GPU and NB cooling... now going for DIY
 

Ok, I have decided that all the manufacturers of waterblocks are demanding too high a price for me to buy both a NB and GPU block, so the only other alternative to relying on air cooling is to make my own blocks... so heres the plan....

I bought a $19 1U dynatron skivved heatsink that was intended for a socket 603 application, and plan on cutting it in half and using it as the waterblocks' bases.

Now, I am on mcmaster and trying to decide on what kind of plastic to use for the tops. For my plan, it will need to be .75" thick (going to use the thickness to mount the barbs sideways), black preferably, and very cheap. Would nylon work as a waterblock top? I was looking at mcmaster part # 2882K32 as the top material because it is already 1.5" wide and .75" thick and can come in lengths less than 5' :D

I want black topped blocks to match the dtek whitewater I have in there now, plus I dont have to clean them as much to make them look nice again :rolleyes:

Has anyone had experience working with nylon? Is it super soft? Can it be tapped easily? Is it machineable?

Also, what exactly is the pipe size and tube size for the standard 1/2" fitting? I'm talking the one everyone uses like on the RBX, maze 3, WW, basically everything. I know it is NPT, but I dont know what to order from Mcmaster. Has anyone ordered these fittings from mcmaster?

Thanks for the help!

Links:
Material
FrostyTech review of the heatsink I will use

Doesn't Nylon absorb water?

What about Delrin then?

Black Delrin
• Color: Opaque black
• Temp. Range: -40° to +185° F,
unless noted
• Softening Temp.: Not rated
• Tensile Strength: Excellent
• Impact Strength: Good
• Low friction, unless noted • Good electrical insulator,
unless noted
• Use indoors
• Machine with standard tooling
• Hardness: Rockwell M94,
unless noted Black color helps this material maintain a uniform appearance when machined or exposed to sunlight. Similar to white Delrin, it is wear resistant and has good chemical resistance. It also has low moisture absorption. Meets ASTM D6100, unless noted. Meets UL 94HB for flammability. Black Delrin Sample Sheet- Size is 6" x 6" x 1/2" 8575K1 Each $10.86
Additional Information: Click here (See top of page for details)

If you find it too expensive try using ebay, buy the ones that are new and NOT used.

Bingo! :D

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=36352

I forgot they sold EVERYTHING on ebay:D

Bidding now...

I use delrin for all my tops, It rocks! extremely machinable, tappable everything. The stuff is self lubricating. so it cuts like butter. Just make sure to use sharp tools, It doesnt like dull tools.

Jon

Alright, thats good to hear. Here is what I am buying from mcmaster:

1. (1) Each 2525A113 Taper Pipe Tap Carbon Steel, 1/4"-18 NPT $5.50 Each
$5.50

2. (3) Each 48315K11 Barbed PVC Pipe Fitting - Dark Gray 1/2" Pipe Size, 0.635" OD, Plug $0.75 Each
$2.25

3. (2) Each 4596K71 PVC Schedule 80 Threaded Pipe Fitting-Dk Gray 1/4" Pipe Size, Hex Head Hollow Plug $1.45 Each
$2.90

4. (1) Pack 5463K249 Nylon Single-Barbed Tube Fitting Barbed X NPT Male For 1/2" Tube ID, 1/4" NPT,Black, Packs of 10 $4.05 Pack
$4.05

5. (5) Ft. 5103K17 Tygon High Purity Tubing 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD, 1/8" Wall, Clear $3.93 Ft.
$19.65

6. (1) Each 4882K13 PVC Schedule 80 Threaded Pipe Nipple-Dk Gray 1/2" Pipe Size X 1-1/8" Length, Fully Threaded $0.44 Each
$0.44

Total: $34.79

Anyone have any suggestions on my order?

Oh, and I want to see one of your Delrin blocks JFettig :D


EDIT: found one of your blocks using Delrin...

Looks like you tried to keep it a secret:

"There is only one other block with the same material used for the top, and both were made by me. Ill keep that on the DL though:) and if you know, please keep it to yourself."

Hah! I found out yer secret!!! Time to tell the world!!! :evilaugh:

lol, that was some time before I released it:D I let it out months ago:)

if this is only for your chipset and gpu, I wouldnt suggest that huge ugly tubing, go with something smaller. like 3/8ID 1/2OD. Its really difficult to route that tubing around in there.


Jon

So, I should use 3/8" ID tubes off the whitewater outlets and run parallel? Ok. I can live with that.

Also... I found your little image server...

Nice Dreads!!! Those are badass!

Yeah, thats what I suggest.

what are you doing snooping in my files?:D

yeah, those dreads are LONG GONE! lol.

Jon

You shoulda kept them. Dreads = teh shizz. I wish I had dreads when I'm listening to reggae or 311 in my car :(

Back on topic... The design of the tops. I have a few ideas regarding how to spread the water flow over the entire block.

For the GPU block, I will first cross drill two holes almost all the way through the block. The fins are 11mm tall (according to the review), so I will have to gouge out 11mm of plastic out of the middle to accomidate them. This will create the two channels for water to be spread to the entire cooling surface.

The NB block will have to be a far different design. I am having trouble figuring out how to do all of it exactly. I will still have to remove 11 mm, but I'm not sure of barb placement or how I am going to make the channels to spread out flow.

Maybe I should just wait until I have the HS and the other supplies :D

Grrr, keep getting outbid. I am now looking at this auction... But I'm not sure of the properties of UHMW plastic... Is it very machineable? HURRY, before time runs out !!!

EDIT: Found this:
UHMW
Meets FDA guidelines for pharmaceutical processing and food contact application
Profile: Superior abrasion resistant, low friction surface, excellent wear resistance, good impact strength, corrosion resistance, no water absorption, good machinability
Applications: wear strips, chute linings, guide rails, work surfaces, bearing surfaces, sliding surfaces.


Looks good nuff for me :D

EDIT 2: Won :D Looks like I will have plenty of material to make many revisions :D

A single bar of this stuff at mcmaster (.75"x3"x60") is $51.60. I got 3 pieces, each .75"x4"x22" for 25 bucks shipped :D

Looks like I snagged a good deal.

These materials look quite interesting.

I'd like to make my next waterblocks using just copper plate and a decent looking, easily machinable plastic.

Alright, I have comtemplated another addition to my blocks >> would I see a performance improvement if I cut channels perpendicular to the fins on the heatsink to make hundreds of pins instead? I imagine this would be good for turbulence and make barb placement easier, but im not sure if it would be worth it just yet. I could always try it both ways I guess :D

Well as I recall this was essentially what was done to make the original 'Pin-Fin' that BillA tested back when he was doing testing for everyone. That block did extremely well, so it certainly wouldn't hurt the performance. It would also seem to me like it might handle the flow distribution issues you mentioned. Just put the barbs on opposite corners and let the coolant make it's own way through the maze of pins....

Gooserider

Gooserider: no that was a pin fin heatsink just like the one that bladerunner used for his waterblock.


Jon

W00T! Put my order in at mcmaster:

(1) 2525A113 Taper Pipe Tap Carbon Steel, 1/4"-18 NPT $5.50

(1) Pack 5463K465 Nylon Single-Barbed Tube Fitting Barbed X NPT Male For 1/2" Tube ID, 1/4" NPT,Black (10 barbs) $4.05

(5) Ft. 5103K17 Tygon High Purity Tubing 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD, 1/8" Wall, Clear $3.93
Ft. $19.65

Merchandise Total: $29.20

$30 for 5 feet of tubing, fittings, taps, $4 for 15 stainless #10-24 1" stainless screws, $20 for the donor heatsink, $25 for more than 5 feet of 4"x.75" UHMW plastic... about $79 for some high performance waterblocks and a lot of supplies to make many MANY more. :D

I think im doing pretty good because a NB and GPU block at dtek is $83 plus shipping, at dangerden they are about $79 plus shipping without the tubing I bought or the helpful tap and all the spare fittings and plastic and other stuff :)

And I can build so many blocks with the stuff I bought, so I might end up selling them at some point :D

A CPU block may be on the way in the near future if I decide to go pelt cooling, and of course I will have it tested against the whitewater and cascade to see how it performs.

Oh, and about the pin fin thing... This one will have MANY more pins :D

Started a design on a backplate to keep the video card from being broken in half:D

http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima...ocks/Back1.JPG
Just gotta cut it out on my dad's nice new massive band saw now :drool:
I also went out and bought myself some #10-24 x 1" Stainless steel countersunk machine screws from lowes: total of $3. They look really nice when polished on the head. I have a little idea to incorperate O-Rings just under the countersinking to keep the block from cracking around the screw heads as well as making the production tolerences of the block a little bit less :p

I was thinking about counterboring the holes, but put a small o-ring on the bolt before tightening it down so the O-Ring acts as a washer of sorts. Any thoughts of my idea? It might also keep water out, but I'm not sure what kind of water would be in the screw holes :D

http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima...ks/Screws1.JPG

http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima...ocks/Back2.JPG

Back plate for the video card. I have decided to use a mechanism that does not rely on the use of springs for tension so I can put more pressure on the core from directly behind the core. I figure this will also allow the flattest mounting of the block to the core. I will end up gluing a piece of plexi on the back of the core to keep the card from being scratched up from the screw.

I cut it from some scrap aluminum I foud in the garage with a metal band saw. Fun stuff :D

why use a screw and plexi?
take advantage of the secondary cooling path :)
Use a copper spacer :)

If you use copper... just watch for bare traces on that patch of the board. :eek: :cry: :mad:

The victim...

http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima.../heatsink1.JPG
http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima.../heatsink2.JPG
http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima.../heatsink3.JPG
http://www.killernoodle.com/main/ima.../heatsink4.JPG

Can we say surface area :D

It should be pretty simple to cut into appropriately sized pieces. The bandsaw should work perfectly for this purpose. The base is very well finished, but I couldnt seem to take a good photo of it without it blending into the desk. The base is 4mm thick, the surface area of the thing is 1216 cm squared (I calculate) unmodified, and the resulting SA of each waterblock (without the slots cut) will be 350-400 cm squared. Each fin is 7mm high, .5mm thick, and 37cm long. They are spaced about 1mm apart.

The height of the fan attached to the heatsink is approximately how thick the entire block will be, so I can use it to see how many pci slots I will need to use.

Also, I have decided to not use that particular retention system as I dont want to damage the PCB. Instead, I will use a twin screw design that will be bolted from the back plate to the top with some #4-40 x 1" SS screws I bought today.

I cant do any cutting today because I have lots of homework, but wait for later :D

That's a nice heatsink (for your purposes), good luck with the blocks. I've seen a few custom-made blocks and they all turned out pretty good.

yeah dude, thatll be nice. Please dont try tapping with a 4-40 tap in copper unless you have the PROPER tools! lol. you pretty much need special taps or really nice tools to have it work decently without many broken taps.


so drill your 1/8" holes and use nuts.

Jon

Well that's neat.

My dad has a decent length bit of Delrin rod (40mm or 50mm) that he got to make some bits for his boat.

Should be perfect for my NB and GPU blocks.