Athlon Thunderbird days with a friend of mine but not since. So, I did some research on this forum and finally came up with a system that I just finished ordering. Here are the major parts:

D-TEK FuZion Universal CPU Waterblock - 1/2"
Swiftech MCR-320 "Quiet Power" Series Radiator - Black
3x 120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12 Case Fan - Black (47 CFM, 28 dBA)
1/2" ID (3/4" OD) Tygon R-3603 Laboratory-Grade Tubing
Laing DDC w/ Petra'sTech DDCT-01s Top Combo
and
D-Tek GFX UNI-Sink ( because the installation of those ramsinks on my 8800 was a pain, I thought I'd get this and at least test it out. )

Also included all the various thermal pastes, hose clamps, biocide, etc.
And, I already have teh MCW60 which I plan to use in the loop.

I just wanted to post here and thank everyone for all the info they have already provided, and for being there when help is needed. I will be logging as I setup because this will be my first custom loop, and I am sure I will need all the help I can get.

Here are some pictures of my first loop, and then the loop once the gpu was added. All of which required absolutely no case modification, and I doubt I will get away with that with the new setup.

My original loop with just the CPU.


Orthos after 10 Hours with just the CPU in the loop


My 8800GTX sporting a sweet MCW60 and ramsinks ( what a pain )


Read about this somewhere. Look at the stock TIM on my NB and SB of my EVGA 680i. Replaced it with some AS5.


My loop with 8800GTX added to it.



That's about it for now. Hopefully my new stuff will be arriving this week sometime and I can begin the transfer over. Probably be some cutting I have to do to my case, so dunno how long it will take. Any input will be useful Like where to put my new radiator in that case.

Thanks,
Dateranoth

[ColonelCain]

Maybe put it in the bottom? Idk, that case looks really non-H20 friendly.

[Dateranoth]

Maybe put it in the bottom? Idk, that case looks really non-H20 friendly.

Yeah, it really isn't. Though, up top, there is a lot of free room. If I moved my cdrom down I should have lots of room up there. But, I don't really know the size of the Radiator yet, so we shall see.

Thanks,
Dateranoth

[Bail_w]

mount the radiator on the top +1.

[Jedda]

Put it out the back on a swiftech rad box. It has worked out ok for you with rad there 'till now. Why not continue?
Is that a tagan psu? your cables look familiar.
I suspect you may be better rotating your gpu block for tube routing reasons. Guess you'll see.
The two black heatsinks up near your cpu have bad contact on their chips and more of that grey goop putty TIM. A lot of guys have replaced the goop with AS Ceramique and put a light bend in the middle of each heat sink to improve contact. If you look you'll see how some of the chips aren't even denting the goop, usually the middle couple. They run really hot and good airflow helps. Especially the one beside the R50 marked coils. Those run that hot it burns the R50 lettering off in a month or so. Some guys have added heat sinks to them too, using the same as your vid card, either swiftech or enzotech which are better. Th ET ones stick better. Those swiftech sinks fall off regularly.

[Friedchicken]

If you are short on room, have you considered one of these?
http://www.petrastechshop.com/newa.html

[Dateranoth]

Put it out the back on a swiftech rad box. It has worked out ok for you with rad there 'till now. Why not continue?
Is that a tagan psu? your cables look familiar.
I suspect you may be better rotating your gpu block for tube routing reasons. Guess you'll see.
The two black heatsinks up near your cpu have bad contact on their chips and more of that grey goop putty TIM. A lot of guys have replaced the goop with AS Ceramique and put a light bend in the middle of each heat sink to improve contact. If you look you'll see how some of the chips aren't even denting the goop, usually the middle couple. They run really hot and good airflow helps. Especially the one beside the R50 marked coils. Those run that hot it burns the R50 lettering off in a month or so. Some guys have added heat sinks to them too, using the same as your vid card, either swiftech or enzotech which are better. Th ET ones stick better. Those swiftech sinks fall off regularly.

I'm really thinking about mounting the rad on the back. I am VERY limited on room now that I got the ruler out. The rad is 410mm from top to bottom.. My case in 440mm from top to bottom... If I do a top mount, i will have bareely 15mm of clearance between my psu and the radiator. Unless I mount it on the outside of the case. Mounting at the bottom would leave me the most room. Though I would have to relocate my HDs to the 5.5 bays.

Yeah, I was touching those R50 coils the other day during load.. ouch. Have some spare ramsinks somewhere, and will probably add those when I do the WC install. Thanks for the headsup on the other heatsink. I will attend to those .


Now that I look closer. The way the radbox is made to mount, I won't be able to use it because the MCR320 will be below the bottom of my case. Man, this is already shaping up to be a job, and I haven't even recieved anything yet.

My case:
200mm wide 560mm deep 440mm tall

PSU takes up the back 160mm and I have 26mm to spare in the front panel before it will potrude out of the case.

MCR320-QP
410mm Tall x 128mm wide

Leaving me with very few options. Any more ideas anyone? Also, if I do mount on the bottom of the case. I only have at most 10mm below the bottom of the case to the floor ( the gap created by the feet ). Will this be sufficient to expell or pull in the require airflow?

If you are short on room, have you considered one of these?
http://www.petrastechshop.com/newa.html

Almost wish I had. As the cost would have been almost identical without any real work from me, but eh then it would be just another kit. Plus, it's not in stock, and I already ordered my stuff! thanks for the suggestion though.

Dateranoth

P.S.
I just wanted to add that Petra's Roxorz My Soxorz. I ordered my parts last night, and I'll be if they haven't already shipped out today! Minus a small lack of inventory ( but who hasn't been short on stuff lately ) If the merchandise is as good as the service I will be doing all my WC from Petra's from now on, and will recommend them to others!

[Dateranoth]

I believer this is going to be my best option. I will most likely mount the radiator externally like newls1 did in this picture:



Won't know for sure till the radiator gets here, but I do believe it will be my best option.

Dateranoth

[Dateranoth]

I've taken the route listed above, but I would like some input. I am soon to be posting the entire work log of this project. Right, however, I would like to know if I am providing my fans with enough clearance. I wanted a slimmer approach than the above picture. Is this going to hinder my overall airflow? From feel alone it seems as if the fans are drawing just as much air as they were before mounting. They are pulling down through the rad btw.





Thanks,

Dateranoth

[carholmes]

It looks good but it wouldn't hurt to raise it a bit more.

[Dateranoth]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but I've f'd up now. I've already got the tubing cut to length and I just BARELY had enough. (note to self: order more than 8ft of tubing next time) . So, I guess my only real option is to test it out ( once my new mobo gets here, this one is dead) and see how it performs. I suppose if it doesn't do as well as it should then I will have no choice but to buy more tubing and raise it ( perhaps putting in the 1" spacers I have instead )

Thanks for the input,

Dateranoth

[Dateranoth]

Well. I've finished my setup. Didn't take me as long as I expected it would. I wanted to post up my work log and pictures now.

First I want to thank Petras for their amazing quick order fulfillment and shipping speeds. I ordered on a Sunday and my parts shipped out that Monday. They also sent me a personalized note stating the quality of the components I ordered and thanking me for my support, along with their best wishes on my setup. I would like to return the thanks. Now that I have received and installed all the components I can attest to the quality that Petras offers.

A sneak peak at my setup and a thank you to Petras.

Shop Petras! www.PetrasTechShop.com

On a final note to getting this show started. I will not be reporting any temperatures at this time. Due to the fact that my motherboard has suffered damages during the rebuild ( was flaking out before ) and I am currently awaiting my rma shipment.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and support.

Dateranoth

[Dateranoth]

My parts arrived last Thursday.

Petra'sTech "PT_Nuke"
5.25" Sunbeam Rheobus Fan RHEOBUS-SIL
Petra'sTech "Gel-Stuff"
Swiftech MCRES-MICRO
D-TEK FuZion Universal
Swiftech MCR-320 "QuietPower" Series Radiator
120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12 x3
1/2" ID (3/4" OD) Tygon 8ft
1/2" OD T-Fitting
Stainless Steel Worm-Drive Hose Clamp x14
Ceramique - 22 gram tube
Arctic Silver Combo
Arctic Silver Adhesive
Danger Den Delrin FillPort
Laing DDC w/ Petra'sTech DDCT-01s Top Combo 1
1/2'' D-Tek High-Flow barbs
Laing DDC-2 (18W)
3" Petra'sTech Logo
EK High-Flow Fitting 1/2" OD
120mm Yate Loon D12SL-12
D-Tek GFX UNI-Sink



That same day I went out and bought some more supplies Water.


And of course I needed some tools. This is most of what I used ( aside from a screwdriver ;-) )

[Dateranoth]

Now, to backtrack a little. I first had to remove all the old water cooling stuff. Not a big deal and went pretty fast. Also, I knew I would be ordering the Unisink to replace the ramsinks I had ( I really hated those little bastages and I thought I would give the unisink a try. Bought Arctic adhesive this time around in case I decided to use them again )

First I removed the ramsinks and spent the day before my parts arrived cleaning the freaking super glue off the components.

Before I began my work on the 8800GTX, I decided to get to cleaning the radiator. I used the method listed in one of the stickies. My rad didn't seem to have as much gunk in it, but I'm sure it helped




After I had the rad soaking I cleaned the 8800GTX even more thoroughly once the parts arrived and I had my arctic cleaner.


I then installed the Unisink, and things began to not go right. I noticed that the Unisink wasn't making contact with all the ramsinks. ( no picture since I couldn't get the camera to focus enough ) It was a visible gap in some places though. After a bit of cursing, I came up with a solution.

When I placed my order for my MCW60, I also ordered an adapter plate for the 8800GTX. However, the retail MCW kit now ships with an adapter plate. So, I decided I would use the other plate to hold down the unisink better around the processor. This also ran into a snag. The plate was blocking the installation of the water block.

I need to cut it out!


That's ok though! I have a dremel!

Not the best cut in the world, but it works and you can't really see it when its installed

Look, at leas my measurements were right! The block now fits through the plate.


And it does a fine job of holding the Unisink Down.


I will note that after a few installs and removals, it still doesn't seem to contact everything perfectly. However, until I can test it I won't be able to say one way or another as to its effectiveness.

During all this I had been cleaning the radiator and also the gpu block. Once cleaned I installed the gpu block onto the 8800GTX. It was late, and I had had a bit to drink at this point.

Notice Something Wrong in this picture? I didn't till it was too late. I'll get to that later.

[Ad1tya]

No Petra Top on that DDC-2? .

Which GPU Block are you going to use?

[Dateranoth]

Oh, the top is there I just had to install it.

The day after my parts came in I began more work.

The pump in pieces


After a very easy installation. I now have an assembled DDC with Petras Top.


Next will be the layout of my radiator.

[jabski]

nice work Dateranoth
Keep us upto date. When are you getting your motherboard back ??

[Dateranoth]

After thinking long and hard and doing many measurements before my radiator arrived I came to a conclusion. The ONLY place to mount the radiator was going to be outside the case on top. I just did not have the room for it anywhere else. I suppose I COULD have mounted it on the bottom inside, but that would have required modification of my case beyond what I desired.

Looking at how I was going to layout the radiator:


While laying out the radiator and where I needed to cut my holes, I realized that my rad was shorter ( by almost 7mm ) than what the layout I downloaded from Swiftech's site saide. So, I tossed it and remeasured everything.

Once I had measure and remeasured I was ready to drill. ( Note the 4 marks in the center actually didn't get drilled. I decided that they were unnecessary for support )


Once the small holes were drilled, I proceeded to knocking out holes for my tubing.

The Punch Set. Wonderful tool!


The fill port is not shown on the layout, because I was undecided upon location at the time.


Finally, all the holes are done!


Before mounting the radiator I pulled out the fans to give them a test spin. They all worked great and quietly. ( still haven't found a use for the LED one )


Now, before I post the next picture I just wanted to clear something up. It has the micro res in it. I installed it before I installed the radiator. However, this was no easy process. I spend literally hours deciding where I wanted it located, and finally mounted it in it's current position. This was mainly due space/fillport location. Needless to say, the process is done in this picture but took some time.

My rad w/ fans and res installed


Front view of rad w/ fans and res


I didn't like all the loose fan wiring, so I taped them up.


Finally, A picture of the res with fill port ( yeah I know its kinked but its just a fill port and I didn't have any other option ) and wire routing.


Next comes the installation of sinks on the mobos mosfets and the installation of cpu block and vid card.

[Dateranoth]

nice work Dateranoth
Keep us upto date. When are you getting your motherboard back ??

Hopefully next week. The rma has already been approved and I'm just waiting on EVGA to ship my new mobo to me. Once it gets here I can send the old one back.

Thanks for the support.
Dateranoth

[Dateranoth]

Before I could install the loop I still needed to mount the new D-Tek water block and my mobo back into the case.

That is done here:

Pay careful attention here. As I noted earlier I F'd up big time during my drunken stupor and still I haven't noticed! I will soon though.

After careful routing and even more careful cutting of the tubing the loop is done. I only had 4 inches left of the 8ft I ordered ( with no mistakes! )

Also note that those clamps were a pain in my bottom to get around the D-tek. I had to take one completely loose and "thread it in." However, once installed they worked great

Front view of the loop without any coolant:


Now with the loop done I went into the kitchen to begin adding the coolant and leak testing.



Now, here comes the part where I must admit to my own stupidity. I was having trouble filling the loop. I couldn't get the coolant to fill for some reason. In my excitement of getting this far I didn't notice a very important thing.

I EVEN TOOK A PICTURE OF IT WHILE IT WAS HAPPENING! GAH.


If you look closely at the picture above you will noticed what I failed to while taking the picture. The paper towel below the gpu and behind the pump is SOAKING WET! DOH.

I noticed it soon after that picture was taken. And promptly found the culprit! The gpu block itself.

Note to self: Pay more attention!
Before I mounted it I took it apart to clean ( since I had been running it in a loop with aluminum ) and in my sleepy drunkenness ( it was like 2am at the time ) I installed the mounting plate BETWEEN the copper block and the top! BETWEEN and went through all that installation without noticing!!! God I feel dumb sometimes.

Well, after cleaning up all the water, which thankfully drained mostly into the bottom of the case I disassembled the 8800. I removed the block and assembled it correctly and then blow dried the gpu. I also let it set for a number of hours and then put the loop all back together for leak test #2!

The second time through I actually got the tubing completely filled and the air bled. Also, no leaks! Since this picture I have actually leak tested for well over 24 hours with no additional problems.


Last will come the pictures of my finished loop with all components installed.

[Dateranoth]

Well, after three days of installation I finished my loop. I got all the components reinstalled and the wires routed fairly neatly.

Blurry side view:


Closeup 1:


Closeup 2:


Closeup 3:


Cloesup 4:


Naked Finished Front:


And once again. The top view!:

[Grinch]

glad you caught leak early...now once it is all done and leak free...feel free to have a few beers and shots...*-)

[Dateranoth]

Now, sadly, as I mentioned earlier, when I booted up my computer for the first time I began getting all sorts of anomalies. It would randomly freeze at different post sections, wouldn't even start sometimes. All sorts of things. I tried everything in my power, from removing everything and reinstalling, to using only certain ram chips, to buying a new psu. Nothing worked. So, I called EVGA and their tech support said the symptoms were similar to a dying mobo. So, I RMA'd it and am currently awaiting a replacement.

Once I have the replacement in hand and have a chance to get some numbers you all will be the first to know! Thanks again for everyones support!


Dateranoth

P.S.
Keep me in your thoughts that its not a bad cpu as well!

[Grinch]

P.S.
Keep me in your thoughts that its not a bad cpu as well!

DOH...
Don't jinx yourself..

[Dateranoth]

glad you caught leak early...now once it is all done and leak free...feel free to have a few beers and shots...*-)

hehe. Indeed, and trust me. Once I had it all setup and then found out the mobo was dead I went straight to my stress reliever friend: alcohol.

BTW. My case will be closed, so you won't really see it, but I was wondering if I should have gotten some sort of color additive. I like it how it is but I don't. I may add a case window in the future and perhaps then I will add the color.

Dateranoth