Water Cooling.... Using only eBay.com

[AlexTheGreatish]

Thanks OriginPC for sponsoring today's video! Check out the Millenium Gaming PC OriginPC Sent us: https://bit.ly/3iOSw5o

 

Origin PC sent us a beautiful PC to use in a sponsored video.. sadly it arrived at the same time as the worst stuff we could find on eBay.

 

Here are the components in our Millenium PC:

Intel i9-13900K Processor: https://geni.us/j5A1

Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU: https://geni.us/HJkPfQ

Corsair Dominator 2x16GB 6000MHz RAM: https://geni.us/vN2y

Samsung 870 QVO 4TB SSD: https://lmg.gg/vyuMO

Corsair HX1200 PSU: https://geni.us/VFl86

Corsair iCUE 5000D Airflow Mid-Tower Case: https://geni.us/qfFVq

Corsair iCUE H100i Liquid CPU Cooler: https://geni.us/jYpvPHy

Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

 

 

 

[dogwitch]

nothing could go wrong...... its linus after all...

[Senzelian]

Alex's videos are always the most entertaining. One half of the video I was sitting there in shock and the other half I was lying on the floor laughing.

[IanSzot]

That transition shot at 12:50 was kinda cool, reminded me of Mythbusters lol

[papajo]

11 hours ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

Thanks OriginPC for sponsoring today's video! Check out the Millenium Gaming PC OriginPC Sent us: https://bit.ly/3iOSw5o

 

Origin PC sent us a beautiful PC to use in a sponsored video.. sadly it arrived at the same time as the worst stuff we could find on eBay.

 

Here are the components in our Millenium PC:

Intel i9-13900K Processor: https://geni.us/j5A1

Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU: https://geni.us/HJkPfQ

Corsair Dominator 2x16GB 6000MHz RAM: https://geni.us/vN2y

Samsung 870 QVO 4TB SSD: https://lmg.gg/vyuMO

Corsair HX1200 PSU: https://geni.us/VFl86

Corsair iCUE 5000D Airflow Mid-Tower Case: https://geni.us/qfFVq

Corsair iCUE H100i Liquid CPU Cooler: https://geni.us/jYpvPHy

Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

 

 

 

So basically without fans it doesnt throttle that much and with fans (although you mentioned in the video you gonna test with fans too) test never happened? 

Why? Because it would make the few hundred dollar more expensive AIO solution this origin PC had look bad? 

[DJ46]

I guess the original plan was a nostalgic loop using the old and simple parts that used to be a lot better than a small heatsink with a 92mm fan.

But watercooling with parts from Ebay could've been so much more interesting - there are great deals to be had and you could've shown how to check and clean used parts.

 

The first thing you buy is a leak tester, as with used stuff (especially after cleaning) you have no guarantee that they won't leak all over your system.

Then you buy reliable, proven components that still have plenty of life in them, even if they look a bit beat up. (You could've even shown how to repaint a rad housing, while avoiding overspray on the fins.)

Spoiler

My dream system was a watercooled one and I expected to wait until I saved up for the endgame setup so I didn't have to tear it down to upgrade it every few months.

I found a D5 pump res combo for 1/4 of the price of a new one. It was several years old, even the guy before me bought it used off of someone else on the same forum.

Got a 360mm rad, a 1260 (yes, a 3x420) rad, a CPU block and a set of fittings for half the price of new ones. (Though I did have to use some random M4 screws to mount the block.) The GPU block was a new old stock core only block that had the same hole spacing as my card, with a random heatsink ziptied to the VRM.

I took apart and cleaned the CPU block and pump, flushed the rads several times and checked the condition of all of the o-rings.

 

Now I have an amazing system, better than I could've imagined, even if the main components could use an upgrade.

But hey, with the GPU prices we had for the last couple years, I am happy to treat my GPU to better temps with how long it has worked.

(I plan to write up an updated build log one day, but I need to get a few fittings and some tubing to get some better looking runs.)

[The_Mole]

I'm getting nostalgic, here.

The reservoir Linus is holding at 5:15 is an Aquacomputer Aquatube. It was considered high end back in the days. You could get a flushing pipe to keep the window from fogging up, there was a fill level sensor available and even fancy screw plugs where you could put in LEDs. Also, refilling your loop by simply turning the case around and opening those 5 allen screws was considered easy and convenient back then. Mounting options were either that shield from the video that required you cut a hole in your case or a frame for 2 5.25" bays.

That frame also had a mount plate for their Aquastream pumps which are based on Eheim 1046 aquarium models. My XT version lasted 15 years in an almost 24/7 environment, then the o-ring became leaky and the coolant glued the cap tight, without me even noticing until the next upgrade. When I called Aquacomputer for support, I had the successor model in my mail, the next day. Still based on the 1046 and running in my current rig - right now at 171.10l/h (or 45.2 gallons per freedom).

 

Those "hard tube" fittings were marketed as "plug & cool" and originally designed for pressured air applications. I had them in my 1st loop in 8/6mm and then never again.
They used PUR tubes, that are in between nowadays soft- and hard-tubes and featured the worst of both worlds:
If you didn't cut them straight enough, they leaked.
If a bend produced too much sideways pressure on the fitting, they leaked.
After unplugging them a couple times and putting them back in - you guessed right: They leaked.
However, if you bent them too tight without a special clip, they collapsed.
Oh, they also were easy to pull out by accident.

 

Those Alphacool Cape Cora radiators were expensive, af. They were meant to be attached to the case like in the video and to be used passively. They also were stackable for more surface area. However, while you were better off with a small heating radiator from your local hardware store, they were quite popular among people who didn't want a fan in their rig - because silence - and then added a 10k rpm HDD (e.g. WD VelociRaptor) that ran at like 30dbA.

 

The small copper blocks were meant to be glued onto your hardware with thermal adhesive - to never be removed again.

 

Here's a pic from an AM3 build from 2010:

 

Edit: Found a pic of an even older AM2 build - and found that I unintentionally lied to you.
I did recycle the fittings for my back-then girlfriend's PC:

 

 

...and just for the protocol:

[Nystemy]

Ebay is this site where one can get literally anything if one looks long enough.
At least unlike other marketplaces, ebay at least has decent money back guarantees.

 

But yes, one can get away with a pile of junk if one wants to, or don't know what to buy etc.

Research is the name of the game when it comes to ebay.

 

Also, Origin PC partly failed on their cable management:

Both for using zip ties instead of hook and loop straps in a computer _{(but I can give them a pass there since a prebuilt likely won't get touched much by the end user)}. But more importantly for leaving improperly cut ends... _{(When I worked on an assembly line back in the day, sharp ends like these would give one a strike, and even grounds to be fired if it happened often enough. Since the sharp ends were both a workplace hazard to other employees further down the assembly line, but equally importantly a workplace hazard to repair shops, customers, etc. And this can get rather costly as far as legal procedures are concerned. Either don't cut it at all, or cut it properly. I strongly recommend either having a proper cable tie installation tool, or use a quality pair of side cutters.)}

[papajo]

16 hours ago, The_Mole said:

Here's a pic from an AM3 build from 2010:

We had the same BR recorder  it was quite expensive back then I think somewhere around 200 euros if memory serves me right + I also had a plextor DVD recorder (Which had blazing fast speeds for CD/DVD and also served as a timesaver incase I wanted to clone CDs DVDs so that I wont waste time writing the image on my hardrive) 

The only thing I regret (just a little though) is not getting into water cooling back then I guess partially it was due to the components even when OCed were pretty much ok using air I remember that my build around that time had a Zalman cooler exactly like this one and it was just running fine not issues 



But surely I believed water cooled PCs like yours looked cool AF back then

 

[The_Mole]

17 hours ago, papajo said:

We had the same BR recorder  it was quite expensive back then I think somewhere around 200 euros if memory serves me right + I also had a plextor DVD recorder (Which had blazing fast speeds for CD/DVD and also served as a timesaver incase I wanted to clone CDs DVDs so that I wont waste time writing the image on my hardrive) 

The only thing I regret (just a little though) is not getting into water cooling back then I guess partially it was due to the components even when OCed were pretty much ok using air I remember that my build around that time had a Zalman cooler exactly like this one and it was just running fine not issues 



But surely I believed water cooled PCs like yours looked cool AF back then

 

There were cheaper BD recorders, yeah. But then Lightscribe: Being able to flip your discs upside down and laser your label on it was awesome, at least compared to printing labels and putting them on. Put it into an external enclocuse at some point and haven't used it in years - but it's still there.

I built a couple of PCs using that Zalman cooler. It came in 3 versions, iirc: Aluminum with copper core, full copper and the deluxe nickel plated one from your pic.

The early days of watercooling were a hassle. Literally no one in the industry had any experience with it. You could get all sorts of metal, sometimes even combined in a single component. No one cared about possible corrosive interactions. Also no one cared to keep living things out of the loop. Depending on your coolant or water additives, you were able to grow algae or even mold in your loop. You had cozy temps, more often than not you found UV-cathodes in those rigs - ideal conditions. Also, the first waterblocks were either just a hollow block with connectors, or the were massive and had a U- or an S-shaped canal CNC'ed in - not that the CPUs back then required lots of fins to keep them cool.
It was more likely to end up with a rig that looked like in the video, than what you'd expect from a custom loop, nowadays. 
However, it for sure was unusual enough to draw attention and what it made special is that it was able to somewhat silently keep your temps in check.
 

When it had developed to nearly nowadays standards, the first AiOs came out - seemed to me as if some vendors were trying to get rid of their old stock and others were hoping for an easy cash-grab. Performance and noise were simply pathetic. Something like - say a Scythe Mugen - air-cooler beat them in both areas. 

 

I ordered my first own AiO for my next NAS build only a couple days, ago. Not that I take them seriously, even nowadays, but for a 45W-Xeon a 240 should suffice. 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by The_Mole
fixed pic

[ElliotWizerd]

There is nothing that can go wrong

[4Nebula]

Where is the link to the radiator used in this build or do you not provide a link because you do not get compensated!?!? 

Every time there's an object in a video that I really really like or want, there's no link to it... only the main CPU and such components...

[Ubersonic]

OMG I had one of those Alphacool Cape Cora rads back around 2006.  They were actually really good for the day but were designed for silently cooling a Core2 era CPU (and no GPU), so the team would have known from the beginning that it had zero chance of handling the heat load they were going to throw at it, but it made for a funny video  

 

I still remember starting the PC after I had installed mine xD:

 

CPU: silence

GPU: Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

PSU: Dual 80mm fans bay bay!

HDDs: We are also here!