here she is

[ME BIGGD01]

well i went to a computer show this past saturday and picked up a water cooling kit. i was always skeptical on these things because of the price and the fear of the thing screwing up my system. i was looking for a way to quiet my system down to a minimum since i have my gaming rig in a thermaltake case which has so many damn fans it drives me nuts with all the noise. i also want to let everyone know that regardless of the fans in any case it will not keep things as cool and pretty much just make your system a noisy box. i hate noise and with that i decided to purchase a evercool water cooler. i paid i think 110.00 plus tax. i was nervous and thought i would try it out on one of the other systems rather my gaming rig but that changed sunday morning as i said the hell with it, if it blows it blows:o . i also laughed when the guy said it only takes 15 minutes to setup which i knew was a bunch of bs from the get go. none the less, i held off for this project on sunday.

well sunday morning @ 4am, awoken by the swift kicks by my ninja daughter who has this habit of waking up at 2am to come to her second bed where my wife and i sleep. i decided to prepare my day and start cleaning up the backroom where i have all my junk. i got the table ready, tools, and damn paper towels and windex for all the dust that hides behind the computers and other hardware. it really can make you feel like a slob but what can you do.

i removed all cables and disconnected the game rig. placed it on the work table and started to gut the thing. it was a pain in the arse removing all the cables insides along with the fans. it was actually more of a pain installing them when i first got the case:( . i removed the fan controller from the bay and yanked out the power supply so i can see what i was doing. if anyone here has a thermaltake case, they know exactly what i mean when i say the wires are a mess and you can not do anything about it. i am actually glad i am pulling this stuff out.

ok, system is ready for this new adventure. a bit nervous yet i was excited to see how this would work out. i opened the water cooling kit and started looking at all the crap that came with it. i asked myself if i really wanted to do this and then went on. this kit pretty much came with everything which i was shocked for so little money i paid. it will work for amd xp chips, and athlon 64 series along with all p4 platforms. it also has the heatsink for all video cards which really was great because that fan is one of the loudest in your system and collects dust really easy. the package comes with a great manual but the wording sucks. i am glad they had pictures:) .

so after prepping the unit for install and removing the heatsink and fan from the video card. i ran into one problem which pissed me off because after all the work i just did, it was for nothing. each nozzle has a filter to prevent leaks and the nozzle to the video card was missing. i was scanning the rug for 15 minutes but could not find it. i refused to continue with this project and risk losing my 350.00 dollar video card. i then decided to look in the box of goodies that came with this package and sure enough they gave 4 extra filters. i was impressed and happy that i could continue. i cut the hoses to the right size and put the clamps on them. i was thinking of the 15 minutes the guy said it would take to set this up. all in all the project was a success but it took me longer than i expected. i blame that on being a novice at the time and since i am happy with this product, i will be looking to install this unit in my other systems. regardless of the lower temps this unit gives, i am happy that i don't have those loud fans going off which really use to annoy me.

i would recommend this product to everyone for the price and the ease of putting it together. i will say ease but not say it will take 15 minutes to install. i can guarantee it will take me a lot less time to install the next time because i now know what i am doing. my idle temps are in the low 30's for cpu @ idle which use to be 41 and vga is mid 40's which use to be 55. although heat was never an issue, it is safe to say that if you are an overclocker, this unit can help you off the bat. besides, the lower the temp, the better.

here are some pics which probably added time to the project.

[ME BIGGD01]

more pics for ya

[ME BIGGD01]

and more

[ME BIGGD01]

ane smore

[ME BIGGD01]

more more

[ME BIGGD01]

ok, some more

[ME BIGGD01]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ME BIGGD01]

mmmmmmmmmm

[ME BIGGD01]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ME BIGGD01]

aaaaa

[ME BIGGD01]

almost done

[ME BIGGD01]

last few

[JIMINATOR]

what is that, a wc-202? looking around I find it on froogle for about $100. that is a pretty cool deal, especially if it works great. thanks for the info! :thumbs:

[FUS1ON]

Outstanding work Bigg :thumbs:

[SALvation]

I never understood how water cooling works. Do you just have some big funnel outside your PC you have to pour a bottle of Evian into every day?

[unforgiven]

ur gonna send me that right? rofl. nice work man! :thumbs:

[He Is Legend]

I get one too right?..rofl

very nice biggs, I never seen a graphics card without its fan and heatsink before :p

You should look for some LEDS for that :thumbs: www.xoxide.com

[JIMINATOR]

I never understood how water cooling works. Do you just have some big funnel outside your PC you have to pour a bottle of Evian into every day?
come on salvatore, it is recirculated water like in a car engine. the systems do eventually lose water, but adding more is infrequent.

[BobtheCkroach]

We actually had someone give a presentation on Water Cooling in one of my classes this semester. It's pretty kewl stuff. He's big on overclocking and big on water cooling - the water cooling setup he uses cost him around 400 dollars! :eek:

After you've had it running for a while to ensure that it really does work good, BIGG (a month, maybe), I'd enjoy hearing a followup - my room is very very dusty and getting rid of the fans would probably help. If I can do it for 100 bucks, I probably would.

Thanks for the info BIGG - very kewl! :thumbs:


come on salvatore, it is recirculated water like in a car engine. the systems do eventually lose water, but adding more is infrequent.

This just scares me...I already cracked a head this way...(on the car...)

[JIMINATOR]

This just scares me...I already cracked a head this way...(on the car...)

I suspect you and PJ were racing when you damaged your cars.... bad boys.... But yeah, watercooling is becoming very reasonable. In addition there are some kits with sealed systems that are not supposed to lose liquid. at least you hope. There is also new technology coming up, the big heating block can only go so far, the next technology will be to have microtubes in the blocks and a special high pressure pump that works by using electrical charges to push the water (no actual pump mechanism). You have to figure that these are fine, but imagine a crack in a hose, and you have a completely blown system.... Probably not common now, but may happen in the future when the higher pressure systems come out.

[BobtheCkroach]

I suspect you and PJ were racing when you damaged your cars.... bad boys.... But yeah, watercooling is becoming very reasonable. In addition there are some kits with sealed systems that are not supposed to lose liquid. at least you hope. There is also new technology coming up, the big heating block can only go so far, the next technology will be to have microtubes in the blocks and a special high pressure pump that works by using electrical charges to push the water (no actual pump mechanism). You have to figure that these are fine, but imagine a crack in a hose, and you have a completely blown system.... Probably not common now, but may happen in the future when the higher pressure systems come out.

Actually, I just had a leak in one of my hoses, and I ignored when the temperature of the car started getting really hot...and didn't notice the complete lack of liquid in my car....

Not good.

I don't have the balls to be racing my car. I like that - "at least you hope"...:P Are the fans really the biggest reason that your comp attracts dust? Because they're pulling it in? or will I still get a lot of dust b/c the electronics inside attract dust? Or will it be that I still get dust, but at a very reduced rate? Cause if I could blow out my case less than every 1.5 - 2 months, I would be happy.

Also, those temps are much cooler than my temps.

[Caged Anger]

i always got wondering what one would do should you spring a leak? something tells me water loose on a mobo is a bad thing...hehe

[ME BIGGD01]

what is that, a wc-202? looking around I find it on froogle for about $100. that is a pretty cool deal, especially if it works great. thanks for the info! :thumbs:
yeah jim, it's the wc-202 ultra. not sure if there are 2 different models and if the ultra means anything. 100 bucks is a great price if it's the same unit. there are other things you can add to it such as hard drive coolers. this did not come with the package i have but it is in the manual. one thing i wish this kit did come with is a chipset cooler. this asus board has a small fan that spins at 7000 rpm and it makes too much noise. many people complain about it and to be honest it's the only thing i hear now. i need to change this heatsink fan because it sucks in plain english. the dfi nforce4 board i have has a larger heatsink and fan and you can not even hear it. for this reason alone, i want to get rid of the board:( .

unfo--no watercooler for you but i will spit on the system before it ships;) :D .

bob, do not be suprised to start seeing this become the usual in a year or two. don't quote me but it seems to be very efficient as long as things don't leak. i think they need to use something other then an h20 combo before an oem seller uses it main stream. i do believe the mac g5's do have a water cooling kit inside but again do not quote me.

salv, the solution is 50 cc of antifreeze and the rest with water. notice the pinkish liquid i am squeezing into the unit. that was the antifreeze. if i have to fill this thing back up, i think that would mean i have a leak which would no doubt let me know in an popping and crackiling noise. oh yeah, there would also be a unique smell:eek: .

[ME BIGGD01]

i always got wondering what one would do should you spring a leak? something tells me water loose on a mobo is a bad thing...hehe
well i do not want to find out the hard way but what i really want to know is if it is possible to cool such a system with that liquid they use for fire suppression. it looks like water but it isnt. it is completely safe and can not damage electronics or even paper products when it hits them. i need to look into this more because i saw a special on tv a month or two ago on this stuff and need to see if it can be used in a water cooling system. if it does work, it would be the perfect solution.

if anyone know the material i am talking about, please post.

[OUTLAWS WHOCARES]

Looks graet Big. You have patience. If it was mine it would have taken a fall down the stairs as soon as the 15 minutes was up.

[Slice]

Nice. Does the unit sit outside of your case? If so, is there a way to mount it inside a large case?

[ME BIGGD01]

look at the pics:) . the main unit goes into a bay.

[Slice]

look at the pics:) . the main unit goes into a bay.
Oh I just thought that was a temp monitor or something. I saw a bunch of wires coming out of your case side...

[TurlockJC]

nice bigg and good job:thumbs:

you got a very nice system:) I like the video card specially;)

[Grimmy]

HOLY CRAP you have a lot of wires Bigg! Know what you mean about the thermaltake cases, I have one myself. Been thinking of trying a water cooled system, but don't want to spend the money on the one that I have now, the 7 fans do enough, and well speakers over come the noise.

As for the water leaking stuff, at work we use distilled water all over the place, and if it gets on anything electrical, it's safe.

Good work there and great article :thumbs: What are your gaming rig specs? Just curious if the kits is a one-for-all kit, or if ya might have to get a couple other special pieces for different hardware, ect.

Have ya seen any benchmark improvements due to watercooling?

[ME BIGGD01]

for the gaming rig i currently have a athlon 64 3500 with 1 gig of ballistic ram cas 2. 120 gig sata boot drive and 250 data drive that's ide. geforce 6800 pci express (will buy second when i feel sli is capable in more games which could be a while). the motherboard i have asus a8n-sli deluxe which is a great board but the chipset fan is way to loud. i am looking to get a faster chip but want to make sure it's a venice core so i can load it up with more ram and use the system for video editing and other fun stuff. i plan to swap drives with removable bay.

as for benchmarks, i see they are still the same average as i expected. the athlon 64 chips don't really get hot so heat was never an issue. i purchased this strictly to eliminate noise.

oh and if anyone notices that black ball thing on a stick and is wondering what it is, it's a logitech orbit cam which tracks your movement when in conf call.

also the speakers in the pictures are logitech z-680 speakers which are the best you can buy. the only speakers that come close to these are the klipsh but not as good due to decoders that this supports. they were expensive when i bought them but worth every cent. i can literally knock pictures of the wall and make the mailbox shake @ the curb when no one is home but me:o .

i am going to update my feelings about this unit after a week to see if i have any problems.:thumbs: so far seems pretty good.

[PJ'l_Master]

for the gaming rig i currently have a athlon 64 3500 with 1 gig of ballistic ram cas 2. 120 gig sata boot drive and 250 data drive that's ide. geforce 6800 pci express (will buy second when i feel sli is capable in more games which could be a while). the motherboard i have asus a8n-sli deluxe which is a great board but the chipset fan is way to loud. i am looking to get a faster chip but want to make sure it's a venice core so i can load it up with more ram and use the system for video editing and other fun stuff. i plan to swap drives with removable bay.

as for benchmarks, i see they are still the same average as i expected. the athlon 64 chips don't really get hot so heat was never an issue. i purchased this strictly to eliminate noise.

oh and if anyone notices that black ball thing on a stick and is wondering what it is, it's a logitech orbit cam which tracks your movement when in conf call.

also the speakers in the pictures are logitech z-680 speakers which are the best you can buy. the only speakers that come close to these are the klipsh but not as good due to decoders that this supports. they were expensive when i bought them but worth every cent. i can literally knock pictures of the wall and make the mailbox shake @ the curb when no one is home but me:o .

i am going to update my feelings about this unit after a week to see if i have any problems.:thumbs: so far seems pretty good.


omg...feel free to build me a system sometime...you can have my old one =P

dont mind the paint job on the side

[DiTomasso]

looks good, nice job Bigg's:thumbs:

[OUTLAWS high ping camper]

Thanks Mr Big, you made it look easy.

[Die Hard]

Hey BIGG, next time you're in London can I kidnap you for well, lets say 10 days? That should be enough to get me fully up to your specs. Great job man, very impressive.

PS. I'll let you look at my leaf blower. (But don't tell Jim)

[Speedsweeper]

Very impressive.

Great work Mr BIGG. :cool:

[SHOTGUNmaniac]

Very nice Biggs......