Zeus

[x88x]

Finally got some work in on this

First, the parts:

Now, unfortunately, I have to strip out the entire WC loop to do what I need to, so...introducing my elegant coolant collection system

And finally everything is stripped out. Took a little convincing, but it gave me a few thoughts as to what changes I might want to make to the loop while I have it apart (to make it easier to drain next time), so it wasn't a waste.

I'm leaving everything to drip the last little bits out overnight (also because I'm really tired), but for now just a quick preview of things to come:

Yes, gone will be the tubing looping out the back. Instead, I'll have this new 2x140mm rad sitting on the top, mounted much like the rear rad. I'll also be building a custom mount for the mosfet block (because nobody actually makes one for my board), and reapplying the AS5 on my CPU block, hopefully bringing down the temps. I did look into it a few weeks ago, and apparently I have been applying it wrong They have new recommended application methods for multi-core CPUs, and I had still been using the method for old single-core's (ie, those without heatspreaders).

In other news, does anyone know of a good LGA775 waterblock/pump combo? I'm going to want to watercool Faust eventually (whenever I finally get back to it...it keeps getting pushed further and further back...), and I want to have as simple (and cheap) a loop as I can get away with. It'll only be cooling a dual-core 45nm Celeron (I forget the model atm), and I'll be using the spare 120mm Black Ice rad from this build.

[x88x]

So, as I was working on this again this morning I realized two things. First, the 3x120 rad that I got wasn't what I was thinking I was getting when I got it, and second, that I never flushed out any of my radiators before putting them in my system.

The 3x120 isn't a problem really, just for some reason, when I bought it, I thought it was a Black Ice GTX Extreme; turns out it's a Black Ice Extreme (stupid, confusing names), which was the Black Ice GTX Extreme's predecessor. As it turns out, the Extreme only dissipates 69% as much heat as the GTX Extreme, but tbh that extra isn't worth the $108 and more days waiting to me now, so I'm sticking with what I have. If I have a cooling issue with all these rads, I think the problem will lie elsewhere anyways. Besides, if I do decide to replace it at any point, there's plenty of space there, so I'll probably replace it with a TFC X-Changer instead.

In an attempt to rectify never flushing my rads, I decided to not only flush the new one, but all the old ones as well, just to be safe. I didn't actually see anything come out of any of them while I was flushing them, but oh well, better safe than sorry.

I'm continuing work on this today, preparing the case for the new rad, and making a new mount for the mosfet block. I'll update later.

[x88x]

Well, I'm running into a few problems here...

First, I'm beginning see perhaps why nobody makes a mosfet WB for my MBB.... It seems normally there are two rows of mosfets... well, I have 3

What I'm thinking is a slab of aluminum (or copper if I can get some locally), as a base, with the WB sitting on top, all clamped down nicely, lapped, and AS5 applied.

Speaking of lapping, I think I might know why I was getting higher temps on my CPU than I was expecting. Apparently somewhere along the way, my CPU WB got a few small nicks and scratches in it! I blame the complete lack of space to do anything at all in mightyMite. So, time to break out the lapping gear. It's been a long time. ...ooh, and I remember seeing a smallish sheet of glass that somebody threw out yesterday...maybe it's still there!

[x88x]

Well, the glass was gone (come to think of it, I saw it before that area was plowed...so it's probably smashed up inside a giant pile of snow somewhere. Ah well, the kitchen counter worked ok. So, I got the CPU block lapped and reinstalled (with the AS5 applied properly this time ). I got rid of the scratches and pitting, so hopefully I'll be getting better temps once it's all back together.

I also got to work on the case, getting it ready for the 2x140:

and improving it for the rear 1x120:

Now I'm off to file those down smooth, but before that..

I headed over to Lowes last night looking for some copper flat bar for the mosfet block...turns out they don't carry copper flat bar, and neither does anybody in town So, rather than settle for aluminium, I found a 2" copper pipe fitting. Trouble is, it's round...I'll just have to see what I can do about that.

[x88x]

Well, the heatspreader plate is working out a lot better than I was expecting, tbh. No pics right now, but it was fairly easy to get a flat piece and cut it into the right shape...the hard part has been lapping it down so it's heatsink flat. Going on 4 hours of lapping now (with 320 grit), and I think it's almost there. Then I get to move on to the 400...then 600..1000..you get the idea. The max I have right now is 2500 grit, which I'll be finishing it off with....eventually.

So, to anyone out there wondering if it is possible to make a custom heatsink out of a copper pipe joint..yes. But be prepared to spend a lot of time lapping.

[x88x]

Well, as expected, I got almost nothing done yesterday (just a couple hours of lapping), but today I finally made some real headway!

First, a few 'in progress' shots. Once it occurred to me to use the concrete floor instead of the cheaply built counter... Anyways, once I cut the fitting in half, I got one half hammered flat:

The bottom off the original heatsink as a guide...

I forgot to take pics of drawing up and cutting out the piece, but after a good bit of cutting and many, many hours of lapping (thank God for nitrile gloves )...and deciding I wasn't quite happy with the other blocks either, and pulling them off as well...I finally got these. Thing of beauty, if I do say so myself.

[Jake2k]

Hell man I could have sent ya a copper bar if ya just asked Nice work on those though, thats a pretty amazing transformation haha.

Now forgive my ignorance as I am a newb but what are they for? Just passive cooling or part of the water cooling?

[x88x]

Thanks, I'm rather proud of how well it turned out.

The left one is the copper portion of the mosfet block...which, actually, I don't think I have a proper picture of yet..here we go:

The top one is the copper portion of the NB block, and the bottom one is the copper portion of the CPU block (all turned upside down, of course).

The one on the right is the piece I actually made. Since nobody makes a mosfet block for my MBB, I got one that I thought might be fairly close...unfortunately, it was rather...less close...than I thought it would be, namely that it was only wide enough to cover two rows of mosfets, and I have three. So, I made this copper plate to sit between the mosfets and the mosfet block. I have thermal padding left over from my GTX260 DD Tieton block between the mosfets and the plate, and I'll put AS5 between the plate and the mosfet block. The two extra holes you see in the plate are the mounting points for the mosfet block. The killer on the plate (other than starting out with such a relatively rough surface) was that I had to lap both sides of it...the dips where I hit it a little harder with the hammer were the worst...

Here's a shot of the plate mounted. Unfortunately, on Monday I got the wrong size screws for mounting it..4-40 instead of M4 , so I'll be picking up screws for that tomorrow, and I'll have shots of everything finally mounted tomorrow.

[x88x]

Damn, has it been a week already? ..wow.. Ok, well quick now before I pass out....

I finally got some more work in on this today, and the case is finally almost ready to refill again!

At some point (I wanna say Sunday night?) I got the fan holes filed down smooth and even. Sorry, no pics, but I just thought of it now...and it's already covered up:

IDK if you can tell from the pics, but I painted the top..it started out just touching up around the holes where I slipped, but then it just kind of expanded to envelope the entire top. Not the best paint job (brush strokes are painfully evident...at least to me..), but it does the job for now. I'll probably do something about it at a later date, but for now it's fine.

And a shot of the front with the new fans:

I also finally got the screws cut down to the right size for the mosfet block last night:

with tubing:

And last but not least, I slimmed down my res mount. It was a bit too large and...square...for my liking. Dremel, hand files, and 400-grit wet sanding later, and...much better.

[x88x]

Got the loop cut and assembled:

The inlet for the rear rad gave me a little trouble because the fan grill for the rear top fan was getting in the way, but a pair of wire cutters and some filing later, and all fixed:

I just finished filling the loop, and I appear to have underestimated the difference in loop capacity...looks like I'm gonna have to drive over to Micro Center tomorrow for another bottle of coolant. I have the pump running now, to work all the air out of the loop.. I think it's mostly out now, and I'm just barely above the top of the inlet to my res. :-\ I also have all the fans running, to see what the noise level is like, and....WOW.... all 6 fans together are maybe as loud as the pump. At this rate I might have to end up replacing the fan in my PSU with one of these. I'll have to wait to see if I still get similar temps with these fans. Worst case, I double the noise level by doubling the number of fans...but double of nothing is still pretty small.