Water Cooling: It's better down where it's wetter

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Water Cooling: It's better down where it's wetter

lock stock and Cheryl: Dec 19, 2009; by zen death robot

Heyall, I'm doing some early research on water cooling for a future setup.

1. Are all-copper water cooling setups (block, line, and radiator) common?

if so,

2. Are there kits that you can use standard plumbing tools to solder systems together? (plumbing torch, lead solder, standard copper tubing)?

if not,

3. How easy is it to manage corrosion in Cu-Al systems? Do the additives actually work?

4. Is it easy to source parts if I want to assemble my own system?

5. How do you avoid leaks?

# ¿ Aug 30, 2016 06:50

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:47

lock stock and Cheryl: Dec 19, 2009; by zen death robot

Deuce posted:

No. Typically the tubing is a soft plastic-type. Hard tubes are usually acryllic or PETG, bent with a heat gun. (or hell, a hair dryer could probably do it) I've heard that Primochill's "advanced LRT" tubes are popular for soft tubes, some types of tubes have issues with plasticizer leeching out of the tube and gunking up parts.

There are kits, but you don't need to solder anything. Fittings screw into their respective inlets, and soft tubes use either a compression fitting or a barb fitting plus something to hold them on. (a clamp, or even zipties)

Don't use aluminum. Plenty of copper parts out there.

Yes. EKWB is a big name for higher-end parts. They ship from Slovenia or something, but their stuff is good. Alphacool is another big brand.

You can get everything from newegg. Microcenter is a good option as well, but their stock may be limited. My local Microcenter had a fair bit of stuff but their assortment of fittings was... not remotely sorted. Basically I was stuck digging through bins of random fittings to find what I wanted. The advantage of Microcenter was that I was able to return fittings when I had the wrong ones, or too many. You can return stuff through Newegg too, but obviously that's more of a pain.

Compression fittings will screw down onto an o-ring to seal up. Barb fittings usually have a clamp to hold the tube in place.

After just doing my first build (see above), I would suggest ordering the main parts from Newegg's marketplace, but wait until you actually get them in your case and installed before deciding on tubing and fittings. Get it all mounted, plan it out, etc. So you don't have to make three trips to Microcenter like I did because goddamnit these are the wrong fittings and oh poo poo that one in the top left doesn't actually fit and why did I get these low profile 90-degree fittings they don't actually clear far enough to use a compression fitting at all aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

Easier if you have a local shop to get fittings, otherwise you'd have to wait a few days for another shipment.

Since you've asked about plumbing tools, I'll assume that you have some kind of experience with that sort of thing. Copper pipes do work and I've seen people build with them. They look pretty cool. This guy looks like he used the same compression fittings you use on any other hard tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zfyy2uMNnM

Awesome! Thanks for the point-by-point. I think I'll consider water-cooling a bit down the line. From what everyone says, looks like standard equipment is the ticket, but I'm not sure I want to spend $300-500 on watercooling for my next rig.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2016 04:27

lock stock and Cheryl: Dec 19, 2009; by zen death robot

Deuce posted:

So should the airflow order be dehumidifier -> case -> chiller or chiller -> dehumidifier -> case

I'm currently building a setup where my motherboard is in the HVAC supply duct in the wall and I alternate between AC and furnace+humidifier combo, so as to take advantage of an evaporative cooling effect

# ¿ Sep 3, 2016 02:13

lock stock and Cheryl: Dec 19, 2009; by zen death robot

A combination of immersion cooling and phase-change cooling: Your motherboard is mounted in a pressure vessel, and you have your central AC condenser funneling liquid freon into the chamber, where hot components cause it to evaporate.

How do I check how many atmospheres of pressure my components are rated for?

# ¿ Sep 3, 2016 02:50

lock stock and Cheryl: Dec 19, 2009; by zen death robot

Nostrum posted:

Idiot should have rented a backhoe and done this:

http://www.overclock.net/t/671177/12-feet-under-1000-square-feet-of-geothermal-pc-cooling

And here everyone tells me I'm crazy spending 30 grand on a 5 ton ground-source geothermal heat pump solely for cooling my pc.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2016 00:47

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:47

lock stock and Cheryl: Dec 19, 2009; by zen death robot

Now I really want to build a system in a mini split-system AC condenser chassis, mount it on a balcony outside a window, and have all the wires running through the copper tubing. Replace relay with PSU, keep original 500 cfm fan.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2016 22:13

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Water Cooling: It's better down where it's wetter