Water cooling dependability

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rfw2003

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Mar 31, 2004
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Will a water cooling system hold up and last like a HSF system will. I am thinking about putting in on my Server because the wife is tired of the sound of the 6 Vantec tornado fans I have on the system now. I have a Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2 Board with a XP2600 Barton Chip. Current temps at a 75 degree F. ambient is 84 F for the Case and 104 to 110 F for the CPU. Also if I use water cooling will I see a decrease in these Temps. Thanks in advance for the info

R.F.
 
Originally posted by rfw2003
Will a water cooling system hold up and last like a HSF system will. I am thinking about putting in on my Server because the wife is tired of the sound of the 6 Vantec tornado fans I have on the system now. I have a Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2 Board with a XP2600 Barton Chip. Current temps at a 75 degree F. ambient is 84 F for the Case and 104 to 110 F for the CPU. Also if I use water cooling will I see a decrease in these Temps. Thanks in advance for the info

R.F.
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Yes, it can be reliable if you build it right. And again, yes, temps will go down, assuming you build it right.
 
O.k with that being said. what compontents should I use, to build a reliable water cooling system. Reason I ask is because 1 I have no experiance with water cooling and 2 I need a system with minimal attention that has to be given to it as I am away from this server for a month at a time. If I go water cooling what all parts besides the CPU should I cool with the water, I have plenty of room to be able to install an eloborate system for this as I can build a enclosure for just the cooling equipment and power supply for it. Please give me some suggestions to help out here. As eventully I would like to try and push my XP2600 up a few steps to get some better speed out of it as well.

Thanks for the info

R.f
 
dual pumps? are you crazy?? j/k

get a good quality pump, eheim are reliable

just set your threshold around 60C, i mean in your bios so that it will shut down when the temps get that high, that number depending on your system specs of course
 
He is talking the upmost in reliability, and if he can afford/feels its worth it. He should go right ahead and do it. I mena fire trucks have 3 inline per hose coming out the side just for a comparison.
 
Originally posted by p0b0y
dual pumps? are you crazy?? j/k

get a good quality pump, eheim are reliable

just set your threshold around 60C, i mean in your bios so that it will shut down when the temps get that high, that number depending on your system specs of course
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eheim is overpriced, get two danner mag 3's
 
O.k. Thanks for the info guys. Should I also use the water cooling on my chipset, video card and hard drive. Also which water blocks seem to do the best job?

Thanks,

R.F.
 
For reliability, I'd do the following:

a) use two pumps
b) hook up an RPM sensor to the pumps that powers the system down when they fail
c) hook up a thermal fuse, set for 65 °C, to the proc and the graphics card, and one set for 50 to the PSU exhaust. Place all three in line, and the whole assembly is then wired into the A/C mains.

d) this system is nearly fail-proof. If you are truly [H], and have too much time on your hands, rig up the following: two pieces of aluminum foil, on either side of a thin strip of spongy material. Wrap this around any hose joint. Hook these up in a parralel circuit, set to rip a bistabile relay, shutting down A/C power.

Whe water leaves the hose, it soaks into the sponge, establishing an electrical contact between the foil strips.

Leak detection par excellence.
 
Originally posted by Little Grabbi
For reliability, I'd do the following:

a) use two pumps
b) hook up an RPM sensor to the pumps that powers the system down when they fail
c) hook up a thermal fuse, set for 65 °C, to the proc and the graphics card, and one set for 50 to the PSU exhaust. Place all three in line, and the whole assembly is then wired into the A/C mains.

d) this system is nearly fail-proof. If you are truly [H], and have too much time on your hands, rig up the following: two pieces of aluminum foil, on either side of a thin strip of spongy material. Wrap this around any hose joint. Hook these up in a parralel circuit, set to rip a bistabile relay, shutting down A/C power.

Whe water leaves the hose, it soaks into the sponge, establishing an electrical contact between the foil strips.

Leak detection par excellence.
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hows that useful? if a joint doesnt leak in the first couple hours, its not going to leak ever unless it gets hit, etc. setting up that for every single joint would not be worth it at all. the problem is if the PUMP fails, thats the whole point. if it fails, the CPU will heat up, and if you have a good motherboard (anything >=nforce2) it will have overheat protection which will prevent disaster, so there is no reason to ever worry...
 
I just see a watercooler as a dismembered aquarium. People leave those all the time with an automated feeder without a problem. Dual pumps would be a good idea, but not COMPLETLY necessary if you are able to go back and fix a problem it if occurs. For example, if you have one pump and it fails, the server will shut itself down because of a temp increase and you can go replace the pump and fix it. If you will be far away while on vacation, you won't be able to just run home and fix it. If it is very important that it stays running 100%, go with dual pumps. If it can be down for a while and you're able to run home and mess with it if something does happen (which is seldom at most) then don't worry and just go with one.

I would go with an enheim pump, and I really like my Maze4 CPU block. NB cooling isn't really that big of a deal, you could but I think a good aircooler would be good enough. I've also never really heard of too many HDD Temp failures, but if your server does do a lot of disk intensive operations then it may be worth looking into. I have my GPU cooled with a Maze4 GPU block and it works wonders, but obviously a server would not need video cooling. Just use good clamps on your hoses and leaking won't really be much of an issue either.
 
Originally posted by vortec4800
I just see a watercooler as a dismembered aquarium. People leave those all the time with an automated feeder without a problem. Dual pumps would be a good idea, but not COMPLETLY necessary if you are able to go back and fix a problem it if occurs. For example, if you have one pump and it fails, the server will shut itself down because of a temp increase and you can go replace the pump and fix it. If you will be far away while on vacation, you won't be able to just run home and fix it. If it is very important that it stays running 100%, go with dual pumps. If it can be down for a while and you're able to run home and mess with it if something does happen (which is seldom at most) then don't worry and just go with one.

I would go with an enheim pump, and I really like my Maze4 CPU block. NB cooling isn't really that big of a deal, you could but I think a good aircooler would be good enough. I've also never really heard of too many HDD Temp failures, but if your server does do a lot of disk intensive operations then it may be worth looking into. I have my GPU cooled with a Maze4 GPU block and it works wonders, but obviously a server would not need video cooling. Just use good clamps on your hoses and leaking won't really be much of an issue either.
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i have a maze4 and i have no complaints, but I would go with a modified spri@l at this point (and I might, since I have one sitting around). Modified as in lapped, then opened up and using a drill press, dimpling all around to add even more turbulance. someone did that with a TC-4 and gets +5F over ambient, overclocked and a full load. And if it doesnt work better than my Maze4, ill just sell it anyway ;)
 
Originally posted by vortec4800
I just see a watercooler as a dismembered aquarium. People leave those all the time with an automated feeder without a problem. Dual pumps would be a good idea, but not COMPLETLY necessary if you are able to go back and fix a problem it if occurs. For example, if you have one pump and it fails, the server will shut itself down because of a temp increase and you can go replace the pump and fix it. If you will be far away while on vacation, you won't be able to just run home and fix it. If it is very important that it stays running 100%, go with dual pumps. If it can be down for a while and you're able to run home and mess with it if something does happen (which is seldom at most) then don't worry and just go with one.

I would go with an enheim pump, and I really like my Maze4 CPU block. NB cooling isn't really that big of a deal, you could but I think a good aircooler would be good enough. I've also never really heard of too many HDD Temp failures, but if your server does do a lot of disk intensive operations then it may be worth looking into. I have my GPU cooled with a Maze4 GPU block and it works wonders, but obviously a server would not need video cooling. Just use good clamps on your hoses and leaking won't really be much of an issue either.
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o.k. thanks for that info. Yes I will be runing HDD intesive apps on this server so I will go ahead and get a HDD cooler to go along with it. What size pump should I use, for this system.

Again thanks for all the wonderful info

R.F.
 
I'd say go with the Eheim1250 , I have one and I'm cooling my CPU and GPU with 1/2 tubing and so far so good , the water still blasts into my res so I know it has a lot of head room.
 
If anyone gives you bullshit about, "What if it leaks?" Ask them, "What if all of your fans were to stop?" Same shit happens, except in one case, the house burns down.
 
Thanks again everone for the valuble info. This will help out alot. On doing to pumps inline do I use a Y fitting and do them in paralell or plumb them in series.


R.F.
 
Pump failure will not happen anywhere soon with an Eheim1250.

Im using one for years now and no leaks, no cracks, no rattles.

Oh about leak detection:
Dont use sponges or anything funky like that waay to unreliable.
Use water level detection instead. If the level drops below a certain level shortcut the cpu-rpm signal, so the mobo thinks a fan fails and shuts off... And use a Online UPS that shuts off when the power consumption drops below 10Watts, then you have the AC mains diconnected from the computer as well!

If you're hard you can disconnect the mains using a double relay and some electronic tinkering :)

Level sensing can be done on various ways, Optical would be the worst solution, my first choise would be usin a plastic lever that floats, or electrical level sensing using 2 electrical strings dropped into the highest part of the water circuit.
 
I know I may get razzed for suggesting this BUT - 1) Since you will be away from the system while it is running and 2) You are fairly new to water cooling and 3) motherboard thermal shutdowns are not fullproof and 4) you want a reliable system and 5) you are not running a super hot system and 6) you shouldn't need to water cool your northbridge or video card

I would suggest taking a look at the Corsair Hydrocool 200. I have one and it works great. Leakage is minimized since it is an external system and the tubes come pre-connected and tested to the CPU water block. The system is powered by your power supply and comes with its own control card and monitoring system to shutdown the computer in the event of thermal overload or system failure. The water block comes lapped with a mirror finish so you won't have to touch it at all. Instruction are very clear. Has an alert function in case the reservoir is low. Since the system is external you get better airflow in your case and cooler internal temperatures. It will definitely lower temps and it is a LOT quiter then a single Tornado fan. The kit comes with everything you need except some distilled water for about $205 shipped and installs in about an hour.
 
o.k. I just ordered my maze 4 CPU block, and dual fan heater core from danger den. I got them with the 1/2" fittings. I'm now looking for the pumps that I will use. I'm trying to decide between one of these 3 pumps that I will be useing for a dual pump set up.

1. Enhiem 1250
2. Hydor L30
3. Danner Mag 3

the way I plan on setting it up is with the pumps, and radiator outside of the case.

R.F.
 
Make sure that if they are outside of your case - you don't have a cat that can knock a lamp over onto them - happened to someone who posted the terminal effects to their system when the lamp pinched the water hose blocking the water flow and the thermal shutdown on their motherboard didn't work and cooked their AMD proc. The UV dye solidified in the water block and was a b@#$% to clean out.
 
Originally posted by smahoney
Make sure that if they are outside of your case - you don't have a cat that can knock a lamp over onto them - happened to someone who posted the terminal effects to their system when the lamp pinched the water hose blocking the water flow and the thermal shutdown on their motherboard didn't work and cooked their AMD proc. The UV dye solidified in the water block and was a b@#$% to clean out.
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Nope no amimals to knock anything over. Only 2 young kids. But anyways I was planning on building a enclosure for the water cooling componts anyways, so that wouldn't be a problem.

R.F.
 
I like maxkilling have been running an enheim 1250 for almost 2 years now, but mine is submerged in a custom resevoir (saves some space) with a danger den maze (2 i think). My cpu been overclocked all that time never had a stability or heat problem. Just do it right, and you wont have a prob, good luck.
 
While we are on the topic, how fast would you need to the water flowing again (or shut down the PC) after a pump failure? Obviously the water will take a little while to heat and some of the heat should be dissipated away from the waterblock and towards the reservoir...
 
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