30€ Water Loop Computer [Build Log]

[Julian5]

So I finally decided to build something special and unique, This my friends is project frug, It is a completely second hand frugal PC. All parts for the build are second or third hand and the total cost is more or less 400$

I will be heavily ripping apart an old pc case and maybe making a cheap ghetto water cooling solution, Stay tuned.

 

 

 

Initial Case

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Starting to strip the case

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Cutting off part of the motherboard tray and trying some long exposure shots on my dslr....

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Making a testbench Style case with bolts as feet and adding an HDD holder underneath.

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Made a Power button and Led holder 

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Sweet pics with the components

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So I decided to use these parts

 

I3 540 - Got this for working at a tech repair shop for an hour Worth 30€

P7h55 -m lx - Got this for working at a tech repair shop for an hour worth 40€

8gb of 1333 mhz ram - Traded it for a 40€ stick of 1066mhz 8gb of ram

GTX 660 OC - Bought for 80€ from a shady dude but it worked

Modular Apex Urano 600w PSU - Bought in a shopping mall from a dude for 30€

Old noname case - Got for free at a tech repair shop

120gb SSD - Got seconds hand for 40€

Sata cables etc I already had

 

So thats a total of 260€

I am aiming for a 300€ build so 40€ are left for water cooling, I will look around ebay and keep this thread updated on what I will buy!

 

I am also unsure whether to paint the testebench case or not.

 

Suggestions are welcome!

 

More pictures coming!

 

 

 

 

Update!

 

I have made my ebay cart and the total is 54$! 20€ higher but I have a somewhat proper cpu block, reservoir and rad

 

here is the cart

 

 

 

[Tom Hanks]

Nice little rig that!

[ccRicers]

Word of warning- if you're buying budget no-name water cooling parts make sure they all have the same base metal! Otherwise you can run into corrosion problems.

 

Most brand names use copper as the base metal for their custom parts. But when you go super budget you'll start to find more aluminum in the parts, like radiators. It's not good to mix the two. I see in your shopping list your CPU block has a copper base but the radiator is aluminum. That could be a potential problem...

[Julian5]

Just now, ccRicers said:

Word of warning- if you're buying budget no-name water cooling parts make sure they all have the same base metal! Otherwise you can run into corrosion problems.

 

Most brand names use copper as the base metal, but when you go super budget you'll start to find more aluminum in the parts, like radiators. I see in your shopping list your CPU block has a copper base but the radiator is aluminum. That could be a potential problem...

Yeah I have all of this in mind, Im even expecting some thinks to leak. This will be working for a couple weeks maximum as it is simply an experiment, If I where to use this as my daily cooler I would get a silver kill coil and some anti corrosive fluid

[Julian5]

Update:

 

Thanks to @Tom Hanks I manged to overclock the i3 540 to a steady 3,7ghz with the stock cooler, Once I get the water cooling and mess with the voltages I am expecting a 4-4.5 ghz overclock.

 

Anyways just ordered all the water cooling parts includind some clear 10mm tubing and some dyes.

[Julian5]

Update: recieved The fans, Radiator, Cpu block and reservoir. evrything looks good and they seem to not be leaking. Now I just need the Pump and the acrylic tubing. 

 

Will upload pictures in a bit.

[Julian5]

Pictures, I noticed some corrosion forming after cleaning the cpu block with water, Im not worried since I can clean it with acid but im kinda worried for the radiator.

 

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[PRTI]

So where are the ending pics?  

[Julian5]

2 minutes ago, keNNySOC said:

So where are the ending pics?  

Im still waiting on the Pump and tubing but chiiping is slow since its from china, 

 

I have a new build log tommorow though (parts in signature)

[PRTI]

2 minutes ago, Julian5 said:

Im still waiting on the Pump and tubing but chiiping is slow since its from china, 

 

I have a new build log tommorow though (parts in signature)

Nice,you gotta tag me in the build log since i love build logs  

 

If you make a custom loop for $50 your a good

 

I still remember how much troubles TechYesCity had...but he won round 2 tho  

 

[Julian5]

53 minutes ago, keNNySOC said:

Nice,you gotta tag me in the build log since i love build logs  

 

If you make a custom loop for $50 your a good

 

I still remember how much troubles TechYesCity had...but he won round 2 tho  

 

Yeah I hope it works, If I get it to work well I think I might put it in the new 800$ PC but Im still not sure about that hence the chances of leakage. Im confident I can overclock it though

[Nicnac]

I LOVE ghetto builds! Nothing like scoring cheap parts

 

[Julian5]

Well, I just recieved the pump and tubes this morning and the build is done. Excuse the shitty iphone pics.

 

Lemme summarize what happend,

 

I built the loop with the, the tubing was very very small and I had to use boiling water to get it to strech over the cpu block and reservoir, Once I built the loop I filled it with colored tap water and I put some tissued underneath, I had 3 leaks but they where all fixed by using zip ties. I leak tested the loop for about an hour and nothing leaked. The pump is somewhat loud bt not as loud as the fans.

 

 

I proceded to put it in the i3 machine (its a pain to mount the block since its just a couple bolts with washers). I forgot to put it on the case we built and just put it in a case I already had it in

 

 

. The results where amazing, I got under 50c at 3,7ghz. I Managed to overclock the CPU to 4,1ghz at 1.24v since I could not change the core voltage. The max temps I hit at 4,1ghz where 57c while The stock cooler hit 85c at 4ghz. All in all pretty amazing for a 40€ loop.

 

 

 

So now I just had to put the loop in my main PC. I procceded to fill the loop with red colored distilled water and mount the block in the pc, It was really hard to mount it but I made it. I placed the radiator, reservoir and pump in the case, it looked amazing with the red liquid, I hit the button and it turned on for 2s after turning off. I kinda thought I had killed the mobo/cpu by overtightning the cpu block, I removed everything and put the tx3i  back in, it still did not turn on but after some re cabling the pc finally turned back on so no probkem, I still dont know if its safe to put this loop in my pc since its all chinese and the pc is worth over 700€. Anyways chinese water cooling works but im not sure if I recommend it for long term solutions.

 

 

 

 

The project is done and the i3 pc is getting sold for 280€ tommrow afternoon. Now I just neeed to find something to do with a waterloop. SUggestions?

[NaLu]

Use it to cool GPU

[Julian5]

41 minutes ago, NaLu said:

Use it to cool GPU

I dont think the block fits on the gtx 660 and its getting sold tommrow anywayas.

[david31160]

lol i used the same pump in my raspberry pi liquid cooling loop and i didnt even buy a waterblock because i made one by attaching a bunch of copper pipes together to half a laptop cooler. I also made my reservoir out of a water bottle and duct tape. It only leaked once...

[Julian5]

4 minutes ago, david31160 said:

lol i used the same pump in my raspberry pi liquid cooling loop and i didnt even buy a waterblock because i made one by attaching a bunch of copper pipes together to half a laptop cooler. I also made my reservoir out of a water bottle and duct tape. It only leaked once...

lol nice one

[Heesleemer]

1 hour ago, Julian5 said:

lol nice one

You can try to use it for a DIY project, Water Cooled LED flashlight? or DIY with some peltier coolers/heater

[Julian5]

23 hours ago, Heesleemer said:

You can try to use it for a DIY project, Water Cooled LED flashlight? or DIY with some peltier coolers/heater

I have some peltier modules at home, could be a good idea.

 

[AlienALX]

Can you please tell me what sized tubing you used? the pump has an OD of 8.6mm and the blocks are 10mm.

[Julian5]

1 minute ago, AlienALX said:

Can you please tell me what sized tubing you used? the pump has an OD of 8.6mm and the blocks are 10mm.

im using 8mm tubing, as outlined above I had to use boiling water to strech the tubing over the cpu block and zip ties to attach it to the pump, its kinda sketchy but there are  no leaks. I spent about 15m per 10mm fitting to stretch the tubing.

[AlienALX]

Thanks