Watercooling my P180

[Million]

Well I finally did it.
After being encouraged to [pun]take the plunge[pun/] into watercooling by finding a second hand bundle of suitable gear, and buying an excessively hot graphics card, I thought I should log it for anyone else who's interested in WCing a P180, and to show that n00bs can do it too!

The loop - XSPC bay res, Liang D5 pump, Polarflo TT CPU block, Polarflo TT GPU block, XSPC 120mm rad.
Other hardware used - Zalman graphics card RAM sinks, Tygon tubing, jubilee clips, Feser 1 fluid, Arctic Cooling thermal paste, PTFE plumbers' tape.

After getting advice on the loop from the kind folk of the Hexus community, and deciding my chipset wasn't worth adding to it, I came up with this plan:


However I found that the rad wouldn't quite fit in there, so i'd have to get out the ole hacksaw:


I removed the floppy drive caddy without qualms as I don't use them. I simply used a pack of Irwin bi-metal 32 TPI hacksaw blades that cost me about £3 (I only used 3 out of 10). This saved me having to use a rotary tool, took about an hour, and I only got one blister


Now it all fits (excluding tubing)...


I assembling the loop out of the case and shorted a PSU to test it all. This was much less daunting than it sounded to me (as an inexperienced electrician/n00b...), simply used a paperclip to make a loop between a green and a black wire (not important which) on the mobo cable. I leak tested for a few hours, and satisfied/impatient I installed the lot. It was a bit fiddly, as in reality the P180 has limited room inside the main chamber, but I managed without any too-tight corners (I think!). Using non-conductive fluid was a real weight off my mind, even though i'd tightened every jubilee clip and sealed every barb with PTFE tape.

I installed 2 UV cold cathodes and 3 red LED spotlights to show off my hard work.
I have the front and back 120mm Antec case fans running on lowest setting right now, all but silent, and temps of 40* for CPU and GPU. Now that might not be too impressive, but it's perfect for music, browsing etc., same as before WCing, only now SILENT. the 1900 series stock fans are soooooo damn noisy, anyone out there who's encountered one can tell you, so that's a great improvement. I have yet to do all temp checks, under load, and with fan speeds increased, as i'm waiting for the thermal paste to cure (which should make a couple of degrees difference too).

Here's a pic of the finished product, on my phone cam as I don't have the appropriate lens to hand to get it all in with my D70!:


And some money shots with a macro (the only one to hand);
Y splitter over CPU block:


X1900XTX, cooler than before, and a damn sight quieter!:


CPU block:


Well I hope this has been slightly interesting/helpful to someone out there on this here interweb. Let me know if you have a comment or question.
Cheers,
Million

[Butuz]

Hey thats cool. I;ve got water cool bits here but aint had the guts to go at my case with a dremel because it wont fit in properly as it is

Nice inspiration!!!!

Butuz

[Steve B]

looking good buddy
is that 3/8" tubing you're using there? the dangerden stuff?
i've begun my next watercooling project, just waiting on the go-ahead from Agent that I can steal his case
it'll be fitting a 120.1, 120.2, 2 Laing DDC's, 1 dual floppy res, swiffy storm, DD Maze 4 into a TJ04, which is about the same size as the main compartment of the P180 should be fun!!!

[Gerrard]

What have you done to my case!

Good to see you are using its potential much more than I did. Good job!

[Million]

Heh, cheers Gerrard, couldn't have done it without you!

Steve, it's 1/2in Tygon tubing, not sure if it has a more specific name, but i'm very impressed with it's flexibility and would recommend it if you have limited room like me

[5aboy]

hi,

just wondering where you got your stuff from, as i am quite seriously thinking of going water once i get my q6600. i just got a thermaltake mozart tx case for £50 which was a bargain, and i see space for 120.2 x2 rads in the top, and plenty of room behind the motherboard for the pump/fillport/etc.

dunno if anyone does a 240x240mm rad (and i dont know if itll work well, resistance and such stuff), and i hear that there is this brand of pump i should get - IWAKI? but i cant find many iwaki dealers in uk.

[Million]

I got most of it from a guy selling 2nd hand on a photographic forum, but the rest I got from watercoolingshop.com, who i'd really recommend. As for pumps, I was always told that the Laing D5 was the shizzle, never heard of iwaki, but then again i'm no expert!

[Steve B]

i wouldn't get an Iwaki, unless you want to spend over a hundred quid on a pump
an 18W DDC with Petras Top should be more than enough for a CPU, GPU combo.

240x240 res are available, theres an alphacool one im sure, but I dont know what the performance is like.
If you've got the space for 2 x 120.2's i'd go for the thermochill, but again, its gonna be expensive.

In terms of CPU blocks, I'd go for a Fuzion or a Swiffy Storm.
GPU, theres some nice full blocks from EK, but it depends on what kind of card its cooling.
If its an 8800, then i'd go for a full card block, so that the water cools the ram too.
I'm on a 7800GTX with a Maze4 and some ramsinks, as I currently cant afford a bigger block.

The Mozart is a huge case, with loads of room, so there shouldn't be any problem fitting everything in. I'd go with 1/2" I/D tubing, and lots of it

Places for purchase:
www.chilledpc.co.uk
www.kustompcs.co.uk
www.coolercases.co.uk
www.specialtech.co.uk
those are where i buy my stuff from

[fat jez]

Steve B,

how can you forget the font of all watercooling knowledge and equipment in the uk?

www.over-clock.co.uk

Seriously, the forums on that site are really good and the range of kit they provide is fantastic - I've had nothing but good advice and service from them and am one very satisfied customer over the years - I rate them up there with Kustom PC's for customer support.

Cheers,
Stephen