Ghetto watercooling help needed.

[bujinkan-ka]

I've had the crazy idea of watercooling my main PC for a while now, and today I ripped the radiator out of a big Audi. I plan to cool my CPU, northbridge and GPU using a series of waterblocks. Now, this PC isn't going to be going anywhere so the size of the radiator (63cm by 33cm by 4cm) doesn't matter to me and I've got a xaser III case so I have a decent amount of space to work with.

The problem is that I'm stuck on which pump to use. I'm guessing the pump will need to have a decent amount of thrust to get the water through the big radiator, and through three waterblocks.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[dorky]

I have 13 waterblocks in my system, and I needed the most powerful pump I could find, the Iwaki WMD-30RLZT pump (see the "low flow/high pressure" performance curve here):

http://www.ober-read.com/IW_WMD_Pumps.htm

This pump can handle heavy loads (high pressures) but still pumps at a low-flow type flowrate commonly used in computer water cooling. My system works quite well, although my I have 2 smaller radiators (BIX1 & BIX2).

There are 2 versions of this pump:

WMD-30RLZT (USA version)
MD-30RLZT (Japanese Version)

Both are the same (same stats and features), except the Japanese version is slightly smaller and slightly more expensive. So many like the Japanese version a little more, since it is easier to fit into a computer case (being smaller). You can also find them cheaply on ebay sometimes (that's where I got mine from).

To help flow a little more, I would also use 1/2" tube fittings on all your waterblocks if possible.

Overall, you should get a very good result, as having a larger radiator will assist in removing heat from your cooling system faster.

[bujinkan-ka]

Thanks for the help. I've decided to stick with a GPU and a CPU waterblock for now, since the Vantec Chipset cooler I added does the job nicely. I've ordered the blocks and a hydor L20 - which should be coming along with the 1/2" fittings. The only problem I have now is that I don't know what kind of coolant to put in the system. I don't know what additives to put in, biocides etc - all I know is that starting off with distilled water rather than tapwater is a good idea.

Does anyone have any idea what kind of mix I would be looking at ? Bear in mind that I'm using a massive car radiator here, with a capacity of about 4 to 5 litres.

[Smokey21]

Maze 4 for GPU's

Aquaxtreme 50Z pump from phil at extreme prometia

Swiftech 6002 or Dangergen TDX for cpu block.

[herulach]

I think you might run into issues with an L20, they arent particularly powerful at all, what blocks did you get?

[bujinkan-ka]

I went for the following GPU block from techfever.com :

http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=276

and I got this CPU block from techfever.com as well :

http://www.techfever.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=2133

I'm not looking to get a northbridge waterblock for now since the vantec Iceberg cooler is doing nicely at the moment.

[Firelord]

Oh dear.... TT blocks are useless and really aren't up to cooling much more than a pen lid.

Would have been better to build your own or buy some decent second hand blocks. Look at an Ehiem 1250 pump

[Butcher]

Maze 4 for GPU's

Aquaxtreme 50Z pump from phil at extreme prometia

Swiftech 6002 or Dangergen TDX for cpu block.

What this man said.

[dorky]

Pump comparison:

Iwaki WMD-30RLZT / MD-30RLZT
AquaXtreme 50Z
Hydor L20


Max head pressure:

Iwaki: 36.1 feet
AqauXtreme: 10.5 feet
Hydor: 4.2 feet

Max Flow:

Iwaki: 276gph
AqauXtreme: 185gph
Hydor: 185gph

Operating Voltage:

Iwaki: 115VAC or 240VAC
AqauXtreme: 12VDC
Hydor: 115VAC or 230VAC

Size (in inches):

Iwaki: 3.5 x 4.6 x 11.25 (WMD model) or 3.5 x 4.6 x 9.5 (MD model)
AquaXtreme: 3 x 3.5 x 4
Hydor: 2 x 3 x 3.5

Cost:

Iwaki: US$150 (WMD model) or US$220 (MD model)
(Note: I got my WMD model on ebay secondhand for US$105)
AquaXtreme: US$80
Hydor: US$35

The most important stat above is Max head pressure (higher is better). flow rate isn't that significant, as the flowrate will plummet, once the liquid flow hits some resistance. You will want a pump that can handle resistance no problems. comparing the Hydor's 4.2feet (or 50" inches), to Iwaki's 36.1feet (the Iwaki is 8 times more powerful).

Any more powerful and the Iwaki would blow the hoses from your fittings. (I use metal hose clamps at all my hose connections)

So if you want a really "extreme" pump, then I would suggest the Iwaki model. Many cooling forums refer to this Iwaki pump as a preferred choice for water cooling if you have high flow restrictions.

Unfortunately as for downsides, the Iwaki is also larger and more expensive.

[dorky]

@bujinkan-ka

If you want some ideas on different cooling additives, different people use different additives. If you search on google, you should find a few polls, and forums with people talking about different additives.

Here is a link to one of the forums:

coolant poll

[Firelord]

I'm not sure if you can get the Iwaki in the UK at all. I have never seen them advertsied over here....

On my old watercooled rig I just used a little of Halfords anti-freeze in my mix and never had any algae problems. I used less than a capful a time

[dorky]

The 2 models, one is japanese and one is from the USA. I'm not sure of their availability worldwide.

But the Iwaki's are very high-quality aquarium pumps, perhaps a specialist aquarium store in the UK might sell them?

They are not normally sold in computer-type stores (since not many punters need a pump this powerful). But if you want a maxed-out pump, that can provide maximum flowrate regardless of flow restrictions, this is the one. I have 13 waterblocks in my system, and it chugs along nicely.

I am in Australia and bought mine on ebay from a seller in the USA. I then paid for shipping to Australia. and even after shipping, it was still cheaper than buying a new Iwaki locally. Although they are quite rare on ebay...

My pump also needs 115Volts AC to work (we have 230VAC here in Australia). So I bought a mid-sized transformer on ebay (paid about AUS$40) to convert the 230VAC into 115VAC for the pump. It runs fine, but the transformer wouldn't fit in a computer case, so you would have to have the transformer sitting outside the case (but that's no big deal).


Wowsers!

I just did a search in ebay and found this japanese model for sale!

ebay link





there's 13 hours to go, and it's sitting on just US$31! (brand new = US$220)

unfortunately the seller doesn't accept bidders from overseas, but you could try asking perhaps?

(Note: when selecting an Iwaki pump, be sure to go for a "Z" model, as these are the ones that can handle higher pressures).

So avoid the "non-Z" models:

WMD-30RLT / MD-30RLT
WMD-30RLXT / MD-30RLXT

and instead go try going for the "Z" models:

WMD-30RLZT / MD-30RLZT

[bujinkan-ka]

Thanks for the replies people. I've just gotten the GPU and CPU blocks, so I'm going down to B&Q and a few car stores to check out the rest. I've heard good things about that racing additive Zerex. Given that the cooling system I'm building will be able to hold a fair bit of water ( between 4 and 5 litres ) do you think it'd be worth my while to use zerex in my coolant mix ?

[Butcher]

That hydor looks very weak. As a minimum with a rad that size you should be looking for around 10 feet (3m) of head. With such a massive radiator you'll want to overspec the pump compared to typical systems.

[SilentDeath]

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost....38&postcount=1

You should aim for 4-5l/m, below that performance will start to suffer. Much above that and the extra heat from the pump could outwiegh the advantage of higher flow rate (almost definatly not with a rad that size - but still there is a point of diminishing returns).

Iwaki are good but very OTT for this really. If needed he can run two l30's in parrelell - cheaper and less space and some redundancy against failure.

For coolant, assuming there is no wetted aluminuim/steel to worry about - just use de-ionised/distilled water and I recommend something for algy prevention. Dont use dyes/antifreeze and if you use a corrosion inhibitor only use a tiny bit. You wont notice performance increases from it so I wouldnt bother.

Whats the rad made of? You want to check there is no alu or steel in contact with water.

[Smokey21]

You really can't go wrong with the 50z Aqua.