Antec 300 + WC'ing

[jgoette]

So I was at work tonite (easter sunday so we're dead slow) and was messing around with the idea of wc'ing my antec 300. now i saw someone who had removed the harddrive bay to install the radiator there, but i kind of wanted to go with mounting the radiator on top. so i whipped a real fast sketch of my idea. um, ideas for the reservoir location ( the y-line ) and what about that 14 cm exhaust fan blowing through the radiator?

 

[iluvgillgill]

it would be easier to just mount the rad at the back using a radbox

 

[jgoette]

it would be easier to just mount the rad at the back using a radbox

i'd rather just put the rad on top...

 

[Conumdrum]

That 140mm fan on top is great to pull air outta the case. But it's a poor fan for moving enough air for a radiator. It's low CFM and low pressure. Methinks if you can find one (always out of stock at the main WC online stores) a PA (Thermochill) 140mm rad and a replacement fan you could cool your CPU with it. A 140mm PA is almost but bit less in performance to a standard 120x2 (220) rad.

You HAVE to have a fan directly on each radiator portion, so your idea fails to run a 120x2 rad with one fan. No way, unless you make a fancy shroud and get one HS LOUD fan.

140mm quality fans are availible, not a lot of choices though.

A CPU needs that at a minimum. Unless you have a Celeron from 2 years ago and don't OC it. Then you wouldn't be talking water anyway.

It depends on the heat your CPU puts out. Wattage vs ambient vs fans vs radiator matters.

Going water can beat even a TRUE with two massive deltas but it ain't cheap

The 300 is a smallish case and even fitting a pump/res or T-line on the inside and the rad on the outside is tough. But I have seen more than one 300 with a 120x3 rad hanging off the back using standoffs.

 

[jgoette]

That 140mm fan on top is great to pull air outta the case. But it's a poor fan for moving enough air for a radiator. It's low CFM and low pressure. Methinks if you can find one (always out of stock at the main WC online stores) a PA (Thermochill) 140mm rad and a replacement fan you could cool your CPU with it. A 140mm PA is almost but bit less in performance to a standard 120x2 (220) rad.

You HAVE to have a fan directly on each radiator portion, so your idea fails to run a 120x2 rad with one fan. No way, unless you make a fancy shroud and get one HS LOUD fan.

140mm quality fans are availible, not a lot of choices though.

A CPU needs that at a minimum. Unless you have a Celeron from 2 years ago and don't OC it. Then you wouldn't be talking water anyway.

It depends on the heat your CPU puts out. Wattage vs ambient vs fans vs radiator matters.

Going water can beat even a TRUE with two massive deltas but it ain't cheap

The 300 is a smallish case and even fitting a pump/res or T-line on the inside and the rad on the outside is tough. But I have seen more than one 300 with a 120x3 rad hanging off the back using standoffs.

maybe i wasn't clear enough. i don't intend on having the 14 cm fan cooling the radiator. i was just asking if leaving it running as an exhaust fan would interfere with the raditators cooling ability (with hot exhaust air passing over the radiator from the bottom). i intend on having two fans with a shroud on top of the rad.

 

[Conumdrum]

Ohh I get it, k. Just leave 2-3" of space between the exhaust and the rad. You'll have a bit of warm case air blowing up into the rad, but not enough to worry about. The rads fans, being higher CFM will pull room air into it, mitigating the case air somewhat.

 

[jgoette]

ok edited this a little, put a t-line in instead... how about the placement of t-line? and i changed the loop to go from the radiator straight to the cpu so that the water will be at it's coolest... input?

 

[Conumdrum]

Sure, the pump (any popular one) puts out such a small amount of heat it doesn't matter where it is. And a T-line like that is done a lot, simple loop, no worries.

Any WC loop the water temp is always less than 2C different anywhere in the loop, and I mean a loop with CPU/GPU/NB etc. Two golden rules. Res/Tline right before pump inlet. Coolest air to the rad as possible. Thats it.

 

[jgoette]

alright, thanks for the input. i get my 2-week vacation pay soon, so i may take the leap and switch to wc'ing... its been on my mind quite a lot the last couple weeks.

a radbox won't mount on top, will it?

 

[Conumdrum]

No, but 4 6/32 threaded screw rods 3" long with nuts to mount it work great. Go to your local hobby store and check out the stuff RC airplane folks use to make control rods. Methinks a radbox isn't far enough away to keep the hot air from the case being pulled into the rad. Radbox is drilled for a 120mm fan, so you'd have to drill holes for it.

Threaded rod with thin aluminum tubing over it looks very nice. Ohh depends on your rad screws, they might be 3mm or 2.5mm screws. have to dbl check on rad specs.

Also, if you look at the at least 30 300's I have seen on the web with exterior mounted rads you'll get some great ideas.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php? Not a noob site, but great stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/ My fav, good peeps, know their stuff, less hardcore
http://www.skinneelabs.com/MartinsLiquidLab/
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/inde [...] opic=20277 A GREAT Europe site
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
http://translate.google.com/transl [...] n&ie=UTF-8 Info on rad testing
http://skinneelabs.com/
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=282232

Stores
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php [...] e&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.performance-pcs.com

 

[jgoette]

http://forums.extremeoverclocking. [...] p?t=282232

nice link, lotta good info, and i think its pretty up to date. i think from what i'm reading any modern pump can keep up with 3/8" tubing instead of going 1/2".

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, you can make your own standoffs with some threading or bolts and use thin PVC (the kind for small plumbing under sinks, etc) or aluminum/brass bushings to tidy it up. I took my rad to the hardware store and found the thread that fit the holes, all the nuts, fittings, etc and did my own side-mount and drilled. If you take the time and do careful measuring (some rads have templates you can print an use) you can make external mounting look pretty good. Just take your time and don't rush it.

 

[Conumdrum]

There is a lot more to read than just one staic link that might be updated. It's a good link, but the forums and all the stickies in ALL the forums help. If your new to this take your time. Lotta good stuff.

3/8 quality tubing is fine. It's flow rate is a bit lower than 7/16 or 1/2 ID. The third rule I guess is your GPM flow rate needs to be above 1 GPM, below that the blocks can become less efficient.

In a CPU only loop with quality parts 3/8 is fine.

Martins lab has a flow rate calculator you can download. It's becoming outdated, but you can change size of hose and length of hose to learn about it. It's worth the trouble to learn now all can now.