Running With Water

CVA0190 · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:22 am

I took the plunge and got water cooling for my CPU. Not an expensive or complicated one - just the $80 (USD) Corsair H50. It was a pretty easy install for me because I have a big case. I went slowly and carefully though. When I removed my air cooler I found that the backplate on my mobo matched the HD50 screws perfectly so I didn't have to mess with the one included. The fan I replaced with the new radiator-fan assembly blew air out of the case. This rig is the opposite. It brings air into the case and through the radiator. Two big fans I already have on the top of my case are providing the exhaust. The four-pin CPU fan connector on the mobo (you must have one of these to run this) runs the radiator fan and a three-pin fan connector runs the pump.
I was nervous when I started it up. I couldn't hear anything! But there are no puddles on the floor so I guess I'm OK. I'm flying now with Real Temp showing 58C at 2.8 Mhz 133x21. That's pretty good considering I was averaging in the mid 70C's with the air cooler (whose fan may or may not have been working properly). Another option I have is to find some screws and install the fan that I removed on the other side of the radiator for a two-fan, push-pull setup. I read some posts that are saying this will lower the temps even further.
It's early, I'm still nervous, but so far the equipment is performing as advertised, and I'm a happy camper!

Now I think I can read-up and maybe consider some over-clocking.

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:00 pm

Nice. But why didn't you try OCing first? If you can run all day with the rig you had, you don't need the water cooler if you can't OC. What's your CPU and MOBO?

cva3906 · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:53 pm

Well, your temps were a little on the high side so nothing to loose with the water cooling. I do agree that you maybe should try to bump your BCLK frequency up one or two MHz and see what Real temp has to say for your CPU frequency when you run Prime.

Just because your Multiplier was unlocked and able to step when the demand was there is not to say your BCLK frequency can be adjusted. One of the reasons that I stay away from prebuilt computers....manufacturers have a bad habit of locking you out of certain things.

CVA0190 · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:21 pm

I've confirmed that you can't overclock HP motherboards. I kind of thought that before I got the cooler, so it was not a big surprise. I just didn't like it running so hot, and I've been planning to replace the motherboard anyway. I can't complain much with what I've got right now. So I can go slow and look around for mobos and still fly at 2.8 Mhz. The cooler will be easy to re-install. My biggest worry now is pulling out that CPU and getting it on to a new board. I really don't want to buy a new chip right now.

Live and learn.

cva3906 · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:36 pm

The 920s are dirt simple to remove. They have no pins, the pins are on the motherboard socket.

One other fly that "may" be in the ointment. Your operating system may be an HP OEM version. If so, you may not be able to use it on a motherboard that is not from HP.

I know a few years back I was helping someone with an HP that had a bad motherboard. We went out and bought a suitable replacement board but were unable to load the OS from HP. He ended up going out and buying a new copy of Vista.

Just full of great news, aren't I??? :p

CVA0190 · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:08 pm

Uh_Oh. The Vista product ID has OEM in it. After I get the new motherboard, and probably Win 7 now --- there is a sledge hammer in my basement. I will take that HP motherboard and smash it into pieces the size of grains of sand. It will be fun. I suppose I would be getting Win 7 eventually anyway. I better go check the credit card limit!

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:02 pm

Barry - do what I did and buy a new used system with stuff in it that you can play with and learn on. For $550 I got a E8500 3.2 GHz dual core in a coolermaster 690 case (wow!) on a nforce 780i mobo and with a nVidia 8800Gt. This system puts my dell to shame. It has coolers and a bios that I can overclock with (once I feel I know enough and have the time). It's nice having a machine you can feel like you can build and unbuild.

Now I have to sell my dell quad core for $450....

Edited By Rob Vanderkam on 1276988636

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:59 pm

nVidia has a Control Panel that allows you to

Key MCP features

* Adjust motherboard settings: Change system clocks, system voltages, system fans and memory timings
* Dynamic BIOS access: Change system BIOS settings without entering the BIOS
* Dynamically adjustable memory timings: Change critical memory timings without rebooting and without entering the BIOS

hmmmmmmmm...............

http://www.nvidia.com/object/performance_group.html

I'm playing with fire here, and I don't intend to touch anything until I know what I'm doing. But I did set the GPU fan on high for a while and the temp dropped from a standard 75 to 66 for the first time since I got this (the 8800GT is notorious for running hot).

Edited By Rob Vanderkam on 1276992363

CVA0190 · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:53 am

Rob,
That looks like a good deal you got there for the price! Good luck with it. It might be all you need.

I'm going to fool around and do some motherboard searching/evaluation for now. I've already got a lot of good components so I'll see what I can piece together. I may as well start a new thread for mobo evaluation. (see new post). Since you have the nforce board, are you going to check out that Control Panel?

CVA0014 · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:50 pm

Woot! We have a liquid cooling thread, I don't have to pollute Rob's thread any more.

I've been doing a lot more reading and evolved to this configuration:

One small drawback, I have to order most of the build from NCIX and the cpu and mosfet waterblocks from Performance-PCs.

When I first started looking, I told the wife liquid cooling was about $300 and she seemed ok with that. And then I added the graphic cards and told her something good would be more like $500, her expression was a little different at this point. Not quite sure how I can mention I'm over $800 now. LMAO!

This has no bells and whistles either; no compression fittings, no flow meter, no fan control, no temperature probes, no fancy lights, just basic components. One thing though, these are rated as medium to high quality parts (from what I've read anyways) and it cools the entire system.

I shopped for a new gamer that would put me over 3.5GHz and I easily hit $1500 to $2000. There's lots of posts out there that says liquid cooling can bring a Q6600 up to 3.5GHz without breaking a sweat.

I'm already getting screen lockups, twice in 2 weeks now. And we haven't hit July and August temps yet, so I'm much more inclined to go with liquid cooling than a new machine at this point (I don't have air conditioning). I don't plan on OCing the cards, I just want them to remain stable, it's the cpu and motherboard I want to OC safely.

A 5 second lock up in FS-X ain't a big deal unless you're landing, it's another story going over 200 kph in online racing, even worse when the race has a full grid. It's quite disturbing to hear carnage going on over the speakers as you look at a picture. People don't seem to accept SORRIES that much when you take out 1/2 the pack, I'm not sure why.

Edited By CVA0014 on 1277150637

CVA0014 · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:00 pm

(that was a long post, so a bit more here)

Those are triple fan radiators and believe it or not, that's not going overboard. I'm also replacing the 3 noisy case fans I have now with 5 more of these Scythes; 2 inwards, 2 outwards and 1 inwards over the graphic cards (for the truckload of new heatsinks).

I don't have to liquid cool the southbridge, but hey, I figured while I'm at it, why not. Same with the voltage mosfets on the mobo, people say adding a small fan is enough. But hey, what's a few bucks more when I'm already this deep right?

The rads don't even fit in my M923 full tower case, I have to mount them externally. The nice thing with these newer rads is that they use low airflow fans, so these 10.7 decibel fans are more than enough. I can't wait to get rid of this high pitched racket I have now with high speed fans.

EDIT: I'm so tempted to use a push-pull configuration for the fans on the rads, that would make 6 more fans for a total of 17. Bah, I saw systems with nearly 30 fans. LOL Stuff with 3 or 4 quadruple rads, huge monsters.

The nice thing with these fans is that they only cost $8 at NCIX.

The other nice thing with NCIX is that's in Canuck bucks too, no duty or brokerage fees and no provincial sales tax.

Edited By CVA0014 on 1277151160

CVA0014 · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:37 pm

(Darn, can't edit post any more)

So the wife came by and took a guess it would cost $5000 for a complete LC system. LOL $800 plus shipping was a breeze after that.

Of course then the strings started being pulled, "as long as you get me my new Jeep Compass". Ok, I was already looking for something for her anyways, I even got the ok to add whatever else I want in there. So I'm going for a 3rd triple rad and 3 more fans, evacuating the most heat is the most important function as far as I'm concerned.

Of course this is all theoretical until I actually order something.

Isn't virtual shopping carts fun? I'm always filling them up and then leaving them there to look at.

For those that want to learn more, start at a place like this one:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=202394

Then branch out across the links to other forums, there is a LOT of information out there now. Some of it is contradicting, but at least it's there for us to make a judgement call.

Edited By CVA0014 on 1277152800

CVA0014 · Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:47 am

Got another screen lockup in a Riley Daytona Prototype on the backstraight at Road Atlanta. I braked slowly, when the screen came back I was facing traffic; somehow managed to avoid a catastrophy.

Parts from NCIX should arrive soon, I'm ordering the remainder from Performance PCs tomorrow. This is pretty much what it's going to look like:

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:41 am

I've been thinking, with the weather we're having these days in the Ottawa-Montreal region, how about bringing that rig you've got and cooling down my whole house! I bet you could do it!

CVA0014 · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 5:31 pm

Yeesh, now the wife wants a thermopump 'cause the neighbours just got one (for the cooling feature, winter heating is better with our old electric system).

Got the rest of my order from NCIX today. Hopefully, the few parts I had to order from Performance PCs will be here soon.

Running With Water

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