Considering Watercooling Your PC? 306
An anonymous reader writes "Thinking of taking the plunge into water cooling your PC? These guys have rounded up three systems ranging from cheap and cheerful, to stylish and pricey."
It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.
This Manometer should complete the DIY project ... (Score:3, Interesting)
What About? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why use Water?!? (Score:5, Interesting)
I saw a color tv floating in a tank of this at a trade show years ago, something about a running color tv floating in liquid is just wrong.
But I'm sure It would be much better than water for many many reason.
"Fluorinert FC-77, a specialty fluid from 3M, to cool the laser tube. It is a colorless, odorless liquid (just like water) and if you get some of it on your fingers, it is harmless, just wash your hands with clean water (according to 3M).
Here is the description from 3M web site:
"Heat Transfer Fluids
The wide liquid range of Fluorinert liquid FC-77 (-110C to 97C) makes it ideal for use in automated test equipment (ATE) and other semiconductor process equipment. Its high dielectric strength means it will not damage electronic equipment or semiconductor wafers, chips or packages in the event of a leak or other failure. In addition, FC-77 liquid is chemically stable, nonflammable and practically non-toxic".
new way of water cooling? (Score:3, Interesting)
anyway, it would be cool to find out if you can just put your whole computer in this stuff. cooling problem solved, right?
Re:watercooling (Score:3, Interesting)
State of the art CPU cooling (Score:5, Interesting)
Check it out in this [cray.com] video.
Cray's phase change uses Fluorinert, while the average PC uses Freon.
I went with an XP-90 [thermalright.com] to air cool my new Athlon 64. The heatpipes arguably make it passive phase change cooling.
Air conditioning in computer room instead (Score:3, Interesting)
You'd be better off cooling your room with AC, and getting the benefit of cooling yourself, not just your processor!
Re:What About? (Score:5, Interesting)
-Jesse
Re:oh man (Score:2, Interesting)
Close up [kfib.net]
Test installation [kfib.net]
It's a nasty hack that I put together during an exam period if I recall correctly. And no, I'm not using it today.
Re:Are we done watercooling yet? (Score:1, Interesting)
This is slashdot. What did you think this was, a geek/technical enthusiast website?
It is a common misconception that every "socially inept" teenager is a bright and capable geek. Some are actually just dull, lazy, stupid kids that additionally can't relate to people. My guess is that your ultimatum is not going to turn many kiddies into hackers.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Watercooling advantages... (Score:4, Interesting)
You see, my computer is located inside a closet. While being the quietest computer around, I can dry my clothes with that brand new Prescott 2.8E.
I needed a way to remove the heat from that closet, So I drilled holes in the walls and installed the pump / radiator in stair room going to the basement.
I do miss wearing those warm clothes on cold winter days...
My PC (Score:2, Interesting)
It works great (Score:3, Interesting)
Here's my first project:
http://www.overclockers.com/tips1009/index.asp [overclockers.com]
I finished my second last September and have been using it since. I built the whole case from stainless steel tubing. One side of the case is pressurized for water distribution and the other side is a reservior. Here's a pic:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/zackbass1/IMG_0023comp
The great thing about is that I'm able to run my little 2.4C at over 3.4Ghz (I built it in Sept 2003, so it was a big deal) completely silently. The radiator is large enough that it doesn't need any fans. The only noise that comes from the case is the hard disks spinning.
Re:I'm past thinking about water-cooling (Score:2, Interesting)
So what? What kind of kink is in that? We are talking about water. Not salted water nor mineral water - just pure water (H2O). As pure as possible.
and corrosion
What corrosion? We are talking about water. Not salted water nor mineral water - just pure water (H2O). As pure as possible. This one is non-corrosive, non-electrolythic and as cheap as coke. If you chose tap water (which is far from being a pure H2O) as your coolant - it's your own choice, risk and kink.
[...]but you still are at the mercy of the ambient room temperature.
So what? What is the "mercy"? Isn't the same "mercy" valid when air-dust-noise cooling?
It's finicky enough that you couldn't build a machine with water cooling and leave it in a room for 3 years so
I wouldn't leave a fan-cooled machine for three years without attention either. Your fans can get stuck, worn out etc., can't they? What's so finicky here?
that leaves a hole in reliability as I couldn't leave my machines on while going away for two weeks on vacation unless I didn't mind rolling the dice to seeing fire trucks at my home.
Huh... at least water is a well-known fire extiguishing medium. Your pc can have it's own, automatic extinguishing system when it starts to burn. The same can't be said about broken fans... :-)
No. There is no hole unless you choose the wrong coolant and/or cooling block. Choose wisely (the same as with CPU fans), install with proper care and attention to detiails and there is no higher risk at all. I keep my machines running all the time, doing intensive computing and server activities. That's why I chose water-cooling: to cut the noise. All I do is add a little water (you know, which one) every couple of months...
Peltier cool the air intake (Score:0, Interesting)
You might want to re-state that... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've seen active refrigeration systems coupled with water cooling that were based off of mini-fridges (There was one that won a case-mod prize at QuakeCon 2003...). The CPU was cooled down below ambient and he was able to keep Bawls and Cokes cold in the thing.
Fluorinert (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.parallax-tech.com/fluorine.htm [parallax-tech.com]
Re:watercooling (Score:2, Interesting)
Air cooled boards have the fins going up because hot air rises so you want to separate that hot air from the board as quickly as possible. With a liquid coolant, you only have to be concerned that sufficient coolant is flowing through the fins.
Ergo, you are back to a single point of failure: the pump/fan device. Maybe I need to get into developing one of these things to show how it's done...
Mineral oil (Score:2, Interesting)