Beginner's new w/c setup

[kusojiji]

I just ran into a snag. I bought a cheap fx5200 card that has vivo and the holes won't match up with my mcw50 cooler. I'm buying the fx5900 adapter for the block from swiftech to make it fit. According to swiftech, the 5200's were not supposed to need this adapter. I had a problem similar to this with my OCSYSTEMS 4200. I ended up using a dangerden block instead of the swifty.

[Meethoss]

I'm still waiting for my case They said it should arrive between 29th Jan and 6th Feb It's not fair! I wanna build this new system! On the up side my mate is gonna help me (reassurance) and we'll photograph and film all of it Maybe I'll also write an article on it and submit it to a magazine I read. Will be good to show other newb's how to do it

Eww 5200's are nasty, even if it was cheap. I suppose it depends on what you're using it for though. I've never seen the PCB of one so I wouldn't have a clue what to use on it. Might be fun changing stuff for it though

[kusojiji]

Yeah, I really haven't heard anything good about it, but it still is supposed to be better than the 4000 series. I guess it didn't make expectations against the ATI stuff. But, I don't game and really just needed the video in part.

Well, hope your case shows up soon. standing by.

[Richdog]

Hey Meethoss nice to see you over here having a break from EOF mate! Damn you're going to have your rig up and running way before me you git!

[Meethoss]

I dunno about that. I hope so but Amazon (cheapest place by far for my case) are taking ages. Fair enough, Antec are taking a while getting orders done. There seems to be big demand for my case!

[Richdog]

Can't you cancel the order from there and order it from somewhere else that can ship it quicker?

[nth1rty]

Originally Posted by Meethoss

I dunno about that. I hope so but Amazon (cheapest place by far for my case) are taking ages. Fair enough, Antec are taking a while getting orders done. There seems to be big demand for my case!

Boo...maybe something cooler has come out since then :P

[superart]

Originally Posted by Meethoss

Will be interesting to see - especially if it's before I get my stuff :P Thanks mate!

Here's my new setup, BTW:

Here's a rough picture of what the setup should look like with (along with major parts of my computer) and without:



Not yet decided on coolant stuff - probably Water Wetter but just waiting to find a clear and brilliant alternative

Let me know what you think!

Looks really nice, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet,
It probably isn't a very good idea to have the rad as the highest point in your system.

Have you considered moving your rad down to aprox. where the brace bar is, and bringing your res up to the first 5.25" bay?
DangerDen sells really cool 5.25"bay reservoirs.

[superart]

Originally Posted by Chris of Death

For a truly ghetto solution, you can mount the rad directly on top:

Is that an Epox 8RDA+ mobo, btw?

and a SuperNES?

[tobyed2]

Originally Posted by Meethoss

I dunno about that. I hope so but Amazon (cheapest place by far for my case) are taking ages. Fair enough, Antec are taking a while getting orders done. There seems to be big demand for my case!

www.overclockers.co.uk have had the P160 case in stock for the last 2 months, its £75 ex vat.

Been following this excellent thread, and have purchased some parts, geez someone could have mentioned how much the Heatercore stinks !

With regard to heatsinks on the graphics cards memory, I've got a Radeon 8500 it has 4 memory chips on both sides of the board (directly on the other side). Is it recommended to get 2 x 4 heatsinks and cool both sides or is this overkill ?

[superart]

Originally Posted by tobyed2

www.overclockers.co.uk have had the P160 case in stock for the last 2 months, its £75 ex vat.

Been following this excellent thread, and have purchased some parts, geez someone could have mentioned how much the Heatercore stinks !

With regard to heatsinks on the graphics cards memory, I've got a Radeon 8500 it has 4 memory chips on both sides of the board (directly on the other side). Is it recommended to get 2 x 4 heatsinks and cool both sides or is this overkill ?

I dont think its overkill to just put heatsinks on memory. Worst case scenario, it wont do anything, good or bad. But best and and more likely scenario, it will lower temps a little with no negative side effects.

[kusojiji]

I put heatsinks on everything that creates heat. I have them on my video memory, my power mosfets, southbridge, scsi raid controller, gigabit lan controller, etc. My thoughts are that I am trying to remove as many fans as possible to reduce noise. This usually ends up with reduced flow throughout the case. I only add an extra fan over the memory as they usually benefit from it a lot. The rest is just precautionary.

The thing about the video card is that the memory on the gpu side usually got cooled by the gpu cooler and the memory on the other side got cooled by the processor or northbridge cooler. If you put a waterblock on the gpu and processor, there will be decreased flow over the vid mem. Heatsinks would help.

Tobyed, the heatercore smells bad? or does it suck?

[Meethoss]

Basically, I could get the case from somewhere else but most are really expensive. If my stuff doesn't come soon then I may do that. Most places haven't had it in stock, though, and I've had a bad experience with Overclockers and really want to avoid them. If push comes to shove though... Also they don't have the window but I supposed I could keep the order for that and just get the case from Overclockers. I'll have to think hard cos it's getting stupid now.

For the memory for the GPU I'm getting 8 sinks.

And about the placement of the rad - I might mount it at the back hole. I've just gotta see how everything will fit in really. However, I have an MCP600 so that should easily handle the upwards climb.

And as far as the heatercores they're supposed to be some of the best around. I haven't had a chance to try mine yet, though, so I can't say for sure.

Thanks for the comments on the thread BTW. I'm thinking of making some sort of beginners article sort of thing. How I did things and why etc.

P.S. It's my birthday today (21st - for which my dad is getting me all this stuff!)

[tobyed2]

Originally Posted by kusojiji

I put heatsinks on everything that creates heat. I have them on my video memory, my power mosfets, southbridge, scsi raid controller, gigabit lan controller, etc. My thoughts are that I am trying to remove as many fans as possible to reduce noise. This usually ends up with reduced flow throughout the case. I only add an extra fan over the memory as they usually benefit from it a lot. The rest is just precautionary.

The thing about the video card is that the memory on the gpu side usually got cooled by the gpu cooler and the memory on the other side got cooled by the processor or northbridge cooler. If you put a waterblock on the gpu and processor, there will be decreased flow over the vid mem. Heatsinks would help.

Tobyed, the heatercore smells bad? or does it suck?

Ah, yeah, sorry. The heatercore smells bad ! I am sure with regard to performance its gonna be sweet ... A friend of mine whos a car mechanic was well impressed with it he said its probably chemicals they used to test the heatercore. He did give me a funny look when I said it was for my computer ... "Hmmm, water, electricity ?!?!". Smell wearing off now ...

The heatsinks on the graphics card I got 2 4 packs of tweakmonsters, bit dissappointed with a) the size (they are square, my memory chips are oblong), and b) they seem quite thick, I must be spoilt, I imagined the fins would have been thinner like the Zalman flower I am currently using for my CPU.

Lastly, I'm lazy and bought a UV shroud (I haven't got the tools to make my own), is the one I've got too small (see attachment) ? This may be ovious but to us newbes, how is the shroud attached to the heatercore, obviously I'm not gonna drill holes through this bad boy ?

Attachment is in my Attach Files, dont seem to be able to see it in Preview ...

[Richdog]

I think a guide would be a good idea mate, i'm sure it would help plenty of noobs on what to do and how to do it. Plus... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[kusojiji]

Try to keep the rad in a position where it receives fresh cold air from the outside. You won't get the best performance from using warm exhaust air. If you do change cases, you may be able to mount the rad in the front. There, the fan can do two things: cool the rad and cool the pci cards.

As for the tweakmonsters, there are two types: one for the bga memory and one for the regular mem. Looks like you bought the wrong set. They are heavy and along with the gpu cooler, will end up bending your vga card. I put a long threaded bar through the hole in the end of my card and used nuts to hold the card level.

Happy birthday, young one!

[tobyed2]

Originally Posted by kusojiji

Try to keep the rad in a position where it receives fresh cold air from the outside. You won't get the best performance from using warm exhaust air. If you do change cases, you may be able to mount the rad in the front. There, the fan can do two things: cool the rad and cool the pci cards.

As for the tweakmonsters, there are two types: one for the bga memory and one for the regular mem. Looks like you bought the wrong set. They are heavy and along with the gpu cooler, will end up bending your vga card. I put a long threaded bar through the hole in the end of my card and used nuts to hold the card level.

Happy birthday, young one!

Yeah, looks like i've got "RAM Sinks" despite in the description they say they are suitable for BGA ... Ah, well, I'm sure I can find somewhere to put them.

Is it better to "pull" air through the heatercore or "blow" air through the heatercore ? Is there much difference having both ? If can only have one fan which, blow or suck ?

Heres a picture of my heatercore and shroud, is my shroud too small ?

http://www.technical-it.com/Shroud.jpg

Is the shroud just taped onto the heatercore or something ?

[kusojiji]

take a look at this: http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp...PROD&ProdID=17

It maximizes the radiator surface area that the fan can affect. They use long thin bolts that go through the fins to mount the fan and shroud. Other people have found tupperware or glad containers that fit just as well and are cheaper to get.

As for blowing or sucking, it doesn't matter. My preference is to suck air through. I mount my rad against the front wall of my case with the fan behind. It represents a smaller aspect inside the case than to have the rad sitting so far in.

[Meethoss]

It's better to have the fan sucking air through the rad. Or in fact, better still is to have one suck and one blow. If I mount my rad at the back I'll have it sucking air in to the case and have the top hole sucking air out. I can't position it at the front bottom cause I'll have to cut out a lot of the case which I don't wanna do (the HDD rack is made for silent mounting - would be waste to get rid of it).

Yeah. I almost got the Tweakmonster ones until I realised they wouldn't fit. I'm ordering the other ones but they are out of stock at the moment. Kinda lucky my case hasn't yet come then. I'm waiting for a reply from Amazon and Overclockers so will prob re-order this week.

EDIT: Oh, and for the shroud my mums boyfriend is making it. I suggested he makes one either side and bolts them together through the radiator (carefully). Then I'll mount one shroud to the case and the other to the fan. Yours looks a little small It doesn't look like you can easily bolt that on. Maybe you could try some strong duct tape or something. You could epoxy it but you may want to take it off at a later date.

[tobyed2]

Originally Posted by Meethoss

It's better to have the fan sucking air through the rad. Or in fact, better still is to have one suck and one blow. If I mount my rad at the back I'll have it sucking air in to the case and have the top hole sucking air out. I can't position it at the front bottom cause I'll have to cut out a lot of the case which I don't wanna do (the HDD rack is made for silent mounting - would be waste to get rid of it).

Yeah. I almost got the Tweakmonster ones until I realised they wouldn't fit. I'm ordering the other ones but they are out of stock at the moment. Kinda lucky my case hasn't yet come then. I'm waiting for a reply from Amazon and Overclockers so will prob re-order this week.

EDIT: Oh, and for the shroud my mums boyfriend is making it. I suggested he makes one either side and bolts them together through the radiator (carefully). Then I'll mount one shroud to the case and the other to the fan. Yours looks a little small It doesn't look like you can easily bolt that on. Maybe you could try some strong duct tape or something. You could epoxy it but you may want to take it off at a later date.

Yeah, I noticed the HD cage in your case, nice idea with the HDs through 90 degrees. The amount of times I've smashed my nuckles in the end of a graphics card getting the IDE connector off ... Mine Ive removed the blood stained HD cage (I'm mounting the HD in a SilentDrive case which goes in a spare 5 1/4" bay.

Hmmm, fan sucking air ? It just seems odd that when it comes to heatsinks the fan blows "onto" them ... Try blowing on your hand, then try sucking, which is cooler ? Can we do polls in this forum ? Just curious if anyones got any real stats trying either ???

God damn graphics card, "apparently" its an old one, thats in IT terms less than 6 months old ... Still uses DDR ram so bigger heatsinks, "apparently" BGA refers to the newer style memory post SDRAM/DDR which are square, Argh, buyer beware ! ROTFL

I got the same from Coolercases, the OCZ BGAs out of stock, I have found the "other" Tweakmonster ram sinks called Rev 4s at http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/...=16517&cat=413
better STILL you get 8 for the price of 4 ! Woohoo. (I think I saw them at www.epiglet.co.uk too but were same price).

[pdf27]

Hmmm, fan sucking air ? It just seems odd that when it comes to heatsinks the fan blows "onto" them ... Try blowing on your hand, then try sucking, which is cooler ? Can we do polls in this forum ? Just curious if anyones got any real stats trying either ???
The reason for this is that flow seperates really easy when there is an adverse pressure gradient (e.g. blowing out), but generally stays attached when there is a positive pressure gradient. This is why jet engines have a huge compressor at the front and a tiny turbine at the back.
With a radiator, there is a shroud in place so the air has nowhere else to go except through the radiator. Hence, the same amount of air will go through sucking or blowing. The only differences are that the air will be more turbulent if being blown (helping heat transfer slightly), and the fan is (apparently - I'm still aircooled) quieter when sucking.

[Meethoss]

Ah, well there ya go, he said it for me pdf is right there.

And you've kinda confused me with the RAM sinks thing. I thought you said the Flower style ones were wrong for your graphics card RAM? What graphics card is it? I have the 9800XT and I'm told the straight BGA copper ramsinks are perfect for it. You're confusing me now

[Nonphixion]

I loved your superior technical drawings there superart

but with a name like that I would have expected different

[tobyed2]

Originally Posted by Meethoss

Ah, well there ya go, he said it for me pdf is right there.

And you've kinda confused me with the RAM sinks thing. I thought you said the Flower style ones were wrong for your graphics card RAM? What graphics card is it? I have the 9800XT and I'm told the straight BGA copper ramsinks are perfect for it. You're confusing me now

Yours has BGA memory mine (a Radeon 8500) has DDR where the chips are rectangular. I cant justify getting a new graphics card just yet ...

[Meethoss]

I got the case today! Also, I realised the other day that my BGA RAM sinks hadn't come in one of my orders so today I ordered from www.pcdiga.com. It's a Portuguese site and I had to use Google to translate it, but the order went through fine and the guy phoned me up as I'd also sent an E-mail along with the order to check everything was ok! Also, he posted it today and it'll take 3 days at no extra cost!! How's that for service!?

I'm waiting to get my heater core back from Gavin (my mums boyfriend) and then I'll start putting things in the case and seeing what fits where. It's gonna be a tight fit with the rad, I tell ya that! It'll be interesting and fun though

As I said, I'll video and take pics as I do it and will put them up along with posts on it