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decodeddiesel · 02-26-2002, 05:05 PM

OK so in the next few weeks I will have a PC70 comming into my possesion, and of course I will be watercooling it

Now here is the story, first of all this system will not be a crazy-all out-balls to the wall-uberclocked super rig. This is mainly for the fact that my current CPU is not a good overclocker regardless of voltage, and it is difficult to make a highly overclocked machine as quiet as I am aiming for. Let me state the this rig will be used in close proximity to my turn tables for recording, also it will be used for making music with some sampler/sequencer/synth programs. Making music will be the primary function of this PC (well who am I kidding, pr0n will be important too, but that isn't exactly CPU intensive). The only gamming I will really be doing will be some flying with Combat Flight Simulator 2, and maybe very occasionally some CS or UT. However, this is not intended to be a Uber frame rate fragging machine, rather what I'm looking to build is a reliable, swank, very very quiet rig.

My plans so far are all 80mm fans in the system (4 case and one PSU) will be replaced with 5 80mm Panaflow L1As or perhaps Papst low cfm fans, and all case fans will be at the "low" settings on the Lian Li with a PWM possibly in the future. I will be purchasing 2 40GB Seagate Cuda 4s for HDD silence. The GPU and Northbridge may be in the coolant loop sometime down the road, but currently the Radeon GPU does not need much cooling, and the Northbridge will be replaced with a passive cooler. The radiator fans will need to be either Panaflow L1As or Papst low output fans (one or 2 for static pressure) and I'm afraid undervolted 172mm fans are just a little to loud for me. Now I already have an Eheim 1250 in my current rig, so the pump is taken care of. I also have an original DD MAZE2 which may be replaced down the road but it is OK for the time being. My question lies in Radiator selection.

I will be making a plenium for the radiator which will draw in fresh air from outside the case, and the hot air from the radiator will also be exhausted from the case. Basically the air flow of the radiator will be independant from the case. My model for this is Turbokeu's work on his PC70. I also will be fabricating my own PSU mounting plate to accomidate a 120mm fan instead of the 2 80mm fans. I want the Radiator to be mounted above the PSU in the afor mentioned example. Sadly, this all but eliminates a heatercore as an option as the smallest reasonably priced heatercore just won't fit above the PSU in this fashion, and I am going for maximum swankness with the case and I'm afraid that form follows function in a bad way in heatercores (yeah, they are pretty ugly). I have debated a Black Ice 2 mounted to the top plate of the case with a plenium to a 120mm hole above the PSU and having the hot air exhaust there, but BI2s seem to be in short supply these days.

Basically I am down to the following options for my radiator, Black Ice Xtreme, the upcomming Black Ice Pro, the BI2, the DD Super Cube, or the newer revesion of the Aquacoil with the parallel flow. The supercube is a litle long for my needs and may require too much fan power for low noise, but I have never used one so I do not know, and I am willing to go that route if thats what is suggested. I like the Black Ices, but I am afraid I will get too poor of temps with low cfm fans. The Aquacoil is very attractive looking, but I am also afraid the performance may not be up to par. Anyone who has an opinion on this matter please let me know in the thread as I really can't deciede on this one. Sorry about the long post but I really want to explain my reasoning and thoughts on my future project.

02-26-2002, 05:05 PM	#1
decodeddiesel Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: classified Posts: 534	Radiator Options OK so in the next few weeks I will have a PC70 comming into my possesion, and of course I will be watercooling it Now here is the story, first of all this system will not be a crazy-all out-balls to the wall-uberclocked super rig. This is mainly for the fact that my current CPU is not a good overclocker regardless of voltage, and it is difficult to make a highly overclocked machine as quiet as I am aiming for. Let me state the this rig will be used in close proximity to my turn tables for recording, also it will be used for making music with some sampler/sequencer/synth programs. Making music will be the primary function of this PC (well who am I kidding, pr0n will be important too, but that isn't exactly CPU intensive). The only gamming I will really be doing will be some flying with Combat Flight Simulator 2, and maybe very occasionally some CS or UT. However, this is not intended to be a Uber frame rate fragging machine, rather what I'm looking to build is a reliable, swank, very very quiet rig. My plans so far are all 80mm fans in the system (4 case and one PSU) will be replaced with 5 80mm Panaflow L1As or perhaps Papst low cfm fans, and all case fans will be at the "low" settings on the Lian Li with a PWM possibly in the future. I will be purchasing 2 40GB Seagate Cuda 4s for HDD silence. The GPU and Northbridge may be in the coolant loop sometime down the road, but currently the Radeon GPU does not need much cooling, and the Northbridge will be replaced with a passive cooler. The radiator fans will need to be either Panaflow L1As or Papst low output fans (one or 2 for static pressure) and I'm afraid undervolted 172mm fans are just a little to loud for me. Now I already have an Eheim 1250 in my current rig, so the pump is taken care of. I also have an original DD MAZE2 which may be replaced down the road but it is OK for the time being. My question lies in Radiator selection. I will be making a plenium for the radiator which will draw in fresh air from outside the case, and the hot air from the radiator will also be exhausted from the case. Basically the air flow of the radiator will be independant from the case. My model for this is Turbokeu's work on his PC70. I also will be fabricating my own PSU mounting plate to accomidate a 120mm fan instead of the 2 80mm fans. I want the Radiator to be mounted above the PSU in the afor mentioned example. Sadly, this all but eliminates a heatercore as an option as the smallest reasonably priced heatercore just won't fit above the PSU in this fashion, and I am going for maximum swankness with the case and I'm afraid that form follows function in a bad way in heatercores (yeah, they are pretty ugly). I have debated a Black Ice 2 mounted to the top plate of the case with a plenium to a 120mm hole above the PSU and having the hot air exhaust there, but BI2s seem to be in short supply these days. Basically I am down to the following options for my radiator, Black Ice Xtreme, the upcomming Black Ice Pro, the BI2, the DD Super Cube, or the newer revesion of the Aquacoil with the parallel flow. The supercube is a litle long for my needs and may require too much fan power for low noise, but I have never used one so I do not know, and I am willing to go that route if thats what is suggested. I like the Black Ices, but I am afraid I will get too poor of temps with low cfm fans. The Aquacoil is very attractive looking, but I am also afraid the performance may not be up to par. Anyone who has an opinion on this matter please let me know in the thread as I really can't deciede on this one. Sorry about the long post but I really want to explain my reasoning and thoughts on my future project. __________________ ...i hurt... do me a favor, disconect me... they can re-work me but i'll never be top of the line again ...i'd rather be nothing...