Why do you need a water cooling system? DIY water cooling: theory and practice

So we decided to write a special article dedicated to computer water cooling systems. We will try to talk about all aspects water cooling for computers, in particular, we will talk about what a water cooling system is, what it consists of and how it works. We will also touch on such popular questions as water cooling system assembly, water cooling system maintenance and many related topics.

What is a water cooling system

Water cooling system- This cooling system, which uses water as a coolant to transfer heat. Unlike air cooling systems, which transfer heat directly to the air, a water cooling system first transfers heat to water.

Operating principle of water cooling system

In a computer water cooling system warm generated by the processor is transferred to water through a special heat exchanger, called water block. The water heated in this way is, in turn, transferred to the next heat exchanger - radiator, in which heat from the water is transferred to the air and leaves the computer. The movement of water in the system is carried out using a special pump, which is most often called pomp.

The Excellence of Water Cooling Systems above air is explained by the fact that water has higher levels than air, heat capacity(4.183 kJ kg -1 K -1 for water versus 1.005 kJ kg -1 K -1 for air) and thermal conductivity(0.6 W/(m K) for water versus 0.024-0.031 W/(m K) for air). SVO provides faster and more efficient heat removal from cooled elements and, accordingly, lower temperatures on them.

Efficiency and reliability of water cooling systems proven by time and use in a large number of different mechanisms and devices that require powerful and reliable cooling, such as internal combustion engines, powerful lasers, radio tubes, factory machines and even nuclear power plants.

Why does a computer need water cooling?

Due to its high efficiency, using the system water cooling You can achieve both more efficient cooling, which will have a positive effect on overclocking, system life and stability, and lower noise levels from the computer. If desired, you can also assemble the system water cooling which will allow you to work overclocked computer at minimum noise. For this reason, water cooling systems are primarily relevant for users of particularly powerful computers, fans of powerful overclocking, as well as people who want to make their computer quieter, but at the same time do not want to compromise with its power.

Quite often you can see gamers with three and four chip video subsystems (3-Way SLI, Quad SLI, CrossFire X) who complain about high operating temperatures ( more than 90 degrees) and constant overheating of video cards, which at the same time create very high noise level their cooling systems. Sometimes it seems that the cooling systems of modern video cards are designed without taking into account the possibility of using them in multi-chip configurations, which leads to disastrous consequences when video cards are installed close to one another - they simply have nowhere to get cold air for normal cooling. They don't save alternative air cooling systems, because only a few models available on the market provide compatibility with multi-chip configurations. In such a situation it is water cooling can solve the problem - radically lower temperatures, improve stability and increase the reliability of a powerful computer.

Water cooling system components

Computer water cooling systems consist of a certain set of components, which can be divided into mandatory and optional, which are installed in the cooling system at will.

Mandatory components of a computer water cooling system include:

• water block (at least one in the system, but more is possible)
• radiator
• pump
• hoses
• fitting
• water

Although this list is not exhaustive, optional components include the following:

• tank
• temperature sensors
• pump and fan controllers
• drain taps
• indicators and meters (flow, pressure, flow, temperature)
• secondary water blocks (for power transistors, memory modules, hard drives, etc.)
• water additives and ready-made water mixtures
• backplates
• filters

First, we will look at the required components, without which SVO it simply cannot work.

Water block(from English waterblock) is special heat exchanger, with the help of which heat from a heating element (processor, video chip or other element) transferred to water. Usually, the design water block consists of copper base, as well as a metal or plastic cover and a set of fasteners that allow you to secure the water block to the cooled element. Water blocks exist for all heat-producing elements of a computer, even those that do not really need them.

TO main types of water blocks can be safely attributed processor water blocks, water blocks for video cards, as well as water blocks for the system chip ( north bridge). In turn, water blocks for video cards also come in two types:

• Water blocks that cover only the graphics chip - the so-called "gpu only" water blocks
• Water blocks that cover all heating elements of the video card (graphics chip, video memory, voltage regulators, etc.) - the so-called fullcover(from English fullcover) water blocks

Although the first water blocks were usually made of fairly thick copper (1 - 1.5 cm), in accordance with modern trends in water block construction, for more efficient operation of water blocks, they try to make their bases thin. Also, to increase the surface heat transfer, in modern Water blocks usually use a microchannel or microneedle structure. In cases where performance is not so critical and there is no struggle for every degree gained, for example on a system chip, water blocks are made without a sophisticated internal structure, sometimes with simple channels or even a flat bottom.

Radiator. A radiator in water cooling systems is a water-air heat exchanger, which transfers the heat of water collected in the water block to the air. Radiators for water cooling systems are divided into two subtypes:

• Passive, i.e. fanless
• Active, i.e. blown by fans

Fanless (passive) radiators for water cooling systems are relatively rare (for example, the radiator in the Zalman Reserator) due to the fact that, in addition to the obvious advantages (no noise from fans), this type of radiator is characterized by lower efficiency (compared to active radiators), which is typical for all passive cooling systems. In addition to low performance, radiators of this type usually take up a lot of space and rarely fit even in modified cases.

Ventilated(active) radiators are more common in computer water cooling systems as they have much higher efficiency. At the same time, in the case of using quiet or silent fans, it is possible to achieve, respectively, quiet or silent operation cooling systems are the main advantage of passive radiators. Radiators of this type come in a variety of sizes, but the size of most popular models is radiators is a multiple of the size of a 120 mm or 140 mm fan, that is, a radiator for three 120 mm fans will have a size of approximately 360 mm in length and 120 mm in width - for simplicity, radiators of this size are usually called triple or 360 mm.

Despite the fact that rarely do any computer cases have space for installing water cooling radiators larger than 120 mm in size, for a real modder it will not be difficult to install a radiator.

Pump - this is an electric pump responsible for circulating water in the circuit of the water cooling system computer, without which SVO It simply wouldn't work. Pumps used in water cooling systems There are both operating from 220 volts and from 12 volts. Previously, when it was rare to find specialized components for air defense systems on sale, enthusiasts mainly used aquarium pumps, which operated from 220 volts, which created certain difficulties since the pump had to be turned on synchronously with the computer - for this, most often, a relay was used, which turned on the pump automatically when the computer started. With the development of water cooling systems, specialized pumps began to appear, for example Laing DDC, which had compact size and high performance, while they were powered by standard computer 12 volts.

Since modern water blocks have a fairly high coefficient hydraulic resistance, which is the price to pay for high performance, it is recommended to use specialized powerful pumps with them, since with an aquarium pump (even a powerful one), a modern water treatment system will not fully reveal its performance. Particularly pursue power, using 2 - 3 pumps installed in series in one circuit or using a circulation pump from a home heating system is also not worth it, since this will not lead to an increase in the performance of the system as a whole, because it is, first of all, limited by the maximum heat dissipation capacity of the radiator and the efficiency of the water block.

Hoses or tubes, no matter what they are called, are also one of mandatory components in any water cooling system, because it is through them that water flows from one component of the cooling system to another. Most often, hoses made of PVC are used in a computer water cooling system, less often made of silicone. Despite popular misconceptions, the size of the hose does not have a strong influence on the performance of the water treatment system as a whole, the main thing is not to take too thin ones (inner diameter, which is smaller 8 millimeters) hoses and everything will be OK

Fitting- these are special connecting elements that allow connect the hoses to the SVO components (water blocks, radiator, pump). Fitting and screw into the threaded hole on CBO component, you don’t need to screw them in tightly (no wrenches) since the connection is most often sealed using a rubber O-ring. Current trends in the market of components for water supply systems are such that the vast majority of components are supplied without fittings included. This is done so that the user has the opportunity to select fittings yourself necessary specifically for its water cooling system, because there are fittings of different types and for different sizes of hoses. The most popular types of fittings can be considered compression fittings (fittings with a union nut) and herringbone fittings (fittings). Fitting There are both straight and angular (which are often rotary) and they are installed depending on how you are going to place the water cooling system in your computer. Fittings also differ in the type of thread, most often in computer water cooling systems threads of the G1/4 standard are found, but in rare cases threads of the G1/8 or G3/8 standards are also found.

Also a required component SVO For When refilling water cooling systems, it is best to use distilled water, that is, water purified from all impurities by distillation. Sometimes on Western websites you can find references to deionized water - it has no significant differences from distilled water, except that it is produced in a different way. Sometimes, instead of water, specially prepared mixtures or water with various additives are used - there are no significant differences in this, so we will consider these options in the section on optional components of water cooling systems. In any case, it is highly not recommended to use tap water or mineral/bottled water for drinking.

Now let's take a closer look at optional components for water cooling systems.

Optional components are components without which the water cooling system can operate stably and without problems; usually, they do not affect the performance of the cooling system in any way, although in some cases they may reduce it a little. The main purpose of the optional components is to make the operation of the water cooling system more convenient and beautiful, or to make the user feel safe to operate the water cooling system. So, let's move on to consider the optional components:

Tank(expansion tank) is not a required component water cooling systems, despite the fact that most water cooling systems are still equipped with them. Quite often for convenient refilling of the system liquid is used instead of a reservoir tee fitting (T-Line) and filler neck. Advantage tankless systems is that if the SVO is installed in a compact case, it can be placed more conveniently. Reservoir systems have the advantage of making it easier to fill the system (although this depends on the reservoir) and easier to remove air bubbles from the system. Reservoirs come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and they must be selected according to the criteria of ease of installation and appearance.

Drain tap is a component that makes it more convenient drain water from the cooling water circuit. In the normal state it is closed, but when it becomes necessary to drain water from the system, it is opened. A fairly simple component that can greatly improve usability, or rather service, water cooling systems.

Sensors, indicators and meters. Since enthusiasts usually love all sorts of bells and whistles, manufacturers simply could not stand aside and released quite a lot of different controllers, meters and sensors for water cooling systems, although a water cooling system can work quite calmly (and at the same time reliably) without them. Among such components there are electronic sensors for pressure and flow of water, water temperature, controllers that adjust the operation of fans to the temperature, mechanical indicators of water movement, pump controllers, and so on. However, in our opinion, for example, it makes sense to install pressure and water flow sensors only in systems intended for testing components of the water supply system, since this information simply does not make much sense for the average user. There is also no particular point in placing several temperature sensors in different places of the water heating system circuit, hoping to see a large temperature difference, since water has a very high heat capacity, that is, when heated literally one degree, water “absorbs” a large amount of heat, while it moves in the water heating system circuit at a fairly high speed, which leads to the fact that the water temperature in different places of the SVO circuit at one time differs quite slightly, so you won’t see impressive values. And don’t forget that most computer temperature sensors have an error of ±1 degree.

Filter. In some water cooling systems you can find a filter connected to the circuit. His task is to filter out a variety of small particles that got into the system - this could be dust that was in the hoses, solder residue in the radiator, sediment resulting from the use of dye or anti-corrosion additive.

Water additives and ready-made mixtures. In addition to water, various water additives can be used in the cooling system circuit, some of them protect against corrosion, others prevent the development of bacteria in the system, and others allow you to tint the water in the cooling water system the color you want. There are also ready-made mixtures that contain water as the main component with anti-corrosion additives and dye. There are also ready-made mixtures that contain additives that increase the performance of the water treatment system, although the increase in performance from them is insignificant. On sale you can also find liquids for water cooling systems made not on the basis of water, but on the basis of a special dielectric liquid that does not conduct electric current and, accordingly, will not cause a short circuit if it leaks onto PC components. Ordinary distilled water, in principle, also does not conduct current, but if spilled on dusty PC components, it can become electrically conductive. There is no particular point in a dielectric liquid since a normally assembled and tested water cooling system does not leak and is quite reliable. It is also worth noting that anti-corrosion additives sometimes precipitate fine dust during their work, and coloring additives can slightly stain hoses and acrylic in the components of the SVO, but, in our experience, you should not pay attention to this, since it is not critical. The main thing is to follow the instructions for the additives and not to pour them in excess, as this can lead to more disastrous consequences. Whether you use simply distilled water, water with additives, or a ready-made mixture in the system does not make much difference, and the best option depends on what you need.

Backplate- this is a special mounting plate that helps relieve the PCB of the motherboard or video card from the force created by the water block fasteners, respectively, reducing the bending of the PCB and the chance of ruining expensive hardware. Although the backplate is not a mandatory component, it can be found quite often in water block systems; some models of water blocks come equipped with a backplate, while for others it is available as an optional accessory.

Secondary water blocks. In addition to cooling important and very hot components with water, some enthusiasts install additional water blocks on components that either heat up poorly or do not require powerful active cooling, for example. Components that require water cooling only for appearance's sake include: power transistors, power supply circuits, RAM, south bridge and hard drives. The optionality of these components in a water cooling system lies in the fact that even if you install water cooling on these components, you will not get any additional system stability, improved overclocking or other noticeable results - this is primarily due to low heat generation of these elements, as well as the ineffectiveness of water blocks for these components. Of the clear advantages of installing these water blocks, only the appearance can be highlighted, and the disadvantages are an increase in hydraulic resistance in the water supply circuit, an increase in the cost of the entire system (and a significant one) and, usually, the low upgradeability of these water blocks.

In addition to the mandatory and optional components for water cooling systems, a category of so-called hybrid components can also be distinguished. Sometimes, on sale you can find components that are two or more CBO components connected into one device. Among such devices are: hybrids of a pump and a processor water block, radiators for your own with a built-in pump and reservoir, pumps combined with a reservoir are very common. The point of such components is to reduce the space taken up and make installation more convenient. The disadvantage of such components is usually their limited suitability for upgrades.

There is a separate category of homemade components for water cooling systems. Initially, since about 2000, all components for water cooling systems were made or modified by enthusiasts with their own hands, because specialized components for water cooling systems were simply not produced at that time. Therefore, if a person wanted to establish an SVO for himself, then he had to do everything with his own hands. After the relative popularization of water cooling for computers, a large number of companies began to produce components for them, and now you can without any problems buy both a ready-made water cooling system and all the necessary components for its self-assembly. So, in principle, we can say that now there is no need to independently manufacture SVO components in order to install water cooling on your computer. The only reasons why some enthusiasts are now engaged in self-manufacturing of SVO components are the desire to save money or to try their hand at manufacturing such components. However, the desire to save money is not always possible to realize, because in addition to the cost of work and components of the manufactured part, there are also time costs that are usually not taken into account by people who want to save money, but the reality is that you will have to spend a lot of time on independent production and the result however, it will not be guaranteed. And the performance and reliability of home-made components are often far from being at the highest level, since in order to manufacture serial-level components it is necessary to have very direct (golden) hands If you decide to make, for example, a water block yourself, then take these facts into account.

External or internal SVO

Among other features, water cooling systems are divided into external and internal. External water cooling systems are usually made in the form of a separate “box”, i.e. module, which is connected using hoses to water blocks installed on components in your PC case. The case of an external water cooling system almost always contains a radiator with fans, a pump, a reservoir and, sometimes, a power supply for the pump with temperature and/or fluid flow sensors. External systems include, for example, Zalman water cooling systems of the Reserator family. Systems installed as a separate module are convenient because the user does not need to modify the case of his computer, but they are very inconvenient if you plan to move your computer even to minimal distances, for example, to the next room

Internal water cooling systems, ideally, are located entirely inside the PC case, but due to the fact that not all computer cases are well suited for installing a water cooling system, some components of the internal water cooling system (most often a radiator) can often be seen installed on the outer surface of the housing. The advantages of internal SVOs include the fact that they are very convenient when carrying a computer since they will not interfere with you and will not require draining the liquid during transportation. Another advantage of internal water cooling systems is that when the water cooling system is installed internally, the appearance of the case does not suffer in any way, and when modding a computer, the water cooling system can serve as an excellent decoration for the case.

To the disadvantages of internal water cooling systems This can be attributed to the relative complexity of their installation, compared to external ones, as well as the need to modify the housing to install the SVO in many cases. Another negative point is that internal SVO will add a couple of kilograms of weight to your body

Ready-made systems or self-assembly

Water cooling systems, among other features, are also divided according to assembly and configuration options into:

• Ready-made systems in which all SVO components are purchased in one set, with installation instructions
• Homemade systems that are assembled independently from individual components

Typically, many enthusiasts believe that all “systems out of the box” show low performance, but this is far from the case - water cooling kits from such well-known brands as Swiftech, Danger Dan, Koolance and Alphacool demonstrate quite decent performance and it’s certainly not possible to talk about them to say that they are weak, and these companies are reputable manufacturers of high-performance components for water cooling systems.

Among the advantages of ready-made systems, one can note convenience - you immediately buy everything you need to install water cooling in one kit, and assembly instructions are included. In addition, manufacturers of ready-made water cooling systems usually try to provide for all possible situations so that the user, for example, does not have problems with installing and fastening components. The disadvantages of such systems include the fact that they are not flexible in terms of configuration; for example, the manufacturer has several options for ready-made water cooling systems and you usually do not have the opportunity to change their configuration in order to select components that best suit you.

By purchasing water cooling components separately, you can choose exactly those components that you think will best suit you. In addition, by purchasing a system from individual components, you can sometimes save money, but here everything depends on you. Among the disadvantages of this approach, we can highlight some difficulty in assembling such systems for beginners; for example, we have seen cases where people who did not understand the topic well did not buy all the necessary components and/or components that were incompatible with each other and got into trouble (they realized that something that’s not the case here) only when they sat down to assemble the SVO.

Pros and cons of water cooling systems

The main advantages of water cooling of computers include: the ability to build a quiet and powerful PC, expanded overclocking capabilities, improved stability during overclocking, excellent appearance and long service life. Thanks to the high efficiency of water cooling, it is possible to assemble such a cooling system that would allow the operation of a very powerful overclocked gaming computer with several video cards at a relatively low noise level, unattainable for air cooling systems. Again, due to their high efficiency, water cooling systems allow you to achieve higher levels of processor or video card overclocking that are unattainable with air cooling. Water cooling systems are often great looking and look great in a modified (or not so modified) computer.

The disadvantages of water cooling systems are usually: complexity of assembly, high cost and unreliability. Our opinion is that these disadvantages have little basis in real facts and are very controversial and relative. For example, the complexity of assembling a water cooling system definitely cannot be called high - assembling a water cooling system is not much more difficult than assembling a computer, and in general, the times when all components had to be modified without fail or all the components had to be made with your own hands are long gone and at the moment in the field of SVO, almost everything is standardized and commercially available. The reliability of properly assembled computer water cooling systems is also beyond doubt, just as the reliability of a car cooling system or the heating system of a private home is beyond doubt - with proper assembly and operation there should be no problems. Of course, no one is insured against defects or accidents, but the likelihood of such events exists not only when using SVO, but also with the most common video cards, hard drives and other components. Cost, in our opinion, should also not be singled out as a minus, since such a “minus” can then be safely attributed to all high-performance equipment. And each user has his own understanding of whether something is expensive or cheap. I would like to talk separately about the cost of SVO.

Cost of water cooling system

Cost, as a factor, is probably the most frequently mentioned “minus” that is attributed to all PC water cooling systems. At the same time, everyone forgets that the cost of a water cooling system strongly depends on what components it is assembled from: you can assemble a water cooling system so that the overall cost is cheaper without sacrificing performance, or you can choose components at the maximum price. At the same time, the final cost of similar in efficiency The SVO will differ significantly.

Cost of water cooling system It also depends on what computer it will be installed on, because the more powerful the computer, the more expensive the SVO will be, in principle, since a powerful computer and SVO need a more powerful one. In our opinion, the cost of the water cooling system is quite justified compared to other components, because the water cooling system is, in fact, a separate component, and, in our opinion, mandatory for truly powerful PCs. Another factor that must be taken into account when assessing the cost of the SVO is its durability since, correctly selected, the components of the SVO can serve for more than one year in a row, surviving numerous upgrades of the rest of the hardware - not many PC components can boast of such durability (except perhaps the case or , taken in excess, BP), accordingly, spending a relatively large amount on SVO is smoothly distributed over time and does not look wasteful.

If you really want to install a SVO for yourself, but you are stressed with finances and no improvements are planned in the near future, then no one has canceled homemade components

Water cooling in modding

Besides being highly efficient, PC water cooling systems look great, which explains the popularity of using water cooling systems in many modding projects. Thanks to the ability to use colored or fluorescent hoses and/or liquids, the ability to illuminate water blocks with LEDs, and select components that will suit your color scheme and style, a water cooling system can perfectly fit into almost any modding project, and/or make it the main feature of your project modding. Using SVO in a modding project, when installed correctly, allows for improved visibility of certain components usually hidden by large air-cooling systems.

About sTs

To install water cooling for your PC, you need to have a good understanding of this topic. This approach is associated with many factors. But mainly, poor-quality collection of this type of CO can lead to depressurization and flooding of the entire system, and, of course, no one wants this. Well, before we find out all the pros and cons of water cooling, let’s try to figure out self-installation and other aspects, it’s worth starting from the very beginning.

Cooling system

It is familiar to many who have at least once looked into a computer and examined any details. Air or active cooling is the most common, popular and the one we find in regular PCs. In the system itself there is a conditional “Holy Trinity”, which includes the fan of the video card, processor and case. Of course, in the simplest ones there can only be two of them, since the housing one is installed next to the chip and is generally enough.

Also, sometimes processor fans are replaced with more powerful ones and also combined with the case fan, installing an integral design on the motherboard. This type of cooling costs significantly less, even if you buy the most expensive cooler.

Next, there is a water cooling system for PCs. In this option, the user will have to spend a lot more money, since the option has a complex design and consists of a dozen elements. To assemble such a system, in any case, you will need professional advice, since those who have never encountered this are unlikely to be able to install the equipment correctly and safely.

These two most popular systems can be supplemented by a couple more varieties that few people know about. For example, a freon unit is a “refrigerator” that cools a specific component. There is a water chiller, which has an even more complex design and combines liquid cooling and a freon installation.

Recently, open evaporation systems have become popular, where dry ice, liquid nitrogen or helium are responsible for the working fluid. Nowadays, such options are popular among those who love extreme overclocking. It is also worth mentioning the cascade cooling system, which is similar to a freon installation, but has an even more complex design. And finally a system with Paltier elements, which requires a different active CO.

For what?

Both water cooling for PCs and all other types are systems that help remove heat from heating elements in the computer. As mentioned earlier, processors, video cards, and elements on the motherboard usually require additional cooling.

In this case, the heat that is generated in the housing can be utilized in several ways. For example, active systems that have a radiator send air into the atmosphere. Thus, air cooling can be represented by two types: active and passive. In the first case, a fan works together with the radiator. In the second there is only a radiator.

In the case of air cooling, heat is removed from the radiator through radiation and convection. If there is no fan, then convection is natural; if there is, it is forced. Also, heat can be utilized together with the coolant, both in the case of water cooling, and due to the phase transition of the coolant in the case of an evaporative system.

Danger

If you understand why you need water or air cooling for your PC, but are not aware of the dangers of overheating, then the following information is for you. From the most harmless, usually oversaturation of a PC with warm air leads to system slowdown: the processor frequency drops, the graphics accelerator also becomes slower, and the memory modules also suffer.

Tragically, overheating will bring “death” to your car. And this can happen in several ways. If we turn to physics, irreversible and reversible processes occur due to overheating.

Thus, chemical phenomena are considered irreversible. Overheating, either sudden or prolonged, affects elements that change their molecular structure. After this, there will be no way to save your favorite video card. Reversible ones relate more to physical processes. In this case, something melts or collapses and, accordingly, can be replaced. Although the latter cases are not always possible to correct.

Comparison

To understand what water cooling for a PC is, the pros and cons of such a system, it is worth comparing it with the most popular cooling option. As we know, a cooler is a structure consisting of a radiator through which heat sink and fan tubes pass. This system is easy to install in the housing. It is usually secured with four screws.

Moreover, after packaging, you don’t need to do anything, assemble individual parts or buy anything in addition to something else. Just find a place on the motherboard and attach your purchase there. In addition to the affordable cost and ease of installation, there are also disadvantages of this option.

First of all, why air cooling is changed to liquid cooling - because of the inefficiency of the first. Especially if the user wants to carry out critical overclocking of the processor, then a conventional cooler will not cope with this. Also, such a system is often lacking in places where two or more video cards are installed.

The next drawback is the dimensions of the radiator. Of course, not in all cases. But more often than not, a good cooler has a very high profile, which makes installation inconvenient and places it in a compact case. And the last thing is noise. All users encounter it. Moreover, if in quiet mode you may not even hear the system, then at maximum load on the PC the fans gain speed and create a lot of noise.

What is this?

So, the most common gaming PC is a water-cooled one. This is not at all accidental. Firstly, it requires a powerful system. Secondly, it requires strong cooling. Thirdly, some gamers still like to entertain themselves with overclocking, and for this it is imperative to have a CO that can cope with unexpected overheating and loads.

It’s worth saying right away that water cooling is not affordable for everyone, so it’s hard to say whether every gamer should buy one. But if you have enough money, are tired of the system overheating, want to experiment with frequencies, and also get rid of excessive cooler noise, then this option is ideal for you.

Job

Do-it-yourself water cooling for a PC is not easy. Therefore, if you really have enough funds, it is better to purchase a ready-made one. But before we move on to this issue, it is worth understanding the basic principle of operation of such a design. This cooling does not require a lot of space or any special case formats. It does not need a large system unit to work more efficiently. In general, this option will fit even into the most non-standard block, adjusted for installation difficulties.

As mentioned earlier, the system uses water as a coolant. When the processor heats up, it emits heat, which it transfers to the water through a heat exchanger. The water block serves them here. Here the water becomes warmer, and, naturally, it needs to be cooled. Therefore, it is then transferred to the next heat exchange point. This is the radiator. At this point, heat is transferred to the air, which is removed outside the PC.

The question immediately arises as to what principle the water moves inside the housing. Its activity is carried out by a special pump - a pump. It is clear that do-it-yourself water cooling for a PC or one bought in a store is much better than air cooling, since water has a high heat capacity and thermal conductivity. In addition, heat dissipation becomes more efficient and faster.

Design

As mentioned earlier, the design of this system is much more complex than just a fan and heatsink. There are more components that should be carefully selected when assembling them yourself. There are both mandatory components and additional ones that won’t hurt, but which you can do without.

A water-cooled PC case must have a water block. As practice shows, one is enough, but more is better. There should also be a radiator, pump, hoses, fittings and water inside.

In addition to the above elements, which the system cannot do without, there must be a reservoir, temperature sensors, pump and fan controllers, a couple of filters, backplates, an additional water block, various sensors and meters, and so on.

For those who want to assemble the entire system themselves, we will consider each required element separately.

Water block

So, this is the first and one of the main elements in the entire system. It is a heat exchanger that transfers heat from the heating element to the water. In general, the design of this part is almost the same. It usually consists of a metal or plastic cover and has fasteners that help install it on the desired element.

Interestingly, there are so many water blocks that there are even some that provide cooling to parts that don’t really need it. But the main thing is that there are also basic ones, such as processors. Accordingly, there are processor water blocks for video cards and system chips.

By the way, there are several heat exchanger options for graphics accelerators. One option protects only the graphics chip, the other covers all elements at once, which include the chip, memory, voltage elements, etc.

Radiator

Next, those who are trying to solve the question of how to water cool a PC must find a radiator. This is a water-to-air heat exchanger that is involved in the transfer of heat from water to air. They can also be of two types: passive and active.

We came across these options when we described a type of air cooling. The passive version removes heat naturally, while the active version removes heat forcibly using a fan. Of course, the option of a passive radiator in our case is extremely rare. Despite the fact that it makes no noise at all, the cooling efficiency is still several times lower. In addition, passive radiators are much larger and take up a lot of space, which means they cause problems in installing the entire system.

Vented radiators are still common, efficient and convenient. The fans for them are usually powerful, which can also regulate the speed, which means that the system can be instantly turned from noisy to silent, if necessary. The dimensions of such a radiator also vary.

Pump

Of course, you need to select many elements to assemble high-quality water cooling. Pumps for PC are represented by an electric pump. It is responsible for the movement of water through the tubes from one heat exchange point to another. Pumps can be different; they are used both more and less powerful. There are options that operate on 220 volts, and there are those that require 12 volts.

By the way, aquarium pumps that operated at 220 volts were previously used for the water cooling system (WCO). But such a replacement caused some difficulties. I had to turn on both the pump and the PC at the same time. To do this, it was necessary to install a special mechanism, which was an additional expense.

Over time, technology has advanced, specialized pumps have appeared, with better power, compact size and operation from 12 volts.

Tubes

Those who have ever seen either a custom water cooling for a PC or a store-bought version know what is in the whole tube design. Typically, it is through these hoses that water flows from one heat exchange point to another. This is a mandatory component, which, in principle, may have some variations.

Most often for PC these tubes are made of PVC. There are, of course, silicone options. The tube has little effect on performance; the only thing you need to pay attention to is the diameter. It is better not to purchase less than 8 mm if you are going to make the SVO yourself.

Fitting

This is another, no less important part that is necessary and included in the water cooling kit for your PC. This is a connecting mechanism that helps connect the tubes to the water block, pump and radiator. They are usually screwed into a threaded hole on the above elements of the entire system.

By the way, it’s interesting that if you purchase individual parts yourself, then the components in the box will not come with fittings. This is because manufacturers want the user to decide for himself what format, size, connector, etc. he needs these mechanisms. If you purchased the entire system, then, naturally, all the parts will be included.

There are also different types of fittings. For example, the most common is the compression version, which has a union nut. There are straight and angular, depending on the position and installation of the system. As mentioned earlier, there is a difference in the carving.

Water

The last essential element of a complete cooling system is water. It is best to use distilled water, which has removed all impurities. It is also possible to use deionized water, which in general is practically no different from the previous option, it is simply produced by a different method. In some cases, it is mixed with special mixtures and used in CBO.

Boom or bust

Of course, the best water cooling for PC is the one that has been tested by most users and is familiar to many from reviews. But still, some buyers have a question about whether to make an SVO themselves. You need to understand what is meant by self-assembly. Typically, users can purchase an almost ready-made system that only needs to be installed in the case.

There are also homemade systems, for which the buyer independently selects all the components. The last option includes another type of SVO, which is assembled from “available” materials. In this case, we mean radiators found at flea markets, or even in landfills, fans pulled out from somewhere, etc.

The last option, of course, is the most dangerous, since nothing can save you from depressurizing the system and flooding the entire PC with water. But independently assembling the correct elements is not a bad thing, but only for those who really understand everything. The main advantage is, of course, that you can choose components that will definitely suit and please you. Look for something cheaper and more profitable.

A ready-made system is always a guarantee. Despite the fact that many consider this option too simple and less productive, water cooling for PCs from Corsair, Swiftech, Alphacool, Koolance and others has received only positive feedback from customers.

A ready-made system is a huge plus, since you immediately buy everything you need, without additional purchases or anything else. The kit includes installation instructions, in which everything is usually clear and described in detail. You also have a warranty for the entire system. The only drawback of this option is the lack of variability. That is, the manufacturer presented the SVO in a couple of models, but there are no other modifications and cannot be.

Conclusions

Water cooling for a PC is a necessary and important thing, especially for those who have a gaming computer. There are many advantages to this option. This is a quiet, powerful system, the ability to perform critical overclocking, stability of the system as a whole, a pleasant appearance, as well as a long service life.

Thus, water cooling allows not only overclocking, but also connecting several video cards at once, while the PC case can be closed, and it will make virtually no noise.

The disadvantages usually include difficulty in installation, cost and unreliability. There is no escape from the first one, although if you look at a couple of reviews and study the instructions, there is nothing difficult. The cost is also quite impressive, but for this we can significantly improve the specifications of the video card and processor, and partly everything can pay for itself.

Unreliability is a subjective thing. The main danger is depressurization of the system and flooding of all components. It can happen either in amateur home-made air conditioners, which were assembled from cheap elements, or if you did not carefully read the instructions and were negligent in installation.

Quite recently, I wrote in some detail about assembling a new system unit. The resulting stand looked like this:

A thoughtful study of the list suggests that the heat dissipation of some devices is not just high, but VERY high. And if you connect everything as is, then inside even the most spacious case it will be at least hot; but as practice shows, it will also be very noisy.

Let me remind you that the case in which the computer is assembled is, although not very practical (although every time I am convinced of the opposite), but very presentable Thermaltake Level 10– he has his drawbacks, but for his appearance alone he can be forgiven a lot.

At this stage, the motherboard was installed in the case, a video card was installed in it - first in the topmost PCI slot.

Radiator/pump/tank installation

The water cooling system is very similar to the one used in cars, just a little larger - it also has a radiator (usually more than one), cooler, coolant, etc. But the car has one advantage - a solid oncoming flow of cold air, which plays a key role in cooling the system while driving.

In the case of a computer, heat must be removed by the air in the room. Accordingly, the larger the radiator size and the number of coolers, the better. And since you want a minimum of noise, effective cooling will be achieved mainly due to the surface of the radiator.

And the essence of the problem was as follows. On Skype, we previously agreed on the opinion “we’ll hang it on the back of the radiator in 2-3 sections - it’s more than enough!”, but as soon as we looked at the case, it turned out that everything is not that simple. Firstly, there really wasn’t enough space there for a three-section radiator (if you mount the radiator on the hole where the blow-out cooler of the case is supposed to be installed), and secondly, even if there was enough space, there would be no way to open the case itself - it would get in the way "door" of the system compartment :)

In general, we counted at least four options for installing a radiator in the Thermaltake Level 10 case - all of them are possible, each would require a different amount of time and each would have its own pros and cons. I'll start with those that we considered, but which did not suit us:

1. Installation of the radiator on the rear (from the user) side, that is, on the removable door.
Pros:
+ Possibility of horizontal and vertical installation of any radiator, even for 3-4 coolers
+ The dimensions of the case would not increase much

Cons:
- You would have to drill from 4 to 6-8 holes in the door
- Removing the door would be very inconvenient
- With a horizontal arrangement, a radiator with a non-standard location of the hole for filling the liquid would be required
- If installed vertically, the hoses would be very long and with a large bend
- The case will be on my left (on the windowsill), and I don’t need warm air from the coolers in my face :)

2. Installing the radiator on top, on the “casing” of the power supply compartment. Pros and cons are identical

3. Installation of a two-section radiator inside the system compartment

Pros:
+ Ease of solution
+ Externally there would be no changes
+ The system compartment door would open without problems

Cons:
- Only a 2-section radiator would be suitable (this is not enough for the hardware config)
- In this case, there would be no place for the cold air to come from, and I didn’t want to push warm air back and forth.
- There would be difficulties in “arranging” the pump and reservoir
- Even if you use ultra-thin coolers, all SATA connectors would be blocked (if they were brought out to the user, and not to the side, then this problem would not exist)

In general, we tried all these options to one degree or another - we spent a lot of time searching for the necessary components, trying them on, etc.

The latest option turned out to be a rather unusual solution - maybe not the most beautiful at first glance, but really practical. This is the installation of a radiator on the back side of the case through a special adjustable adapter with a scissor-type mechanism.

Pros:
+ Didn't have to drill anything
+ Possibility to hang ANY radiator
+ Excellent airflow
+ Access to motherboard connectors was not blocked
+ Minimum hose length, minimum bends
+ The design is removable and transportable

Cons:
- Not the most presentable appearance :)
- Opening the system compartment door is no longer so easy
- Quite an expensive adapter

Why did we come to this option last? Because during the search for the previous three options, we completely accidentally found an adapter that everyone had forgotten about, but it wasn’t available in the online store) Looking at the only (last) copy of the mounting frame Koolance Radiator Mounting Bracket, I thought “Whatever they won’t come up with!” The point is this: 4 “cone nails” are inserted into the holes for attaching the rear blow-out cooler to the body, onto which a special frame is hung.

The design of this frame is such that its length can be changed by twisting the clamps, and it is removed by mixing two parts of its body (so that the holes open up and it can be removed from the “studs”) - I bent it!) It’s much easier to understand everything from the photo.

The frame is metal and very durable - I was convinced of this when we tested a 3-section (for 3 coolers) radiator. Nothing dangles or sways, everything hangs tightly, but in the “unclamped” case the door opened quite well - this option completely suited me!

There were a huge number of radiators to choose from - black, white, red... What surprised me most in this matter was the 4-section TFC Monsta, capable of removing up to 2600W of heat (this is apparently an SLI of four 480s)! But we are much simpler people, so we decided to stick with the radiator we tried on - Swiftech MCR320-DRIVE. Its advantage is that it combines three components at once - a radiator (MCR320 QP Radiator for three 120mm coolers), a fluid reservoir and a high-pressure pump ( MCP350 Pump, a complete analogue of a “regular” pump Laing DDC). In fact, with such a piece of hardware for the SVO, you will only need to buy additional water blocks, hoses and other little things that we already had. The pump operates from 12V (from 8 to 13.2), producing a noise of 24~26 dBA. The maximum pressure created is 1.5 bar, which is approximately equal to 1.5 “atmospheres”.

There were three candidate coolers for the radiator: Noctua, Be Quiet And Scythe. As a result, we settled on Indonesian ones (with Japanese roots) Scythe Gentle Typhoon(120mm, 1450 rpm, 21 dBA) – these turntables have been in great demand among many users for several days. They are very quiet, and the quality of balancing of the bearings is simply amazing - the cooler will spin for an unnaturally long time even with the lightest touch. The service life is 100,000 hours at 30°C (or 60,000 hours at 60°C), which is enough to obsolete this system unit.

There was a review of these “typhoons” on the FC Center - I advise you to read it. Protective grilles were placed on top of the coolers to prevent children from putting anything vital into the fans.

Let's try the resulting design on the system unit - it looks very unusual) But look how convenient it is - to get inside the case (or remove the cooling system), you just need to press one “button” and the entire structure is, in fact, already disconnected. We squeeze the mounting frame and have full access to the insides - it’s more than spacious, because we didn’t pile anything in there. Maybe I didn’t describe the most convenient option, but... considering that after assembling the computer you practically won’t have to climb inside, and good cooling is much more important, then I consider our decision to be correct.

The assembled structure weighs 2.25 kilograms, and with liquid and fittings, probably all 3 - looking ahead, the frame from Koolance was able to handle even this weight, for which it deserves respect and respect :)

Finish line

In addition to the fittings, special plugs were installed in two holes of the video card water block:

After that, we thought about the route along which the water would flow. The rule is simple - from less heated to more heated. Accordingly, the “output” of the radiator is connected first to the water block of the motherboard, from there the output goes to the processor, then to the video card, and only then back to the input of the radiator to cool. Since the water is the same for everyone, the temperature of all components will be approximately the same as a result - it is for these reasons that multi-circuit systems are made, and it is for this reason that it does not make sense to connect all sorts of hard drives, RAM, etc. to one circuit.

The role of the hose went to red Feser Tube(PVC, operating temperature from -30 to +70°C, burst pressure 10 MPa), for cutting which a special predatory tool was used.

Cutting the hose straight may not be that difficult, but it is very important! Almost all hoses were equipped with special springs against bends and kinks in the hose (the minimum radius of the hose loop becomes ~3.5 cm).

On each hose (on both sides) in the fitting area you need to install a “clamp” - we used beautiful Koolance Hose Clamp. They are installed using ordinary pliers (with brute force), so you need to act carefully so as not to accidentally hit something.

It's time to work on connecting the "inner world" with the "outer world." In order to be able to remove the radiator-reservoir-pump (for example, to open the case or for transportation), we installed so-called “quick release valves” (quick-release valves) on the tubes, the principle of operation of which is outrageously simple.

When we turn the connection (like with BNC connectors), the hole in the tube closes and opens, thanks to which we can disassemble the “dropsy” in less than a minute, without any puddles or other consequences. A couple more expensive but great looking pieces of hardware:

Expenses

Such a high price in this case is due to the fact that fullcover water blocks were used for VERY hot pieces of hardware, all the heat from which must be dissipated by an appropriate radiator. For simpler systems, such solutions are simply not needed; you can also do without decorative overlays and any quick-release valves - in such cases you can easily meet half the cost. The price of the average dropsy is 12-15 thousand rubles, which is 4-5 times higher than the cost of a really good processor cooler.

Switching on and working

The guy in the habramike is filling up the radiator)

Because It is impossible to exclude the possibility that something was connected to the computer components incorrectly; it was decided to separately check the operation of the water cooling system itself. To do this, all the wires (from the coolers and from the pump) were connected, and a paperclip was inserted into the 24-pin connector of the power supply for “idling”. Just in case, we put napkins at the bottom to make the slightest leak easier to detect.

Press a button and... everything is as planned) Honestly, before this I had only seen dropsy (besides the Internet) at various exhibitions and competitions, where it was very noisy; therefore, I subconsciously prepared for the “murmur of a stream,” but the noise level was pleasantly surprising - for the most part, only the pump’s operation could be heard. Initially, there were “hissing” sounds - due to air bubbles located inside the circuit (they were visible in some places in the hoses). To solve this problem, the plug of the radiator tank was opened - the air gradually came out from the flow circulation and the system began to work even quieter. After adding fluid, the plug was closed and the computer worked for another 10 minutes. Noise was heard from the power supply cooler and the three on the radiator, although their air flows made themselves felt.

Having made sure that the system was fully operational, we decided to finally assemble a test bench. Connecting the wires took no more than a minute - it took much longer to find the monitor and the wire to connect it, because... everyone worked on laptops;) The phrase “Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key” became a balm for the soul - we inserted one of the “working” SSD drives (with Windows 7 on board) - It's good that the new computer accepted this option. For complete happiness, we just updated the drivers for the chipset and installed the drivers for the video card.

Launching the diagnostic monster Everest, where on one of the tabs we find the temperature sensor readings: 30°C was valid for all system components - CPU, GPU and motherboard - well, very pleasant numbers. The equality of the numbers led to the assumption that cooling in idle mode is limited by room temperature, because the temperature in ordinary dropsy cannot be lower than this. In any case, it is much more interesting to see what the situation will be under load.

15 minutes of “office work” and the video card temperature rose to 35°C.

We start by checking the CPU, for which we use the program OCCT 3.1.0– after quite a long time in 100% load mode, the maximum processor temperature was 38°C, and the core temperature was 49-55°C, respectively. The temperature of the motherboard was 31°C, the northbridge - 38°C, the southbridge - 39°C. By the way, it is very remarkable that all four processor cores had almost the same temperature - apparently, this is the merit of the water block, which removes heat evenly from the entire surface of the processor cover. 50+ degrees for 4-core Intel Core i7-930 with a TDP of 130W – hardly any stock air cooler is capable of achieving such a result. And even if it is capable, then hardly anyone will like the noise from its operation (the Internet says that the temperature of this processor is 65-70 degrees with a Cooler Master V10 cooler - the one with a Peltier element).

Out of habit, the video card was warmed up with the program FurMark 1.8.2(in common parlance “donut”) - it was hardly possible to whip up something more resource-intensive and informative.

In addition to Everest, the program was also installed EVGA Precision 2.0. At the maximum available resolution (with maximum smoothing), we ran a stress test with temperature logging - after just 3 minutes, the video card temperature settled at 52 degrees! 52 degrees under load for the top (currently) NVIDIA GTX 480 video card based on Fermi architecture is not just great, it’s wonderful!)

For comparison, the temperature of a video card under load with a standard cooler can reach up to 100 degrees, and with a good non-reference cooler - up to 70-80.

In general, the temperature regime is in perfect order - under load, the coolers blow almost cold air out of the radiator, and the radiator itself is barely warm. I won’t talk about overclocking potential in this article, I’ll just say that it exists. But something completely different is much more pleasant - the system works almost silently!

The end

I forgot to write about another important plus - interestingness. This is probably the most interesting thing I've ever done with hardware - no other computer building has brought me so much pleasure! It’s one thing when you collect ordinary “soulless” computers, it’s a completely different thing when you understand all the responsibility and approach the matter with all your heart. Such work takes far from 5 minutes - all this time you feel like a child playing with an adult construction set. And also an engineer-technologist-designer-plumbing-designer, and just a geek... in general, the interest is greatly increased!

Good luck and frosty freshness!

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Introduction

Don't you think the term "liquid cooling" makes you think of cars? In fact, liquid cooling has been an integral part of the conventional internal combustion engine for almost 100 years. This immediately begs the question: why is it the preferred method of cooling expensive car engines? What's so great about liquid cooling?

To find out, we have to compare it with air cooling. When comparing the effectiveness of these cooling methods, the two most important properties to consider are thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity.

Thermal conductivity is a physical quantity that shows how well a substance transfers heat. The thermal conductivity of water is almost 25 times greater than that of air. Obviously, this gives water cooling a huge advantage over air cooling, as it allows heat to transfer from a hot engine to the radiator much faster.

Specific heat capacity is another physical quantity that is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one kelvin (degree Celsius). The specific heat capacity of water is almost four times that of air. This means that heating water requires four times more energy than heating air. Again, the ability of water to absorb much more thermal energy without raising its own temperature is a huge advantage.

So, we have undeniable facts that liquid cooling is more efficient than air cooling. However, this is not necessarily the best method for cooling PC components. Let's figure it out.

Liquid Cooling PC

Despite the very good qualities of water in terms of heat dissipation, there are several compelling reasons not to put water in a computer. The most important of these reasons is the electrical conductivity of the coolant.

If you accidentally spilled a glass of water on a gasoline engine while filling the radiator, then nothing bad would happen; water would not damage the engine. But if you poured a glass of water on the motherboard of your computer, it would be very bad. Therefore, there is a certain risk associated with using water to cool computer components.

The next factor is the complexity of maintenance. Air-cooling systems are easier and cheaper to manufacture and repair than their water-based counterparts, and radiators require no maintenance other than dust removal. Water cooling systems are much more difficult to work with. They are more difficult to install and often require maintenance, albeit minor.

Third, PC water cooling system parts cost much more than air cooling system parts. If a set of high-quality radiators and air cooling fans for a processor, video card and motherboard will most likely cost around $150, then the cost of a liquid cooling system for the same components can easily reach up to $500.

Having so many shortcomings, water cooling systems, it would seem, should not be in demand. But in fact, they remove heat so well that this property justifies all the shortcomings.

There are ready-to-install liquid cooling systems on the market that are no longer the aftermarket kits that enthusiasts had to deal with in the past. Ready-made systems are assembled, tested and completely reliable. In addition, water cooling is not as dangerous as it seems: of course, there is always a big risk when using liquids in a PC, but if you are careful, this risk is significantly reduced. As for maintenance, modern refrigerants require replacement quite rarely, maybe once a year. When it comes to price, any piece of equipment that runs at high performance will always cost more than the average, whether it's the Ferrari in your garage or the water cooling system for your computer. High performance comes at a price.

Let's say you're interested in this cooling method, or at least would like to know how it works, what's involved, and what its benefits are.

General principles of water cooling

The purpose of any cooling system in a PC is to remove heat from the computer components.

A traditional CPU air cooler transfers heat away from the processor to a heatsink. The fan actively pushes air through the radiator fins, and as the air passes by, it picks up heat. Air is removed from the computer case by another fan or even several. As you can see, air moves a lot.

In water cooling systems, instead of air, a coolant (coolant) - water - is used to remove heat. Water leaves the reservoir through a tube, going where it is needed. The water cooling unit can either be a separate unit outside the PC case, or it can be built into the case. In the diagram, the water cooling unit is external.

Heat is transferred from the processor to the cooling head (water block), which is a hollow heat sink with inlet and outlet holes for coolant. When water passes through the head, it takes heat with it. Heat transfer due to water occurs much more efficiently than due to air.

The heated liquid is then pumped into the reservoir. From the reservoir it flows into a heat exchanger, where it transfers heat to the radiator, which transfers heat to the surrounding air, usually with the help of a fan. After this, the water enters the head again, and the cycle begins again.

Now that we have a good understanding of the basics of PC liquid cooling, let's talk about what systems are available on the market.

Selecting a water cooling system

There are three main types of water cooling systems: internal, external and integrated. The main difference between them is where their main components are located in relation to the computer case: the heat sink/heat exchanger, pump and reservoir.

As the name suggests, the built-in cooling system is an integral part of the PC case, that is, it is built into the case and sold complete with it. Since the entire water cooling system is mounted in the case, this option is perhaps the easiest to handle, since there is more space left inside the case and there are no bulky structures outside. The downside, of course, is that if you decide to upgrade to such a system, the old PC case will be useless.

If you love your PC case and don't want to part with it, then internal and external water cooling systems will probably seem more attractive. The internal system components are placed inside the PC case. Since most cases are not designed to accommodate such a cooling system, it becomes quite cramped inside. However, installing such systems will allow you to preserve your favorite case, as well as move it without any special obstacles.

The third option is an external water cooling system. It is also for those who want to keep their old PC case. In this case, the radiator, reservoir and water pump are placed in a separate unit outside the computer case. Water is pumped through tubes into the PC case, to the cooling head, and the heated liquid is pumped out of the case into the reservoir through the return tube. The advantage of an external system is that it can be used with any enclosure. It also allows for a larger radiator and can have better cooling capacity than the average integrated setup. The disadvantage is that a computer with an external cooling system is not as mobile as one with internal or built-in cooling systems.

In our case, portability is not of great importance, but we would like to keep our “native” PC case. In addition, we were attracted by the increased cooling efficiency of the external radiator. Therefore, we chose an external cooling system for our review. Koolance kindly provided us with an excellent example - the EXOS-2 system.

External water cooling system Koolance EXOS-2.

EXOS-2 is a powerful external water cooling system with a cooling capacity of over 700W. This doesn't mean the system consumes 700 watts - it only consumes a fraction of that. This means the system can efficiently handle 700W of heat output while maintaining a temperature of 55 degrees Celsius at 25 degrees ambient.

EXOS-2 comes with all the necessary pipes and accessories, except for the cooling heads (water blocks). The user will have to buy suitable heads, depending on which PC components he wants to cool.

Cooling multiple components

One of the advantages of most liquid cooling systems is that they are expandable and can cool other components in addition to the processor. Even after passing through the CPU cooling head, water is still able to cool, for example, the motherboard chipset and video card. This is basic, but if you wish, you can add even more components, such as a hard drive. To do this, each component that will be cooled will need its own water block. Of course, you'll have to do some planning to make sure the coolant flows well.

Why is it beneficial to combine all three components - CPU, chipset and graphics card - with a good water cooling system?

Most users understand the need to cool the processor. The CPU gets very hot in the PC case, and stable operation of the computer depends on keeping the CPU temperature low. The CPU is one of the most expensive parts of a computer, and the lower the temperature maintained, the longer the processor will last. Finally, cooling the processor is especially important when overclocking.

CPU water block and assembly accessories.

The idea of ​​cooling the motherboard chipset (or rather, the northbridge) may not be familiar to everyone. But keep in mind that a computer is only as stable as its chipset. In many cases, additional cooling of the chipset can contribute to system stability, especially when overclocking.

Chipset water block and assembly accessories.

The third component is very important for those who have a higher-end video card and use a PC for games. In many cases, the GPU on a video card generates more heat than other computer components. Again, the better the cooling of the GPU, the longer it will last, the higher the stability and the more overclocking options.

Of course, for those users who do not intend to use their computer for games and have a low-power graphics card, water cooling will be overkill. But for modern powerful and very hot video cards, water cooling can be a profitable purchase.

We are going to install a cooling system on our Radeon X1900 XTX graphics card. Although this video card is not the newest and most powerful, it is still at least as good as it gets, and it also gets very hot. In the case of this model, Koolance offers not only a water block for the GPU/memory, but also a separate cooling head for the voltage regulator.

GPU water block and assembly accessories.

While air cooling systems can keep the GPU temperature within acceptable limits, we are not aware of any similar systems capable of handling the extremely high temperature of the voltage regulators on the X1900, which can easily reach 100 degrees Celsius under load. I wonder how the water block for the voltage regulator will affect the X1900 video card.

Water block for video card voltage regulator and accessories for assembly.

These are the main components that are cooled using water. As mentioned above, there are other components that can be cooled this way. For example, Koolance offers a 1200W power supply with liquid cooling. All electronic components of the power supply are immersed in a non-conducting liquid, which is pumped through its own external heatsink. This is a special example of alternative liquid cooling, but the system does the job just fine.

Koolance: 1200W liquid cooled power supply.

Now you can start installation.

Planning and installation

Unlike air cooling systems, installing a liquid cooling system requires some planning. Liquid cooling comes with several limitations that the user must take into account.

First, you should always keep convenience in mind during installation. Water pipes must pass freely into the housing and between components. In addition, the cooling system must leave free space so that future work with it and its components does not cause difficulties.

Secondly, the flow of liquid should not be limited in any way. It should also be remembered that the coolant heats up as it passes through each water block. If we designed the system in such a way that water flowed into each subsequent water block in the following sequence: first to the processor, then to the chipset, to the video card and, finally, to the voltage regulator of the video card, then the water block of the voltage regulator would always receive water heated by all previous system components. This scenario is not ideal for the last component.

To somehow mitigate this problem, it would be a good idea to run the coolant along separate, parallel paths. If this is done correctly, the water flow will be less stressed, and the water blocks of each component will receive water that is not heated by other components.

The Koolance EXOS-2 kit we chose for this article is designed to work primarily with 3/8" connector tubing, and the CPU water block is designed with 3/8" press-in connectors. However, Koolance chipset and video card cooling heads are designed to work with smaller diameter connecting tubes - 1/4". Because of this, the user is forced to use a splitter that divides the 3/8" tube into two 1/4" tubes. This scheme works well when we split the flow into two parallel paths. One of these 1/4" tubes will cool the motherboard chipset, and the other will cool the video card. After the water has absorbed heat from these components, the two 1/4" tubes will reconnect into one 3/8" tube, through which the heated water will flow from the PC case back to the radiator for cooling.

The whole process is presented in the following diagram.

Planned cooling system configuration.

When planning the layout of your own water cooling system, we recommend that you draw a simple diagram. This will help you install the system correctly. Having drawn a plan on paper, you can begin the actual assembly and installation.

To begin with, you can lay out all the parts of the system on the table and estimate the required length of the tubes. Don't cut too short, leave some margin; Then you can always cut off the excess.

After the preparatory work, you can begin installing water blocks. The Koolance cooling head for the processor we use requires a metal mounting bracket to be installed on the back of the motherboard behind the processor. The good thing is that this mounting bracket comes with a plastic spacer to prevent shorting to the motherboard. First, we took the motherboard out of the case and installed the mounting bracket.

Then you can remove the heatsink, which is attached to the northbridge of the motherboard. We used the Biostar 965PT motherboard, whose chipset is cooled using a passive radiator attached with plastic clips.

Motherboard chipset without heatsink. Ready for water block installation.

After the chipset heatsink is removed, you should attach the water block mounting elements for the chipset.

During installation, we noticed that the water block mounting elements for the chipset, in particular the plastic spacer, were pressing on the resistor on the back of the motherboard. This must be carefully monitored during installation. Over-tightening the bolts can cause irreparable damage to the motherboard, so be careful and careful!

After installing the fastening elements for the cooling heads of the processor and chipset, you can return the motherboard to the PC case and think about connecting the water blocks to the processor and chipset. Be sure to remove any remaining old thermal paste from the processor and chipset before applying a new thin layer.

Processor with fastening elements for a water block.

You may want to connect the water pipes to the water blocks before you install them on the motherboard. But be careful: you may not calculate the pressure and force that will be applied to the fragile chipset and processor when bending the tubes. The main thing is to leave a sufficient length of the tubes, because you can cut them to size later.

Now you can carefully install the water blocks on the processor and chipset using the provided mounting hardware. Remember that you don't need to press them down with force: just install them well on the processor and chipset. Using force can damage components.

After installing water blocks on the processor and chipset, you can turn your attention to the video card. We remove the existing radiator and replace it with a water block. In our case, we also removed the voltage stabilizer heatsink and installed a second water block on the card. After the water blocks are installed on the video card, you can connect the tubes. After this, the video card can be inserted into the PCI Express slot.

After installing all the water blocks, the remaining pipes should be connected. The last thing you need to connect is the tube that leads to the external water cooling unit. Make sure that the direction of water flow is correct: the cooled liquid should flow first into the processor water block.

The moment has come when you can pour water into the tank. Fill the reservoir only to the level specified in the manufacturer's instructions. As the tank fills, water will slowly flow into the tubes. Pay special attention to all fastenings and have a towel on hand in case of unexpected liquid leakage. At the slightest sign of leakage, fix the problem immediately.

Once all the components are assembled, you can add coolant.

If you did everything carefully and there are no leaks in the system, then you need to pump the coolant to remove air bubbles. In the case of the Koolance EXOS-2, this is achieved by shorting the pins on the ATX power supply to supply power to the water pump, but not to supply power to the motherboard.

Let the system operate in this mode, while you slowly and carefully tilt the computer in one direction or the other so that air bubbles come out of the water blocks. Once all the bubbles are gone, you will likely find that the system needs to add coolant. This is fine. Approximately 10 minutes after pouring, no air bubbles should be visible in the tubes. If you are convinced that there are no more air bubbles and the possibility of a leak is excluded, then you can start the system for real.

Test configuration and tests

All assembly and installation worries are left behind. It's time to see what advantages a water cooling system provides.

In our test configuration, we used the Core 2 Duo platform because the E4300 processor is very easy to overclock. Overclocking allowed us to see how high temperatures would rise and how the standard air cooling system and our new water cooling system would handle it.

The technique is simple: overclock the E4300 processor with standard air cooling as much as possible, and then overclock it with water cooling and compare the results. As it turns out, the E4300 is capable of more. We increased the processor frequency from the stated 1800 MHz to 2250 MHz. At the same time, the E4300 processor easily coped with the added 450 MHz without increasing voltage or any other problems. However, the standard cooler did not cope with the job, as under load the processor temperature rose to an undesirable 62 degrees Celsius. Although the core could have been overclocked further, a further increase in temperature could become dangerous, so we stopped, recorded the result and installed a water cooling system.

Before looking at the processor temperature under load, let's take a look at the temperature when the system is idle.

In idle mode, water cooling gives a decent reduction in processor temperature, by about 10 degrees. However, this is not such a great achievement when you consider that the CPU's own cooler is low-end, and a high-quality air cooler could be more effective. However, it is worth remembering that water cooling cannot reduce the temperature so that it is lower than the ambient temperature, which in our case was about 22 degrees Celsius.

When stressing the system - a ten-minute run through the Orthos stress test - the water cooling setup really showed what it was capable of.

Now this is actually interesting. The stock air cooler can't even keep the processor temperature below an undesirably high 60 degrees, and the water cooling system dropped the temperature to 49 degrees at the lowest fan speed. In addition to lowering temperatures, the water cooling system is much quieter than a stock CPU cooler.

At maximum fan speed in the water cooling system, the processor temperature drops below 40 degrees! This is 24 degrees lower than with a standard cooler under load, and almost the same as what your own cooler produces when idle. The result is impressive, although at high fan speeds the water cooling system produces more noise than we would like. However, the fan speed is adjusted on a 10-point scale, and it is unlikely that in everyday use you will have to set it to full power. Orthos stresses the CPU more than other tests, and we were quite interested to see what the water cooling system could do.

Finally, pay attention to the results obtained for the video card. Usually the X1900 XTX gets very hot, but we had one of the best air coolers at our disposal - Thermalright HR-03. Let's see what advantages water cooling has over this cooler after 10 minutes of Atitool stress test in artifact testing mode.

The temperature maintained by the stock cooler is terrible: 89 degrees on the GPU and over 100 degrees on the voltage regulator! The Thermalright HR-03 cooler did an amazing job of cooling the GPU to 65 degrees, but the voltage regulators were still too hot at 97 degrees!

The water cooling system reduced the GPU temperature to 59 degrees. This is 30 degrees better than with the stock cooler, and only 6 degrees better than with the HR-03, which further emphasizes its efficiency.

A separate water block for the voltage stabilizer shows excellent results. The HR-03 does not have any means to cool the voltage stabilizer, and the water block reduced the temperature to 77 degrees, which is 25 degrees better than with the stock cooler. This is a very good result.

Conclusion

The results obtained from testing using a water cooling system are quite clear: liquid cooling is much more efficient than air cooling.

Water cooling is now available not only to a limited number of professionals, but also to ordinary users. Plus, modern water cooling systems like the EXOS-2 are very easy to install and are plug and play, unlike older systems that required assembly. In addition, modern water cooling kits with illuminated and stylized cases look very nice.

If you are an enthusiast and have tried all the air cooling systems, then liquid cooling is the next logical step for you. Of course, there is a risk, and water cooling equipment will cost more than air cooling, but the benefits are obvious.

Editor's opinion

For a long time I avoided water cooling because I was afraid it would be more trouble than it was worth. But now I can say with confidence that my opinion has changed: water cooling systems are much easier to install than I thought, and the cooling results speak for themselves. I would also like to express my gratitude to Koolance for providing us with the EXOS-2 kit, which was a pleasure to work with.

How to make a computer water cooling system completely with your own hands

everything is in working order

Modern processors, GPU or mainstream, are becoming more powerful. With the included coolers, the temperature even when idle can exceed 60 degrees. And how noisy the fans are! Therefore, the expression appeared: “The video card has taken off”))
But there is an alternative solution.

Instructions

Difficulty level: Not easy

What you will need:

• Copper/aluminum sheet, 1mm thick
• Glue moment, you need it anyway, it can come in handy
• Sealant
• antennas from old (or new) radios
• PVC hose
• aquarium pump
• bottle
• monitor from the trash heap (CRT)

1 step

We sit down at the table.
We measure the processor removed from the computer (be careful) with a ruler. Let's estimate the size of the future water block; it should cover the entire processor cover, but it shouldn't be too big.
Let's say 4cm by 4cm.

Step 2

Let's disassemble the old monitor, it has different radiators, choose the one closest to the size of the processor. Remember, excess is better than deficiency. The radiator has a hole for a bolt that secures the transistor. Fill it with glue from the inside, coat it with thermal paste on the outside (not during the assembly process, of course)) if the dimensions of the radiator allow, you can screw that bolt in there, coat it with glue, the processor will not stand on it, but on a free space). Sand the free space on the board with the finest sandpaper.

Step 3

We cut out a cover for the radiator from a sheet of metal, bend the “wings” that will cover the sides of the radiator. Draw the “wings” taking into account the height of the radiator fins. We cut it out, bend it (in a vice at 90 g), place it on the radiator, i.e. bottom. Instead of a radiator, if you can’t find one, you can use the same cover, only the height of the future water block should be minimal.

Step 4

In the same way, we make the parts of the GPU water blocks, the north bridge, only for them you can do without radiators; for a video card, you can scratch the bottom a little from the inside.
We put the parts inside each other, secure them in this position with a vice, fill the seams with glue, leaving a small hole, its size is not important, but the smaller the better. The inside of the seams can be coated with sealant)))

Step 5

For clarity, the ribs... um... in a different projection

After the parts have dried (after two days), take the antenna and break it apart by forcefully pulling it apart. We bite the thickest tube: if it’s short, then into 2 parts, if it’s long, then into 4 (we bite it with wire cutters, not with our teeth).
We take a drill according to the thickness of the tube and drill 3 holes in the CPU water block all the way through, except for the last rib. See picture. Now we cover the middle hole with glue, and the one whose size is not important. Once again we coat the seams.

Step 6

Has it dried out? Insert the tubes into the side holes and coat them with glue. Same thing with other water blocks.
We make fastenings for the sockets so that they are pressed tightly.

Step 7

Gig-gig

Let's cut off the neck of the bottle and insert a submersible filter, or pump, into it. We attach 5 mm hoses and think: there is not enough radiator. We won’t take store-bought ones from stoves: we’ll do it ourselves!
The heatsink from the processor remains. We take 3 more of these from friends if we overclock, or 2 if we don’t.

Step 8

Cover the place on the radiator where the processor is located with a lid similar to the chipset lid, but with four blades. We fill it, it dries, we drill, we insert it - everything according to the old scenario.

Step 9

Collecting at last!
I have the following scheme: pump in a bottle - radiator ♣ - radiator - radiator ♣ - north bridge - CPU - pump in a bottle.
♣ – fan, all from 5 volts

Step 10

Let's look at the temperature: at 20% overclocking 4 stumps did not rise above 70 (overclocking has now been removed).

• Everything you do is at your own risk
• Test the system before installation
• You can use distilled water, but my tap water has been spinning for a year
• In no case do not forget about the gap, the size of which is not important, in any water block or in radiators, and do not forget to fill it after drilling the holes.
• It is better to place one radiator between the northbridge and the CPU.