My WCing Idea
Ok, I will be moving out of my current townhouse in June into another smaller apartment since it will be me and one other guy instead of 3 other guys. Well most likely we wont have a basement anymore. With the basement set up with all the computers, it never really got that warm down there. But, with no basement means they will prolly be moving into my room in the new apartment.
So...what I was thinking was WCing them all on the same system and having a large radiator outside my window so all the heat will be take outside of the apartment.
I am asking all you WCing guru's out there to see how feasible this is. The blocks dont have to be top of the line, just enough to keep the current OCs around 50C and under in the summer time.
I dont know if it would be better to get One BIG pump or have one for each computer. Thing is with smaller ones, I dont know if they will be able to push the distance to the rad and back with the computers in a closet and the rad outside. I am not sure if the small pumps can push the water through the radiator when some are designed for a small system. But some bigger pumps are mechanical and not AC or DC.
Would I need a rez? There could be a few feet from the systems to the window. Maybe 10 feet of tubing from the rad to a water block.
So what I would need:
Large Radiator
Large Fan or Bunch of smaller fans
4 Water Blocks (Dualie, and 2 other machines)
Pump(s)
Tubing/Clamps/Etc
Anyone have any thoughts on this before I go hitting the DD&TP for some Blocks?
So...what I was thinking was WCing them all on the same system and having a large radiator outside my window so all the heat will be take outside of the apartment.
I am asking all you WCing guru's out there to see how feasible this is. The blocks dont have to be top of the line, just enough to keep the current OCs around 50C and under in the summer time.
I dont know if it would be better to get One BIG pump or have one for each computer. Thing is with smaller ones, I dont know if they will be able to push the distance to the rad and back with the computers in a closet and the rad outside. I am not sure if the small pumps can push the water through the radiator when some are designed for a small system. But some bigger pumps are mechanical and not AC or DC.
Would I need a rez? There could be a few feet from the systems to the window. Maybe 10 feet of tubing from the rad to a water block.
So what I would need:
Large Radiator
Large Fan or Bunch of smaller fans
4 Water Blocks (Dualie, and 2 other machines)
Pump(s)
Tubing/Clamps/Etc
Anyone have any thoughts on this before I go hitting the DD&TP for some Blocks?
0
Comments
Certainly would be great in the winter time. Depending on how long your loop is going to be, you may need a very powerful pump (and more than likely, it will be loud). Most traditional watercooling aquaria pumps would likely not do the trick. With a setup like that, a resevoir would make things a little easier to maintain, and bleed (especially with that much tubing).
1. Place a big res (bucket or bigger) close to the computers (but consider the risk of leaks and all that water). Big res helps with heat capacity and allows room for several submerged pumps.
2. Use an idependent loop for just cooling the res; res->pump->rad->back to res. If it's long distance use a fairly powerful pump and big tubing (ie Eheim 1060 with 1" ID reinforced tubing). I would use a huge rad, maybe a full size car model and try it without any fans. If you place it horisontally in a nice, dry and cool spot outside, I'm sure it will handle a pretty big heat load with the help of heat convection.
3. Use smaller pumps for each computer (I like Eheim1048, and 1/2" ID reinforced tubing). One should even work well for two CPUs, as you have no rads in these loops. Res->pump->CPUx->back to res.
I didnt think of putting the radiator on its own loop from a rez. I was thinking about using a car radiator. That would allow for adding more CPUs in the possible future I would think.
Why would it better if the rad was dry? It is WCing, its better than air cooling. If it were to rain on the rad, wouldnt that be better, besides that fact that the rain would be cool?
Is putting in a window unit A/C blowing through the radiator feasible?
Also, if it'll be outside, you might as well use a fan, since the noise won't be bothering you. It'll need to stand up to the elements though (and probably be quiet enough not to bother neighbors as it runs 24/7).
If I had a window AC I would just blow it straight into the air cooled HSs.
Adding a fan should help a lot, but I would make sure the system is able to handle a fan failure first. Some car rads even comes with a nice DC fan and shroud assembly, and even a thermostat (probably set too high for your purposes, but who knows?).
You might want to check out aftermarket aluminum car radiators for this purpose.
If you want to get really cheap, though, you can pull an old radiator from a Dodge Omni or Plymouth Horizon (The K car rad is probably similar too) - you get a 12V DC fan & shroud that's fit for that radiator, as Isevald was referring to.
Random thoughts in no particular order:
1) Remember that you will be pushing water through all of the systems if they are connected in series regardless of any one of they systems being on or off.
2) Look to a plumbing store. Currently there is a nylon pipe that is replacing the traditional copper pipes used in homes. This hose is crimped to the copper connections (elbows or straights) with a special crimping tool. I just installed a sink in my downstairs laundry and we ran the nylon pipes from a "T" off of the hot water tank...along the baseboards to the sink. I asked about the durability of this "plastic hose" and my friend the plumber said it was as good as copper if not a bit better.
3) Speaking of baseboards. You can actually hide the two pipes. Pull off the baseboard. There is a clamp that you can nail into the wall that holds the pipe in place. Buy a 1/2" - 3/4 inch square trim the length of your baseboards...put the pipes on the wall tacked into place one above the other.
Tack the 1/2" to 3/4" dowel above the pipes...
Put the basboard back nailing it to the square dowel. Pipes are hidden and it just looks like fat baseboard....sort of a step baseboard.
4) You can run a single feed line and "T" off for each of the computers and same for the return. I have my own questions about equal flow to each of the systems...whether or not the first on the loop get's the most and diminishes down the line. I sort of doubt that there would be much flow loss between three systems.
5) A car radiator would be somewhat "large" You may want to find something like a motorbike rad which is smaller. I suggest building a wood box to house the rad at one end and enclose a large (1 foot)...you could put rubber liniing around the frame of the fan and fit it into the box thus absorbing some of the vibration (noise). Plus you could put a roof lip on the box to "weatherize" it a bit.
This could be quite interesting. Take pictures of every step pre and post if you do it.
I guess the best way would be to run a large tube from the rez and then T it off into 2 smaller tubes and then T each of those off again. One of the 4 can be capped off for possible future expantion or maybe even WCing my main system later.
None of these pumps or blocks needs to be top of the line, how much do you guys think a used block/pump would cost. Or even better how much gph would each small pump need to do to cool a CPU thats currently at about 50C with a TT SF2 on a SLK-947. I have a 1800+ at just over 2.4GHz that makes the most heat right now.
You may just have to buy/rent the crimper.
Some hardware stores may even loan you one at no charge (after you put up a deposit equal to the cost of the tool) if you buy the pipe from them. I believe Home Depot does things like that. A Mom & Pop outfit might do the same.
While the central radiator idea is good, with it outside the (presumably) cooler air inside the house (you do use AC I hope) during the summer you'll be pumping very hot air through your rad which will honestly negate any cooling advantage associated with watercooling.
The reason I say go with a bong is that you can have the airflow through the bong run from inside the house, through the bong then vent the hot moist air with dryer vent through a window and still avoid having the PC heat dumped back into the room, plus a good bong can actually get the water cool enough that you'll see sub-ambient temps and since it consists of nothing more than sewer pipe, a shower head and a good 120mm fan it's radically cheaper than a big radiator as well.
Just my 2 cents.
Using the cooler air inside and dumping the hotter air outside would be even better when we run the AC during the hotter times of the summer. But if it was a rad, I could move that inside and heat a nice chuck of the apartment. Then with a bong I could point that inside the apt instead of out a window.
can't be burnin it up, got foldin to do! shortly
The bottom has a cap and acts as the reservoir as well, from the bottom you have another pump pulling the water out of the bong and running it to the PC's.
The taller the bong the better it will work as the water falling through the bong with the air flowing through it is what cools the water, you need to use a showerhead with a tight pattern to avoid having the water just coat the walls of the bong and drip down.
I can give you a link to the pumps I would reccomend if you like, they're made by rainbow lifeguard and have a pretty impressive head and flow rating, the model number is 4000HH