Ghetto PC cooling idea... Thoughts/Comments?

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

 

Would this work as a radiator? I have a fish tank that holds 5.5 gallons with a lid to prevent any dust/grime... Any thoughts? Tell me what you think... Thanks!!

 

 

 

Water map:

5.5 gallon fish tank with a pump inside moving water through the hose in the fridge, cooling the water, to then be directly forced into the system and cooling off the cpu and gpu, then leaving the system to end back in the fish thank. 

[Deathstroke]

Cold going to heat will cause condensation.

 

That's my first thought.

[Kyuubixchidori]

.....I'm really curious to see if it works. I think it only will because there's such a large volume of water to store heat

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

Cold going to heat will cause condensation.

 

That's my first thought.

how to prevent? 

[Deathstroke]

Lots of insulation, but then you might as well be using nitrogen.

 

It's really about just removing the heat, not making it cold, though those are the same things.

 

 

.....I'm really curious to see if it works. I think it only will because there's such a large volume of water to store heat

 

This makes a little more sense, since the majority of the water that gets warm from being in the loop has a while till it goes back in, but eventually it will get hot. But with something like a fish tank, it's never really a "closed" loop. So there's no telling what could happen to the water, and the parts.

[FakeGamerGuy]

No.

 

A typical mini fridge is able to cool at a rate of 100 BTU/hr. Your CPU, depending on load, will run at 18-120 watts. 100 BTU/hr = 29.3 watts so assuming you're actually using your computer your best case is a net loss of 0 watts but more likely you'll actually be adding more heat into the fridge than it's able to pump out. Add to that your reservoir, presumably outside of the fridge, is constantly absorbing heat from the environment. That's just to cool your CPU, no video cards or anything else. Trying to actively cool the water to below ambient temperature would only be worth the effort if you're trying to stabilize a massive overclock but then you have to worry about condensation on the waterblock, the fact that a fridge that cools at 1,000 BTU still cools less than 300 watts, and the cost of materials. If you're really interested in a chilled water system there are other people who have done the hard work for you. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/chillers/dormfridge/

 

Assuming you're just trying to cool your system with water and a fish tank, yes, it's entirely possible. I've been designing a system for a few weeks to do exactly that and have been testing it the past few days. With 6.5 gallons of water and nothing to cool the water other than radiation and evaporation (I haven't tested it sealed yet) I've been able to run the system pegged for hours and still run it extremely cold compared to air cooling. Basically the large body of water acts as two things: a thermal capacitor and a radiation source. The water can absorb tons and tons of heat which it then radiates through the glass walls of the tank as well as from the water's surface if the tank is open. At low temperatures (when the water is at the same temperature as the room) it doesn't do much radiating but when it starts to get warm it radiates surprisingly well. For me it started to reach equilibrium around the 4 hour mark. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/385094-passively-cooled-fish-tank-computer/?p=5603991

 

TL;DR don't use a fridge, you'll just break it. Water itself is more than sufficient.

[You_are_a_cunt]

~comprehensive explanation~

^

This. Also, dat power consumption would end up costing more than a proper watercooling loop

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

No.

 

A typical mini fridge is able to cool at a rate of 100 BTU/hr. Your CPU, depending on load, will run at 18-120 watts. 100 BTU/hr = 29.3 watts so assuming you're actually using your computer your best case is a net loss of 0 watts but more likely you'll actually be adding more heat into the fridge than it's able to pump out. Add to that your reservoir, presumably outside of the fridge, is constantly absorbing heat from the environment. That's just to cool your CPU, no video cards or anything else. Trying to actively cool the water to below ambient temperature would only be worth the effort if you're trying to stabilize a massive overclock but then you have to worry about condensation on the waterblock, the fact that a fridge that cools at 1,000 BTU still cools less than 300 watts, and the cost of materials. If you're really interested in a chilled water system there are other people who have done the hard work for you. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cap/raid/chillers/dormfridge/

 

Assuming you're just trying to cool your system with water and a fish tank, yes, it's entirely possible. I've been designing a system for a few weeks to do exactly that and have been testing it the past few days. With 6.5 gallons of water and nothing to cool the water other than radiation and evaporation (I haven't tested it sealed yet) I've been able to run the system pegged for hours and still run it extremely cold compared to air cooling. Basically the large body of water acts as two things: a thermal capacitor and a radiation source. The water can absorb tons and tons of heat which it then radiates through the glass walls of the tank as well as from the water's surface if the tank is open. At low temperatures (when the water is at the same temperature as the room) it doesn't do much radiating but when it starts to get warm it radiates surprisingly well. For me it started to reach equilibrium around the 4 hour mark. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/385094-passively-cooled-fish-tank-computer/?p=5603991

 

TL;DR don't use a fridge, you'll just break it. Water itself is more than sufficient.

Wow. Thank you so much. Could you please explain to me what you mean by your own system? Is it just a large fishtank with a pump in it? I would seriously like to talk to you about this, you are very intriguing! Do you have an email address that I could have a 1 on 1 conversation? thanks a lot!

[FakeGamerGuy]

Wow. Thank you so much. Could you please explain to me what you mean by your own system? Is it just a large fishtank with a pump in it? I would seriously like to talk to you about this, you are very intriguing! Do you have an email address that I could have a 1 on 1 conversation? thanks a lot!

I have a 10 gallon tank with 6.5 gallons in it currently (It will go up to 9 when I move the system upstairs), a submerged fountain pump, an XSPC waterblock, and some 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD clear hose running between the two. I'll take pictures of the setup tonight or tomorrow.

[tomas710]

 

Would this work as a radiator? I have a fish tank that holds 5.5 gallons with a lid to prevent any dust/grime... Any thoughts? Tell me what you think... Thanks!!

 

 

 

Water map:

5.5 gallon fish tank with a pump inside moving water through the hose in the fridge, cooling the water, to then be directly forced into the system and cooling off the cpu and gpu, then leaving the system to end back in the fish thank. 

'The more ho's you have the better' https://youtu.be/n5s8Cu59-NM?t=135

That just made my day

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

I have a 10 gallon tank with 6.5 gallons in it currently (It will go up to 9 when I move the system upstairs), a submerged fountain pump, an XSPC waterblock, and some 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD clear hose running between the two. I'll take pictures of the setup tonight or tomorrow.

Okay, thanks for the pictures, looking forward to viewing them. Do you have a quick chart I could look at to see temps? I was looking at your other forum you linked me to, and they didn't exactly say what I was looking for... Something along the lines of:

 

T |

e |

m|           (Graph)

p |

s |

   |______________________

               Time (Hours)

And based on the information you gave me, I am inferring that you do NOT have a radiator? Have you ever gotten to an alarming temperature under full load? Is this better then air cooling/watercooling (for the price)? Once again, thank you so much! I was really hoping someone like you would come along and help. thanks!

[FakeGamerGuy]

 

This was in the post I linked to but I'll briefly review it. The first temperature at 0:00 was recorded after Prime95 had been running for a couple minutes so it was already at a working temperature. Prime95 was then run for the next 5 hours (until the 5:00:00 mark). The data point at 14:00:00 was after the machine had been idling overnight. No data points were recorded during that time so CPU temps are not correctly represented there. It's more likely than not that the CPU temperature would have matched water temperature by 5:30:00.

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

(Picture)

 

This was in the post I linked to but I'll briefly review it. The first temperature at 0:00 was recorded after Prime95 had been running for a couple minutes so it was already at a working temperature. Prime95 was then run for the next 5 hours (until the 5:00:00 mark). The data point at 14:00:00 was after the machine had been idling overnight. No data points were recorded during that time so CPU temps are not correctly represented there. It's more likely than not that the CPU temperature would have matched water temperature by 5:30:00.

This was the 6.5 gallons without a radiator? Meaning under full cpu load, for 5.5 hours, max temperatures only hit 38 celcius? That's impressive! What would the effects be if I only used a 5.5 gallon tank? 10? 20? 50? Thanks!

[FakeGamerGuy]

5 hours, and that depends on many factors such as the dimensions of the tank, the thickness and material of the tank, how full it is, the quality of your waterblock, the temperature of your room, how full you actually fill your tank, what CPU you're using, etc. This is with a 125W Phenom II X4 965. With a lower-power AMD or pretty much any Intel I suspect you would see similar results with a smaller tank.

 

The good news is, if you're comfortable dropping some cash to do science, a pump can be had for <$20, you just need hose, waterblock, and barbs or compression fittings. You could probably have your setup running for under... $80? Then you can do some testing to see if this method would work for you. If it doesn't perform at a level that you're comfortable with you'd have two options:

1) Get a bigger tank. I got my 10 gal tank on Craigslist for $10 or $15.

2) You could add a radiator to the loop to cool the water further, though I don't know how effective it would be without fans.

3) You'll already have the waterblock, barbs, and hose. You just need a radiator, fan(s), reservoir, and pump to complete a standard water loop contained entirely in your machine.

 

If you're set on going with water cooling there's no reason not to try it and at least gather data. If it works, cool. If not, you're only out the cost of the pump and your own time.

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

5 hours, and that depends on many factors such as the dimensions of the tank, the thickness and material of the tank, how full it is, the quality of your waterblock, the temperature of your room, how full you actually fill your tank, what CPU you're using, etc. This is with a 125W Phenom II X4 965. With a lower-power AMD or pretty much any Intel I suspect you would see similar results with a smaller tank.

 

The good news is, if you're comfortable dropping some cash to do science, a pump can be had for <$20, you just need hose, waterblock, and barbs or compression fittings. You could probably have your setup running for under... $80? Then you can do some testing to see if this method would work for you. If it doesn't perform at a level that you're comfortable with you'd have two options:

1) Get a bigger tank. I got my 10 gal tank on Craigslist for $10 or $15.

2) You could add a radiator to the loop to cool the water further, though I don't know how effective it would be without fans.

3) You'll already have the waterblock, barbs, and hose. You just need a radiator, fan(s), reservoir, and pump to complete a standard water loop contained entirely in your machine.

 

If you're set on going with water cooling there's no reason not to try it and at least gather data. If it works, cool. If not, you're only out the cost of the pump and your own time.

Alright, well I am glad that at least someone got something like this working. I really appreciate the time you took and I am looking forward to trying this myself. Thanks for the data, ideas, and references. Take it easy!

[AnOldieButAGoodie]

I have a 10 gallon tank with 6.5 gallons in it currently (It will go up to 9 when I move the system upstairs), a submerged fountain pump, an XSPC waterblock, and some 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD clear hose running between the two. I'll take pictures of the setup tonight or tomorrow.

I'd love to see these pictures!