Water Cooling 101 - A good place for newbies to start

[Technicnebula]

When should I check my AIO(i am at 4 months), I have no idea what to do.

[FatRakoon]

I dont think I wwould call myself a newbie when it comes to Water cooling.
I am however SERIOUSLY OUT OF DATE.
I currently own and am running 9 PCs that are Water cooler, however I am using AIO Coolers, of various spec, so its not really water cooling.
My first ever dive int oWater cooling was using a Thermaltake Aquarius I think it was... ok at the time, and in the end, I simply used it to Cool my Atari Falcon 060 system, but to be honest, I still have that machine and its got a basic copper finned Heatsink on it and thats all it needs so going Water on that, was simply cos it was no good for the PC.

Right now, when it comes to cooling, I only have one system, that I am not entirely happy with, and that is my old Server.

Its a SuperMicro H8DG6-F with 222xOpteron 6380 CPUs and 512GB RAM.

The issue I am having, is that this is my old server and so I want to convert this to a Workstation PC that is going to be Water cooled.
Ideally, I want both the Noctua coolers replaced with CPU Blocks, but I also want the northbridge heatsinks also replaced as those get pretty toasty too! The GPU I dont care too much about as thats only an ATI 380 and even then I am not sure a better GPU would be money well spent given the CPUs... They are amazing for number crunching and the like, but the entire PC is not all that much cop for a Desktop PC if I am honest with you, but its just a fun thing I want to do cos the thing cos me somuch, I cannot justify selling it off and saying goodbye to that much moeny... Id rather just waste it by being an idiot and tarting up... Mutton dresed as ... well, more mutton if I am honest.

But there we are,  Iwant to watercool a dual G34 Opteron Server and make it look the bizniz, even if it dont do the bizniz!

 

That said, I have said this for about a yer now and so far, I have done..... NOT A JOT.

Ask me again in another 12 months when I will have done... Still nuffink, but at least Id have done nothing in 24 months instead of 12.

 

On 3/27/2019 at 4:02 PM, Technicnebula said:

When should I check my AIO(i am at 4 months), I have no idea what to do.

Check it for what?
If your CPU is staying cool enough then its fine.
Obviously there are 2 things that are powered in an AIO... The main fan, and the pump itself. Both of these, if connected to the Motherboard can be kept an eye on to make sure they are still working by the Motherboard itself.

But what I have done, purely for giggles, is connected an AIO up to a system and NOT had them plugged in, and the PC ran just fine for the most part. Under heavy load it got a bit toasty sure, but it still ran fine.

I have also had the 120mm fan blowing onto the RAD and this made very little difference, I then had only the pump and not the radiator fan going and this did help, but not by a huge amount. Both fans and it cooled it quite nicely.

So, as long as the Motherboard can see that both fans are going, then you will be ok.

I will however say, that dust does collect in the grille of the radiator and so you might want to give that a look every so often.

Im ok thankfully, but I have cleaned some seriously dirty radiators so, if you have pets or like to "close to nature" then you might want to have a look, just to check, but the chances are, you will be fine.

The oldest PC I have that has an AIO, is my sons I7-860 and only about 5 or 6 months ago I gave it an overhaul for him cos he bought himself a new case for it and as it happens, the Block wasnt even working and yet he has been using it for however long like that, and its not made the slighest difference for him?

That block is easily over 10 years old I am sure.

[Dan3975]

I am just trying to find parts to do my first water cooling pc. I noticed that Newegg has some graphics cards with water blocks already on them. Will these work with any fittings and any size tubing? It doesn't say anything in the specs about what size tubing they are made for. I bought a kit that came with 10/14mm PETG tubing.

[aradioactivesquirrel]

Just build your own. Its fun and unique

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIY-PC-Liquid-Water-Cooling-Kit-240mm-Radiator-Pump-Reservoir-CPU-Block-Tubes/253750405147?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3b14b3e81b:g:CSEAAOSwSw1cwny9&enc=AQADAAAB4KX%2FKt4E1xf3SDqEdBclaYZ6LPpb29fHTpsjctMnRBqe3f5tXlpweHqCPoq9bLHtwnb3ynxjgHHuukDuUJREmAk7lDiKmJhe4RNPkAa3aBBFZ2rWMqgry4%2BToaf9SZxlUzEisnZgnmlw8W9fKloat%2Fb%2BlUHvNq2r6gCeueRnaFj24DciTZZ4ahx0Mk6DbOIoRaerLVo7D6G350nglllDKJeng5e702PNFROuGMNogiGEm7PbN70ByUjUHpyuoeW%2FnnmounHSiW7ZJd1e%2F8AaMWqRA7F%2FNLvqzeiRywlRM2ITNkMXz8wKAeoA8zSurelp%2BjnkP1ni3ybpv72wbZRuo89JLTmKWdYghFEykiim0TSvaPlV1oj%2FmIelMx3JgEsaeTOb1uMd%2F7Y2m66VxNVYpJnt0O5mGYWLqcGedim9q6Ukuv5E%2FRlCV4YA6eb3AVryY%2BmURKZUZUdzOSn%2BKf1Tkfyb45FZ1Z%2BNsmHBt0EHLkUNftzdoDXTtwqMgzm0N6XKGKsGhfkMDDmT4eWP4RMmowI4JlPQziD37H%2FHCnnFh2kJmNcmJSvjYTTHLqvIyk6gvX4d6ADnS418ORsji0m0awKUpmhO6KJ9eUOLOeatVss66abLh4rTAsuP8UdTnHoHYQ%3D%3D&checksum=253750405147fbf90701981e453cb98bb1fbbcdf1aae

[CamTechCorner]

So i'm looking to dip my toes into custom water cooling, pref soft line tubing as I'm wanting to have a purple hue to the water passing through.

My system

Mobo: x470 aorus wifi 7

GPU: aorus 1080ti 11g

CPU: 2700k Ryzen

PSU: EVGA 850 gold 

Ram: 4x8gb 2333MHZ ripjaw oc gaming ddr4

CPU heatsink: GTS V8 coolmaster?? can't remember

any suggestions on kits? planning on upgrading my case to the NZXT h710i

pref to stay under $450 

not planning on keeping the GPU CPU or RAM forever. plan on doing upgrades to GPU next and get 2080TI then add that to the water cooled loop.

as for the RAM it's just a little slow for me but I haven't played with the XMP profiles to try to OC it.

Any suggestions on where I should move next in towards of upgrading and cooling. (almost thinking of getting a AIO in meantime until i upgrade my system)

Primarily use PC for gaming (BL3, GTA5, any other new titles) starting to do Video editing and streaming which is why I want to make sure I'm WELL ahead of the curve for what I'm doing.

 

[OdivValknir]

This may be a stupid question but,

 

I installed a velocity EK CPU block in my PC a little while back. I've been having CPU temp problems, I recall a jet plate coming with the kit. Does the block come with a plate installed? Or was I supposed to put that plate in before installation? Or was it a replacement?

[fabafaba]

On 10/17/2019 at 4:50 PM, OdivValknir said:

This may be a stupid question but,

 

I installed a velocity EK CPU block in my PC a little while back. I've been having CPU temp problems, I recall a jet plate coming with the kit. Does the block come with a plate installed? Or was I supposed to put that plate in before installation? Or was it a replacement?

The block comes with two jetplates, one that's preinstalled for the 1151 socket and one extra that's larger for the 2011 and 2066 sockets.

[Starlord808]

If I am using straight Distilled water and a Growth and corrosion inhibitor. Say the the growth inhibitor is one bottle to 1 gallon. If my system takes more than a gallon do I have to get more of the growth/corrosion or should the one bottle be good enough for the loop.

 

[G4mingArt1st]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/smxxf9

Does this system require or, recommended to have a water-loop-resovoir system? Or, is the cooler sufficient to handle the CPU cooling?

I'm by far no expert, but would like to know for sure, if I'll have budget more for a closed-loop system and reservoir.

[xLongPx]

I'm new to water cooling, I wanted to make a purchase for the EKWB A240G https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newegg.com/amp/p/37B-000B-001G8. But I'm worried about the water block, I have a Asus 1080 Ti Turbo. I'm just concerned that the PCB won't be compatible. EK said a 1080 Ti Founders Edition will fit perfectly, when I compare the 2 (Founders Edition and Turbo), the PCB seems similar. Please help.

NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1080-Ti-Founders-Edition-11GB-G.webp

[Cade25]

How long did it take you to wright all that

[G4mingArt1st]

13 minutes ago, Cade25 said:

How long did it take you to wright all that

Who you talking to/about?

[bobslayjupp]

Hi all,

 

First time on this forum but thought i'd give this a shout due to the required help.

 

I've finally took the jump and purchased a MasterCooler AIO Liquid 120 Lite cooler for my CPU and everything is running brilliant if my PC is idle but if i begin to run a game, the temps rocket to 90-100 and if it does rise above 100, my PC shuts down.

I just wondered if anyone has any ideas what I can do? I've made sure the fan is blowing into the radiator (I believe this is correct), the fan has power as I can see the fan spin up when loading a game. I can also feel the water through the pipes so i know its pumping the coolant around.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Just to add, if i open the task manager with a game in the background, the temps drop and the fans stops as no longer required but as game is in windowed mode, it still renders and carries on processing...

[Rusty Proto]

Something I've been looking for is "rule of thumb" estimates that I can use to evaluate for what a given radiator can do if I make certain assumptions, such as a standard Foxcon OEM fan pushing through the radiator and flow from a generic pump (say, 60cfm) of straight water, when specifications are not accessible. My searches are giving me everything but a guide to estimating radiator performance based on dimensions, number of tubes, etc?

[siewcu]

Are EK blocks(specifically Supreme LTX) compatible with LGA2066? It's not mounted like typical aio with standoffs(which has different length for 2011 and 2011-3/2066), so I'm wondering...

[RixPC]

I haven't read all your posts Gmac, but after my most recent experience, I am soured to water cooling, and will stay with my tried and proven air cooler.

I recently ordered a Kraken Z53 AIO system for $207 and with sales tax, $220. I got it last Friday. I open the Z53 box and start to lay out the parts. I noticed the radiator has some dents in it. The LCD doesn't have the protective plastic cover. The thermopaste is already spread out like it has been used before. Yeah, I ended up buying a used item, but that information was skillfully hidden by the Amazon ad. The box was missing the SATA power cord with the fan breakout power cables, and there was no LGA 1700 mounting bracket, even though the ad mentioned its compatibility with the new CPU sockets. Last but not least, even though I had paid for a used Z53, the actual item in the Z53 box was an X53 cooler. I just returned it to Amazon. I knew I should have ordered it from Best Buy, but now, after hearing so many horror stories about the hoses leaking water/cooling liquid, the pump breaking down after a few years, and the liquid drying up. Come on. I keep a PC for ten years or so, and it is on every day, all day. I do turn my PC's off at night, but I expect a cooling system to last. With the horror stories I'm hearing, a car's cooling system lasts longer than the PC cooling system. Liquid cooling is dead in the water as far as I'm concerned.

[RevGAM]

On 5/9/2023 at 12:35 PM, RixPC said:

I haven't read all your posts Gmac, but after my most recent experience, I am soured to water cooling, and will stay with my tried and proven air cooler.

I recently ordered a Kraken Z53 AIO system for $207 and with sales tax, $220. I got it last Friday. I open the Z53 box and start to lay out the parts. I noticed the radiator has some dents in it. The LCD doesn't have the protective plastic cover. The thermopaste is already spread out like it has been used before. Yeah, I ended up buying a used item, but that information was skillfully hidden by the Amazon ad. The box was missing the SATA power cord with the fan breakout power cables, and there was no LGA 1700 mounting bracket, even though the ad mentioned its compatibility with the new CPU sockets. Last but not least, even though I had paid for a used Z53, the actual item in the Z53 box was an X53 cooler. I just returned it to Amazon. I knew I should have ordered it from Best Buy, but now, after hearing so many horror stories about the hoses leaking water/cooling liquid, the pump breaking down after a few years, and the liquid drying up. Come on. I keep a PC for ten years or so, and it is on every day, all day. I do turn my PC's off at night, but I expect a cooling system to last. With the horror stories I'm hearing, a car's cooling system lasts longer than the PC cooling system. Liquid cooling is dead in the water as far as I'm concerned.

I'm confused by your diatribe. You unknowingly got a used AIO that had incorrect/missing parts and returned it, correct? Most likely, the previous purchaser swapped out the part and then returned the whole package to rip off Amazon. Have you ever used water cooling?

 

So, on what basis do you judge water cooling to be dead? I understand that you are disgruntled by what happened, but it isn't the fault of water cooling - it's the previous purchase and Amazon returns didn't notice. Be angry at Amazon if you must, but don't blame the entire water cooling industry for something that is unrelated.

 

If you have had bad experiences with water cooling, tell us. I'm sure others can commiserate with you.