GPU and NB cooling... now going for DIY

[killernoodle]

Originally Posted by JFettig

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

I wont be tapping the copper with the #4, I will be tapping the copper with the much larger #10-24 tap. I wouldnt dare tap copper with that little tap

The plastic top will be threaded with the #4-40 so I can bolt the top to the plate on the back of the video card.

Stuff came in today from mcmaster, nice buncha stuff!



I also figured out why the Tygon was so expensive there... It is 3/4" OD!!! Sweet christ this stuff is thick!. It is supposed to be the "high purity" stuff, so I dont know if all tygon is "high purity" or not. The 1/4" NPT tap is nice and sharp, the barbs look good, overall I'd say it was a good purchase.

I have also decided to change my loop slightly. I bought a 1/4" NPT brass ball valve that I intend to put on the bottom of the resevior for super easy draining so I can simply connect a tube to the outlet and put a bowl under the tube and open the valve. Also, I will have the water split from the whitewater and go through the separate blocks in parallel. There will no longer be a Y adapter to bring them together before the res... I will simply tap two lines into it. Also, the pump outlet will go directly to the radiator first because the lines would have to recombine in the radiator, which is something I dont want to do.

As soon as I get the plastic for the tops, I will post some actual build pics.

[JFettig]

Personally I would appreciate it if you guys dont go advertizing this delrin thing all over the web. I wouldn't be too happy if dangerden or d-tek got delrin crap out before I got mine out.


Jon

[killernoodle]

Lol!! Im actually not using delrin since I didnt win the auction. I found another material, UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) Polypropylene which does not absorb water, is impact resistant, black, and easy to machine. Plus it was cheaper than the other auction and had tons more material.

[killernoodle]

Starting construction...






Basically, as my dremel is recharging, I am taking needle nose pliars and folding the fins back and forth until they come off. Pretty easy, and a lot less messy than the dremel cut that I attempted. As you can see, I have decided against a peltier setup for the GPU or NB, so I will be doing a direct core-oriented design with SA directly over the core and high velocity flow through the fins. The blue stuff is what I am cutting out. I will file the leftover stuff off, or maybe just take it to the grinder.

Since I have nothing to machine O-rings with, I will be using a blue RTV silicon bead around the perimeter of the fins for a good seal. This should be re-usable because it is not like glue and basically forms an O-ring wherever it sets. I wont go crazy with it like other people and glue anything that moves, so the end result will look clean.

Note to self: next time, buy an AC dremel, even if the cordless is on the sale rack for $30...

[cristoff]

cool i am actually attempting the same thing soon.... my fans just sound loud... and it isnt that great at cooling... although I did get my 1.6 northy up to 2.64 @1.725v

def keep us updated!

and I am going to be using that UHMW stuff tooo....

[killernoodle]

I dont think I got enough plastic...






Gonna make some designs today and see how they work out. I have plenty of stuff to experiment with.

UHMW seems to be very slick, and not as scratch resistant as I thought. If I push hard, I can dig into it with my fingernail and make a mark, but not really remove material. This means it will be almost too easy to machine


You wanna buy a bar of my stuff? I have three and they are huge. (you can obviously tell I bought too much in the pics )

[cristoff]

how much would you sell half a length for?

[killernoodle]

$5 + shipping sound reasonable?

EDIT: shipping will be about $6 I think, so $11 shipped.

[cristoff]

Originally Posted by killernoodle

$5 + shipping sound reasonable?

EDIT: shipping will be about $6 I think, so $11 shipped.

hey that sounds great!

PM or email me at chrisandvelvet@hotmail.com to let me know how to pay for it... I can do paypal...

[pippin88]

This Delrin stuff is great to machine.

Possibly a bit too soft though.

[killernoodle]

EDIT: HOLY CRAP!!! I thought my camera was in 640x480.... Grrrr. I'll chage the pics later. For now, you will have to deal with it. 56kers better click off this page now

This stuff is a bit soft, but I managed to get the design working.

Time for some updates:

Worked on the NB block today and managed to finish it up completely.
[IMGhttp://www.killernoodle.com/main/images/reviews/Waterblocks/NB1.JPG[/IMG]







And I started the GPU block today, milling/filing out the edge so it can still use the shim.



I managed to make a mess out of it, the screw that stops the drill press from going down farther (the stop I think) got loose and I gradually started milling deeper and deeper. I managed to catch it before I went through the copper, so it is okay. Lesson learned: dont try to mill stuff with a drill press unless it is plastic

[killernoodle]

Better (and smaller) pics of the block.








Going to finish the 9800pro block within the week, so dont worry
Enjoy!

[killernoodle]

As for the flow pattern, these pics are pretty easy to follow:

[|kbn|]

wow thats nice! any idea how it performs? i was thinking of making something similar as my slk800 heatsink is soo good, better then the commercail block i bought, but it would be even better with water, but i think i saw your thread first, thank you for the idea

btw were the fins on the heatsink soldered to the base? when my h/s arrives (im not cutting up my slk800!!) im half hoping they are, then i can use a soldering iron to remove them one by one without the mess so i would just have to cut the others down to size - then the other fins can be used in my silver gpu block to inc surface area, something i think it needs. if the h/s is just one part, it would probably perform better, not by much though. acctually ive thought about cutting out the center bit below the fins and inserting a square of silver, thats enough of my ideas though, ive got a thread that ill try to share them in, think youve already seen it
if you have any more spare of that plastic i may be interested in buying some, will have a look on ebay first though as shipping from US to UK would cost a bit, that matieal isnt sold in the UK though, so i might just use copper , something for me to think about in my thread anyway.
one thing ive also been thinking about is how to get a good flow through all of the fins, as the outer ones wont get much, maybe solder a fin cut in half across the other fins blocking the top half which would also give faster flow on the input side, or slower flow on the output side.
very interested in how these perform, will you be making any more?

[killernoodle]

The fins are not soldered to the base, they are carved out of a solid block in a process called skivving. It is kind of like whittling wood. This is much better for heat transfer. Also, I will probably make a CPU block and I have a ton of this stuff left over. I could probably ship it to you, but I would have to find out what shipping to the UK is. It will probably perform as well or better than any commercial GPU or northbridge block to date.

The square of silver thing may be difficult to do and will probably not yield a significant performance gain.

[killernoodle]

Update: This is a little OT, but I finally finished my LCD. I think I am going to mout it externally, probably because I have it on a 6 ft. printer cable

[iroc409]

how hard was it to mill the delrin? could it be done relatively easily with a dremel on a lower speed without melting the plastic?

[|kbn|]

nice lcd killernoodle, ive got the mx212 (blue 2 line one )

i havent used derlin before, but when cutting the accrilic thats on the front of my cheap case (to make the bezel for my mx212) it melted very easly with anything. i expect derlin and similar plastics will melt easly so cut i slowley with low rpm. for plastics imo a cordless /normal drill will be better (using the dremel bits) as the rpm is much lower.

[killernoodle]

It is not delrin, it is UHMW Polypropyline (sp?). It is very soft, incredibly easy to machine, doesnt really melt at all, but I wouldnt cut it with a dremel. Drill press is great for accuracy.

BTW, I finished my GPU WB tonite, I am leak testing now. My camera wasnt charged, so I didnt get any pics of construction, but I'll get some of the finished product sometime tomorrow. Nite Nite

[olv]

How did you mount the barbs for your radeon block? looking forward to pictures.

[killernoodle]

Originally Posted by olv

How did you mount the barbs for your radeon block? looking forward to pictures.

GRRR, it wont let me upload the last two...

[Arcturius]

How well does that RTV sealant work, as UHMW polypropylene is self-lubricating and non-adhesive?

[JFettig]

Those are looking great man! I would like to see a few more pictures of the gpu block. looks kinda similar to mine


whats the dimentions of those bars?

-edit- Dude, you should make a cpu block just like that chipset block. I bet itll perform really well.


Jon

[killernoodle]

Yeah, it wont lemme upload any more pics. Apparently, I have consumed all of my FTP bandwidth for the month (?). Anyways, the RTV seems to seal excellently and turns into an O-Ring kinda when it is put on thickly. Plus, it looks nice and clean and is easy to clean up. The UHMW is great for the tops of blocks. You almost dont even need to put any kind of RTV on it because it molds to the shape of the base with enough pressure. I love this stuff!

I was thinking about making a CPU block withthe same kind of design, maybe with three barbs and a jet nozzle. I have plenty of stuff left

How should I test these blocks? I dont have anything to compare it to except for the stock ATI cooler and the vantec copper chipset cooler on the NB. Maybe I should just put them on and not test them I know they work well already. I would have to buy/make another block to compare them to.

[olv]

You can use this http://www.h4x.co.uk/upload.php free uploader for hosting your pics if you want. nice looking blocks. how thick is that plastic?