Water C00ling

[mr_anderson187]

lol, after all the noise ive reecently been getting from my 120mm delta focussed from fan (59db) ive decided silence was the way, so im sorta shaping my rig intoa silent montser so when im back at school, i can leave it on at night downloading and crunching (silently) beside me.

So browsing the Ebay the other i came across a watercooling system unused cheap and featuring a "Buy It Now" button, so i bought it then.

Its an Aqaurius ll (2) by thermaltake. i read up on it before i bought it and all the reveiws said it was good but not for extreme overclocking, becasue of the components it uses. so i was thinking what would be the most efficent way to upgrade it, (cheaply cos ive spent 400 on my pc this month)

heres a link to a review of the components and the system

review of the watercooling system

the 80mm fan that they use to cool the radiator is only a small one, but i can take the one out of my volcano11+ and bung it on because its incredibly effiecnt, and also can be adjested via a wee pci backplate.

but, (its probly obvious that im a n00b at this water lark by now) what i thought was, i read that the pump doesnt pump much water compared to other big badass pumpss, so would it be right/wrong to bung in a masive pump and hope that that would aid it?

what are you guys suggestions to this?

Thanks, Richard Evans

p.s. i dont wana go drilling holes all over my lovelt new thermaltake lanfire case, but i wouldnt be adversed to making a hole in the case where the 92mm back case fan goes, cos i could always get a grille for that, and i wouldnt mind (actualy id like) mounting all of it out the back of the case. except for the cpu block lol.

Also what are your just general views on this on what i should do, the board that i will be mounting it on will be my new nforce2-jobby from the bargain hunt, if youd need to know any more info. ALso im on a 1.46 1700+ tbred, hoping to get the standard 2300mhz from this new mobo and cpu.

thanks again guys

[GreenPiggy]

Right, first things first. Don't ever buy a thermaltake aquarius 2. I had one running on an NF7-S with a thoroughbred ages ago and had better performance from an Aero7 lite. You'd be better off getting a Zalman 7000CU(It'll just squeeze on an NF7 and is totally silent)
As far as upgrading an aquarius 2 goes I don't think its a particularly good idea but then I don't know enough about it to comment.
Also, the unit is rated at 30db and from experience you will never get it to run silently.

[mr_anderson187]

Ok lets not get negative lol, thanks for your input tho greenpiggy, any1 got any good news to chear me up?

[megah0]

90l per hour is not impressive.

My current pump pushes 1000 and the one i have yet to install does 1500. Now I don't know what his ambient temps were but he is portraying it as a high performance solution which it just isnt, particularly with an 80mm radiator. I think you would struggle to replicate his results with it.

It will also never be quiet as you will have to crank the fan up very high to see decent cooling.

How much did it cost you?

[megah0]

to add, that looks like 1/4" tubing, you will find it difficult to find decent upgrades to the system, most performance gear tends to be 3/8" or 1/2" diameter tubing.

[GreenPiggy]

lol we're not being too helpful here are we

[megah0]

We are being honest.

[mr_anderson187]

ok input recived, i think its 3/8 tubing i recall reading, well i never intended it to be overclocked to 2300mhz at night running just downloading if you mean, but i wouldnt be adversed to cranking up the fan, when im playing games and then overclocking to 2300mhz if you know what i mean

what do you think about replacing the fan/ raditor? and can u recomend any?

[GreenPiggy]

On the plus side the pump is a nice blue colour and it comes with some funky magnets

[megah0]

nope, its 6mm, so 1/4"

[mrplow]

The aq2 uses, indeed, 6mm/8mm tubing (near enough)
You can get kit quite easily for that size, it's the standard aquacomputer used to use and xice kit still does.
Depending on how "cheap" the kit was, you might have a few quid to upgrade bits of it. You could put a 1046 pump into the loop with some 6/8 fittings, the faster flow /might/ help. But tbh I'd just run the thing stock at first to see how it copes. It might be enough for you

<3 your avatar mgh0!

[mr_anderson187]

ok, do u guys know of any good 1/4" radiators then, what could i do to improve this system, funnyily enough most of the reviews i spent time readign said it was good, if it gets my overclock, then ill be happy really. any thoughts?

[megah0]

You could put in a bigger radiator, but it will bottleneck as you have to adapt the hosing, also your flow rates will drop through the floor as the pump is not designed to push water through a bigger rad. Likewise you could not add a GPU block or a northbridge block as the pump will simply not be up to the task.

It might be ok for downloading and it will be quieter than your current fan but it won't be anyhere near silence.

[mr_anderson187]

thanks mr plow ill see how the overclock goes first before i start modding it any, if it gets 2300mhz then im happy,

[TeePee]

Upgrade the hosing to improve the flow rate, and you can use a bigger radiator. You will need a bigger pump to really get some water moving, and a new waterblock for the larger hose. Sorted!

[GreenPiggy]

Upgrade the hosing to improve the flow rate, and you can use a bigger radiator. You will need a bigger pump to really get some water moving, and a new waterblock for the larger hose. Sorted!

You get to keep the magnets!