H2O Cooling Build Log 4-way SLI V 3.0

[Pako]

My old build log is here. I have decided to go a different route on an existing idea.

Welcome to: H2O Cooling Build Log 4-way SLI Version 3.0​

This is effectively my third complete water cooling build but have decided to take a different approach to this one. I had some early misconceptions about water cooling.

• Misconception #1 - As long as I control the temps, I can over-clock as much as I want. I soon found out that other factors beyond my control were at play here.
• Misconception #2 - Water cooling is quiet, way more quiet than cooling by air. Helloooooo McFly! How do you think the water gets cooled? That's right, by air. The water simply carries the heat off of the chips where it is routed to a radiator where AIR cools the metal fins of the radiator, thereby cooling the liquid. My current system is louder than any non-water cooled system. It's jet turbine kind of loud.

I am not building a benchmark monster, rather, I am building a stable gaming and work machine that I can rely on but also somewhat future proof by giving myself plenty of head room. Overclock in a safe environment will help me do this. I have looked at a lot of different options but decided to stick with water cooling, but how do I manage the noise of all those fans?

So, problem #1, how to manage the loud hum of all those fans? I looked at many scenarios from monster Mountain Mod cases, utilizing huge 380mm fans, to sound proof enclosures. What I finally decided on was to build the system and house it in a different room. I have the luxury of sharing a wall 9 feet away with my computer station/desk and my laundry room. The plan is to build the system on an open 4'x2' platform/shelf where I have full accessibility to the system and it's components.

The second problem I wanted to solve was the hassle of hardware change-outs. Refer back to my previous build log and look inside my heavily modded Cosmos case. Now imagine what it must take to swap a video card, add a hard drive, upgrade a cpu, ram, anything. Anything I do in there is a major undertaking. Forget trouble shooting hardware issues. This problem is somewhat solved with the open shelf design. There is enough room that all tubes, cables, etc will be out of the way. No need to cram everything in the case when I have so many more options at my disposal.

With that said, here is a component list of old and new parts for this build.

• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard
• CPU: i7 - 3770K
• Ram: Kingston HyperX DDR3 2400mhz (8gb)
• Graphic Cards: EVGA Classified GTX590 Hydro x2 for quad GPU, quad SLI.
• Monitors: Dell u2711 (2540x1440), (2) Samsung 1920x1080
• PSU: PC Power and Cooling 1200w
• Hard Drives: Intel SSD 320gb, 240gb, 80gbx2, WD VelociRaptor 10k RPM, 320gbx2 Striped raid.
• Optical: (still looking, external Blue Ray)
• PCI Audio: Asus Xonar Essence Sound Card
• Case: Modified Antec chassis on custom shelving.
• CPU Water Blocks: Swiftech HD for CPU
• GPU Water Blocks: EVGA classified Water Blocks
• Mobo Water Blocks: Asus OEM voltage regulator blocks.
• Pump: 12v Swifttech MCP355 under acrylic res for Voltage Block loop.
• Pump: 120v Aqueon 3000 Submersible Aquarium Pump (rated at 630 GPH at 0 ft)
• Various fittings: All tube is Tygon 3/4" OD x 1/2" ID. All fittings will be Koolance compression fittings. Two Koolance quick disconnects for each send and return.
• Radiators: (2) GTX Blackice 120.3 Rads for main loop, and (1) GTX Blackice 120.2 rad for voltage loop.
• Main Reservoir: ~5 gallon fish tank with custom Plexi top sealed with appropriate fittings for outlet and return. Also includes fill fitting.
• Fan(s): I am still undecided here. I would like to build a box to mount the three radiators in and have it act as a shroud for a single 14-16" box fan, 120v.

Final components will be a custom multi-out gang box. This will carry my power/reset switch, HD and Power leds, video, audio, and usb connections from the laundry room to the computer desk. I estimate that 25' of total cabling is required.

So right now, I have 2 unknowns. 1.) What the I/O snake will look like, although I anticipate a custom wood box with clear front and rear panels for mounting the hardware. 2.) A fan solutions for the radiator.

Beginning pictures:

 

[Pako]

Additional build pictures at post #38.

 

[Dennisch]

Isn't there a way to build a small aircon radiator into your fishtank, and using that as a heat exchanger?

 

[Pako]

Isn't there a way to build a small aircon radiator into your fishtank, and using that as a heat exchanger?

Yes, most definitely. It will be easy enough to add that later on if I can't control my temps effectively. I can also go phase cooling rather easy for the cpu if I need to also, but the advantage of this setup is that I have a workbench instead of a tight case. So I have a few options and trying the easiest/cheapest solutions first.

 

[Spike125]

The only problem i see arising is contamination by algae.
You would have to clean the tank and pump perfectly with alcohol, fill the water and then seal the tank air tight.
On the other hand you could use coolant for water cooling systems, which would be quite expensive at ~30l or you use glycol
But I'm looking forward what you come up with.

 

[Shaun]

Isn't there a way to build a small aircon radiator into your fishtank, and using that as a heat exchanger?

This was my first thought, small refrigeration unit with the evaporator submergerd in the water.

Second thought was it would be just as easy to get a very small fridge and have a tank inside it with the plumbing coming out through some custom holes that would be sealed up.


Pako I've heard of phase cooling before but never bothered to find out until now what it is. In essence it's a fancy name for a fridge .

Putting aside PC's for a minute, due to my electrical/air con/refrigeration qualifications I'm interested in seeing how you progress and overcome your cooling.

Good Luck. 👍
Thread Subscribed.

Cheers Shaun.

 

[Pako]

The only problem i see arising is contamination by algae.
You would have to clean the tank and pump perfectly with alcohol, fill the water and then seal the tank air tight.
On the other hand you could use coolant for water cooling systems, which would be quite expensive at ~30l or you use glycol
But I'm looking forward what you come up with.

Biocide,

This was my first thought, small refrigeration unit with the evaporator submerged in the water.

Second thought was it would be just as easy to get a very small fridge and have a tank inside it with the plumbing coming out through some custom holes that would be sealed up.


Pako I've heard of phase cooling before but never bothered to find out until now what it is. In essence it's a fancy name for a fridge .

Putting aside PC's for a minute, due to my electrical/air con/refrigeration qualifications I'm interested in seeing how you progress and overcome your cooling.

Good Luck. 👍
Thread Subscribed.

Cheers Shaun.

This would be an example of a phase cooling, off the shelf, kit. Pretty pricey.

There are several things I could do for additional cooling. For example, I could take one of these mini fridges/freezers and plum into the side of it, have my coils in there for the water to circulate, and come back out where it goes into the water blocks. This would be more efficient than a whole tank as there would be more surface area getting gold. This would be post radiators to get the water below ambient temps. I could also just get a drop in cooler for the tank or an inline unit. Unfortunately, there are several issues that would need address and I really don't know if the means justifies the end but that will be phase 2 if phase one doesn't produce satisfactory results.

Interesting to hear you have some HVAC qualifications. What would be sweet would be an evaporator (cooling coils) I could just drop in the water like you suggested. I would need to know the calculation for cooling 5 gallons of ambient temp water down to 40 degrees F. That would make a difference.

Cheap solutions, maybe I can take apart a small A/C unit and submerge the condenser coil in the tank. Here's a 5,000 BTU unit for under $160. Found another 5,000 BTU for right around $100. I have no idea how many BTU's I would need to really make a difference. No sense in going through all that if I can only realize a few degrees difference. I would hope for a 20 degree improvement to justify the cost and complexity to the build.

All my tubing and fittings should be here Friday so I can actually start to really look at this thing.

 

[Zenith]

Can't wait to hear about it. This thing sounds like a monster. 👍

 

[Pako]

For cooling the radiators, this might just do the trick.

I would build a plexiglass baffle that the radiators could mount to as well as being able to mount it to the fan. It might be a tad on the big side, so I would build it at a slight angel allowing for a shorting vertical height to be concerned with. I could go with a 16" model, but the CFM's drop from 3560 to 2470.

 

[Shaun]

Interesting to hear you have some HVAC qualifications. What would be sweet would be an evaporator (cooling coils) I could just drop in the water like you suggested. I would need to know the calculation for cooling 5 gallons of ambient temp water down to 40 degrees F. That would make a difference.

Would you like me to try and work it out for you?
I could pull out my old text books and scour the internet for some answers. To be honest though I'm not sure if the answer is there to be found easily.
Dropping an evap coil from a modified fridge/ac unit into a fish tank isn't exactly industry practice.

I'll be honest in saying it will take some trial and error on my behalf.

Could it be done? Well I think so.

What the proposition is to make basically a water chiller on the cheap that you can then pump the cooled water through your existing cpu cooling system.
Matter of fact I had a quick snoop around at work today to look far an easy way to do it. I found pretty much everything I think would be needed for the job except an evaporator coil which could be fashioned out of some copper piping to be submersed in the tank.

Thing is though what's cheap for me (ie free old parts) probably won't be cheap for you.

I also have a few questions.

Can you silver solder/have access to the required equipment to do so?
Do you have access to manifold guages (Refrigeration guages) and hoses?
Do you have access to a vacuum pump?
Do you have access to nitrogen? We could probably get away with this one.
Can you legally buy refrigerant (ie Freon, R409a, R22, whatever.....) in the US, down here you need to be liscensed to do so.

Thing is if you want to modify a cheap/readily available unit, to do it properly you are going to need all of mentioned above which won't come cheap if you don't have access to it.

If I can help in any way mate just let me know and I'll do my best. Shame we live so far apart as I love to tinker in the shed and this sounds right up my alley. And I think it may require some tinkering to be honest.

Either way I'll keep a close eye on your progress.

Cheers Shaun.

 

[Pako]

I would love this to be an open garage project!

I do have a guy I have known for years, a bit of a family friend, that owns a Heating and Cooling business. I fired off an email to him last night. He likes weird problems and experiments like this so I think he will be a great resource for info and possibly extra parts that he could contribute. Maybe I can start taking sponsorships for the build. LOL

Hopefully my cpu block, tubes, and fittings will be here tomorrow so I can start moving forward with some of the build.

I am having some difficulty finding the right parts for a I/O hub to extend my computers connectivity into the other room. I have enough head on the pump that I could actually have the PC case on the desk and run the tubes to the other room where the radiators and cooler/reservoir would reside.

We'll have to see which route makes the most sense. Certainly the Tygon tubing is cheaper than 25 foot DVI, TOSlink, USB 2.0/3.0, and analog cabling will be. I would probably need a new case if I go this route since I have already gutted my other case for this remote type of setup.

It could workout out nicely though. Will have to put more thought into it....

 

[Terronium-12]

The three of us should get together and enter one of those competitions, you know the kind with cash prizes and the like?

I'm really looking forward to this and I guarantee you're going to make me want to upgrade my cooling loop again. And more stuff...

 

[Pako]

That's what it's all about!

Something I have been thinking about, and reminded when I was going through your build log T-12, I was reminded how poorly my 590's overclock due to their voltage limits to protect the thing from blowing up. As a result (for these cards anyways), I will start the loop with the CPU then go to the Graphic's cards. This should give me optimal cooling on the CPU where I should have better OC'ing headroom than the graphic's cards.

 

[Robin]

You know someone means business when there's a converted fish tank in the picture

You have some epic kit there Pako 👍 Will be watching this one.... then staring down at my PC

Actually I kinda like mine because its totally fanless, just used for surfing, Photoshop, CAD etc. Would love to get into water cooling someday if I go down the PC gaming route.

 

[Terronium-12]

That's what it's all about!

Something I have been thinking about, and reminded when I was going through your build log T-12, I was reminded how poorly my 590's overclock due to their voltage limits to protect the thing from blowing up. As a result (for these cards anyways), I will start the loop with the CPU then go to the Graphic's cards. This should give me optimal cooling on the CPU where I should have better OC'ing headroom than the graphic's cards.

What's the farthest they can go stably and then just for a quick bench?

I've a fantastic idea regarding your CPU: why don't you pick up a potted peltier?

 

[Pako]

What's the farthest they can go stably and then just for a quick bench?

I've a fantastic idea regarding your CPU: why don't you pick up a potted peltier?

Here are the stock specs.

• GeForce GTX 590 Classified with 630 MHz core clock
• 3456 MHz Memory Clock and 1260 MHz Shader Clock

I would be guess, and I can check tonight, but if memory serves me correctly, I have the core clock set at 712Mhz and the memory/shader with a slight bump.

I kind of forgot about peltier coolers. You'll want to account for a good amount of condensation around the cpu socket which isn't hard to compensate for. Hummmmm....

 

[Pako]

After much consideration, I have decided on a 3 phase build plan.

Phase 1 - Ambient air cooling.
This will include the fish tank and effectively a 120.9 radiator with ambient air cooling the water. Plan is to use a box fan pushing 2500 CFM through the rad.

Phase 2 - A/C Air cooling.
If phase 1 doesn't provide enough cooling, I will look at introducing an Air Conditioner to drop the temps of the air cooling the radiator.

Phase 3 - Water Chiller solution.
This phase is if I am still unhappy with the results or I am just bored and want a new project. I will take the A/C unit acquired in phase 2 and modify it for a chiller loop. At this point, the radiators will not be required for the chiller loop, but because of the condensation precautions, this chiller solution will only be on the CPU. I will then use the existing rads for the video cards at ambient cooling with the CPU at below zero cooling temps. This phase is extreme and the more I research it, is not something I really want to tackle on my daily machine. It would be a great OC'ing project for sure.

Update: I received my new water block and compression fittings but am still waiting on the tubing. The good thing is I also discovered that I can attain all the cables I need to the keep the water system and the components in the other room while just extending my peripherals to where my system currently is. I have a few other parts still on order before I can really begin putting this things together.

 

[Terronium-12]

Very cool. Would you be able to use dielectric grease for phase 3?

And what is this 2500 CFM fan and how can I get one?

 

[Sprite]

Could you use a tank of mineral oil and save on electric?

intel use oil to cool servers

 

[Pako]

Very cool. Would you be able to use dielectric grease for phase 3?

And what is this 2500 CFM fan and how can I get one?

For the condensation, I would probably use artists eraser putty. That stuff is amazing with great sealing properties. I would install the CPU then layer the putting all the way around the cpu and out about 4 inches all the way around. All the lines would have to be insulated, and the chiller tank redesigned. It would be a huge undertaking.

Here's a quick google on box fans. It won't be too hard finding good air flow for the radiator. The hardest part will be the baffle to direct all the air into the radiator.

I wonder if this guy will let me borrow this one that he build:

Could you use a tank of mineral oil and save on electric?

intel use oil to cool servers

I've been down this road before. It's messy and once the mineral heats up, it takes forever to cool. You have to have some way to circulate the oil outside of the submersion tank and recirculate it in. That would involve pumps and rads, much like what I'm doing with water except it becomes more costly because of the viscosity of the oil. I came across a 3M product that they were using for cooling that was non-conductive but it was over $900 per liter. Too rich for my blood, but that would be cool.

This would be interesting though, you could take 3M's FC-70 and use it for the chiller tank, but instead of circulating the fluid to water blocks and worrying about condensation, you drop the whole computer in the tank. The liquid would cool and insulate the components with no chance of condensation forming. Might have been Novec 7000 that I read about prior, also a 3M product.

That would be incredible!!!!

Just came across this video, although I would take it a step further and cool the liquid as well.

 

[Sprite]

The guy who built my last gaming rig many moons ago, had his main rig in a basement and vacuumed cooling system taking temps down very low, he used an industrial fridge unit and then all cables needed were put through the floor to the room he was gaming on. To be truthful though he was a nut job.

I've heard thought that vacuum cooling systems can get to allot lower temps. Even sub zero. Also phase change and evaporators ect. Some of the sub zero guys are crazy and they don't use the rigs everyday, they manly bench test them and dismantle. Total nutters.

 

[Pako]

For my ambient cooling fan, I picked up a 20" 3-speed fan capable of 2500 CFM for only $17.98 locally.

Already plugged it in to compare and WOW, that will be a lot of air. It will push much more air than my current 9x120mm fan setup.

I got a piece of plexiglass that I cut to fit. I will size it to cover the front the fan with cut outs for the radiator to mount to.

Here is a quick mockup what it will look like mounted. The Pink is just showing the plexiglass.

Once my MO-RAS rad gets here, I can get it mounted and start plumbing this bad mammer jammer up.

Also picked up some foam Weather Stripping to seal between the plexiglass and the fan. Once screwed down, this will give me a nice, air tight, baffle for the radiator.

 

[bergauk]

You're nuts Pako. I like it.

I wish I had the income to make my dreams come true and make crazy things like this.

 

[Pako]

LOL, it is kind of crazy. I just hope that all the efforts produce some good results! It's a slow process, lots to think about, but it's coming together. The hardest thing is that I need parts from my current "working" system to put it together so I need to wait until I have everything in place before I tear my old system apart to harvest the parts I need for this build.

Simultaneously I am upgrading my wife's comp with the rest of the parts not harvested from my working system. Lots to keep track of. Started on hers, got the motherboard and SSD installed in the case yesterday. I really, really hope by the end of the week I am testing the water loop for leaks. *crossing fingers*

 

[Terronium-12]

Man, this whole thing has me itching to try out a whole bunch of things I've been thinking about over time.

Blast you, Pako. I've never really looked outside of what's normal for liquid or even phase change cooling but I find that to be really cool. I guess I never thought outside of the box, or at least outside enough.

More pics!

 

[Pako]

Man, this whole thing has me itching to try out a whole bunch of things I've been thinking about over time.

Blast you, Pako. I've never really looked outside of what's normal for liquid or even phase change cooling but I find that to be really cool. I guess I never thought outside of the box, or at least outside enough.

More pics!

I know man. I have to hold back. Yes, this is me holding back.

Updated picture post #2.

 

[Terronium-12]

Is that the Apogee GTX?

I was going to buy one of those to replace the Rasa I have. Now I'd have to drain everything and all that; just thinking about it makes me tired.

 

[Pako]

Is that the Apogee GTX?

I was going to buy one of those to replace the Rasa I have. Now I'd have to drain everything and all that; just thinking about it makes me tired.

I know what you mean. I had a USB header that I didn't want to trouble shoot because of that. I went for over a year without any front USB support.

That is the Swiftech HD water block. I actually have the GTZ on my current system. If you want, after my tear down, I can make you a heck of a deal on it!

The GTX has been a good block and the HD has had some great reviews as well. It was more of a convenience of being able to work on the new system without disabling my current rig. If my rig isn't running, I'm not making money.

 

[Pako]

Got the tank basically done. All fittings glued and sealed. I also epoxied the fittings for reassurance. Just waiting on the new power supply and the radiator and I will be ready to tear down the old and build up the new.

 

[Spike125]

Well done, I see you went also for a MoRa
I'm really happy with mine. Keeps the temperatures so stable.