*EDIT*
SEE THE BEAST!
just dont look too long or u might turn into salt.
its almost done, im in the final testing tweaking phase of the project.
Its meant to be a silent PC to leave on all the time, listen to music, program, internet, download etc. and play old games *g*
Specs are
XP 1800+
768MB of PC133 ram
voodoo 3 3000
WD 80GB (with FDB bearings)
Seagate barracuda 160GB
loop:
pump>HDD waterblock>CPU>Nbridge>GFX card>PSU>radiator>resevior
The radiator consists of about 5.5KG of aluminium plates, 6m of copper pipe, a bunch of PVC pipe, close to 200 bolts, and a bunch of jubilee clips.
The radiator is an array of 12 pieces of 2 plates clamped to a pipe.
(ill post pics tomorrow)
I might make a mosfet waterblock, and ill probably make one to take 2 cdrom drives and enclose them in foam.
The hard drives will be wrapped in foam.
system seems to be running well, im gonna reduce Vcore a bit, it can go lower (its at 1.67V)
Currently my Case is open, case temp is 24C, CPU 49C, WD 37C, Seagate 35C.
I ran unreal tournament for about 10-20 mins, and the cpu temp climbed gradually up to 57C. the HDDs climbed up to about 39C.
it will be interesting to see what happens once i reduce Vcore.
Im not too happy with those HDD temps, im thinking of making a seperate loop (dedicated section of the radiator, seperate pump and res) just for the HDDs and CDROMs.
the stand ive got the PC perched on is kind of blocking 1/4-1/2 the intake for the radiator...
ive cooled most of the things in my PSU... power transistors, load resistors, main output inductor... but the side of the PSU still gets warm... probably not anything to worry about, but im gonna drill some holes in the PSU cover to get a bit of air exchange...
im not happy about the pump...
i used to have this 5W pump, that if decoupled, you could barely hear it was on...
ive got the same model of that pump now, (but not the same one) and it makes a noise
, more noise than a 15W pump (which im using atm)
also gonna insulate the resevior...
im gonna see how it goes tomorrow with decreasing Vcore a bit... even if the hard drive temps are lower, i dont want them jumping up and down in temp at the CPU's whim. :/
so it seems dedicating a part of the radiator to them is inevitable.
i might also add a few more units to the radiator.
at the moment all i hear is the pump, humming away.
and then some HDD noise. (they aren't insulated yet)
Btw, i dont like my HDDs being over 37C
fussy bastard...
i reckon im paranoid for a good reason :]
one thing is for sure
as is, the PC is quiet as hell, and can be used for any office/internet type application, ive only given it a 20 min run in unreal, but i didnt like how things were going
it would be nice if i could play some games on this pc etc.
(im getting a new pc soon, which will prob be a noisy air cooled thing)
anyways, ill post those pics tomorrow
peace
EDIT(tuesday)
ok
here r the pics.
after drilling holes in my PSU im so much happier about it... it looks really good (i dont mean aesthetically) and it runs cool.
the only thing now, is to insulate the hard drives, and get another pump... i checked out the impellar on my 5W and its got some play on it, causing the rattling, so im gonna sort that out, and get another one (hopefully hussle for a replacement)
ive got enough copper pipe to put on another layer of radiator pieces (4 more)...
the temps are good now, i havent run an extended gaming session yet... but the temps will be all the more sweeter if i add another row of rad pieces.
i lowered my Vcore btw, and ran CPU burn in for a long time today, the cpu goes up to 52C max (which im very happy with)
and the HDDS sit at around 38-39C, i did some long intensive HDD stuff earlier and my HDD went up to 40C... which is actually pretty normal?
(reassurance please
and while im adding that row of rad pieces, ill do the CDROM waterblock, and the mosfet block i reckon.
im considering giving the metal bits a lick of matt black spray paint... does it need a primer? (hopefully not) If i do itll be while everything still attatched, no ways im taking it apart...
peace