Zirax's case mod and watercooling install

[Zirax]

Thought I would kick off with our first custom water cool install thread. Originally I had a Socket A amd and 9800pro which was cooled by a zalman reserator. The reserator is great but its a real pain when you have to drain everything to move it about. Also this would not be able to handle the heat of a 946 opteron and a x1900xtx.

For a while I moved back to air cooling and the racket that the x1900xtx makes on full chat was damn annoying. So I decided that if I was ever to go back to watercooling it would have to be silent and fit inside a case.

First

http://server2.uploadit.org/files/feederfan-4.jpg

Some Power tool porn :D

Right first the case mods. This was a £35 case from Scan, however its a rebadged Chieftec full tower and is made of 1.5mm steel so its ideal to mod.

The front has had two 120mm holes cut for the fans, and you can see where the res will be

http://server2.uploadit.org/files/feederfan-3.jpg

The hdd cage was moved from where the second psu is down to the bottom of the case which also provided an ideal spot to mount the pump. To make moving the beast easier, wheels were added

http://server3.uploadit.org/files/feederfan-2.jpg

[Zirax]

Here is the back of the case, you can see the original hole for a psu and the new hole to fit a second psu. Note above the psu there is a gap, this will be for the watercooling pipes which will come down from the rad.

http://server3.uploadit.org/files/feederfan-1.jpg

Not much to see here, this is where the rad bracket I have made will attach to the case. The rad had to be mounted externally as its too large to fit inside the case and allow the case to remain practical.



http://server2.uploadit.org/files/feederfan-5.jpg

The rad currently has a vinegar solution inside while its being cleaned. Once this is done i'll show you the bracket and how it mounts to the case :)

One question you might have is why dual psu? Well you put the fans/hdds/pump/cd-roms on the second psu and then have the main psu just doing the motherboard and gfx, thus giving rock solid voltages and allowing to overclock further

[Zirax]

**spot reserved for pending updates** :)

[Stan_Lite]

Would you say that a dual PSU solution would be better than a good quality, high wattage single PSU?

I intend building a top of the range Conroe gaming rig when they arrive (subject to reports regarding Folding - of course), which will include phase and watercooling.

I was looking at the Tagan 1100W jobbie to be on the safe side but your post has got me to thinking that it may be better to have 2 decent 400W-500W units.

Any thoughts either way?

Stan:)

[Zirax]

I just looked up the specs for the Tagan 1100W. There are four 20A rails which looks good. However if you are looking to go ATI, for instance the x1900xtx uses 30A when playing games. This means that the psu would combine two rails together.

It really depends how they combine them. For instance the specs say 20A split over four rails. When combining rails, you tend not to get the best voltage stability. The specs are here http://www.tagan.com/pages/products/turboS/Actionpaper_tagan_turbojet_1100_UK_mini.pdf

Since you are going all out with phase change/watercooling then really you should be looking at a PC power and cooling unit
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=TC1KW&view=techspecs
For years these have been considered the daddy, the tech specs even specify a direct rail to plug your gfx card into... which is ideal as you'll be overclocking and gfx cards are only ever going to drain more power.

So for my above install, yes I could just get a mega PSU and run everything off there, however I have:-
7*fans
4*hdds
146 amd chip
x1900xtx
water pump
So since the tagan was spare and I know its good, I can split the load between the two psu's. Also the more you drain off of a psu, the more the voltage will fluctuate on the 12V lines. However on the PC p&C one they should be rock solid.

[Stan_Lite]

Thanks for that. I was looking at Extreme Prometia (http://www.extremeprometeia.com/) for the phase and watercooling and they do that PSU, so I could get it all from the same place - handy:D

Stan :)

[Zirax]

Blimey I didn't realise phase had become that expensive, I remember them being about £300 for an entry level and £6-700 for a regassed mega one.

[Stan_Lite]

Yeh, it's not cheap.

I did consider the r507 unit with the chilly1 head but I can't really justify the silly price tag so it will probably just be the standard Lian Li compatible one.

Stan :)

[Zirax]

I thought those prices were too high, have a look at
http://store.over-clock.com/Refrigeration.html
Now if you follow the manufactorers link through to
http://www.extremecoolingtechnologies.com/
Now extreme prometeia is listed as one of their suppliers, which is run by Phil Stanbridge. On over-clock they have a mach II GT which is running the standard gas for £500.

However above this is the Asestek one which is also running the R507 coolent used in the £1500 mach II over on extreme prometeia for about £500.

I must admit I haven't dabbled in phase change so i'm not able to say about how good the vapochill units are, but it might be worth having a look about for offers

[Stan_Lite]

Thanks for the links:)

I knew there was somewhere else that sold them, I just couldn't remember where.

Stan:)