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Water Cooling...What's this?

Discussion in 'Overclocking, Cooling and Modding' started by hadoud76, Apr 19, 2006.

  1. hadoud76 Newcomer, in training Posts: 54

    I heard from one of the members of Techspot about the term Watercooling, and when I asked a technican, he told me that in our country it is not available.I have a lot of questions:
    1-What is watercooling?
    2-How much effective it is (more or less than the fans)?
    3-Where (in a case) do we place the watercooling?
    4-How much $$ it costs?
    Thanks for the help!
  2. paranoid guy Newcomer, in training Posts: 459

    The question "What is watercooling?" still has me stumped for the moment, I just don't know exactly how to answer it. I'll read more. As for "How much more effective is it than air cooling?" It usually manages to keep your parts about 10 degrees celcius lower than air cooling. Water cooling units can be inside or sometimes outside the pc, and they usually cost about €100-150 to the best of my (limited) knowledge.
    I found this, though, and it'll definitely be of more help than me.
    http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1143709045/How_To_Build_A_Water_Cooling_System_For_Your_PC
    The music is good too.
  3. maxbb1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 63

    wow not knowing what water cooling is... ok here goes
    it is basically a small pump placed into your computer that runs of the PSU... it is fairly cheap at like ~$200AUD. It pipes water around your pc to all of the vitals (CPU,GPU,HDD etc.) and effectively cools them down. Non-conductive liquids must be used so as to avoid a short-circuit and meldown i.e. pure water or other specialised coolants (that may or may not be conductive). Basically it is more effective and a lot quieter than a fan.

    EDIT: as to where it is placed i be unsure... normally will tell you somewhere... but it is normally somewhere inside the case (for portability)
  4. CMH TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 2,572   +9

    Gotta love that music.
  5. CMH TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 2,572   +9

    BTW, which third world country do you live in that doesn't have watercooling? I know most Asian countries have them, and I think all First world countries will have them.

    And if your area doesn't have them, I'll bet you can get one shipped to you from overseas. Might cost you a little more, but being the only one with watercooling... talk about the GEEK factor!
  6. paranoid guy Newcomer, in training Posts: 459

    Or you could just make one. It didn't look THAT hard... :haha:
     
  7. Electrick Gypsy Newcomer, in training Posts: 89

    Actually, pure water, demineralised water and distilled water are all conductive.
    On the other hand . . pure cooking oil isn't . . you can actually submerse a TV into a tank of it while it's turned on and it will continue to work . . .

    Nothing what-so-ever to do with water cooling . . just thought it was an interesting point.
  8. CMH TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 2,572   +9

    shoving a whole computer into oil is NOT a good idea. Oil degrades (as mention in the same article you read) and smells bad. It is also messy, and requires alot of modification on your casing to hold liquids. Not to mention you'll have to remove every single fan, and wire your drives seperate from the oil-filled casing.

    Definately not recommended.

    I wanna see how someone makes an efficient waterblock DIY. The pumps and liquids and tubing is standard stuff, easily obtainable from a fish shop (one that sells live swimming fish as pets, not food :p)
  9. maxbb1 Newcomer, in training Posts: 63

    pff look it up 100% pure water is 100% non-conductive but salt water is extra conductive+1. Also in a mag they sovered a pc in dry ice... the OPTIMUM temperature for a pc to run is -16degrees celcius they overclocked every part to almost double... they added an extra 1.8ghz to the processor.. might wanna look into that if you earn $1mil+ per year lol

    EDIT: googled pure water
    For some solutions, such as pure water, the conductivity numbers are so low that some users prefer to use resistivity and resistance instead. ...
    www.russellph.com/techcond.htm - so almost non conductive to the point of like <1v
  10. Tedster Techspot old timer..... Posts: 10,047   +11

    pure water is conductive, but only slightly.

    water is an ionic molecule.
    water molecules break and reform millions of times a second.
    take chemistry.
  11. Coolmatt Newcomer, in training Posts: 141

    1.)Water Cooling is basically the distribution of heat through water instead of metals such as copper and aluminum. Water is better conductive for heat and spreads nicely, this thus would provide better cooling for a processor.

    2.) It is more effective than the heatsink/fan method of cooling a processor down BUT water cooling DOES have a fan, just not over the CPU. The fan is located wherever you want to put it into your computer. The fan cools down the water much like a heatsink but still water is better for cooling.

    3.) Typically you would place the Water cooling in a place which doesn't prevent airflow and is away from major computer parts. I don't know the best place to put it (I never had water cooling before) but the unit for where the water cools, or the cap, is on the CPU obviously.

    4.) Water Cooling typically costs between $125-$200. It's expensive but is used for good cooling on the CPU AND any other devices compatible with the water cooling feature (such as a video card). It is also used for major Overclocking in which a normal fan and heat sink just can't cut it.

    Overall, Water cooling is a great solution for major overclocking and for keeping a CPU cooled down effectively; however, if you just use your computer for using apps and you aren't an overclocker than this type of cooling is NOT the best monetary choice for you. If you got the money and want to buy it then go ahead, it is a nice thing for anyone who likes computers ;)
  12. Coolmatt Newcomer, in training Posts: 141

    Elementary...
  13. hadoud76 Newcomer, in training Posts: 54

    Well, the truth I live in Lebanon so that's a Third World Country you missed out CMH ...So believe it or not,you should rather be surprised that we have no DSL here too just some Dial Ups and LANs no Broadbands no nothing ,how about making a story of this one.Generally I am not the minister nor the prime one, I can do nothing, so that's the way life is!
    SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO:
    Water cooling increases the performance of a CPU by 1.8ghz...THats GOOD!
    Water cooling could be seductive for the NVIDIA 512MB DDR3 7800 GTX for someone paying for a card like this one would like to PRESERVE it A LOT
    Water cooling cools down a small part of the computer,being expensive, one shall use fans to move the hot air out of the case so that the money doesnt get blowed out!
    Water cooling cools by water OH CMH loves me!:blackeye:
  14. Simpsons Rule Newcomer, in training Posts: 17

    Water is very conductive, depending on the the amount of energy put into it. Technically, anything will conduct electricity as long as the energy is large enough. Think of swimming in a pool during a lightning storm. Not a smart idea. And water is not ionic, and it's impossible to have an ionic molecule. A molecule is covalently bonded, while something that is ionic would be a substance. But water is definately a covalent molecule, however it is also a covalent polar molecule.

    And I have no idea what you mean about them breaking and reforming millions of times a second.

    But back to the water cooling, these pictures should help you understand better:

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1020396&Tab=1&NoMapp=0

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1645513&CatId=499

    You can look around at more of the other water cooling systems they have.
  15. hadoud76 Newcomer, in training Posts: 54


    OK,I need some lessons in chemistry, but I got your point as in terms of conductivity but if watercooling adds life to the computer, why don't we DAMN have it here.
  16. CMH TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 2,572   +9

    I didn't mean it in a bad way, its just that I know most places have them. And if you're not an enthusiast, you'd probably won't be wondering about watercooling, and if you were, and asked a shopkeeper who doesn't stock them, they'd most probably tell you its not available anywhere.

    Just some business strategy, why tell your customer he can get what he wants from a competitor, when you can sell your stuff instead?

    Anyway, Lebanon... I always forget there's countries in the Middle East, even though they've been in our newspapers so much these days :p Not sure how the IT is like there, but the lack of broadband doesn't make getting a watercooling system set up sound probable.
  17. IBN TechSpot Maniac Posts: 624

    By the way theres a lot of pirated software there you can buy.......and dirt cheap too.
  18. KingCody TechSpot Guru Posts: 1,568   +7

    you do not need a fan in a water cooling setup in a non-overclocked system. a radiator will dissipate heat without the need for an additional fan.

    only if you buy a pre-built system. it is not very hard at all to build one yourself. it doesn't take a scientist to figure out how to hook up a pump, reservior, waterblock, and tubes.

    if you have a small piece of aluminum, and can drill 3 holes and tap 3 threads then it's pretty simple. as far as it's efficiency is concerned, that's debatable... but mine worked fine for my socketA system :) anyways... waterblocks are cheap enough (about $25 USD) to just buy one premade.

    I made my own rigs before comercial water coolers were available. I made my own water cooling setup (including the water block) using parts from ebay and home depot (hardware mega-store).

    1. PUMP= minijet606 165GPH submersible pump ($7-ebay)
    2. RESERVIOR= standard 4"x4" plastic electrical box ($5-home depot)
    3. RADIATOR= black ice 120mm 3/8" fittings ($11-ebay)
    4. TUBING= regular 3/8" ID (1/2" OD) tubing ($9-home depot)
    5. WATERBLOCK= homemade (no monetary value)
    6. HOSE CLAMPS= 8 small metal hose clamps @ 50¢ each ($4-home depot)

    ...as you can see, i made my system using standard parts for about $36 USD which is far cheaper than buying a $200 system
  19. Simpsons Rule Newcomer, in training Posts: 17

    Well, if you really wanted it, TigerDirect does ship internationally. I'm not sure how much shipping is, but if it's worth it to you, you could always find them online.
  20. IBN TechSpot Maniac Posts: 624

    You might well need it if you have no air conditioning in your house and you`ve got a high performance system. It does get hot in Shaam in the summers.